[Spoilers] Pokemon Sun & Moon anime announced in CoroCoro

[Hikamaru]

Such a strange, new art direction. I'd hate to see what it does to Pokémon species of old that we know and love.

I could see lots of Pokemon's anime designs being butchered heavily. Even Litten's colouring looks pretty off to me.

Well it looks like rowett's going to be As's which is pretty nice to see.

Guess I was right about this being another Sinnoh in that Ash catches the Grass and Fire starters while the Water starter is owned by a female companion. Funnily both Dawn and Lana have blue hair.

 

[Z25]

I could see lots of Pokemon's anime designs being butchered heavily. Even Litten's colouring looks pretty off to me.



Guess I was right about this being another Sinnoh in that Ash catches the Grass and Fire starters while the Water starter is owned by a female companion. Funnily both Dawn and Lana have blue hair.

Shinnoh Confirmed!

But in all seriousness, that's pretty nice. Especially since I like those two the most.

 

[Hikamaru]

Now it questions me if Rowlet's capture will mean Ash actually breaks the regional bird trend this time. However I feel he'll utilize Rowlet more as a Grass-type rather than a Flying-type (similar to how in Unova, he used Pignite more as a Fire-type because for a while it only had Fire moves before learning Brick Break) so a Pikipek capture is still alive.

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I feel that the anime made the colors look a lot better in pokemon. I know it made Litten 100% better.

If Ash catches Rowlet, we need to remember that it will also be a Ghost type, especially if it plays out like Sinnoh where both starters evolved. I feel that they may follow the same pattern as well.

Maybe Mallow will catch Rowlet, but will end up trading for another pokemon at a later time.

Such a strange, new art direction. I'd hate to see what it does to Pokémon species of old that we know and love.


This. With this, Ash can go on and grow the f*ck up. And that's why everyone will always love Red more than Ash.

I feel that you put too much faith in everyone liking Red more. To be honest, i have seen far more love for Ash than Red. Not to mention Ash is far superior in the know factor.

And also, a lot of the pokemon look the same. We have already seen Primeape and others. The only one who looks weird is Ash. And a lot of people have went to the art style and prefer it over the other look.

Maybe not pokemon fans in general, but anime fans like this art style better.

 

[Hikamaru]

Ah yes, if Ash did get a Rowlet that fully evolved to Decidueye it would be his first Ghost-type (okay he did have that Haunter temporarily but I don't count it). And that's one of four types he hasn't officially owned a Pokemon of - the others being Steel, Psychic and Fairy.

 

[User19sq]

I feel that you put too much faith in everyone liking Red more. To be honest, i have seen far more love for Ash than Red. Not to mention Ash is far superior in the know factor.

That may be, but let me ask you this: would you rather battle a Pikachu whose level constantly keeps soft-resetting, or a Pikachu that knows what it's doing? XDDDDD

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I don't have a problem with Pikachu soft resetting. That is one of the main reason I had such a problem with Johto. Ash was too strong at the very start.

And Pikachu does know what it is doing. It isn't the level resetting that is a problem. It is the fact that some of them have made Pikachu sick at the start. It was a mistake to get rid of Volt Tackle, but again, it is just too powerful of a move. Hell he lost Thunder early early on and I don't recall people complaining.

XY was the only season that Pikachu didn't get sick, other than Johto, but Johto was just bad for the most part. And Ash was battling a pokemon who excelled in Ground Type attacks in XY, which is immune to electric type.

 

[Hikamaru]

First SM episode titles announced!

SM001: Alola! New Islands, New Pokemon!
SM002: Good Rotormorning, I am the Rotomdex, Roto!
SM003: Ashimari, Do Your Balloonest!
SM004: Togedemaru, Prickling and Tingling!

Ashimari if anyone's wondering, is Popplio's Japanese name.

 

[Kostas]

New preview is up.

 

[Hikamaru]

I'm cringing at not just Ash becoming super ugly, but his mother had to join the "ugly redesign camp" as well.

Anyways, it appears Ash being in the Trainers School is only lasting a few episodes since he does seem to plan to take on the Island Trials despite being 10 years old and not 11: https://vallhala.tumblr.com/post/153030434737/so-apparently-french-summaries-for-the-first-two

I was hoping for him to do Island Trials, but when I found out trainers in Alola needed to be 11 to do the Island Challenge I was wondering if that meant Ash had to age or somehow he gets recognized as a great trainer despite being underage.

 

[Frozocrone]

Latest preview! Lana looks kawaii af, Lillie looks amazing AF, Mallow is the only one to care about killing someone, no more mouth's on cheeks, Kiawe is badass, Sophocles forgotten lol.



Here's to a promising Sun and Moon saga!

 

[Z25]

I'm cringing at not just Ash becoming super ugly, but his mother had to join the "ugly redesign camp" as well.

Anyways, it appears Ash being in the Trainers School is only lasting a few episodes since he does seem to plan to take on the Island Trials despite being 10 years old and not 11: https://vallhala.tumblr.com/post/153030434737/so-apparently-french-summaries-for-the-first-two

I was hoping for him to do Island Trials, but when I found out trainers in Alola needed to be 11 to do the Island Challenge I was wondering if that meant Ash had to age or somehow he gets recognized as a great trainer despite being underage.

Nice to hear that the trials are going show up. Should be pretty good.

Latest preview! Lana looks kawaii af, Lillie looks amazing AF, Mallow is the only one to care about killing someone, no more mouth's on cheeks, Kiawe is badass, Sophocles forgotten lol.



Here's to a promising Sun and Moon saga!

Looks nice, it seems promising, so I hope it delivers. I do like the designs for the trial captains.

 

[EC]

So maybe there is hope yet that Ash didn't get stupider, just stayed his normal stupid self.

 

[Hikamaru]

So maybe there is hope yet that Ash didn't get stupider, just stayed his normal stupid self.

This.

What makes or breaks a Pokemon anime saga for me is how Ash's personality gets handled. Thanks to his complete reset and apparent "reboot" direction the BW series took, I ditched that series halfway through because I couldn't stand Ash, as well as Iris being a bully towards him (yes I'm referring to her "what a kid" remarks) which ruined her character for me.

If Ash acts incredibly stupid in this saga or I hear reviews saying he's been rebooted into a noob I will definitely give up on watching SM when it comes out in English. I already hate Ash's SM design (which I jokingly call his Alola Form because of how weird his face now looks) and if his personality dumbed down with it I will declare giving up any hope for the anime, especially with the fear it'll be a Yo-Kai Watch ripoff.

 

[Guest123_x1]

If Ash acts incredibly stupid in this saga or I hear reviews saying he's been rebooted into a noob I will definitely give up on watching SM when it comes out in English. I already hate Ash's SM design (which I jokingly call his Alola Form because of how weird his face now looks) and if his personality dumbed down with it I will declare giving up any hope for the anime, especially with the fear it'll be a Yo-Kai Watch ripoff.

Most of us know that the Pokémon anime may not be as popular as it once was (I don't want to get too deep into this, obviously), but I don't think the art style was the main factor in viewership numbers. But, now with the intense competition from the Yo-Kai Watch franchise and its corresponding anime, it seems to me OLM felt that the Pokémon Sun/Moon saga should take some cues from Yo-Kai Watch (since both shows are animated by that same company, IIRC). It's as if somebody there decided that Pokémon needed to be taken in a different direction. Never mind that I believe Alola Ash bears a striking resemblance to Steven from Steven Universe.

Even with all of this in mind, I also do fear that Ash's skill set will be cut down to new trainer levels a la Unova.

 

[Hikamaru]

Most of us know that the Pokémon anime may not be as popular as it once was (I don't want to get too deep into this, obviously), but I don't think the art style was the main factor in viewership numbers. But, now with the intense competition from the Yo-Kai Watch franchise and its corresponding anime, it seems to me OLM felt that the Pokémon Sun/Moon saga should take some cues from Yo-Kai Watch (since both shows are animated by that same company, IIRC). It's as if somebody there decided that Pokémon needed to be taken in a different direction. Never mind that I believe Alola Ash bears a striking resemblance to Steven from Steven Universe.

Even with all of this in mind, I also do fear that Ash's skill set will be cut down to new trainer levels a la Unova.

You do have notable points here, because when two franchises have a bitter rivalry they always try to outdo each other and to me, Pokemon copying too many Yo-Kai elements will tarnish what Pokemon's image is meant to be.

 

[Attribule]

Pokemon copying too many Yo-Kai elements will tarnish what Pokemon's image is meant to be.

It's a series for kids about kids going on an adventure to collect and battle Pokemon and making friends and crap along the way.

It's that simple. It's still doing that. Pokemon remains unchanged. All they actually changed was the art style. Nothing is tarnished. That's purist talk. Copying some vague concepts from a competitor doesn't change Pokemon.

Staff A: "Hey, maybe we should use more comedy this time around? I mean, kids really enjoyed the humor in Yok-"
Staff B: "What, and turn Pokemon into some lawless wasteland?! What's next, guns and drugs?! That kind of thinking means the gallows for you, Hoshi!"

 

[Frozocrone]

New poster from CoroCoro.

 

[jjc927]

Most of us know that the Pokémon anime may not be as popular as it once was (I don't want to get too deep into this, obviously), but I don't think the art style was the main factor in viewership numbers. But, now with the intense competition from the Yo-Kai Watch franchise and its corresponding anime, it seems to me OLM felt that the Pokémon Sun/Moon saga should take some cues from Yo-Kai Watch (since both shows are animated by that same company, IIRC). It's as if somebody there decided that Pokémon needed to be taken in a different direction. Never mind that I believe Alola Ash bears a striking resemblance to Steven from Steven Universe.

Of course the anime isn't as popular as it was. Even if you feel more recent seasons are better than the first, the first was when the franchise was a phenomenon. Before this year because of Pokemon Go, the promotion of the upcoming games, and the nostalgia factor for the 20th anniversary, Pokemon was barely relevant in pop culture for years. I didn't even realize there were currently new episodes of the show until I saw a promotion for a new episode on the Pokemon Facebook page this past summer. The show's gone in several different directions with its art style and characters since season 1 and it stays on mainly because it's cheaper to produce than a show made in the US and because of Nintendo's backing. As long as it has a network to syndicate it, it'll stay on. The new style of the show is just another new chapter, I don't see it as totally copying Yo-Kai Watch or Steven Universe or doing something new in desperation.

 

[Hikamaru]

Ash and his family apparently won their trip to Alola in the lottery.