How do you like D/P so far?

[Duckgon Z]

Well, since we're almost 60 episodes in and we already have some major developments on the way with Hunter J and Galactic, how do you think D/P is going in terms of plot?

I think it's ok so far, Paul is the best rival so far for Ash, and Nando is an interesting rival Dawn. But I'm not really fond of Kenny's simple look and Zoey's meddling nature and usual routine of "Gym n CONTEST!!1!". They also don't hold a candle to Drew and the "flaming" Crossdresser himself, Harley. The spacing between Gym battles is annoying, but at least we have some good, funny fillers, unlike Johto which was a total trainwreck.

Pokemon have more personality, besides Pikachu and his deux exness. His last 2 additions to his team have been caught in interseting ways, Chimchar released, though a rehash of Charmander, and Buizel in a "it fits him because he's gangsta, I hate Aipom and Dawn!" trade.

So I think that's it's doing well, even better than AG at this point, even though Ash only has 2 badges.

 

[Cybersai]

In terms of the actual structure, I think its been very good so far. The gap between the Gyms is quite long, but its not as bad waiting because the episodes inbetween have actually been pretty good.

Paul is by far, the best thing in D/P. If he didn't exist, sure D/P would still be a good season, but Paul is the extra effort that brings D/P over the top. He brings to the show exactly what it needed for years, and his rivalry with Ash is shaping up to be far more complex than Gary's was.

Dawn is a good addition to the show, and her Pokemon are great, but my only problem is her Contest rivals aren't that interesting to me. Zoey, Kenny and Nando just don't seem to have the extra effort put into them that all the other rivals in the series have, and as a result I'm kinda hoping Dawn gets better rivals later on, even though I know that won't happen.

The Pokemon on the group are again, very good. Dawn and Brock have the best Pokemon this gen, with Ash's team oddly bringing up the rear. Usually Ash's team is the most memorable every gen, but this gen they seemed to put more focus on Dawn and even Brock's Pokemon. I hope we get to see more development with Chimchar and Buizel in the future, as well as a Turtwig evo to keep it interesting.

Pokehunter J is also another example of the writers trying to bring in real villains to the show. Both her eps have been great, and I have high hopes for the future.

There are some things in D/P I'm disappointed about, but they tend to be minor problems at best so I won't go into them. My bigger gripe is the blandness of Dawn's rivals, to be honest. Its like they used up all the good coordinator rivals previously and Dawn was given the leftovers. And I'd like Team Galactic to..actually y'know SHOW UP, but that's about it.

 

[Every Breaking Wave]

Dawn's rivals are the worst part of the series. They have chemistry with Dawn, but no personality. When I think of D/P I think of Ash's rivalry with Paul, of the many good quality "fillers", of the revival of Brock, and of the energy of Dawn. I never remember Nando, Zoey, or Kenny unless I read about them in a Pokeani synopsis.

I love Hunter J, but I hope that she appears a little more often than she is at the moment. Once every couple of months isn't enough for me. Team Galactic really need to get a solid appearance too.

Overall, right now I think I put this season behind AG but ahead of Johto, Kanto, Orange, and BF.

 

[Crax]

Ash: Got cool pokemons, good strategy, a good rival, a good old rival, good char. development, and good gym battles w. nice gym leaders.

Dawn: Boring pokemons except Aipom, really really bad rivals... I mean.. kenny and zoey are NOTHING compared to harley and drew. This combined with her boring pokemons, I mean...piplup, pachirisu, buneary are just too weak and too girly for my taste.

They should have given her a fire type or something, like May had combusken, that was really nice and made the contests fun to watch during AG. At least Dawn herself got some good char. development.

Brock: I'm neutral on this one.

Overall, it's okay. Ash = + and Dawn = - so they take eachother out.

 

[Habunake]

It's a great season IMO. The writers really seem to be trying to fix some mistakes of the past, some plots already being built up (and hopefully followed upon), and alot of neat reocurring characters.

Sure, it has it's problems (we were in a slow spot for awhile) and it's not perfect, but I really think by it's all said and done this will probably be the best season.

Although...is it me, or are fans treating this series...differently? It seems people are super critical over every little thing in the show now and don't seem to, y'know, watch episodes to enjoy them anymore. I doubt I'm the only one whose noticed this.

Speaking of episodes, DP has alot of great ones that have shot to my favorite list.

 

[Ino-Chan]

I would have voted up more, but Dawn's rivals suck.

EDIT: ^ They were like that on Johto.

 

[Habunake]

EDIT: ^ They were like that on Johto.

Not like what I'm talking about. Everyone seems to suddenly analyze every bit of material like some kinda Tale of Two Cities.

Johto's problem was people lumped the whole region toghether and dismissed everything instantly as sucking

 

[Ashfangirl17]

I am loving this season. Ash rivalry with Paul rocks hard core. Paul is also awesome as a character himself. Ash Pokemon just keep getting better and better. Plus yes Ash has character development and I adore his friendship with Dawn.

Dawn-Meh, as the season went on her character got boring. I was so excited for her character too when she first started out. Her Pokemon are cute but thats all, and her contests are boring they remind me of May's only much more boring. May at least had some awesome rivals, but Dawns yah I have to agree with the others in saying they suck. I hate Zoey as a character more than any thing, Kenny is cool but meh..What is her third rivals name? I forget. So over all her character is just meh.

Brock-Good Pokemon, same character. He's kind of a mesh bag.

Hunter J-Best villlain that they brought into. Not only do we get to see more Ash/Team Rocket team up's which I love, but she's just so evil. Much cooler than the past villains. I can't wait to see more of her.

Team Galica-Hope to see more of them, there first appearnce was an exellent start off but lets not have them turn into another TM and TA thing shall we?

 

[Duckgon Z]

I should have put "as a whole" but meh.

I rewatched some of May's first contests, and I have to say that they were more interesting than Dawn's. Maybe because her rivals didn't appear as much in the beginning, I mean we got Harley after Ash's 7th Badge, Hoenn was almost over! And we actually got some interesting COTDs for May's Contest. Timmy, Jasmine, Breanna, they were all good characters with interesting stories. Maybe it's because we see Dawn's rivals EVER contest, unlike Drew ande Harley who didn't really do that until BF when their arc was rapping up.

Or maybe it's just because none of Dawn's rivals, besides Nando, IMO, are very interesting. So far, it just sounds like Kenny was Dawn's childhood friend who has embarrasing stories of her. That gets old fast. Unless Zoey was rapped as a child and/or Paul was her brother, she's just a noisy bitch sticking her business where it's not wanted or needed.

 

[Snake Bandage]

D/P had tons of potential, but while a lot of the episodes were quite good and they've finally learned plotting... this whole arc is just leaving me bored and rather depressed. Whether it's the characters or the plotlines... I don't like the direction where this is going.

 

[Habunake]

I rewatched some of May's first contests, and I have to say that they were more interesting than Dawn's. Maybe because her rivals didn't appear as much in the beginning, I mean we got Harley after Ash's 7th Badge, Hoenn was almost over! And we actually got some interesting COTDs for May's Contest. Timmy, Jasmine, Breanna, they were all good characters with interesting stories. Maybe it's because we see Dawn's rivals EVER contest, unlike Drew ande Harley who didn't really do that until BF when their arc was rapping up.

Yeah, I hope the next Contest introduces a cool one-shot.

With Magmortar.

 

[Silktree]

we already have some major developments on the way with Hunter J and Galactic

Team Galica-Hope to see more of them, there first appearnce was an exellent start off

I find that remarks such as these are very hard to take seriously. Are you not confusing your expectations of the future with your impression at present?

 

[Duckgon Z]

I find that remarks such as these are very hard to take seriously. Are you not confusing your expectations of the future with your impression at present?

Are you saying that the writers won't follow up on the main team in the games at all, which arguably has the deepest plot of the previous teams and a leader with a bad case of God Complex? Blowing shit up and summoning Pokegods!

And Paul needs a Booburn, leik cereaously.

 

[Crankyman]

The fact that there are reccuring characters that appear much more than recurring characters in other sagas is enough reason to say that the D/P saga is one of the best seasons of Pokemon ever.

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

I've only seen the first episode, but it was cute! I want to see more!

 

[Silktree]

Are you saying that the writers won't follow up on the main team in the games at all, which arguably has the deepest plot? Blowing shit up and summoning Pokegods!

I am saying that it is high time that the prospect of that happening was taken at face value - uncertain to come to fruition. Over a third of the series is now past us and there has been nothing to allude to the game events; Team Galactic has had a cameo, from which any viewer not familiar with the games would deduce that their ultimate purpose is stealing the Adamant Orb.

One thing is a fact: Team Galactic has taken no part in the series thus far, and cannot influence your opinion of its plot.

 

[Habunake]

Okay, we have J atleast showing signs of being a major villain later on.

 

[Duckgon Z]

I am saying that it is high time that the prospect of that happening was taken at face value - uncertain to come to fruition. Over a third of the series is now past us and there has been nothing to allude to the game events; Team Galactic has had a cameo, from which any viewer not familiar with the games would deduce that their ultimate purpose is stealing the Adamant Orb.

One thing is a fact: Team Galactic has taken no part in the series thus far, and cannot influence your opinion of its plot.

Galactic Grunt #2: We'll get the Adamant Orb next time...

People aren't stupid. If they watched the episode, they heard that the Adamant Orb is used to control Dialga. We heard from the legend that Dialga is a legendary Pokemon. People in bad haircuts and similar uniforms don't just try and take something as important as the Adamant Orb, fail, and then try again, if they weren't after Dialga, who we know is important.

 

[Silktree]

Galactic Grunt #2: We'll get the Adamant Orb next time...

People aren't stupid. If they watched the episode, they heard that the Adamant Orb is used to control Dialga. We heard from the legend that Dialga is a legendary Pokemon. People in bad haircuts and similar uniforms don't just try and take something as important as the Adamant Orb, fail, and then try again, if they weren't after Dialga, who we know is important.

First of all, the Adamant Orb amplifies Dialga's power, and is by no means equivalent to the Red Chain as you put it. Viewers familiar with the game plot must have wondered why Team Galactic was interested in an item with properties limited to battle; Cyrus' plan for Dialga/Palkia in the games has nothing to do with battling. If I had reason to believe that Team Galactic would definitely have a future role in the series, which I do not, then already I would have a fairly good reason to find fault in the plot's outline.

For the record, anyone not familiar with the game plot has forgotten (or is bound to forget, in the case of dub viewers) the mere few lines uttered by the grunts, in favor of the foreshadowing of Dialga and Palkia's appearance in movie 10. After all, it has been half a year since the episode in question aired; the movie and Cynthia episode have touched upon Dialga and Palkia, but completely disregarded Team Galactic.

 

[Habunake]

So....how do you like D/P so far? 0.o