Preview JN008: Don't Lose, Pochama! The Drift Ice Race in the Sinnoh Region!!

[RileyXY1]

Yep. Looks like Dawn isn't coming back.

 

[Silktree]

It's hardly a random poster and you can see the Japanese summary above the art if you click on the picture.

 

[game3524]

We don't even have anything official on SS004 to SS007 and you think this random dude has a genuine SS008 premise?

That poster actually posted summeries for episodes 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 and forgot to post episode 4.

https://twitter.com/TheEndlessZero

 

[Silktree]

The Japanese summary comes from the same person, not the official Anipoke Twitter account, I've checked his Tweet history. So no, it's still random to me.

So you think this person made large posters featuring the official artwork and added fairly mundane summaries, only to be proven fake in a week or so? Okay then.

I'll ask them for more context.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I didn’t really expect any better after they disguised a Pikachu short as Ash's Pikachu's Backstory just so that people would watch it due to the news outburst of "We're FINALLY getting Pikachu's backstory!"

Probably aimed for clickbait articles of "DaWn&bRoCk RetUrNIng sINnoH ConFIRmed" this time round.
I just had the feeling that it would be a bait again, that’s why I was just watching the thread from afar. There’s no way they didn’t know that this would be connected to Brock and Dawn.

If this is after Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden2.0 having no trace of Ash's Bulbasaur (which also generated buzz due to the possibility), I'm going to be really disappointed in this approach. Region hopping was already meh to me, Go is meh to me, Koharu looks meh to me. And now they’re blatantly setting up clickbait episodes with no actual past references. And all we’ve seen are Kanto Pokémon so far.

I started as pretty neutral on the series but now it has to win me back again from scratch. Show me something good without baiting your audience. I’d have very much preferred small arcs for every region.

 

[Konja7]

The Japanese summary comes from the same person, not the official Anipoke Twitter account, I've checked his Tweet history. So no, it's still random to me.

In fact, the Japanese summary is from above that the poster the twitter account put:

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/TheEndlessZero/status/1198543405858447360



So, unless that person is extremely good in edition or pretty bad in translation, I think this summary is reliable.

 

[StacheKing Dave]

I swear if that's Dawn's Piplup, I'm gonna lose it in a good way. I doubt it will be, but still.

 

[RileyXY1]

And, it also implies that this Piplup is indeed not Dawn's, which I figured would be the case.

 

[Almonds]

Probably aimed for clickbait articles of "DaWn&bRoCk RetUrNIng sINnoH ConFIRmed" this time round.
I just had the feeling that it would be a bait again, that’s why I was just watching the thread from afar. There’s no way they didn’t know that

So they're making the fans do their work? Toss a picture or short clip without saying much, have the fans get excited over little to no information and get on social media to hype up the episodes? Letting speculations go wild and letting people believe whatever looks convincing?

^ if this is true, that doesn't look too good. The fans are doing all the promoting and advertising for them but with speculative rumors that fans created :/

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

So they're making the fans do their work? Toss a picture or short clip without saying much, have the fans get excited over little to no information and get on social media to hype up the episodes? Letting speculations go wild and letting people believe whatever looks convincing?

^ if this is true, that doesn't look too good. The fans are doing all the promoting and advertising for them but with speculative rumors that fans created :/

We know that’s (I think partly?) true for the Pikachu episode. It’s been admitted that it was made to generate buzz for the beginning of a new series and how it’d be covered everywhere and be viral.


View: https://twitter.com/DogasusBackpack/status/1190906860552851457

 

[kantoskies]

I think it’s not at all unusual that they are using two of the most popular Gen 4 Pokémon in the first episode to visit Sinnoh. I think there’s a 50/50 chance Satoshi will mention/allude to Hikari, but if she was in this episode in any significant way we’d probably know about it by now.

She can absolutely show up in the future but most likely not in this episode.

 

[Silktree]

He alluded to Dawn when he saw a Piplup in Kalos, but it was vague.

 

[SinnohEevee]

I too used to believe older characters won't appear again because the 5-year olds won't know who they are, but Brock and Misty in SM proved me wrong. Also, this series seems to be for everyone. Look at all the nostalgia visiting previous regions will generate.

The only logical reason for Dawn and Brock to not appear would be if they can't get their VAs back (I heard that;s why May didn't show up in XY) and Japan doesn't like recasts.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

If either Pokemon appeared on their own in their own episode, I could buy that it was just due to popularity. This obviously is not a coincidence though. Croagunk isn't even that popular compared to a lot of Sinnoh Pokemon, and most of the popularity it has comes from its appearance on the show in the first place. The writers know exactly what they're doing, this can't be written off as anything other than an intentional bait. That said, I think it's too early to cite a lack of info as proof that Dawn won't appear. We only found out yesterday that Team Rocket will appear in episode three, and this episode won't air until January. We also can't ignore the Piplup/Crogunk appearances we've seen in both promo posters. Random, one-time Pokemon-of-the-Day wouldn't be promoted so heavily. For comparison, we haven't seen any Ivysaur in any promotional material.

I guess it's possible that all of this has been a giant bait-and-switch since day one, and if that's the case TPC is far more devious than I ever gave them credit for. But just from what we've seen so far, I get the impression that they are genuinely passionate about this series and are trying to make it into something special. A mean spirited stunt like this would absolutely destroy any good will they've generated.

I too used to believe older characters won't appear again because the 5-year olds won't know who they are, but Brock and Misty in SM proved me wrong. Also, this series seems to be for everyone. Look at all the nostalgia visiting previous regions will generate.

The only logical reason for Dawn and Brock to not appear would be if they can't get their VAs back (I heard that;s why May didn't show up in XY) and Japan doesn't like recasts.

It may be telling that we haven't seen any nostalgic references to May so far, but we're drowning in Piplups and Sylveons. If the writers are actually including characters based in which VAs they were able get in, than this checks out perfectly.

 

[Almonds]

If either Pokemon appeared on their own in their own episode, I could buy that it was just due to popularity. This obviously is not a coincidence though. Croagunk isn't even that popular compared to a lot of Sinnoh Pokemon, and most of the popularity it has comes from its appearance on the show in the first place. The writers know exactly what they're doing, this can't be written off as anything other than an intentional bait. That said, I think it's too early to cite a lack of info as proof that Dawn won't appear. We only found out yesterday that Team Rocket appeared episode three, and this episode won't air until January. We also can't ignore the Piplup/Crogunk appearances we've seen in both promo posters. Random, one-time Pokemon-of-the-Day wouldn't be promoted so heavily. For comparison, we haven't seen any Ivysaur in any promotional material.

I guess it's possible that all of this has been a giant bait-and-switch since day one, and if that's TPC is far more devious than I ever gave them credit for. But just from what we've seen so far, I get the impression that they are genuinely passionate about this series and are trying to make it into something special. A mean spirited stunt like this would absolutely destroy any good will they've generated.

If Dawn and Brock don't come back, it isn't exactly bait-and-switch. It might feel like one, and I acknowledge the symbolic pokemon, but the anime team didn't say anything.

Examples of Actual Bait-and-Switch:
Serena and Ash "dating" episode -> clearly baited with the title. Turned out to be not a date.

Serena and Ash "dancing" at a party -> clearly baited with a cleverly edited preview clip, turned out to be a Sylveon evolution episode. The staff had to post an explanation because so many fans were angry about the bait-and-switch.

Kalos League Final -> clearly baited with promotions, ads, and with a title hyping fans with words like "victory" and "decisive" and including Ash's name. Turned out to be Ash's loss. Resulted in a massive uproar including pics of destroyed merch spread over the internet.

*I'm using Kalos episodes for examples because those are the ones I can remember.



I think "Bait-and-Switch" is applicable when they deliberately mislead the fans with misguided information with the intention to create hype. Fans coming to hasty conclusions like Dawn and Brock coming back based on little to no information and deciding among themselves what will happen might not exactly be bait-and-switch because the anime hasn't released any (misguided) information (yet). That picture alone does not say anything about Dawn and Brock, just that a Piplup, Croagunk, and a Mantyke will appear.

 

[SammyW27]

I can only think of Misty and Brock in SM, and they certainly had a reason to come back (first the anniversary, then LGPE promotion as well as making them more familiar in time for the movie remake). Charizard is just Charizard... They needed it and arguably Dragonite seeing as most of the Unova Pokemon weren't that popular.

^ahem^

-The scattered, sporadic appearances by Professor Oak, Gary, and Delia over the years
-Ditto Giovanni and Butch & Cassidy
-Ia, Suzy, Todd/Snap and Ritchie (and I think a couple of others) in Johto
-Misty, Lance, Brock's family, and Misty's sisters in AG
-The Magikarp Salesman popping up at least once in every saga until XY
-Brandon, Kris, Jasmine, Solana, May, Jessiebelle & James' family, and to a lesser extent Max & May's rivals in DP (I feel like I'm forgetting some )
-Cynthia, Dawn, and Clair in BW

And, of course, old characters popping up in Ash Free Specials.

You NEVER know when an old character will reappear. So I'm giving PM equal parts benefit of the doubt AND not getting hopes too high.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Eh.


As much as I love me some Dawn, something tells me she and Brock aren't gonna appear anyway (images or footage of the episode would help to confirm this). Maybe a slight mention in Dawn's case but no physical appearance of any kind. But hey, maybe somewhere down the line they'll get a chance (just like all the other companions).

unless the writing staff just ignore them, even Kukui which would break my teeny weeny little heart

 

[Silktree]

^ahem^

-The scattered, sporadic appearances by Professor Oak, Gary, and Delia over the years
-Ditto Giovanni and Butch & Cassidy
-Ia, Suzy, Todd/Snap and Ritchie (and I think a couple of others) in Johto
-Misty, Lance, Brock's family, and Misty's sisters in AG
-The Magikarp Salesman popping up at least once in every saga until XY
-Brandon, Kris, Jasmine, Solana, May, Jessiebelle & James' family, and to a lesser extent Max & May's rivals in DP (I feel like I'm forgetting some )
-Cynthia, Dawn, and Clair in BW

And, of course, old characters popping up in Ash Free Specials.

You NEVER know when an old character will reappear. So I'm giving PM equal parts benefit of the doubt AND not getting hopes too high.

With the exception of Clair (who was supposed to be Drayden's friendly substitute) and James' family/fiancée, all of these are instances of a character appearing in two or more series consecutively. You initially said after a "long time", which to me means after being absent for at least a generation. Even Marina weirdly got a non-speaking cameo in Movie 9, so she didn't come out of nowhere in early DP.

 

[Konja7]

If either Pokemon appeared on their own in their own episode, I could buy that it was just due to popularity. This obviously is not a coincidence though. Croagunk isn't even that popular compared to a lot of Sinnoh Pokemon, and most of the popularity it has comes from its appearance on the show in the first place. The writers know exactly what they're doing, this can't be written off as anything other than an intentional bait. That said, I think it's too early to cite a lack of info as proof that Dawn won't appear. We only found out yesterday that Team Rocket will appear in episode three, and this episode won't air until January. We also can't ignore the Piplup/Crogunk appearances we've seen in both promo posters. Random, one-time Pokemon-of-the-Day wouldn't be promoted so heavily. For comparison, we haven't seen any Ivysaur in any promotional material.

I guess it's possible that all of this has been a giant bait-and-switch since day one, and if that's the case TPC is far more devious than I ever gave them credit for. But just from what we've seen so far, I get the impression that they are genuinely passionate about this series and are trying to make it into something special. A mean spirited stunt like this would absolutely destroy any good will they've generated.

It isn't a coincidence, but I doubt it is a mean spirited stunt either.

Piplup and Crogunk appearance is extremely likely a reference to Sinnoh season (in the first travel to Sinnoh). However, this doesn't mean they will bring back Dawn or Brock for this episode.

It is because they are passionate that they will do these references.


It is the fans who see these images and conclude that Dawn and Brock will return. If this does not happen, they conclude that the writers want to create a mean bite.

 

[BigDocFan]

I would love to see Dawn and Brock return but something tells me that they're just baiting us with the images, wanting us to think it means Dawn and Brock will return

Would be nice but I won't get my hopes up