DarkraiKnight
Master of the Shadows
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2018
- Messages
- 492
- Reaction score
- 1,488
Alright, I finally watched the episode, and I’ve got to say: it’s not as bad as I said in my previous comment.
Don’t get me wrong; I still consider it one of the worst, because it managed to be needlessly cruel towards Hau, soil Rowlet’s reputation (and I love that bird), and screw over any chance of Ash’s potential win in Alola being legit in the eyes of many fans. However, there are a few positives.
For starters, I like that Rowlet managed to turn Feather Dance into a pseudo-Substitute. If last episode was any indication, it wasn’t getting anywhere with the traditional method, and as a Pokémon that’s commonly been depicted as an “oddball,” having its own unique style of Feather Dance is quite fitting (or maybe this is how alone Rowlet use Feather Dance; I dunno).
Now for the whole sleeping/fakeout fiasco. Frankly, I gotta say that I’m disappointed they went this route. If they’d just copied what happened between Infernape and Electivire back in Sinnoh, everything would’ve been fine, but instead they not only vindicated people who don’t consider Ash’s potential win in Alola a “real” win, they made it look like Rowlet hadn’t grown at all, even with all of its efforts. Not only that, but it was just mean-spirited towards Hau, who was already shafted in this show.
That being said, I do appreciate that aside from the wacky reactions to Rowlet being asleep, this wasn’t played as a joke. Ash went up to Rowlet and told it to wake up, and then he even apologized to Hau about the whole thing. He knew what happened wasn’t appropriate, and didn’t just brush it aside. I like that.
Another thing I like was how Ash was visibly disappointed after “losing” to Hau, unlike how he was after losing to Alain back in Kalos. I get that they were trying to contrast Ash’s easygoing personality with Alain’s “I must win at all costs” personality, but it was still off-putting to me.
Also, no problems with Kiawe vs. Sophocles so far. We’ll see how that pans out next week, though.
All-in-all, I found this episode better after watching it than I did based on only the fan reaction - but the fan reaction itself proves that there were serious problems with it. I’ll give it a 5.5/10, which might honestly be more than it deserves.
As a small aside, it’s really a shame how Ash’s first “canon” League victory might go down in history as just another one of Pokémon’s recent controversies rather than a sacred moment. Frankly, all the recent negativity surrounding the games and the anime has been making me feel legitimately tired, and from the looks of things, Gen 8’s only going to add more fuel to the fire.
Unless things change for the better, and soon...I might not be a Pokémon fan for much longer. I guess I’ll just have to hope for the best.
Don’t get me wrong; I still consider it one of the worst, because it managed to be needlessly cruel towards Hau, soil Rowlet’s reputation (and I love that bird), and screw over any chance of Ash’s potential win in Alola being legit in the eyes of many fans. However, there are a few positives.
For starters, I like that Rowlet managed to turn Feather Dance into a pseudo-Substitute. If last episode was any indication, it wasn’t getting anywhere with the traditional method, and as a Pokémon that’s commonly been depicted as an “oddball,” having its own unique style of Feather Dance is quite fitting (or maybe this is how alone Rowlet use Feather Dance; I dunno).
Now for the whole sleeping/fakeout fiasco. Frankly, I gotta say that I’m disappointed they went this route. If they’d just copied what happened between Infernape and Electivire back in Sinnoh, everything would’ve been fine, but instead they not only vindicated people who don’t consider Ash’s potential win in Alola a “real” win, they made it look like Rowlet hadn’t grown at all, even with all of its efforts. Not only that, but it was just mean-spirited towards Hau, who was already shafted in this show.
That being said, I do appreciate that aside from the wacky reactions to Rowlet being asleep, this wasn’t played as a joke. Ash went up to Rowlet and told it to wake up, and then he even apologized to Hau about the whole thing. He knew what happened wasn’t appropriate, and didn’t just brush it aside. I like that.
Another thing I like was how Ash was visibly disappointed after “losing” to Hau, unlike how he was after losing to Alain back in Kalos. I get that they were trying to contrast Ash’s easygoing personality with Alain’s “I must win at all costs” personality, but it was still off-putting to me.
Also, no problems with Kiawe vs. Sophocles so far. We’ll see how that pans out next week, though.
All-in-all, I found this episode better after watching it than I did based on only the fan reaction - but the fan reaction itself proves that there were serious problems with it. I’ll give it a 5.5/10, which might honestly be more than it deserves.
As a small aside, it’s really a shame how Ash’s first “canon” League victory might go down in history as just another one of Pokémon’s recent controversies rather than a sacred moment. Frankly, all the recent negativity surrounding the games and the anime has been making me feel legitimately tired, and from the looks of things, Gen 8’s only going to add more fuel to the fire.
Unless things change for the better, and soon...I might not be a Pokémon fan for much longer. I guess I’ll just have to hope for the best.