Review PE04: The Plan

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Actually thought this did a good job at showing BW's story. Loved this!

I am so ecstatic to see Hilda animated for I believe the very first time.

Also worth noting they did show her completey unobscured for a moment.

 

[Alola]

This one was amazing and the best out of the four as of now. This is the kind of content I expected we would get with this mini-web series!

• It was wonderful getting to see the events told from Ghetsis' perspective, especially with his ideas for manipulation and conquest in mind. This is what I thought we were going to get with Leon regarding his feelings about the whole Eternatus event; glad they did better this time around.
• Hilda! I am loving the female player character option representation; it has been long overdue. Also, I liked how the gesture of Hilda feeding her Tepig during Ghetsis' speech was what kickstarted N into reconsidering his caretaker's ideals. A nice way to show just how early that seed of doubt began to grow. And speaking of Starters, I enjoyed how they integrated them all within the crowd for the speech rather than have all three play/be together for the sake of keeping up Easter Egg.
• And speaking of ideals, I always thought Zekrom was better suited narrative-wise for N given how the player character essentially helps him see the "truth" behind the (possible) relationships of people and Pokémon. Granted I know that can be argued both ways and N could have both dragons, but I'm happy they went with the Ideals aspect for N.
• The Alder Vs. N battle! Brief but stellar - I moreso enjoyed it because it's the first time we've seen a Volcarona move rather than be largely stationary in battle, as its been (barely) depicted in the main anime. Seeing that fight animated too was a boon, considering it's one of the franchise's biggest cases of "tell and not show." Alder desperately trying to convince N about Ghetsis' lies during the event was just the icing on the cake.
• Anthea and Concordia sounded exactly like how I imagined they would when I played White as a kid - creepy, monotone, and without emotion. So, that was cool to experience.

 

[Almonds]

There's so many things I love about this episode. This is a 10/10

First of all, LOVED the animation, graphics, soft sketches, and the soft colors and glow. Every scene felt like it was painted.

We get to see Hilda's face!

I love that they gave us a glimpse of the champion battle between N and Alder that we've been missing out on for so long. Volcarona VS Zekrom was so well created. I also like how Alder tried to persuade N, failed, but still made that moment of N questioning himself.

The rare candies in N's room was so clearly drawn. Omg.

I'm also impressed at the narrative choice from the perspective of Ghetsis. The camera also showing only half of his face every time there's a close up, and it still shows his expression from his eyes amd shifting eyebrows.

 

[Nodqfan]

Fantastic episode seeing Hilda not be hidden from view was awesome as well as the battle between N and Alder.

Though I am curious to see if next week's episode will focus on B2W2 or if they'll go to Gen 4.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Fantastic episode seeing Hilda not be hidden from view was awesome as well as the battle between N and Alder.

Though I am curious to see if next week's episode will focus on B2W2 or if they'll go to Gen 4.

We already know all the episode names, dates, and regions. The next episode will air on December 2, so no new episodes for whole November, and it'll take place in Sinnoh. One episode per Generation.

Yeah. We're at the halfway point now, and the series is taking a break, so we'll have to wait for six weeks until the next episode. But in exchange, in December, we'll get a new Evolutions episode every week, instead of once every two weeks.

 

[Nodqfan]

We already know all the episode names, dates, and regions. The next episode will air on December 2, so no new episodes for whole November, and it'll take place in Sinnoh. One episode per Generation.

Yeah. We're at the halfway point now, and the series is taking a break, so we'll have to wait for six weeks until the next episode. But in exchange, in December, we'll get a new Evolutions episode every week, instead of once every two weeks.

I see.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

This was definitely the best one so far! We finally got to witness Ghetsis’ speech in animation and it felt very impactful-I see why people would consider his point. Hilda and Tepig being N’s first eye opener was also a very sweet addition.

The battle was short but beautiful. Dynamic movement, camer angles, impact animation and gorgeous fire effects that I’m always a sucker for. I really got a sense of Zekrom and Volcarona’s power, and was pleasantly surprised by how even thr fight felt rather than a curbstomp. Alder’s desperate pleading contrasting to N’s hesitant silence really hit.
Did anybody else find Ghetsis’ voice lowkey arousing? No, just me? A’ight

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

I love Team Plasma’s story and this episode

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I finally found the time to sit down and watch this and I gotta say, this was a HUGE improvement over the last Evolutions episode. More fluid animations, the character designs look very nice (I especially like the light-colored lines, which gives the whole thing a somewhat soft pastel feel), Hilda FINALLY gets some long overdue representation and we get to see her face when other protagonists' were randomly hidden by shadows, and of course we got a much better battle this time around. I love that Volcarona not only finally got the justice it deserves in an animation, but it also put up a very good fight against N's Zekrom, which is especially nice to see after Lysandre's Mega Gyarados's lackluster performance against Xerneas in the previous episode. About the only thing I have an issue with is that I would have liked to see Reshiram emerge from the Light Stone at the end, but it's not really that much of a dealbreaker.

Sidenote, I like that N was associated with Zekrom here rather than with Reshiram like almost every adaptation of the BW story tends to do, as I personally feel like his personality and goals are much more thematically fitting to ideals than to truth. But that's just me.

 

[Eitarou]

Zekrom fits N thematically, Reshiram fits him aesthetically.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Cracked up when Ghetsis peaked his mic

Not sure why the woman's line about innocence was trying to go horror though

 

[Sheep]

The lighting during some parts, especially the Zekrom vs Volcarona battle sequence, was a little odd - both my husband and I thought our screen went idle and dimmed, but it was actually just how it looked. Resulted in a bit of confusion on our end for a few seconds haha.

But wowww I love this. Much better than the previous PE (granted BW's story trumps XY's by a large margin) and it was all just so well done - characters looked great, backgrounds were gorgeously-drawn, camera angles gave scenes (especially battles) a lot of depth, etc. Really happy with it overall. N ilu T_T

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

The lighting during some parts, especially the Zekrom vs Volcarona battle sequence, was a little odd - both my husband and I thought our screen went idle and dimmed, but it was actually just how it looked. Resulted in a bit of confusion on our end for a few seconds haha.

It was most likely dimmed because of all the bright flashing colors on the screen. Porygon's legacy.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Porygon's legacy.

Pikachu's legacy, since that's what caused the seizures in the first place

 

[PaperSplash]

It was most likely dimmed because of all the bright flashing colors on the screen. Porygon's legacy.

Pikachu's legacy, since that's what caused the seizures in the first place

It always seemed silly to me at best and in downright poor taste at worst to blame fictional characters for what was – and still is to an extent – a very real problem in the industry.

It was the animators' fault. It was always the animators' fault. And clearly they've learned very little if they still have to resort to adding sloppy filters at the last minute instead of proactively taking measures to ensure something like that won't ever happen again.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

It always seemed silly to me at best and in downright poor taste at worst to blame fictional characters for what was – and still is to an extent – a very real problem in the industry.

It was the animators' fault. It was always the animators' fault. And clearly they've learned very little if they still have to resort to adding sloppy filters at the last minute instead of proactively taking measures to ensure something like that won't ever happen again.

Same with me hence why I am so tired of all the Porygon/Pikachu blaming crap that is still going to this day. Let's just lock it up, throw it back into the time machine and let's NEVER EVER bring it up again.

 

[PaperSplash]

Heh, someone at TPC or Nintendo was feeling a little horny and perverted, by putting in Hilda for Hilbert's role.

But damn... that Hilda..

It seems rather reductive to imply a female protagonist could only be chosen over a male one for "horny and perverted" reasons.

Also, Hilda's 14.

 

[NealIRC]

could only

I didn't add that part.

 

[RK9]

Bro, this episode was pure heat. Absolute flames.

This is the shit I want out of a Pokémon anime. Signing any petitions that try to get more of this stuff.

 

[BigDocFan]

Another BTS video