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Review JN019: I Am Metamon!

It felt so good to find the individuality and intact personalities of Musashi and Kojiro. This episode was an absolute good surprise. Thanks from the bottom of my heart to Megumi Hayashibara, I hope that now that they have been repaired here, their characters will continue to be so good written in this series
 
(...also, on an unrelated note, I'm afraid of what the Rocket fandom is going to do when the Kojirou feet thing gets translated in the fansubs tomorrow...)

Did Kojirou say he sniffed his socks to ease his anxiety? (that's what i thought i understood XD)
 
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Most interesting part of this episode was the Rattata capture...

What?

(...also, on an unrelated note, I'm afraid of what the Rocket fandom is going to do when the Kojirou feet thing gets translated in the fansubs tomorrow...)

What?

Did Kojirou say he sniffed his socks to ease his anxiety? (that's what i thought i understood XD)

WHAAT?

DAMN IT WRITTERS WHEN YOU SAID WE WILL KNEW ASPECTS OF TEAM ROCKET NEVER SHOWN BEFORE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT
 
Most interesting part of this episode was the Rattata capture...
Which didn't need to happen. Yet another completely pointless and unnecessary capture for Gou. I just can't root for him. He easily catches anything without battling them and 99% of the time his captures are pointlees captures that will never be used and show no personality.
 
(This is a little late and directed more towards the first page of this thread. Also I apologize if this interpretation ends up being completely wrong once the subs are released for this ep)
... I’m sorry, did we watch the same episode? I understand not everyone likes the Rockets or are tired of Ditto episodes having a similar basis/them repeating the “Ditto can’t change right” plot and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion but seeing people write this off as a lame filler rip off of Duplica’s first episode because they didn’t catch Ditto is mind boggling to me. Like the only similarity the episodes have is that a Ditto is having a hard time transforming and Team Rocket help it do so. Yes, that’s the majority of the plot but the way it’s executed has way more similarities with Ignorance is Blissey than it does with “Ditto’s Mysterious Mansion”.

Maybe it’s because I had severe doubts going into this that TRio would catch the Ditto (the fact that the summaries said outright that Satoshi and Gou would be searching for it made me think they wouldn't) but it didn’t bother me that they didn’t catch the Ditto. Instead they decided to put its dream over their own desires which I found to be a much sweeter ending (especially as I was worried they’d pull a “Three Jynx and a Baby” where Team Rocket would bond with it but they’d pull a “but they’re the bad guys” card and the twerps wouldn't allow them to have it even if it's clearly happy to be with them), again like how they helped out Blissey by making it look like they manipulated her into giving them all the food and allowing themselves to be blasted off for their 'crime'. They even had an opportunity to steal many Pokemon with that disappearing act they did but when they saw Ditto was still having trouble, they GAVE the Pokemon back and took Ditto aside to motivate it. Like that's just ;-;

It's always a treat getting to see Musashi's softer side and this episode... holy sh*t this episode!!! This entire episode is just Musashi dedicated to helping this completely random Ditto, not because she has any history with it (like with Blissey or how rescuing the Ekans was important to Arbok so it was important to her) but simply because they're both actresses and actresses stick together. She is constantly doing everything she can to help it and keep it's spirits up and I love it. :-; And of course, Kojiro, Nyasu, and Sonansu are happy to help her out which is very nice.

Have I talked about the Ignorance is Blissey parallels yet because there's definitely parallels! We have;
- A clumsy but well meaning and determined Pokemon that keeps messing up things she should be doing well at because of its species and society's expectations of said species
- Musashi going out of her way to assist another with her dream and forming a strong bond with them
- The Pokemon making a mistake that could very well end up getting fired, thus killing their dream
- TRio going out of their way to stand up for the Pokemon by putting on an act to get it out of trouble and are subsequently blasted off
- Musashi and the Pokemon going their separate ways in the end but Musashi is happy to have helped it and believes in it to become the best at their dream that the Pokemon can be and the Pokemon going back to it's job with newfound wisdom/skill while thinking fondly of the one/ones who helped them, both having the knowledge that despite their different paths, their friendship remains in their hearts.
- We even have a shot of the Pokemon looking into the distance thinking proudly about their friend/friends

I'm not sure if they were intentional but they're there and I'm so emotional over that! ;-; ;-; ;-;

Maybe I'm reaching here, this is definitely something I'm going to need to wait for subs on, but is it me or did this episode have a bit of a dark subtext that some of the past TR episodes such as, again, Ignorance is Blissey and Go West Young Meowth had? It's not in your face and obvious about it as, say, Nyasu being emotionally and physically abused on screen for most of Go West Young Meowth and since it's Ditto it's failures are depicted much more comedicly but the way the world around the main five reacts to Ditto is really... Like most of the time when Ditto is having trouble transforming in the anime, it's treated either as a gag or as a nuisance. Like in the Duplica episode, while it's definitely a problem for their performances, you know Duplica would never drop Ditto on the side of the road because it can't get it's face right. Here, the Ditto's in danger of being tossed out on it's a$$ if it doesn't act right. The director is portrayed as an awful person that poor Ditto's terrified of but he never gets any form of comeuppance or retribution, he's treated as "yeah, this guy sucks and he can throw you out onto the street but that's part of life unfortunately", a lot like how, say, Musashi's nursing teacher (that flunked her because she succumbed to Sing) or the mindset that because Blissey was friends with Musashi means Blissey could be banned from ever being a nurse again were portrayed as. This is something that's gone away as the show progressed, especially in recent sagas where TRio were more stable (especially SM), but there used to be a theme in episodes about the TRio's lives that "yeah this a world where you can fight a fire breathing dragon with your electric mouse but it's also a world where society can be cruel, messed up, and will stomp on you and your dreams but we can make it through with determination and good friends by our side" that was especially prevalent in OS. It's not something that I was expecting to be in this episode but as someone who liked that element, I'm glad it was here, it made the episode a lot more enjoyable for me.

Also can I just say I liked how Satoshi was used in this episode? The twerp scenes weren't there to pad out the runtime like they were in SM 38 and they weren't treating it as a "Oh Team Rocket have the Ditto, they must be trying to capture it for evil reasons", they were led to believe TRio were using Ditto to steal other Pokemon AND SATOSHI ISN'T BEING A COMPLETE BRAT ABOUT IT (that is my one problem with Ignorance is Blissey, I don't know if this is just in the dub version but I really dislike how Ash is sooooo pissy in the second act ONLY because TR "took" all the food and not because Blissey is being bashed left and right). Heck, TRio even try to get him into the act in one of my favorite parts of the episode (*wink wink*). I like to think he eventually got the hint (due to the fact he started acting extra afterwards) but I'll have to wait until subs to know for sure. He even saw through Ditto's Pikachu transformation even before it started going wonky, that's something he's had trouble with even in DP! It was also nice seeing Raboot acting on it's own and seeing through TRio's disappearance trap. Bonus points for Sonansu getting some action too (countering Raboot's Ember)

My only issue with the episode is that it did feel slow and repetitive at certain points in which I can definitely see why people didn't like this ep. I just feel like the things that were good about it were so good that I'm sad people are overlooking them because this episode's filler or because it's another Ditto can't transform right episode. If this is what the first TRio episode of this new series is like (especially involving Musashi, Musa-most likely to be written OOC-shi), I am GREATLY looking forward to future TR eps. I'm officially fully invested in the new series now and I was afraid that wouldn't happen! Keep it up, writers!
 
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Much as I dislike Team Rocket for mostly being there to waste time, their plan to use Ditto whilst posing as Street Magician's wasn't a bad idea

At least unlike some previous schemes, James realized they had to return the Pokemon instead of running away
 
This episode once again proved TRio are THE best characters in the series.

In an average episode where they would most likely take the opportunity to just run away with Ditto on site once they first saw it, you instead get to see a brief but small segment that shows their interest towards the Ditto and just having regular SOL moments by watching the act (Lol'd at Meowth falling for the Gardevoir again) which also sets up the main conflict of the story where Ditto escapes the director. Everything from the humor of the episode to the coaching moments with Jessie and Ditto were great, and for the very first TRio focused episode it set a good bar.

In terms of characterization, TRio were at their peak and a lot of their interactions with the Ditto throughout the episode always felt genuine and helping it transform not just for their own use but for Ditto's pride too made them feel so much more real and it makes me wonder why so much of this energy was missing earlier in the series. Even Ash who got only a few snippets of screentime was handled really well in this episode, only showed up to move the plot along, had fun interactions with TR that have been practically nonexistent since DP, and the tiny things like being able to recognize his Pikachu from Ditto helped him feel two-dimensional instead of the standard cardboard box personality role he usually plays in these types of episodes.

The main issues I have with this episode is the lack of action and overall just being really uneventful and in the end it was just an average standard Ditto filler. Before the climax of the episode besides TRio just prepping Ditto nothing really happens, but the amount of TRio fanservice they delivered on helped make me appreciate a lot of the episode's strengths which was the heart behind it and it reminded me a lot about Ignorance is Blissey. It's disappointing they still have yet to get a single true capture in this series, but at the very least this episode set a good standard of how well TRio are written in the series and I hope that they can stay as charming in the future ones.


OVERALL SCORE: 7.5/10
 
Maybe I'm reaching here, this is definitely something I'm going to need to wait for subs on, but is it me or did this episode have a bit of a dark subtext that some of the past TR episodes such as, again, Ignorance is Blissey and Go West Young Meowth had? It's not in your face and obvious about it as, say, Nyasu being emotionally and physically abused on screen for most of Go West Young Meowth and since it's Ditto it's failures are depicted much more comedicly but the way the world around the main five reacts to Ditto is really... Like most of the time when Ditto is having trouble transforming in the anime, it's treated either as a gag or as a nuisance. Like in the Duplica episode, while it's definitely a problem for their performances, you know Duplica would never drop Ditto on the side of the road because it can't get it's face right. Here, the Ditto's in danger of being tossed out on it's a$$ if it doesn't act right. The director is portrayed as an awful person that poor Ditto's terrified of but he never gets any form of comeuppance or retribution, he's treated as "yeah, this guy sucks and he can throw you out onto the street but that's part of life unfortunately", a lot like how, say, Musashi's nursing teacher (that flunked her because she succumbed to Sing) or the mindset that because Blissey was friends with Musashi means Blissey could be banned from ever being a nurse again were portrayed as. This is something that's gone away as the show progressed, especially in recent sagas where TRio were more stable (especially SM), but there used to be a theme in episodes about the TRio's lives that "yeah this a world where you can fight a fire breathing dragon with your electric mouse but it's also a world where society can be cruel, messed up, and will stomp on you and your dreams but we can make it through with determination and good friends by our side" that was especially prevalent in OS. It's not something that I was expecting to be in this episode but as someone who liked that element, I'm glad it was here, it made the episode a lot more enjoyable for me.

The sub definitely covey a different perspective.

The Director is described in a relatively positive light. It is mentioned that he is demanding with Ditto, but this is because he has faith in this (who could transform very well in the past).
 
Thankfully Go catching a Rattata saves this episode from being a filler because it doesn't deserve to be called one, it was a great episode for Team Rocket imo, many bits made me laugh specially the James & his socks *shrughs* and Jessie calling Ash dense lol.
 
The bit at the end where the Rocket trio is trying to get Satoshi to attack them with a Thunderbolt attack was pure gold.

Kojirou: "If you wanna defeat us then I guess you have no choice but to hit us with a 10,000 Volt attack."
Musashi: "That's right. Gotta hit us with a big CRASH, you see. Tee-hee *wink*
Satoshi: "Huh?"
Musashi: "Tee-hee" *wink*
Satoshi: (no reaction)
Musashi: "BIG CRASH! WE'RE TELLING YOU TO HIT US WITH A THUNDERBOLT! CAN'T YOU TAKE A HINT!? "


(...also, on an unrelated note, I'm afraid of what the Rocket fandom is going to do when the Kojirou feet thing gets translated in the fansubs tomorrow...)

Wait, did James say ichiman (10,000) or juman (100,000) on his first line? I guess James just doesn't want to get hit with too hard of an attack if it's the first option :ROFLMAO:
 
While I enjoyed watching TR helping Ditto for most of this episode, the climax/conclusion felt a bit... anticlimactic. I was expecting a grander, more intricate plan from TR that somehow involved Ditto actually transforming, but instead, they just spent several minutes pretending to be evil kidnappers and subtly begging for Pikachu to electrocute them and blast them off, while Ditto just... watches. Huh.

Don't get me wrong, watching Ash be a dense idiot was kinda funny, but still, I really expected TR's plan to involve Ditto demonstrating that it is capable of perfect transformations considering that that's the main issue of the episode to begin with. For example, the trio could've continued with the "evil kidnappers" gig, but then Ditto transforms into a Tyranitar or something, breaks out of the glass cage, and then "scares" the Rocket Trio away, showing that it now has the confidence to be able to perfectly transform into other Pokemon. But nope, Ditto just helplessly watches from the sidelines while the people who spent the entire day helping it get blasted off by Pikachu. Yay.
 
One detail I actually noticed when I first watched the episode but forgot to mention until now: when Team Rocket blasts off, they almost say "ii kanji", but correct themselves and say "yana kanji" instead to keep up the act.

Shudo would be proud to see his favorite characters being treated this way.
 
The sub definitely covey a different perspective.

The Director is described in a relatively positive light. It is mentioned that he is demanding with Ditto, but this is because he has faith in this (who could transform very well in the past).
Yeah, I had a feeling that perspective would end up being a reach...

After watching the subs, yeah can we talk about the director because I feel like he really got muddied with translation.
When watching the raw, I got the impression that Ditto was either on the verge of losing its job or did but had one last shot. At first the subs seemed to imply that was the case;
Screenshot 2020-03-30 at 8.57.51 AM.png

7E36890C-055E-4002-982C-EEB251CD4F0C.jpeg
When the manager’s talking with Satoshi and Gou after Ditto has escaped, maybe I’m still trying to see things that aren’t there, but to me the scene came off a lot like the manager was defending the director and reflecting the blame off of him with lines like “oh, he’s only so strict because he’s taken (it) under his wing” and “(he’s) the one who decided to hire a no-name Metamon in the first place”.

But then when the manager finally encounters Ditto again, it’s suddenly “He said only you can play the part. If you’re not there, we won’t get anywhere.”
Where did that mentality come from?

And all these lines about how the director supposedly “cares” about Ditto, they always come from the manager. We never see any brief shots of regret about what he said to Ditto, we don’t see him searching for it with the manager (and as a result he never affirms what she’s saying), we never get to see him display any concern for it’s wellbeing or that it was “kidnapped”, there’s no him seeing Ditto return to the studio and going “Ditto, thank goodness you’re safe/you’re back, great” or anything along those lines. When we see him again at the end of the episode, he’s still being the same douche we see at the beginning that Ditto is afraid of. He doesn’t seem to care about Ditto at all beyond what it can do for him.
That makes the sudden “only you can play the part” just... for me. He goes from Musashi’s nursing teacher level of a$$hole (Oh, so you fell asleep because you were exposed to an attack that puts people to sleep. Well that mistake cost your medical career!) to Kojiro’s parents level a$$hole (we’re going to emotionally and mentally scar you because you’re not good enough for our standards but we still need you so we’re just going to do what we can to manipulate and mold you into what we want) which gives me mixed feelings about Ditto returning to him in the end. On the one hand, having context that Ditto has a bright future ahead of it as an actress makes TRio giving up their new partner for its dream much sweeter but at the same time, I don’t want the Ditto to be under this director and I hope it gets out from under him. :eek::confused:

(Sorry about the rambling. I’m probably overthinking this.)
 
To be honest , I didn't expect too much from the epsiode when I first saw the preview last week. I expected a typical filler. And now that I've seen it, I must say it was a filler indeed, but a really entertaining and great one for sure!

Let me foucs on the most remarkable scenes in my eyes:
Team Rocket trying to be good guys this time (at least when they weren't about to steal other people's Pokemon) was a welcome change. You could see how mch effort and passion they were trying to put into Ditto's training and that was quite motivating and nice to watch. Look at you,TRio, not ony Ditto can do it, you could also do it if you wanted to!
Then we had the most irritating and, at the same time, funniest moment when James confessed he would sniff at his socks whenever he's nervous. What the...?!?! o_O:LOL: I wonder how they'll translate it for the international versions of the show.
Then again TRio showed they do in fact have a big and compassionate heart when they had Ash attack them just in order for Ditto to go back to its people. If there hadn't been those two unnecessary "steal other poeple's Pokemon"-scenes, you could have thought TRio had become the good guys once and for all.
And as for my personal highlight: Go catching a ...Rattata :eek: What an incredible achievement! ;)

All in all, an entertaining, mature and partly even an emotional episode!
 
The problem is that we will not have a good rocket episode untill they get a Pokemon of their own or atleast the episode is centered in a Jessie James or Meowth, not a Pokemon of another person.
This episode and the Growlie and Blissey ones from 20+ years ago prove that Team Rocket are at their best when they help Pokemon that aren't meant to lose to Ash time after time.
 
Please note: The thread is from 3 years ago.
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