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Review XY112: The Master Class Begins! A Maidens' Fierce Fight Where Sparks Fly!!

^God knows, I didn't catch any explanation.

I liked the heartfelt convo between Serena and her mother over Skype. Poor old Millefeuille and Nene (especially Nene - imagine getting shafted for Musashi!!), nice to see them shed some tears and not take it like grown-ups. There was a delightful lack of unnecessary drama in this episode which I appreciated.

The animation was odd - some bits were really good and some were noticeably not. Also, more of a character design thing, but how come so many of the female characters only have lower lips? I counted 4 in this episode - Serena's Mama-san (who was incidentally wearing a really ugly brown suit - nice touch), Elle, Yashio and Sophie.
 
I've never been a fan of Showcases, and this episode did nothing to change that. Apart from the inherant sexism based towards a competition for girls that mostly involves dressing up, dancing and cooking it just doesn't hold any excitement for me. I was hoping the Master Class may spark my interest, but no. It's pretty much the same as any other with a few more fireworks. The Grand Festival, at least, always had a huge sense of occasion about it while this just feels like a slightly more complex heat.

What this episode did have, which we haven't seen for a while, is other people watching at home. I was pleasantly surprised that Satoshi's Numelgon made a cameo as well.
 
We've seen Jessie get her five Sinnoh ribbons (including the ones from James and Salvia) onscreen. How could she have gotten two more keys when the status quo forces her to follow Ash and try to steal Pikachu and/or the Pokémon of the Week all the time? Also, I'm betting my three Shiny Maractus that either Shauna, Miette, or Nini will win the Master Class Pokémon Showcase next Thursday. Because May and Dawn didn't win the Grand Festivals they were in, I have complete doubt that Serena will win.

And it is good to see Goodra making a cameo after being released. That probably won't mean anything, however, because cameos during major events are common, especially for Grand Festivals and Leagues.
 
We've seen Jessie get her five Sinnoh ribbons (including the ones from James and Salvia) onscreen. How could she have gotten two more keys when the status quo forces her to follow Ash and try to steal Pikachu and/or the Pokémon of the Week all the time? Also, I'm betting my three Shiny Maractus that either Shauna, Miette, or Nini will win the Master Class Pokémon Showcase next Thursday. Because May and Dawn didn't win the Grand Festivals they were in, I have complete doubt that Serena will win.

And it is good to see Goodra making a cameo after being released. That probably won't mean anything, however, because cameos during major events are common, especially for Grand Festivals and Leagues.
?

Did you not see Miette and Nini losing?
 
Do you think this means that Satoshi will get some watchers this league? *fingers crossed*

I hope so, but I doubt Misty, Brock, Gary, May, Max, Dawn, Piplup, Iris, Axew or Cilan will cameo at that point. Those who cameo would more likely be his mom, Professor Oak, Tracey, his home Pokémon, Goodra, and anyone not a Character of the Day he met during his Kalos journey.
 
The people of Kalos can download the showcase app on their iPhones?

This whole arc has just been one silly mess
 
It's really a shame that we get to see Serna, Nini, Miette, and Jessie's performance, and not Shauna's.
Am I mishearing or did Musavie actually called themselves "sexy and gorgeous"?
She was amazing , btw.
I think she did say that.
 
I am dying. I'm laughing way more than I probably should. There were only 27 Performers competing in the Master Class of Pokémon Showcases. TWENTY SEVEN. This is not a major tournament, guys. In no way is this as challenging as the Pokémon League Conference or the Grand Festival. This could very well be organized by Don George.

I once commented how Showcases are small tournaments especially when compared to Pokémon Contests. There are usually six Performers competing in the Freestyle Performance after successfully clearing the Theme Performance in which they were divided in groups of three, so that gives you 18 Performers per Showcase. A really small number. I remember May was the #50 Coordinator to be called on stage in the Slateport Contest. And now we know that an ordinary Pokémon Contest has more contestants than the ultimate Pokémon Showcase. Guess you should have allowed boys to compete!

Good to see that Grace came all the way from Vaniville Town to support her daughter, that was a nice touch. I find it amusing that Grace has a new outfit while Serena and the other Performers are using the same old dresses, with the notable exception of Kalos Queen Aria. She looks gorgeous in her new dress. She is simply amazing. If there's one thing I'm going to miss with the end of Showcases is Aria and Pierre. I like them both.

The competition itself was very underwhelming in my opinion. Both Miette and Nini being eliminated in the very first round. Why? I hated it. After that we got still shots and POOF! we're in the semifinals now. And the performances of the first round were too short. This was too rushed. Shauna's performance wasn't shown. I really don't understand how am I supposed to care about Shauna if the writers don't care about her. I was initially pissed off that Jessie's strategy to win this consisted of spamming Shadow Balls (though I must say she was clever to cover her opponents in smoke), but at least we got to see her performance. Shauna wasn't so lucky.

It was sad to see Miette crying and then congratulating Serena or wishing her luck (I don't know what she said). It must be devastating to get three Princess Keys only to lose in the first round. Speaking of Keys, the writers failed to explain how Jessie got hers. Okay. So much for decent rival treatment this saga.

So the Master Class lacks a thematic performance, huh? I am surprised. I was thinking Pokémon Styling would return so Serena could excel in an activity she once failed, but nope. I'm not complaining, I probably wouldn't like if the writers introduced a new theme. All these Theme Performances were horrible and it's good the writers decided to skip them.

For me the highlight of this episode was Aria appearing on stage. I am looking forward to the next episode because of her. I hope she delivers an excellent performance. Vivillon is one of my favorite Generation VI Pokémon and I'm happy she'll be performing alongside one.
 
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