Loss of suspension?

[poke07]

With the exception of the second most recent episode, where Dawn realizes how to focus Pachirisu (sp?), there has been a lack of episode suspense in the new Diamond and Pearl series. For example, in season 1, when Ash and CO. are on the ferry and the ship sinks, and they have to hold their breath for a long time, and then the episode ends as they get caught in the middle of a storm, with only a small raft to survive on? Or how about when the episode cuts off just as Pikachu is holding on for his life in Blaine's Gym right as Magmar's fire blast is about to hit?

Any speculations? Where is all of the "drama" that season 1 contained???

 

[Geodude]

You're not talking about drama. You're talking about cliffhangers. And we do see them occasionally, like that one contest two-parter in which the first episode ended with a cliffhanger of May's Combusken's Fire Spin seemingly going out of control and right for her.

If you're still comparing everything to a season that first aired almost ten years ago, you really need to get your head out of the past.

 

[Dual]

If you're still comparing everything to a season that first aired almost ten years ago, you really need to get your head out of the past.

It's hard when the series went sour after the first season. I blame Ritchie. Admittedly, the addition of Togepi slightly watered down the season a bit, but it all went downhill when that clone showed up.

 

[Cybersai]

I agree with Geodude. God knows this forum doesn't need yet another nostalgia thread to glorify Season 1.

Yes the original Kanto was great, but please stop shitting over the newer episodes and pretending they're not good.

 

[Duckgon Z]

Everything was great when your a kid. Shows that probably suck when you get older seem cooler when your younger. This happens with Pokemon.

 

[Crankyman]

So the first couple of episodes weren't suspenseful at all? I thought it was...

 

[vee2x_paradox]

I think they are trying to put more effort into the cold open scenes making you "Zomg! What's going on?! Dx" rather than cliffhangers that make you "Oh shnap what will happen?! DDDDx!"...unless there were a lot of cold opens in the AG season. (the AG season didn't spark my interest much other than Harley but you know...)

 

[Yamato-san]

the recent episode with J really seems like it could've been a two-parter (in fact, when I saw Satoshi and Shigeru running down the corridors of her air fortress, a mere couple minutes before the time that the credits usually start to roll, I was thinking this was what the title "Maze Shuffle! Everyone Hussle!" referred to, momentarily forgetting that I'd already seen a summary describing differently ^^'). It's unfortunate, but one must remember that Pocket Monsters is extremely episodic as far as anime go, so more often than not, you're gonna have to expect a plot that will be resolved within twenty minutes, and it'll all end happy peachy and shit as the characters do their usual task of continuing towards whatever their current destination is. Even during mini-arcs, such as in the tournaments, the episode will end with a battle having just been completed or otherwise resolving a single problem (much like how two-part Gyms are really just one episode introducing the Gym Leader and likely involving conflict with Rocket Dan, while the other is the actual battle), rarely with a cliffhanger.

 

[TeddiUrsa]

today, germany finally aired the deoxys special as a two parter ( it was a double-episode special in japan) and as a two parter...it was very suspensful if you ask me. the ending to "part1" seemed like a good cliffhanger. So, Pokemon didn´t have THAT much suspense or cliffhanger like other animes, but it has its moments.

 

[Magma Krystal]

Everything was great when your a kid. Shows that probably suck when you get older seem cooler when your younger. This happens with Pokemon.

yes, i bought the 1st season on DVD recently, and watched it and the wierd thing was that is was so damn different from the one i watched as a young 5 year old. i remember the parts, but remember them being so much better than they really are. still, they are much better than recent ones. heh, i remember the movies being stupid, but when i watch them today, they seem really good. hah.

 

[Dogasu]

"Loss of suspension?"

 

[Cybersai]

I think this thread proves that no matter how much the writers improve in their writing and give us exactly what we want, certain fans will ignore it and still pretend the new episodes aren't good.

AG was the result of the writers listening to all the complaints about Johto and removing them entirely, and D/P is the result of a much more controlled and plot-driven anime while also continuing the Gym and Contest quest.

The only way they can top D/P is if they ditch the Gym quest completely and make the show something like the movies. Other than that, this is as good as it gets while we still have the Gym formula around so I feel sorry for people who can't enjoy it.

 

[poke07]

Sorry- I didn't mean to cause a stir...but I never said I didn't like the new episodes. In fact, I like the new episodes. The only reason I brought up this idea was because CTN has started showing Season 1 pokemon episodes again...and it made me think of it....but don't get me wrong- I love the fact that new pokemon episodes are still being made!

 

[Cybersai]

I think CN re-airing those old episodes should make it obvious that they weren't perfect either. Season 1 had its fair share of crappy filler eps ("Wake up Snorlax" comes to mind), and it had its fair share of complaints.

Remember when the show first started the things that people complained about? The complaints were:

- Ash releases all his Pokemon. Its pretty sad that the writers had no clue what to do with Ash's Pokemon back then but release half of them. This is something that was stopped after Orange. (Charizard and Squirtle don't really count)

- Another complaint back then was that Ash doesn't evolve his Pokemon. This hit its lowest point during Johto, when Ash had only 1 evolution the entire saga. This was something that was *really* addressed during AG, when Ash had a team of all evolutions or final stage Pokemon (Sceptile, Swellow, Torkoal, Glalie and Donphan) while Corphish was the only one that didn't evolve. Again, proof that the writers listen to complaints and addressed it during the re-launch of the anime. I imagine by the time D/P ends he'll have mostly all evolved Pokemon as well.

- This is the big one, Ash didn't win half his Kanto badges fairly. Remember the "pity badges" complaint? Thank god the Gym leaders don't just hand Ash a badge anymore like they did in Season 1.

- "Aim for the Horn!" (Haha)

- Richie. Yeah, lets be thankful the league rivals got a bit more creative after that one.

- The sidekicks Pokemon had no personality. Misty's only Pokemon with personality was Psyduck. The rest were generic with no quirks or personality, same with Brocks. This was REALLY addressed with D/P, where Dawn and Brock's Pokemon are filled to the brim with personality.

- Togepi. While it started off fine, why in God's name the writers thought Misty holding the thing for 200 episodes was a *good* idea is beyond me. Thank goodness they came to their senses and resolved that story as soon as Misty appeared in Hoenn. Yet again, more evidence that the writers know when something is received poorly by the fanbase.



So yeah, Season 1 wasn't perfect either. People cut it some slack nowadays because it was the beginning of the anime and it has the nostalgia element, but the show was complained about heavily back then as well. That being said I still love the first season like most other people, but I'm not blinded by everything the writers improved since then.

 

[Adamant]

- The sidekicks Pokemon had no personality.

None of the pokemon really did. Yes, there was Psyduck, then there was Primeape and Charizard who didn't take orders, and.. uh.. Snorlax who.. ate stuff. And slept. Yay.

It got somewhat better in Johto, with Chikorita's crush on Ash and Totodile's hyper-ness, but pokemon personalities wasn't a big part of the series until AG.