Review JN043: Sword & Shield II - Black Night

[dawn dusk]

I’ll change my stance

I am sure you have to

Spoiler

 

[Kairyu]

The animation in this and the previous ep has been atrocious. Any kind of action sequences looks like they are in like 2 FPS. Laughably bad.

 

[Panky..]

Yay, new format for the write-up.

• ++ This episode focuses much more on exposition regarding the Darkest Day, character development and dialogue heaviness - the latter two being stuff that I really love every time it happens - and we even get Leon/Sonia backstory and some battle action to boot. Sonia’s motivation to be a Pokemon Professor is tied to her and Leon becoming somewhat distant after being left behind when Leon became a Champion, this was a really cool set up (it seems this episode confirms Leon to be the Galar regional Champion in a way, since I doubt he became the World Champion at a younger age).
• ++ And speaking of Leon, I love the expansion of his character and the little parallels/similarities they drew between him and Ash especially when their trainership and Rose factored in, giving us a hint of what Ash’s future may look like. As well as the fact that they showed Leon as a person rather than as the title he holds (this Pro point is shared with the previous episode), going around solving the ongoing issue and looking into the mystery behind it, because he genuinely cares about his region and the people/Pokemon within rather than because it’s some obligation (I wonder why no one else is volunteering to help him outside of Ash, bad world building?). The episode also continues to highlight how serious and dangerous the Darkest Day is and how Pokemon end up being victims at both being forced to rampage without being in control, and then to be stigmatized/ostracized for something that wasn't their fault (love the little part where Ash willingly allows himself to get pelted to protect Coalossal, they need to expand upon stuff like this). Rose's depiction in the anime itself is far better than the confused mess that the games showed us. While he genuinely cares about Galar and helping it thrive, he's definitely maliciously obsessed with that ambition to the point that he stops caring about lives and the means he uses for his goal. A small bonus for Gengar being used in a relatively good way instead of being forgotten.
• ++ There was surprisingly a LOT of inter-episode continuity within this series, while this wouldn't be that big a thing in the past series, it felt like a gift here given how bad the self-containing nonsense has been so far. And not just that, but they actually tied it all in to the content of this episode without anything being contrived, from Lugia emerging in a black vortex being compared to the black vortex for the Darkest Day, to Eternatus' cameo in JN012 and finally to the science behind Maxing with the Snorlax flashbacks.
• ++ I love this split storytelling format they’re using in this arc, as long as both characters continue to get equal focus and are balanced properly throughout. This is what the series should have been from the start instead of being skewered to one side (with that one side’s focus being written poorly and wasted mostly). In fact, one of my speculations for this series was that Ash and Goh would have completely split storylines where they’d follow their own paths with them crossing every now and then (a la Game of Thrones' first few seasons). Speaking of Goh, they strongly set up Goh’s potential future as a Pokemon Professor here that they hopefully build up more on and carry through with it, instead of forgetting about it and continuing with the “catch em’ all” shtick (which needs to be toned down severely or disappear altogether).
  
  
• - - The animation quality for a mainline episode is still terrible, continuing from last week. It's one of the reasons I enjoyed the simpler dialogue related scenes more than the relatively stale action ones. Although it didn't sting as much as last time due to the knowledge that no veteran animator messed up here, it's still a major problem nonetheless with the visuals department being very bad in this series. Even SM, for all its simplistic (and sometimes weird) style, didn't skimp out this much on the visuals. Another negative point for them forgetting about G-Fetch'd, hoo boy, they better have something good planned for the poor duck after all this given how they've done nothing with it so far (bad focus balance aside).
  
  
• ~ I was really expecting a Bea cameo/mention in Stow-on-Side or for her to help out with the Maxing crisis. Guess this factors into the world building remark I made earlier where no one else, other than the cast and related characters, seem concerned with the ongoing issue.

A much better episode than last week's (in terms of writing at least) that does a fair amount of build-up within an otherwise rushed arc with a lot of game events (dinner with Rose, destruction of the mural etc.). It's easily an 8/10.

 

[Fan of Jarrus]

The animation quality for a mainline episode is still terrible

The Dream Team should do these episodes.

 

[MegaGreninga]

I loved Oleana's rage.

Spoiler: This.

View attachment 137430
View attachment 137431

Why she mad because ash refused the offer
You noticed ash pikachu didn’t like rose when they met lol

 

[nickdt]

Pokemon Gigantamax in Galar
The Gym Leaders: Imma gonna pretend i didn't see that.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

One detail I liked was how Coalossal’s attacks actually affected the environment around it and forced Ash and Leon to protect the workers. It always bothered me how Z-Moves had absolutely no impact in the area, so this is a welcomed change (seriously, Inferno Overdrive is a fire nuke, but it doesn’t even singe a tree?)

 

[Beary]

Episode is pretty good but i’m excited for next episode because we get to see ash vs rose. I have a feeling the dream team will animate either next episode or the episode after that.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

from Lugia emerging in a black vortex being compared to the black vortex for the Darkest Day,

That was actually a clever comparison I didn’t realise could be made... Mostly anime “revelations” are things which the viewers realise from the get go but this one actually caught me off guard- linking two appearances which many didn’t think of linking. One of the finer better points of this episode too.

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

So wait, was Sobble really not in this episode at all? I haven't seen this episode yet. If true, then Sobble truly is getting the short end of the stick in this anime.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

So wait, was Sobble really not in this episode at all? I haven't seen this episode yet. If true, then Sobble truly is getting the short end of the stick in this anime.

It is here. Worry not.

 

[BigDocFan]

It was good to see Leon using Pokemon other than Charizard this episode, even if Dragapult didn't feature much

 

[Nicolas721]

I also didn't expect this to be as exposition-heavy as it was, but it was the good kind of exposition as everything was accompanied with visuals, had an immediate impact on the story, included references to the games and foreshadowed Ash and Goh becoming heroes together.

Ash and Rose becoming close was a nice plot development, but it should have happened much earlier, specially as it will only last an episode.

 

[BigDocFan]

It was interesting to see Rose offer to endorse Ash for the Galar league, something many a fan have been wanting for ages, shame he declined as it would be nice to see him take on the gyms

 

[Emmy]

It was interesting to see Rose offer to endorse Ash for the Galar league, something many a fan have been wanting for ages, shame he declined as it would be nice to see him take on the gyms

Huh, seems like an odd thing to do when Ash is already enrolled in the much larger PWC which has Leon at the top anyway.

Kinda reminds me of Dr Evil going "why make trillions when you can make billions of dollars?"

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Dragapult and Gengar is best ghost tag team

I can't with Chairman Rose's beer belly. It was already hilarious in the games but then the anime goes and makes it even more prominent! I also get the feeling that he's been given the adaptational villainy treatment, what with Pikachu being suspicious of him and the fact that he's giving his underlings orders to halt Sonia's investigation. I know this will probably annoy a lot of people, but I personally don't mind much since I feel game!Rose made absolutely no sense whatsoever as a well-intentioned extremist (I mean, seriously? being so ridiculously impatient to solve an energy crisis that won't be rearing it's head for a literal millennium that you feel the need to trigger an apocalypse? Sorry, but that's not being well-intentioned, that's just being either the biggest idiot in the world or a mustache-twirling lunatic).

The only negative with this episode is that Oleana's Gigantamax Garbodor was taken from her and given to some random mook that we'll probably never see again. As if Plumeria being demoted to extra during the Sun and Moon anime wasn't bad enough... seriously, what is this series' problem with lady antagonists?

 

[Sobble Bubble-O-Seven]

It is here. Worry not.

Okay. I was asking because earlier in the topic on page 1, there was talk about Sobble not being present.

 

[Epic Spheal]

Pros

• I love how we got to see baby Sonia and Leon that was so precious.
• The actual expansion on Leon and Sonia's childhood was very much welcome (especially since the game teased us about it but never expanded upon it)
• Dragapult appearing and Leon using something other than Charizard was extremely refreshing. Plus I just love Dragapult as a species so yay
• The exposition was done well and I like how Goh got to be part of the action
• As sad as it was seeing the miners attack poor Coalossal, it was very realistic. I actually like how Journeys with that scene and Koharu being more indifferent to Pokemon is portraying the Pokemon world in a more realistic manner (as in not everyone is going to go crazy over Pokemon)
• Sonia being more driven in the anime instead of having to be fussed out by Magnolia is a welcome change
• Dynamaxing being portrayed as more threatening in the games
• Leon being suspicious of Rose was a nice touch. I like this portrayal better than the argument in games
• Pikachu being suspicious of Rose was also cute (everyone thinks Rose is sus lol)
• Rose made far more sense as an antagonist here than in the games

Cons

• Oleana being reduced to just being super devoted to Rose. She doesn't get to debut G-max Garbodor or be the one who invented the Dynamax band
• While I know it was necessary to have the stow-on-side ruins revealed...I wished this arc was spreadout longer so we could've seen Bede do that instead of Goh (not hating on Goh, I just want the Galarian characters to have their chance to shine)

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

While I know it was necessary to have the stow-on-side ruins revealed...I wished this arc was spreadout longer so we could've seen Bede do that instead of Goh (not hating on Goh, I just want the Galarian characters to have their chance to shine)

I get the feeling that if we do see Bede and Marnie in the anime, they'll already be fledgling Gym Leaders being tutored by Opal and Piers respectively, much like how Cheren was already a Gym Leader in the BW saga. Tbh it's a little disappointing, especially for Bede, since I feel his arc was lacking and he could have benefited greatly from getting to help during the Darkest Day and confront Rose, something that the anime could have fixed...

 

[Kurolegacy]

Watching a review on the episode pointed out that a highlight of it had been Go’s interactions with Sonia. That got me thinking that given that Ash was paired with Leon for the battle side of things while ago was paired with Sonia for the analytical part of things, it’d be great if Go’s interactions with her led to development in him in which he captures Pokémon not just as an arbitrary marker to get to Mew but as a means of being able to study and get to know so many different Pokémon. It would give Go’s goal a much needed bit of depth added to it.