Review S06 EP12: Hoenn Alone!

[Dogasu]

Japanese Episode 276: "The Parting with Pikachu"
American Episode 272: "Hoenn Alone"

Well, this is it. The Silver Conference is over, all of Satoshi's friends have left, and it's time for the show to ride off into the sunset.

Until next week, that is.

Post your thoughts about the episode here. Also, please avoid posting spoilers for events that happen in future episodes since this isn't the Anime Spoilers forum.

 

[Dogasu]

Well, that certainly was...anti-climatic. This did not feel like a series-ending episode--it felt like just another Jouto League filler.

Rurouni Kenshin could teach this show a thing or two about how to properly end a story arc.

 

[vanished]

After watching Rurouken all the way through... I have to say that the way that show finished Kyoto and drifted half-way towards Jinchuu and then into Shimabara, Fusui etc. is sub-par compared to the way Pokémon handles itself. At least Pokémon has a clear-cut series change - Kenshin ambled along setting up the way from Kyoto to Jinchuu and then just said "Hmmm... no."

Kenshin may be able to finish an arc, but it sure as heck can't start one properly ^^;

As for the episode, I'm going of a very long-memoried Japanese version I saw donkeys ago, but it's pretty decent from what I recall...

I'll have to wait until Tuesday to give a more intelligent reply... ^^;

 

[Shiksa ♥]

.....

Right away, I was somewhat disappointed, because I thought this was supposed to be the first AG epi, with best of all, Haruka May. Yes, this definitely did seem like a regular Johto filler.

Overall, I guess it was good for a filler. It was pretty cute how Ash and Pikachu were thinking of each other at the same time. Two things confused me: 1) Ash said in last week's episode, that he wanted to be like Gary and go to the Houen region alone except for his starter. In this epi, he said to Pikachu that they were going to the Houen region because of what they "promised Harrison." 2)The "Captain" was wearing clothes more like a regular sailor. Maybe I'm being a little picky.... ^^;

In one shot, I noticed Jessie's earrings were yellow-ish instead of green. Some people of been pointing out/complaining about her new hair color.

Well, not much to say here about this episode. :embarass:

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Yeah, was that really the captain? I mean, he seemed it, but as was said above, he was dressed like a regular sailor, from the games...

Of course, given Ash, it's possible he *said* it and the guy was playing along. What, like you can't see it happening?

Is it just me, or were the Rocket's eyes disturbingly large in this episode? It's especially odd on James...I can't put my finger on it, but there was something just plain bizarre about their eyes, in addition to being larger than normal...

It was so great to see Meowth and Pikachu team up again! I love those episodes! Although I thought Meowth changed his mind awfully fast. Maybe he didn't want to look 'weak' or something in front of his teammates...

And I can't be the only one who thought it was strange that none of the other trainers heard Pikachu screaming...

 

[GeneralStar]

I know I at least have said something about Jessie's gradually changing hair color before, but for once I wasn't intending to complain. She and James would look great in anything, though I will say I prefer her old pinkish-red color (*points to avatar*) to the currently more purple. But I digress--mere technicalities.

As far as their eyes go, from an artistic point of view, I think it's because they were a bit more rounded and not quite as angular as they used to be in the older episodes. Meowth looked subtlely different to me too, though I'm having a harder time placing the exact reasoning for that, and in my opinion Ash certainly looked older in his new gear (which is a good thing; he could stand to mature a bit more). Also, am I the only one who noticed the different pronunciation of Pidgeot's name?

All in all though, it was good, but nowhere near as good as I hoped or even expected for it to be. I guess the real adventure's going to begin next week, and even though I've seen the dubbed episode already, I'm still looking forward to it.

 

[TRF-chan]

Hey! *On the defensive* I LIKED this episode! But, I did catch some of what you were saying, such the weird pronouncing of "Pidgeot" (Pidgit? The hell?) and Jessie's hair color. Actually, I noted that a looong while ago. Ususally, if your hair color is going to change at all, it changes during childhood-adolescence (Mine was blonde until I was about eight, and it's been getting steadily darker since), and if Jessie were around that age, I could just say her hair was starting to look more like her mom's, but I'm not sure if hair does that in the early twenties...bah, probably just an oversight by the animators.

Also, on Jessie's hair, did it seem...shorter to anyone today? Or maybe it was just that the part near the end that usually sticks out a bit seemed even more stand-outish today (I guess she's running short on gel to keep it down ^_~).

I agree that Ash does look more mature with his new clothes, when there was a shot of him in them the first time, I sort of thought *_* woah, he actually looks closer to 14 now. Which is how old he SHOULD look by all rights.

I give it 10/10. As I said before, I LIKED it, unlike a few of you before me.

 

[GeneralStar]

Oh, don't get me wrong... I didn't dislike the episode or anything, it just wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. I guess since the dub has now reached the AG point of 'out with the old, in with the new!' I was kind of expecting things to pick up again right away (and especially after last week's episode), which I suppose might have been a silly thing to think. I've always been optimistic that way, though.

And yes, I too began to notice the hair thing quite a ways back... the first drastic difference was seen in Maemuki Roketto-dan, I think. In actuality, it's been subtlely changing hue ever since the beginning, when it started out as real, fire red and gradually just got pinker and pinker (now more purply-magenta) as the seasons have gone on. But hey, Jess isn't the only one; just look at the Boss' hair, which has not only changed color but actually fluctuated back and forth for a while there...

 

[TRF-chan]

I think James's hair did that too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it went from purple to lavender, to purply blue, to its current mostly blue color.

What is it with Rockets and fluctuating hair colors?

 

[Shiksa ♥]

Originally posted by GeneralStar
Oh, don't get me wrong... I didn't dislike the episode or anything, it just wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. I guess since the dub has now reached the AG point of 'out with the old, in with the new!' I was kind of expecting things to pick up again right away (and especially after last week's episode), which I suppose might have been a silly thing to think. I've always been optimistic that way, though.

Ditto.

I noticed Jessie's hair color a while back, just in random screenshots of the AG and stuff. I never really cared or made a big deal out of it.

I also noticed the Rockets' rounder/bigger eyes.

I didn't notice the Pidgeot thing, but my mom was wrapping stuff while I was watching it so I missed some dialouge. Meowth looked a little thinner to me.

Also...did Ash never earn the Rising badge? On the title screen, it was still shadowed out.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Originally posted by GeneralStar
Oh, don't get me wrong... I didn't dislike the episode or anything, it just wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. I guess since the dub has now reached the AG point of 'out with the old, in with the new!' I was kind of expecting things to pick up again right away (and especially after last week's episode), which I suppose might have been a silly thing to think. I've always been optimistic that way, though.

How would the dub affect that?

And the Risingbadge is there, it's just hard to see because it's a very dark image.

 

[Shiksa ♥]

Originally posted by Jirarudan
How would the dub affect that?

And the Risingbadge is there, it's just hard to see because it's a very dark image.

I think she means that in the US (otherwise the known as the dubbed episodes) have reached the point of AG, as of course the Japanese are well into the AG.

And the Risingbadge must be REALLY dark...I have this epi on tape, so I'll go look at it again now. Thanks. ;-)

 

[Orange Soda]

Can't say I've noticed Jessie's hair specifically, but it doesn't surprise me. The hues of just about everything have changed. A lot of brighter colors, compared to watercolor-ish looking stuff before.

And look at Ash and Misty. Watch last week's episode if you have it on tape. Look at what they look like during Misty's flashback, during the first few episodes. Then look at the two again as they look now. Before, they have really pale complection, and both about the same color. Now, Misty's a little pinker, and Ash has a tan.

 

[GeneralStar]

How would the dub affect what?? *is confused* I'm not sure what you're referring to, BJ... maybe HM's right, but I don't know because I don't quite get your meaning. ^^;

And yes, skin tones and the like have also changed, for all the characters. Not to mention Ash's and Brock's hair, the former of which is now portrayed more as being very dark blue and the latter of which has become more brown. James also has displayed some variation... I guess such things are natural to an extent in such a long-running animated series...

 

[Shiksa ♥]

I think the new hues are supposed to be improvements, because of the new and better animation (bigger budget, no?) that come around about the Casey/Larvitar epi. The skin tones are definitely an improvement. Differenciating hair colors I think are also meant to be better, although some people like the old colors better. Of course, as many have said, the fact that it is a long-running series can affect the colors used.

I was slightly confused too about what Jirarudan said, so I just figured that was what she meant. ^^;

 

[Trainer Lisa]

I also liked this episode! ^_^

Actually, I loved it! :-D And I think it was a very good filler episode because of everything that happened in it. But, I'll get to what happened later. First, I have to say that I really loved the scene at the beginning with Ash and Pikachu in the pool! It was good. And yeah, the captain did look like a sailor. Which was really weird....oh yeah, and I heard the misprounciation of Pidgeot's name too. Although, when I heard it, I just figured "Pidget/Pidgit" was a nickname that Officer Jenny gave it. Anyway, it was awful that so many bad things happened to Ash and Pikachu on their way to Hoenn. I mean, first Team Rocket stole Pikachu, then there was the problem with the ship's water tank thing, and then the 'Haunter' problem, and after that was the incident with Team Rocket's electromagnet. So Ash sure was right when he said that Pikachu had a big day! And, that still wasn't everything that happened, cause at the end Pikachu had a fever....I bet Ash didn't expect that. But, at least he got to see a few new Pokemon he'd never seen, which were Wingull, Pelipper, Sharpedo, and Wailmer. Well, we know he saw Wingull and Pelipper, but we don't know if he actually saw Sharpedo or the two Wailmer because they were in the water.

Overall, it was a great episode, so I give it a 10 out of 10!

 

[Zhen Lin]

This particular episode isn't a filler - it sets the stage for the next episode via the electrical illness.

If the electrical illness was also resolved - then it would be a filler.

On the other hand - it could be the start of multiple episode fillers...

 

[vanished]

Originally posted by James's Saiyan Stalker
I think James's hair did that too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it went from purple to lavender, to purply blue, to its current mostly blue color.

What is it with Rockets and fluctuating hair colors?

It's called Salon Roquét.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Originally posted by Zhen Lin
This particular episode isn't a filler - it sets the stage for the next episode via the electrical illness.

Yeah, I know. But, in my post, I was just going with what Haruka May said earlier, that it was a filler. Although, it's really a plot episode, because Pikachu gets a fever in this episode and that carries into the next episode, but I didn't notice that until after I made that post last night. So, I was going to ask about it, but I didn't have enough time to edit it.

 

[Dogasu]

It's filler all right. Having Satoshi finally arrive in Houen in the last scene of the episode doesn't save the episode from filler status in my book.

And the Pikachu getting sick subplot? It really isn't necessary, now is it? If Pikachu hadn't gotten sick, then it wouldn't have affected the story at all.

For those of you interested, I just finished working on the comparison for this episode, and 4Kids made so many little cuts to it that it isn't even funny. Just about every panning shot or exterior shot of the boat was shortened, and toward the end they started cutting out larger and larger chunks (you don't even get to see the Snap/Todd lookalike during the epilogue). I'm guessing that *maybe* these were all made because of the Duel of Screams stuff, but I won't be sure until Friday's rerun.