Review JN002: Satoshi and Go, Let's Go by Lugia!

[Almonds]

Nice episode! Really liked the Lugia raid battle and how it draws on features from Pokemon GO.

Also, it really calls back to the games, like how the professor asks the player character to help with his research. Most of the time the player would just go through the region defeating gyms and the league and the research would be done by itself along the way. However, Sakuragi is asking Gou and Satoshi to be research fellows so I'm really interested how they are actually going to make use of the professor's research. Love the way Gou is collecting data using his phone. I didn't expect to see a close-up of Lugia's skin, which adds more to what we know about pokemon.


EDIT: There was also a brief nod to Pokemon Quest. The box Machoke was carrying had the Pokemon Quest Pikachu icon on it

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Wow this animation is on fire! They actually managed to take the fluid and energetic animation of SM and apply to a more clean and detailed art style. I think Pikachu showed more personality in this episode than it ever has since the series started. Music was pretty good. The music during the raid battle was really exciting, and the theme that played after Lugia dropped them off was very nice. I was unfairly disappointed that "Lugia's Song" wasn't remixed here, it was featured in M21. I like Gou so far, I just hope he and Ash keep butting heads because this promises to be a pretty unique relationship between the two, and a bit more fun then the sterile interactions we got between the casts of XY and SM. I thought Ash's insatiable Pokemon addiction was entertaining, even if it seems to be overplayed a bit.

Back when we still thought Gou was a girl, a compared him to Aoi(Angie) from the Diamond and Pearl summer camp arc, and I honestly couldn't stop thinking about this while watching the episode. Her and Gou's dynamic with Ash is uncanny.

 

[BigDocFan]

Just rewatched the episode with subs, I'm still enjoying how great the animation is

Certainly more enjoyable then Sun and Moon

Not too keen on Mr. Mime staying behind to look after Ash, why now after all this time?

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Finally nice to have the anime start off properly

Much better production value, animation, writing this time around

 

[Moonbyum]

I think this episode was a little better than Episode 1 imo. The animation when Lugia was using Hydro Pump while Ash and Gou were riding Lugia was awesome long with the visuals as well. I really love the plot for this episode and Ash and Gou becoming lab assistants for Kusanagi to look and search Pokemon around the world. I can't wait to see more on Ash and Gou's friendship later on in the series.

Overall Episode Rating: A

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I didn't realize it before watching the subs, but Lugia did indeed use telepathy at one point. Not overly surprising, but an interesting thing to notice nonetheless.

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

Mr. Mime staying with Ash... can't wait until a traveling circus loses their Galarian Mr. Mime and mistake Mimey for him lol
Corviknight was awesome, really hoping Ash winds up with one!
Thank god Lugia's not being demoted to being the twerp's bus
Go's cool, and I like Kotaru. She's not immediately aboard the Ash express like all the XY and SM cast members were!

 

[DynamicFusion]

Mr. Mime staying with Ash... can't wait until a traveling circus loses their Galarian Mr. Mime and mistake Mimey for him lol
Corviknight was awesome, really hoping Ash winds up with one!
Thank god Lugia's not being demoted to being the twerp's bus
Go's cool, and I like Kotaru. She's not immediately aboard the Ash express like all the XY and SM cast members were!

There was pretty much nothing amazing Ash showed Koharu. She just seems pretty apathetic.

 

[Momentum]

Very great episode, much better than last week's. The Lugia battle sequence was spectacular, as were the scenes ofnit flying throughout Kanto. I'm also very interested in seeing more if Go, one of my favorite travel companions right off the bat.

That being said...

I am disappointed this series won't be rooted in Galar but instead Kanto AKA Vermillion City. Obviously they will visit Galar but it won't be as central to the story as previous regions were to their respective seasons. Ash and Go being lab assistants should be interesting, but I'd be lying if I wouldn't prefer seeing Ash take on the Gym Challenge instead. I have to wonder if this is why

Spoiler

Ash was allowed to win the Alola League since he wouldn't be doing it again in Galar.

8/10, can't wait for the next few episodes.

 

[abcboy]

The episode is now being streamed and is currently available without region-locking on the TV Tokyo website: ポケットモンスター｜テレビ東京アニメ公式

EDIT: It's now region-locked.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Go is a fucking idiot. Also did we really need another "World of Pokemon" speech? It really didn't make any sense in the way it was used.

 

[RamenBoy]

I wonder if they will bring back Surge since they will go back often to Vermilion.

 

[Panky..]

Review

- Pros:

• Despite appearing somewhat rushed, I thought the episode was actually well paced out and does a great job of introducing the characters and the world in a proper manner, for both new as well as old fans of the series. No single section was given precedence over others and despite a few skips happening between scenes, everything clicked well.
• The gag/meme-faces were kept to a minimal and properly timed instead of just being thrown around for the sake of "slapstick comedy" (someone kept count of this at 20 or so average of memefaces per episode, throughout the series). Even when they were used, they were far less ridiculous, outlandish and over-exaggerated like SM's meme-faces were and I hope it continues to stay this way.
• The raid battle was very exciting even if somewhat short. The battle animation in action looks very great. I guess Lugia just wanted to weirdly flex, but okay. The artstyle looks fantastic in action with very well detailed backgrounds. The animation looks slick except one small issue I had stated earlier (see below), I hope they continue using more of the 3D camera. The framerates are miles better than that of SM. I hope all of this stays instead of being downgraded the further they go. Even though people have expressed doubts about the soundtrack/composer, it was really amazing and I hope people will get used to it.
• Anyone else caught onto the little moments between Ash and Lugia, like they recognized and understood each other ("Here we go")? It's most likely the baby Lugia from the Whirl Islands given its more playful and capricious nature. Also, did anyone else catch onto the remixed version of LetZ Go/Ash-Greninja when Lugia uses Dive (I assume it's Dive)? At least it sounded like that to me.
• I guess Gou's know-it-all attitude wasn't even that annoying unlike his younger self. I was afraid he was just going to be an older version of Max. Though I feel like it's a bit early to tell regarding this topic, I guess we'll see down the line. It was kind of irritating to see him refuse a starter and be like "I wahnt a Meiuw!". I wonder what reason he'll have to catching Scorbunny now.

- Cons:

• Onto that little issue I had with this episode. There was an unnecessary usage of stock backgrounds and action lines at the first segment of the raid battle even if it was brief, which looked kinda off especially when you consider the next segment with the second group of trainers. I hope this is a one time occurrence and it never happens again, because they look ugly.

- Extra:

• The narrator referred Ash to as a "young man" . They've also started using titles naming the various placed that they skip to. I wonder if Gou is a school dropout or just bunks a lot.
• I hope they keep Ash's height and body proportions correct from now on. I know that the better animators can do it, but I hated how often his height or body parts changed size during SM. In this episode, he looked decent throughout and my doubts about his design from the poster were alleviated. Now I only hope there's consistency there.
• How can anyone say that this design looks like an "upgraded version of SM"? The actual SM Ash looked like an abomination and the only thing resembling SM here are the more pronounced birthmarks, mouth and the softer edges... everything else looks like his XY variant.
  
  Spoiler: Image

  
• Koharu is a proper Kuudere. I don't think we've ever had a Kuudere character on the cast before. Also, according to that "leak", I expected Koharu to run away frightened with Ash fawning over Yamper and chasing. Turns out, that entire segment was much more hilarious with Koharu silently slipping away with a mix between fear and disgust while Ash lays their like a corpse.
• I'm glad that Lugia won't be a glorified ride Pokemon, and that machine in Sakuragi's lab is just a really advanced supercomputer and not a teleporter like some people theorized. I do wonder how they'll handle the travelling aspect though. I do hope Mimey staying with Ash means that the former will partner up with Ash and battle alongside him more often. Ash does need a prominent Psychic type on his team after all.

Verdict: A fantastic start to the series, which should be considered the true first episode (while the previous one should have been a proper 1 hour special), I'll give it 9/10.

Next episode seems like it's going to be a generic and boring filler, with Bulbasaur Garden being used as the bait-and-switch. If Ash's Bulbasaur isn't even present in the episode in any capacity, this can be considered the first of many missteps that'll eventually snowball against them for false advertising.

EDIT: It's now region-locked.

VPN solves everything.

Not too keen on Mr. Mime staying behind to look after Ash, why now after all this time?

Most likely to fill the role of the caretaker/cook. Maybe we can even see Mimey joining Ash's party or at least the former battling/training with Ash.

 

[Nicolas721]

Story-wise, the episode was ok. It had great animation and was overall engaging. However, it wasn't explained what are raids, how trainers get information about them and whether the trainers have to capture the Pokemon or just battle it. Also, the battle with Lugia should've lasted more.

Character-wise, I like Ash and Go's bickering and moments of friendship. Go has a nice personality, but I don't really like his "The future is in my hands" catchphrase, it doesn't sound at all like something a 10-year old would say. Ash felt more childish and hyperactive than usual too, but after SM I can't say I'm surprised. I thought Koharu would be boring, but she actually is a great foil to both boys. Sakuragi was ok.

The music was fine, I loved the "Lugia appears" theme until it got vocals.

 

[Johtohfiller]

The subs didn't translate everything Ash and Go said when they were fighting over the top bunk but you can hear Ash say "Alola League Champion".

 

[OniCornwalis]

There’s a couple of things I’d like to point out about this episode;

While Lugia destroyed Ash and Pikachu almost immediately, they were also the only ones that did any significant damage to Lugia, so take that for what you will.

Ash here looks like he’s SM Ash’s personality but toned down some, and with some of his trademark heroism and recklessness thrown in there. They recognize that he’s strong, but they don’t emphasize it nearly as much as much as previous series.

Go’s family has not been mentioned whatsoever, which makes me wonder how complicated his family life is and when it’s going to be brought up.

 

[Gard81]

Yeah, I don't like Go very much. At first, I was kind of impressed he managed to pinpoint Lugia's location by logical deduction... until it was shown that many other trainers got to Lugia before him, making his efforts rather pointless. Also I probably would take Go's "I want Mew to be my first Pokemon." line more seriously, if he wasn't shown so prominently with Scorbunny. Love the action and animation in the episode, though.

 

[nickdt]

Based on the subs, Lugia 100% recognized Ash.

Go: I Choose Mew as my first Pokemon.
Me: Yeah... about that.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Yep, I mentioned in my review how it might be the baby Lugia from the Whirl Islands given its more playful nature.

Subs also confirm that only Ash heard Lugia 'speak'.

Are they going to give Ash the power to talk to Pokemon in this series? I guess that's one way to make M20 cannon.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Are they going to give Ash the power to talk to Pokemon in this series? I guess that's one way to make M20 cannon.

M20 was a completely different continuity. And that was telepathy, which has been established as something certain Pokémon, especially Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon, can do.