anna's journeys watch quest

HI due to the announcement of the new chapter in the anime's life i have suddenly found the need to VERY QUICKLY catch up to what is going on!

the last episode i recall watching is JN034 - Solitary and Menacing! / The Solitary Fighter Saitō! The Threatening Otosupus!! so at current count i'm gonna have to do 102 episodes in uhhh 28 days. NOT LIKE I HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO OVER THE HOLIDAY SEASON OR ANYTHING RIGHT?

it's only like 4 eps a day its fine its fine

i will be watching subbed as i usually do. i will be posting a little thought on each episode. i will probably note what i teared up at in each ep because i have to poke fun at my emotional self (some days im more sensitive than others leave me be!!!). idk what else to say thats about all im doin

anyway if you wanna relive journeys or watch along or chat with me about em (no spoilers tho pls) OR EVEN just read my random thoughts as i go and see if i can make it- here we go!!

JN035: Gotta Catch a What?! / Catch Pikachu!!
cute and light and fluffy but it stressed me out when pikachu was runnin from the thunder stone! that shit got too close!! but then when goh's pikachu caught the stone and pressed it to her little chest like she was praying but also so, so joyful to do what she knew she'd be able to do in saving them all- i cry.

JN036: Making Battles in the Sand! / Satoshi and Go, Crawl Up From the Sand Hell!
oh my god?? what was this?? this is actually IMMACULATE. to show ash on a downward spiral, to show us exactly where he's misstepping in his assumptions, to have him keep making the mistake until he gets so far in his head that he loses himself and makes more- losing his confidence in such a way that is so believable and surprisingly subtle for pokéani?? ah! *chef's kiss* and even better, the resolution- the resolution that is not ash suddenly dancing under the sun again but simply a gentle break in the clouds. a reframe, a re-focus, an acknowledgement of needing to rebuild rather than suddenly on his feet again- YES!!! beautiful. incredible. wow.

JN037: That New Old Gang of Mine! / I'm Back, Nice to Meet You, Alola!
noooo okay so i teared up like IMMEDIATELY as soon as Kukui said "welcome home", when ash said "i'm home!" on entering the professors' house- alola is so very much his home, it really is, they made that such a theme and they did it so well over the SuMo series and hammered it in with this one. ash meeting lei and every time it was hammered into him that he's family and this is his home- aaaa! this is where he'll live, when he's done travelling. he'll go to alola and live with his family there. there's no way he could do anything else. also the whole kaki/ash/goh thing is so. feelings. i love them.

JN038: Restore and Renew! / Miracle Restoration, the Fossil Pokémon!
kinda mid. love to see golurk!!! and koharu being around is always nice; does she frequently wear this outfit? ive forgotten. its really cute tho. i laughed out loud when goh walked up to aerodactyl and it just frickin SCREAMED that was so good lmfao but IMMEDIATELY that was followed by tearing up during the capure and celebration sequence, the music was so so good!! its the music that gets me guys.

four down! that's on track so far!

JN039: Octo-Gridlock at the Gym! / Satoshi VS Saitō! Conquer the Octopus Hold!!
hey i LOVE ash being recognized. theres something about the acknowledgement of prior accomplishment that def hits right. i dont mind that he worked back up to super class off-screen; he wasnt that far off after all, if he hadn't really battled since then. i will never stop saying that explosions are overused and dont even make sense half the time; this is just the first particularly egregious incident since ive been watching again. BUT!! electroweb on the floor was choice and oh baby the sound styling here, especially for the match- the track of tragic futility for pikachu vs grapploct was yes, where i teared up. i am both gald and astonished that this match ended in a draw; i think that's so narratively satisfying! and they've made it easy to kinda set bea aside for the moment by having her move up a class while ash is still at the bottom of his.

JN040: A Crackling Raid Battle! / VS Thunder! A Legendary Raid Battle!!
what the hell?? when did the anime get really good at pacing?? incredible. i loved koharu's note on goh becoming more like ash while the whole ep also tells us no, they're still pretty different and don't get each other all the time. because both are true! i got really hyped for the raid battle feat. rockets but it wasn't actually much. oh well! love to see stunfisk anyway. i gotta say tho any time the opening starts playing inside the episode i cry. raboot unlocking blaze kick was amazing, but i also love the way draco meteor has been used and how it looks!! also im very glad goh didnt catch zapdos and that he had fun with the experience anyway!

JN041: Pikachu Translation Check... & Up to Your Neck! / The Great Pikachu Dubbing Operation! & Half a Numacraw
i like the double features! some little stories are fun to do but just don't work even as a b-plot for a normal ep or would drag on forever. rockets are always funny, and the fourth wall break was incredible. and the way they stuck that marshtomp in the ground was hilarious in every shot. the music when the rain came was so good! i didnt cry this time tho ;P

i think im done for the day, so im technically one behind. but that's for a reason! the next four episodes are an arc and i want to watch them back to back but i dont want to do seven today. i'll fit an extra in later!

JN042: Sword and Shield, Slumbering Weald / Sword & Shield I - "Slumbering Forest"
yoo the vibes are so good in every scene! the intense gravitas of the encounter with the dogs was a++. they went all out on showing the stakes very quickly- the visible, large scale destruction (that centiskorch took out a whole neighborhood!?!) and rose's full commitment to the idea that there would be casualties- that in particular was delivered so well; that he understands the weight of what he is saying and fully accepts it- he isn't flippant, but he is so firmly resolved that this is Right. wow. the sonia and goh scenes are the least weighty but don't entirely break tone and that's important. i do love her and her awful driving lmao. i started tearing up when ash went three on one with centiskorch because im just so proud of him; able to keep track of three of his at once and even if he can't break through- he can defend, he can protect. i love. leon's overwhelming power is clear but i dont love it; honestly I think there have been a few battles recently that are over way too quick (as someone who writes battles frequently). but i did cry when he showed up and the music kicked in, of course i did.

JN043: Sword and Shield: The Darkest Day! / Sword & Shield II - "Black Night"
okay so a lot of setup this ep, which isn't terrible. as much as sonia was casual about her retelling of her drift from leon, the accompanying visual was a wrench on the heartstrings. but damn also putting that basically back to back with leon telling ash rose "raised" him? ooooof. and then rose trying to groom ash while his protogé starts to suspect him- yikes! and what is definitely the start of attempted murder of sonia and goh and possibly magnolia- more yikes! yes i teared up at that good good hit of the dynamax battle music dont @ me

JN044: Sword and Shield: "From Here to Eternatus!" / Sword & Shield III - "Mugendina"
yknow, i feel like this version of rose somehow makes so much more sense and the way this has been written is much more solid than the actual swsh games. idk maybe i dont remember enough from them. either way! sonia and goh are a great pair. gigantamax meowth was very scary even if intended primarily for comedy; i have big feelings around the tragedy of being controlled by a force greater than yourself. that news crew who gave us a shot of him is fully dead tho. i teared up when rose tried to shut down leon and ash took up the fight. i love love love where this ep left us; the stakes are very high and the cast is split, facing down opponents that they'll struggle to overcome. besides raihan maybe. theyre giving him four or so to deal with for a reason i suppose.

JN045: Sword and Shield... The Legends Awaken! / Sword & Shield IV - "The Ultimate Sword and Shield"
ash's play against rose was so frickin good. and then the shakeup and the parallel evolutions!!! so good!!! the futility of the struggle against eternatus, incredible, and the weight of each push back against our modern day legend leon leaving even him out of it. it's important to channel the gravity of what's happening; i think they did an incredible job throughout this arc. and of course i cried when goh and ash chose to become the heroes, not knowing if anything would truly happen, not knowing if that would be anything but a last stand, hoping with only a smidge of confidence that anything at all would come of it- but what else can you do? again, i think the anime did a much better job at communicating the situation they were in than the games did for the protagonist and hop.

i'm torn between if i would have preferred this arc to be a movie. i think i understand what it's not- why would people go to theatres to see the exact plot of the game?- but i think the emotional weight of the arc would have been much better to be immersed in without 1) waiting a week btwn each and 2) being interrupted by the op/eye catch/ed. i think it worked really well overall though!

another four down! still one behind schedule, but that's okay for now~

JN046: Getting More Than You Battled For! / Battle & Catch! The Revival of Mewtwo
this ep felt very strange. like it should have been weighty- the presentation and the music told me that all of this should have weight and meaning but it didn't; the whole point was summed up by mewtwo telling them they were yet immature but the movement toward that conclusion was stilted if existant. i did appreciate seeing goh's creativity in navigating the island, i suppose, but this epside felt oddly segmented for a very linear narrative.

JN047: Crowning the Chow Crusher! / Pokémon Champion! The Battle of Big Eaters!!
very cute and refreshing ep tbh! what a fun way for sqwovet to evolve. the second round battle of wits and the whole reason for blaziken's loss was very funny too. good reason to send these guys off to unova!

JN048: A Close Call... Practically! / A Close Call with Practically Pikachu!
very funny and cute; it's not often we get a pokécentric episode that doesn't have pikachu as the primary focus! lucario and cinderace's relationship is fantastic tbh i hope that keeps coming up. and the pretty-much pikachu was adorable. we didn't really do anything ehat was unova-specific so it's a little weird that this is the only ep they're there for now tho.

JN049: To Train, or Not to Train! / Koharu and the Mysterious, Mysterious Eievui!
i really like koharu's insistence on choosing her own path; they set eevee up to be the perfect choice in that way (much as i dislike the over-fixation on putting eevee everywhere). the eevee researchers' designs were really fun! as were the team rocket school costumes haha. despite what ash says, that uniform looks terrible on goh tho lmao. i also love that he's apparently obligated to show up to school for tests; idr if they covered that before but it entertains me. also the copycat payoff was great!! i cried when eevee chose koharu haha.

JN050: A Pinch of This, a Pinch of That! / Galar Fossils! Stick 'Em Together!!
new op!! love it. yes, teared up. kinda unsure about just getting new people to perform the same song over and over tho.
onto the ep- so heres the thing. i love pokemon. there is not a single pokemon i hate. its rare that i even vaguely dislike one. but. the galar fossil mon are sad, twisted abominations that would have a better life if they were never revived at all. how can you subject a creature to live like that? theyre viscerally unpleasant to contemplate.
i like that the fossil revival technology used is explicitly different than what we've seen in the past- even the recent past, with the aerodactyl ep. it actually explains why this atrocity happens as opposed to, yknow, the usual dna-extraction restoration. i also enjoy koharu providing a new perspective into the chaos that perhaps we take for granted because goh and ash take it in stride- but still learning to have fun!
i hate that i'm going to have to see dracovish with some frequency.

JN051: Trials of a Budding Master! / Kamonegi's Great Trials!
i love pokemon with weapons. its neat to me! a pickaxe might uh, be a little much tho. those things are sharp. i like that ash is struggling to be in synch with a pokémon because like. it does take a different approach with each individual, doesn't it? rinto's show of power was certainly something, but it was primarily defensive and coming off the back of an intense battle it's completely understandable that farfetch'd was taken down so soundly. so does the dude really have any right to talk smack? who knows.

skipping yesterday put me at five behind, so six today means i'm only at three behind again. right? does that math check out? hopefully!

JN052: How Are You Gonna Keep 'Em Off of the Farm? / Agricultural Experience! Where is Digda!?
this one was really sweet! from the kids learning about farming to the bookends of wide open spaces making you want to run- just a really nice bonding experience for the three kids! and endo was really sweet and patient too. i think that it's been a good mid-series refresh to add koharu as a semi-frequent companion starting from square one as a trainer.

JN053: Healing the Healer! / Catch the Legend!? Find the Guardian of Water - Suicune!!
it's been a while since we've seen pokémon hunters, i feel! these guys had a smart strategy, too. i knew goh caugh suicune, of course, and i always thought i disliked the idea. but i've come around to the framing of "this highly powerful creature is just going to spend some time with a human it finds neat". and i do like that it was definitely that type of thing! suicune was fully just using goh to get out of a situation at first, yknow? and then he proved himself to be a good dude. i teared up when the hunters were stomping on suicune and goh could do nothing ;_;

JN054: Sobble Spies a Stealthy Strategy! / Messon in Possible!
can we talk about how funny the japanese ep title is?? incredible. this ep kind of hits home a similar idea that i touched on with the last koharu epside- i think it's really cool that the characters and pokémon are being staggered in their growth and development! it keeps things interesting as we go along~

JN055: The Tale of You and Glimwood Tangle! / The Tale of You and Luminous Maze Forest
*squints* was it a dream or not??? either way, the ep was really pretty interesting to follow! playtime with impidimp was really cute :) and how many times can i say i love copycat?

JN056: Searching for Chivalry! / Gampi of The Big Four! The Hall of Chivalry!!
wikistrom, hello! hes pretty fun. this ep was nice but j couldnt shake the feeling of it being isolated within the world- big ol castle in the middle of nowhere with just wikistrom and some kids in it. weird. finally we're getting to the point of working together with farfetch'd tho! and a scyther evo out of the blue! not mad at it but it was a bit sudden, huh?

JN057: Memories of a Warming Kindness! / Love is Koduck
kikuna backstory?! very cute and sweet and silly. i do love the slice of life type episodes! koharu bonding with a role model is also nice!

JN058: A Rollicking Roll &
Eyes on the Goal! / Panic! Gokulin Ball!!
& Come on, Kamukame - The Turtle Race!
i live for silliness. everything about this first half was incredible. why was the machine full of guplin? who cares. no notes. second half was less entertaining but still fun! i hope turtle master reappears someday.

JN059: When a House is Not a Home! / The Lost Sarunori! Who is the Trainer!?
goh's frickin dream- im losing it lmao. yknow, it's been a while since mr. mime was around. nice to see him! and sobble hiding around the place the last couple eps is cute. this was a really interesting way to get goh the third of the galar starters! a little odd that its the second (third?) ep in a row that involves the rocket vending machine releasing pokémon under unusual circumstances. someone had an idea and grouped them, hey? not mad at it in the slightest! grookey is super cute too :)

made up for yesterday, on track for today, but that still leaves me at three behind! cant skip cant skip cant skip it gets overwhelming quick if i do!!

JN060: Beyond Chivalry… Aiming to be a Leek Master! / Aim to Be a Scallion Master! Charge with Chivalry!!
bro rinto is so irritating lmao. but a long and harsh battle to evolve farfetch'd was definitely what was needed!

JN061: Searching for Service with a Smile! / Leave Everything to Us! Prasle Minun Handymen!!
whatttt that was super cute! this man in a full body cast including his hat is ridiculous tho. and also meowth almost died for real i think. but yay for rockets with a helping hand! i teared up during the whole rescue sequence, leave me be

JN062: Not Too Close for Comfort! / Damp Jimereon
ohhh that was certainly not the conclusion i expected! i like that ash and goh got a little tv spot, thats cute. i really feel for drizzile, suddenly in a body it doesn't want or like, and for goh- and cinderace tbh- that's their baby. that's their baby that's suddenly changed in a very distressing way to everyone. i definitely cried during the rooftop talk.

JN063: On Land, In the Sea, and to the Future! / Challenge! Pokémon Marine Athletic!!
ive been loving how many small moments make up an entertaining episode. goh trying to throw a pokeball underwater, the little mon just playibg around in the sea... and yknow ash is just a really funny character in general- entering a kids competition with a wild, huge abomination. said abomination barely swimming. not knowing if dracovish knows something other than water gun. like my guy's just vibing half the time. i still dislike dracovish btw. i love how thoughtful koharu is being about eevee's evolution! i hope we get an ep like this for each one of them before she decides.

JN064: Absol Absolved! / The Detested Absol
oh hey returning characters! neat! ash and goh rlly went "there's going to be an eruption so the best thing to do is walk up to the crater and figure out how to stop it" um??? bros??? maybe not. but yknow it all worked out, so!

JN065: Thrash of the Titans! / Dragon Battle! Satoshi VS Iris!!
IRIS IRIS IRIS!!! fun facts abt me: Best Wishes was when I got pulled back into the anime and when I started watching it as it came out, and in Japanese! as much as the writing that series was uhhhhh questionable I still really loved it! iris here is ummm pretty powered up and idk how to feel about it; like congrats to her and all but she's changed a LOT. feels almost unfamiliar. nice to see them bickering again though! and dragonite learning draco meteor was incredible!

i said i wasnt gonna skip anymore days and then i skipped a day. well.... things happen. so that was three behind, plus four for yesterday, plus four for today- thats eleven. but minus the six i watched today... okay! only five behind. alright! i think trying for six eps a day isnt bad honestly. maybe i'll get ahead eventually? 19 days left though!!

JN066: Under Color of Darkness! / Flabebe's White Flower
yeah so it's episodes like these that make you really feel that goh's goal truly is to understand every pokémon, not just catch. yeah i cried from the time the flower bloomed till the end lol

JN067: Sleuths for Truth! / Suspect Pikachu!?
this episode is for all of us that spent years saying officer jenny doesnt do anything i guess. what a wild ride lmao

JN068: Advice to Goh! / A Rival for Go!? The Road to Mew!!
GARY GARY GARY YESSSS MY SILLY LITTLE GUY!!!! hes so cool now tho lmao i know i disliked iris's gain in maturity and shift in direction but i sp appreciate it with gary tbh; i think it's actually a really natural shift! but then again i spent far less focused/nuanced time with gary than with iris, ya know? but i like it, so whatever! he's so cool; i do wish there was a little more focus on infernape because that was a nice way to feature one of ash's old pokemon without bringing them back for the duration! but its so funny that gary is like, canonically just terrible at saying he likes people lmao. i think that's great. and ash knows it so well at this point that it just rolls off him. their friendship is so sweet~ anyway i know like jack shit about pokémon go honestly but hey! i guess there's plot to it? who knew. also im sure its been said but marketing team were cowards for not calling the series "pokemon: goh" or something. just roll with it if ur gonna do it

JN069: Errand Endurance! / Watch Over My First Errand!
awww a first errand ep, very cute!! cried when grookey did because hes just a little baby 🥺 give him all the hugs 🥺

JN070: Take My Thief! Please! / Please! Catch Morpeko!!
glad we ended up at the inevitable conclusion, but i am kinda bored with morpeko. hopefully they start doin something different with it now!

JN071: Leaping Toward the Dream! / Let's Go! Project Mew!!
ohh cute new eye catches in here. a lot of intriguing stuff! project mew seems full of standoffish types, hope goh's senstive little self can handle lmao. and i hope theyre not gonna be too annoying to me as we get to know them. i like asahi's design! and the fact that we were straight up told ash and goh woulda died out there lmao. regice seemed kinda random but idk. and urshifu too. weird.

JN072: Everybody's Doing the Underground Shuffle! / Shuffle Panic in the Underground Labyrinth!?
a classic team shuffle ep! what a good shuffle, too! meowth and koharu was unexpected added chaos, and eevee becoming a rocket-in-training was super cute.

JN073: Grabbing the Brass Ring! / Captain Pikachu! Advance, Tairetsu!!
cute, low-stakes ep! i loved the pikachu-as-captain moments lmao. and the poor eiscue sure had an adventure.

okay. okay we're at the point where i need to re-evaluate what i have to do to make it in time, huh? but wait! it's not actually so bad! 4.2 episodes a day gets me there. so, let's aim for five from now on and it'll be just fine!

JN074: Nightfall? Nightmares! / Darkrai - A Midsummer Night's Dream
should i be more familiar with the play for this? surely not. anyway. DAWN DAWN DAWN i cried when she showed up i love her so much ;; she and koharu becoming buddies is so cute and so is koharu's travel outfit actually! i love her taking on a little journey yayyy! im still mildly confused as to if there is only a Single Darkrai or Songle Cresselia in this world but yknow whatever i guess. also good luck TRio we know you won't win but I hope the purple-haired lady doesn't manage to screw you over too badly

JN075: A Midsummer Night's Light! / Cresselia - A Midsummer Night's Light
yo this episode was so PRETTY i dont usually have the eyes for noting when animation is prettier than usual but something about this caught me! i wish the battle against the rocket grunts was more than one exchange; i feel like i aint seen a cool battle in a while. maybe soon! anyway what a good team these four are! i would love to see them together more~

JN076: All Out, All of the Time! / Full Power! Alola Deserted Island Race!!
awww the full power brothers were sweet. almost made up for not seeing any other alola crew i guess? aside from the team rocket group aaa thank goodness they got a moment. yknow i really cant express how much i LOVE the concept of new friends finding out Who Ash Is, the extent of his accomplishments, what he means to people. i adore that so much, here and in any story.

JN077: Ultra Exciting from the Shocking Start! / Super Electromagnetic Hyper Class Battle!
YEAAAAH IVE BEEN WANTING A GOOD BATTLE!!! very engaging!! love to see switching strats used but balanced well in terms of not making things boring. i think luxray went out kinda quick but other than that i think the exchanges felt Real and Fair yknow? except can Z Moves really overpower motor drive?? is that real?? whatever i'm cool with it.

JN078: Detective Drizzile! / The Targeted Sakuragi Institute!
ohhhh i love that drizzile's clearly been working the whole time and of course i cried when it evolved ahaha honestly its storyline is really good! the antagonist here was annoying as hell tho lmao

on track again for five a day ✌️✌️

JN079: Night and Day, You are the Ones! / Moon and Sun, Koharu and Haruhi
oooo koharu double?! i love haruhi a lot actually shes so cool!! and the message of this episode was lovely and you could see it play out in various ways- very very good!! this whole deal is definitely something that makes the world feel alive and like it turns outside of the protagonist group and i love that, yknow?

JN080: Trial on a Golden Scale! / Trial Mission! Ulgamoth's Golden Scales!!
oooh i liked that ep! very adventure-y and well-paced! the shiny volcarona was so cool :) and tsurugi is growing on me lmao he do care. is goh being favored tho? maybe

JN081: Mad About Blue! / Clash!? The Blue Poké Maniacs!
what a strange experience lmao. poor koharu being dragged into everything! and poor wobbuffet being so scared ahaha. very fun ep!

JN082: The Sweet Taste of Battle! / Mawhip's Sweet Battle!?
IT WASN'T A DREAM?!
anyway i love goh just accidentally evolving milcery. and opal and raihan are so funny together. also hilarious is that opal just Does Stuff Like This all the time and bullies people into showing up. shes great. leon is far less interesting than either opal or raihan oops. and the idea that pikachu didnt dynamax but just ate the attack? absolutely wild. entertaining and chaotic ep, just like opal lmao

JN083: Star Night, Star Flight! / The Py That Became A Star
rehash of movie 3? pokemon death? cynthia? eternal night? what a combination lmao. done really well tho! yes i cried

ok so technically im not behind bc i watched the next five but bulba was down when i kept trying to pull ep titles so im not posting them today!

JN084: An Adventure of Mega Proportions! / Lucarionite! Adventure on Mega Island!!
i LOVE these adventure eps tbh. worldbuilding??? the rain dance following goh and lucario, the idea that a key stone boosts aura, that mega stones have tracable aura, more aura work... ive genuinely always been irritated that ash as an aura-sensitive was so poorly utilized. his mega evo should have been lucario, back in kalos, not ash-greninja. but im glad he finally gets to do it now! even tho i think the aura stuff is still lacking. i know theyve established that the bond btwn ash and lucario is like S-Tier or whatever but i do hope it takes them a minute to actually figure out mega evolution. i feel like the bonds and the work to control the power are aspects that are frequently dropped for this stuff but yknow. its also just pokemon.

JN085: Battle Three With Bea! / Rival Showdown! Satoshi VS Saitō!!
yoooo this is so cool!! clearly im not getting the struggle to achieve mega that i would prefer but there is yet conflict! love leon showing up to contradict the announcer's assessment (is this favoritism? who can say). lucario really got beat to shit without ash doing much of anything too. is this the first two part tournament battle of the series? i think it might be. thats neat. also as an aside i am so sick of seeing bea's karate form animation lmao

JN086: A Battle of Mega Versus Max! / Mega Evolution VS Kyodaimax
YOOOOO this is what battling is about! absolute insanity! brutal swing being a thrown shield is inspired but planting pikachu into the ground and just VIBRATING is insane, what the hell!!!! sirfetch'd went out way too quick tho gotta say. and leon showed up and didnt even do his damn job lmao the man said NOTHING. hell of a battle tho!

JN087: Breaking the Ice! / The Ice Queen and Glacia
ohhhhh regina's design super cute without being over the top actually! i like her a lot! and the story was very well-done and sweet. not entirely convinced about regina's pivot into battling? but thats fine i guess.

JN088: Looking Out for Number Two! / Trial Mission! The Deep Sea Diver Research Team!!
is this what drake's doing with his time? thats legit, love that for him. i do love adventure episodes! goh really taking scary chances tho... i HATE deep water stuff like ough really stresses me out. i really thought that seadra was gonna evolve and just choose to go along but hey! fakeout!

if the way i keep on track with this isnt indivative of how i operate my life i dont know what is. i am ten behind? maybe. lmao it'll be alright its just a tv show. we do our best and keep on goin'

JN089: The Gates of Warp! / Dialga & Palkia! The Space-Time Cataclysm!!
oh yo the MYSTERY here. i love this. i love the pacing, and the cast of eerieness. and the cast of characters! what a good set- the four i wanted to see together again, plus rockets and cynthia and some doubles- yoooo! this is so much fun! the amount of intrigue is kinda perfect tbh. this is fascinating.

JN090: Showdown at the Gates of Warp! / Dialga & Palkia! The Space-Time Showdown!!
hmmmm okay well as much fun as it was - could have used another ep? and a better solution lmfao like i get we're in for the power of friendship but it's usually the deciding factor, not the exclusive solution to big problems. its a little weird like its all the tropes of the movies but compressed and the emotional impact reduced because of that. oh well! alt-goh and alt-koharu are cool as hell lmao. why is every alt-ash a crybaby tho

JN091: The Spectral Express! / The Ghost Train Departs...
ohhhh the necessary haunted ep. interesting premise! not that scary tho; they really didnt play up the horror of possession as much as they could have. very scary and hard for goh tho certainly

JN092: The Winding Path to Greatness! / Gangar Does Its Best! The Road to Kyodaimax!!
oh we're officially meeting allister now! i forgot his japanese name is just. onion. lmao. but oh my god how cute this ep is!! the way they animate allister is so fun and him making freinds with ash even tho ash is a little overbearing- goh tempers him well, doesn't he? and allister's cute little nervousness when bea was like "this is unusual for you huh" aaaa theyre all so sweet! and omg that spinning hug from goh when gengar gigantamaxed CUTE!!! i think the anime is doing REALLY well as characterizing literally everyone who shows up tbh and making me like them haha.

JN093: It's All in the Name! / Your Name is Françoise
i love renji!!! i love how much he loves françoise 🥺 like it's always been there, with his cute desktop background and his magnemite shirt but ohhh so sweet



JN094: Suffering the Flings and Arrows! / The Heracros Loss and the Kailios in Love
oh we're just doing ALL the things arent we! im gonna say it again: i love when ash's companions learn Who He Is and What He's Done. he's so important. i love the rocket outfits- is this literally the first time someone's ever clocked a wobbuffet and meowth and gone "wait is that TR??" good for you, goh. shoulda looked harder tho. cute little love story hehe

JN095: The Good, The Bad, and The Lucky! / Farewell! The Wandering Rocket-dan!
i cried the whole time i love them so much i wish them happiness in every endeavor they deserve to be given the world but they keep screwing themselves by tryna steal it.... i love them. also surprise cassidy and butch?! glad they are living their best lives

JN096: Lighting the Way Home! / Reach Out to Space! Denryu's Light!!
i cried through the latter third lmao. and the world turns, yknow? people are living their lives, making things happen, moving forward.

JN097: An Evolution in Taste! / Yadoking! Curry Encounter!!
i love that we came round to this again. what the actual heck??? this is so chaotic i am enthralled

JN098: Out of Their Elements! / Pokémon Circus! Booster and Thunders!!
ohhh a really interesting conflict in this episode. as good as it was, and as well as it was resolved, i cant help but think about how karen and rhyme fully expected to evolve into flareon and jolteon respectively; probably their whole lives they were confident in being those and to have that shaken? to have your enitre future shifted due to an accident? perhaps it would have been too close to the sobble -> drizzile story of being upset with your form, or perhaps that's too difficult of a conflict to resolve with NPC-of-the-day Pokémon who are stuck that way forever. but it's an interesting thought. i may write that one day.

ten behind yet! its okay tho

JN099: Battling Turned Up to Eleven! / Mary of Spike Town!
right so the story... the story is good. i know its like, the same as the games, but i think it's presented very well. and piers being ridiculously safe on his motorcycle was a funny touch. but i'm just.... mostly unimpressed by the battle. i was iffy on 1v1 or even 2v2 in the prior class, but in this one- i very much don't think a 1v1 is acceptable. i also am honestly vastly uninterested in dynamax battles as presented in the anime - i think the only interesting technique ive seen this whole time was gengar just swallowing grimmsnarl as a defensive maneuver. idk. hope it gets better.

JN100: Meeting Up with the Monarch! / Close Contact! Dande's Special Training!!
new OP holy shit its so good??? but oh i love how insane these characters are. i love ash's "stuff happened" closely followed by leon's "don't get caught up in the details". sonia's driving getting even worse. leon's insane training. maybe i could draw some conclusions about him being desperate to feel something while being boxed into the role of undefeated champion but that might be over-reaching. i like that ash and leon are just pals honestly, its very nice. not much happened here honestly but. it was kinda nice. again, a great job as characterizing people.

JN101: A One-Stick Wonder! / One Stick, Bachinkey!
ohhh a sweet little episode. really not much to say abt it tho. the thwackey was a neat guy

JN102: Battling in the Freezing Raid! / Trial Mission! A Freezing Raid Battle!!
ohhh tokio!!! we havent seen him since..... since before i started watching again lmfao. he's doing well! what an interesting team dynamic here too; these characters are all so strong within themselves and that pulls the conflict out ever more. i also like that we're reiterating that goh having a friend in the ever-persistent ash doesn't just make his issues with teamwork and people in general just magically resolve.

JN103: The Future is Now, Thanks to Strategy! / Satoshi and Citron! Great Friendship Training!!
the narrator did sum it up: what an unexpected tag team lmao. i was so excited to see clemont and bonnie but there was so much going on that almost feel they weren't very featured?? like i feel like almost anyone could have been the support characters for the episode. hilarious that bonnie thinks dracovish is cute. it might be growing on me, especially during the scene where ash and clemont just had a whole conversation with clemont being held by dragonite and ash dangling from dracovish's mouth. also drasna is so. cutesy. what the heck



JN104: Taking Two For The Team! / Hyper Class! VS Dracaena of The Big Four!!
oh, drasna fake as hell, i see lmao. kinda love that ngl. wasnt too engaged by this battle tbh, the highlight was uh. wet altaria. thought it might be a double, that woulda been cool. oh well. the references to clemont battling her at some point in the past felt weird? what was that? glad we got to see bonnie's shenanigans at least one more time :')

JN105: Reuniting for the First Time! / Eievui and Nymphia! Encounters and Reunions!!
SERENA SERENA SERENA I CRY I CRY I LOVE HER SO SO MUCH!!!! she looks SO GOOD!! and shes such a good person for koharu to meet and learn from, im so glad to see another pokémon performance, im so glad koharu got to do one, im so glad ash and serena got to see each other if even for a tiny tiny moment i love them i cry 😭😭😭
also wallace is hilarious theres no reason for him to be like that

JN106: Radio Lulled the Mischievous Stars! / A New Show! Rocket-dan's Covert Kingdom Radio!!
BROCK AND CILAN TINY CAMEOS 🚨🚨🚨 DIDNT EVEN GET TO SEE MY GUY AT ALL THO AAAAAAAA
no but this was SO CUTE i love them i love them i love that everyone else loves them in universe too! i love that they did a whole ep cherishing team rocket's secret empire. i cry. also the narrator being part of the episode lmao yayyy
please show me cilan i beg ;;

JN107: Big Brother to the Rescue! / Help, Big Brother Wanpachi!
awww what a good caretaker yamper is! nice to see suicune randomly go "yeah sure i'll help this tiny little park filter their water" and then wander off again

JN108: Catching the Aura of Fate! / Lucario and Gekkouga! The Wave Guidance of Destiny!!
huh??? okay literally that was all mystic aura shit and i have NO idea what was going on or what we learned here. they certainly could have done more with lucario feeling inadequate in comparison to greninja, who is so far above his level. and something something ash is training them similarly. love to see greninja tho i cry i love him. they really walked back the ash-greninja thing tho huh. also featured in this ep: raihan's got problems.

down to five behind! see it's okay~

JN109: Aim For The Eight! / VS Kibana! Battle for Masters Eight!!
hmmm. so the issue i have with these battles i think is that at these high level ones it tends to just conculde with big ultra powerful moves or whatever and thats kinda boring to me. like, raihan's last two went out so fast. and lucario did like, one thing. flygon and figuring out how to deal with it was the most interesting part of this. and gengar has one of the most versatile gigantamaxes- others just kind of hang out and be large, don't they? anyway HEY ALAIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE??
also. point of note. why do they refuse to acknowledge ash as the champion of alola during this whole shebang? or at least the winner of the manalo conference, especially since they're acknowledging alain as the winner of the lumiose conference. it's no surprise that the alolan champion would be zoomin up through the ranks like this. he's not a nobody!!!

JN110: Narrowing the Chaser Chase! / The Battle Royale of Betrayal!
oh oof that was hard. that was very hard for goh. and though the two tokens for second mattered in the end, it wasn't at all a relief.

JN111: The Homecoming Crown! / Mohn and Lilie, Snowfield Reunion
ohhhh the pacing and emotion of this ep was on point. very very strange thing to be happening of course but yknow, pokemon. i cried when lusamine did aaaa. very weird that theyre apparently just going to keep calling this thing lillie though. and that they put it in a beast ball. something feels real weird bout both of those things

JN112: Helping the Hometown Hero! / A Triumphant Return! The Alola Champion!!
i cry i cry so much. this is ash's home, this is his true home, he's not ash from pallet town anymore he's ash from melemele island. he's alola's champion and alola's child and kukui is his dad and there's no way ash can be anything else anymore. this is where he belongs, he belongs to alola and its people and they belong to him. also this was the most interesting battle there's been in a while here
side note: fucked up that gladion is using his new sister in a champion-level match with only a few days of training. whose idea was that. who let that happen.

JN113: Chasing to the Finish! / The Last Mission! Catch Regieleki and Regidorago!!
yoooo that was neat!! goh going without ash was a changeup, but i loved the way theyre featuring gary even more. of course it'd be gary and tokio and goh to get in :)




JN114: Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit! / Training Battle of Flames! Satoshi VS Shinji!!
PAUL PAUL PAUL!!!! ohhhh its so nice to see everyone. and paul being asked to be a gym leader and then deliberately teaching ash a specific lesson that he needs- ohhh he'll be good. i dont know about this whole "infernape listens to paul' bullshit tho like the ENTIRETY of sinnoh was about the trauma paul caused him sooooo. unless they have for some reason been meeting up with the express purpose of repairing their relationship for some time now that's.... that ain't it. good to see delia too!! ash has spent more time with his alolan family this series than with his biological mom.

JN115: Curtain Up! Fight the Fights! / Opening! Masters Tournament!!
AYYYY FINALLY WE MEET HOP! not sure what he thought was gonna happen upon challenging ash but i do like these three in the stands together. and hey! they started acknowledging ash as the champion of alola! nice! ... along with that comes the realization that I have been not very observant and have not in fact noticed that this is the champions of the eight regions, but with an extra slot for alain allowed by lance's dual position. well! ain't that cool. rocket costumes are absolutely wildin. also the scene of ash and iris bursting into the greenroom with childlike energy only to be faced with adults theyve known to be the best of the best for a long time.... good moment.

JN116: Pride of a Champion! / Champions' Pride! Wataru VS Carne!!
RITCHIE?? of all people to show up briefly!! huh.
jessie getting so excited over gourgeist is so sweet 🥺 this battle was uh. boring. neat to see lance choose dynamax i guess. and i love that ash really is just like "yeah i know all these champions! we hung out". he really is special.

JN117: The Fiery Road to Mastership! / VS Shirona! Iris's Road to Dragon Master!!
ohhh i cry. i cry every time i see everyone watching at home. would it feel as much like a final farewell if i didn't know ash was leaving the anime? how long did they know that, and how long have they been writing for it? it feels like this whole series, in retrospect.
team rocket rooting for iris and celebrating her, i cry there too. and iris crying. i really wish characters would give each other a hug in moments like that.
a much more interesting battle overall, but the main focus was of course the last matchup and it showed.

JN118: Battling as Hard as Stone! / Satoshi Goes into Battle! VS Daigo!!
i love the various cheer squads so much ;; rockets and kids in the stands and everyone at home!! i still think these battles are uhhh surprisingly boring for the most part. but! THEY PLAYED MEZASE POKEMON MASTER OHHHHH HOW CAN THEY DO THAT THAT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!!

im still 5 behind but thats fine because it works out so that the entire semifinals block can be together! nice!

JN119: Koharu and Eievui - The Miracle of Evolution
i kind of like recap episodes, i dunno. maybe not as much in this moment considering ive watched all of these over about two weeks and it's very fresh in my mind haha. i wasnt enthralled by the mr mime and kikuna segment but the narrator's radio show was so sweet; finally getting to hear the whole letter from sakuragi and then renji and kikuna's responses... i love them.

JN120: Koharu and Eievui, the Possibilities are Endless!
oh that was so sweet, all of it! sakuragi's such a good dad ;; some focus on him was nice, as well as koharu kinda-sorta choosing a path! its always good to see their family all together, too.

JN121: The Climax Begins! Satoshi's Masters Tournament Experience!!
another recap kinda ehh but whatevs. lets focus in on the hilarious trivia for each competitor in the second segment- leon's charizard apparently does all his navigation for him, and leon tried to arrange to stay at the stadium for fear of getting lost but was refused. amazing. praise for diantha's manager rearranging her schedule so she could be at the tournament. fans are worried she's not sleeping well. cynthia is a very unsurprising battler and is friends with bea because they both love ice cream. ash's stats are absolute trash in everything but speed, attack, and surprise, which. yeah. he was the only trainer to bring a pokemon to the opening ceremony- which was the first time in tournament history that a pokémon took to the podium. lol he do be just actin like that. i do really like the radio show format that theyre embracing. it lets us hear different characters thoughts and perspectives! i'm assuming theyve done this so they can have more time to make the tournament matches incredibly amazing while retaining a weekly release schedule? i do hope so

JN122: The Semifinals I: "Overwhelming Victory"
alright look. there are only seven total matches in this tournament. skipping the majority of one like this? unacceptable. commit to the damn thing, c'mon. we did not need to go follow this universe's victor and victoria around or see cute baby cynthia if the tradeoff is a refusal to acknowledge diantha as a challenge for leon- she should be! a 2-6 result at this level is dumb as hell. diantha shoulda been pullin cool tricks like stealing moves with psychic the whole match.

JN123: The Semifinals II: "Dazzle"
cynthia gonna give up battling?! wild. also a wild match; she rlly was shutting ash down for a while and still hasn't allowed him much leeway. return of counter shield hype!!! but pikachu and gengar down means we're going mega here i suppose; makes sense to showcase gigantamax in the finals huh?

JN124: The Semifinals III: "Valor"
yoooo sirfetch'd clutch!! expected cynthia to mega evolve but yeah makes more sense to dynamax here at this point. good luck ash youve almost turned it around!!

JN125: The Semifinals IV: "Impact"
cinderace yelling for lucario! greninja sending his aura! aaaa i cried when ash won! that was such a good battle!! and i knew cynthia wouldnt be retiring lmao

JN126: GO FOR DREAM! Go's Road to Mew!!
i appreciate the commitment to making the clip shows interesting. and the radio segments! grookey operating the phone was also good haha

JN127: Go and Aceburn! The Place of Beginnings!!
a nice breather ep! but oh nooooo theyre not gonna let goh see the battle? i cry ;;

JN128: Climax! The Night Before the Decisive Battle! Satoshi VS Dande!!
look. even i get tired of clip eps eventually.
fun trivia tho? pikachus current fav food is ketchup-filled watchog buns??? mimey is watching lucario from home with pride awww. "maybe ash can control aura too? nah just kidding!" COMMIT TO IT, COWARDS. sirfetch'd acts as ash's security against the press, i love. gengar pulling pranks in the tournament lobby lol and apparently scared spiritomb. anyway idc about this mostly.

on track! ...however i noticed the arceus chronicles were listed separately from the bulk of the series... i want to fit that in before i finish the series and fully say goodbye to everyone in it but im not sure where to slot it in yet. via airdate it went between 126 and 127 so maybe i just do em right away tomorrow! maybe i woulda been more kind to the clip episode had i done them via release date lmao but whatever!

JNS01: The Arceus Chronicles (Part 1) / Satoshi and Go! Let's Go to the Sinnoh Fest!!
cynthia's in a weird mood but living history fairs tend to do that to people. i love that she gave three ten year olds her textbook lmfao. otherwise this do be just fairly standard stuff; big ol promo for legends arceus basically. interested in the galactic team making their way back to cyrus tho.

JNS02: The Arceus Chronicles (Part 2) / Rampaging Heatran!!
love that ash and dawn are like "ah, guess this is happening again" and goh is like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HANG OUT WITH GODS????" also HI BROCK HI BROCK I LOVE YOU OMG HIII but what the HELL is this little landspeeder you casually have on hand??? bro??? theres a lot of wild stuff going on with this heatran but heyyy lets go

JNS03: The Arceus Chronicles (Part 3) / The Fierce Fighting at Mount Tengan!!
yknow, idk why they even bothered to split these into episodes. just make it a feature length special or whatever. anyway why'd my man brock take his shirt off for this

JNS04: The Arceus Chronicles (Part 4) / Miraculous Radiance! The Legend of Sinnoh!
look i know pokémon has always played fast and loose with like. physics. thermodynamics. general science. but please explain to me first, what coating a whirlpool in electricity does for you here; second, how a fireball wrapped in electricity will somehow protect something from water; third, how everyone grabbing on amd pulling something helps or matters even one tiny bit when you are all suspended by the same psychic powers. like. what????
anyway the galactic commanders are so sad that their beloved cyrus is missing that i feel bad for them. most interesting thing out of this whole special arc tbh

JN129: The Finals I: "Torrent"
YOOOOO this is legit!! thank god dawn showed up ayy. and koharu! and the TRio cheering ash on! but goh not being there still hurts. the flashback to tiny leon and sonia so cute aaa. but the BATTLE oh boy!!! i did suspect they were gonna allow ash to use all his stuff so thats cool. leon stealing counter shield between semifinals and finals- crazy, wth! and his pokemon are so skilled at countering in general aaaa! this really does demonstrate why he's the undefeated champion. good job showing finally!!

JN130: The Finals II: "Toy Around"
both of them are feral and i love it. this's hard fought for ash. the way leon is playing this as a team effort becomes evident here!

JN131: The Finals III: "The Strongest"
im so enthralled. the music / sound design on this one is very much peak. and that end screen yo!!! always gotta be something going on tho huh

JN132: The Finals IV: "Partner"
everyone say thank you eternatus!! what a way to feature gigantamax Pikachu! ohhhh visuals on point sound design on point music on point pikachu um, almost dying? questionable maybe but god, impactful. i started crying when i saw misty and didnt stop lmao

JN133: Project Mew
something about project mew been having me sus for a minute here. even more with hodoka's comments about mew and asahi's group discussing how mew doesnt appear to those with evil in their hearts... also hi tokio with virizon? not that we'll see it for a while what with pokeballs being locked. wild. and then AUGH the rope cutting halfway up the mountain! scaryyyyy. whats up with groudon and kyogre tho like ???

JN134: Seize the Future!
GARY REALLY WENT "YEAH IM GONNA FISTFIGHT GROUDON" ASDFH WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT GUY!!! this was all very strange and mystical wasnt it? i love love love mew appearing in goh's hand just for the fun lmao. also that the three younger ones chose not to decide their future yet. interesting! i love thay team of three tho. theyre very good.

JN135: Pokémon! I'm Glad I Got to Meet You!
oh noooo theyre so sweet im gonna miss this group so much... goh and ash both deciding to leave but goh's feelings being far more conflicted is so good... and lugia bookending the series...

JN136: Satoshi and Go! Embark on a New Journey!!
...and ho-oh to bookend ash's time, isn't it?
how can i say anything more than that i cried the whole way through?

JNS05: Pocket Monsters: The Distant Blue Sky
the classic clothes... the classic style... ah. they rlly got me excited to see ash's dad. but i guess its nice to know he does exist, that delia and ash do see him sometimes.
but a ghost story? featuring a ghost that ash gave peace through aura? what... interesting.



yall i... i did it. one hundred and seven episodes in twenty eight days. despite my forever love for the pokemon anime, this is only the second series ive ever completed- the first being best wishes.

im glad i did it. i enjoyed it all. it's still a goal to see the rest of alola- i think i'm in the eighties there- and finish the very tail end of XYZ some day. but for now... i've gotten here because i want to be able to say a proper goodbye to ash in this final stretch. and i can now.

i'll cry all the way through, i'm sure.