Pokémon

Pokemon had many good qualities during its golden years (roughly 1998-2002). It became an unstoppable force in many countries, mainly the USA and Japan. It quickly became the most successful show based off a video game and it has the most episodes of any animated show ever shown in America. The animation was great for its time, and the songs were very addictive. It was obvious that everybody that saw the show enjoyed it very much, myself included. And to this day, over 10 years after the debut of Pokemon, they are still able to sell merchandise. But what created the downfall of the series was thatit never ended! The show could've easily ended at the end of episode 84, with the end of the Pokemon League. They could've said "Since that day, Ash trained hard to be a master." and then show him as a master. But no, the episodes just keep coming and coming. Johto was cool because of showing new pokemon, but when they repeated the trend of "new pokemon lolz" it got old really quick. And not mention that Ash never matured. He had a birthday one episode and in the 3rd movie he exclaimed that he and Pikachu have been together for a year. But at the start of Diamond and Pearl Ash was mentioned to be 10 years old again. Inconsistency is bad if you want to keep your audience. It still find myself rewatching the first few seasons of Pokemon and hugging my pikachu pillow. But the new episodes these days just don't have the same atmosphere as the old show and it is hard to watch it without booing the lack-luster effort that gets put into each episode. But Pokemon will always have an unforgettable place in my heart and (ignoring anything past the Johto season) for that I give it an 8/10.

Ok, so for the sake of creating the ultimate database for MAL on anime reviews, I have decided to create a review on an anime show that almost everyone in this community is familiar with - Pokemon. Have YOU caught them all? As many people probably already know, Pokemon is the story of our young hero Ash (Satoshi) Ketchum and his dream of one day becoming a Pokemon Master. Of course, if that is your dream, one must defeat gym leaders, participate in the regional Pokemon tournaments and of course, must catch them all, as per the famous catch-phrase of the show. OnAsh's journey, he meets up with many different friends who all have different dreams as well, but coincide with Ash's dream of being a Pokemon Master. While the story nowadays seems pretty cliche and straightforward, keep in mind that this show debuted in 1997, so let's give it that much. The animation for Pokemon is something that gets better as the show goes on. In the first many episodes, the animation is not the greatest thing in the world, and many of the frames are repeated several times throughout the entire anime. But because of the huge improvement, I will give credit to the animators in keeping up with the times. The one thing I really like about this show when I first watched it was the music. I totally fell in love with many of the scores used whenever Ash participated in a big battle against gym leaders or tough rivals. Many of these scores can be seen in the many games that have been created for it as well. Besides that however, a lot of the other music heard sounds kind of boring, which ironically, fits well with the pace of the story, which I'm sure we all are familiar with. I feel that the characters in Pokemon are simply too perfect. I suppose that since this show was geared towards the younger age group, that may be the reason why, but each main characters we are presented with have either one or two obvious faults that the show always seems to dwell upon whenever there is a problem. Whether it be Ash's rash and stubborn nature or Brock's obvious love of Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, it just becomes waaay too repetitive for it to be enjoyable anymore. Team Rocket anyone? Which leads to the category of enjoyment. If Pokemon simply aired the important episodes (i.e. gym battles, Ash catching Pokemon, etc.), the show would be scores more enjoyable than what we are presented it. The insane amount of pointless episodes are so utterly boring, that calling them fillers would be an insult to the word "fillers." Whenever I turn on the television and find Pokemon airing, I would stay on that channel for however long it took me to deduce whether or not a gym battle was occurring. If not, the channel was flipped instantly. Pokemon has tried to keep things fresh with introducing a whole new set of pocket monsters, but at this point, there are so many that its hard to keep track of them all. Pokemon is the anime show which introduced many of us to the world of japanese animation. I believe that a lot of us grew up watching this show at some point in our lives and will always hold it in a special place in our hearts. However, now that we have become older and can compare this to other anime out there, we can see how Pokemon horribly fails as being an enjoyable show to watch. The fact that Ash almost never wins a regional tournament and relinquishes all of his Pokemon that he has worked so hard to evolve and train (cough* Pidgeot* cough) also gets on the nerves of many people as well. For argument's sake, I rated it a 4 (decent) because of the "used-to be" interesting gym battles. Even now, whenever I see Ash competing at the Orange Island final battle, its something I'll gladly stay tuned and watch again.

Pokémon is unique. Not so much in its presentation (though it does stand out easily in a crowd), but in its reception. To date, no other franchise—game, anime, cartoon, or otherwise—has become a worldwide phenomenon as Pokémon did, except perhaps the Super Mario Bros. series. The timing was somehow just right for Pokémon to make its entrance to the world, and nearly all of the children flocked to it like moths to a flame. Adults (most of them) were left scratching their heads at how it is something so simple could become so popular and so famous in such a short amount of time. Whatwas written off as a fad has become one of the best-selling video game franchises in the world, and still going strong 18 years later. And it's because of the anime—well, the anime helped play a big part in it. We all accuse anime of being nothing more than an advertisement for what it's trying to sell, and though it is true, the Pokémon anime is the positive aspect of it. Think about it: if it hadn't been for the anime, would the games have sold as well in the States, or anywhere else outside of Japan? Or would anime in general have made it anywhere else outside of Japan? Story (7): Pokémon is your typical shounen title: a young out-going male protagonist goes on a journey with his friends, and they have adventures together as they battle bad guys and have character development (before it slows to a halt later on), and he wants to be the very best in whatever it is he wants to be. The thing is, most of his friends are creatures that can battle and call upon the powers of nature depending on their type. And these creatures fight for and alongside him to help him become the best trainer in the world: a Pokémon master. But in order to become a Pokémon master, he must learn the secrets of Pokémon, as well as have lots of battles with other trainers, specifically gym leaders who give out badges to victors so they can enter a world-renowned tournament. All shounen titles start out the same, but they all go their own separate paths very early on, and develop their own identity. Pokémon succeeded in that it does stand out from other shounen titles. It may not be the best one out there, the story's simple enough as it is, but it definitely is one of the most famous. The show's created in such a way that one can come in at any given time and be able to quickly understand what is going on. A lot of Pokémon fans came into the anime a little bit later into its first run on television, but re-runs and word-of-mouth were commonplace (and later on the Internet), so everyone is able to catch up at some point if they put in the time. What helped was also its eventual downfall (to older fans, anyway) in its formulaic pattern. Pokémon has been the same since day one: our leads, Ash Ketchum and his buddy Pikachu, travel the land to battle gym leaders, catch more Pokémon, fight off Team Rocket or the evil organization of the region, and compete in the big league. However, there have been differences along the way, some new things being added to help keep it from cloning itself with each new saga, such as switching out traveling companions, new Pokémon teammates, new environments, introducing Contests, new ways to train Pokémon, the list goes on. It's more noticeable after Johto, although the Orange Islands is notable in the original series for making the attempt to play its formula differently and in a shorter amount of time. It was also a controversy in that one of the main characters was “replaced” by another, but that's small potatoes these days (meanwhile, the female companions keep getting a lot of flack), and it somehow managed to succeed anyway before Johto dragged itself through the mud. Needless to say, the story and formula is fit for a children's show. It's why Pokémon has lasted so long, and why it is people stop watching the show only for another batch of children to come into it every new generation. But let me point out that the very first episode of Pokémon is amazing. It sets up the entirety of the show nicely, its themes, its (main) characters, and captures the spirit of adventure, wonder, and optimism. Perhaps this is why we as children became hooked onto the show from the start? Art/Animation (7): Like all art, cel animation can either become dated or stand the test of time depending on the quality and care given to it. While it's good for its time and still holds up, Pokémon is starting to show its age, even though the animation went digital around the final episodes of Johto. Quality did improve as the episodes went on, there's no doubt about it, so thus far it's the first season that's starting to suffer in that regard. It's not bad, of course, it has a special charm to it like a lot of cel-drawn animated cartoons. But it's the character models themselves that have started to become dated, even though a lot of people will remember the characters as they looked here. Pikachu probably has the most notable change of the cast, weight loss jokes aside. Even so, while Pokémon's style reflects other anime of the time, it's certainly recognizable. The Pokémon themselves pop in having been brought to life (figuratively speaking) by the powers of animation from their sprite origins. We get to see how each Pokémon really differ from one-another instead of just being static images. Rarely do two of the same Pokémon act similar, even when sharing screen-time, and the animation reflects it. The battle animations showcase this very well, and some of the best moments in Pokémon's animation happens during the battles. Pokémon as a whole is a colorful series, and though the cel animation gives it a slight muted look, it's not enough to take away from the color palette. The backgrounds in particular are beautiful to look at, I think most of it is either acrylic or oil painting. The Pokémon world is covered with greens and blues, and has a lot of mountains and forests regardless of region (the Orange Islands was different, but some of the islands still had some mountainous areas). Even the cities and towns can look beautiful, great detail is put into making a city look like a city, but most of the main focus in the backgrounds are nature-related. Sound (9): The soundtrack is fantastic. Some of the songs are updated covers of music from the games, and they were done very well. Violins, flutes, various drums, horns, trumpets, piano, chimes, and xylophone (or is it the marimba?), with the occasional electric guitar, are played throughout the soundtrack. The orchestral approach gives it an enchanting feel while also being adventurous and epic. The more powerful the fanfare, the more victorious it sounds, and it fits the mood just perfectly when the scene calls for it. That's the original Japanese soundtrack, which is kept in the 4KIDS dub. 4KIDS have made a few pieces of music for the show as well, but they're forgettable (unless you watched the first two movies or played Pokémon Puzzle League a lot—but it still varies). The album they made themselves, “2.B.A. Master”, is anything but forgettable. Cheesy, perhaps, but it's not easy to forget about the songs, though it does depend on what you think of the soundtrack as a whole. The rose-tinted glasses (...how would that work towards music?) are strong with the album, almost a guilty pleasure at times. But in the Johto saga, instrumental pieces of some of the music as well as some from “Totally Pokémon” were used, so there's at least that. Of course, the most famous piece of the soundtrack is the English Pokémon theme, simply titled “Pokémon (Gotta Catch 'Em All!)”, with the PokéRap a close second. It may be a sign of the 90s, but 4KIDS knew how to catch the audience's attention, and what better way than to use rock 'n' roll. The other openings are excellent, but not as well-memorized (though it depends on the person's favorites). That isn't to say “Mezase Pokémon Master” as sung by Rica Matsumoto herself is bad, it is a great theme for the show, but a lot of Pokémon fans may have never heard the song before, so it slips under a lot of people's radars. Also, the Team Rocket Motto is probably one of the most recognizable villain leitmotifs out there. Try to not recite the motto every time it plays, though I can guarantee the majority of you can't get Jessie, James, and Meowth out of your head. Speaking of, the voices are what make this show. It is a near-unanimous agreement that the English cast of Pokémon is perfect, even though there are fans who will say the Japanese dub is better. Well, not everyone is able to watch the show subbed, though there's some people who don't want to bother with the sub. The banned episodes are the more easily-attainable subs, though if one wants to watch the entire show subbed, they have to do some digging around. While the Japanese cast is good, the English dub is well-loved regardless, and we have Veronica Taylor, Rachel Lillis, Eric Stuart, and Maddie Blaustein to thank for that (though Stuart Zagnit, Ted Lewis, and Jimmy Zoppi aren't far behind either). Is it any wonder that Pokémon is the highlight of their careers? Special mention of course goes to Ikue Ohtani as Pikachu, for without her, who knows if Pikachu would have become as popular and loved (and hated in some circles) as he is now. Even Inuko Inuyama as the original voice of Meowth is memorable, and at times, I actually have a hard time figuring out which voice of Meowth I feel fits best. Characters (8): Pokémon has a large cast of characters to the point it rivals The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants. We typically only follow about six or seven main characters at a time, and some of them aren't even human. For starters, let's just focus on Ash Ketchum because despite all the criticism he's received over the years, he is a great role-model for children. He's energetic, he's positive, he has a goal, he never gives up, he learns quickly—yes, he's indeed like most other heroes out there, but he's a kid. He's a kid who's on an adventure away from home who, while he has people to support him, is independent and knows what he wants to be. He hasn't strayed from it to this day, he wants to be a Pokémon Master, he wants to be the very best like no one ever was. That's a big dream, and it's a long, arduous journey to accomplish that dream; and even then, someone's going to best him. But he's not afraid, he actually looks forward to those obstacles, because he knows there's a way to get over it, even though he does experience failure over and over again. And that is an admirable trait for a protagonist to have. The other characters are excellent in their own right. Regardless of how much they would suffer in later episodes, Misty and Brock are still well-loved to this day: Misty for her fiery (dare I say, tsundere?) temper, love for (nearly) all Water Pokémon, tomboyish nature while not estranged from her femininity—even becoming motherly later with Togepi, and her great chemistry with Ash; Brock for his sage advice, cooking, his desire to become a Pokémon Breeder, and girl-crazy attitude. Gary Oak, the grandson of Professor Oak, is Ash's rival, is always one step ahead of him, and he has a cocky attitude to go with it, but he does loosen up by the time Johto comes along, and soon he becomes friendlier and dedicated to become a researcher like his grandfather. Even Tracey Sketchit (when he's not being sneered at) has his fans for his quiet, well-reserved nature, is well-known for his quick sketching of Pokémon (and the occasional girl), and for being a Pokémon watcher. His character unfortunately doesn't get much attention and he's quickly left behind as Professor Oak's assistant—and he's content with it. In the meantime, the Team Rocket trio, Jessie, James and Meowth, have to be some of the more popular characters of the show, at least during this time. Takeshi Shudo cared enough for these characters to give them sympathetic backstories and to show that while they do work for an evil organization that's pretty much running the world, they do have a good side to them. They are some of the more human characters of the show. The COTDs (character-of-the-day) can range from memorable VIPs to forgettable nobodies. Each and every one of them are indeed different, and most of them have fans of their own, whether they've appeared in the show frequently or just the one time. Because it's such a large cast, and your mileage will vary with all of them, there's at least always someone to appeal to anyone. Enjoyment (9): I made an attempt to not view Pokémon through rose-tinted glasses with various results. During my re-watch, I paid attention to the story, the writing, the artwork, the music, the dialogue, the characters, what 4KIDS did or did not edit, just about everything. And despite its flaws—and there are many of them—there are many good things about the show that I still adore to this day. It may have been 17 years since the first time I watched the first episode, and many things have happened along the way, but my love for Pokémon itself has never waned. At times I tried to let it go, but I would always return to the franchise, and it's not because it's my childhood. There's legitimately something about Pokémon that appeals to me, regardless of all that's happened that I personally am not fond of. Even though they did many questionable things, in hindsight, 4KIDS took good care of Pokémon. It makes sense, as Pokémon was one of their first dubs, and they knew how to market the show alongside Kids' WB. Honestly, would Pokémon have been as well-loved, well-quoted, and well-remembered to this day if it had been anyone else but 4KIDS? Sure, there's that chance a company may have dubbed it better, but there's also that chance it could have been dubbed terribly. Pokémon is lucky enough to fit snug in the middle and prove that kids' shows can be good. I don't think I would be here, let alone the same person I am today if it hadn't been for Pokémon. I love the games, and the games are (almost) always going to be superior, but the anime in particular holds a special place in my heart. And I will never forget how it impacted pop culture, because I had helped play a small part with its popularity along with millions of other children in the late 90s—one of who might be you reading this. In which case I want to thank you for helping Pokémon get to where it is today. If I could engage in a friendly battle with you, I would. Until then, gotta catch you later.