Review BW121: Plasma-dan Attacks! Ceremony of Revival!!

[garrison-san]

BW121 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Animation: Team Kato
Screenplay: Junki Takegami
Storyboard: Hiromasa Amano
Assistant director: Ken'ichi Nishida
Animation director: Tomohiro Koyama

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

That...was FUCKING AMAZING!

 

[Eitarou]

The best part of this episode was Krookodile's reaction to seeing the Team Plasma Pokemon. Oh, and Pignite and Charizard bro-ness.

 

[Crysta Blade]

Lovin' that Pignite and Charizard being bros. Best friends for life.

 

[Moe]

The only thing that could really have improved this episode is if they finally did something with the pledge moves. Snivy and Oshawott's movesets couldn't get any worse by adding it - they had yet another perfect opportunity to show off one of the few reasons Ash has for having all the starters and did nothing - it just seems the most obvious step after the montage of his Pokemon working together.

Another episode where Pikachu just going in its Pokeball would have saved the day - perhaps Ash needs long hair. Seriously Pikachu - Ash will do anything to save you, but you won't inconvenience yourself by being recalled to your ball for a few minutes to save him having to get seriously injured trying? I wonder what N thinks of that.

Anyway, why is it I end up sounding so negative about an episode I enjoyed? Charizard and Pignite were brilliant, though they kinda overshadowed Krookodile, a fact it seemed to notice. Charizard is a better Excadrill than Excadrill ever was.

 

[Ashs Battle Coach]

Pretty awesome episode. Loved the interactions between the fire types, and Krookodile was great. Kinda face palmed a little when Ash got all his pokemon and one of them was Krookodile. Spent all that time trying to dig your way out of somewhere and you had a pokemon that knows dig on you that entire time. But he got there in the end.

 

[Jukain]

I can't remember the last time the group has had to fight an entire flipping army of pokemon, if it ever happened at all. I'm kinda hazy on the details, but did the Power of Friendship actually NOT save Pikachu? It was N giving them Reshiram's ball. It is nice to see the entire gang get in on the action.

 

[QuietDragon]

This was definitely an action-packed episode, so there wasn't too much time set aside for dialogue. As such, the dialogue was all very simple and easy to follow (except for N and that's just because he's always speaking barely above a whisper), so this is an easy and enjoyable watch even without much Japanese language knowledge!

Waruvile provided some good comic relief in that moment when it finally broke to the surface, took one look around at the mind-controlled Pokemon (you came to the wrong neighborhood), and went right back in, only for Lizardon/Charizard to blast out almost immediately after. I loved the comedic timing of the scene.

N willingly giving up the Light Stone in exchange for the safety of Satoshi/Ash and his Pikachu, despite how much it meant to him, was something I was hoping to see, so this was very moving.

It was also sweet how N paid witness to Satoshi digging alongside Pikachu, showing concern when his paws were hurting, calling out the rest of his Pokemon to help, and also when N saw Chaoboo/Pignite encouraging Lizardon to battle. They were not only Pokemon willingly going into battle because it is what their trainer wants, but they were serious about winning it, and encouraging one another. It was a very good show of cooperation and camaraderie that I'm sure did a good job of convincing N.

... Handsome attacking the Plasma grunts like a madman with that pipe, I just don't know what to say about that... xD;; Aside from the fact that it was a good way to buy Satoshi enough time to call back most of his Pokemon.

Ghetsis showing up in person! Can't get on with summoning Reshiram until he informs N of his presently useless state. Isn't it enough that he's given up the Light Stone and his own goal for the sake of his first human friend, now lying, helpless and bound, on the ground? No? Fine!

Yes, you are right, Samurott, the power of friendship was not able to overcome the strength of Achroma's machine this time. I think it's finally complete.

 

[GurahkWeavile]

Charizard & Pignite - BROS 4 LIFE!!

Also...why is Team Plasma just controlling random Pokemon? Shoudln't the focus be on POWERFUL Pokemon like Reshiram? And...where is Zekrom?!

 

[Karamazov]

Anyway, why is it I end up sounding so negative about an episode I enjoyed?

The best reviews are ones made with love, but can still give a critical eye.

I really loved this episode. And I'm glad that the croc finally got to do something in Episode N. Since the plots have been mostly human-driven for a while, a lot of Pokemon didn't get the chance to shine.

 

[QuietDragon]

GurahkWeavile: Here, they weren't controlling random Pokemon so much as all of the Pokemon that COULD have been used against them. The archaeologists' coworkers, Satoshi's Pokemon, and the like. o/

In previous episodes? Those were all field tests. Achroma/Colress was testing his machine and generally, you test new things on large samples to see what your creation's limits are, so you can work out all of the bugs before you move on to using it on who or what it's meant for. o/ Up until this episode, he was always saying his system was still incomplete.

 

[GurahkWeavile]

GurahkWeavile: Here, they weren't controlling random Pokemon so much as all of the Pokemon that COULD have been used against them. The archaeologists' coworkers, Satoshi's Pokemon, and the like. o/

In previous episodes? Those were all field tests. Achroma/Colress was testing his machine and generally, you test new things on large samples to see what your creation's limits are, so you can work out all of the bugs before you move on to using it on who or what it's meant for. o/ Up until this episode, he was always saying his system was still incomplete.

Now that you put it that way...it kinda makes more sense....

 

[Sweet Veil]

I didn't think Episode N could get any better, it's always nice to be surprised. I thought this episode was stellar, I'll just start off by talking about my favorite part of this episode:

Satoshi and his Pokemon were the gems of this episode, I really liked seeing them all work together like that to tunnel through the cave, then again I'm a bit of a sucker for groups of people working together for one common goal. I just thought those scenes were fantastically done, I can't express how glad I am Lizardon wasn't the sole factor to them escaping. It took, not just Lizardon but, Mijumaru, Pikachu, Waruvial, Chaobu, Tsutarja, N, and Satoshi to get out of that place. People sometimes bring up the factor that Lizardon's return rules the other Pokemon obsolete, this episode is living proof such an idea is false. Though Mijumaru, Waruvial, and Lizardon mainly did the heavy work and excavating, Mijumaru's Hydro Pump, Waruvial's Dig, and Lizardon's, odd-yet innovative and highly effective, rendition of Dragon Tail to escape. Chaobu, Tsutarja, and Pikachu weren't left in the dust, they helped get rid of some of that debris for the plan to succeed. It was just so great seeming them all work together like that, the interactions between them were so choice. It was really cool to see Waruvial since he hasn't been seen since the league and nice to see a throwback to his timid behavior with him getting eyed by all the frenzied Pokemon and recoiling.

When it came to the battling, once again, I like how everyone did something. Chaobu's younger sibling-like concern for Lizardon was adorable, I like how he sounded like he was crying during that scene(Chalk that up the VA's emoting) where Lizardon lay on the ground and he protected Lizardon from more Shadow Balls. The double Flamethrower looked nicely animated too. Waruvial, not to let the Fire-types steal the show, came up with, all on his own, that powered up version of Dig and it looked awesome. Gotta like the way the Tsutarja and Mijumaru didn't wanna be left behind and willingly came up to the plate to help.

All those Pokemon were great and it reminds me just how much I enjoy his Isshu team. I've finally figured out the reason I enjoy them so much is because how vivid their personalities are. Naturally, because of how many there are, I'm not burnt out on them yet, because there's such a huge cause for screentime and battles that I find myself appreciating them even more when they do get it. I don't think I would get the same feel if Satoshi had stuck with his six core members from beginning to end.

Pikachu getting enraged by Achroma's machine was a great scene too, I like how it didn't take the Power of Friendship to get Pikachu back in check. It literally was a hopeless situation and it shows just how far Achroma's machine had come in such little time, all that foreshadowing, in the form of data gathering on Kairyu, Ononokusu, and a few other Pokemon like Nyasu, was leading up to this and I'm satisfied. The only gripe I have is how overpowered Achroma's machine was, if Satoshi-tachi can't use their Pokemon with fear of them going nuts then that puts them in a pretty grave situation with dozens of Lepardas, Dokkora family members, and Golugh around. Kairyu and Iwapalace had things in check from the beginning but still that machine stopped that fast.

Nice to see Ghetsis and the Ceremony of revival, Achroma rocked his role as usual. I still really like that scientist, he's just so fun to watch and brings so much to the table daily. N's subtle development with seeing the teamwork of Satoshi's team like that was awesome as well. Hopefully Satoshi throws Pikachu in Iris's hair next time. You just know there's a anti-laser and bullet-proof pocket dimension in there somewhere, probably in the closet in Kibago's bedroom.


My favorite overall moment was still seeing Lizardon play Doryuzu with Drill-Dragon Tail.

 

[Yamadora]

Indeed, this episode was pretty awesome. All the action, all the screentime Satoshi's Pokémon get...everything was awesome. The way how they dug out with teamwork and the use of moves (Dig, Hydro Pump, Dragon Tail) was really creative. And Waruvial's expressions were quite amusing when they surfaced.

Lizardon and Chaobu, fire type bros forever XD I just love seeing them both doing something together.

 

[Ampharos King]

This is one of the few BW episodes that I genuinely liked, and I am actually surprised considering how far into the series we are and how lackluster of a story arc Episode N has been up to this point. Prior to this episode, most of the Episode N storyline was either human-driven (with N, Team Rocket, and Team Plasma taking most of the screentime) or was focused on a select few pokemon (Dragonite, Charizard, and Meowth, and to a lesser extent, Pikachu and Pignite). It was about time that the writers returned to the original roots by having Pokemon and humans working together on equal terms and receiving a balanced amount of screentime.

I placed my review/episode summary in spoiler tags.

Spoiler

The episode starts out nicely with Dragonite and Crustle working together to fend off Team Plasma's pokemon and the pokemon belonging to Professor Juniper's assistants. It was nice to see Iris and Cilan working together for once; usually we have Ash/Iris or Ash/Cilan cooperating with one another. It almost felt that these two characters were in unison, and I am glad how much they contributed here considering the small amount of focus they got since Episode N began. The battles are proceeding into stalemates, with Colress (finally) deciding to control Dragonite/Crustle with his machine. In one of his rarest instances of straightforwardness and sincerity, Cedric Juniper tells Iris and Cilan to return their pokemon before they get controlled. This succeeds, but for some reason Axew gets a bit angry at Team Plasma, with Iris telling him to stop making noise or he too will be controlled.

Meanwhile, inside the depths of the White Ruins, Ash and Pikachu work together to escape their entrapment. N is still upset, but Ash convinces him to not give up even though the chips may be down. Ash decides to send out all of his pokemon to help them escape.

This episode is one of the very few times in this series in which Ash actually uses all of his pokemon to help out during an effort, and even one of the rarer instances in which Ash's team has displayed unique personalities and emotions, especially towards each other. It was funny to see Pignite attempting to mimic Charizard by blowing flames out of its nose when he was sent out, while Oshawott was standing next to him looking very nervous. Pignite definitely looks up to Charizard when he was trying to protect Charizard after it got knocked to the ground later on in the episode. When Krookodile got sent out alongside Snivy, he was folding his arms (as usual) and tilting his head to show off. Snivy turns away in mild disgust. Unfortunately, the pokemon aren't always drawn to scale during the scenes in which they are together. In one instance, Pignite was nearly as tall as Krookodile was, even though it should have been much smaller.

The pokemon (and soon enough Ash) work together to solve their problem, which greatly astonishes N since he was under the impression that pokemon must be separated from people. He helps out eventually.

With Iris, Cilan, and Juniper incapicitated, Angie orders Brad to have the pokemon find N and the Light Stone. With this in mind, the pokemon attack the ground. Krookodile pops out using Dig, and although he pretends to be calm when he sees the angry-looking pokemon, he quickly flees into his hole. This scene cements Krookodile as one of Ash's comic relief pokemon; most of the time he pretends to be the coolest pokemon around, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Charizard then shows up out of the ground and makes a ferocious roar. Krookodile, the other pokemon, and the humans rise up from the ground behind Charizard, seemingly more confident now that they have a true powerhouse backing them up. LOL Krookodile.

The next scene involves Charizard taking a few Shadow Balls from the Liepard, and is seemingly okay. But then Golurk's Shadow Ball knocks it to the ground... Many people think Charizard should have been much stronger than this, so it's a shame that Charizard got knocked down here, even though this scene led to Pignite's "older brother-younger brother" relationship growing. But even so, Charizard got back up immediately after Pignite protected it from another round of Shadow Balls. N notices how strong the bond between the two Fire-types is, before Ash commands his Pokemon to use double Flamethrower. Once again, Krookodile wants to prove how cool he is and creates a storm of dust and gravel using Dig. Oshawott and Snivy are impressed and don't want to fall behind. Ash has them use their respective strongest moves--Hydro Pump and Leaf Storm--on the pokemon. All five stand confidently together, with Pikachu cheering them from behind. N is amazed at how Ash is able to bond with his pokemon, so the writers having the pokemon work together kills two birds with one stone--having the pokemon show off their unique personalities and to work together, and to convince N that not all trainers harm pokemon.

Colress, once again, decides to use the machine to control Ash's pokemon. Iris and the others warn Ash to return his pokemon to their balls. Looker finally shows up out of the shadows to stop Colress from activating his machine, but he gets pushed back by Brad and the other grunts. Wow, Looker has been useless in this arc... Ash returns his five pokemon back just in time, but he does not do anything about Pikachu because Pikachu doesn't want to be in its Poke Ball. In the end, even Pikachu gets controlled by Team Plasma and starts to attack Ash's friends. Ash stands in front of Pikachu, telling him to stop attacking. However, the influence from Colress' machine is much stronger, and Pikachu electrocuted Ash. Ash still gets back up with the belief that Pikachu can break free of the control.

N realizes how fruitless Ash's actions are, and tells Colress that he will give up the Light Stone if Colress stops the machine. Colress agrees and N decides to give the Light Stone and himself to Team Plasma. Ghetsis finally shows up to the White Ruins via helicopter, and he decides to begin the ritual to revive Reshiram. N warns Ghetsis not to revive Reshiram, but he does not listen. Ghetsis' staff is glowing and the fire from the torches envelop the ritual site. A seal appears on the ground that continues to increase in size. Just as Ghetsis is about to summon Reshiram, N begs Reshiram not to come out and destroy them. The episode ends with Reshiram's revival ritual going on. Reshiram will be revived next episode.

Again, the good parts of the episode are that the pokemon and humans are cooperating with nearly balanced amounts of screentime, Ash sending all of his pokemon out at once, and Ash's pokemon showing up with their unique personalities in tow. Episode N had been very boring up to this point, even with Charizard's inclusion, so it is nice that the events of this episode remind us that it was not a waste of time for the writers to bring Charizard back. Even if Charizard was not brought back here and another one of Ash's Unova reserves showed up to collaborate with the other pokemon, it would not have been as momentous. Pignite probably would not have given way to protect Boldore or another pokemon if it got hit by Shadow Ball. Up until this point, Pignite was beginning to look up to and respect Charizard, which culminated in a mutual friendship with one another. We also got to see how much N has respected Ash since the start of the series; at first, he didn't agree with Ash using pokemon for battle, but then he was willing to give his life up so Pikachu won't be controlled by Colress' machine.

While this episode was very great in my opinion, I do fear that the finale of Episode N will be very rushed. It is expected that Reshiram will be revived and stopped, Team Plasma arrested, Team Rocket and Looker working together to stop Team Plasma, Iris and the others being saved by Axew, and N saying farewells to Ash and co. will be resolved in twenty minutes. Not a good sign. But at least Episode N can say that it will end strongly.

 

[Zexy]

Too bad nothing really happened down there (they were just stalling time for them to get out). Who cares, GHETSIS APPEARS IN PERSON!

This episode was far better than the previous one. Ash's Pokemon working together against an army of Pokemon and Ghetsis finally appearing in person before performing one of the best ceremonies ever was 10/10. Even the Red-Eyes Pikachu part was handled nice (I was really bugged when I found out that Pikachu was going to be possesed again).

However, I would like more of Team Rocket (they have really become a side-to-the-side threat since they don't do anything important in the majority of Plasma episodes!). Looker did nothing as well, and Colress' "Controlled" Pokemon list at Bulbapedia should have surparssed Ash's "At Prof. Oak" today... . At least, Colress got the most minor role since his debut, and he talked little to none (he was even stripped of the ability to control the Red-Eyes, which was Brad's job today...).

It is quite great as a climax (one of BW's best moments, pretty much like the DP 3parter), yet it could be better (if only TR and Looker were real allies). 10/10 to me.

BTW, The "Pignite/Charizard are like brothers" is pretty nice to see, and Dragonite not doing as much as Charizard but as Crustle was a good surprise (I have had too much). Oshawott and Cedric Juniper's displayed perfect seriousness and we got 0 gags (finally, we have a friggin' ceremony where no one's talking at the end, you can't act the way you do during the rest of the whole series!). I'm just pissed that they cut all the important things midway (first the battle, now Reshiram's true appearance).

 

[Metan]

I felt bad about how Handsome rushed recklessly with the pipe, instead of throwing it, and how the TRio's scenes felt so unnecessary, but I think that will change in the next episode.

Ash's Pokémon union to escape out there was amazing, and their characters were on the place. As pointed out before, that was a lost chance to debut the Pledge moves.

Also, what was that message pinging on the screen during Reshiram's 'resurrection'?

 

[Karamazov]

I felt bad about how Handsome rushed recklessly with the pipe, instead of throwing it,

If he threw it, he'd probably miss or just dent the machine. And without it, it would mean he'd be defenseless afterwards. Not that his failed attempt at a surprise lunge plan was much better.

 

[Zexy]

Just the fact he used a pipe as a weapon was lulzy! But don't forget how the same Handsome fought at the Shellos Galactic Episode :-O

BTW, what did Handsome say in order to stop Brad from using Magnezone?

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

Very good second part to the grand finale of Season N. It was nice to see the Pokemon working together as a team to fight the mind-controlled Pokemon. This could very easily make Season N the hands down best part of BW.