Review HZ003: As Long as I'm With Nyahoja, I'm Sure

[VetProf]

It's nice that Amethio mentioned he had zero intentions of using Sprigatito as a bargaining chip, and that he would handle the situation "his own way" (notice how both outcomes of his battle with Friede would've ended up with Liko reuniting with Sprigatito). Coupled with the fact that Amethio was the one who immediately saved Sprigatito when it got blown off the ship last episode, I think it's building him up to be a very interesting antagonist with principles instead of just a straightforward bad guy. I'd even go further by saying that he might've intentionally left an opening for Sprigatito to be rescued by Liko, but considering how genuinely surprised he was at their escape, that might be reaching a bit too far.

I like that the other members of the Explorers got some screentime as well. The dude has been shown to be a fairly serious and competent lackey so far, I'm curious to see what else he'll be doing in the future. The lady got a lot of focus too, it was nice seeing her pamper Sprigatito and her personality kinda reminds me of Jessie. I don't mind that Liko managed to "beat" her so easily, since the lady made the right choice of sending out Skarmory but got caught off guard by Sprigatito's immensely powerful Leafage (which seems to be an actual plot point leading to something).

Putting aside the Explorers, the Rising Volt Tacklers also got plenty of scenes to show off each individual member's personality and their chemistry together as a crew. I like the gag of Friede constantly jumping straight into things while constantly forgetting to explain stuff to others beforehand (and how the rest of the crew seems to be accustomed yet perpetually tired of it). Murdock and Mollie seem to be very nice and supporting characters too (side note: Mollie refusing to step foot in the Pokemon Center does seem to be suspicious, and the theory that she's related to Nurse Joy is interesting as well). Orio's really nice too, given her role of supporting the crew from the backlines as a mechanic. I really liked the scene showing her working with the Pokemon to repair the ship. Some may call these scenes "pointless", but I think it helps to make the crew feel livelier by reinforcing the crew members' personality and role on the ship in a very natural way without feeling too intrusive to the episode's main plot.

Anyway, one of the most intriguing parts about the Rising Volt Tacklers is definitely Ludlow's low-key presence on the ship. I like that one little scene showing him noticing the presence of the nearby Explorers member before being distracted by his fishing line, it shows that there's more to him than meets the eye. And speaking of that...

Who said it was a live stream? VODs exist.

Yes, it is very likely a VOD/prerecorded video. You can see the video's progress bar at the bottom of the screen, indicating that it is either a VOD or a livestream that allows rewinds (i.e. Liko would be watching a livestream, but rewinding to watch earlier parts of it). The former is the more straightforward assumption, so I'm just gonna go with it (note that the previous Nidothing segments also had the same overlay, so it's possible that all of them were also VODs/prerecorded videos). Assuming it really is that, then the fact that they showed Liko watching it right after a scene featuring Ludlow is actually further hinting towards the possibility that Ludlow is Nidothing. Watching the opening several times further affirms this, considering all the other hints there.

Overall, I thought this was a pretty decent follow-up episode for the first two episodes. We got more scenes that help to flesh out both the Rising Volt Tacklers and the Explorers, as well as moments focusing on Liko to help affirm her decision to go on an adventure with her newfound crewmates.

 

[BigDocFan]

Just heard an interesting theory about Molly, is she related to a Nurse Joy or something like that

Could explain why she never went in the Pokemon Center

 

[Eclipsical]

Not sure how that is an indicator that this is the same universe as when Ash was the protagonist.

Them going out of the way to include the exact same Pokemon the various Nurse Joy in all the regions used throughout the previous series when they didn't need to seems intentional to me. I'm not gonna act like its explicit confirmation, but the fact that they included it at all is interesting.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

I find it funny how in that scene all the Pokemon were wearing Nurse Uniforms but then the two Indeedee's were just Indeedee without anything special.
(Which I am aware is accurate to Journeys when it showed it that one time)

 

[Poke Trey]

These 1st 3 episodes are so good and the fact that Ash and others haven't been seen shows that they seem to be comfortable doing more of these things off the cuff and becoming even more original that in Journeys. I'm really looking forward to this show every week!

 

[PokeMasterLA]

It’s nice to see that Nurse Joy is still a recurring character in this new series, I’m sure we’ll eventually see officer Jenny at some point as well.

It’s nice to see a familiar face in a new series that has completely new characters. I’m hoping Megan Hollingshead will continue to voice her in the English dub.

 

[techitisJ]

A solid follow up episode to the first two. While not as action packed as this last one, I did appreciate the bits of action that we had. And of course I loved getting to see more of Liko and Friede's crews personality, and even a bit of one or Amethio's goons.

I like the little bit we have seen of Conia's personality thus far. She kind of seems like a fusion of Jesse and James, but at the same time there's something different about her. The little bit we've seen from Amethio is also intriguing. I definitely think there is something more to him beyond cold antagonist.

Mollie might be my favorite character in the series so far, though Liko and Friede are close seconds. While it's possible she might be trying to avoid Pokemon Centers, I think her refusal to go in this time was for a different reason. It was kind of like she was acting as a big sister to Liko, trying to push her to come out of her shell and go interact with other people.

I am still loving what I am seeing of this series so far. I know we are just barely into it, but I find I can't wait to see more.

 

[skynerel]

Conia throwing her groceries and running away was very funny lol

 

[JollyYoshi]

Friede also mentioned that they can’t adventure without money. Something that never mattered in previous sagas hehe

I think they’re trying to make the series more realistic plus Friede and co probably need more supplies than Ash did. They probably did all the money stuff off-screen though.

I do agree with you that it’s not such a big deal. Needing money to adventure sort of fits the vibe of this show

 

[Midorikawa]

I really love how often they have Pokémon helping out alongside the humans. I hope to continue to see it. It really adds to the world.

I had a feeling Amethio saved sprigatito to save it and it looks like that feeling was correct. They definitely don’t seem like bad guys to be bad guys. I’m sure they’re doing a job they were hired for. I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end they end up teaming up with the volt tacklers.

I don’t think Mollie was avoiding the Pokémon center. I think she was just using it as a learning opportunity for Liko, or a distraction to keep her mind off Sprigatito. I would also place her as Nidothing out of all the crew. If not her then someone we haven’t seen yet.

Also does anyone else think Likos grandma kind of looked like Crystal?

Lastly who designed Liko? The bag in her chest looks so bad. We’ve only seen it in the opening and ending but omg I hate it so much.

 

[ena9219]

Friede finally explains what is going on (better late than never and late explanations are probably the best anyone is going to get from him), Conia spontaneously develops a cute Pokémon loving personality (an improvement over the generic villain from the first two episodes), Nurse Joy turns out to be the first character (and hopefully not the last) from the old anime to show up in this one, Sprigatito is rescued through good planning rather than brute force suiting our relatively thoughtful protagonist, Anne unexpectedly gets a little more screen time (hopefully this will continue), and Roy makes his debut, proving to be a particularly excitable child (no surprises there), it's a bit soon to say for sure but my first impression is that he will contrast nicely with Liko without being a copy of Satoshi.

Overall, the pace has slowed down a little but the episode is still quite entertaining.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

Lastly who designed Liko? The bag in her chest looks so bad. We’ve only seen it in the opening and ending but omg I hate it so much.

Ken Sugimori made the original design but it might have been edited by the Anime Design Team

 

[skynerel]

I had a feeling Amethio saved sprigatito to save it and it looks like that feeling was correct. They definitely don’t seem like bad guys to be bad guys. I’m sure they’re doing a job they were hired for. I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end they end up teaming up with the volt tacklers.

If this turns out to be true there might be a villain pulling strings from the shadows and if that’s the case I wonder when this potential character might make an appearance or what his intentions may be.

 

[Nicolas721]

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to combine the typical relaxed filler with plot stuff, but it's still a decent episode. We got to know more of some characters, the animation was nice and I'm sure the scenes where Liko bonds with Sprigatito and joins the Voltaklers will become nostalgic through the time.

The ending...Well, it follows the same line of the endings who shall not be named, but still manages to be decent. Partly because it actually uses the human characters, and partly because the chorus actually sounds cute. Hopefully it doesn't last a year and a half.