Review SM031: Lychee Appears! Laugh and Cry, Island Queen!!

[Likeitornot.]

I assume that the scene was a Slowpoke having its tail being bitten causing it to evolve to Slowbro, its just theirs little to no difference between a Slowpoke with its tail bitten and a Slowbro.

Oh - yes. That would make a lot more sense. I wish they had shown the part of the shellder actually biting onto it and latching onto slowpoke more explicitly - they only show when shellder is already transformed into that form and on slowpoke's tail, so it's a bit easy to be confused but I think you're right.

 

[SammyW27]

Nice to see Olivia here, and it's awesome they made her such a fun character (and just hope it doesn't get old quick).

Though I'm a little saddened they made her less hot. Not only did put her in that coat (even making her swim in it!), but she seemed less curvy and thicker than in the games/manga. (I'm a little scared of they might to do Wicke ). There's something off that Lana got to show off than her...

 

[Gabo2oo]

I didn't find it to be boring, but it's pretty noticeable how nothing actually happens between the cold open and the eyecatch. In fact, the first 15 minutes have no plot point going on at all. Luckily, the slapstick prevented it from feeling slow-paced, so the episode turned out to be fine IMO.

Also, shotouts to Tsuzukuttara during the underwater scene.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

I kinda like Olivia's characterization here, though her tripping over everything is going to get old so quickly. Also I kinda don't like how they make her cover up a bit more with her coat. Its nice to see we're finally on Akala Island though. Also I noticed when Ash was scuba diving with Olivia that the to be continued track from the OS was playing in the background. Its been so many years since I've heard that theme and it makes me so happy.

 

[Nicolas721]

The episode was good. It was nice to finally see small scenes from the past like Kiawe's home and Ash meeting Tapu Lele finally coming together. Also, Olivia had a good characterization, as her love for Pokemon (she is an inverse Lillie! hopefully one episode will adress that) and her emotions mattered more than her title. Also, I liked how Kiawe and Lana made some small contributions to the plot, maybe in preparation for their trials.

I agree that the Wailmer scenes were a bit slow and boring, but instead of replacing them with a generic TR fight I would've shortened it and added some goodbyes between the companions and their families.

 

[jonathan keller]

It was an okay episode. Let's see what next week has in store

 

[Gard81]

I feel like they tried WAAAAAAAY too hard to showcase Olivia. She was basically all over the place as a character: first the over-affection, then the slapstick, then the kisses, then again slapstick, then acting as a pro, etc. I mean I'm all in for a multi-dimensional character, but this is far too much to take in far too quickly.
I'd suggest that she take a cue from Lana. That Lugia prank was the highlight of the episode. It was spectular, even moreso with how simple it was.

 

[SonansuMan]

They really emphasized the episode title.

Besides the Wailmer rescue and Charjabug appearance, this episode was boring than the standard S/M episode. Last week was better.

6.5/10

 

[Islander Princess]

Olivia is my favorite kahuna and I absolutely adore Akala (probably my favorite island) so I enjoyed this episode quite a bit.

Olivia's portrayal I thought was great. I love that she's elegant and kind, but at the same time clumsy and a bit emotionally all over the place. I'm really happy we've gone back to pretty much all of the characters having broad personalities and various flaws; makes them feel a whole lot less stale and more real/relatable.

I'm glad they emphasized the relationship that already exists between Kiawe and Olivia. I'm always afraid of the writers forgetting stuff like that (simple as it seems, they tend to do that a lot...) so it was good to see that connection mentioned again. I also have to say I laughed really hard at the scene when Sophocles finds Kiawe's family in the Akala Island guide and Kiawe gets a bit teased for his insanely awkward ice cream photo. Poor guy.

I wasn't happy at first that only Ash jumped in the water to explore with Olivia (all I could think was Lana loves water types and literally wears a bathing suit under her clothes) but I suppose they made up for it with the Wailmer rescue. I loved that all the classmates were involved with that, including Lillie.

One (super small) criticism: how is Ash still surprised by the existence of multiple Nurse Joys? Like this is how it is in every single region. And of course no one else was shocked by it. That was just stupid, honestly.

Also, I find it super amusing how SM is being presented as a much lighter hearted series, yet we get moments like in this episode that are actually kind of terrifying. The scene where Wailmer is literally screaming out of fear/pain/terror when they're trying to keep him from drowning to death was actually insanely dark. It's an overall really funny and light series, but man there are some instances where they just aren't playing around.