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Old January 13, 2012, 01:12:02 PM
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Magmaster12 Magmaster12 is offline
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Default Magmaster12 Re watches the Pokemon Anime

My current goal is to try to re watch every single episode of the pokemon anime starting with episode 1 where I will post my review and thoughts of every single one including the specials and movies.

Here's hoping I get passed 200 episodes!

Pokemon Episode Reviews Indigo League    
EP001 Pokemon - I Choose You : Pretty great start for the anime, I really like how the show starts off by showing the actual game intro then switching it to the anime I think it's pretty over looked at awesome it is. I hated everything about Gary in the early including his voice what a jerk. The stuff with Ash trying to catch a pokemon is pretty boring, I guess this kind of proves he can't hold an episode by himself.

Overall this is a great introduction to the pokemon we see our characters wants, and a fantastic introduction to how the pokemon world works without talking down to it's audience. It's a memorable episode in the end.

4/5

EP002 Pokemon Emergency : Not much to be said about this episode aside from the fact it's strange seeing this since it's the only episode Team Rocket is supposed to be taken serously. Is it just me though but there voice actors are pretty bad in this episode? Heh Ash confused Ho-Oh for an Articuno. I wonder why Arcanine is on the tablet with the legendary birds. Oak thinks Ash didn't see Articuno, oh the irony. Why isn't Team Rocket taken this seriously by the authority in other episodes? They seem to have the entire town under deep watch but they have gotten off riding there balloon in major towns other times. And thus begins Team Rockets 600 episode long journey to catch Pikachu. Pretty fun episode though

4/5

EP003 Ash Catches A Pokemon: Well Misty is now a main member of the group, it's either love or Stockholm Syndrome you be the judge. The moment in this episode between Caterpe and Pikachu is weird but it's still pretty cut despite not making total sense. I find it funny how Meowth sees himself as the leaser.

This episode was pretty boring, it seemed to go back and forth between
1.Caterpe trying to befriend Misty
2.Misty freaking out
3.Caterpe gets depressed
This is were we also see Team Rocket again, personally I got sick of them fast because they basicly did the same thing every episode it's just well boring.

3/5

EP004 Challenge of the Samurai - So this 10 year old kid is just running around threatening kids with a samurai sword, no wonder they don't let actual 10 year olds live on there own. Team Rocket was pretty funny in this episode, I like how they're using a paper tank to avoid the Beedrill and are basically the cause of everything bad in this episode unintentionally. Metapod vs Metapod was also very funny.

4/5

EP005 ******** in Pewter City - This is the episode where we finally get introduced to Brock and the episode is okay. Something that annoys me a lot about the early episodes is the fact Ash basically doesn't deserve any of his gym badges and here it is no exception. I do like some of the moments with Brock's Dad which is pretty funny along with Brock's siblings trying to defend there brother dispute being pretty stupid. Also, Ash is willing to accept help from this total creeper he barely knows who later turns out to be Brocks dad but refuses Misty's help our hero ladies and gentlemen.

4/5

EP006 Clefairy and the Moon Stone - Another filler another weird character of the day and typical Team Rocket Attack. I guess the stuff with the Clefairy was pretty cool though.

2/4

EP007 Waterflowers of Cerulean City - Wow just one episode gap between a gym you never see that today. I find strange how Brock just leaves in the middle of this episode with no real explanation. Still a pretty fun episode especially a rare battle between Misty and Ash.

4/5

EP008 Path to the Pokemon League - I remember this as being one first times I actually saw pokemon so it should be interesting to watch this. I like this episode kind of explores the idea of "animal abuse" but it spent way to much time focusing on Akira and Ash arguing with little resolution. So it's pretty boring.

3/5

EP009 School of Hard Knocks - This episode was kind of interesting because it had the anime try to create new ideas for how the world works like the pokemon school which makes perfect sense. Something I noticed though is the fact that the staff the kid was going over for level 1 seemed really easy, so I wonder what the final grade teaches, the math behind IV's and Rate of shiny pokemon. I don't get the moral at the end though, computer battles are not the real thing so it's better to learn real tactics when fighting. So does this mean that instead of playing the games were you use made up tactics you should always do poorly made tactics? Typical writers.

4/5

EP010 Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village - Another starter capture another pokemon who starts off hating Ash but then ends up being captured pretty basic episode if you ask me.

3/5

EP011 Charmander the Stray Pokemon - Now this episode I like, it has some good moments with Ash trying to save Charmander and Brock actually being three dimensional by being so concerned about Charmander and eventually yelling at his trainer.

4/5

EP012 Here comes the Squirtle Squad - I find it funny how 4Kids made it so dramatic over Misty getting her hair dyed purple, in the original they were going to out right kill her. So with all the tactics and Squirtle who is a pretty interesting pokemon this makes up a pretty good episode. My only issue would be the fact the ending was way to sudden with the Squirtle Squad being good just like that.

4/5

EP013 Mystery at the Lighthouse - While this episode does use an expect of the game it doesn't use to much with it and this episode is pretty forgettable and drawn out. I found it pretty funny how Bill got stuck in the Kobutops costume, disadvantage of being a furry people! The episode also seems to have a lot of build up to Dragonite but all we see of it is a silhouette while it barely does anything!

1/5

EP014 Electric Shock ******** - Here's something I really hate about the anime, pokemon refusing to evolve. Yes I get it they don't want it to become for x reason but it's still pretty stupid and doesn't cover the real fact that it doesn't want to evolve so it can stay cute and sell as many toys and products as possible. Enjoy being mained to death for refusing to evolve Pikachu. For all it's worth though the battle between Pikachu and Raichu is still one of the better battles in all of Kanto though.
Also this is the first time Team Rocket uses a disguise and Misty immediately recognizes them oh the irony.

3/5

EP015 Battle aboard St.Annie - This is the episode of the anime where we are are introduced to Giovanni who isn't a real threat until 15 years later only to have his disappearance unexplained. The team up between all the pokemon taking down all the pokemon was pretty cool despite 50% of it being recycled animation.

4/5

EP016 Pokemon Shipwreck - At the beginning of the episode it's established that Officer Jenny thinks the group is dead, wouldn't it be interesting if they actually, oh I don't know establish it further before making that seen entirely pointless oh well. This episode is pretty fun though having a lot of high tension with the group using there own pokemon was pretty cool. Despite this episode being pretty drawn it's pretty cool.

4/5

EP017 Island of Giant Pokemon - Well this episode is well, different. It's weird seeing the pokemon voices subtitled especially how Charmander and Pikachu seem to be the only ones who care for Ash just you wait Charmander.Something that really bothers me is that Giovanni is the owner of this amusement park with giant pokemon you think he might use this to try well take over the world but nope Giovanni is only interested in expanding tourism.

4/5

EP018 Beauty and the Beach - Oh Boy time for a tramautizingly bad episode. I can understand why 4kids skipped this episode fanservice (especially for James) serves no point in this show. Along with the creepy character of the day who even flirted with Misty in the original version overall it's an outright mess. Also are Gary's fangirls aware he's 10 years old?

1/5

EP019 Tentacool and Tentacruel - Darn time for our "environmental episode". Pretty basic episode but seeing an entire city getting destroyed was pretty cool with all the guns and pokemon attacks really makes up for the sickening last episode.

3/5

EP020 Ghost of Maiden's Peek - Another episode that kind unfitting for this series. I'm not saying it's all bad though we get to see Brock and on a rare a cation James falling in love with a woman. Something that really annoyed was the climax with Gastly and how pretty seems to control all reality creating "animals" a mongoose then he just disappears without any real conclusion, yes it's but it'll be back soon. What exaclty was Gastly's goal in the first place?

3/5

EP021 Bye Bye Butterfree - This episode is pretty boring aside from the emotional goodbye we get from Ash in the end, pretty basic start for Ash starting to continually release pokemon in the distant future.

3/5

EP022 Abra and Psychic Pokemon - Something that's usually ignored by future episodes of pokemon is the gym leaders are incredibly boring with Sabrina it was nice they actually tried to something so dark. In fact aside from main characters Sabrina might be the most well developed gym leader. I do however have a problem with how over powered psychic types are in this episode but it's not going to be a big problem until the following episode.

4/5

EP023 The Tower of Terror - An episode that's actually creative!? This is another kind of episode the anime would never have today and it's pretty well weird. Overall it's pretty boring but also fun.

3/5

EP024 Kadabra vs Haunter - Man this was a weird arc and it gets even weirder here. I think the reason why it ended this way was because the writers realized they made the psychic types to over powered and knew there was no way Ash could say they just gave up. Still this arc was pretty ground breaking as it left Ash with a goal that expanded through multiple episodes, something that will become a high point of the series.

3/5

EP025 Primeape goes bananas - This episode has a lot going for it with Ash going insane trying to get his hat back but it got old fast.

3/5

EP026 Pokemon Scent-sation - This episodes has good moments and bad moments while it's incredibly annoying to see Erika just hand her badge over to Ash without a real battle considering all the filler that's upcoming but it's also not typical for to see Ash teaming up with Team Rocket and dressing up as a girl .

2/5

EP027 Hypno's Naptime - Man this episode is really stupid. The episode starts off with a lady confusing her son telling them he's been missing for three days! I guess that's what happens when your entire police force is inbred. Or the fact that no one is noticing this giant mansion on top of a building. Or the fact that Magikarp girl must have some how flopped over to the elavator and pressed the button. This episode is stupid but it's still a pretty fun watch.

4/5

EP028 Pokemon Fashion Flash - Basic episode but the stuff with Team Rocket obsessing over fashion and Misty's makeover it was pretty funny.

3/5

EP029 The Punchy Pokemon - This was a pretty bad episode, the characters of the day were really boring and the battle weren't a lot better. The only redeeming thing about this episode is Team Rocket and they're usually the only redeeming thing of most of these episodes. This is also the episode were we say goodbye to Primeape after appearing in 1 episode a lot people complain about the lack of screen time of the pokemon today but this is an example of how not to handle one of Ash's captures.

2/5

EP030 Sparks fly for the Magnemite - Officer Jenny is having these three kids she barely knows into the Power Plant to put the power on, heaven forbid you *get your uniform dirty Jenny. Other then pretty regular episode consisting of the group and Team Rocket just wondering around not that bad.

3/5

EP031 Dig those Diglett - Another episode that was made with littlee ideas in mind. Also Team Rocket's pokemon evolving in this episode but it's only done to expand the episode.

1/5

EP032 Ninja Poke******** - Why does 4Kids feel they need to add "poke" to every title seems really unnecessary. Compared to the last episode this episode is really well paced. Cramming some great battle between Ash and Koga and his sister, the funny moments with Ash and friends going through the gym, Psyduck failed moments and Team Rocket. Considering the fact Ash actually desrved this badge it's easily one of the better gym battles and pretty underrated.

4/5

EP033 The Flame Pokemon -Thon - Well Pokemon Racing is a pretty good idea for an episode but other then that his episode is pretty basic.
What's weird is the fact that in Japan this is the highest rated episode of Pokemon with 18.3% weird.
Also 4Kids never try to have your VA's do western accents again.

2/5

EP034 The Kangiskan Kid - My god this is a weird episode and a little people seem to hate it or love it because it's a display of everything the anime isn't now. Personally though I love it's really insane and stupid but hilarious. I totally recommend this episode to anyone who hasn't seen the original series and is curious to see the anime of yesturyear.

4/5

EP035 Legend of Dratini - Man I personally think it's a pretty big shame 4Kids had skipped this episode is favor of not airing it. The scenes with Team Rocket torturing the Warden are really funny along with how Ash keeps trying to catch other pokemon but ends up capturing a Tauros.

4/5

EP036 The Bridge Bike Gang - Are bridges normally built were the build the walkway first for bikers then for the actual drivers? Also yet again we see Nurse Joy sending the group off on job despite not knowing them at all, oh well Nintendo Logic! Considering the fact they don't really have anywhere to be, Ash doesn't even have his next gym battle planned there's really little point in them wanting to cross the bridge in the first place. This episode has some pretty good battles though so I'd recommend it.

3/5

EP037 Ditto's Mysterious Mansion - This episode is pretty awesome and memorable. We get a great establishment of everyone favorite egg making machine ditto and a memorable moment where the group does the Team Rocket motto.

4/5

EP038 Dennou Senshi Porygon - This episode took the idea of the pokemon storage system and made it awsome! Making the world inside a computer based wonder land with many seizure enduing lazers! Also Porygon is in it and he's also pretty awesome.

5/5

EP039 Pikachu's Goodbye - Man what a sad episode to bad we already know it's pretty clear Pikachu would never leave Ash. This episode is still pretty bad despite being pretty sad I guess it's no surprise this episode was put together in four months after the show got put on hiatus after the porygon incident.

1/5


EP040 Battling Eevee Brothers - I've always found this episode pretty ironic Mikey wants his Eevee to stay in its own form so it can be happy, you better not keep it to happy or it'll evolve when Gold and Silver. Overall this is another pretty boring episode but it's kind of interesting seeing them go over evolution stone evolution.

2/5


EP041 Wake up Snorlax - Well this was a good episode I guess the antics of them trying to wake up Snorlax were pretty funny.
4/5

EP042 ******** at Dark City - Man this episode is messed up. Personally I'm not sure if I should love this episode or hate it but I'll say skip it.

2/5

EP043 March of the Exeggutor Squad - Well this episode is just god awful. It's about a magician who sucks at his job, try's to use his pokemon brainwash Ash so he can brainwash more pokemon then there's a battle and the episodes ends. That's it. Probably one of the worst episodes of the entire franchise, it's not even fun it's just REALLY stupid.

1/5

EP044 Problem with Paras - Another terrible episode. At least last one was sort of entertaining this one is just really boring and starts the pattern of a typical filler today.
Character of the day has problem with there pokemon
There's a battle and it fails
Pikachu says its name
Team Rocket try to steal the weak pokemon and SURPRISE it's strong now we hope you enjoyed this recycled plot.

1/5


EP045 Song of Jigglypuff - Man I love this episode, back when Jigglypuff was funny and no one was sick of seeing it. Only problem is the stuff with the group trying to teach Jigglypuff to sing is pretty boring.

4/5

EP046 Attack of the Prehistoric Pokemon - Man this is another episode with a lot, between fossil digging, Team Rocket attack, fossil pokemon attack, Charmeleon evolving, the group trying to dig out Ash and Ash finding the first pokemon egg in the franchise this episodes action packed.

4/5

EP047 A Chansey Operation - Let me get this strait, in this world based around pokemon there isn't one pokemon center for miles so the group has to rely on a doctor to get an apple out of pikachu's throat yep, Also this episode has to much fanservice on Misty. Why is this wrong? SHE'S 10 FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!! It's bad enough they had to make it so blatantly obvious the doctor is attracted to her.
Also Brock rejects Dr.Proctor's offer to help him because he wants to become a pokemon breeder good luck Brock.

4/5

EP048 Holy Matrimony - I like these history episodes. It's really great for us to learn more about James and his history it's a shame we don't more on other characters *cough* Ash *cough. All in all great episode. In fact this episode isn't even about Ash and friends it's about Team Rocket as we have more focus put on them then Ash and friends with them "Blasting off" at the end of the episode instead of them. I freaking love how satanicly evil Jessebelle and Jame's parents for letting him get tortured. I wonder why Ash never thought of the idea of James being rich of actually getting rid of him.

4/5

EP049 So near yet so Farfetch'd - This is a pretty boring episode, a kid tries to steal pokemon only realize that the pokemon he was using to steal was strong all along. I don't get it why didn't he know it all along when he was stealing the pokemon or why he did in the first place so this episode is just pretty stupid.

2/5

EP050 Who keeps Togepi? - Well 50 episodes in it's now time for the show to jump the shark for the first time! A lot people pinpoint this as the moment in the series when Misty stop acting violent towards Ash and became more based around cuteness of pokemon. This episode is pretty poor, for an episode that provides such an important event it provides very little.

3/5

EP051 Bulbasaur's Mysterous Garden - I've already stated my dislike towards the idea of pokemon refusing to evolve. It's just poor excuse for the animators to save money while at same time trying to sell as many bulbasaur products as possible. Heaven forbid we get screen time of a different pokemon. This episode was still a breakthrough though as Bulbasaur was one of Ash's weakest pokemon before this episode and once he learned Solar Beam he become Ash's more powerful pokemon. I guess it's trying to deal with idea of how people need to grow up and Bulbasaur refuses to look intimidating. BULLS***The moral of this episode makes no sense, if you don't want to change you don't have the option to and you should stay who you are the same person forever. BAD MORAL

2/5

EP052 Princess vs Princess - Learning about Japanese holidays is neat. I also enjoyed seeing a rivalry Misty and Jessie while fleshing out there character history. The only problem is Jessie rarely uses Lickitung after this.

4/5

EP053 The Purr-fect Hero - This episode is pretty basic there's nothing really good about but nothing really bad either it's just average. However the bipolar teacher in this episode really cracks me up.

3/5

EP054 - This episode is interesting because I think it's nice to see Ash trying a new approach to becoming a good pokemon trainer by having Pikachu go through Glowlthe Police Training and at the same time wondering if it's the right thing to do to Pikachu. Pretty Good.

4/5

EP055 - Pokemon Paparazzi - This is the episode where we are introduced Todd Snapp the character from the N64 where you take pictures of pokemon and it's well pretty boring. Just a pretty poor excuse at the writers to eventually advertise a game. It's pretty funny to see Team Rocket recruit someone to capture Pikachu only for Todd to completely fail.

3/5

EP056 The Ultimate Test - I think the point of this episode might have been to show that Ash has barley developed as a trainer on his journey as he's pretty bad so in a way this episodes point is kind of pointless. Like the only thing that matters about being a pokemon is just being a nice person. sigh. Another thing that annoys me is that Jessie has point in this episode, a lot of the info on the test makes no sense at all considering the fact the answers really can be easily misconstrued. I may be wrong though as Ash is really good at battling the gym leader/teacher but that's it also the antics with Todd can be pretty funny sometimes. Also at the end Ash says he's fine with getting badges his own way forgetting the entire reason why he took the test in the first place, Because most of his badges were just handed over to him.

3/5

EP057 Breeding Center Secret - This episode was pretty cool as it had pretty high tension as Butch and Cassidy are more threatening villians. I think it's also nice for us to see Misty helping the group out at the end of the episode instead of Ash for once.

4/5

EP058 Riddle Me This - I'm not going to talk about the gym battle because it's not until the end of the episode. The antics with the riddles and Ash trying to find a hotel is kind of funny I guess they didn't have to many ideas for this episode. There's also the fact that Pikachu is used in this battle when he was used in all the other ones while. Let me prove my point with this chart frojm the gym battles so far up to this point.
Pikachu 6
Butterfree 1
Pidgeotto 2
Bulbasaur 1
Squirtle 1
Charizard 4

3/5

EP059 Volcano Panic - I think this episode is proof why the writers never bothered to put in actual gym battles, when they put one it they're very poorly done and rushed. We have each pokemon OHKO each other staying out for 1 minute it's almost sheer proof how bad the Kanto League can be. Watching the group's pokemon working together to prevent the volcano from erupting was neat but I don't get why the wait so long to help though. Also this episode makes up from the poor battle in the last episode by putting together an awesome battle between Magmar and Charizard. By the way this episode is why Magmar was one of my favorite pokemon.

4/5

EP060 Beach blank-out Blastiose - This episode has a case of WSIC or Why should I care? This case will be more common in some future episodes but here there's not to many events in this episode. Also Squirtle, compared to Bulbasaur seemed pretty excited to see his evolved forms then why didn't he ever bother to evolve?

2/5


EP061 Misty the Mermaid - The idea of an underwater pokemon musical is weird but I'm sure it's better then the actual pokemon musical. Misty centric episodes especially in the earlier episodes were always pretty good.

4/5

EP062 Clefairy Tale - This episode is weird but still has some awesome moments. The character of the day is a total nut job which I love. This episode also has the funniest Team Rocket scheme ever, I'm not going to reveal anything though you'll have to watch the episode yourself. But the best part is the pink on pink pokemon action between Clefairy and Jigglypuff.

5/5

EP063 Battle for Badge - The final gym is easily the worst. First of all there's Giovanni not getting used. WHY? This was the most climactic moment in the games why were the writers the against following the games even slightly. Second they're going to have this battle against Team Rocket who are currently 0-61? And third the battle is just poorly done. If there's something good I can say about this episode is the build up we get build up to Mewtwo strikes back and Gary actually *gasp* battle! However I'm annoyed they don't let Ash into the gym but they let in Gary's cheerleaders.

2/5

EP064 It's Mr.Mime Time - Well we just had a pokemon underwater musical now we have a pokemon circus. I liked how Ash managed to just leave Team Rocket like forget this I'm out of here. The best part would be the antics with Mr.Mime who's a great addition to the show.

4/5

EP065 Holiday Hi-Jynx - Another banned episode. The difference this time is that this one probably isn't a big miss. I do kind of wish there were more Christmas themed episodes of this show. How Team Rocket Stole Christmas theme works very well so it's quite a shame.

3/5

EP066 Snow way out - I liked this episode it really puts Ash in a corner and shows how determined he can sometimes be to help his friends in need. Also more references to Jessie being an orphan but this time it's funny watching her enjoy the snow.

4/5

EP067 ******** at the po-ke-corral - Now that the pokemon league is coming up its time for us to have a "breather" episode. This episode tries to establish stuff that has mostly been forgotten in the last few episodes but comes off as just pretty poorly paced. Also this episode is an example of how bad the rivalry between Ash and Gary was as we never get to see them battle they just spend the entire episode bragging to one another.

2/5

EP068 The Evolution Solution - And thus starts another string of filler er I mean Ash procrastinating from training for the pokemon league. This episode is pretty boring-stupid. Like it makes no sense at all they're not sure why Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro when a shellder clamps onto its tail say see it happen end of episode but a lot of stuff on this show doesn't make any sense so I'll just roll with it. The character of the day is over the top however its pretty stupid and not really funny at all.

2/5

EP069 The Pi-kahuna - This episode seemed to forget it was an episode of pokemon until we're half way through and it does the cliched thing.

1/5

EP070 Make Room for Gloom - The character of the day in this episode seems kind of stupid she keeps thinking she's a horrible trainer when her Gloom can't evolve even though it might have evolved from an Oddish and is upset about the nursery even though it's being run just fine. Also Prof Oak randomly comes in at the middle of this episode for barely any reason. NINTENDO LOGIC

2/5

EP071 Lights Camera Quaction - This episode is really fun. Despite this episode seeming like an ad for the movie (sort of) I enjoyed watching them make a movie with there pokemon.

4/5

EP072 Go West Young Meowth - This episode gives a captivating plot by showing us meowth's backstory.

4/5

EP073 To mast the Onixexpected - This is the first episode to introduce an E4 member despite the fact the role of the E4 won't be explained until about 10 years after this episode aired.
And you know what as an E4 member compared to them in future episodes he REALLY sucks. Oh well at least we got some slap stick with Misty.

4/5

EP074 The Ancient Puzzle of Pokemopolis - You know I don't really understand why this episode of the original series seems to have been largely forgotten. After all I think the fight between a giant Gengar and Alakazam is not really forgettable oh well. I guess when I think about it is kind of boring though.

2/5

EP075 Bad to the Bone - Pretty basic episode I guess it had a pretty memorable character of the day.
3/5

EP076 All Fired Up - Even for pokemon terms this episode is really stupid in common sense. Team Rocket wants to steal Moltres' flame. Why? So this episode can have a problem to keep the plot going, episode is just another annoying filler. This episode is also pretty poorly paced after the part with the Moltres flame is concluded it feels weird. But I do like how after Ash's confrontation with Gary he does seems to have some doubt in himself. There's also the fact that Team Rocket tries to steal the flame in a big stadium filled with many highly experienced pokemon trainers doing nothing. This episode defiantly should have spent a lot more time developing Ash's character rather then spending so much time obsessing over the flame.

3/5

EP077 Round one begin - Ah the Indigo League before it all went wrong. This is also one first few episodes to actually be dedicated to a battle and it's actually also pretty good as it didn't feel really rushed even though Kingler was used this entire episode. It's also nice to see Ash actually do a sweep and not look totally weak.

4/5

EP078 Fire and Ice - Well this is where it all went wrong. First the episode spent way to much time on Ash trying to heal his pokemon which went no where because we get no mention of after a pointless attack from Team Rocket. Also the battle between Ash and Pete is way to rushed, this battle was only won because Mist and Brock were present and last episode left me with high expectations what a shame.

3/5

EP079 Fourth Round Rumble - Yes an episode actually fully dedicated to battle and it's pretty good despite Muk being underused.

4/5

EP080 Friend in Deed - I hate Ritchie, the fact that he's a mature version of Ash leaves Ritchie as a robotic clone. Also in this episode Ash is unable to tell which pokeballs are his but I don't understand why this is an issue now. Also the method they're using to make Ritchie look like a better character is the same way they used for Gary bravo writers.

2/5

EP081 Friend or Foe alike - First of Team Rocket I hate when they use them as an obstacle it is just lazy writing because they're an obstacle in every episode why does it have to be convenient to the plot this time it's to cliche. This battle that also had so much built up is TERRIBLE. First Pidgeotto barely did anything how is it exuasted? Also why does Ash have Charizard when he knows it won't obey him this was the last battle of the Indigo League shame on you writers shame on you.

2/5

EP082 Friends to the end - You know with every episode knowing that they could have made Ash's battle with Ritchie a lot more climactic. Especially since this episode is pretty pointless and could have been shoved into the second half of the last episode if it wasn't for Team Rocket being completely unneeded in the last episode.

2/5


Pokemon the first Movie    

I'm not to sure if I can say how I really reel about this film aside from blaming everything that wrong with it on 4Kids but I think I can try.

I think my biggest complaint would be mewtwo's motive, he wants to take over the world for no reason when in the original he was mad that he wasn't created by god.
Also this movie is hypocritical with it's moral about fighting being wrong since they go back to doing it at the end of the movie anyways.

Don't watch this movie 4kids should have never been created!
2/5
Watch the original version subbed it shouldn't be to hard to find.
4/5

Character Analysis    

Ash - Despite being our main hero of the show Ash is probably the most
boring and dull character on the show. Now don't get me wrong I don't dislike the character but he could be a lot better. After in the first episode we did we get a good look at his personality shown as being determined enough to try and get his but at the same time caring for other like Pikachu in the climax of the final episode. Other then that there's not much to him and unlike the other characters we won't get a real backstory out him for quite a while. I guess it was established that he also became a better battler as the series went on using clever tactics with offence over defense getting put to good work during the pokemon league.

Pikachu - Well not much can be said about Pikachu in comparison to Ash's other pokemon because his main role of the show was to be "cute" but I digress. Pikachu's relation with Ash did change as from the start he did really little to try and bond with Ash almost having a hatred of humans, shocking every person in the first episode especially Ash. Pikachu eventually does come to real terms and realizes that the right thing to do is help Ash. Even warming
up to more kinder Misty much quicker then he did with Ash. Pikachu was also very full of pride for refusing to evolve to get stronger in the name of Pikachu.
You could say the there final test was in Goodbye Pikachu were it decides to stay with Ash but because the episode was put together last minute I'm not sure if it had character development in mind. As the series progresses Pikachu will actually do less in series which is why I'm talking about him now. While he was largely overused in this season just wait until Johto and considering this is the only season where he does a lot guess it is understandable for more screen time to get put on other pokemon in future, after all there's only so many times they reuse the same animation of Pikachu using thundarbolt.

Butterfree - Speaking of early captures I should probably talk about another strong pokemon of Ash's Butterfree. Looking back I kind of wish that he never really released him due to his many other releases in the future and Butterfree actually being a strong pokemon. Other then that he was pretty bland. While as a Caterpe he seemed focused on trying to befriend other people he seemed to also have a really strong desire to evolve. Problem is after that he has no personalty despite being pretty strong in battles against Misty and Team Rocket I really wish we could have seen him more.

Pidgeotto - Man this guy was underused. Not only that but despite being around for so long he did absolutely nothing! With screentime would often be taken away in favor of the more popular starters and was only used if flying was involved. This pokemon would actually start a trend of incredibly underused and ignored flying types.

Bulbasaur - Speaking of trending patterns Bulbasaur was the first of many grass starters Ash would catch. Along with that he was a lot more interesting being the "mature" battler on the team commonly sitting aside while Ash's other pokemon were playing. As Bulbasaur was depicted in his first episode it had shown he was very protective of other pokemon having a slight hatred of human for being abandoned quite a while ago. As for his battle skills he started off being pretty weak with a lot of battle losses. It's not until he refuses to evolve and learns Solar Beam when he finally becomes a powerhouse being Ash's only Kanto member to carry on for more then half of Johto. I've already stated how I feel about Bulbasaur evolving, it was a poorly done unexcused reason for the animators to save money on new animation.

Squirtle - Speaking of pokemon refusing to evolve it's time for me to talk about Squirtle. Squirtle was probably Ash's only "fun" pokemon besides Pikachu and I mean that after Charmander evolved. He was actually quite a mischievous pokemon, going around playing pranks on trainers only to eventually redeem himself to Ash in his capture episode. Beachblankout Blastoise was the best time for Squirtle to shine trying to help out his evolved brotherin as soon as possible but at the same time being pretty fun about it. Despite easily being sweeped in his only gym battle he was a lot stronger of a battler in other episodes wiping out Team Rocket a lot better then Bulbasaur might have.

Charizard - Speaking of pokemon that would wipe out other pokemon it's time to talk about Charizard. Early Charmandar was depicted as a pretty fragile pokemon who was more loyal to Ash then some of his other pokemon getting thrown out in battle more often in favor or anyone else on Ash's team. Despite this even as Charmander he was still willing to attack any other people with his flamethrower. Then he evolved into an even bigger powerhouse Charizard. Once he evolved into Charizard he was still completely unloyal to Ash becoming lazy, refusing to battle unlesss his ego has at stake or if it was another fire pokemon or just becoming strong. Why? Well I guess one reason could that just wasn't a good trainer but I don't really understand it Ash still seems to care for Charizard and at this part in the series he was shown as a good trainer. Annoying aside especially how stupid it is that it leads to a very disappointing climax to the Indigo League we'll get to see a good glimpse of him finally obeying Ash again in future.


Gary - This character I seriously do not understand the point of. I think his role might been to either show how inexperienced Ash was as a trainer and at the same time making Ash look like a more better character by comparison. In the process though they make him come off as an obscure ****** who knows everything and should be ashamed for being better. The biggest problem was the fact we never really saw him battle Ash, in fact in every battle we saw him in he had gotten his but kicked. So this also makes seem even more of pointless character with a lot of wasted potential in fact it won't be for along time until the series would get a recurring rival correct.

Misty - If there was any character that was truly liked by everyone who watched the series though it would be Misty. Misty started out just following Ash out of anger of her destroying his bike in fact when she first meets Ash she even slaps him a couple times(this when censored in the dub process). I also want to start off to make this clear but they were never meant to be a couple instead the true reason why Misty followed Ash was because she had gradually just become dependent on him. So it's love or Stockholm syndrome you be the judge. Misty has also left being the girl of the group so of course she also had to be the feminist, nice girl of the group despite sometimes beating up members of her group despite the dub sometimes making her come off as a little self-centered. Despite this we also saw a selfish side to her in Princess vs Princess as her entire goal of winning the competition has so she could win a collection of dolls to show off to her sisters who would commonly be the selfish ones on there own.

Psyduck - If there was anytime in the series were Misty would get mad at something it would be about Psyduck. He inclusion on the team could be considered a good thing or a bad thing though because he basically would come out of his pokeball only she'd call out another pokemon causing her to get mad instead of her using another kind of strategy with a different pokemon. However I don't think it's all bad though as he was her only pokemon that had personality and prevented Misty from being repetitive enough to call out the same pokemon again to use water gun.

Brock - Out of all of the traveling companions Ash has had Brock has probably been around the most only to do very little during his run on the show. Now don't get he wrong he actually does a lot in this series but in the future I suggest for you to lower your expectations. While Misty was more of a short term carer Brock was probably a long term one commonly worrying of when issues might arise in a situation. One main example would be when he got mad a Damian for letting his Charmander out in the rain to almost let it die Ash even suggested that Brock should be the one to keep it since he was the reason they had gone back for it. Other then that there's not much to his character aside from falling in love even his pokemon were even more uninteresting only being used at random moments for battle.

It's time I talk about the REAL main characters of the show Team Rocket. While the series would go on there antics would gradually get pretty old however in this series (up to the second to last episode) there material is still fresh. In fact he probably know more about Team Rocket then any other characters in the show.

James - James was probably the weirdest member of the group commonly dressing up in womans outfits for no set out reason and having incredibly bizarre obsessions. This might have been the reason why he did not won't to live with his parents as growing he was not well adjusted to proper he just wanted to do normal weird things and I think out of all the members of Team Rocket James got the best lines.

Jessies - Jessie was the self centered one of the group constantly trying to improve her image while still being depicted as a villain. She also had a poor childhood in comparison to Jame's as Jessie grew up going from orphanage to orphanage which is probably why she might be so self centered. Even at one point abandoning James and Meowth so she can participate in the pokemon league on her own.

Meowth - While Meowth was also pretty self-centered it still wasn't to the same extent as Jessie was since has probably the most loyal member to Team Rocket wanting to be Giovanni's pet instead of Persian. Meowth was also sort of the brains behind the group despite being pokemon and being easily distracted by a simple ball of yarn. Despite this Meowth still has a pretty soft side through displayed through his affection of the moon.


Full Review    


When people usually talk about the pokemon anime they usually associate it as the high point of this show. However, when you get down to is the the first season really as good as people say it is or are they just being completely biased through there nostalgia goggles? First I'm going to talk about the main problem with the show and almost every future season, there really is no main plot or focus on a goal. I mean yes we have thing like plots in mostly every episode but there's actually no real motivation or goal related to Ash being a pokemon master or Misty being a Water pokemon master. The problem with the first season though is the fact we have even less focus on Ash's gym battles, within the first 32 episode Ash has 6 of his badges with biggest gap being eight episodes only to have 28 more episodes until our next gym battle. Not to mention the fact there was absolutely no tension built up to these battles or even attention, for example the battles were very poorly done or just forgotten. However, it doesn't bother me too much though since this season was probably more based around the idea of Ash catching as many pokemon as possible, and I totally buy it lot more then just going around getting gym badges. As we go out through the show we see that Ash can barely hold up a battle on his own only for him to progress into the final 16 of the pokemon league. This was most likely the reason why most of Ash's gym battles were given out in petty, however I don't fully buy it. The problem with this is that the transition between Ash becoming a bad trainer to a good trainer might have been a little to quick since the gym battle were so overlooked especially since Ash only won against Blaine because of his Charizard didn't obey him and his Viridian City gym battle was SO BAD.
On the topic of that I should probably bring up how repatative the show is by telling how to play
THE POKEMON DRINKING GAME!!!!
Take A Drink When Watching this show when;
Brock Flirts With a girl
Team Rocket Tries to steal Pikachu
Animation Gets Reused (Double Sip if it's of Ash throwing a Pokeball)
Ash helps a complete stranger for no reason
Pikachu says it's name
Pointless POKEMON ARE CUTE moment!

I would give you a warning though because some people have passed out after 5 minutes into an episode. However I will give the show some credit for this as it's still fresh 82 episodes in but it will soon get old very fast. On the topic of that compared to other future season the animation here is at it's worst. With the same animation getting reused once every episode espicially for action moves. Fortunetly the poor animation is something that will change as the series goes on though. As for the voice acting well, it's not very consistent sometimes some of the actors are pretty good other times they're pretty bad. Veronica Taylor as Ash is pretty bad, especially in the earlier episode but even as her performances to get slightly better her voice she uses is still bad, if you close your eyes and just listen to his voice it does not sound like a 10 year old sounds like a woman in her thirties trying to be a woman. Rachel Lillis as Misty and Jessie are a better improvement with most there performances being pretty sometimes sometimes even in dramatic roles. One exception however would be Eric Stuart, who voices James and Brock and he can not act for the life of him. Everyone of his performances is said the same typical way no matter what the mood or tension. Eventually as series goes on and 4kids relies less on random voice actors (who are actually quite superb) and more of there own created talent (who are terrible) the voice acting gets far worse but between and season 4 the voice acting is just plain passable. So in the end how does it really fair up though? As series does put less focus on battling and slightly more on slap stick humor that would be quite reduced in the future it still was the classic sense of expedition and for that I give show credit and using plot devices that are not repetitive yet. I should also give the show credit for at least trying to put a plot together to the original Red and Blue which less face it had no plot in the first place. BUT there's still one final fact this season is REALLY stupid left with very little focus on logic at all.
Why does Officer always let kids do her own job?
Why do kids agree to help out such creeper character of the day?
Why is the show willing to have fan service for a 10 year old girl?
Why are the characters so stupid when it comes to Team Rocket?

This also leaves the fact that some aspects of the first season are boring and quite bland *couph* Ritchie *couph*. Like the Parras episode Dig those Diglett. The climax battle was bad with the writers giving us a terrible battle without a battle with Gary dispite so much build up. This left this season different but repetitive and stupid.

I give this season
2/5


5 To Watch
Pokemon I chose you
Battle Aboard Saint Anne
Electric Solider Porygon
Go West Young Meowth
Clefairy Tail

3 to Skip
Mystery at the Lighthouse
Dig those Diglett
March of the Executor Squad

Last edited by Magmaster12; January 27, 2012 at 11:00:05 AM.