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Review XY040: Serena VS Sana! Pokévision Showdown!!

This Episode was Ok. I was surprised,it was Better then the first PokeVision Episode. I Liked the Interactions with Ash and Serena after they Fell Off the Cliff, it was Nice but this is a Meh Episode. 5.4/10
 
The fairly dialogue heavy episode makes it a bit hard to comment before seeing the dub, but there's some things I think I can comment on -

Firstly Team Rocket - I like them in this kind of role - getting caught up in being normal working people. I really hope seeing that side of them becomes a more common thing.

The bulk of the episode is obviously the Serena focus, with basically the reversing of roles from the flashbacks - though extremely hard to believe Ash is capable of being injured just by sliding down a cliff. I didn't quite get the thing that Shauna was explaining - seems like a weird fusion between the already shown PokeVision trainer videos and contests. Just seems like going to way too much effort to not just bring back proper contests - call it a ORAS promotional tie in whatever, just do it properly!

I'd like to have seen more of that fishing at the start - catching a Wailord with a rod is epic - as is this:
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The early morning running is interesting - though I'll never get why not all of the Pokemon get to be used - obviously Fletchinder can't run along the ground, but Bunnelby could have hopped along and Hawlucha can run around a bit - let them all be involved, rather than just the mascots.

Anyway, one for me to have more opinions on once I see it in English - the episode seems promising though.
 
Nice episode. Obviously I'll need the dub for my full opinions, but here's what I got for now.

Oh, Clemont why can't you run? On another note, why was Clemont the only one who was wearing his regular clothes? Maybe that has something to do with it. Wow, and then he gets chased by a Corphish. This clearly isn't Clemont's day. Nice to Serena has improved on her fishing since last time. Anyway, kudos to Trevor for reeling in a Wailord. And wth, did Trevor take a picture of the food?

So Sycamore made a Pokevision promoting his lab? Nice, it was great to see all of his lab Pokemon. I still don't get why Bonnie was in that Snubull suit, but damn was she cute! I'm glad Fennekin actually helped Serena to cook her Poke Puffs this time. So it seems that Aria girl's Fennekin evolved. Well, I liked her performance. It was nice to see Braxien using its twig wand. Maybe I would have liked it more if I didn't hate Braxien. OMG Dandy Furfrou. FINALLY! I don't even care that they changed the all colors for some reason. LOVE...DANDY...FURFROU! Oh, and the other ones. Nice to see Debutante debut too.

I really liked the Amourshipping moment. It really didn't feel forced to me. It was nice to see a reference to Ash and Serena's first meeting with the roles reversed and Serena now helping Ash with his injury. Though I currently have no idea what they were talking about, I liked how they shared a moment together with their Pokemon.

So...TR saved Ash and Serena? And they didn't try to make this an attempt to attack them? Hm, maybe they're getting smarter about blowing their cover. Anyway, I liked Clemont and Ash's brotherly moment when Clemont helped Ash to walk. I really liked Shauna's video and how they incorporated their Pokemon's battle strengths. Serena's video was nice too, but I don't really get it. Was it supposed to be comedic? Either way, nice to see that they won.

Overall, I thought this was a nice episode. I'll definitely need to see the dub for my full opinions, but for now, 8/10.
 
I didn't quite get the thing that Shauna was explaining - seems like a weird fusion between the already shown PokeVision trainer videos and contests. Just seems like going to way too much effort to not just bring back proper contests - call it a ORAS promotional tie in whatever, just do it properly!

Actually the Pokemon Contests and the competition Shauna talked about were fundamentally different in the following ways:

- Quantity. There is more than one Pokemon Contest in a given region; dozens are held at certain towns within a period of time, and these seem to be annual events. The other competition seems to be a sole event.

- Nature of appeal. In a Pokemon Contest, trainers (coordinators) have to first appeal to the judges using their Pokemon only. The coordinator simply provides the commands. In the Kalos Queen competition, performers appeal alongside their Pokemon during all three events (PokePuff, trimming, and performance).

- Other events. After the appeal round, coordinators have to pit their Pokemon in point-scaled contest battles. The appeal and battles are the only events for a Contest.

There is no battle element to the Kalos Queen competition; instead, the events also include a PokePuff baking competition, and a trimming/dressing up competition in which the performers go down a catwalk.

2 events per contest, and 3 events per Kalos Queen competition.

- Contestant restrictions. As long as you have a Contest Pass for a given region, you can sign up for Pokemon Contests being held there. There are no restrictions on gender. The Kalos Queen competition seems to be female-only, and it is probable that even the performers' Pokemon have to be female as well.
 
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Seems like we get more in-depth into Pokemon Performing, it's like contests, but the trainer has to perform as well. So Serena's goal is set(?) to be crowned Kalos Queen of Pokemon Performing, I have a feeling Aria is going to be appearing in the flesh very soon, teaching or going up against Serena(leaning towards teach if Shauna's fantasy was a flashback instead)

I liked this episode, although dialogue heavy, we get development for Serena's goal. 9/10
 
Yes! Akihiro Tamagawa directed the animation for this episode. ^_^

'Animation Director' is a bit of a misleading translation. Tamagawa worked with Episode Director Koga Kazu'omi to help decide the look of the episode and from there supervises the key animation layouts and final drawings. The actual directing is handled by the episode director and key animator for each cut. For a better understanding, please refer to this article from Ben on Anipages.
 
Yes! Akihiro Tamagawa directed the animation for this episode. ^_^

'Animation Director' is a bit of a misleading translation. Tamagawa worked with Episode Director Koga Kazu'omi to help decide the look of the episode and from there supervises the key animation layouts and final drawings. The actual directing is handled by the episode director and key animator for each cut. For a better understanding, please refer to this article from Ben on Anipages.

Oh okay because animation director and his name is what I saw on the bulbapedia page for this episode.
 
There is no battle element to the Kalos Queen competition; instead, the events also include a PokePuff baking competition, and a trimming/dressing up competition in which the performers go down a catwalk.
Thanks for the description - though this just makes me more sure I'd prefer contests - because I just can't see where there's room for development for Serena in doing this. Sure her PokePuffs aren't perfect yet - but going in depth about berry selections and cooking isn't going to be a multi-episode arc, and can anyone actually notice a difference between her groomed Fennekin and a normal one - or Serena and Aria's? I just can't see where the struggle, the progression and the achievement could come from, indeed it seems to make it so she would focus on just the one Pokemon, rather than having a diverse team - something contests rewarded.

Seems like it would be something extremely arbitrary - moreso than some of the unbelievable combination moves that pulled out wins for Dawn/May. And I'd imagine the anime would certainly not go down the path of having Serena lose because she's not as pretty/personally talented as the other contestants - so the trainer component would never be a real factor.
 
Interesting. Lol Clemont reminded of Brock with the Corpish scene. I love Shauna's apron! No Korrina, I imagine they'd show her. Oh Sophie! Her and her "I'm not going to tell you the time, I'll show you". Really? Seriously! She's not teaching little kids how to tell time, she's with a bunch of ten year olds. The clock is unnecessary.
 
I finally got to see this episode, and it was fairly interesting. So it seems Serena is probably going to participate in the Kalos Queen competition some time later? It's good to know there's something different in Kalos that's not about battling or contests.
 
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