Review S12 EP04: Dealing With Defensive Types!

[Jnoo]

It's 9:39 PM in New York and no thread popped up?!?!?! 0_0


Anyway, this is the Canalave Gym Battle, as well as Gliscor's debut, so review away.


*waits for you know who to complain about Gliscor for some random reason*

 

[Jukain]

Byron pose fest and almost the entire fossil poke parade. (no Aerodactyl and Rampardos is only by flashback) Chimchar and Gliscor do well. Ok battle.

 

[Ampharos King]

Same as any dub episode- alternatively replaces original BGM with "dub music," Byron saying "I LOVE [Pokemon]!" every time he sends one out, and characters speaking when they shouldn't.

 

[Insanish Danish]

And Byron is still as insane as ever.

Yawn.

Pretty boring episode in my opinion.

 

[ashfangirl]

Brock was relatively quiet for once. However, I saw a major Pearlshipping scene in one part.

I thought it was pretty cool that Pikachu and Ash were both cheering for Chimchar in one scene.


And Byron is mental.


Roark was awesome ^-^(fangirl)


Ash looked hot, as usual <3

 

[ii kanji]

However, I saw a major Pearlshipping scene in one part.

Errr...where?

ETA: Okie, ^^" nevermind!

 

[ShinyAeon]

As usual, my running comments:

~~~~~

Whoa...pretty good so far. I'm not that fond of gym battles in general (they're sometimes as predictable as a COD plot) but DP's have been pretty exciting, I must say.


Team Rocket sneaking....hee. The walk is goofy, but I love it when all three of them move in unison...

Blastoff! But they'll be back...they must be...it hasn't happened yet....


Dawn defends Ash! Heh, no doubt the Pearlshippers will be happy with THAT scene. ;-)

[As a Pearlfriendshipper, I'm also happy about it, in a totally different way...ah, we all see what we want to, don't we?]

[Shipping moments: the Rorschach blotches of our time.]


"Crikey?" Snicker!
But...*sigh*....nothing that reminds me of Steve Irwin will ever be very funny again. *gloom cloud* Dang loveable Aussie lunatic, why'd you have to go and break all our hearts like that....


Oh, wait...here it comes....the moment I was told about....

3....2.....1.....

FEARHUG!!!!!!

Wheee! I've missed those....

Aaaaand....the scores are in! 7.8 - 8.1 - 7.9! All together, good, solid, 7.93! ALL RIGHT! Let's hear it for Meowth and Wobbuffet, folks!



.....what?



;-)



...'kay...back to the battle.

Brock? :sweat: No PRESSURE on poor Gliscor, huh? *snerk*

Oooo, clever, Ashmeister! The old jump-on-and-cling move.... I love that Pokemon can do things like that in the anime. So much more, I dunno....more something* than just attack/counterattack, attack/counterattack, ad nauseum...

[*realistic seems a strange word to use when a big flying scorpion-bat is clinging and using flaming fang-moves on a squat little steamshovel with eyes....but...how do you say "more like reality if reality was fantastic enough to allow the situation to occur in the first place"...? Realosimulous? Faburealistic? Virturealish?

Oh, wait...how about "freakin' cool?" That works!]


Wow, I'm actually in suspense here! This is pretty exciting for a gym battle.

Wooo! I actually wasn't sure if Ash was gonna win or not.

And Brock compliments Ash on his strategy...what a change we've seen in that boy....remember when he sent Caterpie against Pidgeotto? And now he can beat Byron by battling smart.

Aw, our little clueless Ash is finally growing up.


~~~~~


So, how are some of the other reactions to the episode?

And Byron is still as insane as ever.

Yawn.

What? That's what makes him cool! Psychotically obsessive fanboys are total win.

Brock was relatively quiet for once.
However, I saw a major Pearlshipping scene in one part.

Can I call'em, or what? Heh.

(Don't fret, even I, a Pokeshipper, can consider that one a hint. I just wouldn't call it "major," but, you know.)

I thought it was pretty cool that Pikachu and Ash were both cheering for Chimchar in one scene.

Yep, me too!

And Byron is mental.

[fondly] yes, yes he is.

Roark was awesome ^-^(fangirl)


Ash looked hot, as usual <3

I think we can all agree on those!



A good Saturday morning, this was.

 

[Starlight the ampharos]

It sure took a while for them to think of attacking from behind :sweat:. I was thinking of that last episode. Anyway, here's a quote I wanted to post:

Byron:I love defense! And I love Bastiodon!

Anyway, you know that part of the episode where Team Rocket starts singing after Meowth breaks the fourth wall? Do I need to get my ears checked of did they say "Praise the lord?" (it was probably the first one:sweatlol:.

 

[poke07]

GREAT episode. This, in my opinion, may have been the best gym battle in Diamond and Pearl so far. I thought it was great because there was lots of action with few interruptions. In addition, a lot of older Japanese battle music was used, which I liked. I also really liked seeing those old fossil pokemon again after many years, though I wish Kabutops had had more screen time.

Overall: A-

 

[Sleet]

Byron's kind of overdoing the "I love" thing, but I really liked his ridiculous explosions. At the beginning when he said "And... I LOVE defense!" I though he said "I LOVE effects." He kinds of reminds me of my old high school physics teacher, who loved everything.

I really hate Team Rocket sometimes. They interrupted what's supposed to be a once-every-twenty-or-so-episodes epic battle several times to sing (villain decay ahoy!), bring the plot nowhere, and then get destroyed. They would be much more likable if they only appeared when they were important to the plot.

I would've liked to see Buizel stay in longer, but that Iron Tail was brutal. It's good to see things look powerful in this show again.

"This is Gliscor's first battle, so we should expect great things!" Yes, that's how experience works, Brock.

...Dang, neck biting. Vicious.

How did Gliscor manage to trip something quadrupedal and over three times its weight with its tail?

Boo, Ash's punch-the-camera stock pose. I hate that one.

Don't Pokémon ever just get knocked straight out? They always have to just stand there and then get all swirly-eyed.

Brock says Ash played off Gliscor's strong points. Such as being a Ground type, capable of using a Ground attack strong against both of Bastiodon's types, for 6x damage? Apparently not, because all it knew was Sand Attack.

Of all things coming from Byron, it's the thing called a "Mine Badge" that doesn't explode.


Overall pretty solid episode by Sinnoh standards, but it's just the little things that take away from it.

 

[CrackFox]

I'm glad gliscor did well. Maybe now he'll stop being treated like Misty's psyduck or Jessie's wobuffet.

A victory for the pearlshipping fans too. Why don't they just stop teasing people and introduce some kind of romance for Ash. He's got to be about 15 now and if you think back to Advance gen, Max was already interested in girls and what was he like eight. Plus if they don't think that love and romance is appropriate for a kids show then why do they have Brock chasing after everything with a pulse.

*catches breath*

All in all, not a particularly good episode, but not a bad one.

 

[Musashi]

I really liked this episode. Lots of great battles, but more importantly, the awesome Gliscor finally gets to a battle! Ash did a great job utilizing it's "flying" ability as well as Sand Attack in addition to its new Fire Fang attack.

It was really cool early on when Brock was talking about how Ash finally knows that types alone wont win battles, and that he'll just sit back and see what happens. Definitely a great moment where we can think on how far Ash has come.

Team Rocket was actually funny this week with the eating and sneaking around. But ShinyAeon already mentioned the best part. :-D

The only thing I didn't get is why Meowth said "All together now!" as if we're supposed to know what they're going to say next. I can quote from memory what they say in Japanese, but they always change it to something different in English.

 

[Sleet]

I'm glad gliscor did well. Maybe now he'll stop being treated like Misty's psyduck or Jessie's wobuffet.

A victory for the pearlshipping fans too. Why don't they just stop teasing people and introduce some kind of romance for Ash. He's got to be about 15 now and if you think back to Advance gen, Max was already interested in girls and what was he like eight. Plus if they don't think that love and romance is appropriate for a kids show then why do they have Brock chasing after everything with a pulse.

*catches breath*

All in all, not a particularly good episode, but not a bad one.

Bringing up shipping AND age theories in the same post is a bad idea if you want the thread to stay on topic.

There's no way Ash is 15.

 

[Insanish Danish]

What? That's what makes him cool! Psychotically obsessive fanboys are total win.

I didn't mean Byron was boring. He is cool. I meant that the episode as a whole was boring.

 

[NoodleChefKyle]

Of course, Byron's a giant poser.

I'm pretty sure Screech did NOT sound like that before.

YAYZ! GLISCOR!!! This episode was great!

 

[boop]

Boring episode. Even for DP's standards.

I felt as if I'd already seen this episode. Now, that isn't exactly surprising, as this is Pokemon, but this episode is the epitome of everything that I dislike about where the Pokemon anime is now. I miss talking. I miss the cheesy-as-hell dialogue that used to be present in abundance, even in gym episodes.

Eh. The kids want action over talking, and that's what they get. I can live with that.

 

[Cybersai]

Surprised by the negative comments, I thought the battles were quite excellent.

If you want to see the Gyms interrupted and Ash getting pity badges, you can always go back and watch Kanto.

It is true that DP is very battle-oriented, but given the past seasons focused more on the adventure, I think its only fair we have one based more on the battles.

 

[Kazamatsuri]

Surprised by the negative comments, I thought the battles were quite excellent.

If you want to see the Gyms interrupted and Ash getting pity badges, you can always go back and watch Kanto.

It is true that DP is very battle-oriented, but given the past seasons focused more on the adventure, I think its only fair we have one based more on the battles.

Well maybe people thought was boring because we had a gym battle just a short while ago. And now after just 6 episodes, Ash wins yet another badge. So the pacing is quite different from the 2nd to 3rd badge, which took 31 episodes altogether.

But I agree, this was a very good battle. That Byron sure has a lot of love to spread.

Also, it's been quite a while since I heard Team Rocket break the 4th wall. I think the last time they did was in the early DP episodes.

As for music, the Dub kept 14 out of 16 pieces of original BGM, including the tracks from the first movie. So the music was up to par with Dawn's Early Night. The only two to get replaced (other than the Title Screen Theme) were a Pikachu Short tune that lasted for about 13 seconds, and Pokemon Symphonic Melody.

Still, I wish they would keep PSM in the Dub since it's non-lyrical, or at least replace it with a vocal tune. Because the music that they used during the climax battle was very unfitting IMO.

 

[Ampharos King]

Boring episode. Even for DP's standards.

I felt as if I'd already seen this episode. Now, that isn't exactly surprising, as this is Pokemon, but this episode is the epitome of everything that I dislike about where the Pokemon anime is now. I miss talking. I miss the cheesy-as-hell dialogue that used to be present in abundance, even in gym episodes.

Eh. The kids want action over talking, and that's what they get. I can live with that.

If you've watched the japanese episode, of course you felt like you watched it before. Of course, it's not like gym battles are a necesarily new concept either.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Don't get me wrong but reading how much some of you apparently enjoyed this week's plot makes me even more frustrated. The episode was quite a disappointment for me and it didn't live up to my expectations. I was looking forward to an epic battle all week but now my happily anticipated weekend is kinda detroyed. Nooooo!
If the writers were paid based on performance, they wouldn't deserve payment for this miserable job at all!!
And no, I'm not whining groundlessly but I'm gonna analyze the flaws in detail so that nobody will be able to reproach me afterwards:

*waits for you know who to complain about Gliscor for some random reason*

First of all, thanks for this nice little allusion to me but my arguments are not going to be "random" at all.

Chimchar vs. Bronzor:
The only acceptable battle. Solid but, surprise surprise, Chimchar was the one who was still standing at the end.
-> Way too predictable, thus unrealistic and cheap and it proves that the writers just don't bother about the first two, let me call them "introductory battles" which are seemingly only meant to lead to the big, actual showdown. Damn, gym battles should be the highlights of Ash's journeys which means that every single battle is important not only the final one against the gym leader's characteristic Pokemon :sweat:

Buizel vs. Steelix:
To put it mildly, Buizel was a catastrophic failure today.
I was shocked by its poor performance and I refuse to believe that we were supposed to consider today's Buizel as Ash's real Buizel who already fought so bravely and gloriously against Pokemon like Lucario, for example. Buizel didn't do anything this time (not even one hit) and was a shadow of its former self. Shocking, just shocking...

Chimchar vs. Steelix:
Ash, being tricked by Steelix's "Irontail-into-the -ground" attack twice(!!) is sort of embarrassing. I expected better from you, particularly after your great and profound strategy against Fantina. Even Ash, my hero, was a bit under the weather today. hdear:

Gliscor vs. Bastiodon:
This battle sure was a front. No, I'm not tempted to say this just because Gliscor was in it as you may possibly think. I'm saying that out of pure objectivism:
Not long ago, Ash's worst catch ever wasn't even capabale of flying properly. And now, all of a sudden, he can do it on command just because it was necessary for the plot...if that isn't terribly cheap and far-fetched hdear:... (Hello, my dear friend DEM, I missed you so much... ) But, don't worry, the worst is yet to come:
That Gliscor got hit by four massive attacks ( I counted them precisely), one Flash Canon right in its face at the beginning and three powerful(!)Iron Heads, but of course, it could endure all those attacks with ease (there isn't anything impossible for a DEM, is it?) Considering how easily Steelix was KOed by one single Flamewheel (and no, type advantage isn't an appropriate explanation here, as Steelix is also a ground type), that invincible Gliscor was absolutely absurd and beggared description
But we're still not through yet:
The episode reached its low point when my arch-enemy(=Gliscor - for those who should have forgotten it) knocked its opponent off its feet. so far so good. But if you consider that he faced a heavy-weight opponent which resembled a massive block of steel, it'll appear even more ridiculous that an ordinary little tail can cause that terrifying tank to fall... Sorry, but I'm missing the right words to describe how furious I am about this mockery of a battle. It defied all rules of logic and Pokemon physics,it's outrageous!:complain::saiyan:

Oh man, I've gotta calm down...I've expected an awesome battle featuring my favorite gym leader of Sinnoh so far. Byron was so promising and heroic, but the writers messed it all up.

I'm not gonna make a judgement today, because this would be devastating...
A sad, disappointed ash_forever is going to bed and hoping for some reasonable explanations...p.l.e.a.s.e