Review SM005: Ashimari, Give it Your bALLoon!

[Gengarzilla]

I feel like those Team Skull members are a representation of everyone who's bashed Popplio. Just a thought.

Bewear, what the actual fuck? I really didn't expect it this time.

 

[SandyBoi]

Bewear is actually Jesus in a bear outfit confirmed.
Completely lost it when Milotic appears gets Ash in the nads.
Meowth's comment: "He's not one to study though.." - so bloody true.

Enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would.

 

[Daren]

Rotom (I think? It must be...) is saying how loved Pikachu is in Alola and Satoshi's all "Omg Pikachu isn't that cool?!"

Thanks! I guess he's just oblivious again.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

It is hard to tell whether or not Popplio will evolve. The last female companion only evolves hers once. Either we are getting another non-evolving starter or we will see Primarina at some point.

 

[Fadli Yuuki]

> Team Skull showing up in the flashback, because picking on a Pokemon is exactly the sort of stuff bored teenager like them would do

Well, just like in the episode 3 said, rotomdex is programmed with a lot of language inside, and it scan and confirmed ash language which is human language

 

[Fadli Yuuki]

but damn, this episode is so good, dat bewear appear is so unexpected >W<

 

[Pokefan19]

I wonder if Bewear will actually be caught at this point... I can't imagine it would suddenly wake up if it fainted to whisk Team Rocket away.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I feel like that Bewear is going to get caught eventually. I can't wait to see how much more absurd this Bewear is going to get, cause I don't know how they're gonna top showing up out of nowhere and running across the water. The absurdity of that moment is what made it so hilarious to me.

 

[GoldenUmi]

Okay, so some of you probably know my recent reviews of the first four episodes have been more on the negative side than the positive side. However, I have to admit that episode 5 has given me a better impression. Now, one of my biggest fears for this series was having a lack of a specific goal (seeking gyms) will lead to more slice-of-life and filler episodes in the future. That fear is definitely still there as the whole trial thing feels like it's going to be more spur of the moment and can potentially go several episodes before we get anything out of the first one. But for it only being episode 5 and us desperately needing more character focus on this large cast, I'm all for what they did this time around.

My first impression of Lana, just like Mallow and Lilie in episode 1, was "You're really cute but that's it." After experiencing these characters in the games I saw they had a lot more potential than what the anime tapped into in the first 4 episodes, but I feel they did Lana justice this episode and gave me an overall better impression of her. She seems a tad more shy compared to her game version (and there's nothing wrong with that) but I think they more or less captured what she's all about, including her quirkiness where she likes to poke fun at people by telling tall tales (ala Kyogre). I also liked the backstory they gave her surrounding her Popplio. It was simple yet effective and also built up Team Skull a bit more.

While this episode didn't do anything very impressive, I think the pacing worked better than the first four episodes. I don't want a ton of slower episodes like this in a row but we definitely needed some development for Lana's characterization. I actually feel like the main cast altogether were given better treatment all around this time.

One thing I noticed is that the art for Ash and Team Rocket is improving. If they keep this up I think I'll be able to get used to them. Their eyes are still weirdly shaped and they're too simple for my taste but if you compare them to their episode 3 & 4 designs to this episode you'll notice a bit of a difference. They feel like a nice middle ground between X&Y and their initial character designs to me. Still needs a bit more work imo but this is a good start at least.

Speaking of Team Rocket, I hope James catches a Pokemon soon or their battles are going to be horribly bad. Mimikyu can't handle this by himself. The Bewear continues to be funny though, at least for now.

The episode gets a solid 7/10 from me. It was enjoyable, for sure. Next episode is a Sopphocles episode and since I'm not a fan of him I'll be taking a break and I'll let a few episodes build up before coming back. But this episode does give me some hope.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

Yeah Sophocles is sorta like Tierno in both last season and the game for me... the character that I get the least excited for. Like you, Golden Umi, I'm not sure about watching next week... but since I've been keeping up with the JP version, I may still watch it next week. Never know, I may change my mind about his character. Lol.

 

[Johtohfiller]

I'm neutral on Sophocles so far, he hasn't had enough screentime to give much of an impression. It looks like he might be bros with Kiawe though based on this episode. A focus ep is just what he needs.

With XY I thought they did a good job with getting to know the characters' personalities right off the bat. Sun & Moon I don't find as strong in that regard so far but I'm willing to give it time.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

I totally agree with you. I think I'm gonna try to stay active in the Japanese version every week. I tend to like subbed over dubbed much more anyways. ^_^

In many ways, Sun and Moon reminds me of Clannad and Kanon in that way which gives me hope that later, as the season goes on, the characters will be fully fleshed out in the most complete way---with me loving them all. This could potentially be the most developed characters due to its slice of life format that Pokemon is giving us.

 

[ii kanji]

Okay, honest question - if the Rotom Pokedex is sort of half technology, half Pokemon (since there is literally a Pokemon inside), wouldn't it be able to understand and translate Pokemon language for everybody?
...
Wouldn't it be neat if RotomDex could have had conversations with Popplio about its goals to make giant bubbles and then translate back to the team? Or maybe that would be too convenient.

I haven't thought too hard about the technology side of it, but from an out of universe perspective, if Rotom could speak and translate for Pokemon, would it not have the potential to make Nyasu's unique skill of doing the same redundant?

 

[Kairyu]

Perfect to watch after a stressful week. I'd much prefer a format where we get slice of life/relaxing episodes like this with a rotating cast than the old character of the day model.

Honestly, this was no better than those character of the day episodes. Filler plot where nothing of real importance happens (fishing), coupled with the usual TR scheme. And had we not known Lana's in the main cast, she could easily have been passed off as a generic cotd character.

 

[Jaye]

Lana is no cotd, and that fact alone makes this episode better than any generic cotd episode. This episode can be used as a foundation on which to build Lana's character, because she's going to be there every week, unlike some random cotd who you'll never see again.

Filler plot where nothing of real importance happens (fishing)

Is getting to know an important, recurring character not important?

 

[HenryBeatz]

Honestly, this was no better than those character of the day episodes. Filler plot where nothing of real importance happens (fishing), coupled with the usual TR scheme. And had we not known Lana's in the main cast, she could easily have been passed off as a generic cotd character.

You're trying way too hard to hate, if this anime bothers you so much why you still watching it? it really bothers you because every week saying the same thing this anime is crap, garbage, it sucks, nothing good about it.

 

[GoldenUmi]

I admit some people may be trying too hard to hate it but you have to learn to respect other's opinions. There are those like me who were just turned off by the jarring change in S&M but are trying to watch a good handful of episodes to see if we change our minds. I do think this episode was a step in the right direction because instead of crazy randomness going on it focused on one character and left me with a positive impression of her. If someone is complaining after like 20 episodes I think it's fair for you to say that but not only after episode 5.

I for one gave up on the dub when they started replacing all the music again, even in the movies. It's too bad because I think the dub acting and script has improved but I refuse to listen to the generic computer crap they replace the original score with. No offense to those who still like the dub of course, but I prefer the Japanese and have since X&Y even if I'll occasionally watch the older seasons dubbed. But seeing as how the series is slowing down to focus on characters for now I think I'll wait a few weeks and marathon them, then jump back on weekly when more exciting stuff happens.

 

[Tuoko]

The best thing about this episode was Bear Jesus, aka Bewear.

Aside from that, it was nice to have an episode about Lana and Popplio.

 

[Mayla]

I haven't thought too hard about the technology side of it, but from an out of universe perspective, if Rotom could speak and translate for Pokemon, would it not have the potential to make Nyasu's unique skill of doing the same redundant?

Aw, in that case, that's a good point! Wouldn't want to give the writers a reason to not feature TR in those situations that need translating.

 

[Johtohfiller]

Aw, in that case, that's a good point! Wouldn't want to give the writers a reason to not feature TR in those situations that need translating.

I also wonder if Rotom might give inaccurate translations because he likes to troll. A lot of the in-game Pokedex descriptions sound like trolling.