Anime Physics

[Pie]

Do we have a thread devoted to this sort of ridiculous phenomena already? If not, why not?

I was going through my favorite thread, and stumbled upon my favorite example of how ridiculous the physics get sometimes.

For those who don't see what the problem is, Forretress is 277.3 lbs. (or 125.8 kg if you prefer). Brock throws his overhand like a baseball at the head of a giant Spinda robot.

Please, just take a moment to think about how much strength it would take to do something like that. Brock, clearly, has the strength of Superman.

I was actually tempted to calculate his strength based on this information. I mean, we know how much Forretress weighs. We have screenshots which can give us an approximate comparison of the size of the Spinda robot versus a regular Spinda. Theoretically, we could therefore figure out the size of the arc of Brock's throw, calculate the force he'd need to power such a throw, and then figure out how much he could benchpress with that same force. Sadly, I'm a big enough geek to find the problem intriguing, but too lazy to do the actual calculation.

But still. Let's take some time to reflect and discuss the absurd and impossible physics-defying feats in the anime. And shake our heads in disappointment at the writers.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Not exactly as impressive as that, but in Mewtwo Returns when Ash picks up Mewtwo and throws him OVER HIS HEAD into the lake.

 

[bell02+]

obviously, when brock was young he went training at mount moon with ursaring! It gave him super human strength... either that or Forestress was using it's float characteristic and brock just merely pushed it.

also, I originally read the topic as "pokemon psychics", I was thinking you were going to claim there was one at PokeAni or something ^^;

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Edit... Err... mewtwo was also helping ash to beat himself up with his psychic powers to float ...because Giovanni made him emo ^^;;

 

[Pie]

obviously, when brock was young he went training at mount moon with ursaring! It gave him super human strength... either that or Forestress was using it's float characteristic and brock just merely pushed it.

also, I originally read the topic as "pokemon psychics", I was thinking you were going to claim there was one at PokeAni or something ^^;

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Edit... Err... mewtwo was also helping ash to beat himself up with his psychic powers to float ...because Giovanni made him emo ^^;;

If you plan to try to explain every situation where the writers failed physics, you're really gonna have your work cut out for you. Fair warning.

 

[bell02+]

^_^;; yes well, I remember with the first episode where the topic around school at the time was that as was some strong 10 year old for having pikachu climb up his shoulder like it was nothing. (I think it was Jr high, so we were kind of naive to actually believe he was just really strong and not us trying to be sarcastic ^^; )

 

[Rocketshipper]

there was the recent new episode where Ash picked up and threw an entire log into a river to save Bagon.

 

[Dratini927]

Hmm, I can remember an episode that shows signs of betraying physics as well. And it's in the "Eight Ain't Enough!" episode. In this, at the end, Pikachu grabs Milotic and overhead throws it into the water.

Now just let that sink in a bit. Pikachu is 13 pounds...while Milotic is 357.1 pounds. If that doesn't go by all the laws of physics, then I don't know what does.

 

[Chatsy]

What about TR's Meowth balloon made out of steel?
It was in the Battle Frontier saga, that's all I remember, though.

Plus how Ash can jump insanely great heights, Misty and Max falling several feet yet landed comfortably on their butts and ... a lot more.

It's kinda funny.

 

[Zhen Lin]

What about TR's Meowth balloon made out of steel?
It was in the Battle Frontier saga, that's all I remember, though.

As long as it encloses a sufficiently large volume of heated air, it should float. It's just a question of whether the balloon is more or less dense than an equivalent volume of (cool) air.

 

[Mr. Braveheart]

Well, the Pokemon universe is very different from our own. So, the law of physics are different and you do see these things happen, often and inconsistent. Or...it's just cartoon and the writers didn't even bother about the law of physics.

I sometimes wonder how Ash survives a flamethrower from Charizard. His clothes didn't even burn.

Is my statement above is physical? Or it's just a question about logic?

 

[Cybersai]

When the characters come out of swimming in the water with their clothes on, they look perfectly dry when they're back on land.

 

[Chatsy]

As long as it encloses a sufficiently large volume of heated air, it should float. It's just a question of whether the balloon is more or less dense than an equivalent volume of (cool) air.

Ah, at least I learned something then.

When the characters come out of swimming in the water with their clothes on, they look perfectly dry when they're back on land.

Yet, when that one time Ash fell into a minor puddle of water, he had to have his clothes dried. (A different kind of Misty (I think))
Talk about irony.

 

[Cybersai]

Or in the Dewford ep where Ash tried to catch Corphish and the gang fell in the water, they actually had to dry their clothes.

Its memorable because Ash had no pants on and May was completely covered in a blanket, giving the impression she was nude underneath.

 

[Snake Bandage]

You guys are forgetting the most obvious example for why Pokemon physics shouldn't be taken too seriously and compared to real world physics. Jessie, James and Meowth would've been dead very early into the series if their blastoffs followed real world physics.

 

[Jo-Jo]

My favourite example of failed physics is when Pikachu thunderbolts TR and the grass beneath them explodes for no reason. I bet the animators throw that kind of thing in as an injoke now.

 

[Snake Bandage]

Back when James still had Weezing, you could easily blame half the explosions on him.

 

[Habunake]

Physics? In Pokemon? Lol

My favorite is when Carnivine randomly flew back from Turtwig's tacle and exploded in DP 5. Thus, Carnivine is dangerous.

And when ice exploded in the Yanma episode.

 

[Nando]

Yet, when that one time Ash fell into a minor puddle of water, he had to have his clothes dried. (A different kind of Misty (I think))
Talk about irony.

And in "Talking a Good Game" he and Anabel jumped into the lake. After that...

1. Ash and Anabel both say they have to change their clothes, even though Anabel looks bone-dry (I don't remember if Ash was wet)

2. Ash suddenly 'catches a cold'... which he loses in about three minutes.

3. Anabel never even changes into casual clothes like Ash did so his regular clothes could dry.

At this rate, I'm almost surprised that they didn't actually let May throw Bonsly into the water in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew...

 

[Kazamatsuri]

Well yeah, the physics in that scene don't really make sense. But I'd hardly use that as the prime example of poor physics in Pokemon. Just consider every single scene with Team Rocket blasting off.

How is it possible for a Pokemon to send Team Rocket off into the horizon time and time again with attacks like thunderbolt and flame thrower or even vine whip and water gun (I won't even get into the fact that Team Rocket survives absolute death each time), yet in almost every other circumstance, those attacks don't even have 1% of that power?

Thing is, real life physics isn't really a priority to the Anime producers of Pokemon or any other Anime that I know of for that matter.

 

[Argy]

I have a feeling the staff members are fans of [wp=Tokusatsu]tokusatsu[/wp]...