Review JN092: Gangar Does Its Best! The Road to Kyodaimax!!

[Twilight-Kun]

Was nice to see Bea again and getting to know more about Allister

Bit of a shame they wasted the max soup here rather than during an Isle of Armor arc

 

[Unireon]

I found this cute fanart.....

https://twitter.com/yik_25s/status/1474401990734086146

I would have liked seeing more of Satoshi interacting with Dorameshiya and Doronchi....
Even if those wouldn't add so much to the episode or lead to a capture.

Never could have guessed that this line could be this adorable.

 

[Vulcanos]

The demon monkey tries its damndest to ruin everything, but I'm thrilled this episode finally satiated my desire to see Allister in the main series and gave him quite a bit of character.

 

[Vulcanos]

Grookey serves as filler, even though Sobble wasn’t seen much, it got some development at least.

The problem is, Grookey just wastes space. It causes problems yet doesn't get disciplined (look, this is a kid's show, and even for Japanese show standards, we're talking really young kids, so at least telling it "don't do that or people won't like you" couldn't hurt) so it can't be used as a teaching tool for misbehavior, has not once done anything resembling a move that can be used in battle so it can't be used as a late learner or an example of purposefully delaying a Pokémon until they get the best moves possible, and the one time they attempted development, that didn't stick, so we can throw "character development" out the window. And this thing has been around forever in terms of Pokémon anime time as doing nothing more than just being the obnoxious critter they want you to go "D'awww!" at.

 

[Singaporean]

An alright episode for Gengar achieve his Gigantamax. Ashamed, we didn't see him training like I thought in the preview show it except only collecting mushroom. Also, Allister is one creepy guy with cheerful personalities.

Overall rating: C+

 

[R1ke]

Gengar and Allister were the highlights here. Glad they were able to connect and Allister was comfortable talking to it. It was nice seeing Ash's mons get development outside of the PWC. I hope he does battle someone with gmax though. Also glad to see Bea, it would've been pretty weird if they visited her gym twice and she didn't appear. Grookey is getting soo annoying too.

I find it ironic how whenever Goh brings up Ash understanding pokemon, he immediately is just like 'clash! bang!'. Like that's all he knows. Bro you've literally got aura, they should bring that up more.

 

[KrspaceT]

Time to see and time to comment!

• I get the impression that at the very least Professor Cerise was thinking 'hey, if Gengar can't Gigantamax might as well have someone who knows if that can be fixed'. Also I'd note Ash has only seen a Mega Gengar in the movies, Volcanion specifically, and those are always hit and miss for canonicity, so he's not going to go 'hey that looks like a Mega Gengar but different'
• Nice sound effects on the 'ghost gym'. Honestly that entire scene has a lot of nice sound effects to it
• Yep, Bea's defrosted.
• I know we may give some flak about Ash had used Gigantamax before, but it was with Pikachu and not the Pokeball return method. Also it has been been like....eighty episosdes
• 'Let's Get Huge, Gigantamax/Dynamax', did he borrow that line from someone?
• Gengar seems to be able to use its agile, levitatish movement style to adjust faster than Pikachu did. Then again Pikachu also got chunky
• I like this Allister and Ash dynamic, both seem to be able to disturb the other accidently.
• Probably could have had Gengar just use Psychic to pick the shrooms but....eh not a huge problem. Probably used it to get Ash's hat and Goh's new Pokemon.
• Dreepy under someone's hat....well let's keep this in mind for future character designs yes
• I know we can't call Goh a psychopath anymore, but what about Grookey?
• Really, Gengar should be using THE FORCE more this episode....though the whole 'use it already' factor may explain why they seemed to have originally wanted to swap it for Dazzling Gleam or something
• Episode is pretty good with using the Ghost dex entries and stuff to write their behaviors.
• So does that Dreepy join the likes of Houndour, Shiny Phantump, and Wimpod on the list of mons people think Ash should have caught? Or would it technically count as Dreepy and Drakloak
• Some, like my foe who fears Mongols, would say the lack of the Isle of Armor for the mushrooms is a bad thing. It's not a good thing, but it is a neutral thing IMO.
• Ash has met with like....a dozen people like that a this point and is sort of that himself with his team. Relax Allister, though now I wonder if Reset!Allister would have Z marks on his face if he took that mask of his off...
• Though he could explain it better, I prefer his Valerie explanation to this. Though the two together...I won't lie they oddly lean up to Reset's idea IMO (At least as I see it Ash basically confirmed he needs battle and personal connection to get it to work where Allister, Iris, and N do not)
• So clearly Allister also defrosted Bea....

While I do wish the new 'Human world but with Pokemon' era would stop forgetting to character work after rushing out the game plot like it does, these two were a nice set of episodes.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

A fine episode overall, but I can’t help shake the feeling that for an episode explaining Gengar’s bond with Ash, it doesn’t really make me “Aw” for it. It’s like the Lucario Mega Evolution episode, where you don’t really feel the connection, despite the dots being there in their history, it’s just not there to be seen throughout the show to capture that - we rarely see Ash interact with Gengar and have a solum moment; Allister felt like he bonded more within a short duration of this episode.
Its as though to me, it was like Allister was Gengar’s trainer, and Ash was just the motivational speaker standing by.

I don’t really mind them not battling, we’ll get to that soon enough with Gengar, and it showed off new Pokemon in a decent scenario - the Drakloak did make me “Aw”, whilst I was also imaging the crying anguish of everyone (plus me) who saw a certain monkey acting up again, without discipline.
Overall score - 6-7/10

 

[Audino1008]

Well Serena and Goh have something in common (jk)

View attachment 153981

In the first 15 episodes of Journeys or so, it was VERY vaguely hinted at that Goh had the big gae for Ash. But Journeys revised plans so many times that it basically blended everything up into a smooth, homogenous, boring paste and the Gosh thing got lost somewhere in all the shreds of paper in the writing room. I mean, I'm not complaining, this is one of the things I care about the least that got lost in the paper shreds in the writing room. But in an alternate timeline, it might've been a thing.

What goes on in the Anipoke writing room is one of the greatest mysteries of all time.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

This was a decent episode for sure. However, it also felt a bit rushed. If they had dragged out the process of finding the Dai Mushrooms a bit more, it would have been more of a challenge and thus would have felt more "deserved". In a second episode they could have had Gengar finally gigantamax and Ash could even have had his training battle with Allister which I would have preferred. But, well, that's the old familiar problem of Journeys: There are many episodes that definitely should have been two or three-parters.

There's another point, but that's just my personal taste so I guess it doesn't count when judging an episode: I clearly prefer Gengar's Megaevolution to it Gigantamax-form because the former looks so much better and more intimidating. Sure, it's been clear from the start Ash's team still needed such a form as Lucario already got Megaevolution. Nevertheless, I would have been perfectly fine if Ash had gotten two megaevolved Pokemon in his team, as in my eyes, Megaevolution not only looks better but is also superior to Dyna-/Gigantamax.

Last but not least, I couldn't help wondering why the would call somebody "Onion" because to me it sounds pretty strange. Is that a common name in Japan or what else might be the reason for it?

So to sum it up: Yes, it's great Gengar got massive focus in the past two weeks but I would have been happier if that little subplot had consisted of more episodes.

 

[SlyGecko]

This was a decent episode for sure. However, it also felt a bit rushed. If they had dragged out the process of finding the Dai Mushrooms a bit more, it would have been more of a challenge and thus would have felt more "deserved". In a second episode they could have had Gengar finally gigantamax and Ash could even have had his training battle with Allister which I would have preferred. But, well, that's the old familiar problem of Journeys: There are many episodes that definitely should have been two or three-parters.

There's another point, but that's just my personal taste so I guess it doesn't count when judging an episode: I clearly prefer Gengar's Megaevolution to it Gigantamax-form because the former looks so much better and more intimidating. Sure, it's been clear from the start Ash's team still needed such a form as Lucario already got Megaevolution. Nevertheless, I would have been perfectly fine if Ash had gotten two megaevolved Pokemon in his team, as in my eyes, Megaevolution not only looks better but is also superior to Dyna-/Gigantamax.

Last but not least, I couldn't help wondering why the would call somebody "Onion" because to me it sounds pretty strange. Is that a common name in Japan or what else might be the reason for it?

So to sum it up: Yes, it's great Gengar got massive focus in the past two weeks but I would have been happier if that little subplot had consisted of more episodes.

Onion could come from Oni, who were originally thought to be spirits instead of club wielding orcs.

 

[Audino1008]

This was a decent episode for sure. However, it also felt a bit rushed. If they had dragged out the process of finding the Dai Mushrooms a bit more, it would have been more of a challenge and thus would have felt more "deserved". In a second episode they could have had Gengar finally gigantamax and Ash could even have had his training battle with Allister which I would have preferred. But, well, that's the old familiar problem of Journeys: There are many episodes that definitely should have been two or three-parters.

There's another point, but that's just my personal taste so I guess it doesn't count when judging an episode: I clearly prefer Gengar's Megaevolution to it Gigantamax-form because the former looks so much better and more intimidating. Sure, it's been clear from the start Ash's team still needed such a form as Lucario already got Megaevolution. Nevertheless, I would have been perfectly fine if Ash had gotten two megaevolved Pokemon in his team, as in my eyes, Megaevolution not only looks better but is also superior to Dyna-/Gigantamax.

Last but not least, I couldn't help wondering why the would call somebody "Onion" because to me it sounds pretty strange. Is that a common name in Japan or what else might be the reason for it?

So to sum it up: Yes, it's great Gengar got massive focus in the past two weeks but I would have been happier if that little subplot had consisted of more episodes.

Insert Jean-Pierre saying "Onyoooo"

 

[WatcherMark]

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. First of all, the way Onion was animated was fantastic. The way he waved his arms about and seemed to float from one place to another was so fluid and graceful and definitely suited his character. I liked that he kept his guard up for most of the episode, as the well as the fact his physical and symbolic masks both slipped at the same time. I'm glad that the producers also realised they couldn't really Saitou's Gym without Saitou herself appearing. Also, G-Max Gangar is my favourite Gigantamax form so I'm glad it's getting to appear (under Satoshi's ownership no less).

What was weird was that for a few minutes this episode started to feel like a goodbye episode of Gangar. It became such good friends with Onion, and coupled with the fact that he has a G-Max Gangar in the games I half-expected Onion to offer to train Gangar for Satoshi. Imagine my relief when it boarded the train at the end, this forum would have gone up in flames.

If I have any problems it's that Galarian Sunnygo's appearance was far too brief. It puzzles me that Go decided to catch Sunnygo but didn't even attempt to get Ohrot. Plus the way it was characterized I really wish Satoshi had caught Dorameshiya.

 

[KrspaceT]

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. First of all, the way Onion was animated was fantastic. The way he waved his arms about and seemed to float from one place to another was so fluid and graceful and definitely suited his character. I liked that he kept his guard up for most of the episode, as the well as the fact his physical and symbolic masks both slipped at the same time. I'm glad that the producers also realised they couldn't really Saitou's Gym without Saitou herself appearing. Also, G-Max Gangar is my favourite Gigantamax form so I'm glad it's getting to appear (under Satoshi's ownership no less).

What was weird was that for a few minutes this episode started to feel like a goodbye episode of Gangar. It became such good friends with Onion, and coupled with the fact that he has a G-Max Gangar in the games I half-expected Onion to offer to train Gangar for Satoshi. Imagine my relief when it boarded the train at the end, this forum would have gone up in flames.

If I have any problems it's that Galarian Sunnygo's appearance was far too brief. It puzzles me that Go decided to catch Sunnygo but didn't even attempt to get Ohrot. Plus the way it was characterized I really wish Satoshi had caught Dorameshiya.

How common is the last part (Dreepy/Drakloak right?) If so its off to the troping pages to join the likes of Goh and Seadra and Brock and Stantler.

 

[Enzo]

This ep was suprisingly cute, and I enjoyed more than I thought it would. Seeing Gengar finally getting a focus ep was a delight, and it reminded me of why I like it so much.

Tho... it was weird to me. It's almost bizarre how Gengar bonded with Allister and Ash bonded with Drakloak/Dreepy a lot more than they actually bonded with each other. Don't get me wrong, I do love that Ash is Gengar's trainer, but Gengar/Allister and Drakloak/Ash had more chemistry together in the friendship sense in a singular ep than Ash/Gengar had in 76 eps. (Btw, it's pretty telling when you realize that the ''bonding moments flashback montage'' only has scenes from the ep Gengar was captured in and the last episode.)

Also, seeing Ash having that soft, calm moment with the Drakloak and it's Dreepy hurt me so much because we know Ash is not getting one. They know about it and did on purpose din't they??

And ofc they had to have Goh capture something in a Ash/Gengar ep hadn't they??? And the worst part: I'm just so fucking done with that Grookey. Yet again causing trouble for other people and doesn't suffers any consequences for it nor does Goh, who does nothing but sit on his ass all day without even attempting to discipline it. I can't wait for the day this dammed monkey leaves the cast.

Overall, I give it a 7/10.

 

[Blob]

The problem is, Grookey just wastes space. It causes problems yet doesn't get disciplined (look, this is a kid's show, and even for Japanese show standards, we're talking really young kids, so at least telling it "don't do that or people won't like you" couldn't hurt) so it can't be used as a teaching tool for misbehavior, has not once done anything resembling a move that can be used in battle so it can't be used as a late learner or an example of purposefully delaying a Pokémon until they get the best moves possible, and the one time they attempted development, that didn't stick, so we can throw "character development" out the window. And this thing has been around forever in terms of Pokémon anime time as doing nothing more than just being the obnoxious critter they want you to go "D'awww!" at.

I just realised... Grookey is basically just Peter Griffin.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

I just realised... Grookey is basically just Peter Griffin.

Nyeheheheheh... Shut up Sobble

 

[Eitarou]

I for one am glad a Ash Pokémon's development or growth in this show doesn't tie into a battle for once and we can just leave room for that later and have a more laid back development episode because JN sorely lacks this

Yes, but I'd like Gengar to get something, y'know? Lucario got a three-ep build up to his transformation; Gengar got one, and he didn't even get to use it on anything.

 

[Sai]

Yes, but I'd like Gengar to get something, y'know? Lucario got a three-ep build up to his transformation; Gengar got one, and he didn't even get to use it on anything.

You honestly believe they gave Gengar a Gigantamax form to never use it? The next PWC battle isn't happening till February at the earliest so why bring this up now?

 

[Eitarou]

Yes, because that's clearly what I said.