Review JN095: Farewell! The Wandering Rocket Gang!

[0cerge]

So... did Team Rocket really say goodbye to Pelipper? Is the gatcha done for real? I don't really hate the gatcha as many people do, what I hate is that it keeps Jessie and James from getting their own Pokémon, and I dislike that.

Nope, machine was praised at the end. So there was only an excuse not to use it again in this episode.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Nope, machine was praised at the end. So there was only an excuse not to use it again in this episode.

As I suspected. They just got over blaming the machine and Pelipper for their troubles.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Instead of Pelipper being the Gotcha mon, it should have been Cramorant

What about the individual Pokémon who was so long ago established as Team Rocket's delivery boy? It should have been Delibird instead of either random upstart.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

What about the individual Pokémon who was so long ago established as Team Rocket's delivery boy? It should have been Delibird instead of either random upstart.

The machine is too big for Delibird to carry.

 

[PTOldMan]

I still need to see the episode subbed, but right now what I want to highlight is how great it was to see that flashback/remake of the first motto by Cassidy and Butch from the daycare center episode from Kanto (aside from the first lines, in which they had white coats, the rest of the motto is exactly the same, now recreated with the current animation style). It was great because we got to see their motto one last time, assuming this was really their goodbye from the anime. They could have skipped that motto and only show a flashback of them wearing the TR uniforms, as far as I remember we have never had a flashback motto/a full fantasy motto, so it was a really nice touch.

It also made me miss the old style of the mottos, in which they would have different animations every episode. This is one thing I will never appreciate, to have recycled animation every motto. Sure, the animation is great, but I'd rather have Jessie and James say their motto with a more basic animation that is different every episode than have them always recycle the same animation. So it was nice to see a old motto with today's animation style, it was great and I'd like to have more of that.

 

[Teamrocketfan]

Is subbed version out yet?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Is subbed version out yet?

Yes.

 

[SonansuMan]

You know when you try out a food that’s clearly bad for you but you still love it anyways? That’s what this episode felt like.

From start to finish this episode was like a love letter as a TR fan and I really can’t stress enough how much I missed having episodes like these where they’re the core focus the entire time. As flawed as Journeys’ take on the quartet is, the one aspect that has still consistently above average is their characterization. The interactions they’ve had in this series have always felt so organic because they manage to bounce off each other while still being such relatable characters. And given this episode is almost entirely that, it made for a very entertaining watch even though it fell flat in a lot of areas. The antics of chasing Pelipper were fun, and I enjoyed the way that they transitioned the the segment of following it into reuniting with Cassidy/Butch. As disappointed as I was that their screen time was pretty minimal because most of the episode had been ate up by the adventuring, they still effectively served their purpose and I enjoyed the interactions they had with their rivals.

Where I feel this episode fumbles the most is in the repetition of it, because what could’ve been a pretty great opportunity to give TR a meaningful character arc in Journeys (especially when they are starved of any type of goals independent of Pikachu) is instead used to give us an overused plot line that’s lost almost all emotional weight to it. The goodbyes feel incredibly forced, and it felt like they struck an awkward chord of trying to be genuinely melancholic but it was also too brief at the same time to feel impactful (outside of that quick adorable handstack during James’s leave ). By the end, nothing important ends up coming out of the chase either, as the Gatcha still stays the exact same, and if the subs mean anything, it will most likely return

NOTES:

• Seeing the Wobbuffet balloon for the first time in years, the Matori puppet, a traditional motto, AND multiple throwback tracks was a pleasure, and the fanservice in this episode delivered very well IMO
• I actually liked that Cassidy and Butch separated because it helped show a contrast between them and our TR by driving home the point of how close the team bond is
• Morpeko being gone for half a year just to finally show up for a single still shot as a plot device… was really disappointing. Do they just not want this character to be likable?

OVERALL SCORE:
7/10

 

[Insanish Danish]

Okay now that I've calmed down a bit I'm going to try to be a bit more concise with my thoughts lol

This episode was...okay? Like, as both a Butch/Cassidy stan and a TRio stan, my feelings are mixed. There was a lot of really cute stuff with the TRio, and much as I'm disappointed that the two aren't still together I LOVED the scenes with Butch and Cassidy. Like, it's just honestly really heartwarming seeing the two of them genuinely happy with their lives outside of Team Rocket, and the fact that they were completely willing to interact civilly with our main Rockets just does my heart good. But selfishly, I wanted more. I wanted more from Butch and Cassidy, and I wanted to see them together (why they HAD to be separated is beyond me), and I wanted the interactions between them and the TRio to be longer. idk I feel like, as is often the case with Journeys, there was SO much good stuff here but ultimately it wasn't as great as it could have been. I'm still happy I got to see two longtime favorites of mine return, though. That feeling hasn't changed

(Also can I just say this episode reminded me of how much I thoroughly dislike Butch and Cassidy in the dub?? lmao god their Japanese voices are just...chef's kiss)

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I wonder where pelipper got the second gacha machine from, and why Ash and Go never release the pokemon from the dozen other gachas Team Rocket's left behind since they started using them

Would certainly make Go's Catch 'Em All goal easier if he grabbed +30 new pokemon every time they ran into Team Rocket

Also found it amusing how they glorify gacha mechanics even though gambling isn't allowed in kids games anymore

 

[Singaporean]

A decent episode for Team Rocket and especially the return of both Cassidy and Butch that have been left the villainous group to find their own ways. A much better episode comparable to Goh tried to let Raboot go in almost two year ago. Very well executed and again they lost to the boys in hilarious way blasting off.

Overall rating: B+

 

[Jez]

My feelings are very mixed…

It was nice to FINALLY see an episode dedicated to Team Rocket without too many appearances from Ash and Goh and it was great to see the good side of Jessie.

Butch and Cassidy's return was something I've been looking forward to for a long time so I'm happy about that too and to have seen their old motto in HD was magical but… I didn't find this episode well written…

The first 10 minutes were a real shambles and a waste of time that could have been used in more development for the reunion with Butch and Cassidy and the development of the sequel…

Suddenly, everything was rushed.

Also I didn't find it normal that Jessie didn't immediately recognize Cassidy, that she simply offered to repay her debt for saving them by working hard for her,

… that whole part was blatantly lacking in development …

And also , then , she just decides to go away leaving James with Cassidy (her rival whom she hated more than anything remember) just because he was happy for a brief moment in front of a carved wooden bottlecap and James just accepts with no more tears or worrying…. (Remember his FAKE temporary separation with Inkay who was his new pokemon since some weeks (or days) only in the episode XY 54, it was a lot more emotional !)

And the Meowzie lookalike where did she come from? It seemed so forced!

And in more, if Cassidy hadn't fired James because of Morpeko or Meowth hadn't experienced a sentimental disappointment they would have stayed with Cassidy and Butch for forever and Jessie and Wobbuffet could have died abandoned in the sand?! I am so disappointed about this…

The intention was good, sadly the writing was not good and rushed…

 

[Queen Cynthia]

I feel mixed about this episode.

As for the good parts:
You sure can criticize much about Journeys. However, what you can't deny is the fact this series is great at giving us more reunions than ever before! Getting to see Butch and Cassidy (one last time?) and hearing about their personal development definitely was nice and well done. I also enjoyed the almost philosophical moments full of depth when TRio were thinking about good and bad luck and life in general.

And now let's look at the aspects where the episode was lacking something:
I agree with some other users that here and there the episode felt kind of flat. In my eyes two apects were responsible for that. First, the repetitive and predictable scheme of the plot with several key elements being recycled too often. I also agree the farewell scenes were lacking emotional depth and thus couldn't really move you.
What personally bugged me the most, though, was the frequent change of environments: From the ocean to the polar zone and back to the desert as if they were all right next to each other. That just didn't feel plausible. And it's the reason why I couldn't quite connect connect to the episode emotionally.

Considering the good as well as the bad parts, I'd say it was an "Nice, but..."-episode.

 

[Gabo2oo]

Why did we have to spend the entire first half establishing Team Rocket's daily routine (that every kid watching this show already knows) and then seeing them travelling around in a filler-ish adventure sequence? Why are all the actually important things presented as 5 second montages and flashbacks?

Why is Cassidy and Butch parting ways from each other treated as something so trivial? Why is James' fondness of bottlecaps and Meowth's backstory with Meowzie (stuff that kids watching this show may NOT know) barely explained despite being essential to understand what's going on?

Who even comes up with this pacing? Is everything supposed to be a comedic self-parody of sorts? Like, the episode pretends it's not taking itself seriously, but it sorta does anyway? Seems like the only thing carrying this godawful wretch of a series is how they keep throwing bones at the fans to compensate for the total lack of decent writing.

 

[El Squibbonator]

Not gonna lie, didn't like it. Bill and Cassidy getting some closure was a good idea, especially after their last appearance just had them randomly get written out, but it could have been handled better than this-- even by the standards of this series.

The machine is too big for Delibird to carry.

Didn't stop Delibird from delivering them a Charizard and an Aggron back in the Battle Frontier.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Didn't stop Delibird from delivering them a Charizard and an Aggron back in the Battle Frontier.

Those were just two Poké Balls. The machine itself is too heavy.

 

[Rockapheller]

Despite of all the gigs and the gags, it was a touching episode for the most part. Yeah, "You stay here and let us move on with Team Rocket" plot has been used for like a million times by now, but it... doesn't get old? It was a decent Team Rocket centric episode, one of the stronger ones of the current series.

Also I was like whooooo when the Team Rocket theme kicked in! I was sad that it was used only once for an ending theme before during XY. One of my favorite themes.

 

[Nicolas721]

This episode is probably the modern day equivalent of DP092: It had good comedy, animation, fanservice and TR characterizations but besides that it didn't do much more for justifying its existence and changed its plot too quickly. I agree that the decision of having 3+ small stories one after the other as a bad one and that it would have been better to keep everything in an smaller scale. I don't get either why did the Pelipper revenge plot (or Pelipper in general) had so much focus, is it popular in Japan? Or are they acknoledging it's more likeable than Morpeko?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong but it appears Meowth's way of communicating with other Pokemon has been retconned? I remember him using human language, not the Pokemon's name.

 

[Kurolegacy]

You know, not gonna lie, seeing old characters that we actually know like Cassidy and Buff having left behind a life of crime realizing that their’s more to life than Team Rocket and are genuinely happy with their lives, makes me hope that one day we can actually see TRio have a send off where they come to see the same thing. Have them realize that it’s not really about Team Rocket but their bond as a trio and, even if they aren’t don’t have Team Rocket, they are genuinely happy and fulfilled because they have each other regardless.

 

[El Squibbonator]

Those were just two Poké Balls. The machine itself is too heavy.

Then why bother with the Prize Master at all?