Review PE08: The Discovery

[Almonds]

At first I was excited to see Green (or Blue) as the protagonist. It took me a while to realize this was based on LGPE.

Animation wise... nothing too particular. Sometimes the movements were static, other times (especially with Blastoise) the attacks were pretty cool.

The nugget bridge challenge was hilarious.

Overall, to rank my favorites based on animation and storytelling:
1. Ep 04 The Plan
2. Ep 06 The Wish
3. Ep 07 The Show
4. Ep 02 The Eclipse
5. Ep 08 The Discovery
6. Ep 05 The Rival
7. Ep 03 The Visionary
8. Ep 01 The Champion

 

[ii kanji]

This one felt like it had the most love put into it out of the shorts. I guess someone is a Kanto stan in the production? Seriously though the music and art and animation were AMAZING, and I loved the lighter hearted tone it took. I guess Kanto has been done so many times in so many ways that they can afford to play with it a bit without offending those for whom it is very important and serious business.

 

[Sheep]

The quality in this one was really good. Fluid animation, lots of nice small details in the frames, wonderfully-crafted backgrounds, and just excellent art in general. The close-ups of their faces and especially the sparkle in the eyes just looked so good. Didn't expect this to lean towards LGPE's story but really ended up liking that anyway. Trace looked pretty cool in this rendition too, quite different to his more chibified look in the games.. gives me more appreciation for his character seeing him in this style.

What I loved most was Green's adorable little wink and hand wave ahshdhfh. so. cute And so is the ending. Protag and Green looking at each other and blushing was uwu

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

How does this image make you all feel?

Something about this seems so.... Unusual to me?

 

[Emmy]

How does this image make you all feel?

It's Venusaur, I'm so used to seeing Blastoise with Green that the big toad is throwing me off.

 

[PaperSplash]

How does this image make you all feel?

View attachment 153992

Something about this seems so.... Unusual to me?

For me the weirdness is seeing Blue in that outfit. I know it's the one he wore in the original games and LGPE, but now I'm more used to seeing him in his FRLG and HGSS outfits, and I tend to associate the original one with Gary.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Behind the scenes:

 

[FelipePR]

How does this image make you all feel?

View attachment 153992

Something about this seems so.... Unusual to me?

Considering that the eighth gym theoretically specializes in the ground type, and that the Kanto starter Pokémon that would best embody this type is Venusaur, I thought the choice was suitable.

In addition, Blue's prominent and malicious posture, as well as the overwhelming size of Vensuaur, contribute to the creation of an atmosphere and a feeling of oppression.

So, I liked the scene.


OBS: I was sure I had commented on this short ..... especially how the episode and the characters are empathetic and pleasant, plus the noticeable difference in the art style when compared to the other episodes.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

In addition, Gary's prominent and malicious posture, as well as the overwhelming size of Vensuaur, contribute to the creation of an atmosphere and a feeling of oppression.

So I liked the scene.

Blue, not Gary.

 

[FelipePR]

Blue, not Gary.

True, but is that, as I first watched the anime, I was never able to fully disassociate the two characters. So, in my FireRed games, Blue was always Gary. Their outfit in this episode also collaborates with this, lol.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

Considering that the eighth gym theoretically specializes in the ground type, and that the Kanto starter Pokémon that would best embody this type is Venusaur, I thought the choice was right.

Ironically, though, Venusaur was the only Kanto starter that couldn't learn any Ground-type moves until Gen 3. So one could argue that the Ground connection is flimsy anyways.

Besides, Blue never uses monotype teams in any of his fights and completely revamped the final Gym as a result. I quite like that he chose to distance the Viridian Gym as far from its former leader as possible. Not just because it makes for a more unique and challenging fight, but because it makes sense in-universe, considering the former Gym Leader turned out to be a criminal.

 

[FelipePR]

Ironically, though, Venusaur was the only Kanto starter that couldn't learn any Ground-type moves until Gen 3. So one could argue that the Ground connection is flimsy anyways.

Besides, Blue never uses monotype teams in any of his fights and completely revamped the final Gym as a result. I quite like that he chose to distance the Viridian Gym as far from its former leader as possible. Not just because it makes for a more unique and challenging fight, but because it makes sense in-universe, considering the former Gym Leader turned out to be a criminal.

I think, actually, there could be several aspects that could have led the producers to choose venusaur as their partner. However, we will never know the real reason. It is only possible for us to correlate.

Regarding Ground-type, it's obvious that the logic, from the beginning, is flimsy, since venusaur doesn't have that typing Lol. However, a massive land Pokémon, with plants on its back (Torterra?), embodies this perception much more than a flying lizard and a sea turtle, or not?

As for the gym, in fact, in most games, Blue overhauls the gym and, apparently, dismisses all the other trainers. However, the same is not exactly true in Pokémon Let's Go and it seems certain that, in the scene under discussion, the producers are referencing Giovanni's Gym in Let's Go, as well as the episode itself references that game.

So if, incidentally, the purpose of the scene was to somehow correlate the gym and the gym leader characters, both smug, one truly malicious and the other only in a witty way, one villain and the other rival, sucession, I think that Venusaur is a good choice.

Obviously the reason could be something else. As a simple reference to the name of the character in Japanese or that the producers want to inform us that the version of this episode is a parallel reality to the game.

Each correlates as they like. For my part, I see Blue/Green/Gary jokingly playing the leader gym role. And, from that point of view, I liked the scene.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I think actually, there could be several aspects that could have led the producers to choose venusaur as their partner. However, we will never know the real reason, it is only possible for us to correlate.

Regarding Ground-type, it's obvious that the logic, from the beginning, is flimsy, since venusaur doesn't have that typing Lol. However, a massive land Pokémon, with plants on its back (torterra?), embodies this perception much more than a flying lizard and a sea turtle, or not?

As for the gym, in fact, in most games, Gary overhauls the gym and apparently dismisses all the other trainers. However, the same is not exactly true in Pokémon Let's Go and it seems certain that, in the scene under discussion, the producers are referencing Giovanni's Gym in Let's Go, as well as the episode itself references that game.

So if, incidentally, the purpose of the scene was to somehow correlate the gym and the gym leader characters, both smug, one truly malicious and the other only in a witty way, one villain and the other rival, sucession, I think that Venusaur is a good choice.

Obviously the reason could be something else. As a simple reference to the name of the character in Japanese or that the producers want to inform us that the version of this episode is a parallel reality to the game.

Each correlates as they like. For my part, I see Blue/Green/Gary jokingly playing the leader gym role. And, from that point of view, I liked the scene.

Yeah, but was referrencing Giovanni's specialty type in the flimsiest way possible really that imperative that they had to change the rival dynamic between Red and Blue? Maybe it's just because I'm not a fan of the franchise's recent trend of giving the Rivals the starter weak to yours instead of the opposite like in the past, but if they were that dead-set on Blue having Venusaur, then Red really should've had Blastoise imo. Unless of course they mean to imply that Blue was actually Green's rival in this timeline while Red was the third wheel, but that's not made clear.

 

[FelipePR]

Yeah, but was referrencing Giovanni's specialty type in the flimsiest way possible really that imperative that they had to change the rival dynamic between Red and Blue? Maybe it's just because I'm not a fan of the franchise's recent trend of giving the Rivals the starter weak to yours instead of the opposite like in the past, but if they were that dead-set on Blue having Venusaur, then Red really should've had Blastoise imo. Unless of course they mean to imply that Blue was actually Green's rival in this timeline while Red was the third wheel, but that's not made clear.

First, I'm not saying that Venusaur was given to Blue because of a correlation with Giovanni, but that I like the scene because of that.

On the other hand, lore wise, Pokémon is something complex and incongruous. I don't think we should then be frustrated with flawed hypotheses or look for an accurate and definitive answer. The Pokémon lore is at least dubious and wisely don't seek to explain itself too much.

But taking into account that this short is based on Pokémon Let's Go, I don't know if it would be right for us to apply the logic of the original first generation games and their more faithful remakes. And, as said, in this short, at least, Green is the one in the spotlight, and not Red.