Review XY019: Madame X's Plot! The Scary Calamanero!!

[Hellwarden]

So what was Malamar's plan anyway? What was it doing exactly?

Anyway, I gotta hand it the animators here, as many times as we've seen Pokemon be hypnotized it was still oddly creepy to see Pikachu's consciousness sucked out of it.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

This episode had a predictable plot twist - as if the police motorcycle outside the building didn't make it obvious enough - but still a nice episode. Though, it was funny to learn that Malamar was the one pulling Madame X's strings, and acting of its own free will. The voices everyone had under their hypnotized trances were excellent, especially TR's. It would be rather nice if the Malamar were a recurring Pokémon; but I'm not hold my breath on that, just in case.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

Everyone who keeps mentioning that the team should've brought out their pokemon to attack Calamanero forget that it could've hypnotized the sent out Pokemon the same as the trainers... so I thought it would've been pointless.. besides, having Fennekin and Chespin hypnotized, if not to kill Ash or go against their own trainers, would've been pointless.

Team Rocket tried to do as everyone said Clemont and Serena should've tried and you could see where that landed them... everyone but Meowth being mind controlled.

The episode was really enjoyable and quite creepy. Once I see it subbed, I'll give it a fuller review.

 

[SammyW27]

I hope Malamar comes back. Especially after that sweet exit.

The only thing that would've made it perfect was if he'd called out "So long, bitches!" as he flew away

 

[Dogasu]

I didn't really love this one as much as a lot of you did.

For starters, the Rocket trio were way, way too much like their BW selves during the cold opening. I thought we were done with that nonsense? The serious faces, the bored voice acting, the cliched dialogue...ugh. And then Musashi and Kojirou spent most of the episode being their BW selves mind-controlled zombies...it was such a complete waste of perfectly good characters. At least the ending with everyone being afraid of Maa'iika kept them from completely sucking here.

The plot of the episode was a not-that-well-done rehash as well. Episode N wasn't *that* long ago, writers...seeing Satoshi withstand Thunderbolt attack after Thunderbolt attack and then snapping Pikachu out of its trance with the power of friendship is sooooooo spring 2013. The beginning part with our heroes discovering a beat up Nyasu was a poor rehash of the beginning of the Nyagotiator arc as well.

Animation-wise, everyone was horribly off-model through the majority of the episode.

Oh, and Serena and Eureka didn't do jack squat...AGAIN.

At least Citron's invention was amusing...?

 

[NeoMiniTails]

To be fair, Team Rocket hasn't been shown completely as numbskulls since DP. They can't always have a funny part or else, it loses its comedic edge especially since they're still considered formidable against practically everyone but Satoshi's team.

There have been hints to this side of them throughout the season, and I like that they have both their serious side and their normal, goofy side. Lets be honest, the show has been on eighteen years, if it doesn't rehash one of its many episodes at this point, it'd be a miracle.

XY anime seems to be the one season where they really go after the Pokedex entries of the Pokemon and show that to the world.

I didn't really love this one as much as a lot of you did.

For starters, the Rocket trio were way, way too much like their BW selves during the cold opening. I thought we were done with that nonsense? The serious faces, the bored voice acting, the cliched dialogue...ugh. And then Musashi and Kojirou spent most of the episode being their BW selves mind-controlled zombies...it was such a complete waste of perfectly good characters. At least the ending with everyone being afraid of Maa'iika kept them from completely sucking here.

The plot of the episode was a not-that-well-done rehash as well. Episode N wasn't *that* long ago, writers...seeing Satoshi withstand Thunderbolt attack after Thunderbolt attack and then snapping Pikachu out of its trance with the power of friendship is sooooooo spring 2013. The beginning part with our heroes discovering a beat up Nyasu was a poor rehash of the beginning of the Nyagotiator arc as well.

Animation-wise, everyone was horribly off-model through the majority of the episode.

Oh, and Serena and Eureka didn't do jack squat...AGAIN.

At least Citron's invention was amusing...?

 

[Sweet Veil]

Oh, and Serena and Eureka didn't do jack squat...AGAIN.

Bonnie is a little kid and a side main character, besides she brought entertainment value and called out Meowth in a strong scene as well. As for Serena she brought entertainment value this episode and just showed her character well enough, they aren't really comparable to Team Rocket who should have established goals and do things actively that benefit the show that aren't formulaic.

They can't really be held to the same standards as Team Rocket who have been on the show since it began versus them only being still fresh and here for only around 20 episodes thus far, not to mention Iris and Cilan were pretty inactive at times as well, Iris particularly didn't do much during the beginning of BW. Not to mention Serena and Bonnie do do things consistently when the light is on them, Team Rocket just appear as catalyst that could easily be erased or replaced and do nothing for the overarching plot.

Everyone who keeps mentioning that the team should've brought out their pokemon to attack Calamanero forget that it could've hypnotized the sent out Pokemon the same as the trainers... so I thought it would've been pointless.. besides, having Fennekin and Chespin hypnotized, if not to kill Ash or go against their own trainers, would've been pointless.

Team Rocket tried to do as everyone said Clemont and Serena should've tried and you could see where that landed them... everyone but Meowth being mind controlled.

Yeah that makes sense now that I think of it, especially given that Dedenne ended up being manipulated as well still it would have been pretty kick ass to see Chespin try to send a 4X Pin Missile to Malamar.


I thought it was kind of weird Inkay's Psybeam worked on Malamar, I guess the writers forgot that Malamar is a Dark/Psychic type as well.

 

[Covershot]

Only watched the raw version so there’s some stuff I’m missing, but going on what I do know - I think I would have liked this more as a two-parter. There were some cool things about it that I feel would have been better developed in two episodes instead of crammed into one.

Malamar is a very interesting concept, and I love the idea of a Pokemon that takes the role of a villain that can “speak” - or, failing that, can get its message - through the people it enslaves. It definitely comes across evil enough and should be able to make for a some nice episodes should it show up again (and given that it escapes at the end, I don’t see why it wouldn’t). I also like that it doesn’t appear to be connected to Team Flare. This show could use some more villains outside of Team Rocket and whatever the regional evil group is. Malamar was my favorite part of the episode, and makes me want to see more of it.

What initially attracted me to this episode, though, was the idea of Ash and Meowth standing alone against a possessed Jessie, James, Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena so it kind of disappointed me that we didn’t see more of that. I know there was something like that back near the end of BW, but the stakes were much higher here. But that all felt pretty rushed through to me because, again, there was only so long they could go with it - what with the setup and getting across the idea of this evil new Pokemon.

The Ash and Pikachu subplot was another part that suffered from this. I know not everyone was keen on the whole “Ash saves hypnotized Pikachu with the power of friendship” thing. I get it: it’s repetitive and plays out the exact same way each time. But Ash and Pikachu are the reason I still watch this show, and I honestly can’t hate anytime an episode that brings their bond to the forefront - even if I wish they tell a different story around it. Here, of course, everything is pushed through so quickly that the climax with Ash trying to break Pikachu out of it feels like a needless add-on instead of anything particularly moving. I think that part of the episode should just have been cut out.

So basically, I feel this episode had some interesting ideas but way too much going on in such little time for them to be very effective. But I do feel Malamar and the threat it presents came across strongly enough, and I hope to see more of it in the future.

 

[Dogasu]

Lets be honest, the show has been on eighteen years, if it doesn't rehash one of its many episodes at this point, it'd be a miracle.

Recycling plots every now and then is fine.

Recycling the plotline of an entire story arc less than a year after it concluded, on the other hand...a line has to be drawn somewhere.

Team Rocket who should have established goals and do things actively that benefit the show that aren't formulaic

It seems clear to me that you have completely misinterpreted what the Rocket trio's role in the show is.

 

[SlimeStack]

Recycling plots every now and then is fine.

Recycling the plotline of an entire story arc less than a year after it concluded, on the other hand...a line has to be drawn somewhere.

TBH I'm just glad they're getting it out of the way early and not using it at a more important time. I don't think the writers have a concept of drawing the line with these kinds of things. @_@




I don't think I'll ever understand the Rocket hate base. Satoshi & co shouldn't have magical free passes that lets them be pointless and not contribute to the plot. Satoshi, Pikachu, Citron, Eureka, Serena, Musashi, Kojiro and Meowth are all part of the main cast and they should all be following the same standards. If only Serena had the decency to not appear in an episode when she has nothing to contribute like TR does.

Either way, I'm intrigued to see if this larger plot that Malamar seemingly hinted on goes anywhere. It would be a pretty cool way to start on the Flare plot.

 

[WatcherMark]

I think it's safe to say Kojiro's Maaiika is never going to evolve. Given how absurdly strong and powerful Calamanero was in this episode, if Team Rocket were to get one that even had half the power then it would just be a case of hypnotizing everyone and using Psychic to lift Pikachu away then leaving the gang in a trance until long after they get back to TR HQ and Pikachu is being dissected. Which, of course, can never happen.

 

[Dogasu]

I don't think I'll ever understand the Rocket hate base. Satoshi & co shouldn't have magical free passes that lets them be pointless and not contribute to the plot. Satoshi, Pikachu, Citron, Eureka, Serena, Musashi, Kojiro and Meowth are all part of the main cast and they should all be following the same standards. If only Serena had the decency to not appear in an episode when she has nothing to contribute like TR does.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Either way, I'm intrigued to see if this larger plot that Malamar seemingly hinted on goes anywhere. It would be a pretty cool way to start on the Flare plot.

I imagine they're waiting to see what Game Freak has planned next (Pocket Monsters Z? X2 & Y2? Ruby & Sapphire remakes?) before bringing the Flare-Dan into the show to avoid what happened to the Plasma-Dan happen to them.

I think it's safe to say Kojiro's Maaiika is never going to evolve.

Which is a shame because the constantly spinning in the air Rocket trio is the perfect group of characters to show off Maa'iika's unique way of evolving.

 

[Jyo]

Episode was much better than I thought it was going to be. I thought it was only going to have 2 or 3 good scenes the rest boring - was I wrong, most of the episode was very good, lots of surprising moments, couldn't find a boring parts. [for me, 9/10]

TRio scared of Inkay at the end was hilarious (guessing that James won't want it to evolve)

 

[Sweet Veil]

It seems clear to me that you have completely misinterpreted what the Rocket trio's role in the show is.

Brock got the same criticism, being stale, not contributing much, etc. so there isn't some double-standard aimed at TR solely. Honestly Team Rocket should have been cut from the show years ago since it's obvious the writers don't want to do much of anything new with them with some real integral benefit. That'll always be the problem at the heart of their characters for me.

 

[NeoMiniTails]

Recycling plots every now and then is fine.

Recycling the plotline of an entire story arc less than a year after it concluded, on the other hand...a line has to be drawn somewhere.

Team Rocket who should have established goals and do things actively that benefit the show that aren't formulaic

It seems clear to me that you have completely misinterpreted what the Rocket trio's role in the show is.

Lol and very true in both responses.

 

[Winterdaze]

can we not turn the review thread into a another TR debate thread

take that shit to the proper threads please and thank you

 

[garrison-san]

In addition to what Winterdaze has said, this thread being derailed into yet another Rocket debate is absolutely the final straw. If countless in-thread warnings and a specially-created debate thread aren't going to prevent this from happening week in, week out, then it's becoming increasingly tempting just to ban all Rocket discussion that doesn't directly pertain to their actions in that specific episode.

For now, critiques of a character's overall worth in the series AND suggesting that a character shouldn't have been in an episode at all are both going the way of filler discussion - ie: banned from review threads, effective immediately. So if we see any more "so-and-so did nothing in the episode, why were they there?" or "so-and-so is useless and should be dropped from the show" and that user will be in trouble. Official wording will be added to the anime rules later, but this rule goes into place right now, and this is your only warning. I'm sick of all the fighting, and I know I'm not the only one.

 

[Royal_Qeca]

I didn't expect THIS Malamar to be so intriguing... I thought it would be really bland but it managed to impress me and so did the episode as a whole. I really hope an interesting plot is behind Malamar now.

 

[Dr. Buni]

So I finally watched the episode. Malamar's voice is awesome. So eerie! The "hypnotized people/Pokémon plot" is overused, but I feel like it was very well played this time around. Jessie, James and Pikachu were creepy with the dead eyes and distorted voices, not to mention the horror movie-ish atmosphere in Madame X's hideout. I also like how the key for breaking the hypnosis was the failed Pikachu-Robo Clemont created early in the episode. It is far better than breaking the hypnosis with the "power of friendship".

I think there is no doubt Malamar is an evil (or at least, slightly twisted) Pokémon. For once, it was nice to have a villain that wasn't just a misunderstood good Pokémon (ala Darkrai). Anyway, as mentioned by some people, I hope Malamar becomes a recurring character in XY. We don't have an interesting villain in the show since the Diamond & Pearl series. It would be even cooler if it goes through a change of heart late in the series, becoming a Pokémon of one of the main characters.

I wonder if the "Madame X" alias was Malamar's idea? Also, Team Rocket being scared of Inkay in the end was glorious! That makes me think Team Rocket might push Inkay into evolving for the sake of having a Pokémon with strong hypnosis ability in their team. I do hope Inkay stays as an Inkay and that the evil Malamar come back in future episodes instead.

 

[novalysis]

If that Maiika evolves, it would mean that the writers would probably have to give Ash a Dark or Ghost type Pokemon as a Counter.