Review JN037: I'm Back, Nice to Meet You, Alola!

[Jakob]

Well, it's nice to see the Sun and Moon cast again! Only problem I have is as mentioned by other users, it was a little bit rushed. This should been have a two-parter.

 

[SKYRYAN]

Yeah, I know. But they will return to Alola some other time so there will be a two parter.

 

[hiverstone]

Lol. Kukui and Burnet started dating, get married and had a baby in less than a year. That's what I call, efficiency.

And Kiawe almost fried Go, just to teach him that he was Ash real rival, even if Go never said otherwise. Which reminded me when people assumed Go will be Ash new rival.

Also, I bet Kiawe won't be that rude near Gladion.

 

[Johtohfiller]

HOLY SHNIKIES Miyazaki music AND THIS

Spoiler

 

[Malte000]

Is it just me or did they not bother to update the photo on the wall to the current art style (i.e. Satoshi’s bigger eyes, Pikachu’s face)?

Spoiler

 

[Yami-no-Game]

So around 9+ months pass, yet the writers will most likely say Ash is still 10 next time. Does that mean Burnett's child will grow up and one day become older than Ash because of the latter's Peter Pan syndrome?

Not this again. There's no indication that pregnancies in the Pokemon world last the same amount of time that they do in the real world. The anime's flow of time is so drastically different from ours as we've seen in the past so many times, but I'm sure that we'll be dealing with this 9-months-have-passed theory for the next few years. Sigh.

Also it's hilarious how Ash being the Alola champion was glossed over. All that hype from before was meaningless if Ash's accomplishment and champion status in Alola isn't even mentioned.

 

[emercrump]

Overall it was a good episode, but like others, the pacing and obvious need for a two-parter kinda ruined it a bit for me. And it felt really lacking(no Team Rocket, no Tapu Koko, no mention of Alolan Champion, Alola Team was pretty much just fan service, no Journeys Team interactions, Kukui only here for 3 minutes). And like others had mentioned it felt weird how Ash was so into Alola but he didn't act that way in any other region they've been to, I mean when he went to Kalos he didn't even bother to visit Clemont and Bonnie and they were in the same place.

And it kinda bothered me how nothing had changed. With the other returning companions they all had something different about them since we last saw them(unless you count Dawn for Japanese audiences but we hadn't seen her for longer so I excuse it), but nothing had really changed for the Alolan Gang, besides the baby.

I really liked how it was about Gou(I'm in the minority that loves him a lot) and his interactions are what saved the episode for me, but it should've been more Ash focused. And also Kiawe was kind of the only relevant person while Sophocles, Lana and Mallow were kind of just there. (Thank god Lillie wasn't in Alola or she would've hogged all the screentime)

I know they're going to come back to Alola but if they do the stuff I mentioned it lacked, I'll just be upset like "Why didn't you do this the first time?"

 

[Eclipsical]

Look at the determination on this bunny’s face, I love him.

Spoiler

 

[Marijus5]

Hey Boys, i wanna ask where to watch this episode

 

[Panky..]

Trivia: Not counting the Oak episodes when reserves appeared for obvious reason, this frame has 15 out of the 18 types present at once. (Ground, Psychic and Ice are missing). Has this ever happened before for main cast Pokemon?

Spoiler: Large image

 

[Kurolegacy]

Is it just me or did they not bother to update the photo on the wall to the current art style (i.e. Satoshi’s bigger eyes, Pikachu’s face)?

Spoiler

View attachment 136211

My God. It all makes sense now why Ash hasn’t aged and his appearance keeps changing. There’s actually 4 Ashes running around: The OS-DP/XY Ash who did physically age, The BW Ash who tied original Ash up in a closet until he escaped at the end of BW, the SM Ash and now the PM Ash. They all operate at separate times to not raise suspicions of this conspiracy but they got sloppy and forgot to alter this crucial piece of evidence when they mind wiped everyone. I’ve got my eye on you Ash 4.0.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

You know, as nice as all of these reunions were, it really could have benefited from being a two parter. Seeing Ash with his Alolan family again, and seeing Goh interact with them and Ash's Alolan Pokemon was great. I think they really needed more than one episode though.

 

[game3524]

This episode does not instill hope that the writers have any inkling as to what to do with the Alola characters. Just more of the same for gratuitous fan service, which might be enough if SM hadn't ended less than a year ago.

There is just not much you can do with them. This episode would have been fine if it happened 4-5 years later. It is hard for me to invest in a reunion special when the series ended less then a year ago.

 

[SammyW27]

Called it: Mallow and Sophocles didn't do squat!

 

[Kurolegacy]

Called it: Mallow and Sophocles didn't do squat!

I mean, when you consider the SM cast pecking order by the end of the series, not really surprising.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I wonder when Ash had the time to go to Alola and raise a team there without bringing Go with him, because that's rather impressive and dickish of him

It's really interesting to see what Lillie and Gladion have been up to while Ash and the others are reunited.

They were of Getting Things Done because whenever Ash isn't around, people can actually accomplish things, as seen with May, Dawn, and all the side story episodes

 

[L-05308]

Called it: Mallow and Sophocles didn't do squat!

Mallow at least made lunch and Sophocles said something

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Don’t mind Go getting the attention here, as he has often come across as a character who pouts when things don’t go his way (friend didn’t show up, Kiawe beating him), and since he literally has the Poke-Gods shining down on him with his insane luck, I thought it was cool to see him actually shout out what he desires, even if he’s pushed back by others.

Although, I would be lying if this still wasn’t disappointing in some aspects. I agree with Panky on the self-contained format the show is on. We may come back to Alola again (I would be shocked if we didn’t), but having an episode in the middle of no-where connect to nothing for God knows when is weird. I thought the Pikachu episode was randomly placed after Ash’s loss to Bea, and whilst the previous episode was fine in fitting, this honestly could have been connected after Ash’s rematch. I don’t hate Go, I think he’s interesting as a character, but I really thought Ash was starved for attention for his rematch with Bea, and seeing more development for Go, with it looking like Chloe will be getting attention next week as well, is weird.
I think Ash will lose against Bea now, and rematch her in Alola when she faces Hala.

Also, does anyone find it bizarre that Go was in no way shocked to see a different coloured Lycanroc and a species that has only recently been discovered in Melmetal?
The dude is shocked to see anything he hasn’t caught, so...

 

[Twilight-Kun]

...Did people not realize this was a Go episode, or...

...Who am I kidding, of course they didn't.

Be careful with those nostalgia goggles.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

Nothing wrong with this being a Go episode.As said before this was his firts time on Alola and also the first time he met Ash previous companions.So it makes sense.

However this does not mean I changed my opinion on him being a boring and meh character.

And those Five Rocket mons seconds. Best scene in the whole Season. It was there and gone. Is little things like this that give me hope.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ob2mtdjkw