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Review SM017: Alola Detective Rotom! The Mystery of the Missing Crystal!!

Another good one, not as funny as last week's episode but was still a blast. Also I made this because Whynaut? (Yes that was horrible)
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Rotom is perfect! I just love him and his bantz with Pikachu. The hair stroking thing cracked me up every time (it's a shame that actually became a plot point at the climax).

I also like how the sequelae of that pancake race has come up a couple of times after the event - makes it feel so real!

More epic faces this episode.
And some epic CotDs too.
 
I see now. The reason they resort to face faults and gags is because they know they can't pull off episode premises any better than past previous series. Seriously, you take away the funny reactions and the amount of people liking it would drop significantly, same for previous episodes (except maybe those that focus on Z-Crystals). The series is indeed more reliant on characters rather than world-building like it was before.
 
So, Kaki is actually a psychopath and everyone is seriously scared of him. Rotomdex is accusing other people with thievery, with flimsy evidence.

Great characterization as always!
 
The series is indeed more reliant on characters rather than world-building like it was before.
In what way is world-building less in SM than previous series? If anything I feel like Alola is more three-dimensional than any of the other regions we've visited previously.

I also don't understand why show-stealing art/animation makes flimsy premises any flimsier. It's not like we've previously been treated to particularly more valid reasons for the existence of episodes.
 
In which way?
In the way that we're actually getting to spend a bit of time in the same town, learn about the local people and their culture/customs/values and see more of the regional pokemon than just a single gimmick. Whereas, if you asked me to tell you a single distinguishing thing about the locale and inhabitants of Kanto, Jouto, Houen, Shinnou, Isshu or Kalos, I would not be able to.
 
Normally this episode probably would've bored me to tears, but the SM characters, their over-the-top facial expressions/reactions, and the little details made it really enjoyable to watch!

I still love Rotomdex. He really does remind me of an annoying little kid or friend. The part when Ash is trying to go to sleep and it's like "let me know if you want to know who did it", Ash says he's tired, but Rotomdex just keeps on going and then loses it when he realizes Ash is asleep. Really funny. I was worried that having Rotomdex be a huge part of the cast would be terrible if he was portrayed too robotically, but I really love its personality and what it adds to the episodes.

I'm still fully enjoying the lack of COTDs in this series. They were getting beyond stale and watching the same formula over and over again, especially when it came to low stakes episodes, was grating. I really like how now instead, we're getting more focus on the classmates, and the "COTDs" are just very minor background characters like the security guard or the cameraman. It's a nice way to see one shot characters and incorporate them without basing the bulk of an episode around them.

Also, I don't agree that Kiawe was OOC in this episode. He's already been shown to be hot-tempered and very serious about Alolan culture, particularly the Z-crystals. Him reacting that way to Ash being seemingly careless and just losing it didn't seem weird to me at all. The way it was portrayed was a little crazy, but that was for comedic effect, which for me at least totally worked. I loved Kiawe here.
 
I knew I'd enjoy an episode focusing on Rodex, and this didn't disappoint.

First of all, I have to say that I love how Rotom and Kukui have a bond between each other. It's nice considering that the dex used to be Kukui's. Man I feel like we haven't seen a Smeargle in forever. Just waiting for one to finally use an attack. Nice that they used Looker's music with the detective guy.

Shiron is so cute :3 And I lol'd at Rotom trying to use those binoculars to try to find Ash's tiny little Electurium-Z on the ground. It was nice to see Principle Oak putting up pictures of himself and Komala. And I of course enjoyed seeing that cute little Vulpix again. Shiron is still much cuter though. The part where Popplio was using her to practice his balloon skills was adorable.

I was loling the entire time everyone was freaking out over Kiawe finding out about Ash's missing Electurium-Z. It's hilarious how he totally spilled the beans himself. The scene of Kiawe furiously chasing Ash with Turtonator slugging behind was so funny. I was actually surprised that the Z-Crystal was stuck in Rotom's wig. I thought for sure it would be a scenario of Ash having it with him the entire time, like being in his pocket of something. So I guess that was nice.

My least favorite thing about this episode had to be Pikachu's extreme OOC-ness. Any previous version of Pikachu wouldn't be focusing on playing with a damn wig while Ash is counting on him to find such an important item. I literally wanted Rotom to smack Pikachu in the face each time he reached for the thing. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it many more times, but I HATE Sun and Moon Pikachu.

But minus that one annoyance, this episode was great. I hope we have more episodes focusing on Rodex in the future. He's certainly one of the best characters this series. 9/10.
 
My least favorite thing about this episode had to be Pikachu's extreme OOC-ness. Any previous version of Pikachu wouldn't be focusing on playing with a damn wig while Ash is counting on him to find such an important item. I literally wanted Rotom to smack Pikachu in the face each time he reached for the thing. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it many more times, but I HATE Sun and Moon Pikachu.

I thought Pikachu was doing that because he could tell the crystal was under the wig. Either through scent or somehow sensing it with electricity. I could be wrong but that's what I assumed the point of him continuously "playing" with the wig was.
 
In what way is world-building less in SM than previous series? If anything I feel like Alola is more three-dimensional than any of the other regions we've visited previously.

I also don't understand why show-stealing art/animation makes flimsy premises any flimsier. It's not like we've previously been treated to particularly more valid reasons for the existence of episodes.
If you had paid attention to what I said, you'd notice that I said that the series is more focused on characters rather than world-building, I didn't say there wasn't any. And I didn't say the premises are flimsier, just that they're not any better.
 
Please note: The thread is from 7 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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