Review JN016: Cursed Satoshi...!

[Islander Princess]

What an absolutely classic Ash episode. Gou thinks he's cursed, Ash insists he's not. Bad stuff keeps happening to him, he gets frustrated and assumes running will take care of everything! And it does, until he freaking passes out. Turns out he's had a fever the whole time. He's an absolute mess and this is why he's my favorite!

But it was also a classic Ash episode in the way he approached the situation with Gengar. I really liked the way he handled things with Gengar's old trainer (who is a giant jerk and kind of deserved what he got from Gengar if we're being honest...) and then the way he handled things with Gengar itself. "You don't have to trust me right away, but I trust you" was an amazing line. I'm pretty happy Ash caught Gengar! I think both of his captures so far have had very nice episodes, and both have awesome, very distinct personalities. For his first ghost type, I think Gengar is great!

Team Rocket was fun here, I think they added to the episode. The double Dusclops thing was pretty cool, even though the gatcha machine itself is still a terrible device that I don't like. Also, their Rotom Phone is still my favorite thing. "Ya got a problem with Sakaki?" had me howling. I would trade every single appearance of Gou's phone for one of Team Rocket's.

Also, since I've ripped on them quite a bit, this was a great episode for Professor Sakuragi and his assistants. Sakuragi is straight up chaotic for buying a haunted building because he thought it would be fun, and I love it. Also, Renji screaming during basically that entire scene was incredible. See, the assistants can actually be fun when they're not just standing around like they're part of the background!

 

[BugCatcherinVF]

One thing I didn't like is how they made Dande Satoshi's mew. I don't like that his battling goal is defeating another specific person, rather than winning the tournament.

 

[Ashpower]

One thing I didn't like is how they made Dande Satoshi's mew. I don't like that his battling goal is defeating another specific person, rather than winning the tournament.

you know he still doing the tournament, he first need the ranking before doing the big tournament and he is setting why he wants to do the tournament

 

[VetProf]

One thing I didn't like is how they made Dande Satoshi's mew. I don't like that his battling goal is defeating another specific person, rather than winning the tournament.

That's technically the same thing, isn't it? Ash wants to battle and defeat Leon because he currently holds the title of "strongest trainer in the world" after winning the finals match against Lance, and the only way Ash can beat Leon in an official match is by participating in the World Championships. It's safe to say that Ash will most likely face off against Leon again in the finals, so Ash beating Leon and Ash winning the Championships is kinda synonymous with each other.

Plus, even if Ash (or someone else) beats Leon before reaching the finals, he'll still try his best to go as far as possible into the tournament. While Leon is the main reason he participated in the World Championships to begin with, it's pretty obvious that Ash wants to try and win the entire thing as well. He won't just suddenly drop out of the tournament and call it a day the immediate second he beats Leon (assuming their battle isn't in the finals).

 

[nickdt]

I just realized: Darmanitan and Golurk are supposed to be the Guardians of the lab, but where were they.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I just realized: Darmanitan and Golurk are supposed to be the Guardians of the lab, but where were they.

At the park area.

 

[Panky..]

Seems like it’s a pattern for me to re-watch on Thursdays. Either that or I've gotten lazier.

Pros:

• Despite Gengar's backstory template being somewhat generic and overused in the anime (especially similar to Charmander/Charizard), there were just enough unique twists and turns to it to keep it interesting. Imagine being loyal to a pathetic excuse of a trainer so as to wait for 3 long years after being abandoned for being "bad luck", all by itself and nothing to keep it company, scaring anyone who tried to enter the property away in hopes that it's trainer would eventually return. Of course, Gengar would eventually break down and attack the said trainer after learning the truth from him, who's appearance and run in with Ash felt a bit too convenient after 3 years for my liking but what the hell. Nice little touch up with Gengar being annoyed and jealous when Ash threw himself in front of Pikachu to protect him, showing it's own desire of wanting a caring trainer. Speaking of the "bad luck" earlier, seems like it was nothing more than a fever that Ash was running (or being a poor trainer in case of Gengar's former trainer). Although some of the gags were funny, the ones where he gets run over by multiple Pokemon wasn't and ties back to my issues with this series having Ash get attacked for no reason (you'd think a couple of Pokemon with their eyes open would come to an immediate stop or be concerned after inadvertently running over someone/something?). All in all, Ash finally gets his first Ghost type after being baited out of one 22 years ago, and in a manner similar to Froakie (nice little Easter egg with the Charmander T-shirt).

Cons:

• Horrible animation and very choppy framerates made this episode somewhat irritating and painful to watch (yes, framerates do matter especially when your eyes are used to smooth 60+ fps whether in gaming or just animation works in general). Too much overuse of stock backgrounds, action lines, still frame or poorly executed moves etc. Anyone else hates it when TRio are only included in any episode only for them to get beaten up to move the plot along? Where was Chewtle or any mention of it? The lootbox Pokemon didn't even create any unique scenario this time, them shoving in two Dusclops felt lazy and those two didn't exactly do anything special. Instead of TRio, the same scenario with Ash battling alongside and bonding with Gengar could have taken place against the latter's former trainer instead of turning TRio into fall guys. Vermillion City's locales feel very generic which ties into one of my earlier complaints about the world-building being bad, in a series supposedly about "all regions".

Additional thoughts:

• Can you imagine Ash colliding into someone who's twice his age which ends up with that person being completely floored while Ash himself remains on his feet just clutching his head? Ash must be carrying out some serious workout regimen in his free time. Which is very much probable when you take out the joke angle, because . We have seen him do push-ups and stuff alongside Pokemon in the past.
• Poor Renji becomes the butt of jokes again when it comes to horror elements, poor guy got absolutely no help from anyone at the lab, only ending up even more frightened thanks to Sakuragi and Gou. Still, it’s always good when the side cast gets some screen time and development. I am curious as to why Sakuragi was so casual about the institute property being ‘haunted’ and the havoc Gengar was causing, you thought he'd at least look into the issue much less help or contact the Pokemon instead of being so indifferent and nonchalant. And he thinks it would all be "fun"? Sheesh, his character is quite boring.

Verdict: Pretty straightforward and small review because there wasn't much to say. Despite its cliche plotline and classic Pokemon formula, it’s still a decent episode that I felt was worth 7/10.

 

[Daren]

Although some of the gags were funny, the ones where he gets run over by multiple Pokemon wasn't and ties back to my issues with this series having Ash get attacked for no reason (you'd think a couple of Pokemon with their eyes open would come to an immediate stop or be concerned after inadvertently running over someone/something?

It's a bit hard to tell because it goes pretty fast, but Dragonite and Darmation are looking back while they run (so they can't see Ash--Dragonite's eyes may even be closed looking at it), and Stantler and Parasect may not be able to see past the two big guys.
You'd expect them to notice they ran someone over but cartoon logic.
(It feels like they dialed Ash getting attacked back a bit later? He's usually been a bit of butt monkey, even in DP)
Edit: Related coincidence, I just noticed a reply to the official Japanese twitter (a pic of Ash with the apples from Gengar at the end) talking about how they're glad Scorbunny isn't randomly kicking him anymore.

Can you imagine Ash colliding into someone who's twice his age which ends up with that person being completely floored while Ash himself remains on his feet just clutching his head? Ash must be carrying out some serious workout regimen in his free time. Which is very much probable when you take out the joke angle, because . We have seen him do push-ups and stuff alongside Pokemon in the past.

I don't think I caught the episode itself but there's a GIF of Ash fighting Hawlucha and wrecking it.
He also did pretty well in a fist fight with Lucario in movie 8, even seeming to hurt the Steel-type with his fists.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

My guess is Ash caught fever because Gengar absorbed heat around him while in his shadow and cooled him down.

 

[BigDocFan]

I just realized: Darmanitan and Golurk are supposed to be the Guardians of the lab, but where were they.

Darmanitan featured briefly in the stampede that ran over Ash

 

[Johtohfiller]

Satoshi is catching a lot of fully evolved Pokémon very early in the series. If they are already fully evolved will there be any room for development? I hope they won't overuse the disobedience plot too much like they did with Iris' fully evolved Pokémon.

Does this mean that he is going rotate his team and catch more than six Pokémon like he did in Unova? Because eventually he has to catch some new Galarian Pokémon, right???

I hope so. Ash not catching any Galar mons would be ridiculous. Very much hoping they don't go Kanto-only with him.

Horrible animation and very choppy framerates made this episode somewhat irritating and painful to watch (yes, framerates do matter especially when your eyes are used to smooth 60+ fps whether in gaming or just animation works in general). Too much overuse of stock backgrounds, action lines, still frame or poorly executed moves etc. Anyone else hates it when TRio are only included in any episode only for them to get beaten up to move the plot along? Where was Chewtle or any mention of it? The lootbox Pokemon didn't even create any unique scenario this time, them shoving in two Dusclops felt lazy and those two didn't exactly do anything special.

Can you imagine Ash colliding into someone who's twice his age which ends up with that person being completely floored while Ash himself remains on his feet just clutching his head? Ash must be carrying out some serious workout regimen in his free time. Which is very much probable when you take out the joke angle, because . We have seen him do push-ups and stuff alongside Pokemon in the past.

Other than Bellsprout vs. Dreadnaw it seems like they aren't giving Rocket fights much budget.

I figured Ash knocking over the other guy was due to Gengar being "attached" to him at the moment.

 

[GrookeyFan77]

This Episode Was Good
The Gengar Ash Curse Was Pretty Punny (Pun Not Intended)
Gengar Starting To Trust Ash And Defeating Team Rocket (Gengar is the New Pikachu. Gengar got 1 Shotted A Yamper Who Never Battled then Won Against 2 Dusclops 1 vs 2)
Team Rocket Was Useless This Ep
9/10