Chit-Chat: The Anime Chat Café

[Hikamaru]

News for Pokemon anime airings in Australia if you're down there.

Season 21 of the dub, Pokemon The Series Sun & Moon: Ultra Adventures will be airing Mon-Fri at 3:00pm on 9GO! starting April 27th, with the previous episode getting a rerun at 7:30am Mon-Fri.

I can confirm this by checking my EPG and for April 27th, it had the episode "A Dream Encounter!" listed, which is the first dubbed episode for S21.

 

[CodeHelmet]

News for Pokemon anime airings in Australia if you're down there.

Season 21 of the dub, Pokemon The Series Sun & Moon: Ultra Adventures will be airing Mon-Fri at 3:00pm on 9GO! starting April 27th, with the previous episode getting a rerun at 7:30am Mon-Fri.

I can confirm this by checking my EPG and for April 27th, it had the episode "A Dream Encounter!" listed, which is the first dubbed episode for S21.

Monday through Friday huh? We?re only up to Episode 54 as of this Saturday so the new Episode/day schedule should only last for two weeks before they go into reruns. Also latest Episode in Japanese dub was meh. Better than Fartocles? Episode last week though.

 

[Hikamaru]

Monday through Friday huh? We?re only up to Episode 54 as of this Saturday so the new Episode/day schedule should only last for two weeks before they go into reruns. Also latest Episode in Japanese dub was meh. Better than Fartocles? Episode last week though.

I am stunned that Australia is airing S21 so soon, and at a pace that could overtake the US at this rate. I know we took a few months before S20 finally aired here, but then again that was because Ten lost the Australian FTA broadcast license to Nine for all seasons except S19 (Pokemon The Series: XYZ) which still constantly airs reruns on its Eleven platform.

Ever since Nine took over, they have been treating the anime well on its 9GO! channel. Not only did they reair both the first two seasons which had been out of rotation for years, but they're now airing S21 five days a week while the US gets stuck having only one episode weekly. As you said, the US is only 10 episodes in to S21 and will be up to the 11th when 9GO!'s run starts at the end of next week, which means we could see Australia overtake the US in episodes aired and that's a very rare thing.

Edit: Bulbanews tweeted S21's Australian premiere as well - https://twitter.com/BulbaNewsNOW/status/986913020147392512

 

[CodeHelmet]

I am stunned that Australia is airing S21 so soon, and at a pace that could overtake the US at this rate. I know we took a few months before S20 finally aired here, but then again that was because Ten lost the Australian FTA broadcast license to Nine for all seasons except S19 (Pokemon The Series: XYZ) which still constantly airs reruns on its Eleven platform.

Ever since Nine took over, they have been treating the anime well on its 9GO! channel. Not only did they reair both the first two seasons which had been out of rotation for years, but they're now airing S21 five days a week while the US gets stuck having only one episode weekly. As you said, the US is only 10 episodes in to S21 and will be up to the 11th when 9GO!'s run starts at the end of next week, which means we could see Australia overtake the US in episodes aired and that's a very rare thing.

Edit: Bulbanews tweeted S21's Australian premiere as well - https://twitter.com/BulbaNewsNOW/status/986913020147392512

Eh well if we?re overtaken on Episodes, it?s no biggie. English dub frankly isn?t the same as the Japanese variant and after watching the Aether arc again, I?m more and more in PRB12?s camp in that it wasn?t as good as people make it out to be. For much of the arc it?s pretty much Lillie and Ash. Kiawe, Mallow, Lana and Sophocles all get shoved into the useless void(which they?ve been in for pretty much the entire series save for an Episode or two when the writers remember that they exist). PRB12?s latest discussion video on Alola Ash wasn?t that bad.

 

[Hikamaru]

Eh well if we?re overtaken on Episodes, it?s no biggie. English dub frankly isn?t the same as the Japanese variant and after watching the Aether arc again, I?m more and more in PRB12?s camp in that it wasn?t as good as people make it out to be. For much of the arc it?s pretty much Lillie and Ash. Kiawe, Mallow, Lana and Sophocles all get shoved into the useless void(which they?ve been in for pretty much the entire series save for an Episode or two when the writers remember that they exist). PRB12?s latest discussion video on Alola Ash wasn?t that bad.

My guess is considering that Australia will be overtaking the US, and that other countries aren't allowed to be ahead of the US for new dubbed episodes for too long, I'm betting 9GO! will only air up to SM059 (the Mallow and Lana childhood episode) in this block, and then revert to reruns (most likely S18 since they're finishing another S17 rerun next week) just so that the US can get ahead again, and then when more dubbed episodes air in the US, I bet they'll then air another block of S21 months later.

When 9GO! aired S20 for the first time, the block only went up to SM020. The rest of the season didn't come until early 2018, after SM043 (S20's finale) aired in the US.

 

[MC Poke]

agree

 

[CodeHelmet]

Finally watched Episode 72 seeing as I didn?t know about it until I saw a review for it from PRB12. I must say that Mallow?s Brother... huge Brock vibe. Solid Mallow Episode as it demonstrates her progression as a cook but from a Pokemon perspective, she hasn?t added to her team despite the fact her lack of Pokemon was highlighted in Episode 39. Like with all the Female protagonists, still waiting on that 2nd Pokemon. At least next week?s Episode(or this Thursday) finally, and I mean FINALLY gives Team Rocket a Z-Ring after nearly 50 Episodes. Also Nanu and Acerola finally make their grand entrance with Guzma, it appears following up the Episode after that.

TLDR: What the freaking hell took so long....

 

[CodeHelmet]

So Episode 74 came and went and the long awaited and expected beat down of Ash occurred due to him basically steamrolling through the first two challenges and the fact he's yet to face a Dark Type Trainer. On another note, it's killing me inside to admit this, but Acerola is the best thing that could have happened to Sun and Moon. She's like the five other main Protagonists rolled into one and is arguably a character I've come to respect and like. The series will remain in the basement but Acerola has earned her way out of it if she keeps glaring at her Uncle(lol).

 

[Hikamaru]

So Episode 74 came and went and the long awaited and expected beat down of Ash occurred due to him basically steamrolling through the first two challenges and the fact he's yet to face a Dark Type Trainer. On another note, it's killing me inside to admit this, but Acerola is the best thing that could have happened to Sun and Moon. She's like the five other main Protagonists rolled into one and is arguably a character I've come to respect and like. The series will remain in the basement but Acerola has earned her way out of it if she keeps glaring at her Uncle(lol).

It was about time Ash needed a huge hurdle because I have criticised that he cleared trials too easily. Now he has to spend time training to overcome Lycanroc's anger problems.

Also, the run of Season 21 episodes airing in Australia ends on May 14th with SM055, and the remainder of the season likely won't get released here until March/April 2019, a few months after it wraps in the US. It's pretty clear Nine had to order only a small batch to air on the 9GO! channel and won't get the rest until 2019. So unfortunately, we're going back to Season 18 (XY Kalos Quest) reruns on the 15th as filler programming just so that we cannot overtake the US.

What's also odd is that Ten (who previously aired Pokemon in Australia before Nine got the rights) has now completely axed the reruns of Season 19 from Eleven's Toasted TV block and replaced it with a double rerun of Cardfight! Vanguard, which I think means that now Nine has gotten their hands on Australia's broadcast rights for all the XY seasons and that will likely mean S19 (Pokemon The Series XYZ) will have its future reruns air on 9GO!.

 

[CodeHelmet]

It was about time Ash needed a huge hurdle because I have criticised that he cleared trials too easily. Now he has to spend time training to overcome Lycanroc's anger problems.

Also, the run of Season 21 episodes airing in Australia ends on May 14th with SM055, and the remainder of the season likely won't get released here until March/April 2019, a few months after it wraps in the US. It's pretty clear Nine had to order only a small batch to air on the 9GO! channel and won't get the rest until 2019. So unfortunately, we're going back to Season 18 (XY Kalos Quest) reruns on the 15th as filler programming just so that we cannot overtake the US.

What's also odd is that Ten (who previously aired Pokemon in Australia before Nine got the rights) has now completely axed the reruns of Season 19 from Eleven's Toasted TV block and replaced it with a double rerun of Cardfight! Vanguard, which I think means that now Nine has gotten their hands on Australia's broadcast rights for all the XY seasons and that will likely mean S19 (Pokemon The Series XYZ) will have its future reruns air on 9GO!.

At least you're getting re-runs. Disney XD isn't even bothering with XY/XYZ anymore. I mean I can get it on-demand if I wanted to but the mere fact its not even airing says a lot in my opinion. Speaking of on-demand, they give the first 51 Episodes of Season 1, then skip all the way to like half way through Season 12(entirely skipping the Wallace Cup in Season 11(*Cries*)), all of Black&White(like I really want to watch that....), all of XY/XYZ and then Season 20/21(up to what's been aired). They also have a few of the movies but none that I care to watch.

 

[Hikamaru]

At least you're getting re-runs. Disney XD isn't even bothering with XY/XYZ anymore. I mean I can get it on-demand if I wanted to but the mere fact its not even airing says a lot in my opinion. Speaking of on-demand, they give the first 51 Episodes of Season 1, then skip all the way to like half way through Season 12(entirely skipping the Wallace Cup in Season 11(*Cries*)), all of Black&White(like I really want to watch that....), all of XY/XYZ and then Season 20/21(up to what's been aired). They also have a few of the movies but none that I care to watch.

The problem is, I'm actually getting sick of XY being rerun all the time. Ten/Eleven did have DP reruns for years even after BW was released, only for reruns of both seasons to be axed once they got the XY seasons.

 

[CodeHelmet]

The problem is, I'm actually getting sick of XY being rerun all the time. Ten/Eleven did have DP reruns for years even after BW was released, only for reruns of both seasons to be axed once they got the XY seasons.

I don't know how I'd feel if I got XY/XYZ all the time but I will say that I enjoy it far more than the SM dub. 57 just aired today and I haven't even bothered to watch it. Doesn't help it's a Rotom filler episode but that's just it. SM is so bad that I can't even bring myself to watch it in my native language. I'll get to watching that PRB12 video by the way. Keeps saying he will post a Q&A soon but never does lol. Wonder how he will react to the latest Episode(should be positive. I mean Acerola alone makes the series right now and I think she will displace Lana as the new Loli in the Loli Wars).

 

[Sloxy]

I've heard the z moves kinda ruin the anime somewhat, is this true?

 

[CodeHelmet]

I've heard the z moves kinda ruin the anime somewhat, is this true?

PRB12's latest discussion video makes the case that it does and I frankly can't find fault in his position or logic. Z-Moves make battles far more predictable and honestly takes the fun out of trying to guess the outcome. Mega Evolution is limited to a select few Pokemon(although more are added with every Generation) but Z-Moves... any Pokemon can use it and its the same across the board. Now if they had limited it to Pokemon specific Z-Crystals, then maybe they had something there but even then... its just something that wasn't needed. Heck one could make the case that Mega's weren't needed.

 

[Hikamaru]

The first time Pikachu learns a new move in 8 years... Electro Ball has been replaced by a more defensive-styled Electroweb. My main complaint here is the fact that Electroweb is a significant downgrade in power, since it's only a 55 BP move while Electro Ball can reach as high as 120 if the user has a huge speed advantage.

SM has already let me down enough, and now this downgrade in power for Pikachu has made it worse. I remember when fans complained about losing Volt Tackle for Electro Ball early on in Unova, but I hate this newest move by the writers. It's like they want to downgrade Pikachu without resetting him, so they decided to slap on a weak base powered move instead.

 

[CodeHelmet]

The first time Pikachu learns a new move in 8 years... Electro Ball has been replaced by a more defensive-styled Electroweb. My main complaint here is the fact that Electroweb is a significant downgrade in power, since it's only a 55 BP move while Electro Ball can reach as high as 120 if the user has a huge speed advantage.

SM has already let me down enough, and now this downgrade in power for Pikachu has made it worse. I remember when fans complained about losing Volt Tackle for Electro Ball early on in Unova, but I hate this newest move by the writers. It's like they want to downgrade Pikachu without resetting him, so they decided to slap on a weak base powered move instead.

Already made my opinion on your Visitor board but to TLDR it, I agree 100%. It'd made more sense for Pikachu to learn Charge or Light Screen from a Defensive aspect(or Charge Beam to boost Electric Attacks over time as its used). Heck Electric Terrain would had made more sense.

 

[Twilight-kun]

The anime has never let something as insignificant as move power or typing get in the way of what moves a pokemon learns

What matters is how they're used

All hail Spider-chu!

 

[Hikamaru]

Already made my opinion on your Visitor board but to TLDR it, I agree 100%. It'd made more sense for Pikachu to learn Charge or Light Screen from a Defensive aspect(or Charge Beam to boost Electric Attacks over time as its used). Heck Electric Terrain would had made more sense.

And when you think about it, Electroweb is just another offense-focused move, since in the games all it does is deal weak damage and lowers the opponent's Speed stat. If the writers really wanted Pikachu to have a defensive move, it should have been one of the options you listed.

The anime has never let something as insignificant as move power or typing get in the way of what moves a pokemon learns

What matters is how they're used

All hail Spider-chu!

The problem I have with the move on Pikachu is because when Electroweb first debuted in Black & White, it was the signature move of the Joltik line. But then come B2/W2, Move Tutors came along and really ruined that aspect by having pretty much every single Bug or Electric-type have access to the move. Bug-types make sense, but some Electric-types look like nothing that would fire a web made of electricity at the opponent.

Granted, the move's Japanese name is "Electro Net", but I guess it was the initial Joltik line exclusivity that may have led to the English name being "Electroweb", much like how I'm guessing Splash (which is Hop in Japanese) got its name when it was originally a Magikarp-exclusive move.

 

[Frozocrone]

Electroweb has a vastly superior strategic element to it than Electroball ever did. Can be used as a defensive move as shown, but since it also lowers the speed of the opposing Pokémon (and the anime tends to keep secondary effects), it can hold them in place to ensure that stronger attacks like Z-moves hit.

I for one am very excited where this goes, given that anime battling is vastly different to game battling.

 

[CodeHelmet]

Electroweb has a vastly superior strategic element to it than Electroball ever did. Can be used as a defensive move as shown, but since it also lowers the speed of the opposing Pokémon (and the anime tends to keep secondary effects), it can hold them in place to ensure that stronger attacks like Z-moves hit.

I for one am very excited where this goes, given that anime battling is vastly different to game battling.

Electroweb may be a tactical improvement but I counter that it's a giant middle finger to us fans and anyone who's played the games. Firstly, Electroweb is not in Pikachu's learnset(meaning it doesn't learn it naturally). If it were to learn it, it does so via Move Tutors which I don't think qualifies seeing as Ash didn't even try to train Pikachu to learn such a move(unlike when he taught Pikachu Iron Tail back at the beginning of Hoenn). Secondly, such a move should be reserved exclusively for the Joltik line or at most BUG Type Pokemon and not an Electric Mouse. Thirdly, the writers had Pikachu learn Electroweb to avoid a Z-Move and then had it use it again offensively so that Mimikyu couldn't avoid its own signature move(which again appears out of thin freaking air). A new move and a Z-Crystal appearing out of thin freaking air again doesn't cover bad writing and a clear lack of respect for longtime viewers and those who play the games. Team Rocket did everything right, for a change, and they got screwed over not by Bewear(like in Episode 12) but by Pikachu conveniently learning a new move it had no business learning in the first place. I can forgive losing to Alain in Kalos(where anyone watching it thought Ash was going to win) and I can forgive(in time) Ash losing to Cameron in Unova. But this... this is getting just downright awful and unforgivable. I hope to god Serena doesn't return in this but I have this deep feeling she will just to appease her fan base.