Board 8 > Anagram rates the Pokemon anime 8: First Contact (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Realo, Sythia, and I were talking about rarely-mained champions.

... Is Fortune one of them?

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Anagram posted...
Pokalicious posted...
pics please



dat body

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htaeD posted...
Anagram posted...
Pokalicious posted...
pics please



dat body

Dose headphones.

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Anagram posted...
htaeD posted...
Anagram posted...
Pokalicious posted...
pics please



dat body

Dose headphones.

Tose boobies.

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Toes don't have boobs.

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Sorry, guys, but people don't meet their lovers on roller coasters. They meet them on ferris wheels.

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You should get at least one alt in the event you get warned or put into Purgatory. - Luster
It's probably easier to just not break the rules. - SmartMuffin

Cutting the Ties that Bind!
"Beedrill! Millions of them!"
Score: 4/10

The heroes have reached Metallica Island, which is less about music and more about the Battle Palace. While training his pokemon, Ash finds that Sceptile still can't use grass attacks, and the heroes mention its broken heart again. Jesus, Sceptile, you knew that Meganium for a day. Not even an entire day! I once got rejected by a girl I asked out whom I’d known for weeks, and then proceeded to get a B+ on my Major American Novels exam later that day.

Angry, Sceptile runs off and Ash follows, and they accidentally stumble upon a horde of Beedrill, so numerous that Pikachu can't fight them off. Sceptile tries to fight, but it still can’t use any attacks, so it helps by taking attacks meant for Ash. It doesn’t help, however, and all three are knocked into a fast-moving river. If I understand the geology of Japan correctly, and all of my understanding comes from this show, Japan is roughly 80% waterfalls, 10% rivers, and 5% cities, with the remaining 5% being split between deserts, snowy mountaintops, and mysterious caves.

Ash is faced with a choice: save Pikachu, or save Sceptile. Ash chooses Pik-- woah what Ash actually chooses Sceptile because it’s wounded and Pikachu can fend for itself? What in the hell is this logical thinking on his part?

May, Max, and Brock meet Scott, and they're concerned because "it's not like Ash to be late!" even though responsibility is so far from being one of Ash's character traits that I can't even come up with an analogy to make this sentence entertaining to read. Scott explains that it's Kakuna evolution season and Ash has probably gotten into trouble, and agrees to help the heroes find Ash by using some repel to keep the Beedrill away.

Cut to Ash, who drags Sceptile to the shore, but it's too wounded to move easily. Ash helps it walk so they can look for Pikachu.

Hours late, we cut to Pikachu, who is wounded and tired and crawls out of the river at night, so-- wait, Pikachu spent hours traveling downstream? So it's, what, tens of miles away from Ash? Fortunately, a hermit and his Venusaur find Pikachu and heal it. Scott and the heroes find the hermit, who introduces himself as Spencer, the Frontier Brain for the Battle Palace. Even though they could not possibly have traveled tens of miles through a forest on foot in the few hours they’ve been searching.

Spencer explains his philosophy to the heroes. "Our way of life is the natural way. If we're tired, we rest, if we're hungry, we eat. By staying close to Mother Nature, we thrive." I hate characters like this. You know what makes humanity thrive? Freaking agriculture and metallurgy. You can be as natural as you want, but when you add agriculture and metallurgy to the mix, natural life is, by comparison, able to sustain a vastly smaller number of people.

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Spencer agrees to help the heroes find Ash, and in the morning Ash continues to help Sceptile walk. This is almost literally the exact same thing he did with Charizard in Charizard Chills, except Sceptile already respects Ash so I don't know. The Beedrill attack again, and Ash attempts to fight them back using the ultimate weapon: a stick.

Ash loses, and Sceptile heroically steps forward to battle for him. Unfortunately, it still can't use grass attacks. I'm sorry, but is Sceptile right this instant thinking about its broken heart? I mean... really?

Fortunately, the others find Ash and Sceptile just in time, and the heroes and Spencer save Ash.

Team Rocket steals Pikachu and Sceptile in their balloon. Ash hurts his knee by tripping over a rock, but grunts through the pain and literally jumps at least fifty feet to grab onto the balloon. I'm serious. He jumps, at an absolute minimum, fifty feet into the air with a wounded knee. Jessie has Dustox use poison sting on Ash, and seeing Ash in trouble for the third time this episode finally gives Sceptile the strength to use its attacks again and save Ash. Ash's response? "Hey, it looks like you can do all your moves now, Sceptile." No "Thanks for saving my life," just an observation about how useful Sceptile is to him now.

Ash Ketchum: Maximum Dick.

Anyway, Spencer tells Team Rocket to get lost and Sceptile kicks their asses. And then, insanely, Ash thanks Spencer for saving his life.

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Badump

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Why is it that Beedrill is always the token evil swarm pokémon? I mean come on, at this point there've been three generations of pokémon, some of which are poison types, and a few of which aren't completely unlikely to gather in large numbers.

I mean, I could see a bunch of Ariados or Dustox chasing Ash & company with Poison Sting...

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Wasps are more aggressive than moths or spiders. Maybe that's why.

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SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo.
BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.

I think Ariados does end up replacing Beedrill in Sinnoh. At least if Dawn and Piplup have anything to say about it.

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You should get at least one alt in the event you get warned or put into Purgatory. - Luster
It's probably easier to just not break the rules. - SmartMuffin

Wild Spearow and Fearow are also traditionally bad guys in the anime.

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It's because Beedrill and Fearow initially opposed Butterfree and Pidgeot and looked more evil than their opposition, making them perfect for the "swarm/flock of scary things that Pikachu can disperse heroically" role. Then I guess the writers just never updated.

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Bump

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I'll try to do another review tonight, after I get back from my class. I only have one class on Wednesdays and I commute forty-five minutes to school, it's so frustrating.

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What's more important to you, Anna; school, or an online forum? And don't pick the obvious one.

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BNVshark123 posted...
What's more important to you, Anna; school, or an online forum? And don't pick the obvious one.

I have been on Board 8 longer than I've been in college, it is true. Significantly longer, in fact.

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Buump

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Anagram, remember how you said that you'd rate another episode two days ago? Yeah, me neither.

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Ka Boom with a View!
"Wow! You talk great!"
Score: 4/10

So the Battle Palace is a huge palace made out of stone bricks even though Spencer spent the last episode talking about how awesome nature is.

Okay.

The battle will be three-on-three and take place outside in miles of jungle between cliffs and the ocean shore, meaning the entire palace construct is apparently unnecessary. We are then introduced to a flying camera with artificial intelligence that keeps track of the pokemon as they move so the audience (Brock, May, Max, and Scott) will be able to watch. So... yeah, I think we've pretty much established at this point that Spencer's nature philosophy is full of the same stuff that is in his colon.

Spencer sends out Shiftry, so Ash counters with Sceptile even though Swellow would make much more sense. The pokemon immediately run into the jungle, and the trainers follow. Even though Sceptile and Shiftry are moving as fast as they can and it's established that Sceptile can run really freaking fast, especially in a forest, Ash and Spencer easily keep up by... running. I would be mad, but I do remember that Ash can canonically run as fast as a truck in that one episode so okay. Well anyway Sceptile wins easily.

Spencer sends out his Venusaur, and Ash his Heracross. Woah, uh-- I admit I forgot Heracross even existed. Well, Heracross lands a lot of hits, but Venusaur tanks them like a boss and knocks it out with one solar beam because it’s “really high level!”

Ash sends out Swellow, and commands it to fly to the ocean for the next part of the battle, as Spencer desperately attempts to use vine whip to slow it down. When they reach the beach, Swellow uses aerial ace and defeats Venusaur in a way that does not involve the ocean or the sand at all.

Spencer sends out his final pokemon: Claydol, which easily defeats Swellow. Thus, Ash returns Sceptile to the field, who dodges hyper beam and uses solar beam to defeat it. I’m sorry, what? Sceptile’s entire gimmick is movement and more, well, “physical” attacks than Ash’s previous grass types. Why should it know solar beam? Just use a damn leaf blade.

Well, Spencer rewards Ash with the Spirit Symbol and goes off into the forest to pretend he hasn’t wasted his life with a silly philosophy that he himself undermines with his fancy flying cameras.

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From: Anagram | #171
So... yeah, I think we've pretty much established at this point that Spencer's nature philosophy is full of the same stuff that is in his colon.

Silicon-based sludge?

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"I like goldfish." Godric

King and Queen for a Day!
"You're just too cute and pink to fight!"
Score: 3/10

Due to a series of complicated events, Pikachu, Meowth, Mime Jr., and Bonsly are alone in a group in a nameless city. It takes roughly three seconds for the Jewish mafia to attempt to abduct them.

No, actually, Meowth explains that they're Team Rocket's "nastiest goons." By the way, we later learn that they have no connection to Team Rocket, so I don’t know why he thinks that.

They lead the humans on a chase even though Pikachu could easily just shock them, and while they eventually escape, it leaves them exhausted, causing everyone except Meowth to collapse. He takes the opportunity to help a lady on the condition that she give him some food. Pikachu accuses Meowth of stealing it, and apparently Meowth's protestation that he earned it honestly is enough for Pikachu even though Meowth is very explicitly a liar. There was even an episode where he considered that he tells lies more often than other, regular pokemon. I mean, I’m sorry, but Meowth’s word is not exactly something you’re supposed to attach a lot of weight to.

Cut to Jessie and James, who find another Bonsly and Mime Jr., these two with scarves. The heroes show up, and then a horde of teenage girls run by, proclaiming that the Bonsly and Mime Jr. are "king and queen.” May explains to the rest of the heroes that those two are in a popular pokemon soap opera where they proclaim their love despite what the world thinks. The Jewish Mafia guys show up and take the pokemon, explaining that they belong to the show and were chasing the lost pokemon, and that they thought another Bonsly and Mime Jr. belonged to them. They then direct the heroes to where they saw the pokemon last.

The heroes' pokemon stumble onto the set of the show, where the studio guys realize that these aren't their Bonsly and Mime Jr. Nevertheless, when Jessie and James show up, they convince the director to use them anyway because they only have one day to shoot a major scene where Mime Jr. and Bonsly reunite after years apart.

The heroes reach the bridge, and the director offers to make them extras if they'll let him use Bonsly. The director won't let Jessie be in the scene, however, so she attacks, causing Brock to have Bonsly use-- double edge?! You're going to have the pokemon whose main characterization is "is a baby" use double edge? Jesus Christ! Mime Jr. attacks Bonsly back, and the camera gets everything before Team Rocket blasts off. Somehow, even though this wouldn't work within the scene the director described earlier, the director loves it and thinks he’ll win an award.

This plot is literally cobbled together out of older episodes’ plots.

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Curbing the Crimson Tide!
"All of these tall buildings must be full of people."
Score: 4/10

Well, Ash. All of these letters must represent words that themselves evoke concepts that are used to communicate ideas to other entities. Good thing I’ve literally explained the purpose of letters, because the audience would never have known that on their own.

Red Lightning is a Scizor dressed in a cloak that goes around Commerce City, speaking to humans and challenging their pokemon, drawing silly pictures on their faces when it wins. It is clearly wearing a radio communicator under its cloak that allows its trainer to speak, but everyone is fooled anyway. The heroes challenge it to a fight, and follow it to its trainer, Luna, a little girl who invented the radio communicator and who lives on top of a skyscraper. She’s lonely, and because 4chan doesn’t exist in the pokemon world, she trolls in real life instead on the internet.

Through the power of friendship, May convinces her to be less of a dick, and her butler, who is British (imagine if there was like a Canadian butler or something) tells her where to find a nearby pokemon contest as a reward for quieting down his frustrating charge.

Herp.

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These last few episodes have really been... lacking...

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BNVshark123 posted...
These last few episodes have really been... lacking...

Ash has won five out of seven symbols and May three out of five ribbons, but we're not even halfway through the season. I'm not even sure we're a third through the season. I think they went way too fast and are going to throw some filler at me. It's alright, though. I survived Johto.

Come at me bro.

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Bump

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sinnoh should be worth it
hang in there

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htaeD posted...
sinnoh should be worth it
hang in there

More than worth it, bar some fillers.

Goes on for a while though.

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indeed
and they didnt even use Sinnohs Battle Frontier

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Boring sig is boring

I can't wait for Sinnoh and gym battles again.

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htaeD posted...
Anagram posted...
Pokalicious posted...
pics please



dat body

Yeah. Looking forward to this. B/W really has been delivering.



Totally lol'd. Although only the guy on the left with the beard actually looks Jewish.

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TsunamiXXVIII posted...


Totally lol'd. Although only the guy on the left with the beard actually looks Jewish.

Naaaaah, I've seen Jewish guys who look like the others. Oddly, the only one to really speak in the episode is the thin one. The others just keep their mouths shut.

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Anna, hurry up!!!!!!!!!

You need to get to the plot of BW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Black FC: 2150 7444 0817

B/W has been good, but D/P is still way better.

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ph33r teh masta~!

Sinnoh was also completed. Maybe we'll look back at B/W at some point and think it to be better than Sinnoh. For now we don't know.

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SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo.
BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.

Ash is at the fourth gym right now, right?

When D/P was around the 4th gym, it was also better at that point than B/W.

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ph33r teh masta~!

And at that point D/P was doubling B/W in length.

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SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo.
BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.

Ok, ok.

I went through the episode guides on serebii. When D/P had as many episodes as B/W does right now, I'd say they were evenly matched.

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ph33r teh masta~!

Oh god I hope not
I dont wanna wait a whole year to get from gym 7 to 8

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FC 1849 0634 8041
Boring sig is boring

So did I. At this point Ash had only two badges and four Pokemon. Plus much more filler. Our current series has certainly been more eventful.

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SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo.
BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.

Most people are expecting a filler season that features the eastern half of Unova.

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Congratulations to Black Turtle for winning the guru contest.

charmander6000 posted...
Most people are expecting a filler season that features the eastern half of Unova.

Better not.

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Bump

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"1M GO1NG TO CUT YOUR THRO4T 4ND L1ST3N TO YOU BL33D WH1L3 1 SM3LL YOU D13 " Terezi Pyrope, Homestuck
"I like goldfish." Godric

I shouldn't need to say this, but every time I hear complaints about it, I have to point it out.

In contrast to the Kanto season, we are expected to care about the lives and careers of the people who are traveling with Ash.

Okay, it was limited back then, with a few Misty-centric episodes. And even up through Sinnoh, it was hard to pay much attention to Brock.
But that's not the case now.
It's kinda pointless to complain that an entire year passed between gym 7 and gym 8 in Sinnoh, because that ignores two very important things: everything concerning Team Galactic's plans and everything concerning Dawn's contest career. Which, believe it or not, were two very large elements of the Sinnoh seasons.
As for Unova, Iris seems to be less plot-centric than May or Dawn, but Cilan's become more important than Brock or Max, so it'll probably come out to the same amount of filler and side character plots overall.

I can think of few easier ways to induce myself to hate the anime and decide to stop watching it than to think that the only thing that matters is whether or not Ash gets his badges and/or wins the tournament. Especially after every season to date has resoundingly established that the answers will be "eventually" and "not quite".
...I hope I'm not the only one who noticed that recent theme songs have been less about "I wanna be the very best" and "do you have the skills to be number one" and more about "it's about never giving up" and "it's not about win or lose; it's the path you choose".

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You should get at least one alt in the event you get warned or put into Purgatory. - Luster
It's probably easier to just not break the rules. - SmartMuffin

Someday, Ashe will win a main tournament.

Someday...

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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor

dowolf posted...
Someday, Ashe will win a main tournament.

Someday...

He is the champion of the Orange Islands, you know.

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Doesn't count. Not "main" enough.

>_>

(also why did I put an 'e' on there?)

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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor

Noone cares about the Orange Islands. Not even Ash.

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(Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

Wasn't the trophy shown in his room during the first episode of BW?

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Congratulations to Black Turtle for winning the guru contest.