[Pokémon] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club

Season 1 Episode 50 - "Who Gets to Keep Togepi?"

The next new team member arrives... sort of? It's functionally more of a pet. In any case, this episode was just kinda underwhelming; there's nothing particularly bad about it, but the gang chasing around some egg isn't very exciting. The first act with TR is decently funny and has some OK action, but the second part is essentially rendered useless since Misty ends up getting Togepi despite Ash winning. It came off like they couldn't stretch out the TR drama for long enough and just inserted the competition to fill time; it's neat to see a Gen 2 teaser, but I wish it was a better Pokemon like Marill or Mareep instead of boring old Togepi. Overall, it's a neat concept that's just average in execution. I'd give it a 5/10.
 
Season 1 Episode 51 - "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden"

This episode basically has the opposite problem of "Attack of the Prehistoric Pokemon". In that EP, Charmeleon evolved before it should've story-wise for marketing; meanwhile this time around Bulbasaur is staying in its base form longer than necessary also for marketing. Honestly, evolution's been handled pretty poorly in this series so far, the Butterfree arc did a decent job showing off the concept, but the show seems overly scared of having the characters change their teams or evolve their Pokemon. Ash has 6 badges, and should have more than 2 evolved members on his team by this point. The episode concept itself is pretty solid, I like how the anime gives a lot of Pokemon unique traditions / cultures, it helps convey a sense of mistique. Pokemon are supposed to be mysterious beings that aren't entirely figured out, and Ash / the viewer discovering these esoteric Pokemon practices really helps this feel like an actual journey instead of a guided tour. The only real issue I have with this EP is Bulbasaur not evolving, it's gone through a good amount of character development in learning to trust Ash; and it could've served as a contrast / rival to Charmeleon, but instead they reuse the Pikachu refusal subplot nearly beat-for-beat for the sake of plushie sales. Overall, it's a solid concept with good execution, but let down somewhat by corporate greed. I'd give it a 7.5/10.
 
Episode 50

I'll say it: I am not a fan of Togepi .Mostly because I felt like its introduction to the team meant that Misty had nothing to do. She just stood around holding the egg.

That said, this episode made me love Meowth even more than I already did, and I had seen this episode before. The way that he cared for the egg, with baths and stories and pajamas. His reaction to James being oblivious about serving scrambled eggs to an egg. And how hard he had to fight as a lone Pokémon without a trainer against Onix, just because he actually cared for Togepi.

Speaking of Meowth's fight against Onix, either Meowth is really strong or Onix is really weak to betaken out with one Fury Swipes after getting splashed with water.

Kind of wished that there was more exploration about what it means to have a baby Pokémon. I mean, in the games, Pokémon hatch and are ready to fight. But the anime could take a different approach. Explore what it takes to take care of an actual baby Pokémon. How to raise it and care for it. Explain if babies just don't go into Pokéballs, and that's why Misty carries Togepi. Instead, Togepi is able to walk and chirp and make its own decisions.

Also, Brock. What the heck. Thinking that Golem hatch out of eggs. He's a Rock trainer and wants to be a breeder. Why would he think a Golem would hatch out of an egg.

Episode 51

So... Do like all the Bulbasaur in the world just get up to leave their trainers, come to the garden, evolve, and then head back? That's a little weird.

This is the episode that Charmander should have gotten when it was time for it to evolve. Then the differences in the Pokémon personalities could have been explored more. Could have shown that Charmander wanted to evolve because it still had issues from Damien abandoning it, and it thought that by by evolving, it would prove itself. Or even maybe a little bit of timegiven to how Bulbasaur saw how much Charmander's personality changed upon evolution, and Bulbasaur didn't want to go through that itself.

Kudos given to the twerps for being able to sleep fully clothed, minus vests. Especially Ash in jeans.
 
I've been really busy recently and missed 2 reviews, so I'm reviewing both of these at once to get back on track. The sequential episode list and the episodes that consist of season 1 are slightly misaligned, with EP's 52 and 53 being considered part of S02 while 54-57 are the counted as the last EPs of S01; so I'll be switching between listing them as Season 1 or 2 for the next while in accordance with what this Bulbapedia article says.

Season 2 Episode 1 - "Princess vs. Princess"

This was a pretty fun time, we get some rare overt Japanese culture through the Girls' Day celebration that the episode focuses on, and TR gets a new team member. I honestly forgot Jessie got a Lickitung, which is surprising since younger me really liked this episode. In any case, it's nice to see Arbok / Wheezing get some new company. I felt like it was kind of a cop-out for Jessie to end up losing, since Misty's pulled the Psyduck Deus Ex Machina quite a few times by now; they improve on this in later series' where they give TR other activities to compete in, but the show's need to always have the gang beat Jessie / James in battle really hurts their character development. Arbok / Wheezing's evolution felt useless because they were just as pathetic post-evolution as they were as Koffing / Ekans; and now Lickitung's joining the team already a loser. I did like Misty's motivation for wanting to win the dolls though, and helps foreshadow the conflict of another episode we'll see in a few weeks. Overall, it's pretty good, foreshadowing a future conflict while giving TR a new member and having an entertaining conflict to boot. I'd give it an 8/10.

Season 2 Episode 2 - "The Purr-fect Hero"

We get another episode focused on a Japanese holiday, this time Children's Day. It's nice to see a Meowth focused episode since he's been sorely underutilized to this point; though I wish they made his ability to speak a bigger plot point instead of essentially just having him fill in for some wild Meowth. Don't really have much to say apart from that. Overall, it's entertaining filler but nothing particularly notable. I'd give it a 7/10.
 
Episode 52

Too much Japanese culture in this episode to hide, what with the doll set. This whole episode was for Hinamatsuri, or Girls Day, and I just think that's neat.

I think my favorite part of this episode was the announcer guy turning into an Oddish.

Lickitung's addition was rather underwhelming. It just showed up, ate everything, and then was caught by Jessie. I'm looking forward to seeing what more happens with Lickitung. Maybe it'll have more of an impact to a story line? Right now, it's just another gag Pokémon, with its battle against Psyduck.

The actor character that was in this felt like a waste of air time.

Psyduck Deus Ex Machina
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That's a great way to put it! And I do agree with what you said about the constant need to be losers hurts Team Rocket as characters. I get that they're supposed to be the "bad guys," but even the antagonists should get some development at some point in the story. Especially ones as prominent as Team Rocket.

Episode 53

That is the coolest Meowth I've seen yet. I want it.

It's only now that it bothers me that we don't really see a lot of the main Pokémon species outside of the main cast. Other people owning Pikachu are out there, but very very few have a Meowth. And not just them, but like Staryu or Pidgeotto or even Zubat. If a main character has one of those, no one else can have them, it feels like.

It was kind of cute seeing Team Rocket go along with Timmy's...delusions? They weren't being evil. They just didn't want to disappoint the children.

The teacher was great. I like her.

I'm surprised that it was Meowth talking that was the quality they had to hide. Team Rocket's Meowth is supposed to be one-of-a-kind because he's the only one that walks like a human. So if Timmy sees a Meowth walking on just its hind legs, he should know that it's not his hero Meowth before the TRio Meowth says anything.

Timmy's Meowth must have decided to stick around because it knows Timmy is dead without anyone watching over him. Kid's a walking disaster.

It amused me when I noticed that Togepi just kept disappearing from scenes. Misty would talk to Timmy or be with the other children, and Togepi had disappeared from the scene completely. Wasn't on the ground. Wasn't in Misty's arms. Just gone.
 
Unfortunately life has not let up for me yet, so I've fallen behind again; I'm inserting these as blanks so I don't lose track of which episode I'm on, and I'm hoping to fill them in on Friday / over the weekend as well as writing reviews in advance so I don't end up in this situation again.

Season 1 Episode 52 - "The Case of the K-9 Caper"

I'm glad Growlithe got a second episode, since it didn't get much screen time in Holy Matrimony. The premise is somewhat similar to A Chansey Operation, with the gang shadowing Jenny and training with her; though I find it a bit odd how the training school is out in the middle of nowhere instead of somewhere like Celedon that would have more need for police dogs. In any case, TR reverts back to being outright villains this time around after being more sympathetic the last 2 EPs; which is just fine by me. Sympathetic TR works best in small doses in my opinion; it can be a great breath of fresh air to have them doing good, but it loses its luster when that becomes the norm rather than the exception. Their actual plan was decently clever, and I like how they use Growlthe's loyalty and effective training against Jenny instead of just doing the generic "release net from hot air balloon". Overall, it's a solid, entertaining filler episode. I'd give it an 8.5/10.


Season 1 Episode 53 - "Pokémon Paparazzi"

This is a very overt tie-in to Pokemon Snap (though the JP version of this episode came out several months before it released), but it's surprisingly good regardless. The "get a new life" line is hilarious, and Todd has a very likable personality that meshes well with Ash / Misty / Brock. Though I found it a bit silly how TR thought Todd was going to kidnap Pikachu instead of just taking its picture considering he's not shown to have any of his own Pokemon and basically never shuts up about photography, but it leads to some good humor with TR trying to maintain their disguise of being elderly people. Their ultimate plan is pretty uninspired, but the rest of the episode is very solid. Overall, it's a good time and ends off with a new party member temporarily joining. I'd give it an 8.5/10.


Season 1 Episode 54 - "The Ultimate Test"

The concept of an alternate way to get into the league without the 8 badges was already explored in The School of Hard Knocks (though now that I think about it, how did Jessie afford to take the entry exam in the past as shown in that EP when her family's been portrayed as dirt poor?); but I found the test an interesting spin on the concept. I wish the written portion wasn't as absurd, I feel like the show was trying to make a joke at Ash / TR's expense by implying they're exceptionally stupid; but it's hard to blame them for getting low scores when half the questions were essentially impossible.

What I didn't like was the match-ups in the battles. I get what the writers were going for, with James getting the "awesome" Pokémon and losing with them; and Ash getting the "loser" Team Rocket Pokémon but still winning with them. But it felt way too forced.
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I agree, Ash's match felt fine; but James being expelled for sending out 2 Pokemon came off as a cop-out to avoid having to write an actual battle for him. I get he's not supposed to be a top-tier trainer or anything, but he was still good enough to evolve Koffing and is presumably at least somewhat effective off-screen considering he hasn't been fired from Team Rocket. I don't think the Pokemon would've run away with TR considering they're shown to obey the instructor over them during their scheme; but I wish James had a real battle and only started the plan after he lost, maybe running and grabbing a spare belt not being used. Todd was also just kinda there and didn't do much, which sucks because he was only introduced last episode. It's still decent though, and the first time the concept of "being a Pokemon Master" is elaborated on in any real detail. I'd give it a 7/10.
 
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Don't stress out about the club, PoryKid! Watch everything when you have a chance. I'm always down to discussing the episodes whenever, so even if we all fall off track, things are fine. Believe me, I get it when real life never seems to give you a break.

Episode 54

This would have been a much shorter story line if Jenny did what a lot of police officers do: train the Growlithe in a different language. Or hand commands. Or if the Growlithe didn't just use smell to tell the difference between humans and used their eyes or whatever intelligence Pokémon are meant to have. Because Pikachu just knew that Ash was Ash, despite Team Rocket's attempts, but all the Growlithe were confused.

Ash came off a little like a jerk in this episode too. What with wanting Pikachu to go after some guy with a gun. All because he wants Pikachu to be the better than it already is. At some point, Ash should know that Pikachu can't be the best at everything.

Episode 55

Shame we couldn't watch the Legend of Dratini episode. Then we'd have an explanation for Ash's PTSD of getting shot at? Also, two episodes in a row with uncensored guns?

It's Todd! ...Snap? The original run of these episodes had his name as Todd. But then the version I actually watched had his name as Snap. But then I checked another version, and it's Todd there. So one source must have had the version of the episode where they were really pushing that brand new video game. He will always be Todd.

What is Ash's damage with getting a picture taken? He comes out swinging at Todd for having photography be his passion. "This camera is my life!" "Get a new life!" Then Ash is upset that Todd doesn't consider the Pokemon's feelings as he takes pictures of them. And then Pikachu gets really weird this episode and hates cameras, acting very trigger-shy. (It was the same in the last two episodes too, with Pikachu shocking Ash at the slightest provocation.)

That pancake conversation was painfully awkward. "You want pancakes?" "What is this...pancake you speak of?"

And then Ash and Todd become friends because they both like Pokémon. Okay.

Episode 56

Ah, the infamous "Jigglypuff seen from above" episode.

I think this is the first time that we get any sort of idea of what a Pokémon Master is supposed to do. The teacher said that Masters are supposed to completely understand Pokémon mentally and physically. It's a little more defined of a goal, and I wonder if it's possible to become a Master without having to get a single badge, or if one even has to "catch 'em all."

It was great to see James confused by Jessie's wardrobe change. He didn't recognize her in her simple disguise. Makes sense that they believe they can confuse everyone else with their disguises!

What I didn't like was the match-ups in the battles. I get what the writers were going for, with James getting the "awesome" Pokémon and losing with them; and Ash getting the "loser" Team Rocket Pokémon but still winning with them. But it felt way too forced. Especially with when the teacher released his Pokémon. He waited until James chose his Pokémon (Pikachu) before using Graveler, but Ash had the chance to see what he would be battling before he started his battle.

This kind of goes back to what was said before. Team Rocket is forced to lose, to the detriment of them being characters. I kind of wanted them to do the really smart thing and take the Charizard, Ivysaur, and Pikachu and run away with them. If the Pokémon would still obey them.
 
Season 1 Episode 55 - "The Breeding Center Secret"

Butch and Cassidy make their first appearance! I love TR, but it's such a breath of fresh air to see actually competent members of Team Rocket. And they're not even geniuses or anything, they just have basic common sense and deductive reasoning skills unlike the typical trio. It's also a reminder that Team Rocket is an actual serious criminal organization that can be cruel / ruthless; which has been very downplayed to this point aside from the rare instances where Giovanni appears. Todd is able to help out by taking some photos, though he still feels just kinda around. I wish they gave him more to do since he's really wasted after his fantastic debut episode, the plot itself is fairly bare-bones; I felt bad for Psyduck since Misty seems to despise him for no real reason aside from being mildly annoying, but the main focus seemed to be on contrasting TR with Butch / Cassidy. I don't know as much about what happens in S2 since I only had access to S1 for a long time, but I'm hoping they appear more often since they made a great first impression. Overall, it's a solid episode that introduces some very interesting characters. I'd give it an 8/10.

--

Season 1 Review

We've officially reached the end of season 1, 170 days after this marathon began! Not sure why the "seasons" are divided so arbitrarily since there's nothing particularly special about EP55 (technically 52 since there were 3 banned episodes in there). In any case, I figured now would be a good time to reflect on the series to this point. I calculated the mean value from all my episode reviews and found that I scored the average EP 7.37/10, which sounds about right. Overall, the biggest strength of this season in my opinion is the sense of wonder / adventure it has; the amount of filler episodes with wacky premises like the Ponyta race or the amusement park with animatronic Pokemon really help sell the idea that the gang is on an actual self-directed adventure where anything can happen instead of just speedrunning around the region for badges, and the one-off Pokemon like the giant Dragonite or the ghost of maiden's peak add a sense of mystery to Kanto; the OST is also peak nostalgia while still holding up for the most part. On the other hand, the animation is pretty rough at points (especially in the very early episodes where everyone feels super wooden) and the pacing is really inconsistent. Like, Ash had 5 badges by EP26, and he's only gotten 1 more in the ~25 EPs since. It definitely comes off like the writers realized they were progressing Ash too fast and sort of froze him in amber to fill out their episode order without having him ready for the league. At least it's not as bad as it's going to get (cough cough Johto).

On a meta level, I've really enjoyed running this club! The Pokemon anime was a pretty big part of younger-me's life, and this club has been a nice way to give these episodes a second look and essentially close the book on that chapter of my life. I've also noticed that the timing of these episodes has lined up remarkably well with the real world. The halloween mini-arc with Sabrina happened right over Halloween, the Christmas specials happened in the holiday season, and I'm pretty sure we'll reach the Orange Islands arc around summer. Some of that is likely due to this marathon starting in September while the US started airing Pokemon on Sept. 8, 1998; but new episodes aired once per week on network TV while this club advances once every 3 days, so some of it is just luck. Long term, I plan on continuing with the same format I've used to this point; the first movie is coming up pretty soon and I was thinking about doing something similar to what I did with the holiday EPs, covering the episode before the movie, the actual movie and the episode after and waiting 9 days until the next review. But any input on that would be appreciated. Apparently this club won't reach Horizons until Oct. 19, 2034 (and Horizons will probably be old news by then). I have no plans of stopping, but if I'm still putting out these reviews aged 27, idk, hopefully I'll get featured in the NYT or something by then.
 
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Season 2 Episode 3 - "Riddle Me This"

It's disappointing how the Pokemon Mansion / Mew subplot is completely dropped from this mini-arc, especially since we're getting pretty close to the movie. But I love the portrayal of Cinnabar Island as an overrun tourist trap compared to it's eerily desolate RBY incarnation. Though I'm not sure how Blaine is able to both keep his gym secret and still be officially certified by the league. Meh, if Sabrina's badge is still valid then I suppose it's not too big of a stretch. The gym battle itself was pretty solid though, people meme on Pikachu taking out Rhydon; but shocking its likely steel horn to bypass a non-conductive body is a fair strategy in my book. Though I'm surprised Blaine seems totally OK having Magmar push Pikachu into lava. Overall, it's a really solid time, and my favorite part 1 to a gym arc so far. I'd give it a 9.5/10.
 
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PoryKid575 said:
Season 1 Review

We've officially reached the end of season 1, 170 days after this marathon began! Not sure why the "seasons" are divided so arbitrarily since there's nothing particularly special about EP55 (technically 52 since there were 3 banned episodes in there). In any case, I figured now would be a good time to reflect on the series to this point. I calculated the mean value from all my episode reviews and found that I scored the average EP 7.37/10, which sounds about right. Overall, the biggest strength of this season in my opinion is the sense of wonder / adventure it has; the amount of filler episodes with wacky premises like the Ponyta race or the amusement park with animatronic Pokemon really help sell the idea that the gang is on an actual self-directed adventure where anything can happen instead of just speedrunning around the region for badges, and the one-off Pokemon like the giant Dragonite or the ghost of maiden's peak add a sense of mystery to Kanto; the OST is also peak nostalgia while still holding up for the most part. On the other hand, the animation is pretty rough at points (especially in the very early episodes where everyone feels super wooden) and the pacing is really inconsistent. Like, Ash had 5 badges by EP26, and he's only gotten 1 more in the ~25 EPs since. It definitely comes off like the writers realized they were progressing Ash too fast and sort of froze him in amber to fill out their episode order without having him ready for the league. At least it's not as bad as it's going to get (cough cough Johto).

On a meta level, I've really enjoyed running this club! The Pokemon anime was a pretty big part of younger-me's life, and this club has been a nice way to give these episodes a second look and essentially close the book on that chapter of my life. I've also noticed that the timing of these episodes has lined up remarkably well with the real world. The halloween mini-arc with Sabrina happened right over Halloween, the Christmas specials happened in the holiday season, and I'm pretty sure we'll reach the Orange Islands arc around summer. Some of that is likely due to this marathon starting in September while the US started airing Pokemon on Sept. 8, 1998; but new episodes aired once per week on network TV while this club advances once every 3 days, so some of it is just luck. Long term, I plan on continuing with the same format I've used to this point; the first movie is coming up pretty soon and I was thinking about doing something similar to what I did with the holiday EPs, covering the episode before the movie, the actual movie and the episode after and waiting 9 days until the next review. But any input on that would be appreciated. Apparently this club won't reach Horizons until Oct. 19, 2034 (and Horizons will probably be old news by then). I have no plans of stopping, but if I'm still putting out these reviews aged 27, idk, hopefully I'll get featured in the NYT or something by then.
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What I like the most about season one is that it makes the Pokémon world feel like a world. The episodes aren't just about showing off the Pokémon of the day. The storylines are also about the people, and how they live in this world with all these creatures. Even episodes that I didn't enjoy, like the Growlithe police academy or that Kangaskhan Kid episode, show how people and Pokémon interact with one another other than if they were trainers, gathering badges. I don't know if there's a lot of that in later seasons (I stopped watching during Johto until catching the Johto League Championships), but the first season in Kanto is great at making the world feel alive.

Which is another part of it. Like the lore of the world. Not only what we've already experienced in the games, but also other things. The Ghost of Maiden's Peak. The Island of Giant Pokémon (and even the three-part escape from the SS Anne that was an adventure in itself). Or even creative expansions of the Gym Leaders. Sabrina went from someone that just had teleporting tiles in her gym to someone that was very creepy and an actual threat. Never mind what happened with Brock and Misty. The writers did great with them (though MIsty is starting to slip).

I really appreciate you starting this club! Rewatching the entire Pokémon anime was something that I never thought I would do. There are some episodes that I had planned to watch on my own, but they were only certain ones. I never expected to rewatch the entire series and also enjoy it. Having someone else to watch alongside with makes it more fun, since you and I notice different things about the episodes. I always look forward to seeing what you'll say about things, PoryKid.

More specific responses to your post:
Long term, I plan on continuing with the same format I've used to this point; the first movie is coming up pretty soon and I was thinking about doing something similar to what I did with the holiday EPs, covering the episode before the movie, the actual movie and the episode after and waiting 9 days until the next review. But any input on that would be appreciated.
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Uh, I'll admit that no matter what, I watch three episodes every Friday night. It's a schedule that I keep for my own reasons, so I'm a little ahead of where the club is. (Going to watch episodes 62, 63, and 64 today.) I might watch the movie today too since I have the extra time. I just keep my comments aside until we match up here. So it doesn't matter to me what we watch when.

Apparently this club won't reach Horizons until Oct. 19, 2034 (and Horizons will probably be old news by then)
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[PokeCommunity.com] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club


Episode 57

It's Butch and Cassidy!!!

That's really all I got to say about this episode. The plot is nothing new, with the breeding center being a front for Team Rocket to steal Pokémon. I do like that Misty was the one that had to save the day. Gave her a chance to shine as a character, even after getting Togepi. And good thing Todd was there to take pictures as proof of what was going on.

And now that he's no longer needed to advertise the new Pokémon Snap video game for the Nintendo 64™,Todd will disappear into the mountains.

Apparently James had a Weepinbell? And he dropped it off at the breeding center? When did any of that happen?

Episode 58

Finally, it's time for the seventh gym battle!

It's kind of interesting watching this episode, knowing what I know about how Japan tends to see tourists. Also with what I now know of Okinawan culture. I'm sure there's a whole lot of heavier topics to discuss with this, but not in the length of time for a children's cartoon show.

The riddles were great, and it was enjoyable to see Misty being the one to always solve them.

As for the start of the gym battle itself... I forgot this was the infamous "Aim for the horn!" battle. As soon as Rhydon appeared, Ash's voice came to my mind. But Ash is really running out of options for Pokémon to battle with, now that Charizard still won't listen to him. It's a little odd that the writers won't bring in the game mechanic of "getting enough badges will make Pokémon obey," but I also get it because there's no good way to write that in.
 
Astinus said:
Uh, I'll admit that no matter what, I watch three episodes every Friday night. It's a schedule that I keep for my own reasons, so I'm a little ahead of where the club is. (Going to watch episodes 62, 63, and 64 today.) I might watch the movie today too since I have the extra time. I just keep my comments aside until we match up here. So it doesn't matter to me what we watch when.
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Sounds good! I'll stick with the 3 EP / 9 days plan for the movie then.

Having someone else to watch alongside with makes it more fun, since you and I notice different things about the episodes. I always look forward to seeing what you'll say about things, PoryKid.
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I agree, and same here!

Season 2 Episode 4 - "Volcanic Panic"

One of the most iconic episodes in Indigo League, and for good reason since this is easily the best gym battle so far. I'm still surprised Blaine is OK potentially killing Pikachu by knocking it into lava, especially since he isn't portrayed as bad / corrupted like Sabrina was, but it conveys how the training wheels have been taken off by this point; something that's reinforced when Blaine doesn't give him a free badge after foiling TR's scheme. I found it pretty cheap how Ash's concession was put at the start of this EP instead of being at the end of the last one though; and I feel like Misty / Brock should've been a lot more forceful about having Ash get a different badge considering how dangerous Blaine's arena was. TR were pretty solid though, even if they were essentially just generic villains this time around. The main highlight was the rematch with Blaine, we finally get to see Charizard fight earnestly; and the fight itself is excellent. A lot of other battles, including gym battles, have been kinda wooden to this point, with the Pokemon mainly standing around and exchanging beams. But the animation (and OST) for this battle really went all out, Charizard and Magmar really feel like they're fighting with all their might, and the volcanic location increases the stakes compared to battling in some building. It does a great job of making you realize how much Ash has grown, with him going from struggling against Brock's Geodude / Onix to winning a badge on top of a volcano against someone who doesn't pull any punches. It's brought down a bit by Charizard continuing to disobey Ash after winning though; seriously, this was the perfect time to end this subplot. Ash leading Charizard to victory against a rival like Magmar would've been a great opportunity for him to mellow out and realize Ash isn't so bad, but instead it's going to be dragged out for dozens more episodes for 0 valid story reason. Overall, it's still a fantastic time; the Charizard stuff is kinda annoying, but this is still easily the best gym battle to this point. I'd give it a 9.5/10
 
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Season 2 Episode 5 - "Beach Blank-Out Blastoise"

I feel like this EP would've been better placed between the first and second parts of the Blaine gym battle; with Ash agreeing with Misty / Brock to leave Cinnabar, but being inspired to give Blaine another shot after the gang succeeds in helping Blastoise. In any case, while it's nice to get a Squirtle centered episode since it hasn't gotten much focus for a while; it doesn't feel as involved as Charizard has been in its disobedience subplot or Bulbasaur was in the hidden garden EP. The main focus is very much on Blastoise / Wartortle's problems, with Ash's Squirtle just helping out a bit. It would've been redundant to have a 3rd Pokemon on his team struggle with whether to evolve; but I feel like they could've still given it some character development, maybe have it feel insecure about how much Charizard is being celebrated after beating Blaine, with it regaining confidence in itself after the events of the episode. As for the actual plot, it's perfectly fine; TR were excellent like they are in nearly every episode that features their sub, but Jigglypuff is starting to wear out its welcome a bit. It was really endearing the first couple times it put everyone to sleep, but it feels like it's starting to be used as an easy source of conflict rather than a funny gag that shows up now and then. Overall, it's a pretty solid final part to the gang's time in Cinnabar; though it could've been better with more character development for Squirtle and less reliance on Jigglypuff. I'd give it a 7.5/10
 
Episode 59

It kind of annoys me that the animators kept Blaine in that wig for the entire episode. I can understand if they didn't want to have him in his scientist outfit, but they could have at least allowed him to be bald.

I'm also bothered by the fact that the Pokémon Mansion didn't have an episode for it, but... eh.

That whole drama with Magmar being the only Pokémon that could throw rocks into the lava came off as forced first. When Blaine told Pikachu that only Fire Pokémon could be that close to the lava. All so that Charizard could have its moment to agree to help. Because after that little moment, suddenly it's fine for Rock Pokémon to help? And what else was strange was that the Rock Pokémon could get hit with water attacks from Water Pokémon and be fine with it.

A lot of the time, the need of the plot outweighs the need of the logic.

It sounded rather concerning when Blaine said that it wasn't against the rules for Magmar to pull Charizard into the lava. Made me wonder if it would be in the rules for Magmar to pull in a non-Fire Pokémon.

Finally, Ash has his seventh badge.(There are no other gyms for him to go to, Brock!) Charizard is no closer to obeying him, and the story is no closer to having Ash make any attempts to remedy that.

Episode 60

Ash: "It doesn't look very smart."

Wow, rude, Ash.

So Venusaur gets an episode that's mysterious and serious, with character development for Bulbasaur. Charizard gets to become a main character with Cool Points. And Blastoise gets to sleep for the majority of its episode and gets a humorous filler plot. Sure, Squirtle gets the chance to remind everyone that it's a leader, but...

Okay.

How could the Turtle Pokémon Island be hard to find when it took the Twerps a very short boat ride to get there? I understand if it was a longer distance, or if the island was shrouded in mystery (like Venusaur's Garden), but Turtle Island was just...there.

IDK. This was just a filler episode with a standard plot involving two of the show's tropes: Jigglypuff and Team Rocket being the main conflict.
 
Season 2 Episode 6 - "The Misty Mermaid"

I found the excuse that gets the gang back in Cerulean really thin (even assuming anime Kanto doesn't perfectly line up with RBY, there has to be a shorter way to Viridian than essentially retracing through their whole journey), but it's really nice to get a Misty centered episode. The central conflict follows up on the sibling dynamic established in Princess vs. Princess / the initial Cerulean EPs, where Misty feels undervalued by her sisters; but the execution was very mixed in my opinion. The portion during the performance was really good, I liked the added element of the audience thinking TR was part of the show, and it was neat to see a typically overshadowed Pokemon like Dewgong get a chance to shine during the battle; but that comes at the price of the sibling subplot being kinda underbaked, I was expecting something pretty dramatic after how much the show's mentioned Misty's poor relationship with her sisters. But it's essentially dropped after she agrees to do the show aside from a quick resolution at the end. Overall, it's an entertaining, fun episode that brings back a location from earlier in the series; but the character development is a bit lacking and it ends up feeling a bit fillery despite some team changes technically happening. I'd give it a 7.5/10
 
Season 2 Episode 7 - "Clefairy Tales"

A pretty meh filler episode that feels like a discount version of Clefairy and the Moon Stone. We already had a Clefairy-focused episode with a mad scientist COTD, and I don't think the series was in dire need of a 2nd. Unlike Seymour, Oswald is more annoying than endearing, and I couldn't bring myself to care about the plight of the city (why don't they install CCTV?). The writers also really need to give Jigglypuff a rest; the series can hardly seem to get through 3 episodes without it being heavily involved and it's really reduced the effectiveness of the gag for me. Overall, I found it pointless filler that has 0 valid reason to exist outside of padding the episode count. I'd give it a 4/10.
 
Season 2 Episode 8 - "The Battle Of The Badge"

I usually don't comment on the episode titles, but this one is fantastic; probably my favorite in Indigo League. Aside from that, the episode itself was also pretty good, even if some of its interesting ideas are a bit underutilized. For instance, Gary having 10 badges could've been a nice world-building moment where he recapped various exploits he had in areas the gang didn't explore; but instead we get boring Togepi shenanigans that achieve nothing but waste time. Things really start to pick up once they get inside the Gym, watching Gary get absolutely pummeled by Giovanni really ups the stakes since he's been 2 steps ahead of Ash since the beginning; and TR essentially being the final gym leaders is a really nice spin on the Viridian Gym plot twist in RBY. The actual gym battle was super underwhelming though, the concept of Ash being forced to endure the pain of his Pokemon is such a unique concept that could've led to some great character development (eg: him gaining more empathy for what his Pokemon actually go through); but alas, this is Pokemon and not a prestige TV show, so we're stuck with an implausible TR scheme (why did they booby-trap their side when they've lost to Ash literally dozens of times!?) instead of strong character writing. The introduction of Mewtwo is really well handled and the EP does a good job setting up Giovanni for the movie; but after seeing how well some of the Digimon anime (which as a franchise has far less money / resources than Pokemon) handle their main casts while still being friendly for younger people, it's made me frustrated with how this anime seems dead-set on living up to exactly 60% of its potential, no more and no less, setting up all sorts of interesting characters / arcs / locations before just... dropping them and moving on. This EP is a prime example, it introduces a ton of really cool ideas (more than 8 badges, the electric shock thing) before dropping them like a rock and falling back on the 'ol reliable of blasting off TR. Overall, it's still a very solid episode and a good conclusion to Ash's journey to collect the badges, it's just emblematic of a lot of larger issues I have with the show. I'd give it an 8.5/10.
 
Episode 61

Ash: "I like the Seel. :D"

I might need to quote my favorite Ash line from every episode now.

That's the flimsiest excuse for a return to Cerulean that I've ever heard. Horsea needs more room to swim? Horsea needs more exercise? There are other Pokémon on the teams that are larger, or more energetic, or haven't been seen as often.

But it's gone now. Along with Starmie. Which I also don't get, because it's not like Misty's goal is to capture more Pokémon. She now only has what... Two Pokémon to battle with? Goldeen and Staryu? And that's with also growing more useless because she can't put Togepi down? The writers really did have no idea of what to do with Misty.

How long did it take to get to Cerulean City? The Twerps talked about it as if it was just a short walk from Pewter. (Did they go through Mount Moon? Over it?) But Misty's sisters had time after hearing that Misty would be coming back to putout radio ads and sell tickets and design costumes and write/choreograph a whole show before the Twerps arrive just in time.

Arbok deserves some credit for fighting that long underwater despite not being a Water Pokémon. It was a pretty serious threat until Seel decided to join the battle.

Episode 62

Ash quote: "How do these guys find us."

Runner-up: "Can we get peach?"

I really wish that Clefairy could get an episode that did not involve some over-the-top scientist character. Seymour wasn't horrible way back in episode 6. He was kind of necessary in some way, because he was the only one that could explain the Moon Stone and what it meant to the Clefairy. The Twerps had no idea what was going on.

But Oswald in this episode? Pointless. Annoying. He wasted screen time that could have been used to explore more about Clefairy. Are they aliens? Are they just Pokémon? Who knows, because we had to have a useless character in the story for no reason!

Jigglypuff shone in this episode. It was great to include her. The way that she just dominated the Clefairy was great, slapping each one of them unconscious, just to get her marker/microphone back. She's a smart determined little Pokémon, and I was glad that she was here.

Also, Ash and Misty left Brock's backpack on the ship. Oops.

Episode 63

Ash quote: "It was an eggs-cident!"

Gary! Looking at his badges, he must have only battled three of the "canon" gyms: Pewter, Cerulean, and Celadon. The other seven badges that he had didn't match anything that I could recognize. And somehow he managed to defeat Giovanni's Golem with one Tackle from Nidoking. Also enjoyed the animation error where Arcanine was very tiny.

It's a shame that nothing more was done with Giovanni. Like, I get that Ash wouldn't see the big deal of fighting Giovanni, thinking that he was only a regular Gym Leader and not the boss of Team Rocket. But for someone who was written as the secret boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni's reveal was rather underwhelming. He just stepped out of the shadows and nothing more was done with him.

More of the attention was probably put on that Pokémon in armor that he used to defeat Gary.

Did Giovanni just kind of leave Gary and the cheerleaders unconscious on the battlefield? That was weird. It wasn't like Giovanni was called away right after the battle. He had time to settle back in his office to talk to the TRio.

Finally Ash got his eighth badge! I'm sure at this point, the Twerps are banned from ever entering Viridian City ever again. They destroyed the Center and the Gym!
 
Season 2 Episode 9 - "It's Mr. Mime Time"

One of the better recent EPs focusing on a COTD, the gang stumbling onto a travelling event struggling with the Pokemon it's based around was already done in Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, but unlike in that episode, Pokemon abuse isn't what fixes the issue, and the COTD actually undergos character development instead of having their problems unintentionally resolved by TR. Speaking of TR, they're really solid this time around. The scheme isn't completely idiotic like usual, and the whole sequence where they found out the Mr. Mime they caught was actually Ash was hilarious. It's also really nice to see Delia again since she hasn't shown up much since the first few episodes. Overall, it's a solid time that serves as a nice break after the intensity of last EP. I'd give it an 8/10.
 
Season 2 Episode 9 - "Showdown at the Po-Ke Corral"

The plot picks back up as we get some world building / exposition. It's neat to see Ash interact with some of the Pokemon he's caught / deposited to this point; though there's a massive plot hole in the English dub since the episode where Ash caught the 30 Tauros was banned. I was impressed that Oak mentioned how the other trainers from Pallet didn't cut it, they were frequently mentioned in early episodes but were pretty much ignored after the first dozen, and I like how they took the time to explain what happened to them. We also get a reference to future generations with Oak's comments about undiscovered Pokemon, but aside from that, the only thing of note that happens is Ash finding out that the league takes place in 2 months; with TR's scheme mostly being a waste of time to pad out the length in my opinion. Overall, it's a solid episode and it's nice to see Oak's lab again, but it's nothing too crazy. I'd give it an 8/10
 
Posting this today instead of my usual Friday because this week is all messed-up for me.

Episode 64

Ash quote: "I ran in to this wall."

IDK. Out of context it's hilarious.

Oh great. The Mr. Mime episode.

[PokeCommunity.com] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club


Stella had to have been a reference to the ace trainers of R/B/Y with her whip. I'm really surprised no one told her "hey, maybe don't whip your Pokémon and it will be more willing to obey you?" Seems like Brock was into it, though.

Aside from Mr. Mime joining the cast of background reoccurring characters (
[PokeCommunity.com] Pokemon Anime Marathon Club
),this episode really didn't have much else going for it. It was great to see Ash's mom again for the first time in sixty-plus episodes. But other than that, it was the standard "character has problem, somehow Team Rocket helps to fix it, Twerps move on to the next adventure."

Episode 67

Ash quote: "That crazy clown used a vacuum on my face!"

Unpopular opinion: I don't like Professor Oak. Never really did, but this episode was one where he particularly annoyed me. What bothered me a lot was that he seemed to egg on the rivalry between Ash and Gary. Which I get. Maybe Oak thinks that competition will help the both of them, since he wants Ash to try harder while also wanting Gary to see Pokémon as friends. But then Oak will spout off nonsense about how people need to be a team, and it's just like... What way is it, old man?

I think that's why Misty also annoyed me in this episode. She started off by insulting Ash at every opportunity. It was pretty bad when she said that Ash would use Pikachu against an Onix, when Misty just saw Ash win his seventh badge in an actual fight. Or even the fight at the Viridian Gym. He used Squirtle and Bulbasaur against Ground Pokémon. Ash has learned quite a bit over the course of his adventure. His friends should know that.

And then Misty gets all protective, telling Ash that he shouldn't reveal how many Pokémon he actually caught.

Also, why don't Brock or Misty know anything about where the League is and how it works? They were Gym Leaders. Especially Brock. It's weird that there's no clear ruling for Gym Leaders, or common knowledge for what they have to follow. Like Brock not knowing that the League takes place at the same time and the same place every year, or Sabrina being able to turn people into dolls, or Blaine being able to pull other trainers' Pokémon into open volcanoes.

This whole episode's problem was probably just because the writers wanted to tease a battle between Ash and Gary, but they knew that they shouldn't because they had more episodes to write. So they kept slapping together nonsense to fill twenty minutes without actually delivering.

but after seeing how well some of the Digimon anime (which as a franchise has far less money / resources than Pokemon) handle their main casts while still being friendly for younger people, it's made me frustrated with how this anime seems dead-set on living up to exactly 60% of its potential
Click to expand...
There's a reason that a common belief {that used to be] held by fans of both franchises is that Digimon has the better anime, and Pokémon has the better games. Things might have changed depending on who you ask, but it still generally holds true.
 
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