Review JN004: Let's Go to the Galar Region! An Encounter with Hibanny!!

[WatcherMark]

...Like steroids abuse:

Winners don't do Rare Candies.

 

[Moonbyum]

I really like this episode. The backstory behind the Nicktit was pretty sad. So far I'm liking the Scorbunny that Ash and Gou met I think it'll be an excellent partner for Gou and I wonder how it'll go in the next episode.

Overall Episode Rating:B

 

[Daenerys]

Watched the subs just now. Apparently, Scorbunny covered itself with dirt to blend in with the Nickit.

Oh good, I was hoping we'd get an explanation for Scorbunny's blackface.

 

[Caprizant]

• The toothbrushing scene was Excellent.
  
  
• Not sure who Scorbunny thinks it's fooling with that dirt... Nickit looks more orange than brown to me :V
  
  
• I know I'm in the minority on this, but I honestly love the music. It's cute lol
  
  
• I love Ash and Go's dynamic a lot. I hope Koharu joins up with them soon, but for now they're a really entertaining pair. I like that Go's easing up a bit too, and I'm really glad they decided not to make him annoyed with Ash's antics all the time. That could've gotten grating really fast. Seeing him be more amused by Ash than anything is fun.
  
  
• Hoping we see the Nickit gang again when we come back to Wyndon later. They were cute :р
  
  
• It is a little weird we didn't see much of Wyndon this ep, but like, whatever. We'll presumably be back here later, and I'd prefer if they showcase Wyndon when it's more relevant to the plot. Tbh, to me it was a weirder decision to drop them in Wyndon instead of, say, Motostoke. Motostoke is closer to the Wild Area and would've been the perfect place to introduce the gym challenge.
  
  
• On that note, I really hope we get some central goal other than "go here, do research" soon. I honestly love fluffier episodes, but something to make progress towards once in awhile is good. I get that they wanted to start off with a "region taste-testing" arc to assure people they were really going all-in on the world tour idea, but I'm hoping we at least get a nod next episode that the gym challenge is happening eventually.

 

[Johtohfiller]

So the question is 'what are they going for'.

I mean I can appreciate the fact that Scorbunny wasn't abused or near an abusive trainer like every Fire-type Starter not named Torchic and Litten....but tis about it.

Almost seems like the anime direction is trying to do a lot of what we'd want (like no Snivy fight repeats), but without much of a solid direction.

• On that note, I really hope we get some central goal other than "go here, do research" soon. I honestly love fluffier episodes, but something to make progress towards once in awhile is good. I get that they wanted to start off with a "region taste-testing" arc to assure people they were really going all-in on the world tour idea, but I'm hoping we at least get a nod next episode that the gym challenge is happening eventually.

It does have something of a "we're doing something new and aren't sure how to pace it" feel. Which ended up being my biggest gripe with Sun & Moon - here's hoping we get more plot soon.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Still could have shown us more Galar Pokemon or places. This was Wyndon, the most important city in Galar, yet we only saw two Galar species and it felt like a random filler city.

They're probably saving them for the future episodes that's gonna focus them.

 

[Macsen]

• Not sure who Scorbunny thinks it's fooling with that dirt... Nickit looks more orange than brown to me :V

It sure fooled the Rotom Phone. Which I personally think is rather egregious.

Scorbunny and its Nickit buddies were precious.

 

[BigDocFan]

Watching the episode with subs, I'm certainly liking Scorbunny's personality.

Its friendship with the Nickit, even making itself dirty to look like the Nickit

I'm hoping next time they visit Galar, we might see the Nickit again, see how far they've come with Scorbunny

 

[Panky..]

I was in the process of typing a review earlier today when the site went down for maintenance and my draft failed to save.
What an annoyance...

- Pros:

• The animation and art quality feels far better than the mess that was last week's episode, though those infamous and ugly stock backgrounds still appear. Why can't they use the 3D camera prominently? Well anyways, the episode was more enjoyable and the series actually moved in some direction unlike the stagnated waste that was SS003, even though this one had a few issues (detailed below). What the actual fuck was that Scorbunny battle music though? After the amazing Lugia appears and Raid battle music, you'd think the composer would try and continue to keep up the quality...
• Scorbunny and Nickit were quite the energetic and interesting bunch of Pokemon and I couldn't think of a better way to introduce them to the fold. At least we have a starter Pokemon who doesn't have the traditional abandoned Fire starter backstory with Scorbunny being more of a caretaker and mentor to his little ragtag gang. The chase was a bit drawn out and I believe Ash could have gotten his first capture here if the episode were written a bit differently. I really hope we see those three Nickit in the future again, there's a lot of story potential there.
• I'm going to be revisiting every single page that I bookmarked in which people were stating that Pikachu would lose to a "level 5 Scorbunny" just to laugh spit in their faces and spite them. The battle could hardly be classified as one in the first place and felt more like a brawl between a MMO champion and a street-side punk. The difference of power and experience in both Pokemon was clearly visible to be ocean-wide where Scorbunny spent more time fleeing and then promptly getting one-shotted by what appeared to be a mild Electroweb attack. Hah!

- Cons:

• It seems like they really hate Galar and Gen 8 in general. For an episode that is supposed to introduce viewers to a completely new region, our first look at Galar is very… stale and barren. This is made even worse when you consider the fact that they used Galar's capital as the setting instead of some other city. Even BW did a good job of introducing us to the Unova region right off the bat, no matter how that rest of the series turned out. Like many before me have voiced it out, Wyndon isn’t even shown properly... not even with panning shots of important landmarks. Ash has always been excited by Pokemon and new locations first and food later so you’d think he run off to explore the the city to look for Pokemon first and foremost and also show them to the viewers. They could have made the cafe a passing stop where they collect a takeaway and then explore the city which still gives Scorbunny incentive to steal Ash's backpack.

- Extra:

• They should really cut down on the Ash hyperactivity in this series, he’s never been this over-excitable in any of the past series. Seems more along the lines of Bonnie behavior than Ash. They should also cut down on Ash getting attacked by Pokemon for the sake of cheap gags, it's tiring.
• I was skeptical of Mime’s miming in the past episode but the one in this episode made me chuckle, not to mention that poker face smile that he gives Gou. If Mimey’s gags are written well then they’re very much welcome, just hope these scenes don’t waste too much screentime.
• They updated the intro to include Zacian and Zamazenta. I wonder if anything will come out of it.
• Is it me or did Pikachu behave like NPCs from HITMAN and HITMAN 2, investigating every distraction.
• I still call Tauros-crap on Rotom not identifying Scorbunny through the mud, it’s never been a problem for past Dexes where they identified Meowth through his disguises.

Verdict: A far more enjoyable episode than last week's that moves the series forward even if it has missteps, I'll give it 5.5/10.

 

[Rath]

I was in the process of typing a review earlier today when the site went down for maintenance and my draft failed to save.
What an annoyance...

- Pros:

• The animation and art quality feels far better than the mess that was last week's episode, though those infamous and ugly stock backgrounds still appear. Why can't they use the 3D camera prominently? Well anyways, the episode was more enjoyable and the series actually moved in some direction unlike the stagnated waste that was SS003, even though this one had a few issues (detailed below). What the actual fuck was that Scorbunny battle music though? After the amazing Lugia appears and Raid battle music, you'd think the composer would try and continue to keep up the quality...
• Scorbunny and Nickit were quite the energetic and interesting bunch of Pokemon and I couldn't think of a better way to introduce them to the fold. At least we have a starter Pokemon who doesn't have the traditional abandoned Fire starter backstory with Scorbunny being more of a caretaker and mentor to his little ragtag gang. The chase was a bit drawn out and I believe Ash could have gotten his first capture here if the episode were written a bit differently. I really hope we see those three Nickit in the future again, there's a lot of story potential there.
• I'm going to be revisiting every single page that I bookmarked in which people were stating that Pikachu would lose to a "level 5 Scorbunny" just to laugh spit in their faces and spite them. The battle could hardly be classified as one in the first place and felt more like a brawl between a MMO champion and a street-side punk. The difference of power and experience in both Pokemon was clearly visible to be ocean-wide where Scorbunny spent more time fleeing and then promptly getting one-shotted by what appeared to be a mild Electroweb attack. Hah!

- Cons:

• It seems like they really hate Galar and Gen 8 in general. For an episode that is supposed to introduce viewers to a completely new region, our first look at Galar is very… stale and barren. This is made even worse when you consider the fact that they used Galar's capital as the setting instead of some other city. Even BW did a good job of introducing us to the Unova region right off the bat, no matter how that rest of the series turned out. Like many before me have voiced it out, Wyndon isn’t even shown properly... not even with panning shots of important landmarks. Ash has always been excited by Pokemon and new locations first and food later so you’d think he run off to explore the the city to look for Pokemon first and foremost and also show them to the viewers. They could have made the cafe a passing stop where they collect a takeaway and then explore the city which still gives Scorbunny incentive to steal Ash's backpack.

- Extra:

• They should really cut down on the Ash hyperactivity in this series, he’s never been this over-excitable in any of the past series. Seems more along the lines of Bonnie behavior than Ash. They should also cut down on Ash getting attacked by Pokemon for the sake of cheap gags, it's tiring.
• I was skeptical of Mime’s miming in the past episode but the one in this episode made me chuckle, not to mention that poker face smile that he gives Gou. If Mimey’s gags are written well then they’re very much welcome, just hope these scenes don’t waste too much screentime.
• They updated the intro to include Zacian and Zamazenta. I wonder if anything will come out of it.
• Is it me or did Pikachu behave like NPCs from HITMAN and HITMAN 2, investigating every distraction.
• I still call Tauros-crap on Rotom not identifying Scorbunny through the mud, it’s never been a problem for past Dexes where they identified Meowth through his disguises.

Verdict: A far more enjoyable episode than last week's that moves the series forward even if it has missteps, I'll give it 6.5/10.

Ash is hyperactive because Go is the opposite of that. When you have a duo like this, the two characters have to be polar opposites of each other, and with Go being the calm one, that means Ash has to be the hyperactive one.

 

[Gard81]

Didn't really think about the music until this episode and it's really... non-Pokemon-ish. They all feel pretty generic, there's not one that I can associate with an action, character, city/town etc. They all are so forgettable. And I get that the Ash-Go duo are supposed to have opposing personalities to bounce off each other, but they are really overdoing it with Ash's hyperactivity. It almost makes me think that he's high... on life.

 

[Sakuraa]

You should watch the previous episodes too to see how they met.

TBH, I'm really not all that interested in how they met. If I was, I would just read episode summaries instead of sitting down to watch the entire episode. The only thing I'm looking out for this series are the Galar focused episodes.

 

[Nicolas721]

As a Scorbunny capture/filler episode, it was okay. It didn't do anything previous series haven't done but it wasn't bad either. The relationship between Scorbunny and the Nickit was cute and so was the chase. However it kinda dragged at the beginning and specially at the end, it feels like that time could've been used for something else. Ash felt very childish.

As a Galar introduction episode, well, you guys already said it. It's disappointing to see that everything that matters to Ash is food, and that's concerning because the next episode has lower chances to show something related to a Gym quest because of its location and multiple plots.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

TBH, I'm really not all that interested in how they met. If I was, I would just read episode summaries instead of sitting down to watch the entire episode. The only thing I'm looking out for this series are the Galar focused episodes.

In that case, you'll be missing a lot of plot. Reading summaries isn't the same as seeing the actual episode

 

[Twilight-Kun]

I like Go's Shoutydex and I hope the dub's smart enough to keep it

 

[Gabo2oo]

Oh boy Pikachu's personality reverted back to being just Ash 2.0. They should have just given him a Mime Jr. at this point.

 

[Dogasu]

This episode just sort of dragged on for me. Like, when the eyecatch came on I remember thinking "oh my god we're only halfway through this thing!?" As others have said, Shout City was super generic, the lack of game refrences was obscene, and the relationship between Hibanny and Kusune really didn't do anything for me.

Also, why does covering yourself up in mud 1) fool a Pokemon Bestiary and 2) make a bunch of fox think a rabbit isn't a rabbit?

It's just so ridiculously out of character for Ash to not want to go to Galar full time for a journey. This is the same kid who went to Hoenn to explore the region where the Blaziken who beat him in the Johto League came from. The kid who decided to journey though Sinnoh because he happened to see his friend had a Pokemon from that region on a trip back home. For Ash to go to this new region he's never been to before, see new Pokemon he's never seen before, and then not want to have a full journey there...it just seems so weird to me. It comes across as so out of character for Ash. And similarly, what the heck, Ash is in this new region for the first time ever, and all he's doing is eating snacks???? Really? You'd think he'd be running around looking for any new Pokemon he can find. Even if they did have a train to catch, it still seems so odd for Ash. I expected way more excitement from him and it really didn't seem like he really cared all that much about being in Galar in general.

This was exactly the same problem I had with this as well. Satoshi has no reaction being back in Kanto, fine. He's been there a million times before. But to be in 1) a new region with 2) brand new pokemon and to choose eating scones over exploring? You're right, it's completely out of character fro him.

He should be dragged kicking and screaming out of Galar in the next episode, desperate to want to stay behind and see all the new pokemon it has to offer. But instead I feel like he's going to just calmly go to the airport and be like "well, time for my next assignment BYE!"

Then again, he saw a Wanpachi and Armorgaw in Kanto and didn't even bother reacting to the second one so I guess Satoshi is over the whole fanboying over new pokemon thing. I don't really like it.

And the music continues to be bland and forgettable. Completely took the edge of the Pikachu/Hibanny battle.

LOL what edge? It was very obviously meant to be a cute little scuffle between two mascot pokemon, not a life-or-death league battle. The music was fitting enough.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Then again, he saw a Wanpachi and Armorgaw in Kanto and didn't even bother reacting to the second one so I guess Satoshi is over the whole fanboying over new pokemon thing. I don't really like it.

He might have not even see the latter, for all we know.

 

[JeoDude]

The one thing I really liked about this episode was when Go lied about Scorbunny being his partner. For me it felt like a surprising way of setting up a capture. Lying, but in such a convincing way that Scorbunny is following Go now.
Has a capture been similar to this one? I don't remember anything similar, but maybe someone else

 

[hiverstone]

• I still call Tauros-crap on Rotom not identifying Scorbunny through the mud, it’s never been a problem for past Dexes where they identified Meowth through his disguises.

The laser used to identify Pokémon in old dex models was found to increase the risk of cancer in some Pokémon species. So it was removed from new versions. That’s why most professors use Rotomdex now.

But it has some really useful features too, like how it was able to identify that gym under construction.