Review S16 EP21: Secrets From Out of the Fog!

[garrison-san]

BW118 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please remember to keep spoilers pertaining to future episodes inside spoiler tags.

 

[Sakuraa]

Woah, this was actually a really great episode. (Since I could actually understand it) We find out about N’s tragic childhood and his experience with Reshiram. Not to mention how Ghetisis used N and the girls for his own purposes. The Anthea, Concordia, and the Pokemon being wary of Ash and co. was cool. Those girls are way cooler/harsher than I thought. They totally ignored Ash when they were talking to them and kicked them out of their house. And even after N told them they were friends with their Pokemon they still didin’t trust them. Awesome

Moving on, Ash and the gang start bonding with the forest Pokemon. I still feel that Oshawott did not need to be in this episode, but once again that’s a minor detail. Maybe they just wanted small Pokemon so the wild ones wouldn’t have been intimidated or something. Anyway, Team Plasma starts attacking. I still think Ash should have used Charizard over Pignite, or at least used them together for more fire power.

Finally N, Anthea, and Concordia, call Ash and co. to them and say that Pokemon and people can’t really exist together or something like that. Then they vanish into the fog and Ash and friends are in the middle of nowhere. Weird.

I love these serious episodes and this one was great. 8/10.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

Not a bad episode at all. Actually, a really good episode. I really enjoyed seeing N's past, the Seven Sages, and such. It was a very interesting episode and I like how we got to learn more about N's rather mysterious nature.

I loved the part when they were bonding with the forest Pokémon. That's the kind of thing I don't usually see in the newer episodes, and a thing I've missed greatly over the years.

It's mostly been about "battles" and "friendship" if you know what I mean, but this episode was different, so I'm rather impressed.

The dubbers were giving it a very solid effort today, too, which I'm happy about.

Overall Rating (Dub): 9/10

 

[Darth Darkrai]

I do not know wo the Heck Voices Anthea And Concordia but they are really good to me and NO Clue who Voices Brad Either.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

I do not know wo the Heck Voices Anthea And Concordia but they are really good to me and NO Clue who Voices Brad Either.

Agreed. I liked Anthea and Concordia's VAs too. I think they were well cast. I'm unsure about Brad, since I wasn't paying much attention to him = LOL.

 

[Moe]

Cilan doing his best Neil Armstrong there.

Was that a goal I heard Ash utter!? Would be nice if this experience with N gets a callback in the future next time there's an abused Pokemon plot, even if it's not his main reason for travelling, it would be nice if Ash did a bit more to help out random injured Pokemon without capturing them, it's nice seeing him get angry over how some people treat Pokemon. I certainly liked seeing his quick bonding with the wild Pokemon.

Considering the sanctuary they had made in the forest seems to have helper Pokemon, it would have been nice to get a slight bit of backstory on Gardevoir, Gothitelle and Audino - just so we knew they were there because they wanted to be, something to explain away their Pokemon living free from people ideal, while they keep Pokemon themselves. As an aside, they really need to never show Gardevoir from that front on angle - scary.

N's backstory is an interesting way around the 2 year thing, though they certainly deemphasised N as the leader of Team Plasma - it would have been nice for Ash to feel a bit conflicted about N as leading that kind of organisation. I did like how Cilan had to explain the concept of not prying to Ash/Iris.

The battle with Team Plasma struck me as strange because it is the first time in a while where Ash didn't seem to stubbornly stick to the correct battle rules - it seemed to be 3 on 1 at one stage.

All round a really good episode.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Never Mind I know who Voiced Brad it is none other than Darren Dunstan who did a lot of voices in 4Kids and Stephan. Also EXTRA POINTS FOR A Magnezone in this episode.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

Never Mind I know who Voiced Brad it is none other than Darren Dunstan who did a lot of voices in 4Kids and Stephan. Also EXTRA POINTS FOR A Magnezone in this episode.

Awesome! I generally love Darren Dunstan's work. He was the voice director in the 4Kids dub of Pokémon from Seasons 6-8, too, IIRC. It's been nice to see him back as Stephan in BW.

I remember him most fondly for his Pegasus voice in the Yu-Gi-Oh dub!

Seto Kaiba: "This place is an outdated joke, but just like you, so I suppose it fits."
Pegasus: "Now, now Kaiba-boy, let's not get nasty...not just yet, any how" = You can interpret that so many ways. XD.

All kidding aside, he did a pretty good job with Brad today.

 

[Team Gaara]

Coming off of last week's episode, I did have some high expectations for this week and Episode N continues not to disappoint me.

I really like Concordia's Gardevoir's portrayal here. As evidenced by many Pokedex entries and PMD, Gardevoir is supposed to be very protective of its trainer, and I believe this is the first time that's been shown in the anime, iirc. I mean, damn, it will create a BLACK HOLE?! And then the way it looks at Ash like it's totally not kidding around...that was pretty cool, for a small detail. I also liked how it was shown running in front of someone when it felt they were in danger, even to Ash, Iris, and Cilan.

Now before we get too deep into the review, it must be pointed out that that Minccino being cared for was simply adorable....and moving on...

So we get to see N’s room, and thankfully not with the creepy music, though that would have been cool, I admit. I see now that Ghetsis really is a douche. I can fully see that now in a way that wasn't so clear to me, personally, in the games. It's nice to see just how manipulative he really was to N, Anthea, and Concordia.

And might I just add that Reshiram crashing down on the castle was just awesome?

Now Ash just has to go and say: "You met Reshiram?!" Like, seriously? -_- Has it ever been this blatantly obvious that the movies mean nothing? Or have I just never picked up on it before? DUDE! YOU MET RESHIRAM!

I have to say that I really enjoyed Athea and Concordia's personalities here. I mean, in the games they were pretty nice and didn't say much (hell, Concordia heals your Pokemon), but here, they were just brutal. I really wasn't expecting that. I also really liked their voices (not that I've heard the Japanese, but...)

I found it funny that Ash said: “Team Plasma!” like he normally would say: "Team Rocket!" And I really think Cilan should have used Crustle instead of Pansage, but his cool pose when commanding him to use Bullet Seed makes up for it.

It was also hilarious that Liepard was running away from Bullet Seed. Like, really, they aren't real bullets.

And then N and his sisters disappear.....wut?

Overall, a very good episode. It still had a more serious theme, but not as much as last week's episode, in my opinion. Regardless, it is still nice to see the Pokemon anime execute this. I give it and 8/10.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

He did all the way and I totally recognize him and his voice it is unmistakeable.

 

[valzz]

I really liked this episode. I thought N telling the story of his past was done pretty well. I also liked the look Gardevoir gave Ash for scanning him seriously? xD I just didnt understand why Oshawott was randomly thrown in but all in all good episode I'm starting to like the dub again

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

I really liked this episode. I thought N telling the story of his past was done pretty well. I also liked the look Gardevoir gave Ash for scanning him seriously? xD I just didnt understand why Oshawott was randomly thrown in but all in all good episode I'm starting to like the dub again

Same here.

This is Ash we're talking about. I love his trademark dense nature: it's hilarious. XD.

 

[Almonds]

So from this, we can see that Ghetsis had indeed planned to make N the King of Team Plasma, only that unlike the games, the coronation had been interrupted by Reshiram. This is one of the interesting twists the anime has given in this arc.

 

[DracoMan]

The flashbacks in this ep further demonstrate why the Plasma Arc should've taken up more of BW. We need more "show, don't tell" storytelling.

Anthea and Concordia were rather cold to Our Gang, but that's understandable given Ghetsis' brainwashing. And on the topic of them, is the teleporting fog one of their powers?

The girls accused Our Gang of leading Plasma to them. Wouldn't it have been interesting if they inadvertently had, possibly via some kind of tracking chip Plasma might've left on N? Then Plasma could've boasted about Our Gang helping them, and the girls would've gotten even more pissed.

 

[Fennekin]

A little off-topic, but the official website has the episode title listed as "Secrets from out of the Fog!" (The "from" and "out" aren't capitalized.).. Should "from" and "out" be capitalized?

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

A little off-topic, but the official website has the episode title listed as "Secrets from out of the Fog!" (The "from" and "out" aren't capitalized.).. Should "from" and "out" be capitalized?

Yeah, they should be, but I don't really mind myself. *shrugs*

 

[UnovaCastaway]

Capitalization shouldn't really matter in this situation, word choice should. Anyway, a good episode!

Yay, the Sages showed up in the anime!

I found it interesting that the anime had N "going to" be the king of Plasma. I was afraid they'd skip it entirely. The forest bonding scene was cute too. Why doesn't any media give more elaboration about Anthea and Concordia? BW2 gave us the most backstory about them, but even that wasn't too much. So, N calls them "companions" in this instead of "nannies" or "sisters." I loved how N brought up the emotional wounds, good quote there.

Did anybody else think it was funny when Iris and Cilan laughed after Ash stood heroically and said he wanted to be the best friend to Pokémon ever?

 

[SuperTrainStationH]

Is this the first time the anime series has suggested that Pokémon abuse is a widespread problem?

That house was FULL of Pokémon!

(though I'm actually sort of happy in that the darker aspects of my headcanon are somehwat confirmed by this.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Magnezone was the best best of the Whole Episode Again.

 

[Codface]

Another strong episode. Looking forward to the rest of this arc.

Even the brief cameo of Team Rocket felt better to me. Nice to see them moving towards a more useless comedy trio lost while following the twerps around. Just need Wobbuffet back now and I'll be happy.