• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Review New series: Initial thoughts

I've quickly grown to really dislike this series, unless the episode is truly Ash focused. Gou and the Pokemon Go elements have really killed my interest.
More like Pokemon Go and it's elements have really killed what made Pokemon Pokemon. As quoted by Dexter in the first episode... ''To capture a Pokemon you usually have to use your own Pokemon to weaken it first''

This defies the rules of all Pokemon gaming and the first Pokemon series in total. Yes I normally throw Pokeballs at Pokemon but only when my own Pokemon are levels higher than the Pokemon I'm catching, and that my Pokemon is always on standby to weaken it.

With Pokemon Go, that just takes what made Pokemon timeless and chuck it in the bin by just throwing Pokeball at the Pokemon in equivalent to throwing things onto the wall until it sticks. Yes your partner Pokemon does help with the catching by headbutting the ball... that's it! It doesn't do battles aside from Raid and Trainer Battles.

This anime is more of about Go and less about SwSh, because that's where the money goes for TPCi at the end of the day. It made more money in just 2 years than the entire franchise made in its entire 22 year existence at the time. And it's not just Go, it's Masters and Mobile gaming in general that has become this cheap, cash-grabbing alternative to gambling which will never get any better. And consoles are also starting to follow suit with Gen 9 probably doing something as scummy as Activision with Gacha mechanics.

And the worst part of all this is... We cannot have a conversation with these people to give our input to the situation because 1. They are too high up in the company to even care about the lowly people. 2. They'll only cater to little children, because that's more of their main focus than us older people that like the franchise. 3. You cannot understand a word they're saying because Pokemon is a Japanese franchise... I wish it was possible, but the fact is it's not.
 
I feel that the core games are in a very mediocre place these days, but that has nothing to do with the mobile games (talk about an easy scapegoat) or the anime. Putting the gloom and doom aside, here's my ranking of all episodes so far:

2 > 11 > 1 > 10 > 5 > 14 > 7 > 9 > 3 > 13 > 6 > 12 > 8 > 4

Half of the episodes are rewatchable (the higher rated ones), but the others were just okay for one viewing. I actually enjoyed the Piplup episode more than the Leon/Lance one, but I figure that it deserves a few points for continuity.

The series needs to present the World Championships as something more meaningful than just a chance for Ash to have a rematch against Leon; the journey counts more than the destination. Similarly, I'd like to see Go involved in that new Vermilion gym and let his Pokemon train there. A rival for each character wouldn't hurt, either. Finally, more game locations would definitely be appreciated, although today's ruins were cooler than the Relic Castle.

I actually don't really care what Koharu's goal is as long as it blends Pokemon with non-Pokemon elements (like books or documentaries, but not beauty pageants), but she should travel every now and then. That Ditto from the first poster and some merchandise could fit her, but I really don't want to see Eevee with another girl (it would be the fourth time).
 
I feel that the core games are in a very mediocre place these days, but that has nothing to do with the mobile games (talk about an easy scapegoat) or the anime. Putting the gloom and doom aside, here's my ranking of all episodes so far:

2 > 11 > 1 > 10 > 5 > 14 > 7 > 9 > 3 > 13 > 6 > 12 > 8 > 4

Half of the episodes are rewatchable (the higher rated ones), but the others were just okay for one viewing. I actually enjoyed the Piplup episode more than the Leon/Lance one, but I figure that it deserves a few points for continuity.

The series needs to present the World Championships as something more meaningful than just a chance for Ash to have a rematch against Leon; the journey counts more than the destination. Similarly, I'd like to see Go involved in that new Vermilion gym and let his Pokemon train there. A rival for each character wouldn't hurt, either. Finally, more game locations would definitely be appreciated, although today's ruins were cooler than the Relic Castle.

I actually don't really care what Koharu's goal is as long as it blends Pokemon with non-Pokemon elements (like books or documentaries, but not beauty pageants), but she should travel every now and then. That Ditto from the first poster and some merchandise could fit her, but I really don't want to see Eevee with another girl (it would be the fourth time).
It's getting less likely that they'll ever bring old characters from the past back (with exception of Champions). Those trophies in Ash's room is the closest we'll ever get, as this is being made by completely different people, just like OS-XY and SM were.
 
Grass Type Gardenia said:
More like Pokemon Go and it's elements have really killed what made Pokemon Pokemon. As quoted by Dexter in the first episode... ''To capture a Pokemon you usually have to use your own Pokemon to weaken it first''

This defies the rules of all Pokemon gaming and the first Pokemon series in total. Yes I normally throw Pokeballs at Pokemon but only when my own Pokemon are levels higher than the Pokemon I'm catching, and that my Pokemon is always on standby to weaken it.

With Pokemon Go, that just takes what made Pokemon timeless and chuck it in the bin by just throwing Pokeball at the Pokemon in equivalent to throwing things onto the wall until it sticks. Yes your partner Pokemon does help with the catching by headbutting the ball... that's it! It doesn't do battles aside from Raid and Trainer Battles.

Honestly, it seems pretty late to complain about the Go capturing system. Yeah, it removes the battling aspect of capturing, but that isn't really a problem when it's designed to be a mobile game people can do as they're walking along. Plus, it's basically like the Kanto Safari Zone. Players could just throw special Pokeballs to catch rare Pokemon there and that wasn't a problem.

This anime is more of about Go and less about SwSh, because that's where the money goes for TPCi at the end of the day. It made more money in just 2 years than the entire franchise made in its entire 22 year existence at the time. And it's not just Go, it's Masters and Mobile gaming in general that has become this cheap, cash-grabbing alternative to gambling which will never get any better. And consoles are also starting to follow suit with Gen 9 probably doing something as scummy as Activision with Gacha mechanics.

Will you please stop spreading that false information around? Go has not made more money in two years than the entire franchise has made in twenty two years of existence. Not only is that ridiculously untrue, but you can't even begin to prove it. Go is popular and successful. No doubt about that. But to claim that Go made more money than the entire franchise did over the course of two decades is just complete nonsense. You don't have to like Go or the effect it has had on the franchise, but to make such blatant lies and exaggerations is just annoying.

Grass Type Gardenia said:
And the worst part of all this is... We cannot have a conversation with these people to give our input to the situation because 1. They are too high up in the company to even care about the lowly people. 2. They'll only cater to little children, because that's more of their main focus than us older people that like the franchise. 3. You cannot understand a word they're saying because Pokemon is a Japanese franchise... I wish it was possible, but the fact is it's not.

Technically, you can give your input through the Pokemon's website email or replying to their Twitter account. They may not listen, but you can make your feelings clear if you want to. The second point is especially weird to me when Pokemon is a franchise primarily aimed at children. They're aware of older fans, especially for the games, but at the end of the day, kids are their main target audience and I feel like people keep forgetting that. The third point is also strange since people from Japan can speak or type in English too. Not to mention there are translators for them, so I don't quite understand the logic for that third point.
 
The series has gotten a LOT better since that long run of dreadful episodes (3-9, with 7 as an exception). I've actually enjoyed all episodes since then (though next week does not look promising...). And Ash has a battle-related goal now which is all I ever wanted.

That said, Go continues to bring the series down. His goal has turned from "not interesting" to down right annoying at this point. I like his personality, it's just his goal and the way it's so awkwardly incorporated into every episode that is a big problem.
 
The series has gotten a LOT better since that long run of dreadful episodes (3-9, with 7 as an exception). I've actually enjoyed all episodes since then (though next week does not look promising...). And Ash has a battle-related goal now which is all I ever wanted.

That said, Go continues to bring the series down. His goal has turned from "not interesting" to down right annoying at this point. I like his personality, it's just his goal and the way it's so awkwardly incorporated into every episode that is a big problem.
Not only that, he’s just there for queerbaiting . Yes Jessie and James crossdress, but at least they don’t stray too far out of the norm. With Gou however, you can tell they’ve created him just to keep up with the times, fixing something that doesn’t need fixing. Sure it was a one off episode that Gou blushed for Ash, but does anyone remember the poor fanpandering Korrasami was handled? This is why I hate fanservice because it always gets in the way of the story. I may have gotten carried away with my own projects in the past but now I’ve grown up, got more mature and moved on. So far my fanzine has gotten praise for not only rekindling the spark that made Pokémon special, but also for accomplishing something I wanted for the Fanzine, and that’s “no fanservice”.
 
Last edited:
Not only that, he’s just there for queerbaiting . Yes Jessie and James crossdress, but at least they don’t stray too far out of the norm. With Gou however, you can tell they’ve created him just to keep up with the times, fixing something that doesn’t need fixing. Sure it was a one off episode that Gou blushed for Ash, but does anyone remember the poor fanpandering Korrasami was handled? This is why I hate fanservice because it always gets in the way of the story. I may have gotten carried away with my own projects in the past but now I’ve grown up, got more mature and moved on. So far my fanzine has gotten praise for not only rekindling the spark that made Pokémon special, but also for accomplishing something I wanted for the Fanzine, and that’s “no fanservice”.
“Queer baiting”? Are you serious?

The show has provided no explicit references to his sexuality, and even he were of any sexuality it doesn’t influence the quality of the character. You’re implying that creating a LGBTQ+ character itself would be detrimental to story, in a story where we’ve seen literally no sexual elements.
 
If you watch Cosgrove Hall Wind in the Willows, Rat and Mole do have an affectionate friendship that made them like brothers. It’s that type of commuted friendship that In today’s age has been blurred by this LGBT nonsense. (Not against gay people, just against the community and agenda)
What about Go makes you think he’s LGBT? Sure, he looks a little more feminine than the usual male character, but that doesn’t mean he’a crossdresser and it doesn’t prove anything about sexuality.

You’re starting to get too political over something that isn’t complicated.
 
If you watch Cosgrove Hall Wind in the Willows, Rat and Mole do have an affectionate friendship that made them like brothers. It’s that type of commuted friendship that In today’s age has been blurred by this LGBT nonsense. (Not against gay people, just against the community and agenda)
Love or friendship can be decided by the person themselves (or the creator of the media). And "not against gay people" and "LGBT nonsense" in the same sentence is hypocritical, to say the least. And being against the "community" is being against those people.

A movement fighting for the rights of a highly discriminated against minority doesn’t blur any lines at all.

I wish everything wasn’t too political, that’s the thing. As for Gou, see episode 3 to see what many have pointed out.
Who was the first user to bring up sexuality and "politics" is the discussion? I think it was @Grass Type Gardenia...
 
As for Gou, see episode 3 to see what many have pointed out.
Is that the blushing thing? Really?

We’ve seen dozens of male character blushing throughout this anime, and nobody ever complained about that. This is no more of a hint or confirmation than the bulbapedia pages suggesting shoulder touching and smiling are shipping hints.
 
IMO, all of the episodes prior to episode 10 were rather underwhelming, with the exception of episode 7; despite the lack of continuity regarding the Battle Frontier, I really enjoyed that episode. The last few episodes were very enjoyable too, despite Gou's occasional shenanigans. Then again, we're still very early into the series, so there's still plenty of time for the writers to give Gou some proper character development. The only character development he's received so far was Ash trying to encourage him to weaken Pokemon before capturing them in the bug-catching episode (and Ash trying to make Gou enjoy battles in general in the Battle Frontier episode), but his advice has been largely ignored so far.
As quoted by Dexter in the first episode... ''To capture a Pokemon you usually have to use your own Pokemon to weaken it first''

This defies the rules of all Pokemon gaming and the first Pokemon series in total. Yes I normally throw Pokeballs at Pokemon but only when my own Pokemon are levels higher than the Pokemon I'm catching, and that my Pokemon is always on standby to weaken it.
Remember how mad people were when they initially found out that strong, evolved Pokemon found in the Wild Area can't be catchable at all until you progressed further into the story? Yeah, Gou and his Darmanitan were probably laughing at us.
 
Any word on how Japan is seeing the new series? Short of us going to Japan and doing something illegal, that's what is going to influence things.
It's hard to say for sure; from what I can tell responses to the official PR twitter seem mostly positive, although there were complaints about some of the same things as here like Gou's easy captures they seemed a minority (and some of the same "please show X of Ash's old Pokémon" during the lead up to episode 7). However, english twitter also seems generally more positive about the anime than here so I can't say what Japanese forums think.
 
, and Cynthia with her Garchomp. If a Sinnoh Remake is in the works, then perhaps Cynthia could act as a bottleneck to Leon's undefeated streak, since she too is undefeated,
:giggle::giggle: Can't tell you how happy I am to read that from another user! I totally agree with you.
I have a similiar theory which I explained in the World Championships-thread: Cynthia being revealed (after Ash's victory over Leon) as the true Master and perhaps as the boss of an elite, ultra powerful but good organization.

As for the topic itself:
The boys' traveling around between different regions is something I like less and less. The current and upcoming episode are good examples how poorly the whole concept is done. this week the boys are here, while next week they'll be somewhere else with no explanation and hardly any introduction whatsoever. The episodes feel terribly rushed, everything is taken for granted and it just doesn't feel like the Pokemon Anime we used to know.
 
Ignoring the politics that don't belong on this sub-forum even in the slightest, I think this series has stepped up a bit with episodes 10-13, now they just have to keep making episodes like that, only up the ante. I just want to forget that Grimer dung that was episode 9, as Ho-Oh's appearance was wasted entirely. I know people aren't too fond of episode 14, but I found that one more meh than anything else. With Ash challenging the Pokemon World Championships I expect better things going forward. My only serious complaint up to this point is the shared complaint of how Gou generally doesn't need to put in any effort to catch any of his Pokemon, and the lack of a female lead to make things seem more complete.

EDIT: I meant it stepped up a bit with episodes 10-13 not 9-13, lol. My bad.
 
Last edited:
Episode 14 was one of the better episodes of this series and more episodes should be like it. Episodes 12 and 13 were ok, but seeing them felt like I was watching XY again and I hated that saga.
 
Episode 14 was one of the better episodes of this series and more episodes should be like it. Episodes 12 and 13 were ok, but seeing them felt like I was watching XY again and I hated that saga.
And yet many love it regardless, especially the AshxSerena shipping. It’s doubtful that past characters aside from Champions would return since the new series is being made by a different anime team, whether or not they have the rights to use some past characters you be the judge. It’s complicated.
 
Last edited:
And yet many love it regardless, especially the AshxSerena shipping. It’s doubtful that past characters aside from mains and Champions would return since the new series is being made by a different anime team, whether or not they have the rights to use some past characters you be the judge. It’s complicated.
It’s not complicated at all. They’re being made by different people but under the same overall Pokémon Team. They’ve the right to use every Pokemon character since they’re a part of the franchise itself. The Pokémon anime is a part of The Pokemon Company.
Your post is totally misinforming.
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom