Review BW049: The Gym Leader is a Charisma Model! Kamitsure Appears!!

[WatcherMark]

And I don't have a clear translation, but did Bianca's dad really tell Ash if he lost he had to give up and return to Pallet?! Who made him the master of everyone?

I've got an image of Bel's papa holding Satoshi's hand and walking him back to Masara Town while lecturing him about why people shouldn't go on Pokemon journeys until they're eighteen.

Seriously though, that plot idea was ridiculous. Who the hell does that guy think he is anyway? It's one thing to stand in the way of your daughter's dreams (although, given Bel's performance he might want her to head home so she doesn't embarrass herself anymore), but to impose your rules on kids you've just met?! That doesn't make any kind of sense. I thought Cabernet demanding Satoshi replace all his Pokemon was bad enough, but this!?

Also, say thanks to Bel for being kind enough not to stick around for Satoshi's Gym Battle. I mean, she's going to have to come back here for the badge eventually (although I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't make the league at the rate she's going).

Also, Chobomaki's inclusion in this episode was completely pointless. You could have put any previously debuted Pokemon in its place and the episode would have lost nothing.

 

[AshK]

The problem with Bianca in my opinion is her choice of pokemon. She goes for the cute and kinda weak, except for her starter which I think is a great pokemon. At the very least she needs a shiny stone to evolve her mincinno. Darmanitan is a beast but I guess Oshowatt was still weaker than I thought. I wonder if her dad will make an appearance in the future so ash can get a rematch, or challenge his daughter so she can really prove herself .Can't wait for the gym battle next week. Ash should have an advantage since he has seen Elesa battle but watching a gym leader battle before a match didn't help Ash with Roark the first time so we shall see.

 

[Cybersai]

Bel's Dad challenged Ash to a battle and if he won Ash had to end his journey and go back to Pallet Town.

LOL, why would Ash end his journey because he lost to this random guy? What did Ash say after he lost to him?

 

[Likeitornot.]

I was pleased that Bianca's Father was shown in the anime (as the scene with Bianca arguing with her Father was what made me like her in the games), but disappointed overall.
I mean, Bianca's battle was embarrassing and short, which was such a pity, I'd really like her to win it, just to shove it in her Dad's face. It feels like it's a joke, her battling record, and that disappoints me ever so slightly. The terrible thing is, I knew she'd lose.

Ash's battle with her dad, didn't effect me, except for... what on earth was he wearing?! I don't know, I just would not like to see my father battling in such an outfit.

Elesa was grand- I hope the next episode will be more interesting to watch.

 

[Yoshi-san]

LOL, why would Ash end his journey because he lost to this random guy? What did Ash say after he lost to him?

He pretty much sulked a bit. THough Iris said something about it after and he yelled at her XD

 

[pharaohyami5000]

I think I've seen this kind of battles somewhere. Ah yes. Elesa VS Bianca looked like a cop out of Ash VS Trip 2nd battle. Ash VS Bianca's Papa, uh... hmm. Seem to be similar to Ash VS Iris, except executed poorly. Aqua Jet could have been used as an evasive move to go behind the Flare Drive, then Oshawott would slash Darmanitan with Shell Blade. Would have been more interesting to see it pull Psychokinesis, but... Flare Drive, Fire Punch... I forgot the rest if there were any. Point is, the available moves were shallow.

Elesa's debut was great though. I thought this would be another 1 hour show. Shame.

 

[Masurao]

LOL, why would Ash end his journey because he lost to this random guy? What did Ash say after he lost to him?

I don't think he said much of anything really he just fell to the ground defeated, and then he just raged at w/e Iris said about him going back to Kanto.

Though, I really don't see the point of Ash losing to her dad. I guess the writers just like trolling Ash. He truly is the butt monkey of the trio.

 

[Hellion]

I liked this episode... kinda. There were a lot of things about it that worked, but combined together, it didn't quite click enough to make me go gaga over it.

Good points

+ Bel. I said it before and I'll say it again, there's something about Bel that just makes me care about her, that makes me root for her and feel invested in her story. This episode was no exception. She was loveable, had some heartbreaking moments and some heartwarming moments.

+ Satoshi. Wow an episode that makes Satoshi likeable... it's so rare nowadays. But I love how Satoshi tried to help Bel, tried to show her she was part of their circle of friends, wouldn't back down from the fight.

+ Dent. Subdued presence from Dent, but I actually liked how dialled in he was to the whole thing and how concerned he was shown to be.

+ Interactions between the trio. I'm of course talking of Satoshi, Bel and Dent here, because from that first scene, that's what they really felt like, a trio. It was nice to see Satoshi feel legit concern for a female character in Best Wishes and feel affected by what she said, by what happened to her. There was that definite feeling that the three really cared for one another.

+ Kamiture. Girl can walk, Girl can smize! I loved her modeling, her ninja jumping to fangirl over Pikachu, the stealth bitch vibe I felt frm her every now and then, etc. I still think the writers could have pushed it a bit further.

Lukewarm points

- Iris. I liked the scene where she helps heal Chobomaki and I liked that Satoshi snapped at her, but that's about it. I'm glad the writers tried to include her into the dynamics of the other three, but to be honest, it didn't really happen. She felt like the odd man out and her concern read a bit fake. A for effort but the end result was a failure.

- Satoshi losing to Hihidaruma. I'm gonna disagree with a lot of people before me and say that the feminist in me is glad Satoshi lost to Hihidaruma. Satoshi winning would've had turned Bel into a damsel in distress that needs some guy's help to solve her problems for her. The feminist in me is disappointed that Satoshi battled in the first place though

- Bel's father. He failed to make an impact in the beginning, then turned into a really unlikeable character, and then took a turn for the better. He suffered from what this episode suffered from as a whole, he was neither here nor there.

Bad points

- Battles. They were fast, unimaginative and boring. Period.

Overall, I feel the reason this episode gets a close but no cigar from me is that it was unfocused. It needed to either go full on drama or full on comedy. I felt the writers didn't really commit to one or the other, went for both and in the end, achieved neither completely. Still a good episode, but not a great or overall memorable one.

 

[Eitarou]

You gotta give Oshawott props, though.

He took a beating and lasted much longer than he should have...

 

[Aestivate]

I. Love. Kamitsure. She's so BA, and her voice is amazing, and her personality is way more interesting in the anime than it is in the games. She's so tall and fabulous and agassfsagagahgds.

I felt bad for Bel the entire episode. The bgm used was very sweet during the sad scenes and Bel worked so hard. ;_;


But... The premise of the episode was pretty fail. It is not progressive at all to have the hero fight for the honor of the girl. Seriously, wtf? And this doesn't make competent at all, it just derails her character by making someone else fight her battles for her. I know she tried her best and everything, but... legit, standing from the sidelines merely going "Satoshi-kun...~" does not make for a compelling rival, as fun as she is as a character. However, I really enjoyed Satoshi/Iris/Dent during the scene where they were supporting Bel. It was a really sweet scene. I just... I'm annoyed that Bel can't support herself, is all.

And Bel's dad is kind of a jackass. What kind of promise is that?! Making Satoshi promise he would go back was incredibly dick. And Bel forgave him just like that? =___= That was BS.

I liked how honorable and honest Satoshi was though. Good development for him, just... not for Bel. Joke rival forever ?!??!!?!

 

[Baron Dante]

I got the basic gist of what was all this talk, but what was the reason for the father-creeper to want Bel back home to begin with?

Other than that, my main question would be... was there anything on who this guy is? I mean, he did beat Miju at a type disadvantage, and he had a set of cool clothes. He has to be someone to pull that off.


I kinda guessed it beforehand the episode would play mostly like this. Bel arrives, get smashed by Elesa, then we have fatherdrama. C'mon, at least surpise me writers.

I'm surprised only at two things: Ash didn't use Pokabu. With Flame Charge. And why didn't we have Chaobu's and Zebstrika's Flame Charges collide? I was sure we'd see that.

...writing this made me notice how inconsistent I'm with english/japanese names.

 

[Eitarou]

At this rate, Bianca is never going to have a win, is she?

It's Barry all over again...(Ignoring his fight against Gible)

 

[Aestivate]

I can't find myself investing in a character that is so much of a joke. At least Jun was halfway competent and we see Bel battle more often than we saw Jun battle... Has Bel even ever had an on-screen victory or a loss where her opponent actually struggled/was put on his/her toes?

 

[Eitarou]

I can't find myself investing in a character that is so much of a joke. At least Jun was halfway competent and we see Bel battle more often than we saw Jun battle... Has Bel even ever had an on-screen victory or a loss where her opponent actually struggled/was put on his/her toes?

She hasn't had an onscreen victory period. (Minccino's capture doesn't count. It caught itself...or something like that...)

But Zebstrika did look like it was getting tired when it was fighting Pignite.

 

[Aestivate]

Well, considering Zebraika curb-stomped the rest of her team, I can't blame it for getting bored of its easy victories >________>

 

[Bandit Keith]

Ash lost, Bianca lost, episode lost.

Oshawott hype for nothin, Elesa for free.

Terrible episode. I hate Bianca even more now, and her dad is a douchebag.

I am starting to believe that the writers are going to be lackluster about rivals during this set, then have a Trollbias win the league(N with Reshiram?).
Bianca, Trip, Burgundy, Luke and Stephan are boring, so I want either a new rival for all but Iris, Introduce N, or turn Dino into Ash's new and well written rival.

Elesa was a peach, on the plus side. More of her FTW!

Overall score:1/10

 

[Reivaxe]

I actually really liked this one lol!

It shows not only how horrible Bel is as a trainer but also as a person seeing as she can't support herself and even ASH can't win when standing up for her through battling.
And ontop of that the Otter got what he deserves for his cockyness.

Very funny that the only Pokemon of hers that could stand up to the Zebra was the one that she was gonna trade for a random Zorua. (I wonder what happened to Luke. I choose to think that he got tried of her trying to steal his Zorua and cut an angry promo on her ... one so strong and angry that it got her to leave him alone)
I would like an episode where Pignite stops obeying her (pissed that it's the only one on her team that can DO anything yet isn't respected or cared for as much because it's not cute) and Iris could help her understand it's feelings to make some use of the Dragon Buster Episode. That could be her wake up call to get her issh together.

Maybe then she will be a bit enjoyable ...

Wish Iris and Dent did more but hey, it was a Bel episode and it seemed like they did enough.

 

[MizuTaipu]

Despite all of this episode's shortcomings, this episode was pretty good. Kamitsure's introduction was nice and the rollercoaster ride looked like fun! I wasn't a big fan of how easily both Bel and Satoshi lost to their opponents, though. >.> Apparently, Bel's going to the Resort Desert next. I wonder what she's going to do there?

 

[Cybersai]

So in other words Bianca is supposed to be a loser?

I never understand why they have a rival always be a loser each gen. Back in DP it was Kenny and to a lesser extent Barry, but at least Barry was still a decent battler.

 

[Eitarou]

Give her time, she'll improve. Unlike another blond, orange person, she was introduced early and has time to grow as a person. Maybe now she'll finally get stronger, make better choices in her battling, and even win a battle.

.........Well, that was out of character for me.

Oh god, I think this episode actually made me...like Bianca.

*Runs out screaming*