Review XY060: Aim to be the Kalos Queen! Serena Makes Her Debut!!

[Pokeplayer150]

Wow... Just wow. I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but this particular episode has not just fully persuaded me to try and watch the anime again, but has earned my complete and utter respect in how it handles both its focus character and its theme. As much as it broke my heart to see Serena lose, it clearly served a purpose: We've been watching her prepare for this ever since she caught Pancham, it became clear to us how much she's dedicating herself to this. But, when the day finally came, she not only lost horribly, but did so due to the smallest of mistakes and in front of an audience, including her friends. Believe it or not, this is something that can happen to anyone in real life: Even if you try to do your best, you can still screw up in perhaps the worst way possible, but that doesn't mean you should give up. Something Serena both deals with in a very realistic way and comes to realize at the end of the episode. The only other cartoon I know of that has done this theme justice, even as a work of fiction, is MLP. If that doesn't go to show that the anime's improved, I don't know what will.

But what really sells me on this episode is the hint it's giving off: Serena may end up achieving her goals in the end. Think about it: neither May nor Dawn lost this badly in their first contests, yet we've hardly ever seen them train before that. Serena on the other hand has been shown training throughout multiple episodes leading up to this, but fails in the most spectacular fashion. What I mean by this is that instead of having her lose in the Master Class, an all too recurring trend in the anime (i.e. losing the big tournament even after coming so far), the writers could be giving her her big loss now so that we can watch her progressively become a better performer and finally see it all pay off as she becomes Kalos Queen. Pokemon has done this way too often and, to be honest, it gives the characters' journey no purpose. Now it's just a theory, but I just wanna put it out there.

All in all though, it was a really good episode.

 

[Necrozma]

If I didn't know any better, I would think that the crying scene was about someone dying or a devastating truth coming to light. Talk about an overreaction to being a rookie.

It's a perfectly normal reaction for a ten year old girl who finally found something she is really enthusiastic about only to mess up real bad at the very beginning and lose in the very first round. Not to mention that even after losing Serena suppresses her emotions and bottles them up (as evident by Clemont wondering whether Serena is really okay when she's acting real cheerful).

Only when she's alone with her Pokémon can Serena allow her feelings to overwhelm her.

I found it to be a perfectly natural reaction given what we've learned about Serena.

 

[Silktree]

It's a perfectly normal reaction for a ten year old girl who finally found something she is really enthusiastic about only to mess up real bad at the very beginning and lose in the very first round.

A ten year old girl wouldn't feel so bad about a beginner's mistake when she has plenty of time to learn and improve. Now, it would be a different story if Serena had anyone in her life pressuring or criticizing her, but she is surrounded by people who do the complete opposite. Even her mother is better than Dawn could have asked for.

 

[Necrozma]

A ten year old girl wouldn't feel so bad about a beginner's mistake when she has plenty of time to learn and improve. Now, it would be a different story if Serena had anyone in her life pressuring or criticizing her, but she is surrounded by people who do the complete opposite. Even her mother is better than Dawn could have asked for.

The thing is that she did train and prepare. To think she lost on such a simple mistake and embarrassed both herself and Fennekin in front of everyone is devastating to her. But most of all, she might feel bad about the fact she just started and already failed.

We can only theorize WHY Serena exactly cried, but all these things add up, in my opinion.

 

[Pokeplayer150]

It's a perfectly normal reaction for a ten year old girl who finally found something she is really enthusiastic about only to mess up real bad at the very beginning and lose in the very first round.

A ten year old girl wouldn't feel so bad about a beginner's mistake when she has plenty of time to learn and improve. Now, it would be a different story if Serena had anyone in her life pressuring or criticizing her, but she is surrounded by people who do the complete opposite. Even her mother is better than Dawn could have asked for.

I'm actually with Tsutarja on this one, albeit not for the same reason: Serena has been training hard for her debut, we've seen it in multiple episodes, but even with all that going for her, she failed when it really mattered. I don't know about you but I doubt anyone, ten years old or not, would do well in coping with that.

 

[Silktree]

But most of all, she might feel bad about the fact she just started and already failed.

Would it be better if she failed later? And color me surprised if she didn't expect any difficulties at all, considering that just finding this goal took its share of time. Since she's so clearly into it, a bumpy start shouldn't be that big a deal, as evidenced by how quickly she bounced back from her meltdown.

she failed when it really mattered.

Because of an accident. It doesn't even reflect her skills.

 

[Pokeplayer150]

she failed when it really mattered.

Because of an accident. It doesn't even reflect her skills.

That's what I meant to say, that she never got to show off what she could do because of the accident, thus her training meant nothing in the face of her performance. I should have phrased what I initially said differently, my bad.

 

[Misty-Moo]

she failed when it really mattered.

Because of an accident. It doesn't even reflect her skills.

I just noticed this in the screenshots -

Spoiler

It seems to me that Serena changed the bow to a longer one during her preparations, so it was her mistake that caused Fennekin to trip & them to fail.

 

[Silktree]

That's what I meant to say, that she never got to show off what she could do because of the accident, thus her training meant nothing in the face of her performance. I should have phrased what I initially said differently, my bad.

That's a reason to feel temporary disappointment, but crying your guts out is excessive. There's always the next Showcase and Serena clearly knows that. This isn't like May nearly missing her final opportunity to enter the Grand Festival (in that given year) due to having to look for Max.

 

[Alola]

A ten year old girl wouldn't feel so bad about a beginner's mistake when she has plenty of time to learn and improve. Now, it would be a different story if Serena had anyone in her life pressuring or criticizing her, but she is surrounded by people who do the complete opposite. Even her mother is better than Dawn could have asked for.

The thing is that she did train and prepare. To think she lost on such a simple mistake and embarrassed both herself and Fennekin in front of everyone is devastating to her. But most of all, she might feel bad about the fact she just started and already failed.

We can only theorize WHY Serena exactly cried, but all these things add up, in my opinion.

Messing up in front of a huge crowd can be traumatizing and surely disappointing. And most 10/11/12 year old girls would cry due to embarrassment, failure, and the like.

 

[Silktree]

And most 10/11/12 year old girls would cry due to embarrassment, failure, and the like.

If anything, they would feel discouraged to try again. But Serena just needed to have a good cry and now everything is okay again. That is not my idea of realism.

But I'm done with the psychology talk.

 

[Alola]

And most 10/11/12 year old girls would cry due to embarrassment, failure, and the like.

If anything, they would feel discouraged to try again. But Serena just needed to have a good cry and now everything is okay again. That is not my idea of realism.

But I'm done with the psychology talk.

Since when has the anime, and the franchise in general, been close to reality? Best to just to take these things in stride, for the most part...

Maybe they felt they already covered the whole depression/discouraged feelings of losing a tournament/contest/etc with Dawn?

 

[CrashBash]

Putting aside how Serena should have acted, or why exactly she cried as excessively as she did, I hope Ms Paschall does the scene justice herself once the dub comes around.

 

[Mareepy]

And most 10/11/12 year old girls would cry due to embarrassment, failure, and the like.

If anything, they would feel discouraged to try again. But Serena just needed to have a good cry and now everything is okay again. That is not my idea of realism.

But I'm done with the psychology talk.

I am totally with you here!

She should make a terrible mistake that lead to her losing the Tripokalon.

Thats where the 'changing into new Serena' kick in. To do this she must be disappointed about nobody else but HERSELF.

Now all we get is an accident which both Serena and Fennekin is equally at fault and an girl cutting her hair our of shame and disappointment (directed to the accident).

Like I said in my previous post, I love this episode, just... wasted potentials....

I was hoping an episode I can give an outright 10/10, this is just not it...

And its just me and my too high expectations though.

Edit: I realized I replied to the wrong post, the problem I had with is the haircut, not the cry.

 

[Nicolas721]

This is how I see the things, after looking opinions from other people:

People don't always cry because of a certain situation, but rather because a high amount of situations and emotions that show up in a certain moment. Serena didn't cry because she failed, but rather because she felt she was bad in everything. She always wanted to get a goal, and when she finally found it, she makes a mistake and a lot of people tell her indirectly that she failed at something she was supposed to like.
For example, imagine a person that takes on an university career as soon as they graduate from school, but fails on the first test (May and Dawn) and a person that takes a break after school in order to have more time to choose a career, and finally when he chooses one he also fails at the first test, making his last months pointless (Serena).

In fact, the reason why Serena recovers quickly is because she feels that finally she has a goal, realizes that failing is part of the process, and decides that she is never going to give up anymore.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Wow... I was missing these emotional episodes. I was expecting to see mostly an episode about superficial fashion and stuff, but the Performance overall didn't feel that way to me. Well, except when Jessie failed, as it was likely because Pumpkaboo wasn't "cute"... which is why I believe the Contest system with judges was better instead of having the audience voting, which you probably can get on your side by just showing them some skin, look cute, using popular Pokémon, etc, instead of having actual skills. Compare it with an anime series: well-developed plot or cheap fanservice? A critical person would go for plot, the mob in general would go for fanservice.

All in all, I loved how mature all this felt thanks to the details. The close-ups to Clemont, Ash and Bonnie when Fennekin fell were really touching, specially if you see how Bonnie looks sad, but the other two look rather serious in comparision, which I believe emphasizes their difference in age and the way they react to things like this (I like how this anime can make me forget its characters are supposedly just 10-years old). Also, the way Serena dealt with it was really well done, in the sense that she didn't want to disturb her friends, so she waited for the right moment to actually reflect, and cry. Crying is necessary, and if you want to do it when you're by yourself (or in this case, with your Pokémon), that's totally understandable, which was what Serena did. I also liked how Clemont seemed to notice this. He sounded really concerned when talking to Ash, even after he told him that Serena will be alright. The flashback scene followed by the shot at the sunrise with her hair flying away is one of the things I least expected to see in this anime series. Not necessarily the whole situation or fact that she cut it, but simply the way it was shown.

Would it be better if she failed later?

Absolutely yes. Failing on your debut, accident or not, is one of the worst scenarios you could have. It's better to make mistakes when you're just starting than when you're already on top, of course. You learn and prepare yourself better for the future. But that's a conclusion I'm pretty sure Serena, and most people in real life come up with later when reflecting about it, because it still hurts a lot that you failed as soon as you started, knowing you had a lot more to show off and you couldn't. Crying in such a situation is completely believable.

I just noticed this in the screenshots -

Spoiler

It seems to me that Serena changed the bow to a longer one during her preparations, so it was her mistake that caused Fennekin to trip & them to fail.

Not actually:

Spoiler

The bow was really long as soon as she put it, there's no sign of her using another one. I don't really know what that last shot you noticed was about, but the thing is that the only bow she was seen putting on Fennekin on-screen was already too long. I blame both Fennekin for being careless when walking and Serena for inciting it to it by being overconfident herself. I don't think the mere fact that the bow was long is the only problem here.

 

[Nick102]

In fact, the reason why Serena recovers quickly is because she feels that finally she has a goal, realizes that failing is part of the process, and decides that she is never going to give up anymore.

And again, why do all these female protagonists have to be given this goal? I'd rather have one that's a basic trainer than more of these "I'll put on a spectacle of beauty with my cute Pokémon!" trainers.

 

[Mareepy]

In fact, the reason why Serena recovers quickly is because she feels that finally she has a goal, realizes that failing is part of the process, and decides that she is never going to give up anymore.

And again, why do all these female protagonists have to be given this goal? I'd rather have one that's a basic trainer than more of these "I'll put on a spectacle of beauty with my cute Pokémon!" trainers.

Because that would make them have no goals and no reason to go on a journey.

Being a battler will mean they will be Ash's rival in the league.

How come you don't get it?

If they have no goal why will they even travel?

You can't possibly hope Serena is traveling with Ash simply because she have feelings to him? If thats the reason I'd rather she is not here.

 

[Shadao]

In fact, the reason why Serena recovers quickly is because she feels that finally she has a goal, realizes that failing is part of the process, and decides that she is never going to give up anymore.

And again, why do all these female protagonists have to be given this goal? I'd rather have one that's a basic trainer than more of these "I'll put on a spectacle of beauty with my cute Pokémon!" trainers.

I don't recall Misty or Iris having a goal of making their Pokémon cute and beautiful for a showcase or contest. And besides, if it helps further develop Serena's character, I'm all for it.

 

[Nick102]

In fact, the reason why Serena recovers quickly is because she feels that finally she has a goal, realizes that failing is part of the process, and decides that she is never going to give up anymore.

And again, why do all these female protagonists have to be given this goal? I'd rather have one that's a basic trainer than more of these "I'll put on a spectacle of beauty with my cute Pokémon!" trainers.

Because that would make them have no goals and no reason to go on a journey.

Being a battler will mean they will be Ash's rival in the league.

How come you don't get it?

If they have no goal why will they even travel?

You can't possibly hope Serena is traveling with Ash simply because she have feelings to him? If thats the reason I'd rather she is not here.

A trainer's goal could be as simple as loving to travel the world, battle with other trainers, and catch Pokémon (and in the case of Ash, Misty, and Brock: wanting to stick together through bonds of friendship). And that's why I like the original series of the anime, because it's core themes seemed to be as simple as that.

I don't recall Misty or Iris having a goal of making their Pokémon cute and beautiful for a showcase or contest. And besides, if it helps further develop Serena's character, I'm all for it.

And that's why I like Misty. She had enough of a goal for me just by the fact that she loved to collect Water type Pokémon.