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Review JN116: Champions' Pride! Wataru VS Carne!!

Gardevoir sounds way too angry nowadays. Concordia's, Diantha's, Kimia's (M19, shiny), and Kublock's (JN019) Gardevoir all sound almost exactly alike. Melodi's (DP020) Gardevoir does not sound like any of those Gardevoir. Horace's would also not sound like them as well. They sound more like how a Gardevoir should. So Horace's Gardevoir would probably sound more like Melodi's. And don't even get started on the Gardevoir from AG109. That doesn't even sound anything like a how a Gardevoir should. Also, this seems to apply with Gallade (voiced by Tom Wayland and Marc Thompson). Zoey's, Rinto's, and the Gallade from M10 all sound almost exactly alike. Carl's (XY051) and Woodward's (XY085) also sound almost exactly alike as well. But neither Zoey's, Rinto's, nor the Gallade from M10 sound like anything either Carl's or Woodward's Gallade or vice versa. On the other hand, it would probably be very funny if Knotz voiced a Gardevoir and had it sound like the one from AG109.

Does anyone think that either Lance and/or Diantha would eventually go training with Ash sometime before the final battle against Leon?
 
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Lance's battling style is too straightforward and he was relying on brute force most of the time and while Diantha's style is to strengthen her defense as much as possible, thus showing her to remain calm all the time. This trait shows us how Diantha manages to see through Lance's plan and defeats him.
 
Does anyone think that either Lance and/or Diantha would eventually go training with Ash sometime before the final battle against Leon?
Prob not going to happen. In my opinion Lance's words to Ash in the end of the episode could be their last duet in JNs.
 
  • Diantha won! Absolutely lovely. I am looking forward to this victory boosting her street cred.
    • Speaking of her victory, I enjoyed the tactical side we saw to her. For someone who is largely a pushover and lacks a discernible strategy in the games, this anime adaption regarding her battle style is something I very much appreciated. We've never seen anyone bust out DualScreens before! I had to remind myself this wasn't a competitive fight, haha; and I enjoyed how they were animated, notably when they were present simultaneously. Then we got to see Gourgeist's signature move! I was not expecting Trick-or-Treat, but it was a welcome surprise as was how Diantha effectively used it; turning a neutral match-up into an advantageous one. Speaking of Gourgeist, I loved how malevolent it looked when it used Phantom Force; that the animators were able to bring its Ghost-type characteristics to light like that (on such an innocent looking Pokémon) was impressive. Gardevoir didn't provide anything as explicitly as its peers did, but it was moreso Diantha using its typing to her advantage against the Dragon specialist; that both Hydreigon and Dragonite fell to Moonblast is telling. I'm super excited to see how she battles against Leon.
    • Minor nitpick, but Diantha's Aurorus having Snow Warning would have been neat. For a Pokémon known to give off a lot of intense cold from its body, it was a missed opportunity.
  • As for Lance, well. I was disappointed. Several people have already spoken to his various blunders, but I can't help but belabor them. Why did he leave his Dragonite in for Aurorus and not swap in the much better suited Gyarados? Why did he leave his Gyarados in for Trick-or-Treat and not bring in Hydreigon earlier? Twister? Hyper Beam on Mega Gardevoir, especially when the move's weakness was already capitalized on earlier? And angry Dragonite just doesn't work, lmao. I don't know. On the one hand, such power in his attacks and Hyper Beam usage actually represented his in-game character very well. However, I don't think it translated well here, in something as grandiose and penultimate as the Masters 8. I would have expected more nuance than "Attack! Attack! Attack!" from him. The good news is that the remaining battles look better, so there's that.
  • The cameos were indeed amazing. I did not expect to see Ritchie ever again (who is still romping around in the same attire over a decade later; but I suppose they thought viewers wouldn't recognize him otherwise) or the Legend of Thunder Trio at all. I love that continuity. And speaking of which, seeing the Kalos gang was nice too; I thought Sawyer had gone back to Hoenn with Steven though, so that was odd given that he isn't Kalosian and arguably has equal if not stronger ties there (it would also be more potent to show him watching Ash battle, too).
  • Just, Jessie remembering Gourgeist and her berating Diantha. :bulbaLove:
  • EXCADRILL! Iris and the writers haven't forgotten it, for which I am grateful; I'm really hoping it gets one knockout.
  • And Dynamaxing continues to be an undecisive maneuver. If there is anything I am taking away from Journeys right now it is that Mega Evolution > Dynamaxing.
 
As for Lance, well. I was disappointed. Several people have already spoken to his various blunders, but I can't help but belabor them. Why did he leave his Dragonite in for Aurorus and not swap in the much better suited Gyarados? Why did he leave his Gyarados in for Trick-or-Treat and not bring in Hydreigon earlier?
Lance leaving his Pokemon in for those unfavorable matchups makes more sense when you consider the coverage moves that they had. Dragonite's Body Press dealt massive damage to Aurorus, Gyarados had Ice Fang to deal with Gourgeist, and Hydreigon was prepared for the inevitable Fairy matchup with Flash Cannon. Of course, it was still reckless of him to expose his Pokemon to super-effective attacks, and he definitely could've done better with a bit of switching, but at least he seemed to know what he was doing. Aside from the nonsensical Hyper Beam spam, of course.

For what it's worth, the anime makes Twister seem more powerful and dangerous than the 40 BP move in the games. Just a few episodes ago, we saw Goh's Cinderace and Gary's Blastoise performing a combo attack to bypass the huge tornado summoned by Regidraco. And here, we witness the same move being strong enough to score a knockout even through Light Screen.
 
Was very surprised but pleased to see cameos from the likes of Ritchie, Legend of Thunder characters and the XY rivals and friends. Would love to see Ash reunite with Ritchie

Ash and Ritchie reunion is an anime debt to fans that has been around for over 20 years. And while it's nice to have a cameo of the character in the main series, the simple fact that this mere courtesy took nearly two and a half decades to happen brings to me, rather than nostalgia, an indefinable frustration.
 
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Can't believe it took me this long to watch this one lol, week's been crazy.

Anyways, I feel like I liked the idea of this battle more. I do enjoy how they showcased Lance as being very offense-based and Diantha being more oriented towards defense and gimmicks, but they still took care to also show that Lance can play in the defense when he has to, and Diantha is not passive and her attacks do pack a punch.

But here's the thing: I don't think the problem was the animation, but the choreography of the battle that really bothered me. Why is everyone just... standing there? Where were the dodges? The dynamic and fluid animations? This battle felt so stiff it was actually painful at certain times. Of course, I do get that none of the Pokémon were particularly nimble and speedy, but still.

This is what I've been saying about JN for a long time: they're trying so impossibly hard to emulate how battles work in the games that they just don't realize it's one of those things that just don't translate well. It felt so turn-based.

It's kinda weird: I likde the events of the battles and like the fact that Diantha won, but I still think that, per classic JN fashion, the execution sucked.
 
If you watch the Paul battle you'll notice Pokemon moved around and dodged a lot particularly the Metagross vs Gengar fight. I don't think this is the norm (the Raihan fight also had a lot of dodging with Flygon and Gengar and Dragonite in particular)

It is noticeable whenever there's a GMax pokemon the giant pokemon just stands there like a statue but the animators confirmed it's difficult to animate giant pokemon so I don't mind. The lack of dodging didn't bother me for the rest of the fight, you have Gourgeist and her other pokemon taking hits while Lance's Gyarados was affected by stat changing moves.

Hell even though the Alan battle was rushed if you use it as an example the Rillaboom and Chesnaught fight was entirely fast paced with dodging and Pokemon not taking turns to attack.
 
Can't believe it took me this long to watch this one lol, week's been crazy.

Anyways, I feel like I liked the idea of this battle more. I do enjoy how they showcased Lance as being very offense-based and Diantha being more oriented towards defense and gimmicks, but they still took care to also show that Lance can play in the defense when he has to, and Diantha is not passive and her attacks do pack a punch.

But here's the thing: I don't think the problem was the animation, but the choreography of the battle that really bothered me. Why is everyone just... standing there? Where were the dodges? The dynamic and fluid animations? This battle felt so stiff it was actually painful at certain times. Of course, I do get that none of the Pokémon were particularly nimble and speedy, but still.

This is what I've been saying about JN for a long time: they're trying so impossibly hard to emulate how battles work in the games that they just don't realize it's one of those things that just don't translate well. It felt so turn-based.

It's kinda weird: I likde the events of the battles and like the fact that Diantha won, but I still think that, per classic JN fashion, the execution sucked.

I think you saw the same match as I did.

It came to me right now, Just thought about the fact the writer wanted us to notice Ash is understanding what kind of strategey they were both using. I wonder if he wanted us to see him in the same light of the other champions (for example like we saw Steven talking about the battles). Is Ash sharper? Cause he should after the way they started the first

Of'course it could be just because there is not much to relate to the protagonist when 2 other trainers are fighting for the whole episode.
 
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