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

[Beatsy Ray]

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.

I disagree. You don't need words to imply something. If the writers decided to cut Team Rocket out of the show (without telling anyone), but still featured a random Meowth and Wobbuffet hanging out on one of the posters, 100% of fans would assume that Team Rocket were still in the series. I agree that just Piplup or just Croagunk wouldn't mean much alone, but these two have never existed as a pair outside of DP, and anyone who has watched that series is going to immediately understand the reference.

I think you hit the nail on the head though. If they wanted to do a bait-and-switch without facing any consequences, they can just play the "We never explicitly stating that" card. Just don't think for a second that they're not fully aware of what they're doing.

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.

I certainly agree with this. But the same demographic that's going to get the reference is the same one that wants the characters to come back. It doesn't make much sense to me to only go halfway, and with the recent and beloved Brock and Misty returns, a precedent has been set and it's understandable if there's an expectation in the air. If they're waving Piplup and Croagunk in our faces to lure in people who want to see Dawn and Brock, why not just go all the way rather than making people feel cheated?

 

[Almonds]

If they're waving Piplup and Croagunk in our faces to lure in people who want to see Dawn and Brock, why not just go all the way rather than making people feel cheated?

Maybe they never really intended people to feel cheated? Maybe its the fans that rush to conclusions and then demand that the anime cheated them when they haven't said anything? If it's an actual title or a clearly misleading preview clip, then sure the fans would feel cheated. And again, some Kalos episodes DID result in fans actually filing complaints about the episode and the anime staff explaining what they had in mind for the particular episode, or dropping hints that they intended a different episode but couldn't make it for some reason.

But if fans decide to believe speculative rumors and say they've been cheated when the episode doesn't meet their expectations, then I don't know what to say :/

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Maybe they never really intended people to feel cheated? Maybe its the fans that rush to conclusions and then demand that the anime cheated them when they haven't said anything? If it's an actual title or a clearly misleading preview clip, then sure the fans would feel cheated. And again, some Kalos episodes DID result in fans actually filing complaints about the episode and the anime staff explaining what they had in mind for the particular episode, or dropping hints that they intended a different episode but couldn't make it for some reason.

But this is different.
We only have one picture. One twitter post.

The Picture/twitter post, the reveal poster, and the series poster. That's quite a lot for just a single filler episode.

You're giving them too much credit. If they got complaints in back in XY, it makes sense that now they would turn to a more indirect, but equally implicative method of click bait.

 

[nickdt]

Maybe they never really intended people to feel cheated? Maybe its the fans that rush to conclusions and then demand that the anime cheated them when they haven't said anything? If it's an actual title or a clearly misleading preview clip, then sure the fans would feel cheated. And again, some Kalos episodes DID result in fans actually filing complaints about the episode and the anime staff explaining what they had in mind for the particular episode, or dropping hints that they intended a different episode but couldn't make it for some reason.

But if fans decide to believe speculative rumors and say they've been cheated when the episode doesn't meet their expectations, then I don't know what to say :/

Maybe the intention isn't there to make the people feel cheated, but people will feel so regardless, since both Piplup and Croagunk appear at the same time. If they appear in separate episodes, people won't feel cheated at all.

 

[Panky..]

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 :/

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.

Maybe they never really intended people to feel cheated? Maybe its the fans that rush to conclusions and then demand that the anime cheated them when they haven't said anything? If it's an actual title or a clearly misleading preview clip, then sure the fans would feel cheated. And again, some Kalos episodes DID result in fans actually filing complaints about the episode and the anime staff explaining what they had in mind for the particular episode, or dropping hints that they intended a different episode but couldn't make it for some reason.

But if fans decide to believe speculative rumors and say they've been cheated when the episode doesn't meet their expectations, then I don't know what to say :/

Back then, they used entire segments that were carefully edited to make it seem like one thing was going to happen but then the audience got baited. This time, they've avoided doing much at all and just released a poster with cleverly chosen and placed characters (in this case, it's both Piplup and Croagunk)

The intention of advertising is the same, the only thing that changed is the method. The intent is to generate hype and let fan speculation run wild to get more people to watch the episode, though unlike with XY where too much was shown, in this case they think they can escape using the excuse that they haven't revealed anything and everything was fan speculation... essentially trying to wash their hands off any guilt when they're the ones responsible for it.

Although this might be excusable once or twice, if they keep doing it as the show goes then it'll only avalanche into their faces because at that point that method will be blatantly obvious, especially if they keep using characters/Pokemon familiar to older fans and then bait them out. XY finals and the Hau battle backlash proved that they are affected by negative outcries and try to rectify them. Not to mention that they'll be destroying their fans' faith in them for pulling such moves in the first place.

 

[Daenerys]

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.

This. People can't really make a sound argument about getting trolled once this episode airs and Dawn and Brock don't appear since nothing so far teased at them showing up anyway. Having a Piplup and a Croagunk show up isn't a hint imo, and as for why they're appearing here to begin with, it probably has to do with the fact that they're arguably among the most popular species of Gen 4 Pokemon in the franchise.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

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!"

"Pikachu is Born" was a legitimate, heartfelt episode with human stuff too. Calling it a disguised Pikachu short is insulting. If any recent episode deserves to be called that, it has to be "Pikachu's Exciting Adventure".

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

"Pikachu is Born" was a legitimate, heartfelt episode with human stuff too. Calling it a disguised Pikachu short is insulting. If any recent episode deserves to be called that, it has to be "Pikachu's Exciting Adventure".

Well, it had human stuff, and it was a nice storyline, but I called it a disguised Pikachu short because there was literally nothing specific to Ash's Pikachu in the episode- we were just told that by the promotion. If the episode was shown without context then many people would assume that it’s a random Pichu till around the halfway mark or something. That’s what I found disappointing after they hyped Ash's Pikachu's backstory, and very explicitly did so to generate buzz for the new series.

The episode was nice independently, but as "The Backstory of Pikachu" (which it was marketed as so people would flock to the new series), it really wasn’t- that was the point I wanted to make, if it wasn’t properly conveyed since it was a tangential part in the post you quoted and I really didn’t feel like in-depth analysis at the time.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

very explicitly did so to generate buzz for the new series

Yeah, kinda backfired on that because I didn't see one single peep about the episode from non Pokemon sites, not even from news sites unlike with the whole Ash League thing.

 

[Silktree]

There was this.

 

[Panky..]

There was this.

That same article states "reboot". I thought I had already made it clear to not trust random articles (especially not from ScreenRant or ComicBook given their poor accuracy and clickbaits).

 

[RustyTrubbish]

Yeah, weren't Brock and Misty hyped up like the week or two before they appeared again?

I dunno about the first time they came back in SM, but their second return was spoiled several months ahead of time by the main site iirc.

The summary makes it sound like the Piplup is a random one anyway so I don't think it's meant to be Dawn's unless she lost it and suddenly isn't important enough to get mentioned in the same summary.

 

[Silktree]

That same article states "reboot". I thought I had already made it clear to not trust random articles (especially not from ScreenRant or ComicBook given their poor accuracy and clickbaits).

Who died and appointed you chief? I was just making a point that someone did care about Pikachu's backstory. Yeesh.

 

[Silktree]

Way to miss the point again. I was just telling RetroPokeFan that yes, there was a peep about the backstory episode; otakus weren't the only people who talked about it (which is not to say that there was a lot of talk). No one but you cares about the author's intention or why he mentioned a reboot.

This is hardly important, so I won't reply to further quibbles.

 

[DynamicFusion]

So if this isn't Dawn/Brock's Pokemon then in Kalos there is going to be a greninja that isn't Ash's but acts like it lmao

Wow, I saw a lot of activity coming from this thread but didn't click on it since I thought it was the usual meaningless arguments but looks like I was right. And yeah the translation is accurate, that person does live-tweeting every Sunday for the Anime and is Japanese. Can't wait for a lost axew in Unova. In all seriousness, this series seems like an extended version of the First Year of Sun & Moon to me.

 

[BigDocFan]

Really looking forward to seeing parts of Sinnoh again, with Episode 7 featuring a battle tournament and this episode featuring an drift ice race, I'm really excited to see the events

 

[Silktree]

The tweeted summary was indeed real. Here's Dephender's version:

Satoshi and Go have met a disheartened and worn-out Pochama in Kuchiba's port. It appears this Pochama comes from the Sinnoh region and has gotten lost, so they decide to take it back home.

This should be another lesson that a Pokemon being promoted doesn't mean that that it's the same individual we know. If it isn't announced right away, don't expect it.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

I wonder how they're planning to travel Sinnoh. Plane again?

 

[BigDocFan]

I wonder how they're planning to travel Sinnoh. Plane again?

Boat is a possibility as Ash originally travelled to and from Sinnoh by boat

Seems unlikely this Piplup is Dawn's as I'm sure Piplup would have recognized them

Still no crew revealed for this episode yet, wonder how long until we find out

 

[nickdt]

Still no crew revealed for this episode yet, wonder how long until we find out

Prolly not until January second.