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Review S11 EP20: Pika and Goliath!

This was a very dramatic episode indeed. It kinda portrayed just how severe Pokémon training can get. I found the Jive Turkey slightly amusing though.

What I didn't like was Paul appearing out of no where, although that was the entire point of his appearence. Though I do wonder why he keeps stalking Ash and friends even though they don't like eachother at all.
 
ugh replacing battle music? Even 4Kids left most of the battle music in so why are the offical people (PUSA) who are in charge of the dub now not leaving it in...shame.

PLEASE tell me the dub at least referenced the Lt. Surge episode
 
It showed a flahsback to the episode, but Ash didn't mention Lt. Surge by name or anything. But I don't think Satoshi did that in the Japanese version, either.

Was anyone else annoyed by the fact that the whole "Ash has been carrying around that Thunder Stone for ten seasons now" thing came out of nowhere? Arg.

I sort of spot-checked the dub, and I noticed how Sho loved using the slang "ya dig?" Which, if you ask me, is a pretty horribly out-of-date bit of slang to be using in an episode dubbed in 2008.

It sort of shows how embarrassingly out-of-touch with current trends PUSA's writers are.
 
Sketch said:
For a fandom that wants to keep as much Japanese content as possible, you're all getting simply PISSED that he kept his Japanese name.
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Exactly, that makes absolutely no sense. Of all the stupid things to complain about. Keeping Japanese names is supposed to be a good thing, so why the whining?
 
Well I'll be satisifed with the reference to the flashback at least...but still what a crime to re use such an original plot point...against a Raichu again to boot. So Ash had that same Thunderstone from Nurse Jenny from season one? Interesting...also how convient that he just happens to have it in his pocket at that time lol.

Well Dogasu apparently James Carter, the second string writer from the 4Kids series is still doing the scripts.
 
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Does anyone else wonder if Team Rocket will use the thunder stone? I know they said they'll sell it, but maybe not...
 
Dogasu said:
I sort of spot-checked the dub, and I noticed how Sho loved using the slang "ya dig?" Which, if you ask me, is a pretty horribly out-of-date bit of slang to be using in an episode dubbed in 2008.

It sort of shows how embarrassingly out-of-touch with current trends PUSA's writers are.
Click to expand...

I think that was kinda the idea of the "totally radical" diolouge given to the character.

I personally found it hilarious when put in that way. At least it adds some kind of flavour to the usually wooden dullo-louge characters are usually given. It's ment to be silly.
 
I don't think this episode was bad on all accounts. It does feel like a bit of a rehash of the "Electric Shock Showdown" episode, but it adds drama (though I think the flashbacks could have had a bit more content). The music, too, isn't bad, with a lucid quality to it that makes it a good background IMO (though I think it could be a tad more dramatic).

My issue is more or less that it seems like Ash is repeating the same erroneous things he did 500+ episodes earlier. This line - in particular - stunned me:

"If Pikachu evolves into Raichu, that's fine with me."

And this is what he had to say 500+ episodes earlier:

"There's more to raising a Pokemon than forcing it to evolve. And I like this Pikachu just the way it is."

Just to add, this is obviously from the dub, and I don't know what was said in the original Japanese version of either episode. That aside, in Episode 14, Ash was still starting out in his relationship with Pikachu, so he wasn't completely against evolving Pikachu, but only if Pikachu had a want for such (which is not something Ash asks Pikachu in this episode if I'm not having a lapse in recollection, but he did in Episode 14). But this is 500+ episodes later. Ash and Pikachu have formed an apparently deep and unfathomably strong bond at this point, and Ash has acted as though he would never want Pikachu to evolve (nor would Pikachu want to) on many an occasion. That the thought even occurs to him now, 500+ episodes later, bewilders me to no end. That Pikachu even ends up winning the battle against Sho and his Raichu (similar in how Ash and Pikachu won against Surge and his Raichu with similar strategies) later on makes me wonder why Ash was pondering using his thunderstone to begin with. But this is just my opinion. At least Team Rocket, seldom as this is, didn't rile up trouble in this episode and make an attempt at stealing Pikachu, much like in "Electric Shock Showdown" (though they seemed more supportive and less inimical in that one).

In this episode, we only learn a lesson taught to us 500+ episodes earlier. That's my qualm. That aside, not a bad episode, I just don't see it as much more than something we've already seen.
 
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Dogasu said:
I sort of spot-checked the dub, and I noticed how Sho loved using the slang "ya dig?" Which, if you ask me, is a pretty horribly out-of-date bit of slang to be using in an episode dubbed in 2008.

It sort of shows how embarrassingly out-of-touch with current trends PUSA's writers are.
Click to expand...
They weren't aiming for current, they were aiming for mockery. The whole entire idea of a character who is every ghetto dog's worst nightmare of cracker trying to fit in like they got the lingo square is...repulsive. And the writers shot so far over the moon with it that they actually made it work. For a wanna-be homeboy.
 
Geodude said:
Exactly, that makes absolutely no sense. Of all the stupid things to complain about. Keeping Japanese names is supposed to be a good thing, so why the whining?
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Because then they wouldn't be able to complain about something. EVERYTHING must be complained about. Otherwise, this strange need, this desire- no, this lust to whine isn't met to its fullest possible extent. It'd be one topic less to bitch about. That can NOT be allowed to happen.

God help us all if there was one less detail for fans to bitch about.

God help us all.

[/sarcasm]
 
Wow, Pikachu Vs. Raichu here was such a better battle than the Vermilion Gym battle between the two.

Its honestly amazing how much better the battles get with each passing season, just watching the two Pikachu Vs. Raichu battles side by side, this one blows the Lt. Surge match out of the water.
 
ShadowDeeps said:
My issue is more or less that it seems like Ash is repeating the same erroneous things he did 500+ episodes earlier. This line - in particular - stunned me:

"If Pikachu evolves into Raichu, that's fine with me."

And this is what he had to say 500+ episodes earlier:

"There's more to raising a Pokemon than forcing it to evolve. And I like this Pikachu just the way it is."
Click to expand...

I'm pretty certain that Ash is fine with Pikachu evolving would be on the assumption that Pikachu took the thunderstone to evolve itself.

The only reason why Pikachu didn't (and still doesn't) want to evolve is because it wants to fight on it's own terms and not resorting to the most obvious boost in power to acheive that.

It's really Pikachu's decision if he wants to evolve or not and Ash is abiding by that. It's only reaffirming that Ash will go with Pikachu's will to evolve or not.
 
review

"Sho" was hilarious!! Some of his wordings were fairly relevant (like "noob") but a lot of it was pretty far from how people like that actually talk.

I didn't think the episode was as dramatic as other people thought. It was nothing compared to last week. I didn't find anything particularly special about it. I really was not captivated by Pikachu's near-death experience...not sure why. Either the plot or the dub did a bad job of making it dramatic.

For my background music comments please see spoiler tag:
The BGM was bad in this episode. I thought PUSA had turned over a new leaf, since it was so good for the previous episode. However, I found it to be very undramatic, underwhelming, and lucid.

On a good note, I liked the season 1 references.

Rating: B-
 
This episode was pretty good, but the dub did kinda spoil it at the end with really boring music during the re-match. Even just stock library battle music to replace what, if I recall correctly, was a song in the Japanese episode, would have been grand. Instead it just killed the emotion and action in it. :/

I'm surprised just how much the whole misdirect of "Pikachu's going to die" was carried across through to the dub. They didn't even try to fob it off as Nurse Joy "refilling its electrical sacs" or whatever.

I think people complaining about this episode (and the last one? I dunno, never saw the other topic) being "rehashes" need to understand that - in Japan - that was the entire point. These were anniversary episodes, originally aired together and were joined with a flashback 'episode' detailing Pikachu's journey against evolving. It doesn't carry that obviously across to the dub, of course, but there's no real way it could.
 
The Doctor said:
This episode was pretty good, but the dub did kinda spoil it at the end with really boring music during the re-match. Even just stock library battle music to replace what, if I recall correctly, was a song in the Japanese episode, would have been grand. Instead it just killed the emotion and action in it. :/
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Problem is that since PUSA no longer uses 4kids music, they haven't got a single good bgm for battles. They only have filler music to put in between silence :|. That's why its so completely retarded to edit out the japanese battle bgm in the first place. The second battle felt so completely..lackluster in the dub.

Aside from that second battle, the dub was quite good.
 
This ep was ok at best. Sho was fairly annoying and there was nothing really interesting besides the second battle(and that was kinda toned down from the lame music).
 
So wouldn't carrying around a Thunder Stone for ten years or so be a really dangerous thing to do? I mean...what if it fell out of the bag it was in and accidentally touched Pikachu? There isn't any way for Pikachu to touch a Thunder Stone *without* evolving, is there?

Also...we can assume that Satoshi changes over the contents of his backpack from bag to bag each time he gets a new outfit, right? If that's the case, then that means he consciously packed the Thunder Stone when he got his Houen backpack and again when he got his Shin'ou one. Which...doesn't really make any sense.
 
Dogasu said:
So wouldn't carrying around a Thunder Stone for ten years or so be a really dangerous thing to do? I mean...what if it fell out of the bag it was in and accidentally touched Pikachu? There isn't any way for Pikachu to touch a Thunder Stone *without* evolving, is there?

Also...we can assume that Satoshi changes over the contents of his backpack from bag to bag each time he gets a new outfit, right? If that's the case, then that means he consciously packed the Thunder Stone when he got his Houen backpack and again when he got his Shin'ou one. Which...doesn't really make any sense.
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It was kept in that leather pouch though...

Plus I think the stone needs to be actually *used* on the Pokémon in order to evolve it. It's fine for Pokémon to hold the item they may need to evolve without actually evolving (You can attach evolutionary stones to Pokémon that evolve by them).
 
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