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Review SM139: Birth! The Alola Champion!!

I mean, the opinion of Redditors and several Twitter users shouldn't count. They have a huge Ash hate circlejerk.

commish__mob_mentality_by_blueike_ddefzy6-pre.jpg


Commish: Mob Mentality by BlueIke on DeviantArt

Given I am up for comming this guy for a follow up comic...I'm curious how the reactions will be.

Ash (Happy tears in eye): Do you think the internet will love me now?

Serena: Um....

Misty: Well....

Lana (Sledgehammer in hand): I destroyed Kukui's computer just to be safe for the moment.
 
So it finally happened... That's why they're doing a reboot. I get it now. They very well might park Ash and go with following Red, Blue, Ethan, and others from now on.
 
Congratulations to Ash, Pikachu, Melmetal, Lyacanroc, Torracat, and Rowlet!
Congratulations to his prior Pokémon who battled with him throughout the years to get him this far!
Congratulations to his friends and traveling companions who helped him throughout the years!



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY


Ash's stunned reaction feels quite realistic but possibly slightly memetic as well. He's traveling for twenty years, ever since his tength birthday and now, as a ten year old, he finally wins a league!
 
I forgot that Lycanroc knew Counter, this must be the first time its been used since Lycanroc first learnt it
I was waiting for Ash to use that thing for the entire episode! Just when I gave up hope that the move will be used by Ash's Lycanroc in this battle, it happened!

Was disappointed that Ash used Breakneck Blitz to avoid Never Ending Nightmare but was glad that Z-Moves resulted in them both getting knocked out
I kinda feel it works because normal is immune to ghost, and ghost is immune to normal, so it would be an appropriate move to break through the ghost energy. In universe it was impressive of Ash to come up with this in a short period of time.
A small and unimportant question, but does counter work the same in the anime as in the games? First taking a hit and then using the move? For example, Midnight Lycanroc countered Acceleroc where it didn't seem like it was hit, but after using Counter you see Midnight looking tired (maybe implying it took damage). If you take that into consideration, then the Lycanroc fight was more even.
Yes, it does. It was the entire reason James won against Jessie's Wobuffet.
 
I was waiting for Ash to use that thing for the entire episode! Just when I gave up hope that the move will be used by Ash's Lycanroc in this battle, it happened!


I kinda feel it works because normal is immune to ghost, and ghost is immune to normal, so it would be an appropriate move to break through the ghost energy. In universe it was impressive of Ash to come up with this in a short period of time.

Yes, it does. It was the entire reason James won against Jessie's Wobuffet.

I can appreciate the callback after it seemed Ash forgot he has N-Z
 
....god everything just feels so surreal

The buildup, the laughing scene, the amount of expression of determination Ash shows trying to win in the finale, the sudden music that comes when Lycanroc gets attacked, the expressions it makes to try to convince you its done, the dumbfounded look on his face when he won.. I still don't know how to react after staying tuned to this anime for so many years, aside from Pikachu v. Zoroark being just meh, almost everything felt perfect in this

OVERALL EPISODE SCORE: 9/10
LEAGUE SCORE: 7/10
 
....god everything just feels so surreal

The buildup, the laughing scene, the amount of expression of determination Ash shows trying to win in the finale, the sudden music that comes when Lycanroc gets attacked, the expressions it makes to try to convince you its done, the dumbfounded look on his face when he won.. I still don't know how to react after staying tuned to this anime for so many years, aside from Pikachu v. Zoroark being just meh, almost everything felt perfect in this

OVERALL EPISODE SCORE: 9/10
LEAGUE SCORE: 7/10

...I'm just hoping that this doesn't cost me a co-writer: the guy is not a fan of SM anime or how it is handled, and he's looking at the idea of people claiming that SM is the best for this alone as the worst thing possible.
 
OHHHH boy! It only took 22 years, but it came!

The episode was surprisingly good! Pikachu vs Zoroark was short but very tense and action packed, with cool animation to boot and the return of a forgotten Z-move. Never-Ending Nightmare is a damn creepy move though...

The Lycanroc battle was very repetitive and Dusk took way too much damage to stand up, but it was still very good and thrilling to watch. That final Counter has to be one of the most beautiful shots in the anime (though I think it would’ve been better had Dusk struck before the initial hit but oh well).

Overall, I’ll have to say it: it was better than the Kalos finals in that there were actual tactics involved in the battles, rather than “MOAH POWAH” over and over again. Fujisaku (is that how to spell it?) had the golden opportunity to blast the ghost tendrils with Pika Ex Machina but instead decided on the Z-move that counters them in a logical way. The Lycanrocs had their creative dodging and countering moments as well.
 

I kinda predicted the Necrozma theme being in the episode when Guzzlord arrived! And Type:Wild was a correct prediction too! Where are the bragging points?
 
There's so much I could be negative about, I wrote off the league as a whole because of the lack of genuine opposition, the gimmicky battle-royale, 1v1 battles, no full battles at all, etc. I went into the league thinking, this one doesn't matter, it doesn't count, it's not a real league, etc.

All of that however disappeared the moment that Ash won - I was just so happy for him to finally do it. I was absolutely elated - literally punching the air and crying tears of joy - I really thought the series might get axed or I might drift away from watching it before I ever saw this happen, above absolutely everything else about the series and writing, I'm just glad I got to see this day.

The actual battle was pretty good, sure, a bit unbelievable with how many hits, but I'd totally forgotten Ash's Lycanroc knew Counter, and saving the unveiling of a move for the absolute last possible moment in a battle was cool, and made the win a lot more believable, though it was still a bit of a stretch and I spent all of the episode assuming he'd end up losing.

I don't want to get my hopes up too high - but the ideal for me would be for the 'all the regions' idea of the next generation to include Ash going back and competing again in some of the other leagues, go to Kanto and elsewhere and prove that someone who can win the Kalos league can beat the Champions of the other regions. Then, to go back to Kalos and have his title defence as Champion.

That's how you'd deliver on the promise of this, prove that a Kalos Champion is just as powerful as the winners of any other league. Otherwise, it'll be too easy to just dismiss this accomplishment, don't give Ash a league victory only to have it in a league that has no prestige, use his win to establish the league as a serious tournament. The story can't end here, or have Ash not build on this success.

As an aside - not sure just how long the series has left, but part of me assuming Gladion would win is to do with the story arc with his father and the Magearna- I hope that still gets resolved well in what time remains.
 
I don't know if i should happy or sad, after the battle with hau i can't really take this league serious.
And the everyone is here mentality was disaster itself.
I'm really concerned about the next series, i lose the trust for the writers of the series more and more...
Yea same for me except pertaining to the entire league itself. Yea I’m glad he finally won one but at the same time, the bar was set so low with those who competed in it that it feels less like the bang it should have been and more like the writers apologizing for Kalos.
 
I was surprised at how many of you treat this win as a legit win... "he finally did it..."... I find it impossible to do that for a league with no 6v6 battles, no requirement for participants to enter which means most of the opponents are friends or random weaklings, etc.

For me, I hope Ash's journey continues into SwSh region where they hopefully have a real, legit league where he can win... but honestly, he should've won 3 years ago. That was the moment.
 
I was surprised at how many of you treat this win as a legit win... "he finally did it..."... I find it impossible to do that for a league with no 6v6 battles, no requirement for participants to enter which means most of the opponents are friends or random weaklings, etc.

For me, I hope Ash's journey continues into SwSh region where they hopefully have a real, legit league where he can win... but honestly, he should've won 3 years ago. That was the moment.
it's official league in the game unlike orange islands.
it's legit win not matter how you trying to spin it. move on
 
I don't know if i should happy or sad, after the battle with hau i can't really take this league serious.
And the everyone is here mentality was disaster itself.

Yeah, I’m kinda on the same boat. I’ve been wishing for Ash to win a League since forever, but… just not this League.

People can rejoice about Ash getting the renowned trophy after 22 years of following his journey, sure, but…

A. The victory doesn’t make the development of the League as a whole and various mishandling instantly disappear, be rectified or raise this League to “Best League Ever” status. Rowlet still won because he was “just sleeping”. Melmetal still got a “convenient” evolution. Various characters still got in without having any true business in partaking to this League.

B. The whole League was a series of 1v1 and 3v3, which is far from impressive. It’s basically a regular tournament with the “League” title slapped on it.

Now, I’m not going to ignore this League or anything like that. A win is a win, and that’s a fact. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t be largely disappointed by how this specific League is supposed to be Ash’s time of glory. The Sinnoh and Kalos Leagues felt way more like potential Ash’s crowning moments to me.
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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