Was Origins really any good?

[Desdar300]

I remember when Origins was first announced the fandom and world lost it. XY as a whole was already the most talked about thing from Nintendo in 2013 and this huge surge of nostalgia added to it! It was advertised as a series for older fans that grew up with the original games which only made the hype for the OVA even stronger. But when I finally saw it honestly... I was pretty disappointed because most of everything was glossed over and the changes they made to characters like Giovanni seemed really poor in my eyes. In the games he was basically a crime lord who only cared about himself and only quiet TR because he felt ashamed to have been beaten by a kid however in Origins he had a change of heart which just seems really out of character for someone like him. On top of that most of the Gym battles minus the one with Brock were skipped and Charizard was the only one of Red's Pokémon to receive development. I was curious why Red's Zard was being built up so much and when I saw Mega Charizard X I knew why, Origins was nothing but one huge commercial for Zard X and wasn't a faithful anime retelling at all. Another thing that gets me is Red himself like this guy is the definition of a Gary Sue and I know Ash gets flack for being dumb at times but Red is just down right moronic that it hurts, like he uses Charizard for everything and only seems to adore him and none of his other Pokémon even Ash at least shows that he loves all his Pokémon and not just Pikachu furthermore the whole Charizard Mega evolving without a Mega ring is just one big plot hole. So What do you'll think? Do you think I'm full of it or do you agree?

 

[SammyW27]

Oh it's not perfect by any means.

But nothing is.

Me, I really enjoyed it

Oh it could've been better. But I'll take it for what it is. Heck, it was just a breath of (desperately needed) fresh air to see a Pokémon animation that DIDN'T have Ash-tachii and the TRio. It had great animation, an edge to it the Show has never had or will never even think about having (OH SHIT, THEY WENT THERE WITH MAROWAK! ), and I liked its fast pace.

Though what gets me is how people wanted this big, even epic series that covered all of Generation 1 when OLM/TV Tokyo wasn't able or willing. Heck, the fact that it wasn't so well received kind of justifies them not doing more with it.
Also, why do so many people want to see a story they've seen & played through many times??? That would've been just dull.
Besides, it's not like Gen 1 really had much of a story for them to work with anyway.

So while it's not the Pokémon anime many want (which, let's face it, will never happen anyway), I for one am greatly satisfied.

To each their own.

 

[Tenjiku]

I know a lot of people hyped about it and I see why, and I thought it was really good, honestly I was just happy to finally have a Pokemon show without Ash and the group of his current friends, I also liked how it wasn't this super long series but in like 4 parts. I don't think your full of it for being disappointed or having certain expectations for it, everyone has different tastes and if you didn't like Origins that's just fine.

 

[Almonds]

Origins wasn't bad. It was overhyped because of nostalgia reasons, and with the BW anime being such a wreck back then people were likely looking for something fresh and new.

 

[sc190191]

I thought it was good for only having 4 episodes. Obviously there could have been more development with further episodes, but all in all it was a pretty good for what it was. I think they also made some strange decisions about what parts they changed from the games (such as the girl from Mr. Fuji's house), but I didn't have a problem with how they treated Giovanni because it never made much sense that Team Rocket disbanded in the games, and at least here there was at least some reason for it (albeit still not a great reason).
My biggest problem with the show was the actual battle with Giovanni. It is kind of nit picky, but I thought its as pretty dumb that a Rhyhorn could one hit a Jolteon with thunderbolt. As they were trying to be more true to the real games, a Rhyhorn has way too low special attack to one hit something with a not very effective move. Also Seismic toss couldn't do as much as it did in the games because it is limited, so the regular anime always had it as a not limited attack, but I figured maybe Origins would be more true to the games in that respect.
The battles with Blue and Mewtwo were pretty cool, and I liked how they montaged through filling the Pokedex. I guess I could see it being disappointing to some fans, but watching it without expectations (because I didn't really expect to like it personally) I thought it was quite enjoyable.

 

[Soki]

Heck, it was just a breath of (desperately needed) fresh air to see a Pokémon animation that DIDN'T have Ash-tachii and the TRio. It had great animation, an edge to it the Show has never had or will never even think about having .

These are also my main reasons I really liked Origins. It just had everything I wish the regular anime had and I really hope the other games get a mini series like Origins too.

 

[Silktree]

Another thing that gets me is Red himself like this guy is the definition of a Gary Sue and I know Ash gets flack for being dumb at times but Red is just down right moronic that it hurts,

"Gary Sue" and "moronic" don't exactly go hand in hand.

furthermore the whole Charizard Mega evolving without a Mega ring is just one big plot hole.

Red's Key Stone directly came into contact with the Charizardite X. Why should a Mega Ring be necessary in such a case?

 

[Desdar300]

"Gary Sue" and "moronic" don't exactly go hand in hand.


Red's Key Stone directly came into contact with the Charizardite X. Why should a Mega Ring be necessary in such a case?

He's basically like Naruto where despite his intelligence the story works in his favor. Also it just made no sense to me why Mega Evolution was even here to begin with.

 

[Silktree]

He's basically like Naruto where despite his intelligence the story works in his favor.

He only displayed "lack of intelligence" (knowledge, rather) in the first episode.

Also it just made no sense to me why Mega Evolution was even here to begin with.

Did you have a problem with ORAS? This is a retelling of the original games.

 

[Desdar300]

He only displayed "lack of intelligence" (knowledge, rather) in the first episode.


Did you have a problem with ORAS? This is a retelling of the original games.

But Oras wasn't a giant commercial for a second Mega evolution for a Pokémon that already had one. Also Happy Holidays.

 

[Mareepy]

Eh I never liked Origins. Red is just a character with no personality. And isn't he suppose to be a very good trainer? Using Charizard only gave me the impression that he is a one trick pony. And his fight with Mewtwo is totally pointless as it functions only to over-glorify Mega Charizard X.

I think maybe 4 episodes is not enough to develop Red but as it stands, it is a 4 episode series and in my opinion, is a complete failure, well, unless over-glorification of Charizard line is a considered a success.

 

[Gengarzilla]

While I did enjoy it at the time, looking back on it now all I see is the start of the Mega Charizard X overglorification. We have yet to see Mega Charizard Y in any significant roles.

 

[Falconwing]

It's a fun little nostalgia trip for us older fans. Is it the best? No. Does it introduce or confirm a few cool things? Oh yeah. Does it have cool battles? Hell yeah. For what it was I couldn't really ask for more.

It's also a rare case for me where I felt the sub was better than the dub. Not sure why, but there were times the writing for the dub didn't really sit well with me.

 

[Galactic_V]

I like it, but I still take the main anime... Not BW of course, but DP and XY're better than Origin (in my opinion)
This may be due to ridiculously rushed battles, almost no strategy (saved for some)
I know the reason for all that was only 4 episodes, yet I believe this's no excuse in a comparision. I'd have liked it more if it were a regular series, that's for sure...

So, a good special, yes. Could've benefited from being over 4 episodes though

 

[Gillian]

I agree 4 episodes did seem a bit rushed/condensed. It should have been at least 6, though I think they had enough material to go as high as 12.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

I think my biggest problem with this OVA was how often it told instead of showed. It's second place behind the original version of "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure" in that regard. Although they violated the "show, don't tell" rule in different ways (JP "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure" had condescendingly straightforward descriptive narration of absolutely everything happening onscreen; "Origins" had a slew of "and then I did this, saw that, met that guy, did this, etc.").

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Worth watching but if an anime in the same format was done for a current generation one would have to ask its justification for existing. Also it was heavily focused on the aspects of Pokemon I consider less important legendary lore and the villains at the expense of the aspect of Pokemon I personally consider most integral to it's identity the use of Pokemon training for sports and recreation.

Final episode spoilers

Spoiler

The most egregious example of this is the final episode all of the elite four is skipped and the only in depth part of the Blue battle is Charizard and Blastoise. Meaning the whole Indigo Plateau, you know the final area before the credits, was covered in less than five minutes. The rest of the episode is spent on Red's completion of the Pokedex and mostly Mewtwo. Also despite being focused on collection it never explains how Red gets Pokemon like the other fossil and Bulbasaur.

Overall it's only four episodes so it's worth it for the animation and the nostalgia rush.

 

[L-05308]

I hate to be the bad guy, but Origins was a pile of contrived tripe. The only good bit was the gen six inclusion in the form of Mega Charazard. They should have took the time to make a better finale to best wishes and saved the idea for the 20th anniversary, and of course do it better!

 

[Rick]

They skipped so much, it looked like Red used Action Replay. Also, I found the HP Bars showing on screens to be the most silly thing in the show and make no sence. We only see those in-game because it would be too hard for the player to manage its team otherwise.
Also, if they wanted to go back and make a rewind of the first Gen, they should stay with what was available in FR/LG, which means No Mega Evolution! If Red can't beat Mewtwo with what was in the game at that time, too bad! I would rather see him throwing the Master Ball in that episode to catch it than puting stuff that was not part of the series when RBY came out. Not to mention the amount of focus in just 1 pokémon (Charizard).

 

[ii kanji]

You know I quite liked Origins for what it was. I can see why some of you didn't - Red was a n0ob and some aspects of the game got more focus and Lizardon was overused, but you know, as a nostalgia hook it did its job. How many of the people watching played RGBY for the first time when they were little kids? I enjoyed it because things like playing the whole game with just the starter pokemon were things I actually did!