Preview SM115: Emperor of Destruction Guzma!

[marshiyanmisuta]

I can see Guzma as Masked Royal's rival in the league.

 

[Guzma]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOO IT'S YA BOYEEEEEEEEE

It's so flippin' stupid they didn't just make him Guzma from the start

As goofy as he can be, Viren's too much of a genuinely horrible person, though. Even at his worst, Guzma was more of a jerkish Chaotic Dumbass than a genuinely awful person, and (while he kicked the dog a few times; namely having the grunts steal a kid's Yungoos and going along with Lusamine's plan to kidnap Lillie) never crossed the Moral Event Horizon. Viren, on the other hand, certainly crossed the MEH when he tried to electrocute a small child with a Thunder that knocked out a Turtonator, which resists Electric-type moves. Their motivations are also different; Viren's a greedy bastard with no redeeming characteristics or sympathetic qualities. Guzma's more of a pompous blowhard with a sympathetic backstory (having a horribly abusive father) and several redeeming characteristics; he cares about his Pokemon, is protective of his grunts, and is implied to sympathize with Gladion's parental issues despite the grunts not caring about him. Basically, while Guzma's a bad guy, he's not a bad guy the way Viren is.

This doesn't apply to PokeSpe Guzma, but I really hate how PokeSpe took Guzma and sucked out almost all of his redeeming traits while having him do things that make him a genuinely evil person instead of a buffonish jerk. It's the same shit they pulled with other more morally grey villains/antagonists like Zinnia, Colress and (worst of all) N.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

This doesn't apply to PokeSpe Guzma, but I really hate how PokeSpe took Guzma and sucked out almost all of his redeeming traits while having him do things that make him a genuinely evil person instead of a buffonish jerk. It's the same shit they pulled with other more morally grey villains/antagonists like Zinnia, Colress and (worst of all) N.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who likes to talk about how the Special manga treated its characters!

And it's not just the morally grey villains. Maxie and Archie were portrayed as practically irredeemable monsters, who were even willing to sacrifice their own subordinates once they had outlived their usefulness. And when in the games they realized the error of their ways, in the manga, they wanted to restart the crisis when it was just ended. Their heel-face turn in ORAS felt kinda forced because of this.

 

[Guzma]

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who likes to talk about how the Special manga treated its characters!

And it's not just the morally grey villains. Maxie and Archie were portrayed as practically irredeemable monsters, who were even willing to sacrifice their own subordinates once they had outlived their usefulness. And when in the games they realized the error of their ways, in the manga, they wanted to restart the crisis when it was just ended. Their heel-face turn in ORAS felt kinda forced because of this.

Special is a mixed bag; the protagonists and early antagonists are generally well-done (Giovanni's portrayal as a ruthless Yakuza boss who nevertheless genuinely cares about his son is easily the best portrayal of the character in the franchise), but the weiter doesn't seem to get that most Pokemon game villains (bar Ghetsis, of course) aren't heartless monsters.

Now, taking Xerosic and presenting him as an irredeemable bastard? That was actually a genuine improvement over the game, but Xerosic's "redemption" arc was an ass pull and completely at odds with how he backstabbed you and tried to kill everyone FOR SCIENCE and later proved himself to be a G-rated child groomer.

Xerosic is just fucking awful, and not in a fun "love to hate" way like Ghetsis.

 

[SinnohEevee]

While I have no interest in watching it, having Guzma enter the League would be interesting.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

They were obviously waiting for a good time to introduce him.

So, somewhere in the 40's, when Kukui began imagining the basis for the League? That'd have let Guzma be involved in the Aether Arc as well

 

[Insanish Danish]

We're getting Guzma's debut on my birthday?? Nice

Guzma's one of my absolute favorite characters in the games, not just in SM but overall. They should have introduced him WAY earlier, but I'm just happy he's finally here. I'm optimistic that the anime will do him justice.

 

[BigDocFan]

Summary and staff list, as provided by Dephender

Professor Kukui announces an "Alola Pokémon League"! And when the Skull Gang's boss Guzma hears this, he comes marching into the Pokémon School... Taiiku Okazaki plays a member of the Skull Gang!

Summary:
Professor Kukui has made a huge announcement! Believe it or not, an "Alola Pokémon League" is going to be held! But as Alola is in a state of excitement, over at the Skull Gang's hideout their boss Guzma starts making his move to "destroy this blasted Pokémon League"... and when he comes marching into the Pokémon School, Satoshi challenges him to a battle. Pikachu struggles greatly against the super powerful Guzma's Gusokumusha... how will this battle end?
Also, Taiiku Okazaki, who sings the show's opening theme, appears in the role of a Skull Gang member!

Voice Cast:
Rica Matsumoto: Satoshi
Ikue Ohtani: Pikachu
Daisuke Namikawa: Rotom
Kei Shindo: Lilie
Kaito Ishikawa: Kaki
Reina Ueda: Mao
Hitomi Kikuchi: Suiren
Fumiko Takekuma: Māmane
Keiichi Nakagawa: Professor Kukui
Kenyu Horiuchi: Principal Okido
Megumi Hayashibara: Musashi
Shinichiro Miki: Kojiro
Inuko Inuyama: Nyarth
Yuji Ueda: Sonansu
Taiiku Okazaki: Akitoshi
Mika Kanai: Togedemaru
Chinami Nishimura: Nyaheat
Kenta Miyake: Meltan
Nicole Fujita: Nuikoguma
Nobuyuki Hiyama: Hala
Masaki Aizawa: Kuchinashi
Junko Takeuchi: Hapu'u
Miyuki Sawashiro: Lychee
Sayaka Kinoshita: Lusamine
Sachi Kokuryu: Burnet
Yasuyuki Kase: Guzma
Saki Endo: Plumeri
Toru Sakurai: Tupper
Madoka Asahina: Wrap
Soshiro Hori: Zip
Azu Sakura: Ana
Chika Fujimura: News anchor

 

[radek.tadajewski.7]

Summary and staff list, as provided by Dephender

Professor Kukui announces an "Alola Pokémon League"! And when the Skull Gang's boss Guzma hears this, he comes marching into the Pokémon School... Taiiku Okazaki plays a member of the Skull Gang!

Summary:
Professor Kukui has made a huge announcement! Believe it or not, an "Alola Pokémon League" is going to be held! But as Alola is in a state of excitement, over at the Skull Gang's hideout their boss Guzma starts making his move to "destroy this blasted Pokémon League"... and when he comes marching into the Pokémon School, Satoshi challenges him to a battle. Pikachu struggles greatly against the super powerful Guzma's Gusokumusha... how will this battle end?
Also, Taiiku Okazaki, who sings the show's opening theme, appears in the role of a Skull Gang member!

Voice Cast:
Rica Matsumoto: Satoshi
Ikue Ohtani: Pikachu
Daisuke Namikawa: Rotom
Kei Shindo: Lilie
Kaito Ishikawa: Kaki
Reina Ueda: Mao
Hitomi Kikuchi: Suiren
Fumiko Takekuma: Māmane
Keiichi Nakagawa: Professor Kukui
Kenyu Horiuchi: Principal Okido
Megumi Hayashibara: Musashi
Shinichiro Miki: Kojiro
Inuko Inuyama: Nyarth
Yuji Ueda: Sonansu
Taiiku Okazaki: Akitoshi
Mika Kanai: Togedemaru
Chinami Nishimura: Nyaheat
Kenta Miyake: Meltan
Nicole Fujita: Nuikoguma
Nobuyuki Hiyama: Hala
Masaki Aizawa: Kuchinashi
Junko Takeuchi: Hapu'u
Miyuki Sawashiro: Lychee
Sayaka Kinoshita: Lusamine
Sachi Kokuryu: Burnet
Yasuyuki Kase: Guzma
Saki Endo: Plumeri
Toru Sakurai: Tupper
Madoka Asahina: Wrap
Soshiro Hori: Zip
Azu Sakura: Ana
Chika Fujimura: News anchor

Seeing all kahunas in this episode is always a good sign, and yet I can't believe the Alola Pokemon League is happening so soon.

 

[BigDocFan]

This certainly promises to be an exciting episode, two major members of Team Skull appearing alongside the recurring grunts

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Hopefully with two animation directors, the battle won't be as bad as 105 and 109

 

[radek.tadajewski.7]

I wonder if Ash will use Meltan for this battle and perform a steel-type Z-move?

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I wonder if Ash will use Meltan for this battle and perform a steel-type Z-move?

I was going to comment about the same thing literally a minute ago, but then I read the summary again...

 

[radek.tadajewski.7]

I was going to comment about the same thing literally a minute ago, but then I read the summary again...

The summary says that Guzma's Golisopod is very powerful. I think either Pikachu or Meltan will have to defeat it with a Z-move.

 

[BigDocFan]

The summary says that Guzma's Golisopod is very powerful. I think either Pikachu or Meltan will have to defeat it with a Z-move.

I reckon Gigavolt Havoc or 10,000 Volt Thunderbolt

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

The summary says that Guzma's Golisopod is very powerful. I think either Pikachu or Meltan will have to defeat it with a Z-move.

The summary says that Ash will be using Pikachu to battle Golisopod.

 

[radek.tadajewski.7]

The summary says that Ash will be using Pikachu to battle Golisopod.

Right. I keep forgetting Golisopod is a dual bug/water type.

 

[DynamicFusion]

I'll make a prediction saying that we'll get SM's version of Satoshi's depression after he loses against Guzma leading up to another battle with Hau and losing that one too. Kinda like how he was depressed after he couldn't master the Ash-Greninja Form. As a Second/Side story we'll get Mohn's Plot. The summary also says Guzma wants to "blast the Pokemon League"...

 

[Neo Blaze]

So we have 3 special guest appearances in a row. Last week was Rinka Otani and Hyadain, SM114 has Abareru-kun (for the second time) and this episode will feature Mr. Okazaki.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Hopefully with two animation directors, the battle won't be as bad as 105 and 109

Same guys as the second half of the Sawyer league battle so hopefully we'll be in for some fun time.