Review BW112: Achroma VS Handsome! Plasma-dan's Conspiracy!!

[Adamant]

Which isn't a real goal as they haven't even explained why they're so interested in the White Ruins

They want to meet Reshiram. Pay attention.

 

[Silktree]

They want to meet Reshiram. Pay attention.

Which just leads to the obvious next question: Why are they so interested in Reshiram? Ash has never had his goal be focused on a particular Pokémon. If they knew about Ghestsis' plans to control Reshiram, that would be a different story. But as of right now, their motivation leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Adamant]

Maybe. But that IS the entire explanation.

 

[Silktree]

Maybe. But that IS the entire explanation.

I was well aware of that without your pointing it out. My point is that it is a poor explanation, official though it may be.

 

[ObjectionMan]

Ash is interested in meeting Reshiram because he met Zekrom in BW001, and there's a connection between the two Pokemon.

I guess this prooves that the postponed two-parter isn't postponed anymore, but instead officially banned.

Or it could mean they're being retconned into the current timeframe ala the fishing episode, like the Episode N opening suggests.

 

[Karamazov]

Holy shit. This episode was awesome!

 

[Ampharos King]

For an episode entitled "Colress VS Looker," there weren't too many moments in which the characters directly opposed one another. Really, the only confrontation the two characters had in this episode was between the radio signals that their machines sent out, in which Looker's machine was easily overwhelmed by Colress' pokemon power amplification device.

Aside from Team Plasma making their debut in the anime, this episode didn't stand out too much. It was nice to see Iris finally sending her Axew out to battle alongside Pikachu (something that should have happened a long, long time ago), but since there were only two Team Plasma grunts/pokemon and only four pokemon that Team Plasma controlled with the power device, the battles were conducted in duos. That meant that Cilan and Looker hardly contributed much of anything to the episode, which left a sour taste in my mouth.

The writers also failed to explain the significance of the control devices on the pokemon. At first it appeared that those devices were implanted to control the pokemon that are affected by the radio signal, but even the wild pokemon and the pokemon belonging to trainers in Flocessy Town were shown to be affected without those devices, although they were farther away from the signal's source. And why didn't Colress use the control device on Axew as well, since he was also out?

TRio also played some significant role in this episode, although their interactions were borderline comedic and serious. At first it felt that TRio was handled very seriously when they decided to hack Colress' data, but then they were easily overwhelmed when Team Plasma attacked them with a missile, and they blasted off here. It is also nice for the writers to remind us that Meowth is a pokemon and can use attacks, because Jessie and James used a metal brace to tie Meowth's limbs so he could not use Fury Swipes on them.

Overall, an average episode. Next week's episode should be one of my favorites for obvious reasons.

It's nice to see that Team Rocket's Blast Off is officially back.

TRio had been "blasting off again" since the start of Episode N.

 

[fidjnr]

Holy shit. This episode was awesome!

Best of Episode N (so far)

 

[Sweet Veil]

It's Johto with evil villian plot instead of gyms as key plot points. Regardless, nothing but filler inbetween to pad this out to October.

The main problem with this saga is that Ash and co. don't really have a goal. They just happen to encounter N and/or Team Plasma every now and then.

I don't see how trying to collect badges/ribbons/symbols is the only thing that constitutes as a reason for traveling.

 

[YamiiDenryuu]

It's been a thing for quite a while that Ash wants to meet as many people and Pokemon as he can on his journey, as last mentioned (I think?) in the Sawsbuck photography episode. Going to see Reshiram and the White Ruins is a perfectly good reason for him to keep traveling around Unova.

And it's never been confirmed that either of the Victini movies are "canon"... or which one of them is, for that matter.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Colress was good and was almost kie his game counterpart and I have a feeling when it shows him again in the future, he is probably going to be really interested with Ash's Pikachu again and may try and do some research on him.

 

[Silktree]

I don't see how trying to collect badges/ribbons/symbols is the only thing that constitutes as a reason for traveling.

It isn't, but Ash has only ever been driven about battle-oriented quests. Everything else has been a matter of being in the right place at the right time. When he takes a break from that in favor of something else, I expect to see the thought process behind the shift in direction, which isn't the case here.

It's been a thing for quite a while that Ash wants to meet as many people and Pokemon as he can on his journey, as last mentioned (I think?) in the Sawsbuck photography episode. Going to see Reshiram and the White Ruins is a perfectly good reason for him to keep traveling around Unova.

And it's never been confirmed that either of the Victini movies are "canon"... or which one of them is, for that matter.

You do realize that by this logic Ash has a reason to revisit every region, right? There are quite a few legendaries that he hasn't seen yet outside the movies.

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

You do realize that by this logic Ash has a reason to revisit every region, right? There are quite a few legendaries that he hasn't seen yet outside the movies.

It's still a valid reason, it doesn't mean he has to revisit them. It just means he can if he wants to.

 

[Silktree]

It's still a valid reason, it doesn't mean he has to revisit them. It just means he can if he wants to.

In other words, it's a forced plot device.

 

[Jukain]

Which reminds me, anyone else bothered by there STILL being Summer deerling? I know that this was evident a while ago, but is three months not enough to cause a season change? Did they not realize that? I thought the Japanese were more thorough than that. It'd be pointless anyway by now because we're not going to see all four seasons regardless. Not unless they pull the time warp shenanigans that caused the Sawsbuck.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

How do know? Maybe the Writers just want to make this Region a lot Longer since they flew through the Region to fast his time and want to go through the Region a little slower this time around.

 

[Sweet Veil]

-I expected a bit more from this episode but still I'm happy with what I got. Akuroma is absolutely creepy, his hard-on for Satoshi "bringing out the latent power" of Pikachu was just cringe-worthy. Though I still wonder whether Akuroma is morally gray or not, either way I liked his portrayal in this episode. The female Plasma grunt actually seemed somewhat important compared to most grunts so that was nice, I mainly was interested in her due to her role in the BW2 trailer and somewhat unique design.

-Kibago used Giga Impact, good to know he's capable of remembering moves he learns. Also glad to see Kibago actively participating in battles against the Plasma Pokemon alongside Pikachu, makes his future victories and achievements feel less forced and gives him some more battles he desperately needs.

-Meh...didn't care for Handsome too much, he honestly didn't interest me much this episode. I was hoping to see his Toxic Mouth frog debut and battle alongside him, I know he's one of the few characters in Pokemon skilled in hand-to-hand combat but still. He looked cool saving the gang from that Dragon Rage + Thunderbolt.

-Old Pokemon, awesome sauce. Koil and Golbat, always nice to see. This show also once again makes an ugly Pokemon cute-looking to me, I liked seeing Satoshi-tachi carrying those fainted Pokemon to the Center. More Kojondo in this show is also a good thing, especially, at least this time it wasn't used as death fodder for another fat Fighting-type.

Wish I could say more but everyone has pretty much captured mostly everything I've had to say, overall enjoyable episode.

 

[Sheep]

I really liked Colress in this episode; he was pretty much exactly like I pictured he would be in the anime, and I really enjoyed the plot with Handsome involved too! Honestly have missed the blasting off from Team Rocket too so having that back is a plus.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Yeah, You think the Season would have changed a long time ago and the Deerling and Sawsbuck would have changed into their Autumn Forms Yet.

 

[Cybersai]

So now that the old 2-parter is officially retconned, they better find a way to work it back into current continuity.