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Why was Ho-oh in Episode 1?

matt0044

matt0044

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I understand that Ho-oh was created during Gen 1 and shelved but why put it in Episode 1 when Pokemon was just taking off and the Anime was planned for a year and a half run? It might not've been used for Gen 2 (assuming Gen 2 was considered at all) and that would've been a really random loose end writing wise.
 
I'd imagine that if the anime didn't stretch out to Gen II (either the continuing adventures of Satoshi or a sequel), Houou still would have served the purpose of showing how vast and mysterious the Pokemon world is (in the anime). I wouldn't call it a loose end in writing, in that regard, since they didn't really play it up as something that would ever get solved.

....besides, it's not like they used Houou much in Gen II either, besides alluding to its legend and connection to Satoshi, both of which are hardly touched upon ever again, especially now that we're in Gen VI and the anime writers insist that everything before a certain point doesn't matter anymore. Ugh. Now it's a loose end in writing. Even worse than the GS Ball.
 
I think when they originally put it in they may have been planning to reuse it at the end of the series.
 
"Pocket Monsters 2" had already gotten a lot of coverage in CoroCoro Comics by the time the first episode aired and several of the new pokemon had already been revealed. Hou'ou's appearance in that episode would have hyped up the new games regardless of whether or not the TV series was popular enough to continue.
 
I would assume it was to show that there was more after gen 1?
 
So does it seems Ho-oh was to hype the Gen2 games when Episode one aired? Because if you put it that way, I think it makes sense

and Ash had to go and assume it was Articuno in episode 2
 
Me, I always thought it was one of many set-ups for an event that was abandoned for whatever reason.
 
SammyW27 said:
Me, I always thought it was one of many set-ups for an event that was abandoned for whatever reason.
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I've always figured that Ho-oh's appearances are to show that Ash is "the legendary hero" rather than to lead to a subplot - same with Ash having Aura. I would like for it to show up again, it's been too long.
 
Apparently they don't want to revisit old plots though because "it will confuse the new viewers"
Thats why the first Mewtwo wasn't mentioned at all in the 16th movie. Unfortunately they're just letting down the old viewers by dropping major things like Mewtwo #1 and Ho-oh; I was disappointed with the 16th movie because with all that carry on about finding a place to belong I was waiting the whole movie for Ash to tell Mewtwo there is another Mewtwo. (I guess he forgot just like he forgot he turned 10 years ago).
 
Snugglefox said:
Apparently they don't want to revisit old plots though because "it will confuse the new viewers"
Thats why the first Mewtwo wasn't mentioned at all in the 16th movie. Unfortunately they're just letting down the old viewers by dropping major things like Mewtwo #1 and Ho-oh; I was disappointed with the 16th movie because with all that carry on about finding a place to belong I was waiting the whole movie for Ash to tell Mewtwo there is another Mewtwo. (I guess he forgot just like he forgot he turned 10 years ago).
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We're definitely not turning this into another Mewtwo 2 discussion, so please drop it right now.
 
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Snugglefox said:
Apparently they don't want to revisit old plots though because "it will confuse the new viewers"
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But... Charizard returned in Episode N (note: I'm not trying to talk about Mewtwo 2 but about the claim above itself).
 
I guess they decided Charizard has returned so many times it viewers would just go; "Hey it's that Charizard that keeps showing up!". Also, Charizard had about as much impact on the show as Pikachu.
While on the other hand Ho-oh and He who shall not be named, haven't made many appearances and stopped appearing altogether at the end of Gen 2 if I recall. By the time Heart Gold and Soul Silver came out, anyone who wasn't a hardcore fan was like "Ho-oh who?"
 
Snugglefox said:
I guess they decided Charizard has returned so many times it viewers would just go; "Hey it's that Charizard that keeps showing up!". Also, Charizard had about as much impact on the show as Pikachu.
While on the other hand Ho-oh and He who shall not be named, haven't made many appearances and stopped appearing altogether at the end of Gen 2 if I recall. By the time Heart Gold and Soul Silver came out, anyone who wasn't a hardcore fan was like "Ho-oh who?"
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Charizard got flashback scenes for his return, they could do the same for Ho-oh. Just have Ash mention that he's seen it before and show some brief scenes of its past appearances.

Ho-oh has appeared since Gen 2, in a Battle Frontier episode and in the last DP opening.
 
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I love how people constantly pull the confusion card. Hey guys, let's watch an on-going series about a kid and his very very long adventures, and not expect something that relates to any previous events happening right as we jump right into the middle of it!

Oh, so this main character knows this Lizardon and recognizes this Houou... could he have perhaps... met them before?! What a concept. I would have never guessed.

...Somehow, I don't feel that the new viewers are morons like that. If the writers seriously used that reasoning, then that would put my respect for them at an even more all-time low.

...so yeah, they don't want to revisit old unsolved plots "because new viewers would get confused". No, I think it's just terrible writing. It has to be. Sadly, if it's "marketably viable", they'll do whatever they please, with less amount of thinking possible. Once they realized at some point that this anime is never gonna to end, they probably just said "screw it" and quietly shelved those unsolved mysteries where none can see.
 
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Then why was it flying around in the first episode?

(One of the former storyboarders actually said that they planned to have Celebi be in the GS Ball.)
 
It was basically just a cameo appearance as to what would soon come. That's it. Also it wasn't one of the scrapped Gen 1 Pokemon.
 
You'd think they'd have the sense to resolve this when they had the chance in Johto. If Doctor Who says anything, tying up a loose end doesn't mean the show has to end.
 
It was showed in the same context as early series omnivore humans. You got to see a pokemon that didn't exist while st the same time the characters were eating animals (not pokemon) that existed, but were never shown. Gengar turns into a mongoose which still hasn't made an actual appearance in the games, so it could be added into Gen 7 for a heavy dose of epic foreshadowing. lol
 
Actually, that was Gastly, and I sincerely doubt that a Transforming one is high on the list of things waiting in the wings for Gen 7. Back on topic, Ho-Oh was foreshadowing for Gen II, probably because I think that was just starting to be developed at the time the anime premiered.
 
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