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Review BW109: The Araragi Institute! A New Journey!!

Dogasu

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Please use this thread to talk about the new opening and ending.

The Araragi Institute! A New Journey!!



Animation - Team Kato
Screenplay - Junki Takegami
Storyboard - Kazuomi Koga
Assistant director - Kazuomi Koga
Animation director - Tatsuya Annoura

Now that the Isshu League is over, Satoshi and his friends head to Araragi-Hakase's laboratory in Kanoko Town. On the way, they come across a new trainer named Nonomi. They cheer on this overly cautious girl to help her cross a stone bridge and then resume their journey to the lab. Later, Satoshi informs both Araragi-Hakase and Orchid-Hakase of what happened at the Isshu League and decides to head back to the Kanto Region. Just then, Nonomi arrives at the lab and asks Satoshi to team up with her and her starter, Pokabu, in a Tag Battle against Dent and Iris! Nonomi is enjoying her first pokemon battle when, all of a sudden, a mecha jumps out in front of Satoshi and his friends! Who are these three who have appeared in front of our heroes!?
 
I was pretty much entertained the whole time and it was definitely a nice episode after episodes of intense battling.

-TR FOREVER!
-Badass actions by TR
-Short but nice Battle with Iris' Discharge strategy
-Fun comedy!
-Nonomi entertaining!
- Araragi-Hakase and Araragi Hakase XD
-The whole episode surprisingly wasn't about harping over this new girl's new Pokemon
-Music, Rocket-Dan foever and BW2 Opening scenes.
 
i find it interesting that in the new intro, they have booker with team rocket behind him as if they are working together
 
if we have to go back to every single episode being half dominated by TR trying to steal pokemon i am going to throw myself off my balcony.


and did anyone else thing araragi really upped her arararara ararrara ratio?
 
Had Team Rocket more emotion is their voices and this would be much better. We had a lot of interesting features: Team Rocket's old motto, their new Pokémon were cool, Meowth baloon, but it's just the way they talk that makes them boring! When they were rising inside the baloon, the moment Jessie and James started to talk seemed so off! Their scenes would be so much better if they speaked just a little bit more enthusiastically.
 
I wasn't expecting much but I enjoyed this episode for sure.



- Nonomi was an interesting character and I liked her angsty dream sequences. Serpiroyal-strangling is something everybody should be afraid of...besides people who are into such things, of course.

- I liked the Muk cameo but I would have prefered to see more of Satoshi's other Pokémon. We didn't even get a whole group scene at Araragi's lab :/

- Dent and Iris went inside the lab to eat something during TR's attack, I guess? Why bother to help anyway?

- Hey, writers! The "classic" Team Rocket doesn't just consist of the ballon, the old Kanto motto and the blasting off ( to the ground? ouch...). It is more about the characters...but...meh...I didn't really like TR in this but I must say that I think that the situation felt kinda dangerous for once. I surely hope TR won't try to catch Pikachu in every single episode like this though, because with their character, or rather, lack of, I can't see myself enjoying this scenario.

EDIT: Forgot one thing: If I'll ever see this ember animation again I'm gonna scream.

strange...so much too complain about yet I liked the episode...sometimes I am just strange...
 
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This episode is exactly why Team Rocket need to go away and stay away. Yay - new Pokemon and a slightly different machine - same storyline and same result. The mid-episode interruption that they are is not what BW was missing. Make it stop.

Of course the COTD managed in one episode to figure out what Ash should have done in the other 700 or so TR appearances - return your Pokemon to a Pokeball and hold on to it! It's not really that surprising Ash took so long to remember he had Unfezant, he must have forgotten what he does with the regional bird he captures. Yet Pikachu got the balloon pop - boo!

Otherwise, the episode was okay, humorous at the start and things like Muk engulfing Professor Oak is a nice callback to the older episodes, though it would have been nice to see more of Ash's Pokemon.

So good episode except for the Team Rocket bit - you could review half of Johto like that.
 
well we already know they will be doing this again next week when N makes his introduction, so it seems like the old formula of pikachu catching is in the cards while N is around...
 
Muk!

Professor Overload! (Oak and Juniper Sr in the same episode... that's not going to be awkward in the dub, not at all)

Weird hybrid Rockets that have all the elements of classic Team Rocket (old motto, the balloon, James's standard grass-type) but still act like the BW Rocket bots! (but at least we got the motto, eh?)

I look forward to where this all goes... but I still have to wonder what the hell is Ash actually going to be doing in this arc? 6 whole months of him not collecting plot coupons from some kind of organisation of trainers? Blasphemy, I tell you!
 
The girl got on my nerves a little bit I was like whoa settle down there champ let's take it down a notch here BUT she redeemed herself by choosing Pokabu who is just the cutest little thing ever and wow he was just really adorable....why was she..thinking about sleeping next to all of the Pokemon before making her choice? Did she think they were going to kill her in her sleep or???? It was nice to see Muk again. The music in this episode was what really got me. Rocket Dan...I'm still not quite sure how I feel about that, I loved that they played the old Rocket song, but eh, I hope that they don't go back to being in every episode just for the purpose of being there. And WOW OKAY PAPARAGI saying something to troll them and none of them could handle it except Araragi was just like n___n

oh my god i loved this episode so much
 
...Atleast the "Who's that Pokémon" segment and Oak were somewhat amusing.

Everything irritated me in this episode. From Prof. Juniper till Shinko Nonomi.
 
Was it explained why Ash and co. are so eager to see Reshiram? Ash has never gone out of his way to find a legendary Pokémon. Why he would suddenly be so interested in one to the point of dropping his plans to return to Kanto and find a new battle-oriented goal? It is not as if they're already aware of Team Plasma's intentions.
 
I'm not a big fan of of Be An Arrow, but this theme song is a vast improvement even in the low quality version that I've seen.

CHARIZARD!!!

On another note, during the tag battle I kept thinking it was Satoshi using his Pikachu and Pokabu. Evolve yours quicker girl.
 
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