SPOILER-FREE Horizons Discussion Thread

[terashards]

almost all places to talk about horizons on bulbagarden are full of spoilers if you aren't keeping up with every episode as it comes out in Japan weekly, so this thread intends to give people a place to speculate or just talk about their thoughts/feelings while watching horizons even if they aren't caught up to the most recent japanese release, especially because of how horizons is more plot-driven than most of the anime before it. for example, if you:

1. watch the dub (they don't simulcast for some reason. the dub is always behind. sigh)
2. are starting horizons late
3. only watch the show in small bursts over time
4. have any other reason for not being caught up to the japanese release

you can talk about horizons here!

for this thread to work, there is a very important rule: put all posts into spoilers with the latest applicable episode number! for example, if i'm talking about plot points that happen in episodes 24 and 25, i can either make a spoiler tag that says any of the following: "episodes 24 and 25", "HZ024-HZ025", or even just "episode 25"/"HZ025" is acceptable. english dubbed episodes have their own numbering system due to how they are divided into seasons and you can also use those but it may be easier to just use the HZ### numbering system. if you're unsure of an episode number, you can find them in a list here. and this goes without saying - please respect how far into the show that other users on the thread may be and don't respond to their post with spoilers if they're on episode 10 and you're on episode 30! you're still free to respond if you're ahead but ensure that you aren't giving spoilers, even vague or hint-y ones, thanks

Spoiler: how to make a spoiler if you don't already know

this is a spoiler! a user has to click to see what's inside and the spoiler has a title so the user knows what they're getting into before opening it up. this way, people potentially reading your post can avoid your post if you've watched further than they have.

there are two ways to do this. the easiest option is just to click the little eye icon above the post editor to make a spoiler. it even prompts you to give it a title! after that you can type between the automatically generated spoiler tags it puts into the post and you'll be set.

alternatively, you can manually type a spoiler tag. here's an example:

[SPOILER="HZ100"]
stuff about episode 100 here
[/SPOILER]

will come out looking like this:

Spoiler: HZ100

stuff about episode 100 here

hope this helps you!

 

[WholesomeCryptid]

Yay i'm really glad you decided to make this thread! i'm not very far into horizons yet but i really enjoyed what ive seen so far and im glad i have a place to discuss my reactions to it!

Spoiler: Discussion of the series up to HZ032

So far i absolutely love the show i'm just watching it with a friend so it's a case of only being able to watch the show when we both have the time and energy to do so. That being said i think the series has a really strong cast for the most part! of the main group my favorites are Murdock and Liko, Liko is such a character i see my younger self in and i know that if this series had come out when i was like 14 i would have been completely and utterly obsessed with her. The only main character i don't really have much interest in so far is Roy, he just kind of feels like a worse version of Ash from where i am in the story and i find a lot of the episodes that focus in on him a bit boring, but the series is long enough that i can hope he gets better fleshed out as the story goes on. As i mentioned in another thread my all time favorite character in the series so far is Lucius, his design is absolutely gorgeous and i've found the bits and pieces of lore i've learned about him very interesting and craving to see where the story goes! Also Terapagos is absolutely adorable in this series and has made the pokemon go from one i was mostly just kind of indifferent on to one ive actively considered getting a plush of. Overall although Ash pokeani will always be near and dear to my heart and something i watch when i want something simple to relax to, i much prefer the more plot focused direction of Horizons, something im kind of surprised by as XY is my least favorite pokeani season.

 

[Freckles]

thanks so much for making this thread!

sadly I already got spoiled about a few things, but none that impacted my future enjoyment... except for one that was on Bulbapedia itself, what with including developments about some characters in the very first (or second) sentence on their pages hehe. so people, watch out if you're browsing the 'pedia, even if you're just looking for drawing references!

Spoiler: HZ003

so funny story, I couldn't stand Friede on sight and I can be very handy with editing videos, so I went full "removing mushrooms from pizza because you don't like them" and am slowly editing him out of episodes. it's fun and therapeutic, but also very slow so that does mean I've only watched a handful of episodes

but like I said in the other thread I loved what I saw!

the Explorers going from ominous and threatening to Onia gushing over Sprigatito for being such a cute kitty in the span of three episodes was the best plot twist ever and the best way to kick off this series haha

(hope I used spoiler tags correctly!)

 

[LegendsCelebi]

I am as up to date with Horizons as I can be but I have recently rewatched parts of early episodes and boy does this series have a good start.

If I was to tell something to people who didn't take the plunge yet it's the following:
Sit down to it expecting not an Ash-like storyline, but rather something akin to the Pokemon feature-length movies. The ones with legendaries all over the place, world-threatening auras and pokemon professors as key characters.

 

[terashards]

Spoiler: HZ032

Liko is such a character i see my younger self in and i know that if this series had come out when i was like 14 i would have been completely and utterly obsessed with her.

GOD YEAH. i've had long conversations with my friends about how much i wish that a character like liko existed when i was young. she means so much to me now as a 26 year old but i wold have been utterly obsessed as a young person. i hope you keep posting your horizons reactions here because i'd love to read them i love hearing about people's experiences with horizons in general

Also Terapagos is absolutely adorable in this series and has made the pokemon go from one i was mostly just kind of indifferent on to one ive actively considered getting a plush of.

btw yeah. for me personally horizons boosted terapagos from "cute/cool legendary in a game i like" "my favorite legendary on par with latias and i need 20 plushies". i have a terapagos plush myself. i want more. LOL

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(hope I used spoiler tags correctly!)

you did! though you don't have to separate them like that unless you really want to for some reason. just an episode 3 spoiler with all your comments would have been okay too

Spoiler: HZ003

so funny story, I couldn't stand Friede on sight and I can be very handy with editing videos, so I went full "removing mushrooms from pizza because you don't like them" and am slowly editing him out of episodes. it's fun and therapeutic, but also very slow so that does mean I've only watched a handful of episodes

out of curiosity, why? you're totally entitled to your opinion i just don't think i've ever seen someone passionately dislike friede this much before so i was curious LOL. i love friede personally! he's not my Favorite Character or anything but i do enjoy his presence in the show

 

[Freckles]

Sit down to it expecting not an Ash-like storyline

that's something I noticed about my opinion of Horizons

after 25 years of the same formula, with the same protagonist at that, anything new or unusual has me going "did they really do that? is that allowed?" hehe!

---

you did! though you don't have to separate them like that unless you really want to for some reason. just an episode 3 spoiler with all your comments would have been okay too

I originally had only the HZ003 spoilers but I figured better safe than sorry and hid the first part juuuuust in case, so I didn't think about it when I edited! I also had the episode titles after the HZnumbers but I realized there probably were very spoilerish titles somewhere down the line!

Spoiler: HZ005

out of curiosity, why? you're totally entitled to your opinion i just don't think i've ever seen someone passionately dislike friede this much before so i was curious LOL. i love friede personally! he's not my Favorite Character or anything but i do enjoy his presence in the show

hehe thanks for not declaring my opinion illegal like I've seen some people do as soon as they see someone with different tastes!

rant incoming hehe

I think it can be summed up with: he's the real protagonist of Horizons. the only one even, or at least the one getting most of the spotlight

I watched because of Liko and Sprigatito, but instead I got Friede, who's got all the cool stuff and toys. HE gets the mascot Pokémon Pikachu and Charizard, HE gets all the amazing fights while Liko runs away or defeats one (1) trainer offscreen, HE gets a rival while Liko isn't even Amethio's target, he just wants her pendant, HE'S the one with the cool airship full of a crew that sings his praises as soon as the third episode starts, HE'S the one with words of wisdom to Roy on the right way to befriend Fuecoco

so yeah, he comes off as the real protagonist, at everyone else's expense, especially the actual main character Liko; everyone feels just like stage props for him (and Cap). later developments just confirm (subjectively, to me) that he's the writer's precious darling, like they were hired to write about Liko but made the story about their pet OC instead

I'll note that I don't have anything against those who like him, and I'm not remotely telling them to change their opinion, but that's why I literally couldn't enjoy watching Horizons before editing him out

 

[Le Lapin de Nelvana]

If Ash were in Horizons then Team Rocket should have tooken the Bullet and the Pendant wouldn't be Stolen as the TRio would forget who and what Pikachu is

Spoiler: HZ014-016

Liko getting amnesia by Spinel in the Lost Pendant Trilogy of HZ014-016 is the same as getting amnesia either from the Neuralyzer from the Men in Black or falling into the GeeIForget River from the King Episode "A Glass of Memory"

 

[terashards]

Spoiler: HZ003

@Freckles i’m going to be honest i am responding to this late because i wasn’t initially sure how to respond without leaning into spoiler territory and then i got busy before i could think about it! anyway, i’ll just say i think you’d be surprised how many people share your opinion when watching horizons. maybe not to the same level of discomfort with friede as a character but i’ve seen many people complain before about friede and cap always saving the day. i will say it might be easier to watch if you consider liko’s age and skill level and consider friede a mentor figure but hey if you’re having fun editing him out by all means hopefully you can continue enjoying the other characters regardless!

 

[Freckles]

Spoiler: HZ004

just watched HZ004, Fuecoco and Roy are such adorable little cinnamon rolls eeeeeee

I also loved that Nidothing mentioned wild Pokémon were looking for "trainers good enough for them" about the whole capture thing. in theory it's just "previously hostile NPC/sapient monster was impressed with you and wants to join your party!" like you'd see in some RPGs but in practice there's been issues with the implications and depiction haha

where's the Gardevoir who's collecting Gym Leaders and carrying them around in HumanBalls hehe

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@terashards thanks for replying! and for the hugs

I think I actually know those spoilers, I just didn't mention them because I didn't know which episodes they were from (and checking would spoil me even more). and they're pretty much fueling my "I couldn't make a bigger writer's pet if I tried" feelings haha

glad to know some others feel the same but the result's the same: we needed to wait 25 years to get something new after Ash and we got a colossus with clay feet at best. "she's a child and he's the mentor" sadly doesn't work when every other kids show has the kid protagonist handle things themselves, and in this specific case Liko also has other adults to save the day too if she absolutely needed to be babied at all times

that said I love everything else about Horizons, I love all the other characters... except maybe the fishing grandpa with the weird facial hair and the villain sidekick who's not Onia, because they've not actually done anything so far hehe. they're kinda like the various Pokémon in the background on the airship!

 

[Red Knight]

What's the best way to watch Horizons? I haven't seen any of it, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and I'm interested in watching it.

 

[Mialentia]

What's the best way to watch Horizons? I haven't seen any of it, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and I'm interested in watching it.

I personally definitely think the sub is the way, you can find it fairly easily if you know where to look. The dub's soundtrack is not nearly as good and it's several episodes behind

 

[Le Lapin de Nelvana]

What's the best way to watch Horizons? I haven't seen any of it, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and I'm interested in watching it.

i reccommend watching it on Boing (both Espana and Italia)/Boing+, Canal J/Gulli/M6+ Super RTL, 9Go!/9Now and Cartoon Network/Teletoon/StackTV

 

[NumberOneSpinelApologist]

The best experience is to just watch the raws like a trv l33t
Jk just watch from the beginning, however you want

 

[Poke Trey]

i reccommend watching it on Boing (both Espana and Italia)/Boing+, Canal J/Gulli/M6+ Super RTL, 9Go!/9Now and Cartoon Network/Teletoon/StackTV

I use Netflix but also other sites I can't say on here.

 

[terashards]

Spoiler: HZ004 (sorry this is very belated)

@Freckles i won't respond with much more other than i think whatever spoilers you saw might not be fully accurate? hard to tell from what you're saying and i don't want to spoil anything of course so i'll leave it there but i do personally recommend seeing for yourself instead of judging the future of the show based on whatever vague stuff you saw before

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What's the best way to watch Horizons? I haven't seen any of it, but I've heard a lot of good things about it and I'm interested in watching it.

i guess i'm just adding another response to the pile but if you live in the US, netflix is where horizons is being officially distributed. i know in europe i think they use bbc iplayer? for languages other than english i'm not entirely sure unfortunately.
if you want to watch the original japanese release (which is what i personally recommend because of better OST but totally up to you) you'll have to figure that out on your own
(maybe i should add something about this to the thread op later...)

 

[NumberOneSpinelApologist]

Not related to anything in this thread in any way but I wrote a poem:

A torrent is flowing
I'm drinking mulled wine
some droplets are falling
into my hard drive

Nice weather, innit?

But to go back on topic, yes, this show is full of surprises.
The weather was also a quite interesting part of the first episodes.

 

[LegendsCelebi]

for languages other than english i'm not entirely sure unfortunately

A lot of dubs are also on Netflix alongside the English one

 

[terashards]

A lot of dubs are also on Netflix alongside the English one

ooh okay cool! i don’t actually have netflix so i didn’t know offhand

 

[Le Lapin de Nelvana]

Spoiler: HZ004 (sorry this is very belated)

@Freckles i won't respond with much more other than i think whatever spoilers you saw might not be fully accurate? hard to tell from what you're saying and i don't want to spoil anything of course so i'll leave it there but i do personally recommend seeing for yourself instead of judging the future of the show based on whatever vague stuff you saw before

---

i guess i'm just adding another response to the pile but if you live in the US, netflix is where horizons is being officially distributed. i know in europe i think they use bbc iplayer? for languages other than english i'm not entirely sure unfortunately.
if you want to watch the original japanese release (which is what i personally recommend because of better OST but totally up to you) you'll have to figure that out on your own
(maybe i should add something about this to the thread op later...)

Episodes 1, 2 and 3 is Liko's introduction trilogy
Episodes 4, 5 and 6 is Roy's introduction trilogy

Nice First Batch of the English dub from the BBC + episodes 7 and 8 added for the introduction by 9Go!

 

[Poke Trey]

Episodes 1, 2 and 3 is Liko's introduction trilogy
Episodes 4, 5 and 6 is Roy's introduction trilogy

Nice First Batch of the English dub from the BBC + episodes 7 and 8 added for the introduction by 9Go!

And the UK will be at it again this Friday.