Review S16 EP15: Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!

[Azumarill39]

I'm also curious as to who voiced Angie in this. i shit you not when i say this though, it sounds exactly like one of the dixie chicks how i know this is that i heard them in an interview and one of them is a pokemon fan. TPCI has had texan voice actors in the show lately.
and i still want to know who the new officer Jenny is, maybe i'll PM Kenji Girl about this.

 

[Almonds]

I finally heard Colress voice, and he really sounds okay!! My god *squee*

 

[DracoMan]

I guess once again I get to mention the recycled plot ideas. Basically, it was kind of a cross between "Pikachu Re-Volts" and the Lugia three-parter from the Whirl Islands, but I guess a lot of our newer viewers have no idea what I'm talking about. And yes, I was expecting Ash to get shocked trying to snap Pikachu out of Plasma's control, possibly while holding the little guy.

And I guess I wasn't the only one who heard "Best fishes!" instead of "Best wishes!"

 

[Queen Cynthia]

@DracoMan: I heard "best fishes", too!

Anyways, this was really a very good episode and we finally got the long overdue Team Plasma introduction.
Having seen them for the very first time in the Anime now, I can't help but wonder, though, if Jessie may be right with what she said about "Team Weakling". I mean, it's not the first time that we've had a team wanting to control Pokemon by using some kind of electromagnetic energy. And using Pokemon "just" to control the world...meh...We've had that before countless times. As opposed to that, Cyrus of Team Galactic, for example, didn't care about the world, all he wanted was a completely new world for himself. That was a really interesting new aspect and a welcome change but honestly, I'm a little bit afraid that Team Plasma might just be a rehash of older villains.
And last but not least, I was not very excited about their level of competence or their Pokemon, either. Well, let's see how it'll all play out. I'll try to stay curious

What I found awesome, though, was that Looker got a comeback. He was a great Sinnoh character, somebody from the good old days so to speak, and he definitely deserves to come back.

Also, is it just me or did Officer Jenny get a new VA? The Unova-Jenny usually sounds like Cynthia just with a stricter and more bossy undertone (and, believe me, I know Emily Jenness' voice for Cynthia as if it was my own). The Officer Jenny today didn't sound like that at all, though.


all in all, a more than decent episode. I particularly liked that air of mystery throughout the story

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Bill Rogers I think was Perfect as Ghestis and I Could Not Picture Sean Schemmel as him Again Like he did as Archie And Cyrus. Even though he does a good job as a Bad Guy. But I think this a step for Bill Rogers because he has not really played as a Bad Guy a lot except for Jessies Seviper and few other Pokemon Before.

 

[Sneazy Sneasel]

Holy Sh!T did anyone else notice short Ash is compared to a Mienshao?

 

[Kelleo]

Ooh, I really liked this episode! We finally got to see Team Plasma and also LOOKER!! <3 I've been a big fan of him since that Sinnoh episode where he beat the shit out of two Galactic grunts at the same time. Go Looker!

The only thing I didn't like was Team Rocket going back to shouting "We're blasting off again!" That got way too old. Why the hell did they bring it back? I want badass Team Rocket again. It was too short-lived.

 

[UnovaCastaway]

Ghetsis sounded okay. It fit his personality. I was actually surprised to find out it was Bill Rogers. Colress sounds better here than in the BW2 trailer!

Some great stuff went down in this episode. I like the bad blood between TR and TP. That blast off was great.

I'm loving this arc despite next week's filler. Dis gun be gud!

 

[fidjnr]

one of the best episode of S16 10/10

 

[Almonds]

Iirc, Looker said "Best Fishes!" in the Japanese episode as well. Don't know what it means, though

 

[Kthleen]

Maybe someone's a fan of Saturday Night Live?

 

[Darth Darkrai]

I still want to know Who Voices Jenny Now because I was used to Emily Jenness as her.

 

[Gabo2oo]

When I watched the raw version and heard "Besuto fisshu" I thought that I misheard it. Then when I checked the fansub and readed "Best fishes" I thought that either they mistyped or misheard it as well, but now I'm pretty sure the line is "Best fishes". So, what does it mean anyway?

I like how TPCi strictly dubbed the "Yana kanji" just like it was in the Japanese version: no mention of it during the first two blastoffs and waiting for the last second to say it in the third one. However, they really made the observatory explosion having much less impact due to their random filler music in the scene.

And I laughed at the ridiculously long To Be Continued screen, it's almost as if the Japanese purposely freezed the frame so TPCi would have to extend it even more, and probably the following episodes will also have that too. Also they could have just made the scene slower instead of doing that.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

My first thoughts:

The Good

- Wow, is this really the TPCi dub I'm watching, here? Pinch me. I must be dreaming. I actually like all the new voices they cast...I thought they were all excellent. Haven't heard voices so fitting for characters (besides N's) in a very long time.
- Colress sounds WAY better and I'll even say excellent in this episode, as opposed to hearing Sean's recycled Goku voice AGAIN (like we had to in the BW2 trailer). *Use* some vocal range, Sean Schemmel. Never thought I'd be tired of hearing your Goku voice, but I am. Almost as much as I was Dan's Yami Yugi as COTD and Byron etc. in DP. -_-
- Bill Rogers was excellent at Ghetsis. Makes me wonder why he had to make Brock's voice so deep in DP...he's clearly capable of doing a higher-pitched voice. >_<
- Looker sounds better than he did in DP. A bit forced, but the voice is a lot less grating on my ears.
- The Jenny voice is now WAY better than Emily Bauer's prior "I AM A ROBOT!" Jenny voice. If it's her, then she's definitely polished her acting and improved tenfold from when I last heard her in the role.

The Bad

CARTER CATHCART

*sigh* Tsk...tsk..tsk--- Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Dude, I loved ya in the BF: you were the only voice actor back then I wasn't cringing at (although I still disliked both of your voices) most of the time. So, what the heck has happened to you? Please, fix your Meowth voice and stop the alliterations already for TRio. It's getting on my nerves.

- Stop butchering the TR motto. "Unite the people" indeed, James.

- Having to hear TPCi's crappy insert dub music. I say this not because I mind dub music insertion myself (though MOST of the time I prefer the original JPN score, I actually occasionally prefer some of the dub's tracks in a few situations-- rarely, but there are some exceptions, IMO), but because TPCi's dub music is incredibly boring and unfitting to listen to, IMO.

Overall Score:

9/10 for the dub. So far, this is the best TPCi dubbed episode I've seen in this dub's 7 years on the air in terms of voices cast and voice acting. Whoever voice directed this, thank you! If it's you, Tom Wayland, THIS is the standard you should strive for. I can only hope this keeps up. I'm very impressed. *Gasp*

EDIT: I feel I was too harsh on Sean today. But really, Sean, I've heard you and Marc nearly every other episode in BW (in fact, I KNOW I heard Marc Thompson as that guy with the Brown Hair), so it has gotten rather irritating, as good I think of you guys as voice actors. TPCi, could you possibly give them a break for a bit? It's like the "Lisa Ortiz or Tara Jayne" syndrome back in the 4Kids dub. Sheesh.

 

[chpokéfan]

Plot sounds familiar. (Butch and Cassidy anyone?) Disappointed the Rockets didn't get away with the plans. Would have made a pretty good story-arc. But then again Giovanni should already have something like that on file. Good episode though, because of some originality. Ash shows his power of love is stronger than anything (blech) pity he doesn't use this power on any of his companions. (I had too, sorry) Looker made quite the entrance, its a pity his exit wasn't so great. "Best fishes"? Really? A pun on Best Wishes, obviously. Ghetsis was frightening and so was Dr. Colress. The plasma grunts kept calling the Angie "sir". Did I miss something? Whatever. 78/100. Thats good for a filler.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

"To Unite All People Not The People,' Carter Cathcart get it right please.

Bill Rogers should do this more often he is really good at playing a bad guy.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

"To Unite All People Not The People,' Carter Cathcart get it right please.

Bill Rogers should do this more often he is really good at playing a bad guy.

My thoughts on Bill Rogers:

- I liked his voice for Tucker very much. Reminds me of Kelsey Grammer. My favorite of Bill Rogers' main voice-overs in Pokemon by far. (Excellent)
- I like his voice for Ghetsis. I had NO idea Bill Rogers could use a high-pitched voice for a character: he always sounded so gruff, pissed off, and angsty with Brock to me, that I assumed he couldn't pull off a higher pitch. It's very dark, mysterious, and brooding-- all characteristics of the evil Team Plasma Leader. (Excellent)
- His Drew was a decent match on Oliver Wyman/Pete Zarustica's version. Not as good, but almost as good. (Good)
- His Brock is very much a mixed bag for me. I've liked and disliked his version of the character at points. I liked Bill's Brock in BF, despite the lack of Eric's slight rasp and warmth, but I absolutely hate the way Bill's been doing Brock since DP002. Bill's forgotten he's playing a 15 year old teen, not a 40 year old burly man on the toilet. I hate to outright say that's what he sounds like now, but I couldn't stand his voice for Brock in DP. (Mixed: Early on = Good; Later on = Bad)
- His Scott was bad. Frank Frankson may have been generic, but he didn't sound like a pure redneck hillbilly. (Bad)
- His Magikarp Salesman was terrible, but still better than the voice Eric used in Chronicles, yet worse than Eric's voice for Magikarp Salesman in Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. The delivery was terrible, and the accent was even worse than Eric's version was. (Terrible)
- His Koffing was good. (Good)
- His Magnemite was okay. (Average)

Overall, he's an average VA in my book. Not particularly bad or good as a whole, has good range, but his voices on the other hand leave something to be desired.

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Lipica Shah Was Angie I think and she did a pretty good job of doing so and this is the person who did Coco back in Arriving In Style and Who was Elesa's Referee last Season.
O fcourse Tom The Hermit Crab Wayland was one of the Plasma Grunts which is totally fine with Me.

 

[Harryghost]

When it comes to commenting on the episode, I think I liked the entire episode. Glad I am not the only one to notice 'Best Fishes' on the part of Looker!