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Review XYS04: The Strongest Mega Evolution ~Act IV~

I just hope those trainers get to come back.

Anyone else surprised and a little annoyed that the ME specials give these guys such interesting, colorful designs and over-the-top personalities only to be cannon fodder?
Oh sure, a generic CoTD design doesn't cut it for people with Mega-Evolutions...but neither does being defeated in about a minute in battle we don't see all of either.
 
I would also gone mad if someone I cared being exploited by bad people.
He doesn't even know that.

ill kanji said:
Does this mean we'll get another Act or is it simply saying the story will continue in the main anime?
It is just a reference to the main anime. Act IV was confirmed to be the last one.
 
Fun-fact.

The scene where Alain is visibly angry is a reference to the main character of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, who has the same voice actor for Alain.
 
Fun-fact.

The scene where Alain is visibly angry is a reference to the main character of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, who has the same voice actor for Alain.

Is this confirmed somewhere or is this someone's headcanon?
I wouldn't call it a headcannon, just something I noticed. The scene where Alain is angry is near enough exactly the same as when Yuya got angry in Arc-V.
 
I knew the episode was going to be predictable, but not THIS predictable...However, it was still a good special, due to the chatacter development scenes. I liked the different bookends to Act I, and the Chespin subplot had good drama.
 
I just hope those trainers get to come back.

Anyone else surprised and a little annoyed that the ME specials give these guys such interesting, colorful designs and over-the-top personalities only to be cannon fodder?
Oh sure, a generic CoTD design doesn't cut it for people with Mega-Evolutions...but neither does being defeated in about a minute in battle we don't see all of either.

Yeah, you can tell they put some effort into their designs and yet they're not even characters of the day, more like characters of the scene.

I almost wish they had used some 80s-style montage rock for Alan's battle gauntlet. I can't be the only one who thought of Bloodsport.
 
After watching this one subbed, I love it. It's not the action spectacle the third act was but it has so much plot setup and the characterization is excellent.

Battle scenes were good. Lots of cool aerial maneuvers and beautiful Iwanesplosions. I really liked that the battles were more strategic this time, the earlier acts' battles looked awesome but were more on the raw power side. Houndoom really looks vicious with that tongue. I'm slightly disappointed they didn't use that rough-shaded 80s look like that one promo image, but I guess that was just a bonus for oldschoolers.

Malva, damn what a great character. Total arrogant rock star attitude. Though she seems so obviously sinister I wonder if it's at least party an act....

Dear God, Manon crying is heartbreaking. Way to be a dick, Alan!

Lysandre definitely gives the evil genius vibes, he's keeping Team Flare a tight secret for now. I'm now less annoyed that they didn't show up earlier e.g. the power plant; he doesn't want to blow his cover.

It looks like when Alan battles he's actually collecting the Mega Evolution power and sending it to Lysandre, not just getting data on it.

I'm wondering if Manon will eventually find out Lysandre's up to no good and that'll be what it takes to wake Alan up.

Man, so many questions. Was Malva taking the fall? Is she a double agent? Did Lysandre start the whole Mega battling underground for his own gain? What kind of long term effects might the radiation or whatever have on Hari-san? This is looking to be the best villain plot yet.
 
*yawn* After the exciting second and third acts we go back to the tedium of watching Alan fight other Megas, one after the other. There are other, more interesting ways of incorporating Mega Evolved pokemon into a story but I guess mindless battle after mindless battle just takes way less effort to write.
 
I'm interested by the fact that it ended with a "To be continued". Did the other 3? Does this mean we'll get another Act or is it simply saying the story will continue in the main anime?

It happened in the Side Story episodes. In the English dub it was cut though.e
And I don't think we'll have another one, I mean Alan's already being incorporated into the main anime.. It'd probably be pointless to do that already if they planned a Mega Evolution V
 
*yawn* After the exciting second and third acts we go back to the tedium of watching Alan fight other Megas, one after the other. There are other, more interesting ways of incorporating Mega Evolved pokemon into a story but I guess mindless battle after mindless battle just takes way less effort to write.

That'd be cheaper to animate, I think... Since it'd require less shots and all.
 
I dunno...I think Act III had much better animation even *with* an actual plot. The animation in Act IV didn't really stand out to me at all.
 
After watching the subbed version of the episode, I have to say I'm extremely disappointed with Manon as a character.

Her whole plot arc in this episode was very childish and easily avoidable. The fact that she's relentlessly forceful with Alain is painfully immature-No Manon, this man does not need to travel with you, be your friend or follow what you say because you don't approve of his reasonable life choices. Given the amount of times she's been left behind and ignored by Alain, she should get the message by now. So when he understandably blew his lid, I had no sympathy for her-she's like a fly on a hot summer day! Her subsequent wallowing in self-pity indirectly attributed to Hari-san's comatose state as well, something that could have been prevented. I just don't like the direction her character has been given-it's as if the writers are having her define herself, miserably, through Alain.

Moving on,
The battles in the episode were nice. I was impressed the writers remembered Houndooms' Flash Fire and how it was lost post Mega Evolution. I do wish Mega Venusaur was a bit more imposing however-along the likes of Siebold's Mega Blastoise and Alain's Mega Charizard.

Lysandre is so blatantly evil, I love it. I'm looking forward to the episode where he double crosses everybody (Steven, Alain, Manon, Sycamore, etc) and they all see his true colors.
 
Mega evolution series the best things on anime. Would love to see an Alain saga with an actual plot and character development. Or other anime serie with this plot quality. What is unlikely, since it will never replace the Ash Ketchum anime, and is not profitable to make two series the same time.

I don't dislike Manon, but agree that her role was kind of forced. She could have a better reason to fight Alain that isn't oblige him to travel with her. Also, their interactions are really cliche: "the happy pure girl that find the dark guy, her brightness and hyperactivity disconcerts him, and he realizes that may have fallen, but he deny it because feelings make him weak, she got hurt and he find strenght out his ass to save her". How many times we saw this story? Anyway, Alain is an interesting protagonist, he's a breath of fresh air in pokemon. I like him, and loved to a some more dark and realistic protagonist, and a more mature story. I just think that his motivations could be better, and his interaction with Manon less cliche, even if have the same dynamic.

Anyway, I liked this act.... it was okay, not better than act 2 and 3, but entertaining. Would benefit if the chapters had a longer duration, though.
 
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