Review XY113: Elle VS Serena! Open the Door to the Future!!

[PrincessSakura21]

Oh, well I better of Jessie fan!

 

[shadowist]

Here were my predictions for this episode (Don't go digging in the preview thread; this is my second post and my first was not there. Just take it in good faith that these were my predictions).
1. Serena wins the semi finals. // the title was 'Serena vs Aria' pretty much made this a foregone conclusion
2. X Something positive happens to Serena as she was falling (Pancham or Braixen Evolving?) // Because Serena won the semi finals, nothing really bad could have happened to her as I doubt she would have won had she tripped or something.

Overall a fun episode, but I'm an amourshipper and more likely than not Serena will leave Ash to train with Palermo once the XY series ends and SM begins.

 

[Satoshi Da Ze]

I would be mad if Serena won just like that to be honest.
The thing I vastly prefer in the anime over the games is how rightfully BIG those titles are. Everything seems very trivial in the game, but that translates terribly to what is supposed to be an inspiring long journey supposed to teach you about achieving things in real life. No one just decides to start doing something and in less than a year surpasses the leading champ. Especially somebody like Serena.
Being a top-anything in the anime is a big deal. It's not supposed to be accomplished in one shot.

Serena lost because she focus all of her attention on herself and her Pokémon, she's more concerned about having fun herself when she should be making the people watching her have fun. Aria won because she's an entertainer who wants to amaze the crowd. The people in the audience rose from their seats five seconds after she began performing. The girl got skills. She knows exactly what to do to make people vote for her. She doesn't need to create the most complex dance routines.

And this is actually one of the things Palermo told Amelia at the end of the Frey Showcase. Amelia approached Palermo and said Serena's performance wasn't as good as hers, and Palermo simply told her that Serena won because the crowd liked her performance more. She didn't get in details about the overall quality of the act, she just told her that's how Showcases work.

I'm glad someone pointed this out. I have just watched this episode and was confused why people were so mad or if they didn't understand Serena's own line after Elle's performance. She notices right there Elle is a giver and she's been on the receiving end

 

[Ghurlag]

The structure of these competitions is inherently biased towards the reigning champion in a way the Pokemon League and/or Champion challenges aren't.

This is (theoretically) a competition judged by the audience on measures of style and charm. You need to impress them. Yet look at it from their perspective: they sit there and watch a series of essentially very similar fireworks/dance shows. They'll vote for whatever stands out as fresh and interesting amongst that.

Serena didn't just have to perform against Elle, she had to impress an audience that has already watched her through the multiple preceeding rounds. They've seen Braixen's fire-cheerleading, they've seen Pancham's Stone Edge, they've seen Sylveon dance. There is only so fresh any combination of those ingredients can be. Serena didn't have any other Pokemon she could bring out for the finale to surprise the audience, and really the competition made sure of that: she couldn't hold something back through all of the previous rounds just in case she made it to the final, because her chances at the final spot are slim enough already.

Elle, on the other hand, hasn't performed at all during the showcase, so almost anything she does is going to seem fresh to this dazzled audience. Not to mention how her popularity means her performance is hyped, and how dubious it is that a reigning champion backed by this PR company would be defeated in a nationwide vote.

These Showcases are a terrible alternative to Contests. They are sexist, predatory events which seem to embody the worst of showbusiness. Presenting them as an aspirational goal for young girls is a terrible thing for the franchise to be doing. I can only hope this is the last one we see.

 

[ebaragetables]

I don’t get it. I really don’t get it. How could this episode be so bad? Let’s start off with the semi-finals. They weren’t good. Serena, Shauna, and though i hate to say it, even Jessie’s performances weren’t exactly the most visually pleasing. Then we got Serena injuring her wrist, which I think is pretty dumb considering it didn’t mean anything in the end and was pointless.

Now the finals, oh the finals. Garbage. It’s garbage because Serena’s performance was Meh, but Aria's performance was worse. I thought most part of Aria performance didn't shown or skip because focused more shown on others reaction. However, Aria still won. What’s worse isn’t that Serena barely lost, it’s the fact that she actually lost buy a lot.

The rest of the episode isn’t anything to write home about either. Serena just gets an offer to get taught by Palermo, but declines. That’s about it. If there’s anything I liked about this episode, it was the talk Serena had with Ash before giving Palermo her answer. That’s it. sigh look I wanted this arc to be good, or good enough, but it just wasn’t. Well it’s over. That’s just Awful.

Rating:1.5/10(Awful)

 

[SatoSerefan5229]

Honestly this should have ended in a draw with both Serena & Aria crowned as Queen but Aria decides to relinquish the Queen title to Serena.