Review XY012: Capture the Pokémon Buyer! The Kofuurai Impersonation Plan!!

[KyseL]

I guess this episode's purpose was to introduce the concept of Pokémon Buyers, which seemingly is going to be something relatively regular during this series.

 

[Magma Bomb]

Well, that was an enjoyable filler if you ask me. Good to see they are keeping Team Rocket out of some episodes even during fillers and I like the idea of facing other bad guys once in a while.
I liked Daz's character, but there's something this episode I cannot understand. I know he is poaching and I comprehend how it is considered a bad thing in the Pokémon world, but on the subject of buying a Pokémon from another person, I can't see why the show treated selling them as something horrendous. Trainers trade the Pokémon they catch for others all the time, so doing it for money doesn't seem like a big moral leap for me, just the logical conclusion.
So, supposing Daz caught all these Pokémon properly in Pokéballs, selling them would still be wrong? Taking into consideration the way Jenny made the exposition on him and Ash's reaction that's what it seemed and I seriously don't buy that.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Wow, the animation for this episode was really bad. I don't usually notice animation errors, but this particular one stood out to me: Right after the scene with all the Vivillon flying away, Ash moves forward, with parts of his body shrinking and growing during the scene. Don't really know how to explain it, but his anatomy wasn't consistent.

 

[Garren]

So, Daz literally distributes the Spewpa over the Internet...he really is a joke at the expense of Vivillion collectors.

Also, I don't know if the design in general is based off an actual product, but Citron's tracker was basically Bulma's Dragon Radar.

 

[Karamazov]

So, Daz literally distributes the Spewpa over the Internet...he really is a joke at the expense of Vivillion collectors.

"'Kay kids, we made sure to make Vivillon's patterns unique to encourage trading! But lol, don't actually go after them all, stupid nerds."

 

[Johtohfiller]

Once again, I really liked the teamwork of this group.

That's what I liked best about this episode, it did a good job of showing their dynamic. Everyone plays off each other so well.

A couple of my favorite bits were Ash explaining evolution and Serena just so happening to have a bunch of Spewpa outfits on her. Everyone's so quirky, I love it.

XY began with really cool camera angles for shots, I thought that was gonna become some trademark for this gen's animation, but I see that was probably just for show for the first few episodes. Now the camera angles have reverted to being more generic. Just something that annoys me a little because I really enjoyed the new perspectives.

I think it really depends on who storyboards the episodes. XY has newcomer storyboarders who have done some visually exciting episodes (such as Yoshifumi Sueda who has only done the first two XY episodes); the storyboarder fro this episode has done work since AG. But I do agree with you that some of the amazing camera angles and framing we're seeing right now will go away. :-(

There were some diagonal shots in this ep that were really cool IMO. I'm doubtful the more impressive animation will go away entirely, though I won't be surprised if it's reserved for more important eps with not a lot of it in fillers.

I'm hoping Daz shows up again, he was too cool to be a one-shot character. I'd also like for that same Vivillon to show up and save the day in a later episode.

 

[Garren]

The main boon for XY is the lack of stock footage and using "colorful backgrounds" for attacks instead of the actual battlefield. This episode didn't resort to that, so everything's a-okay. Honestly I don't mind off-model on occasion as long as the episode is fun and fluid, and this one was pretty decent. Yeah, Ash looked weird in the scene Misty Masquerain pointed out (although it wasn't anywhere near the worse animation I've seen in the show and was pretty brief), and Spewpa's model was always weird looking during the few scenes it actually appeared, but overall I've seen worse.

For example Diggersby taking off his seatbelt and jumping out of the car to attack was a pretty cool scene.

 

[fireflight775]

I have to admit, nice little episode, it was simple, kind of funny, and had heart. It was not hunter J dramatic, but there was a threat, a mild one albeit. I like that everyone had a part to play, that was unique. Still the episode was far better than black and white, and the wario like dude was surprisingly threatening and kind of funny.