Review SM037: Iwanko and the Guardian Deity of the Ruins of Life!

[Sakuraa]

Can you change your rate to 6/10? 4/10 is sort of low.

Um, why? I only felt the episode was worth a 4/10 so that's why I gave it the score. Nothing really entertained me other than Tapu Lele and seeing Galdion with Type:Null. That's certainly nothing to warrant anything over a 5 for me.

 

[SamurottMan]

Well, don't forget that the most exciting part of the episode was intentionally spoiled for the sake of promotion and hype so knowing what's going to happen and how it's going to happen it affects the excitement value of the episode.

For me, I'd be more excited if we weren't spoiled the entire evolution scene.

I liked the episode, the classmates could've been absent and we'd never even realize which is a very bad thing for SM.

I'm happy the scenes with Type: Null were limited as much as possible. That way it is more exciting to see what's going to happen, because it basically confirms that more is to come. And also, Tapu Lele was a very big and good part of the episode. I liked her personality, the cute thing can get really physical and scary all of a sudden. Best psychopath Pokemon after Mimikyu for sure.

 

[JFrombaugh]

I agree that the only really notable moment was Rockruff evolving...which we already knew was going to happen thanks to CoroCoro.

And now that the class is already heading back to Melemele Island, who wants to bet that a) the Ula'ula Island field trip won't happen until like SM070, and b) in that time frame we won't see Serena reappear despite there being MORE than enough "filler episodes" for her to drop by the school for a little while for whatever reason?

 

[SonansuMan]

we won't see Serena reappear despite there being MORE than enough "filler episodes" for her to drop by the school for a little while for whatever reason?

I wouldn't get my hopes up so soon if I were you. BW had their trend of returning protagonists occur around mid-late series. And if the series only having around 130 episodes is correct, we're far from done with S/M.

Anyways, like previous people have stated, spoiling Lycanroc's Dusk form so early kind of killed the episode. Seeing Tapu Lele and Type: Null were some of highlights of the episode for me.

 

[Gabo2oo]

I like how they actually explained what green flash is. I like the phenomenon and it isn't given much attention in media so this was pretty nice to see.

 

[ii kanji]

I liked only 2 things really:
- Kukui shouting at Satoshi for running away in the middle of the night without telling anyone (finally a parent figure behaving with a modicum of responsibility!!)
- Kapu Tetefu actually being a bitch in sheep's clothing.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

This episode was lovely! Even though I watched it in Japanese without subs, I had no problems in understanding what was going on!
1. Kukui's scolding was nice, and Ash's expressions made me lol.
2. Rockruff arc was quite emotional.
3. It was nice seeing Midnight's concern, and Gladion's emotions and comforting to Type:Null.
4. Olivia's crying was priceless.
5. The Lycanroc Howling gave me the chills.
6. Dusk Lycanroc looks chill!
7. Tapu Lele fits the definition of a siren more than Primarina! Loved to see the two doggos defending the puppy! It looked as if they were the parents of Rockruff.

This is the first time I lol'd at what we're supposed to be serious episodes! I really loved the mood swings in this episode. 8/10.

 

[Nicolas721]

I liked the episode, I think it's the 2nd best of the arc (behind Marowak's). Yeah, it was a vehicle to evolve the dog, but the execution was decent enough. It was nice to see both Lycanroc caring for Rockruff and helping him on his battle with Tapu Lele, and Rockruff reflecting about his bad behavior. I do wish we would've seen more of the ruins, but the forest had decent animation so I'm not complaining.

AND TYPE NULL!!!! I'm so glad his storyline will be presented in the anime. In the games it's one of the biggest offenders of "Show, don't tell" so the anime has a lot of room for improvement.

 

[Cookies and Creme]

So Ash got kissed by a Pokemon. Again. That's 2 Pokemon and 2 actual people that have kissed Ash

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

That's 2 Pokemon and 2 actual people that have kissed Ash

More than that. Ones I remember:

Jessie
James
Melody
Chikorita
Bianca/Latias
Serena

 

[Cookies and Creme]

More than that. Ones I remember:

Jessie
James
Melody
Chikorita
Bianca/Latias
Serena

What episode did Jessie and James kiss Ash?

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

What episode did Jessie and James kiss Ash?

EP022 - Abra and the Psychic Showdown

 

[ii kanji]

 

[Syrinaris]

I really liked this episode a lot so this might be a long review.

So the episode starts with Rockruff still dealing with feelings of remorse for kicking Rowlet to the curb in the battle with Olivia. It runs away but then it goes into a kind of training mode, it seemed. I couldn't really tell if it was just trying to distract itself from some of the self-loathing it felt or if it was trying to blow off some of the excess energy it was feeling because it wanted to evolve. Maybe both? I could go for it being both.

Tapu Lele comes along and sees rock puppy in training and decides it wants to have a battle. Rockruff doesn't really know what the deal is at first but then decides to attack anyway. Sorry, Rockruff, without your trainer near, you are definitely on the wrong end of a battle with a legendary. So after poor rock puppy collapses, and Ash shows up, Tapu Lele decides, eh, going to head out and look for something else to do.

Honestly, I didn't think it was necessary for the writers to toss rock puppy off that cliff into the water, but what do I know? Anyway....

I kind of get the feeling that Gladion had just nabbed T:N from Aether. I say that because T:N was breathing awfully hard from some seeming exertion that it had been engaged in. So I'm thinking that would come from Gladion and it making their getaway. Was kind of amusing to see Gladion just up and letting zombie dog walk away like that, and not being too worried about it. Well, at least he knows he can trust his pokies, so that's good.

I'm glad I waited for decent English subs before I watched this, otherwise, I would have had no idea what Olivia said that made Ash react with such horror and take off like that. Apparently, Tapu Lele likes to ~play~ with other pokies to the point of exhausting them to death. Literally. Oy.

Back to rock puppy. At first, I thought midnight and midday were going to fight over who got to rescue puppy, but then midnight was like, yo, follow me fellow doggo. So they take puppy to the R.O.L. and ask Lele to heal it. Lele is like -- don't care; talk to the hand. Cripes, you're a piece of work aren't you, Lele? Glad that the two doggoes persisted, in spite of the fact that Lele became angry then, and apparently was going to attack the doggoes again.

Cue Ash, Kukui & Olivia finally arriving just in the nick of time. Of course Ash is going to run up and defy you, Lele. We've seen him do this scads of times before, I would not expect him to shrink from you either. So according to Kukui, Lele used Draining Kiss on the doggoes and Ash to gather energy, and then turned it into healing energy that it used on puppy to heal it. Glad that when Rockruff came to, it didn't react to Ash by attacking him again.

Tapu Lele flies off and starts swooping around in front of that big ol' orange sunset. Honestly, I kind of got the feeling Lele was really doing that on purpose to bring attention to the sun going down. I find myself wondering if TL knew this particular evening there would be a green flash about, and it wanted to maybe play a part in having puppy evolve into its rare Dusk Form. We'll never know the answer to that, of course, but it's fun to wonder about it. I do like that they actually talked about the green flash as something that they are aware of happening and weren't just like - What's that weird green flash? RotomDex's befuddlement over the new form was funny.

As for the ending scenes, I'm glad that it seems like Duskie has calmed down now and seems to be pretty even tempered again. I hope I'm not jumping the gun here. Time will tell if it's still going to be a loyal doggo to Ash. It did seem completely unperturbed on the boat ride back to MeleMele, so I hope that's a good sign that we aren't going to be subjected to a re-working of the problems with Charizard down the road.

So, yeah, I thought this was a really good episode this week. I liked it a lot. I also like Orange Creamsicle doggy a lot, too. Am looking forward to seeing how its personality develops now that it has evolved.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I see the subtle implications of Pokemon once again fly over people's heads, making them dislike it because it's not all big and flashy

Poor Rockruff, feeling guilt over its actions during the grand trial runs off to make itself stronger and meets Tapu Lele, who thrashes it in a playful battle before leaving it for dead
Meanwhile, Ash is out of his mind with worry and everyone pitches in to help him search

Easily one of the better SM episodes, up there with SM021

 

[Islander Princess]

I wasn't too excited for this episode, but it pleasantly surprised me! I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and found quite a few parts to be pretty interesting.

First of all, Tapu Lele is a jerk and I loved it. Tape Lele was already my favorite island guardian but this episode just sealed the deal. Giggling while beating up Pokémon? Having a habit of killing weakened Pokémon because it gets too carried away in battle? All with the adorable face and spreading glitter everywhere? That was all pretty damn dark when combined and I was here for it. Don't judge a book by its cover, obviously.

Loved getting to see Type: Null! I actually found it even more horrifying here than in the games. The close ups of the different feet and the shoddy Arceus-esque metal mask were super unnerving. I really feel like there's some dark stuff coming up on the horizon, and I hope it's true. Although it's appearance was short, Type: Null was really effective in setting a darker tone.

As unrealistic as it may be, I didn't want Rockruff to evolve. It's just such an adorable Pokémon (reminds me of my own puppy) and I've always wanted Ash to have a puppy Pokémon. I also was never big on either Lycanroc form (I think midday is okay, and I really don't like midnight.) I have to say dusk is my favorite of the forms, so I'm pleased they gave it to Ash's. I also love that they had it connected to a real-life natural phenomenon and didn't just BS some made up, one-of-kind form just for Ash. It made the whole thing much more interesting to me.

 

[MegaGreninga]

Can someone answer this for me before Ash rockruff evolved
why did the Tappu Lele tried to injured Rockruff when she couldn't heal him and why did she hurt midnight form Lycanroc was he asking rudely to heal the rockruff

Why couldn't rockruff be healed by Tappu Lele was it because he was too injured from the battle and the river may the wounds worst for himself to be healed by the guardian Pokemon

 

[Harryghost]

Can someone answer this for me before Ash rockruff evolved
why did the Tappu Lele tried to injured Rockruff when she couldn't heal him and why did she hurt midnight form Lycanroc was he asking rudely to heal the rockruff

Why couldn't rockruff be healed by Tappu Lele was it because he was too injured from the battle and the river may the wounds worst for himself to be healed by the guardian Pokemon

Well, Tapu Lele has been described as a mischievous Pokémon, who likes to injure others, and then laugh at their misery. Heck, legend even has it that it used its healing powers to assist soldiers in a war, long ago, till they slaughtered each other due to their excellent health, while Tapu Lele delighted at their death sight. I say, it's no biggie that it attacked Rockruff the way it did.

Well, the anime would not obviously portray such ruthlessness , so they had Tapu Lele show its caring nature as well. Though owing to the grave injuries, Rockruff could not be healed easily, even by the Land Spirit Pokémon, so it drained energy from various sources using Draining Kiss, and used all that energy to heal Rockruff.

 

[MegaGreninga]

Well, Tapu Lele has been described as a mischievous Pokémon, who likes to injure others, and then laugh at their misery. Heck, legend even has it that it used its healing powers to assist soldiers in a war, long ago, till they slaughtered each other due to their excellent health, while Tapu Lele delighted at their death sight. I say, it's no biggie that it attacked Rockruff the way it did.

Well, the anime would not obviously portray such ruthlessness , so they had Tapu Lele show its caring nature as well. Though owing to the grave injuries, Rockruff could not be healed easily, even by the Land Spirit Pokémon, so it drained energy from various sources using Draining Kiss, and used all that energy to heal Rockruff.

but why try to injured Rockruff more and injured the luycanroc forms

 

[Harryghost]

but why try to injured Rockruff more and injured the luycanroc forms

Tapu Lele was angry due to not being able to completely heal Rockruff, so it wanted to finish off anything that failed to be healed as it desired. The Lycanroc were trying to prevent it from hurting Rockruff any further, so were hit by Tapu Lele for their "insolence".