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Review XY020: Battle Chateau Challenge! Viola VS Zakuro!!

- Not sure why the rapping brothers were named Nikola and Tesla, especially since neither one of them seemed to own an Electric-Type pokemon?

- This seemed like it should have been a two-parter the way this episode took its time setting everything up. Why spend all the time overexplaining everything but then rush through the episode's three battles?

- This show's taboo on showing written language other than Tajirian was really obvious during the entrance to the chateau (Look! It says "Battle Chateau," apparently...?) and Tesla's "rank" system explanation. Like...we know TPCI is OK with showing Japanese writing in the English dub. There's no reason they had to make up a convoluted "colored capes" system to explain something that could have easily just been written out.

- Shouldn't Pikachu's Monster Ball have a little lightning bolt on it?

- How does this show decide when to use the Trainer VS screen and when not to? Why didn't Satoshi vs. Tesla get one? Or Zakuro vs. Viola?

- So was Zakuro trying to kill Viola's Ametama or something? Like, what would have happened if Viola hadn't ordered her pokemon to use Protect when it did?

- The whole "not reveal that the Gym Leader is actually a Gym Leader until the end of the episode" trope is getting kind of old. It would have been more refereshing if he had introduced himself as a Gym Leader right out.
 
Did the animation team change mid episode? It was ruining the episode 5 minutes in, then, as if by magic, everything got better.

- Viola and Grant had amazing chemistry and now I want them to marry and have interracial babies. And what a sexy dress Ms. Viola.
- I really liked it that Ash brought out his pokémon to watch the battle.
- I liked the color rank system, if I was part of the Chateau it would motivate me more to rank higher if I had the incentive of exclusive purple capes. :D
- We all knew that Grant would win that battle so that his Gym would seem harder to beat.

Because of the hype it let me down a little bit, but great episode nonetheless.
 
Nikola dresses like MariYO!

Fletchinder looks awesome, I really want to see Ash's Fletchling evolve now.

I kinda wish it had been Fletchling vs. Fletchling instead of Fletchling vs. Pikachu. Fletchling dodging Thunderbolt was cool though.

Grant actually made Onix interesting. Still would have preferred a different rock type, but it was a good battle. I really liked that Rock Tomb + Luster Cannon combo.

- So was Zakuro trying to kill Viola's Ametama or something? Like, what would have happened if Viola hadn't ordered her pokemon to use Protect when it did?

The rock probably would have just disintegrated on impact and left it KO'd.
 
Tomioka Atsuhiro (Series Organization, i.e. the head writer) returns to provide this episode's scenario. It's been a while since we managed to see him write an episode.

Did the animation team change mid episode? It was ruining the episode 5 minutes in, then, as if by magic, everything got better.

Not quite. Many episodes of many series use varying degrees of talent depending on the scheduling of the project. The battles near the end might have simply been done by a key animator with much higher talent than the rest of the episode.
 
I don't get why they're giving Grant an Onix when he doesn't use on in the games.
 
Sooooooo...

-Serena displays great interest in going to the Battle Chateau, but has no desire to battle... I mean I know it was for the sake of Ash, but come on....Could have been a great chance for her to test battling and what not.

-I loved Tesla and Nikola! Their rapping was really cool, and reminded me of Killer B from Naruto. I also loved Serena's explicit disdain for it. I hope they are recurring characters with repeated actions with Serena.

-Hinoyakoma! So cool and well animated! Its battle was pathetic however. Pathetic.

-I love the cape system the writers implemented. Why couldn't they do that in XY? Hopefully it will be included in the successors of the games. Also, the way to challenge people is really cool. So formal and yet not.

-Way to steal Nikola's thunder Grant. Just why the hell were you randomly hanging from the ceiling with one hand anyway? I understand you're a rock climber, but show a degree of professionalism...

-Viola! Man she looked great in her formal outfit as well as with her hair down. A ponytail suits her more than her original hairstyle imo.

-For all of you wondering how the battle would have went if Pikachu was used against Yayakoma in episode 3, it is here. I think it was well done and just the right amount of time.

-Viola vs Grant! Good battle, but it could have been a bit longer with more action from Ametama (you know, it actually dealing damage). I see it learned Bubblebeam in replace of Sticky Web. The revised trainer battle theme was great too. As for Iwark...well it certainly has a different battle style than Roark's (and certainly Brock's) did. It will be interesting to see how Ash counters that.

-Serena's comment at the end=LOL

Overall, I really liked this episode. I agree with Dogasu however. They could have made this a two-parter OR XY's first tournament-like arc! That way, Ash, Clemont and Serena could have battled. Serena would have had her first battle, it would be revealed that Clemont actually has a Duke standing like the other Gym Leaders (he then could have proceeded to battle either Viola or Grant), maybe another rematch between Ash and Viola (with Viola winning), and the battles would have been better overall. That would have been really fun. Maybe next time.

Either way, 9/10.
 
totally agree that this should have been a 2-parter also zakuro and viola had really good on-screen chemistry !

it was bizarre listening to tesla because i kept on imagining takato rapping and then getting extreme secondhand embarrassment
 
I enjoyed this episode.

It was nice to see the Battle Chateau and how it functions in the anime. I especially liked how they get different capes based on their rank. (Too bad that isn't in the games). Anyway, the best part to the episode for me were those rapping brothers. Seriously, they made most of this episode for me. I love their eyes; they look so cute. And speaking of cute, did Bonnie really call that other guy's Dusknoir cute? I mean really? I agree that Pikachu is cute, Dedenne's cute, Fennekin is cute, Ryhorn is kinda cute, and I could even call Garchomp cute in some way. But freaking Dusknoir?! Wow. Bonnie must think EVERY Pokémon is cute. But I like that about her.

Grant was awesome. I loved how he was just hanging on the wall when the gang showed up. Then he actually waved to Viola while he was clinging on to it. And then he just fell down. That was hilarious.

The battles were okay for their time limit. I liked the Pikachu vs. Fletchling battle more than I thought I would. That bird was really tough. Grant's and Vilola's battle was obviously the best. Grant almost crushed Surskit with those huge ass rocks.

Also that ending with everyone crushing each other after finding out that Grant was a gym leader was really funny.

Overall, it was really nice. 8/10.
 
Me: It's always Wild Battle music or Trainer Battle music... A little more BGM variation for the XY battles would be nice, staff...
Staff: *Uses Wild Battle music, Trainer Battle music, and Trainer Battle music REMIX*
 
I enjoyed this episode - so many wonderful battles! :D The animation was very nice - and I like how Zakuro's Onix could keep up with Ametama's speed (normally, Onix are depicted as slow creatures...iirc). And speaking of Ametama, lol, so cute XD

Also, Zakuro was so cool :) I can't wait for Ash's next gym battle with him.
 
I enjoyed this episode, but I do agree that maybe we could have had an extra episode for the battle event. Sure, having a battle-focused episode was refreshing, especially at an in-game battle tower - and the battles were engaging - and the debut of Grant and return of Viola were nice. But otherwise...it didn't really feel like it had much of an impact.

Well, decent episode, regardless.
 
Me: It's always Wild Battle music or Trainer Battle music... A little more BGM variation for the XY battles would be nice, staff...
Staff: *Uses Wild Battle music, Trainer Battle music, and Trainer Battle music REMIX*

Don't forget the Kalos Legendary Battle remix when they entered the lounge.
 
So the anime idea of the Battle Chateau is one on one battles where it was pretty much type matchups deciding everything? Very glad that it wasn't a double episode or tournament arc on that basis.

Was hoping they'd be able to do more with the concept, ranking up with battles against opponents of progressively higher strength would be a good side-quest - with Battle Chateaus being like how the battle clubs were originally introduced as in BW010.

If it wasn't going to be like that, then there was little reason for Ash to be the one battling here - it would be a good chance for either Clemont or Serena to build up their battling skills without having to contrive a reason for them to be the ones battling a COTD instead of Ash.

For some positives, Ash getting his Pokemon out to watch the battle at the end was good to see and it's nice to see a Gym leader not just totally disappear from the show after losing to Ash.

Still, not what I was hoping for with the Battle Chateau, though as with most of XY, still a good episode to watch, except for the fairly short battles.
 
Me: It's always Wild Battle music or Trainer Battle music... A little more BGM variation for the XY battles would be nice, staff...
Staff: *Uses Wild Battle music, Trainer Battle music, and Trainer Battle music REMIX*

Don't forget the Kalos Legendary Battle remix when they entered the lounge.

I loved it, but that doesn't count as "BGM variation for the XY battles", though.
 
Agree with everyone that this needed another episode.

However, it was pretty solid episode.

The battles themselves weren't much, sure, but I thought that Battle Chateau looked really great, I loved the concept behind it and the ranking system. Seeing Fletchlinder use Flame Charge only got me more hyped for Ash's Fletchling to finally evolve, that thing is a beast, especially once it reaches the final stage.

XY anime also made me like another gym leader! Previously I didn't care much neither for Viola nor Grant, but now I like both of them, and I really found their interactions enjoyable for some reason shipping. Grant was like this embarrassing old friend climbing windows and stuff and Viola just waved nervously. I loved Grant's quirk though, made him a very sympathetic and interesting character. And Viola looked stunning in this episode - her look in this episode beats her gym leader appearance.

Serena getting annoyed by the brothers' rapping was fun to see and so was Bonnie's unique definition of cute.

Oh, and seeing how Tomioka wrote the episode, I wouldn't be shocked if we saw more of this facility in the future. Ash just became a Baron and it should be fun seeing him gain higher ranks throughout his Kalos journey.
 
Just got around to watching the episode. I didn't get the luxury of watching with subs but I understood pretty well. Nikola and Tesla were probably two of the better characters I've seen in a while on the anime, and I LOVE the "Yo Yo Yo! Pokemon Quiz! Sekai Wa!" part. Also I like when Dusknoir gets sent out, Bonnie's immediate reaction is KAWAII. Good episode!
 
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