Review New series: Initial thoughts

[Kurolegacy]

When you do an anime series, you should have a strong core to keep interest. Pokémon GO would be very hard to adapt as an anime series because it lacks a story mode, and (as of January 2020) is mainly about catching Pokémon, developing gym badges, and clearing stops from Team GO Rocket. This shows what happens if you try to adapt a plotless app instead of the newest games, as well as exploit older episodes with bait-and-switch fillers to improve ratings.

Given the writers' refusal to acknowledge the past except when trying to bait in worn-out older fans, Masters would be just as hard to adapt.

Honestly, given the premise of Pokémon Go, you could make an anime out of it’s premise but it couldn’t be set in the current anime’s universe due to it needing a real world element. It could even run similarly to how Digimon Tamers worked so it isn’t impossible. The elements of Pokémon Go are however incompatible with the core anime and it shows.

 

[Knightwolf09]

I'm kinda getting bored of Go. His catch em all mentality was interesting at first but in action...It's way too easy for him. He literally only throws one ball and that's it. He only ever struggled catching one mon, and since then, what the point of the weaken them first message? Point being, Go's making his goal seem too easy, and Ash is doing a heap of nothin. So I can see why folk are being sorta turned off by this anime, which is a shame.

 

[Daenerys]

When you do an anime series, you should have a strong core to keep interest. Pokémon GO would be very hard to adapt as an anime series because it lacks a story mode, and (as of January 2020) is mainly about catching Pokémon, developing gym badges, and clearing stops from Team GO Rocket. This shows what happens if you try to adapt a plotless app instead of the newest games, as well as exploit older episodes with bait-and-switch fillers to improve ratings.

Given the writers' refusal to acknowledge the past except when trying to bait in worn-out older fans, Masters would be just as hard to adapt.

I can't think of any blatant bait and switch episodes so far in this series other than maybe this week's episode is we really stretch the definition of bait and switch and assume that the preview artwork that showed Ash holding the Rainbow Wing was a purposeful fake out.

And even then I'd ask why anyone actually expected that item to belong to Ash when he never implied in the past that he had a Rainbow Wing in his backpack (which iirc was what some people actually believed). I think people were just looking way too deeply into things by believing that the item was in Ash's possession from the start.

 

[Islander Princess]

This is something that's been in the back of my mind since the region hopping started in earnest, but was really brought to the forefront after today's episode: as someone who adored SM from the start and found a lot about that series and the Alola region to be very unique, I am terrified to see how this series portrays it.

 

[Kurolegacy]

This is something that's been in the back of my mind since the region hopping started in earnest, but was really brought to the forefront after today's episode: as someone who adored SM from the start and found a lot about that series and the Alola region to be very unique, I am terrified to see how this series portrays it.

Honestly, I feel that Alola is literally the only thing that they can’t fail at portraying. Not only the fact that it’s still fresh in people’s minds but, unlike the other regions that are vast, Alola is so small, with the major locations having been covered that they would have to try to turn that into something as generic as they’ve turned the other regions into thus far.

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

This is something that's been in the back of my mind since the region hopping started in earnest, but was really brought to the forefront after today's episode: as someone who adored SM from the start and found a lot about that series and the Alola region to be very unique, I am terrified to see how this series portrays it.

Ash visits Melemele and makes no mention of the fact 4 of his Pokemon are nearby or that he lived there for a semester.
I hope they showcase Akala, Ula'Ula, or Poni when it is Alola's turn. At least that would make them ignoring continuity bearable

 

[Islander Princess]

Honestly, I feel that Alola is literally the only thing that they can’t fail at portraying. Not only the fact that it’s still fresh in people’s minds but, unlike the other regions that are vast, Alola is so small, with the major locations having been covered that they would have to try to turn that into something as generic as they’ve turned the other regions into thus far.

I do hope you're right! I can't help but to be nervous after what we've seen so far, though. It'd be so disappointing to see them turn Alola into something so generic, especially when the series as a whole showed very little in terms of COTDS (even characters everyone assumed to be one offs generally appeared more than once, which is something I loved about SM!)

Ash visits Melemele and makes no mention of the fact 4 of his Pokemon are nearby or that he lived there for a semester.
I hope they showcase Akala, Ula'Ula, or Poni when it is Alola's turn. At least that would make them ignoring continuity bearable

I'd love to see more on Akala, Ula'ula, and Poni regardless! Since SM was based largely on Melemele, I think it'd be cool to potentially see more of the other islands.

That being said, if this series is going to last 3+ years like I expect it to, Ash and Gou will likely end up on Melemele eventually. If they really do ignore all of the components on that island, that would sting...a lot.

 

[kantoskies]

The first Alola episode is going to be bleak...

 

[Sonu Yadav]

This new series is nothing but a promotion to sword and shield.Sun and moon was infinity times better,but this series is a joke.I think pokemon anime should be ended forever.GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE GOU,YOU ARE A JOKE,A BIG TIME LOSER,GOOD FOR NOTHING

Maybe pokemon anime writers and staff are gone mad.they can't even write a single good episode.Just wanting money,more nothing.

 

[UxieLover1994]

Honestly, given the premise of Pokémon Go, you could make an anime out of it’s premise but it couldn’t be set in the current anime’s universe due to it needing a real world element. It could even run similarly to how Digimon Tamers worked so it isn’t impossible. The elements of Pokémon Go are however incompatible with the core anime and it shows.

Yep. A major plot point in Origins is how Red finished the Kanto Dex and was down to just Mew, so the idea of an adaptation of GO isn't as hard as I initially stated earlier. Main anime, wise, it's just too difficult, and leads to the representation of the app be seen as a dull protagonist with a high luck rate. Something that insults actual players like myself who had to deal with countless runaways and failed raids.

That being said, if this series is going to last 3+ years like I expect it to, Ash and Gou will likely end up on Melemele eventually. If they really do ignore all of the components on that island, that would sting...a lot.

The odds of that happening would be low if Alola was recent. But then it had been pointed out by someone that the ninth episode of the current series ignores the event of EP181. But we can't really judge the writers until we see the episode with Lance.

This new series is nothing but a promotion to sword and shield.Sun and moon was infinity times better,but this series is a joke.I think pokemon anime should be ended forever.GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE GOU,YOU ARE A JOKE,A BIG TIME LOSER,GOOD FOR NOTHING

Wow, such cynicism that's worse than my own. All I can say is that the anime may be bad now, but Gou hasn't made the series unredeemable.

 

[Daenerys]

This new series is nothing but a promotion to sword and shield.

Wait, how? There have only been two episodes set in Galar so far and they weren't even that heavy on the Shield and Sword promo since we barely saw a few Gen 8 Pokemon in those episodes. :/

 

[HiroHunter]

You know I gave up after the first ep and I think i'm glad I didn't go back in.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

To highlight why this is an issue, I want to compare it to how Ash used to catch Pokemon...

Comparisons like this miss the mark because they ignore the obvious difference between capturing five pokémon per region and capturing one pokémon per episode. When Satoshi capture something it is usually the main focus of an entire episode, Gou's captures neither had time nor luxury to have that kind of focus. Closest comparisons would be Satoshi's failed captures and Gou's capture of Hibani.

 

[LazySpy]

I mean, yeah, I was comparing it to the other Pokémon series. And by good world building I didn't mean that the setting was realistic, but rather that it felt lived in and that at the very least most non-major characters didn't exist in a vacuum isolated from each other. Nonetheless, Pokémon is still pretty much a fantasy story with a very different type of society, one which doesn't really make any sense when looked through real world logic, so I don't really expect it to have the same or even similar cultural workarounds as the ones we have here.

Yeah, I kind of agree mostly with the last part. The Pokemon world indeed is seperate in logic from our reall world.

However, it still is in desperate need of establishing a stronger identity.

See, the fact that we don't see how the setting reacts to UBs, or Oluolu or whatnot means that a large fraction of information required for undertsanding of exactly how the PokeVerse differse from our world are missing. How do they think about their celebrities, and what is their significance to this culture? Why did Detective Laki became so famous and beloved? What do they think of the aliens that attack them periodically, are they concerned? Do they see them as a threat? What is their state of mind regarding UGs?

Answering those questions informs of how people in the setting think, and if it really is the case that they think in diffirent ways than IRL culture, showing that is relevant.

My large point of complaint about SM were the Ultra Guardians episodes, and that is because they lacked any tension or stakes, maybe aside from the Necrozma episodes, kind of.
They contributed nothing to any of the characters, and their only concievable purpose seems to be introducing the audience to the Ultra Beasts. However, Ultra Beasts are also, except for a few exceptions, portrayed as comedic creatures that actually don't pose any threat to anybody... And then don't appear ever again anyway.

Here's a fes suggestions I have to fix this: Show that the people are scared of the unkown, maybe they want to learn about the UBs, help Ultra Guardians fight UBs in some episodes, maybe have a trainer who wants to capture UBs for himself and would be something of a rivall for the main characters, maybe have a scientist who wants to capture and study UBs, or whatnot. I can see all of those working in the Pokemon universe (and that's not even all ideas I had for that, I have more), and they would have made those episodes much more interesting IMO, while also crafting a more coherent picture of the Pokemon setting.

Because if the setting really is meant to be diffirent from our world, why not show in what exact ways? Because that's my issue. It's not that I want the Pokeverse to be more reallistic, it's that I want to feel invested in its unique world and culture, and to that end, I want to know how the people inhabiting it think, I want to see them have actuall stakes in this story, best if they support the stakes and development of the main protags.

someone literally called Go a 'psychopath'

The only thing that annoys me about Go's handling is that he catches Pokemon too easily but since it's meant to tie into the Pokemon Go mobile game, at least it makes sense.

If a psychopath rings too harsh, what about 'Gary Stu'?

You see, it's fine and all that the writers want to mirror Pokemon Go mechanics, but they also seem to have forgotten that on top of that, they're still writing a character(s?).

Why would Gou care about how Pokemon feel about being drawn from their naturall habitats, if capturing them and befriending them is mostly such an easy feat anyway?
Why would his enviroment care to point out to him that what he's doing is wrong, if it works out in his favor? I mean, the Pokemon he captured like him because , so that's absolutelly okay, right?

Even through there's nothing shown about any of those Pokemon that would justify such minimall disparity in their thinking and emotionall states...

In reallity, none of his flaws come with negative reppercusions, which from an in-universe standpoint, is the same as not having any. Sure, there is the argument that he has his human relationship problems, but ehh... It did kind of fade into obscurity and irrelevance, not to mention it was undermined severly by his Ketchum(p) them all goall, a discussion worthy of its own rant. Gou wants to catch many Pokemon and that just... Happens. And then he befriends them in a similiar fashion.

That's honestly worse than if he was an actuall irredemable sociopath...

 

[J Bouken]

Comparisons like this miss the mark because they ignore the obvious difference between capturing five pokémon per region and capturing one pokémon per episode. When Satoshi capture something it is usually the main focus of an entire episode, Gou's captures neither had time nor luxury to have that kind of focus. Closest comparisons would be Satoshi's failed captures and Gou's capture of Hibani.

The comparison still works because it highlights the benefit of having fewer captures to make, and the inherent disadvantages of Gou's goal. If the goal doesn't have the "time nor luxury" for any specific focus, then what is the point?

 

[Sonu Yadav]

Wait, how? There have only been two episodes set in Galar so far and they weren't even that heavy on the Shield and Sword promo since we barely saw a few Gen 8 Pokemon in those episodes. :/

yeah you're right but this new series is completely sucking.when i got info about exploring whole world,then i was like first they will introduce gou in a best manner and after ,both gou and ash will explore world one by one region and meet old characters and face with familiar faces but they're giving each region one episode for nothing but a boredom.i think the old ways till sun and moon was were the best manner for pokemon anime but this series is unwatchable.how many pokemons have ash caught till now in this damn new series? answer is not a single new pokemon and in old series like sm,ash caught rowlet his first alola pokemon rowlet in sm004,ash development is like hell infact ash is like a supporting character,only they are focusing in gou,giving him tons of pokemon.Missing that old days which was then a real pokemon anime series.......
GO TO THE HELL POKEMON 2019 SERIES AND GOU,A DAMN FOOL MONKEY

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

The comparison still works because it highlights the benefit of having fewer captures to make, and the inherent disadvantages of Gou's goal.

But why does it make it a bad thing, just because it's different than usual?

If the goal doesn't have the "time nor luxury" for any specific focus, then what is the point?

But the induvidual pokémon are not the goal itself, they're parts of the bigger picture. Gou's goal is catching many different species of pokémon as possible and fulling the pokédex. And it's whole picture that'll got the focus.

 

[J Bouken]

But why does it make it a bad thing, just because it's different than usual?

It's "bad" because it's a quantity > quality approach, which in turn dilutes the narrative.

But the induvidual pokémon are not the goal itself, they're parts of the bigger picture. Gou's goal is catching many different species of pokémon as possible and fulling the pokédex. And it's whole picture that'll got the focus.

My question here would be: why should I care about the bigger picture?

If I see a character who is very passionate about their goal, experiences a lot of setbacks and struggles their way to accomplishing it, then I can care about their success. If I see a character who has it too easy, and whose only obstacles to achieving what they want are simply time and effort, then I find it harder to get invested.

To use a cliche, I'm more concerned about the journey than the end, and my worry is Gou's journey is going to be uninteresting if he continues to find things so easy.

 

[OniCornwalis]

I’d just like to say that part of the reason some of the episodes for this series haven’t been that great is that a lot of them have been written by people that joined the writing staff literally this season, such as episodes 8 and 9. I feel like as the show progresses and the new staff members find their groove and get more feedback, the overall episode quality will improve significantly. Also, the next 3 episodes are being written by veteran staff members, so I expect those 3 to be much more enjoyable.

 

[UxieLover1994]

yeah you're right but this new series is completely sucking.when i got info about exploring whole world,then i was like first they will introduce gou in a best manner and after ,both gou and ash will explore world one by one region and meet old characters and face with familiar faces but they're giving each region one episode for nothing but a boredom.i think the old ways till sun and moon was were the best manner for pokemon anime but this series is unwatchable.how many pokemons have ash caught till now in this damn new series? answer is not a single new pokemon and in old series like sm,ash caught rowlet his first alola pokemon rowlet in sm004,ash development is like hell infact ash is like a supporting character,only they are focusing in gou,giving him tons of pokemon.Missing that old days which was then a real pokemon anime series.......
GO TO THE HELL POKEMON 2019 SERIES AND GOU,A DAMN FOOL MONKEY

Gou must be the 2020s Justin Bieber for you, then? But remember one thing: he's a temporary, disposable protagonist whom the writers will forget about in the next series come 2023.

But he's not the one ruining the series. The writers are for constant wasted potential, blatant baiting-and-switching to draw in ratings, and having no clue into how Pokémon GO even works. You are welcome to jump directly to Generation IX right now if you want, but who knows what you'll miss out on, both in the series and in RL.