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Review JN001: Pikachu is Born!

First episodes of a new series always get me really hyped up! I always eventually fall off the train of watching non-dubbed episodes as a series wears on, so it's nice to get back in that mode again. And I'm willing to admit that I quite enjoyed this episode. It wasn't Earth shattering or flawless by any means, but I definitely feel that I liked it more than a lot of other reviews I'm seeing of it here.

I'm very much a proponent of showing rather than telling, especially if it's done well. In terms of Pikachu's backstory, I think it was done relatively well. Truthfully, I don't feel any need to know exactly what happened to Pikachu's family. Pichu was so young, he likely didn't even know himself. I don't mind that being left open to interpretation; it was just enough to know that he was totally alone until meeting Kangaskhan. That relationship was very sweet, and I loved watching it evolve, but I do agree that the reason for parting felt a bit forced. I'm not entirely sure what else they could've done, however (sure, I guess poaching, but honestly that's a little too grim) so I can live with it. The one thing I did want to know, however, was how Pikachu ended up with Professor Oak. I would've really liked to see him catching Pikachu. That was the singular aspect of this whole backstory where I genuinely felt I was missing out on an important detail...to just go from Pikachu leaving his "family" to being given to Ash four years later. What happened in those four years? Was Pikachu with Professor Oak the whole time? How did they first meet? So that I didn't love, because that is ultimately a big part of Pikachu's story as well that I would've liked to see.

The young protags were super adorable! I will be the outlier to say I absolutely loved having Ash in the episode; not only was he so freaking cute, but it was hysterical to see Gou call him out (without even knowing him!) and hitting the nail on the head. I think it's really cool that they were so close to meeting as kids! Also, Ash sleeping in and missing out on something Pokemon related even as a little kid was hysterical...poor baby. It was also nice to see that there's a specific reason why Gou is so interested in Mew, and not just based off of myth or lore he was told.

Overall, I thought the episode was very cute and overall enjoyable. Would I personally have made it the first episode of a brand new series? Probably not. It was fun to watch, but didn't get me as revved up for the start of the series which, like I said, the first episodes normally do. I think episode 2 will do a better job of that.
 
Henry Suarez said:
I feel like there is a disconnect between this forum (and Serebii too) where many reviews are negative while on Youtube/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram almost universal acclaim and people loving the episode, I don't know what's going on...
Click to expand...
You can really see the difference between hardcore and casual viewers.

Besides, it's not like the reception is negative at all. It's mixed at worst due to many people being underwhelmed from how the episode was handled, not to mention the false advertising regarding it being 1 hour long.
 
This episode was heartwarming and a great way to start the series. Pikachu's backstory with the Kangaskan was pretty enjoyable and heartwarming to watch. Also I'm loving Gou's character so far I like his personality and his goals for the series. Pikachu saying goodbye to the Kangaskan was also extremely sad as well but it was a great origin story for Pikachu and where Ash and Pikachu became friends. I'm looking forward to watching Episode 2

Overall Episode Rating: B
 
Panky.. said:
You can really see the difference between hardcore and casual viewers.

Besides, it's not like the reception is negative at all. It's mixed at worst due to many people being underwhelmed from how the episode was handled, not to mention the false advertising regarding it being 1 hour long.
Click to expand...

Yup it's about that.

I even feel casual viewers gave the new Pocket Monsters series a much warmer welcome than Sun & Moon, maybe because the shock of new artstyle was severe after XY/Z, I remember the huge uproar, but now on the sites I mentioned there are almost overwhelming positive reactions.

People that left the series years ago are apparently coming back, that's interesting.

PD: and yeah we're a different bunch on these forums, more hardcore fans and at times over analyzing everything...
 
Actually it's a little bit spooky that Kangaskhan seemed to be sick in the scene when it was raining now when it's semi-confirmed that the theory about Kangaskhan being Cubone's mother might have been true (or used to be in the old beta).

Imagine what would have happened if Kangaskhan died and Pikachu's adoptive brother became a Cubone. Would he be angry and disappointed in Pikachu for leaving without even saying goodbye? :eek:
 
Emelie said:
Actually it's a little bit spooky that Kangaskhan seemed to be sick in the scene when it was raining now when it's semi-confirmed that the theory about Kangaskhan being Cubone's mother might have been true (or used to be in the old beta).
Click to expand...
Kangaskhan was just tired. The point was that Pikachu felt like he was holding her back, which is why he jumped out.
 
Ratings for Pokémon, Boruto, Black Clover, Duel Masters, Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh, etc, etc, etc, don't matter.
 
The (metaphorical) train is late! And so is this review!

So, I was gonna post this sooner, but between studying for my midterms, catching up on some YouTube videos and ProtonJon's live streams, preparing my laboratory stuff and binge reading the BitF comics with my sister, I've been kind of busy. And I still am, since I've gotta prepare a presentation for my English course (and the English professor I have is completely bonkers (she keeps insisting that she all-knowing and smarter and better then all of us and that she's always right and she keeps telling me that pronouncing 2020 as twenty-twenty or 150 as one-fifty is wrong in English; not British English, mind you, but any kind of English)... sorry, I just had to get that off my chest), so this is probably gonna be shorter than I'd like it to be.

So, thoughts on the episode: it was alright, I guess? Like, it wasn't terrible or anything, but it definitely wasn't outstanding. It was nice to see some of Pikachu's life as a Pichu and every scene with him and the Kangaskhan was either cute or very sweet. But, for something that was supposed to be about Pikachu's backstory, it barely answered anything. We now know that he used to live to a Kangaskhan and her baby, since his parents either lost him or abandoned him and, as he grew up and got bigger, he realized that he was becoming a burden for her, so he decided to leave and, after thinking back to wonderful life he's lived with the two of them and being shown to be thankful to them for all that they've done for him, he evolved into Pikachu and happily went his merry way. Okay, that's... okay, I guess. But, besides showing us what he's been doing prior to becoming a Pikachu, it doesn't explain much else. We don't learn why he hates being in a Poké Ball, or why he doesn't want to evolve or why he didn't like humans that much. And the fact that a good portion of the episode focused on establishing Go and his and Koharu's encounter with Mew really made the episode feel like it was more about them, with Pikachu's backstory (you know, the supposed main focus that is also the episode title's namesake) feeling more like a side story that was tacked on to grab people's attention.

So, overall, the episode was kind of alright. Maybe a little to mediocre. It wasn't the worst first episode of a series (not when we have gems like In the Shadow of Zeckrom and Alola to New Adventures), far from it. But it was really underwhelming, since it didn't deliver much of what it promised or answer any of the questions that people had regarding Pikachu's past (though it did do a good job of showing Go's encounter with Mew and establishing why he wants to catch it). Maybe if the episode was actually a proper one-hour special, instead of having a boring live Q&A segment before (which, now that I think about it, this is actually the first 1 hour special of a new series to only feature one episode... wow), then the episode might've been outstanding. But, as is stands, it does leave some things to be desired. And, again, allow me to reiterate that it wasn't terrible (since some people see to be getting the wrong idea that this episode is being hated on).

Also, side note, but I really loved the animation this episode. The two battles that we saw, while short, felt pretty dynamic and thrilling, all of the moves looked incredible (though the way the Pokémon were shown using launching those moves was kind of weird (like Squirtle keeping its mouth wide open while using Bubble Beam instead of spitting it or Nidoking's Fire Blast appearing in front of his horn instead of him firing it from his mouth, like past Pokémon did)), most of the character designs look alright (though I'm still not a fan of Oak getting proper irises) and the art style, while still Sun & Moon-ish, seems to have improved (still not a fan of it, though, but thankfully they did cut down on the number of obnoxious hyperfaces). And, most importantly, finally, finally Pikachu looks normal again!
 
Lightning Flame Blast said:
Eh, that’s probably more likely. Unless they removed the slot limit for some reason, sharing 3 out of 4 moves with some random Nidoking would be... a bit much.
Click to expand...
If there’s one Pokemon that can go beyond the move slot limit, it’s Mew. Having the genes for every single Pokémon in existence implies that it knows every single move as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mew just straight up knows the moves.
 
There's a possible theory concerning this episode: Although not mentioned in the final episode, Ash left his Pikachu out in the wild somewhere in Alola, much to Delia's surprise that he had to catch a wild Pikachu to make up for it. And that evolved from a Pichu, yet it can't get any further than that
 
Please note: The thread is from 1 year 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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