Review JN071: Let's Go! Project Mew!!

[Unireon]

And we're not talking into account the fact that the writers are not interested on developing Satoshi's team.

They'll go the easy way and avoid variety.

 

[Icchan the Kung-Fu Bear]

I won't like that happening. I completely agree that it's a battle-oriented mon.
And Gou won't provide the battles it needs.

During Kalos, Satoshi had three Flying-types and they, somewhat, managed....
Though, Onvern was a complete disappointment.

At the beginning I wanted Satoshi getting Dakuma, now I lean more towards Erezun or Mibrim/Ralts.

I would actually prefer Kubfu to be wild until the end, as is usually the case in movies. We know that Kubfu kind of needs to bond with a human partner to train and evolve so I really don't believe the writers will miss this opportunity to add to Goh's Pokédex. That Suicune incident proved that the writers are ready to give Goh anything. ):

However, in Journeys, Kubfu/Urshifu would have the exact same fighting style as Sirfetch'd, unless they are gonna convert Sirfetch'd as a the bulky one who barely moves, while Lucario can be used as the Long ranged one (Although that means they should totally convert his Moveset and at least get rid of reversal - which i don't think they remove, and Force Palm).

As I said to Unireon Kubfu kind of needs to bond with a human partner to train and evolve so I think Kubfu's arc would be too similar to Riolu's arc, that is perhaps another strong reason why Kubfu will not belong to Ash.


Well I would like to talking a bit more about the Pokémon Wulaosu/Urshifu in the show and his debut, even though it wasn't the focus of the episode at all and it's not like it's the most interesting subject at the moment, but maybe it'll be since it's a game mascot so can get his own arc soon. Urshifu's cry was perfect IMO, deep voice and he did sound like "Osu" (EDIT: Regice's cry was perfect also, they kinda took the "ÜN ÜN ÜN" from 8th movie instead of the boring original cry from Battle Frontier series /EDIT). But, like i said maybe it was not the perfect time to introduce him in the anime. I personally didn't like to see him being trained by a "kid" specially a rough one like Tsurugi (I'm judging his age by his height, Hodaka is much taller than him), I would rather have seen him on the Isle of Armor first under the ownership of Mustard or some old badass fighting-master more experienced like him (well I always think the pokemon should be an expression of their trainer and Urshifu is a master after all, at least that's what his name in both English and Japanese suggests). Speaking of this subject I personally don't appreciate how kids and teenagers get all the cool stuff in the anime compared to adults (think about Eusine =/= Goh) who barely appear as trainers, chasers and such, the adults when they're not official game characters such as gym leaders they seems to usually exist just to be the villains or some professions that don't get in the way of kids' dreams such as professors, scientists, journalists etc. Yeah yeah I know that's probably because of the anime's target audience so it's not really a real issue, I hope we get a shounen anime about the Pokémon universe that represents young adults someday ):
(but okay I think the popular english name for all of this is "butthurt" so let's just move on xD)

Just another small observation, the director/animator really brought the Urshifu's "default form" to the show. For those who don't know this species actually has a third form, which is sort of a mix between the Rapid-Strike and the Single-Strike form:

With Game Freak's 3D model, it changes to one of the forms only when it goes to attack, like if it were a "battle mode". I thought the default form existed only for marketing purposes (eg for trailers and boxarts that only need to show 1 Urshifu), so I expected the anime to ignore this as I would really prefer it to be two totally different forms. It would even be less work for the OLM team to animate Urshifu. For me this is a shame, if someone want to understand why just look at these wonderful arts from TCG and notice the difference between the two Urshifu that the artists kawayoo (Single-style) and Ryota Murayama (Rapid-style) made:

G-Max forms show a similar idea:

Rapid-style is leaner/athletic because he is more agile/fluid and uses successive punches and therefore needs a flexible body (more Kung-fu style oriented); Single-style is more muscular/robust because he's more aggressive/rough and uses more direct and strong punches and therefore needs a bulky body (more Karate style oriented). But as we saw in GameFreak/CreaturesInc models they are exactly the same thing, and it looks like OLM Studio will unfortunately do the same, so Rapid-style probably will appear with the same bulky body which doesn't fit his fighting style. I know most fans might think this is kind of irrelevant but the design itself of the monsters is one of the best aspects of them and these details really help to give the Pokémon more identity, personality and lore. So I think this issue of Urshifu's design is a waste because he's a Pokémon with good lore potential, but anyway... I would appreciate to see what people here think about this too if someone has a opinion about it.

Speaking of this aspects, lastly also would really like seeing Urshifu doing the kin-lai (that traditional wushu greeting with the hands, see below), unfortunately this is something I actually expected to see in Sword/Shield's Pokémon Camp but it didn't happen either ):

Let's just see how writers will approach this species, Mustard, Isle of Armor and Goh & Ash, assuming they really will, because besides the lore potential it could be an important step for one of the protagonists (tbh I'm actually much more interested in how these Pokémon and their stories will be introduced and what OLM/TVT will add to the Pokémon lore than in Ash & Goh ).

PS.: Fun -but useless- fact, June 17th the Isle of Armor expansion has completed 1 year since release, and yesterday June 18th (idk about you but its still 19th in my country) was Urshifu's debut in the anime so it was pretty much a celebration of Isle of Armor's anniversary, I mean I don't think it was a coincidence...

 

[CyberMonsterTrainer]

And we're not talking into account the fact that the writers are not interested on developing Satoshi's team.

They'll go the easy way and avoid variety.

You described one of my biggest gripes with Journeys and writer's choices

 

[Unireon]

As I said to Unireon Kubfu kind of needs to bond with a human partner to train and evolve so I think Kubfu's arc would be too similar to Riolu's arc, that is perhaps another strong reason why Kubfu will not belong to Ash.

Riolu's story was so badly developed and the result, aka the Evolution, a disappointment....
Rushed to be a highlight for the Black Night four-parter.

I stopped caring about Lucario and now I wish that it wouldn't have been caught at all.
That's why I don't believe in the staff writing a good story for Dakuma, no matter who catches it.

 

[WatcherMark]

Pretty weird that goh had 4 Mons tha can fly on hand

It's never been stated, so pinch of salt, but I would imagine Go can rotate his Pokemon team similar to how we can now in the games... instead of having to traipse to a Pokemon Center, he can easily whip out his Rotom Phone and switch his Pokemon using that (I would imagine the phone has the capability to transfer Poke Balls too). Obviously it wouldn't be as simple as we have it, he'd still need to call Sakuragi and ask him to get his Pokemon ready, but it would still be pretty quick.

 

[Icchan the Kung-Fu Bear]

I'm glad moderators here approved my post despite it being large and with some images. I wanted to share some thoughts on Serebii as well but the platform there is a bit too harsh, maybe as a precaution against spambots.

Riolu's story was so badly developed and the result, aka the Evolution, a disappointment....
Rushed to be a highlight for the Black Night four-parter.

I stopped caring about Lucario and now I wish that it wouldn't have been caught at all.
That's why I don't believe in the staff writing a good story for Dakuma, no matter who catches it.

They're giving us a "dream team" for Ash but they just don't know how to use them. Lucario just disappeared!
Well I'm a "little" more harsh, for me just the fact that a legendary Pokémon is captured by Ash and especially Goh is already inherently a sign of "bad writing" XD Yeah, I don't like the idea of ruining the lore of legendary by being a pet of some kid, except in game media of course and in very specific contexts in anime.

We know there are several Pokémon products based on the anime media that can basically "announce" the next Pokémon to appear in the animated show. Sometimes it's a false alarm, but often it hits big.

SPOILERS and POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Escuie and Falinks have been heavily promoted on these products lately,

Spoiler

and are now both confirmed in the episode that will air on July 16th.

Kubfu in recent months has been the major example IMO, the little bear is definitely coming and was promoted in cupcake packs along with Escuie and Falinks, meaning he could appear as early as next month. Same for both Urshifu. We know that Urshifu Single-Style has already showed up and belongs to Tsurugi. The other one I believe will be Goh's (but as I said in other thread I hope it will belong to Ash or, better yet, belong to Mustard or remain wild which is fairly unlikely). Darkrai, Cresselia and Piplup are also getting a lot of promotion lately so they could be appearing soon too, same with Espeon, Umbreon and Jigglypuff.

Check out some of the merchan clicking here, note that in one of them Urshifu Rapid-style appears on the side of Goh's Pokémon, while Urshifu Single-style is a bit out of place on the Ash side (probably it's just there because it's part of the Kubfu line). But who knows...
EDIT: (These are just rumors and theories not spoilers ok? Tell me if I'm wrong though so I can edit this post)

I believe Goh will catch Darkrai, Cresselia and many other legendaries through Project Mew in a similar way Ash captured the Ultra Beasts as a Ultra Guardian.

 

[Unireon]

Well I'm a "little" more harsh, for me just the fact that a legendary Pokémon is captured by Ash and especially Goh is already inherently a sign of "bad writing" XD Yeah, I don't like the idea of ruining the lore of legendary by being a pet of some kid, except in game media of course and in very specific contexts in anime.

It depends on the Legendary.....
Some people wouldn't mind if Satoshi catches Ho-Oh, Lugia or Latios/Latias.
Those have been teased a lot in the past.

I believe Goh will catch Darkrai, Cresselia and many other legendaries through Project Mew in a similar way Ash captured the Ultra Beasts as a Ultra Guardian.

Do you really want an implosion in the already divided fandom?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Darkrai, Cresselia and Piplup are also getting a lot of promotion lately so they could be appearing soon too

Darkrai and Cresselia's episodes have just been confirmed.

I believe Goh will catch Darkrai, Cresselia and many other legendaries through Project Mew in a similar way Ash captured the Ultra Beasts as a Ultra Guardian.

I highly doubt that.

 

[nickdt]

It's never been stated, so pinch of salt, but I would imagine Go can rotate his Pokemon team similar to how we can now in the games... instead of having to traipse to a Pokemon Center, he can easily whip out his Rotom Phone and switch his Pokemon using that (I would imagine the phone has the capability to transfer Poke Balls too). Obviously it wouldn't be as simple as we have it, he'd still need to call Sakuragi and ask him to get his Pokemon ready, but it would still be pretty quick.

Well.. same can be applied to Ash, since maybe he had only Pikachu and his fighting types with him, but since he needed 2 Pokemon that could fly, he swapped his fighting types out.

 

[Icchan the Kung-Fu Bear]

It depends on the Legendary.....
Some people wouldn't mind if Satoshi catches Ho-Oh, Lugia or Latios/Latias.
Those have been teased a lot in the past.


Do you really want an implosion in the already divided fandom?

"Goh haters" are still watching the show after the infamous episode 53?
Maybe the only reason I'm still watching after that is because Pokémon is my favorite fictional universe and this is the only media from it that I keep following, since I've been getting disappointed with the games lately. Also there are some good things about Journeys after all, the never properly exploited potential is one of them.

Darkrai and Cresselia's episodes have just been confirmed.

I highly doubt that.

Are you talking about Cresselia and Darkrai or all the legendaries?
Yeah, looks like next month we'll see both, the July 2nd episode remains a mystery though, maybe it's about Kubfu, MegaLucario, or Cynthia? We'll find out in a couple days anyway...

 

[Unireon]

"Goh haters" are still watching the show after the infamous episode 53?

They are. Unsurprisingly.
Not everyone would jump off after that.