REVIEW: SM108: Inside Kapu-Rehire's Mist

[FinnishPokéFan92]

In M11, when Giratina gets caught in Zero's machine that absorbs its energy, the English dub dances around the idea of it possibly dying as a result while the Japanese version says it outright. Oh, and speaking of which...

Funny thing: in the Finnish version, Newton Graceland actually says that Giratina is going to "perish" instead of "be sacrificed", but the part to which the characters react is him saying that soon Giratina "won't exist anymore".

I wonder what the odds are that this Shaymin will be able to talk through telepathy and will actually be kind of a jerk who nevertheless manages to get Mallow to love her, just like the Shaymin in M11? Not very good, I know...but M11 has always been one of my favorite movies and I think it would be cool if they had some sort of shoutout(s) to it in the episodes to come.

I don't think it'll talk. That was only a thing for the movie. We had a Shaymin episode during the Diamond & Pearl series, and the Shaymin there didn't talk.

Thanks for the answer. I really did not know him at all. I don't know that there is one called Mohn and you can challenge him

No. You can't challenge him. He takes care of the Poké Pelago. In Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, you can't even avoid meeting him at least once during the main story.

 

[Nicolas721]

Mallow's plot was very good, her scenes were heart-wrenching and it was nice they were focused on a drama that could happen to everyone in real life and it was very easy to relate to her. It's a good lesson to teach that instead of being angry at yourself or at anyone else because of a death, you have to be thankful and move on. Maybe the Shaymin part was forced, but it was a good way to show her development. I also liked that the Lana-Mallow relationship was brought back, though personally I prefer Lillie-Mallow as was established in the first episodes.

Stoutland's scenes lacked something to feel more memorable, and the new move being Fire Blast didn't help, as it was spammed by Serena in XY and this is the fifth series in a row where the fire starter replaces Ember with a stronger Fire-type move. Of course, Mallow and Hapu's parts made up for it, overall it was very nice that everyone who entered the mist went out with some kind of change.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Stoutland's scenes lacked something to feel more memorable, and the new move being Fire Blast didn't help, as it was spammed by Serena in XY and this is the fifth series in a row where the fire starter replaces Ember with a stronger Fire-type move. Of course, Mallow and Hapu's parts made up for it, overall it was very nice that everyone who entered the mist went out with some kind of change.

Stoutland had already had its own sad focus episode. This episode's setting just gave Torracat to train with it one more time in the background while Mallow got the main focus.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

fifth series in a row where the fire starter replaces Ember with a stronger Fire-type move.

I agree with most of your post, but it makes sense to replace a weaker move with a stronger one.
It wouldn’t make sense for a strong (and sometimes fully evolved) Pokemon to be still using ember.

Posted review on the wrong thread first...

I guess it’s the first time this anime has brought me on the verge of crying...
I’m not surprised that the VAs cried.

Poipole’s release almost had that effect.

I really liked Lana comforting Mallow. Stoutland’s sequence could’ve had a bit more emotional aspect to it. I did like Torracat looking for every opportunity to cuddle (FinnishPokéFan I watched the episode a few hours ago and heard ‘Nyabby’ when Stoutland first appeared and when it disappeared. It said ‘Nyaheat’ at every other instance.)

 

[Rockapheller]

I wonder how dub will deal with this episode after ignoring all possible direct death references in the past. I wouldn't be so surprised if they decide to skip this episode for being too dark for kids.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I wonder how dub will deal with this episode after ignoring all possible direct death references in the past. I wouldn't be so surprised if they decide to skip this episode for being too dark for kids.

They won't. It's too important.

 

[yab]

I wasn’t going to comment here but Mallow is one of the most deepest and complex characters in the entire franchise. Knowing she was fighting back depression all this time and putting on a happy/cheery face for her friends is not something you’d expect out of Pokémon.

Lillie’s fear of Pokémon looks silly in comparison to a real world issue like losing your parent. Mallow easily has the best development of the SM cast even if she’s not very active.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

I wasn’t going to comment here but Mallow is one of the most deepest and complex characters in the entire franchise. Knowing she was fighting back depression all this time and putting on a happy/cheery face for her friends is not something you’d expect out of Pokémon.

Lillie’s fear of Pokémon looks silly in comparison to a real world issue like losing your parent. Mallow easily has the best development of the SM cast even if she’s not very active.

I completely agree.

I just finished watching the episode, myself. I related to Mao in so many aspects and cried throughout most of this episode.

I've never expected Pokemon, out of all anime, to make me feel so deeply in such a large way. When the series first debuted, I said that I had a feeling that Sun and Moon was going to tug at the heartstrings and it would hurt more because of the lighthearted tone that it carries most of the time. This felt like an episode of "Air," "Clannad," or even "Kanon," and it worked well with the casts and the series.

I've always loved Mao though I could never explain it. There's so much complexity to who she is, the feelings she hides inside, and her friendship with Suiren really shines here.

I feel like because Mao has lived with so much regret, that's the reason why she tries so hard to make sure others don't regret anything... Like Lillie when she couldn't touch Pokemon because of her PTSD.

More than any other season, this series has touched on a lot of sensitive subjects. Death has been a major one, PTSD, memory blockage... Because of the slice of life nature, its allowed the series to do more than it could before.

This episode alone makes Sun and Moon my favorite generation of the Pokemon anime. I've been watching the series since day one.

15/10. Pokemon has outdone itself with this episode.

 

[JFrombaugh]

Funny thing: in the Finnish version, Newton Graceland actually says that Giratina is going to "perish" instead of "be sacrificed", but the part to which the characters react is him saying that soon Giratina "won't exist anymore".

Another funny thing: After the flashback that shows how Newton deleted his blueprints for the scanning machine when he realized Giratina wouldn't survive the process, in the English dub he then says to Ash & the group: "But, obviously Zero never forgot them."

In the Japanese version of the movie, Newton says that Zero didn't give up after that, rather than he didn't forget. This was probably done due to lip syncing, but basically the dub makes it seem like Zero has some sort of photographic memory or something while with the Japanese version, one can infer that he used what he remembered and then worked on his own to fill in the gaps necessary to build his own version of the machine.

 

[sunsstone]

To be honest, Sun and Moon series already surpassed XYZ series in terms of storytelling. This season showed us a lot such as the complexity of the characters and the depth of their relationship and even subject like death. Sun and Moon anime is doing so well in Japan but the audience of the West tend to bash it because of the art style. Trust me, a lot of people, especially in Pokemon Facebook group, don't give it enough chance because of the massive change from the epic XYZ series and it's too bad they're missing out.

 

[KrspaceT]

Honestly I'm a battle fan, so SM is not quite my gel. Character interactions are fine in SM, but honestly the battle lack and quality is a problem.

I'd love to see this art style and characterization levels with more battles.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

Honestly I'm a battle fan, so SM is not quite my gel. Character interactions are fine in SM, but honestly the battle lack and quality is a problem.

I'd love to see this art style and characterization levels with more battles.

I can totally understand that. I've never cared much for battle/fight scenes in general unless it was like final battle boss stuff, but I've always watched Pokemon and most other anime for the human interactions.

Its sort of like people who prefer digimon over Pokemon. Those people tend to like talking creatures/battles more than the average Pokemon fan who likes the latter over digimon.

Don't get me wrong... I'll watch a well-choreographed fight scene over and over, whether its live action or animated and gush over it... But it will never take the place of an episode or scenes like this episode produced for me.

 

[KrspaceT]

What can I say, I like action. Ben 10, Gen Rex, Transformers, DC and Marvel, Star Wars, the Shonen greats, etc. I am not a dark seeker, so I don't want Pokemon Berserk, but I go to anime because action shows in the west are not in vogue right now and nothing quite beats Luffy or Midoriya beating someone.

 

[Islander Princess]

Wow, this episode. I was expecting it to be sad, to be emotional, but what the writers delivered here went above and beyond. I cannot remember the last time an episode of Pokémon moved me to the point of tears, but this one did. I feel like we've actually been building up to this point with Mallow for a long time, without even realizing it, and that made the delivery so much more powerful.

I feel like now, having watched this, Mallow always being so happy and so cheerful is more than likely, if not definitely, connected to this. It's obvious she was carrying a lot of weight and a lot of grief from her mother's passing, and how her last interaction with her mother went. I really do commend the writers for making this part of Mallow's storyline. Over the past few years, they've seemed to have almost a reluctance to show nuances to characters, like they just wanted them to be almost one dimensional. Here, we see that Mallow has some serious past trauma. Her happy-go-lucky personality is likely a part of this. It's not just a way they chose for her to be because it "looks nice" and comes without conflict. This episode really pulled back the curtains on Mallow as a character.

In this respect, I related to Mallow a lot. I suffered two personal losses last year and I feel my reactions and my way of being were and are very similar to Mallow's: I don't really want to show my emotion, I just kind of smile through everything and try to keep a positive attitude, even though I'm hurting inside. So, to me, this was a very realistic approach to this kind of situation. I think it's awesome that the writers chose to show a different kind of dealing with grief through Mallow. It's definitely painful to watch, but it's more painful to experience, and for kids to be able to see that, it's really important, as sad as it may be.

SM has caught a lot of flak over the past couple of years, but this episode really cemented this series' willingness to tackle more serious subject matter, which I truly think we've seen over the course of quite a few episodes this go around. And what I like is it's not being done in a tacky manner for shock value, or edginess. There are legitimate life lessons that are important for kids to see on TV. The writers have handled them all very respectfully, and written them very well.

 

[Rockapheller]

To be honest, Sun and Moon series already surpassed XYZ series in terms of storytelling. This season showed us a lot such as the complexity of the characters and the depth of their relationship and even subject like death. Sun and Moon anime is doing so well in Japan but the audience of the West tend to bash it because of the art style. Trust me, a lot of people, especially in Pokemon Facebook group, don't give it enough chance because of the massive change from the epic XYZ series and it's too bad they're missing out.

This is not only about art style but the drastical change of theme also.

For the fans who were caught into Ash's journey, his team build-up and intense battles, his friendship with other companions etc. that built the picture of Pokémon anime since forever, are now astonished to watch a Pokémon episode ten straight minutes of which tells us how Ash and classmates jump on a rope. The "slice-of-life" topics may not just be their cup of tea/their expectations of this show, which is reasonable.

There are things SM series handle better and worse than past series. Past series, XY included, did things better and worse than SM series. Overall, blaming the entire thing solely on the change of art style is pretty unfair.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Wow, this episode. I was expecting it to be sad, to be emotional, but what the writers delivered here went above and beyond. I cannot remember the last time an episode of Pokémon moved me to the point of tears, but this one did. I feel like we've actually been building up to this point with Mallow for a long time, without even realizing it, and that made the delivery so much more powerful.

I feel like now, having watched this, Mallow always being so happy and so cheerful is more than likely, if not definitely, connected to this. It's obvious she was carrying a lot of weight and a lot of grief from her mother's passing, and how her last interaction with her mother went. I really do commend the writers for making this part of Mallow's storyline. Over the past few years, they've seemed to have almost a reluctance to show nuances to characters, like they just wanted them to be almost one dimensional. Here, we see that Mallow has some serious past trauma. Her happy-go-lucky personality is likely a part of this. It's not just a way they chose for her to be because it "looks nice" and comes without conflict. This episode really pulled back the curtains on Mallow as a character.

In this respect, I related to Mallow a lot. I suffered two personal losses last year and I feel my reactions and my way of being were and are very similar to Mallow's: I don't really want to show my emotion, I just kind of smile through everything and try to keep a positive attitude, even though I'm hurting inside. So, to me, this was a very realistic approach to this kind of situation. I think it's awesome that the writers chose to show a different kind of dealing with grief through Mallow. It's definitely painful to watch, but it's more painful to experience, and for kids to be able to see that, it's really important, as sad as it may be.

SM has caught a lot of flak over the past couple of years, but this episode really cemented this series' willingness to tackle more serious subject matter, which I truly think we've seen over the course of quite a few episodes this go around. And what I like is it's not being done in a tacky manner for shock value, or edginess. There are legitimate life lessons that are important for kids to see on TV. The writers have handled them all very respectfully, and written them very well.

This is not only about art style but the drastical change of theme also.

For the fans who were caught into Ash's journey, his team build-up and intense battles, his friendship with other companions etc. that built the picture of Pokémon anime since forever, are now astonished to watch a Pokémon episode ten straight minutes of which tells us how Ash and classmates jump on a rope. The "slice-of-life" topics may not just be their cup of tea/their expectations of this show, which is reasonable.

There are things SM series handle better and worse than past series. Past series, XY included, did things better and worse than SM series. Overall, blaming the entire thing solely on the change of art style is pretty unfair.

I think it's the drastic overall change between XY and SM that drove some people off. They simply couldn't accept that the well-animated hero who had just literally helped saving the world would spend the next series going to school and smiling like this. I've personally gotten used to both of those aspects by now and think that (at least most of) the hate that it experiences is going a bit too far.

 

[Moe]

Been quite a while since I've posted to review an episode - but this one is such a step above that I felt like I needed to add to the praise for this episode.

The build up was solid here, the last few episodes stepping into this theme of connecting with departed loved ones set the scene, and already from the preview last week I was expecting something strong here, and it absolutely delivered.

As a few other posts mentioned, the stuff with Mallow's mother came out of nowhere, but at least they still did a good job of framing it in her reluctance, rather than having her suddenly express her desire to meet her mother again as a "now that you mention it" kind of thing. Even if it could have been foreshadowed better, it is some really nice backstory for her partner Pokemon and her own character and they gave it a good amount of time - making her story the focus of the episode, rather than that of Lillie/Gladion, or Ash. The side story with Torracat was a nice conclusion to the arc with Stoutland, but I'm glad it fell into the background.

While the anime deals with time travel and talking to ghost-type people all the time, this one seemed to be particularly well handled and not as contrived as some of the other set ups can be for it - and it really, really hit me hard. I'm fairly easy to get teary in Pokemon episodes, so it's not like this is a first for me, but it's rare that a normal episode rather than a movie does it, and especially throughout the episode like this one, rather than just at a conclusion point tipping me over the edge.

All up, a very well told story in an already good arc of the series.

 

[Nicolas721]

I think the SM series would truly shine if we had episodes like this one and the previous one more often instead of whenever the writers feel like it, and if those moments were connected to a bigger story.

Stoutland had already had its own sad focus episode. This episode's setting just gave Torracat to train with it one more time in the background while Mallow got the main focus.

I know, but I personally would have preferred either a small talk or a battle.

I agree with most of your post, but it makes sense to replace a weaker move with a stronger one.
It wouldn’t make sense for a strong (and sometimes fully evolved) Pokemon to be still using ember.

That's true, but it stroke me as curious that is always Ember who gets replaced.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I know, but I personally would have preferred either a small talk or a battle.

I personally think training with it made the most sense. The master passing one more trick to its student.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

That's true, but it stroke me as curious that is always Ember who gets replaced.

It’s probably because it’s the typical ‘base level’ fire move.