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Review XY009: Subdue Miare Gym! Citron's Secret!!

Okay, all kinds of weird stuff in the animation credits this week:

vlcsnap-00033.jpg


- It seems that Kunihiko Natsume was not the Animation Director this week. He was actually the Chief AD. This episode marks his first time, I believe. So in his place...

-...Toshihito Hirooka was the AD! He's been the series' main Chief AD since BW, so it's quite weird to see him as a regular AD again. I wonder why they switched?

- Even weirder, Iwane was Assistant AD. That's another first as well.

- And yep, Tamagwa made his first TV series appearance since BW#42. He drew the scene after the title screen with Citron and Eureka's dad. Wonderful drawings, were they not?


The animation for the battle was great. I loved that 3D shot of Bunnelby running around Heliolisk. I'm still totally digging (lol) these CGI BGs.
I never thought that the series would ever have such constantly well animated battles.
 
Clemont is going to grow up to be Dr. Light. That's why Mega Man without his helmet looks a lot like Ash.
 
So Clement and Bonnie join the exclusive club of characters that actually have a father, along with Brock, May and Max. Curiously enough, they all have siblings.

I feel it'll be a good thing that they got the "secret" out early. This way, we can build-up to the battle between Ash and Clement straight away instead of having Ash win four badges first, come back, find out that Clement is the gym leader and then have all the build-up shoehorned into half an episode. It's a long way away but the foundations have already been laid.

Likewise, with the identity of the Blaziken man now rather obvious, we can now start to wonder where the hell he got that costume from and what inspired him to stalk a group of kids in said costume.

Decent episode overall, though not as fun as I thought it would be going by the preview. I thought they could have made it harder to get in the gym instead of having two Pokemon go down by having foam thrown at them - something that isn't even a proper attack for crying out loud. The battle was good, though, as expected so far.

On a side note, if those trainers had been thrown out the gym, how did they survive the drop?
 
A Clemont centered episode. I already knew I was going to love it.

First of all, Clemont and Bonnie saluting their father after he left was funny. And was he teasing Clemont about Serena? Hilarious.

I loved the flashback. Clemont and Bonnie were so adorable when they were dealing with Clemont's robot. I'm really impressed to see what a great inventor Clemont is at such a young age. I thought it would take much longer to get through the gym from what the previews showed, but whatever.

Now for the battle. First of all, Heliolisk's dancing was adorable. The battle was nice, and Bunnelby did really well. Clemont's strategy that he used on Pikachu worked really well here, along with the idea of using double team and dig to confuse the robot. Ash putting his arm around Clemont and Clemont blushing was too cute.

I'll never get over how cute Bonnie and Clemont's pajamas are. I also like how close Serena and Bonnie are. In fact, I love the closeness of the entire group, and in such a short time.

Overall, there really wasn't anything I disliked about this episode, but I felt that the battle could maybe have been a bit longer, so 9.7/10.
 
Nice episode. Really enjoyed Eureka & Citron's interactions with their father.
I thought Parabolic Charge looked awesome in the anime. (well I have no idea how it looks in the games so maybe it looks the same?)
Horubee also continues to impress me with its battling. I love seeing that little guy in action.
 
It's just hit me that Citron and Eureka are the first main characters to have a father but not a mother... ok, Takeshi's was missing for years but at least the show mentioned her. This gal joined Kenji, Iris and Dent's parents as well as Hikari's dad in the totally unmentioned parents club.

I'm giving this episode extra points for Eureka's Gachigoras nightcap. It's little details like this that are making XY great so far.
 
What I loved about this episode is how realistic they made a battle against a robot. I thought they were going to make it like just any other battle in the series, but no, they went for using repetitive strategies on Citroid's side, as he's a robot and will be programmed to counterattack exactly the same way if the same moves are used against him. And I don't know if I was oblivious for some reason or the writers made a good job, but I didn't actually expected that the real Bunnelby was still underground unlike the others. I really got the surprise, which isn't very common from the battles in this anime.

I used to see Blaziken Mask as a counterpart for the Masked Heroes in Pokémon X and Y, but not now. The big difference is that it's really obvious who the Blaziken Mask actually is, while I'm still wondering who the Masked Heroes could be in reality... seriously, I bet nobody could ever tell you who they are nor the professor they work for. On a related note, I hope more game characters like those two appear soon in the anime. By this episode I'm starting to wonder if they will incorporate more game characters, since we've have none yet, and I fear that more characters like Blaziken Mask would end up filling their roles instead.
 
I gotta say that this episode turned out a little differently than I imagined - but what we did get was interesting. It was certainly rather amusing to see Clemont retake his gym by challenging his invented "gym bot" to a Pokémon battle. But it was still fun.
 
This episode was very good - I like how they touched on Citron's character and how much he wanted to improve as a gym leader. He's gained confidence - good for him! XY is fetting better and better. I'm impressed.

LOL at Citron's daddy XD

*I'll watch again when I get subs XD*
 
I actually watched this yesterday and melted in a puddle of feelings and have just come back to life.

I haven't been this... excited? About Pokemon for quiiiiiiite a while (like, DP, and even then I didn't ~love~ everyone like I do here). This episode didn't disappoint and I think the theme for this season is realness. The relationships feel natural and not contrived. They all act like real kids with multi-layered personalities. Satoshi motivating Citron to not give up re: Citroid was a highlight scene. Citron's thought process for turning Citroid back on Goshujin-sama mode was so... smart. I love having a cerebral-type atypical action hero like Citron and for him to be such an accomplished inventor and thinker at such a young age is refreshing. They also don't go for the infallible approach, either, which makes him so much more likable and relatable IMO.

Citron and Eureka's relationship with their daddy is so funny and their personalities bounce off each other so well. And when Satoshi was telling Citron he'd wait to battle him until after he has four badges was very sweet. As was Serena and Eureka sharing a bed together. They're so close and sisterly already! And Eureka just gets cuter each episode. Man, this cast is so A++++ so far.

What strikes me as odd though is that Citron just leaves his 'mons in the gym with a not-sentient robot and expects them to be happy and well-nurtured xD I know it's in Citroid's programming to be nice, but it's still just a robot. o_o Hopefully Citron's bara-papa goes to give them some lovin' once in a while. And what if there's a gym inspection?! I'm sure they wouldn't be happy about fighting a robot...
 
Solid episode. The new Dragon Tail animation is pretty cool. If you look closely Heliolisk's tail becomes covered with dragon scales (it's not just a green glow).
 
Clemont's in-gym pokemon were ridiculously weak, especially his signature Heliolisk.

For a Gym Leader that requires challengers to have at least four badges when challenging this gym, Clemont's gym pokemon shouldn't be losing out to recently obtained pokemon like Bunnelby, Serena's Fennekin and Ash's Froakie.
Fennekin = Nothing, Ember was evaded.

Froakie = Plot armor, its Keromousse would have not done in any Pokemon in a regular battle at all. It should not be taken at face value as a true measure of their prowess.

Bunnelby = Won by using Super Effective moves, has been under Clemont's care for a while, smashed Pikachu in episode one and is a Pokemon trained by Clemont, a pretty competent gym leader. There's nothing wrong with it taking down Heliolisk, Bunnelby didn't get hit much in the battle except for three times iirc and ultimately overcame the odds with Double Team/Dig to take home the big win. Not like there could have been any other resolution aside from the bunny taking home the win since I doubt Clemont's leaving his gym as a death trap.
 
This is now officially my favorite main cast. I keep thinking "I wish I had known these people when I was a kid," we would have gotten along great. I love seeing Serena and Bonnie being sisters and Ash and Clemont being bros. This is real tears of joy material.

I cracked up at Citroid using an arm cannon to launch a Pokeball, something tells me Clemont likes Mega Man games, hahaha. Now I can't help but think the gym logo looks reminiscent of the Dr. Wily logo or the Maverick logo.

This series is delivering amazingly well with battles, I loved Bunnelby vs. Heliosk. Clemont's battling style is a lot like Ash's, using inventive tactics - fitting for an inventor. I'm really looking forward to seeing the two of them team up in a battle, hopefully we'll see that in next week's episode. Clemont is just awesome all around, he's my favorite male companion.

Limone seems like a great character, hopefully we'll be seeing more of him as the series goes on. The bit with him trying to ship Clemont with Serena was great. They're not even trying to hide his secret identity, but considering how the flimsiest of disguises can fool anyone in this show I'm thinking it's going to take a while for any of the characters to figure it out.

I love the balance they've struck between action and character scenes. The episodes are constructed so well.

Can't wait to see this one subbed.
 
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Okay I rewatched the episode and I got some more of the dialogue I missed the first time around.

Citron asking permission to travel was UTTERLY PRECIOUS as was Serena telling Limone that she would take care of Eureka (!!! SOOO CUUTE). Their sisterly dynamic is amazing already and we're only on episode 9! Citroid offering to help out around the house was funny too haha.

Satoshi and Citron's 'battle promise' scene at the end stirred my shipper heart, oh my gah.
 
I'll make a ~proper~ post later when I watch it again but with the subs, so I'll settle with a "Oh boy I hope...!!" post for the moment.

Maybe when Ash beats Clemont in his gym battle, it would be cool if Clemont would take a gym Pokemon with him, or switch them around like Ash did in BW. Heliolisk seems like it would be a great on his current team. An solo-type trainer needs at least one on his team, and I don't think Dedenne counts as it's Bonnie's in a way and most likely won't be a battler.
 
I don't know whether this was a huge mistake or the best move I could have ever done, but I had the idea to watch all the XY episodes at once, as I didn't watch any of them before yesterday. Now I'm in love with all the characters, Pokémons and Ash included, as they are hijacking my mind at full force.

Somebody help me ;___;
 
Clemont and Ash are like brothers now! Clemont's blush looked kind of messed up to me (one cheek? why not two?). Clemont is a hero! He's so strong now! Okay it's official Clemont's aren't gonna be footies, no buttons or zipper. So it's either a dreaded nightshirt (Clemont looks weird in a nightshirt in my imagination, so weird I can laugh uncontrollably) or pants and a shirt (that's the most obvious choice because Giovanni had this type of pajamas in the boss fantasies). Clemont reminds me of Giovanni in his pajamas. So Clemont is just a habitual nightcap wearer (he doesn't get cold at all it seems), either it's to make him feel secure or Clemont doesn't like the of messy bedhead in the morning (the nightcap alone will make his hair messy in reality). That was a bad place for Clemont to put his glasses at (on the floor because what if he gets up at night to close Bonnie's window or use the bathroom? won't he accidentally step on them?). Not unless he puts them temporarily to do those tasks. Poor Clemont can't sleep, don't worry he falls asleep soon (I've had my nights where I don't fall asleep until 11:00). Even he looked well rested in the preview, so Clemont just had a late night where he falls asleep later than normal. Okay I have to admit glassesless Clemont is just hot!! First time the anime. One of my friend said his eyes looked like pearls here. But Clemont's eyes always have been beautiful. Well Bonnie and Serena are put at a danger risk, leaving the window open not only makes the room colder it also allows a bad guy to come in or pokemon (animals) (my father told me those). So I can see Clemont getting out of bed to close the window then tucking them in and going back to bed. Why doesn't Clemont have a bed? Just a couch and a air mattress. I don't like how Bonnie and Serena are in the same bed, it's inappropriate (sorry you disagree, my mother has that rule). I didn't like Limone's design but I'm okay. I wanted to see their mother now, I hope they show her later on in the series (it'd be cool if she looked like the scientist class).
 
This episode was pretty good. Clemont and Bonnie's dad sure was amusing the way he was acting in front of them in the beginning and at the end. It was nice to see a background of how Citroid came to be, and what it was originally designed for. The battle was great, I absolutely love how the normal Gym Battle music from the games was used and it really went well with the actual battle.

The animations for the battle and Dragon Tail were really cool. It was nice to see Fennekin and Froakie get a little bit of action in to help stop the other Gym Pokemon. Heliolisk sure was happy to see Clemont again, they sure have a strong bond it seems. It was funny watching Clemont talk to Citroid at the end of the battle and Citroid was like "huh?". It was nice to see Clemont re-program the robot to work a whole lot better and not be so violent towards challengers and to act more normal.
 
Okay, all kinds of weird stuff in the animation credits this week:

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x467/Cookiefication/vlcsnap-00033.jpg

- It seems that Kunihiko Natsume was not the Animation Director this week. He was actually the Chief AD. This episode marks his first time, I believe. So in his place...

-...Toshihito Hirooka was the AD! He's been the series' main Chief AD since BW, so it's quite weird to see him as a regular AD again. I wonder why they switched?

- Even weirder, Iwane was Assistant AD. That's another first as well.

- And yep, Tamagwa made his first TV series appearance since BW#42. He drew the scene after the title screen with Citron and Eureka's dad. Wonderful drawings, were they not?


The animation for the battle was great. I loved that 3D shot of Bunnelby running around Heliolisk. I'm still totally digging (lol) these CGI BGs.
I never thought that the series would ever have such constantly well animated battles.

Ruh-roh, Raggy. When you have a Chief Animation Supervisor, Animation Supervisor, and Animation Supervisor Assistant that is usually a sign of the schedule going haywire. Pocket Monster: XY has kept a certain level of quality going longer than OLM could handle. Ack. Then again, Iwane could have been brought on specifically to make sure the action cuts were as good as they could have been, but...hmm...
 
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