Review SM021: Nyabby, Time to Begin the Journey!

[Shoutmon]

I really like Litten's personality and I don't want it to evolve because it's evolution are cliche hot blooded stereotypes and would ruin it.

 

[LDEJRuff]

I can't help feeling that this is similar to Family Guy Season 12 Episode 6, "Life of Brian". I mean, it is hard to lose a friend, especially if that friend is a caregiver. Farewell, Stoutland.

 

[Iteru]

Great episode and certainly wouldn't have been as impactful if Mooland hadn't of died.

I do think Nyabby going with Satoshi so quick isn't realistic, but it is what it is. My favourite of the new captured Pokémon already. Am hoping they'll continue to explore Nyabby's background and as a character.

 

[Mayla]

Soooo goooood. In my top two episodes of the season so far. I'm glad to see some sobering subject matter after lots of wacky, somewhat frothy episodes with little to offer in the ways of deeper emotion (however funny some of them may be). It's a reminder that the show really excels at these things when it wants to.

Nyabby's personality also really came across like never before in this episode, the animators did a good job. I really like him. Plus, some of the piano music reminded me of the sad themes from the original series, which was nostalgic.

And more importantly... THIS is why Nyasu is my favorite, his character seems to somehow understand loss and loneliness like none of the other characters, and they handled that part of his personality so well in this episode. Using "Meowth's Ballad" was SO PERFECT, since it's a song about how the world continues to turn.

Kiteruguma hugging Nyasu was the icing on the cake for me. Who doesn't also want to just give him a big hug?

Can't wait to watch this again with subtitles!

 

[SinnohEevee]

Why do people call Meowth "Nyasu"? Isn't it "Nyarth" in Japanese?

 

[Iteru]

Why do people call Meowth "Nyasu"? Isn't it "Nyarth" in Japanese?

Simply because it feels more appropriate.

 

[Mayla]

Why do people call Meowth "Nyasu"? Isn't it "Nyarth" in Japanese?

ス = "su", as in ニャース, so I prefer the literal "Nyasu". "Nyarth" sounds weird to me personally, but that's just like, my opinion, man.

 

[Sakuraa]

This was a good episode, don't get me wrong, but there were some parts that felt a bit odd. The big thing is that Litten seemed to get the desire to join Ash rather suddenly. Sure it mourned Stoutland's death for a while, but after seeing his form in the clouds and the rainbow, he immediately just decided to battle Ash and join him. It just feels like there wasn't enough build up to that moment within this episode. And honestly, the battle between Litten and Pikachu felt so out of place and really ruined the mood for me. (Not as much as Meowth's awful singing, but still). Litten accepted capture without even being defeated by Pikachu and he wasn't even weakened all that much. So the battle just seemed pointless. Why not keep the sweet moment they were having and just let Litten ask to go with Ash without a battle? We could have seen it master Fire Fang another time. This episode was okay, but I feel that all of the Litten episodes leading up to this were done so much better and this one which was supposed to be the finale to his little arc just fell short.

But, I'll give this 7/10 overall. It was good, but just a bit disappointing for me.

 

[Simpsons138]

 

[Timsworld]

I seriously do not understand why people like this episode so much. The writers killed what could've been a great Pokemon for Kukui to take care of (Stoutland) for a while and to top that off that Stoutland will never get to witness Litten's growth under Ash's control. Plus the battle against Litten felt really out of place as well. I hate it when Pokemon have these weird 180° turns all of a sudden like a switch just flipped in their heads. I too wanted Ash to get Litten but not this early on in the show. Overall i'm very dissappointed in this episode. It could've been so great but nope. What a waste of potential.

 

[Alola]

So we've reached the conclusion of the ~Get Nyabby! mini arc. Well, here are some thoughts on the episode as well as Nyabby in general.

We all knew that Ash would catch Nyabby, but in order for that to happen its last prominent connection to a life outside of being tethered to a Trainer had to be severed. Thus Stoutland had to go-which was expected. Throughout all of its appearances, it had been in a state of debilitating health. This all culminated in today's episode, with it passing away after what appears to have possibly been a stoke or some sort of internal attack. I did appreciate such a concept being executed in the show so explicitly-death, unfortunately, is a natural aspect of life and should be conveyed as such even in worlds as faraway and idealistic as Pokemon. Given that the target audience is children, I thought the way they handled everything was splendid-from the muted adult conversations Ash was having with Nurse Joy, to the analogue between falling leaves and states of health.

Furthermore, I really appreciated the bond between Stoutland and Nyabby. The game play and story integration of Stoutland teaching Nyabby Fire Fang was brilliant, because both Pokemon are capable of actually learning the move. It's what makes the mentor ship aspect between the two so great. And Stoutland's approval of Nyabby joining Ash after its death was also heartening to see. When I read reviews of people nearly crying, I was skeptical. But after watching the episode, I admit-I nearly cried as well.

Following the passing, Ash inevitably acquires Nyabby. The fire cat finally gives in to Ash's persistence and willingly joins Ash after a vivid, yet brief, skirmish with Pikachu. I really like Nyabby's character. It's brooding, aloof, helpful, has a comical side and is capable of deep love and loyalty. The fact it has many cat like mannerisms and a neat design only helps. And finally, it's such a great foil to Ash's previous Fire types. For once, there was no abusive, neglectful or jerkass (or a combination of all three!) Trainer included in its backstory-rather the negative feelings, loss mainly, that we see it experience are different from its predecessors and solely Pokemon-related. Finally, someone to break the mold! Thus I was really happy to see it join Ash and his fellow Alolan pets.

The only shortcomings I feel the episode had were 1) how quickly Nyabby joined Ash and 2) how evenly matched the battle between Pikachu and Nyabby was. I understand several days passed in-episode for Nyabby to grieve, but I still perceived the capture as rushed. Like damn Ash, give the cat some time to breathe-why don't you go work on your life goals, get more Z-Crystals, do more Island Challenges, finally visit Akala, etc. I think they could have made this episode a two-parter, to flesh it out more and make Nyabby's capture more meaningful. Next, it would have been nice to see Pikachu dominate the fight a bit more. Coming off of 6 sagas worth of battle experience against a Pokemon who has recently learned to master an effective Ember and Fire Fang, I thought Pikachu would have set the pace a bit more. Regardless, it was great to see one of my favorite starters animated so well in battle.

I'm really looking forward to Nyabby's future development and interactions with the rest of the party. S&M has been slow lately (Episode 20 certainly not helping), but this episode picked back up the substance I've seen and appreciated in earlier episodes.

 

[Shadao]

I seriously do not understand why people like this episode so much. The writers killed what could've been a great Pokemon for Kukui to take care of (Stoutland) for a while and to top that off that Stoutland will never get to witness Litten's growth under Ash's control. Plus the battle against Litten felt really out of place as well. I hate it when Pokemon have these weird 180° turns all of a sudden like a switch just flipped in their heads. I too wanted Ash to get Litten but not this early on in the show. Overall i'm very dissappointed in this episode. It could've been so great but nope. What a waste of potential.

Because death and how we deal with it is something the anime rarely explores. Especially one of old age. XY, in a way, opened the path of permanent loss with the Espurr episode, which features Espurr realizing that its caretaker (the old woman) has passed away and will not come back. Litten is essentially Espurr realized as a main character, only this time the caretaker is an old Pokémon (which allows Sun and Moon to score two points).

As great as Stoutland would be for Kukui, the problem with Stoutland being alive is that Litten will never leave the old dog for anyone else, not even Ash. In many regards, Litten has become its caretaker and I doubt it would want to leave Stoutland's fate in hands of strangers. Especially since it's worried sick that Stoutland will be gone forever.

I've stated before that if this anime really wants to prove itself as something more than just a comedy, it should not hold back on Stoutland's fate for Litten's arc. The anime, at the Japanese version, has always played around with the concept of loss like this. This is something that Shudō would have done. And really, something that should be welcomed to series any day, even if it's a series that some don't like.

 

[SammyW27]

I guess they went there, though no body makes it less meaningful to me.

I wonder how TPCI is gonna handle this...

 

[dman_dustin]

Litten accepted capture without even being defeated by Pikachu and he wasn't even weakened all that much. So the battle just seemed pointless. Why not keep the sweet moment they were having and just let Litten ask to go with Ash without a battle?

Because if the translations I've seen are accurate (by what Meowth said), Litten WANTED the battle before joining, Litten still wanted to see if Ash could prove himself to be its trainer.

Ash initially (if translations are accurate) just asked Litten to be a part of his team when Litten attacked him with "ember" and that's why the battle happened.

I don't necessarily think its fair to judge any of the situations. Litten's probable desire to battle Ash, or Litten's turn around, I just don't understand why becoming an inconsolable mess for quite a few episodes would be considered "better writing" I can't imagine ANYONE or any Pokemon like Stoutland would want their loved ones to just lay in bed, grieving and not moving on with their lives while being so utterly focused on their passing. Which is what I figure was the point of the Stoutland Cloud was to reassure Litten (even if it could be argued to be Litten's imagination) that Stoutland is fine (at least in the sense that Litten doesn't need to worry or be upset anymore) and that Litten will have to move on and find someone new (AKA Ash).

I don't think this is the writers way of putting Stoutland under the bus just because Litten suddenly felt better enough to battle and enjoy moments with Ash or even be captured since I'm pretty certain that what happened is most likely WHAT Stoutland would've wanted. I don't think Stoutland would've been too pleased with Litten being inconsolable and not eating for however many days it took until the end. Understandable, but not pleased about it. So I think Stoutland would've been more than okay with what happened in the end.

 

[Iteru]

I'm strangely curious as to what happened to the body. Did Mooland just manage to sneak on out of there without making a fuss and finding some quiet place to die or has its body literally disappeared upon death?

(and if its the former, what poor child is going to find it? )

 

[SamurottMan]

I'm strangely curious as to what happened to the body. Did Mooland just manage to sneak on out of there without making a fuss and finding some quiet place to die or has its body literally disappeared upon death?

(and if its the former, what poor child is going to find it? )

It will come back as a ghost type Pokemon in SM087

 

[Cresselia92]

I'm strangely curious as to what happened to the body. Did Mooland just manage to sneak on out of there without making a fuss and finding some quiet place to die or has its body literally disappeared upon death?

(and if its the former, what poor child is going to find it? )

Well, if Eggs can appear out of nowhere, I don't see why bodies can't simply vanish in thin air.

I personally believe that Stoutland used the last of his strength to reach his own elephants' graveyard and pass away in peace. Probably he deemed that the best way to avoid further suffering for both himself and Litten.

 

[Kirby4ever]

I'm strangely curious as to what happened to the body. Did Mooland just manage to sneak on out of there without making a fuss and finding some quiet place to die or has its body literally disappeared upon death?

(and if its the former, what poor child is going to find it? )

I think that Ash and Nurse Joy finds the Stoutland under the bridge where it was last and they carefully picked it up and took it back to the Pokemon center without waking up Litten. The Stoutland died shortly after arriving to the Pokemon center the second time.

 

[Johtohfiller]

Now this one was excellent! I especially loved how they used visuals to tell much of the story - the falling leaves, the gloomy sky with rain, the rainbow and cloud-apparition. Meowth's new song was a great inclusion too.

 

[IncineROAR]

I actually really like how the show handled the departure of Stoutland. In the games, "death" is a very obvious concept with places like Lavender Tower and Memorial Hill existing where people mourn at the graves of the departed Pokemon. But the show adds some mystique to it, aside from really catering to younger children by not making death so obvious.

But I'm still at a loss as to what the goal of the series is. He's not partaking in the island trials the same way a player in the game would, and half the trial captains are his 'schoolmates' at the school.