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Review JN001: Pikachu is Born!

This was a terrible episode to start a series with. If they'd aired it alongside the second episode, it'd be easy enough to overlook, but on its own, it's incredibly weak.

All the Go & Koharu stuff could've and should've been its own focus episode shared as a story they're telling Ash
 
One thing I liked about the episode was the variety of wild Pokemon which is always good to see

Whilst disappointed they didn't show some parts of Pikachu's backstory like I was hoping (Oak catching it), part of me hopes we might get a reunion with the Kangaskhan during this series
 
Oh thank God I am not the only person who found this underwhelming! I'm just so disappointed, I've always wanted Pikachu's backstory to be explored and I went in wanting to love this episode, but I didn't. I didn't hate it, I just didn't like it. You've all said everything about the stuff this 'backstory' missed out, but seriously, were we supposed to find Pikachu leaving his adoptive mother and sibling with nary a goodbye heartwarming? Pikachu simply comes across as an ungrateful little shit.

Sanctimonious know-it-all Go was also extremely irritating. I hope he is more likeable as a (slightly) older character.

Am I the only person for whom this didn't actually feel like an episode of the Pokemon anime? Probably a combination of a brand new writer and the absence of Miyazaki's familiar and comfortable motifs. Recasting young Satoshi was also a mistake.

I'm sorry to say that they whole thing has left me feeling rather un-hyped for the rest of the series. Not the intended or expected outcome...
 
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I feel like, they should have removed that Special on November 10th and put this episode as "Episode Zero" on that day and put out episode 2 and 3 in a One-Hour Special AS the First Two Episodes of the New Series on the 17th.
 
Disappointing and a bit boring first episode here. Didn't really give us much of a backstory on Pikachu and I'm also disappointed that we only had ONE episode this week than the usual two...
 
One thing I liked about the episode was the variety of wild Pokemon which is always good to see
At this point I just found the selection of Kanto Pokémon extremely boring- we’ve seen that collection of Pokemon in the stereotypical "Pokémon variety" scenes so many times that it felt uninteresting to me.

It would've been slightly better if a few Johto or a few transferred species for the sake of education were featured.
 
A bit off topic, but this is why proper subs are needed instead of relying on auto-generated translations (from the Episode uploaded on their official channel).

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So, here we go (pun intended!) again with a brand new adventure!

To be honest, I don't get the many negatives reviews here. Let's not forget this shouldn't be considered the start of the new adventure. It was an introductory episode at best that was intended to lay the foundations for the "real" start next week. I think it was just the right time for an episode like that, at the beginning of a new adenture, to look back into the past once again. The first Kanto episodes will always be classics, so I think it was quite nice to see them once again, this time from Pikachu's perspective.

To sum up, in my eyes it was a nice (and at some point even heart-warming) way of introducing a new series and getting to know Pikachu's background.
I'm curious what will await us next week.

And...I'm so glad they obviously reworked Ash's Alola face and design!
 
Surprised we got the new anime so soon after Sun & Moon ended.

Pikachu's backstory was lacking but it was better than nothing.
 
I thought it was very cute, and I enjoy Go's character! However, I was hoping Pikachu's backstory would cover why he was so rough around the edges when Ash first got him. Or go into the Pokeball phobia, but! Cute none-the-less. Looking forward to the next one.
 
To be honest, I don't get the many negatives reviews here. Let's not forget this shouldn't be considered the start of the new adventure. It was an introductory episode at best that was intended to lay the foundations for the "real" start next week.
Well, the thing is, when you write an introduction you want to begin with a hook that grabs the attention of the viewer and make them interested and excited for what's going to be next. Being an "introductory episode" should make the viewers hyped, not underwhelmed.
 
Well, the thing is, when you write an introduction you want to begin with a hook that grabs the attention of the viewer and make them interested and excited for what's going to be next. Being an "introductory episode" should make the viewers hyped, not underwhelmed.
I personally found the ways this episode tells Pikachu's backstory and sets up Go's motivation working pretty nicely.
 
Pikachu knew Kangaskhan didn't want to let him go. So he chose to leave in secret.
That's when it was a Pichu, still a baby. As a Pikachu, it was older and would've taken more room in the pouch.

They have to let their own babies go eventually, Pikachu just left sooner than expected.
 
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...
 
This was a bit of an odd one. I would have thought this would be more appropriate if it was leading up to the release of I Choose You or something minus the appearance of Gou. But what really caught me off guard was the fact that Shinji Miyazaki is no longer composing music for the show. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. His score is one of my all time favorites across pretty much all media. I've been a fan since the original series back in the 90's. It always sounded so delightfully old school compared to other anime. He will sorely be missed. I hope he moves on to something great.
 
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