Review JN142: And We're Looking at the Same Moon!

[Weddingbells]

Yeah I felt nothing for this episode....

 

[Gabo2oo]

It was a nice episode.

I should've known that Meowth would end up paired with Pikachu mostly to translate for the viewers, but it didn't feel as forced as some other times and it
was still nice to see him around, he provided some nice comic relief.

I had a feeling we'd see a montage, but I wasn't expecting a full minute and half of footage from throughout the series, let alone with Oyasumi playing. The footage from each series was pretty well-chosen IMO, and I liked how straight-forward it was shown that this is a plot that's happened so many times before.

(By this point I was expecting the ending to change to Boku no Best Friend or something, but for some reason it seems like Brock is the only one who had the power to override the first ending? Another missed opportunity from this arc.)

I don't get it. If the writers wanted to show Ash's growth as a person by befriending Pokemon that have caused him grief in the past, then why use these one-off stand-ins? Have him actually befriend the Fearow that attacked him in ep one. That way it'd be a perfect bookend to the series.

Because it's less about the specific Pokémon and more about the actual situations that used to cause him trouble. Having him meet the exact same Rattata and Fearow would feel a bit more forced towards the fanservice side than to show the actual character growth. The Pokémon being the same species is more than enough if you want to make clear parallelisms.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Those flashbacks of Pikachu from past series just made me miss those art styles even more.

 

[Gabo2oo]

I just want to add that Brock looked pretty off-model throughout the episode. I never liked his upwards hairdo from Sun & Moon but it looked worse than usual here.

Spoiler

Here's how he looked in the Arceus special for comparison's sake. I'm not sure what's the catch about drawing him but I guess it's easy to mess up?

Spoiler

The animation itself was good though, especially the little details like hair bounce and blinking, not to mention the chase sequences with backgrounds made from scratch.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Why is pikachu scared of something its 4x effective against?

He forgot that he can fight. Same way Ash, Brock and Misty forgot that they have pokémon.

 

[SonansuMan]

It was an alright split up episode that I feel like could’ve been executed slightly better.

I think this episode suffers the same issue from JN095 where they try to make a previous plot line way more melodramatic and serious but it falls flat on its face because it’s already been done so many times that the stakes aren’t really present.. I did like a lot of the positive aspects this episode brought though by showing how strong the bond between Ash and Pikachu is to the point of basically sending each other’s presence, as well as continuing to showcase Ash’s growth by having his relationship with Rattata and Spearow come full circle

EXTRA THOUGHTS:

• The episode felt rushed and IDK why they spent so many scenes emphasizing that TR were gonna go right back to taking Pikachu just to make a really underwhelming ending instead
• Meowth blushing after seeing Pikachu and Ash reunite was adorable
• The animation was surprisingly really nice this episode? Lots of smooth moments and good scenes especially during the night time
• Snivy’s potential last feature being 5 seconds of Leaf Storm is depressingly hilarious

OVERALL SCORE:
6/10

 

[BigDocFan]

AfterStory

 

[Rikki Kitsune]

The writers better bring Pidgeot back at least once before this is all over, or I'll never forgive them.

lol same, that would be unforgivable for me.

 

[ii kanji]

AfterStory

How hard would it have been to include this in the actual episode by cutting some of the extraneous crap?…

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

How hard would it have been to include this in the actual episode by cutting some of the extraneous crap?…

For these writers? Very.

 

[Imtnt]

Notes..
1. Meowth not looking at the moon? Fact: he said before he loves the moon the most.
2. They could try and pair better him and Pikachu for nostalgia (back then when Pikachu got to sleep and Meowth said he is not bad afterall - so maybe doing a convesation Meowth is the one fainting out?)
3. The time Meowth talked to himself after promising to Pikachu reminded me Xy when he talked to himself about Chespin being realy dumb and Froakie might be a problem (or something like that).
4. Ash cares about Pikachu alone up there + the gang telling us it is their special bond and they are one and blah + and the fact Greninja is fighting shadows somewhere all alone without the same care of Ash - isn't it a lil bit too much?
5. Liked the Co with the wild pokemon.
6. Latias was saving the day and nothing happened in the same time? At least we got somr progress...

 

[Islander Princess]

Guess I'm in the minority because I really enjoyed this episode. It was nothing hard hitting or original, but it was enjoyable and really reminded me of watching the anime when I was a little kid. I also watched it in bed which felt like the perfect vibe for the episode (especially with all of the beautiful background music used throughout! Which says something because I'm not someone who usually pays super close attention to the background music. I cannot remember the scene off the top of my head but one used this very beautiful, melodic lullaby-esque song that was just stunning...I think maybe when Ash and Pikachu were napping? I'm going to have to look back and figure it out because I'd love to listen to that song on its own!)

I loved how Ash was portrayed in this episode. He's usually shown to be so easygoing, but when it comes to looking for Pikachu, he's super serious and pretty no nonsense. I love that parallel and it really shows just how important Pikachu is to Ash, especially after Misty literally refers to him as being "so carefree" in the beginning of the episode. It's also just nice to see different sides of Ash.

The callbacks to Pikachu and Ash's Caterpie were also great. That was always one of my favorite Pokémon scenes as a kid so it was nice to see it referenced here.

The one criticism I had was that I found some of the flashbacks they chose for the moon scene (which was overall fantastic!) to be a little odd, particularly the XY one. How they didn't go with the scene of Ash jumping off Lumiose Tower to save Pikachu was really odd to me, especially considering how big that scene was when the series first aired. The one they chose over it felt really random and not that important when it comes to the scope of Ash and Pikachu's relationship. I'd get it if there wasn't a different, better scene, but the Lumiose Tower scene is very recognizable so that was just a weird choice to me. I thought the SM one was a little weird too, considering the Alola League win was right there, but I guess for that they wanted to go with something a little more easygoing and didn't want to take away from the World Championship? It was a short scene, but it felt like one of the most important moments of the episode so I can't help but to read into it a little bit.

Like I said, I know this episode wasn't anything groundbreaking, but I really did enjoy it! I could definitely see myself going back to this episode when I'm feeling nostalgic.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

How hard would it have been to include this in the actual episode by cutting some of the extraneous crap?…

To be fair, it's just a repeat of what he said when they took him back.