#hz080

[smilingperformer]

SGSHSJSJSJSKSKSKD

Sango caught Screaming Tail and named it Onipurin. Perfection. This was a VERY fun ep and Sango is just awesome to watch :DDD

[amelikos]

Some character notes and episode notes for HZ080, writing them down for future reference.

Following the events of last episode, Liko and the others head to Area Zero to meet up with Briar. She explains the situation to them and warn them of the dangers of Area Zero, before they start heading to the place where Entei is supposed to be.

Meanwhile, Sango and Onyx are tailing them while trying not to get found. Sango eventually gets separated from Onyx and meets a Paradox Pokemon she mistakes as a Purin (Scream Tail). She gets into a fight with it and mocks it, though they eventually anger another Paradox Pokemon (Great Tusk) that Sango ends up battling. The battle ends up escalating and Sango ends it with a Self-Destruct that she gets caught into. Sango admits that "Onipurin" (the Paradox Pokemon she named as such) was cool, and catches it accidentally while trying to shut it up. Onyx finds her at the end of the day while she is arguing with Onipurin and she explains what happened to her.

While Sango is off on her own, Roy also gets separated from his group and meets a Paradox Pokemon as well (Sandy Shocks). He battles it and defeats it. Roy ends up thanking the Pokemon for the fun battle, and leaves with Achigator while singing, which causes the Pokemon he met to hum his song too. Roy eventually ends up catching up to Liko and Dot before they go look for him. Roy explains what happened to him and they all join Friede and Briar to set up a camp for the night and have dinner together. At night, Liko and the others hear a cry in the distance and Briar explains that it is the sound of a Scream Tail before she heads off to sleep.

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Overall, funny ep! Sango is entertaining to watch.

Many things to cover in regards to Sango. Not in order.

Something something about the parallels between Roy and Sango and both of them battling/bonding with a Paradox Pokemon in that episode and getting separated from their respective group. Sango and Roy highlighting a "familiar" side of the Paradox Pokemon by interacting with them (while many things are unknown about the Paradox Pokemon, they are also Pokemon like any other and the interactions in this ep showed that etc). Scream Tail being about screaming and Sandy Shocks eventually taking a liking to Roy's singing at the end (noise/music theme). Sango got separated from Onyx because she was chasing after Roy in the first place too, so it's nice they are keeping that kind of rivalry/bond between both of them even after the conclusion of their battle in HZ066. Roy actually kept up with Sango's "game" last time they battled and "played" with her until the end of their battle, so I wonder if Sango just wanted to have fun again? I wonder if they will focus more on Sango's relationships with Liko and Roy in the future.

Small things I liked: the content of Sango's bag shown after the battle (candy, hairbrush, definitely shows more of her character and that she is pretty simple at the end of the day), the domesticity of the scenes with Liko and the others getting ready for dinner and their Pokemon eating with them (it was nice seeing Tebrim and Nakanuchan etc again, pls show me the secondary Pokemon more), Onyx's voice when he said Sango is "always like that". Sounding kind of resigned, but like... not angry? He knows she is "like that" and knows the way she is (hence why he tried to remind her of the terms of their mission), but it feels like he's accepted it at this point.

Sango things to note: her being easily bored.. it was already shown before, but she is always seeking a form of entertainment and seems so bored and understimulated? Her buttons are easily pushed too. She has a short temper and gets into physical fights with Pokemon. I wonder why she is so agressive.

The dynamics between Sango and Onipurin was really fun. I am actually liking that they take time to flesh out Sango's Pokemon and give them so much life. Her Onigohri really fits her. Onipurin stands out in terms of personality too. Which is really cool, considering that she is actually the only Explorers admin with so much care put into the secondary Pokemon's personality so far. They mostly focus on the main partner Pokemon for the others Explorers.

I also think it feels special that Sango is the only one from the Explorers (and might be the only one in the series) who caught a Pokemon onscreen? This was only done with the main heroic characters so far. It definitely helps humanize Sango more and show more of her sympathetic sides, by portraying her as someone worth getting attached to and someone worth following.

I am really curious what they have in store for Sango and Onipurin. Horizons strikes me as a story with a specific plan and story for the human characters and their Pokemon (hence the small teams), so why are they adding a member to Sango's team. And not just any Pokemon, but a Paradox Pokemon that Agate specifically brought up when she talked about their existence being absurd. Is it just because Onipurin "fits" Sango in terms of personality? Will there be something more to it?

Also, while Onipurin fits Sango in terms of energy, I am hoping they won't turn them both into a running gag. Though, this story generally avoids that and all the things that could have been used endlessly for comedy were actually turned into very important points of growth and development (or ways to reveal more about a character, such as Friede forgetting to tell stuff to others could be interpreted as him not wanting to burden others as the leader on occasions, etc..). Liko doesn't notice that Dot is Gurumin? Not used that much as a gag (only three times, I think?), and the culmination of Dot's arc of coming out of her room for the first time ended in her trusting Liko and opening up about the fact that she is Gurumin (ie, used cleverly to further Dot's character arc in communicating with others). Liko is embarassed about Dot being Gurumin? Also used to further the relationship development between the two and Liko actually grows in this aspect and managed to reconcile the two in her mind and she is relaxed about it now. Sandwich and Onigiri? Silly and endearing nicknames that don't fool Liko and her friends, and the climax of the Terastal Debut chapter showed that Sango and Onyx actually got attached to their nicknames and their school lives while they ate food quietly together..

Anyway.. what I mean is that I am hoping there will be something interesting in store with Sango and Onipurin because this story has shown that it knows better than be static about these kinds of things and make gags that devalue characters and their development. Sango and Onyx have proven to be more complex than they let on too, so. The little bits with Onipurin lacking confidence while still being a menace in its own way and Sango being a jerk who can still admit when someone is cool and Sango considered to be worth following were really interesting already.

Onyx being so done with Sango and sighing about it is funny, but also man, you still care about her and spent the whole day looking for her, so who is the real winner here- (I think their future dates could be complete disasters. Sango never showing up on time at the meeting spot or getting distracted while Onyx looks for her and can't get in touch with her. Nothing to do with the episode, and everything to do with me shipping them btw. But they kinda gave me that on a platter to think about, so.)

It's worth pointing out that Onyx didn't really comment on Sango's antics though. The way he looked for her reminded me of that time he did the same thing in HZ043 (she was out to buy sweets and he wondered where she was and eventually found her beefing with Liko and Roy, and he didn't really have to go out of his way to look for her since they were called for the mission at the end of the episode after their battle, he just wanted to know where she was way before that). This time, his eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but he actually restrained himself and didn't escalate the situation. They used to argue much more before, and he actually had reasons to get pissed this time since he probably spent a lot of time looking for her.. So it's kinda interesting to me seeing them like that now. Also, I found their small exchange at the end cute (when he asked about her Pokemon, and she told him she caught it and explained the situation a bit more). It's always striking to me how normal their interactions feel compared to the others Explorers? They can just have casual conversations about stuff that happened to them and share that with each other and they don't try to hide things from each other? They are just that comfortable around each other. I think it's neat.

Also the fact it was brought up that Area Zero is where Pagogo came from originally makes me wonder if we'll have more on it? A bit melancholic to think that Rystal met Pagogo there a long time ago.

[amelikos]

I thought it was kinda interesting that Onipurin seems to have some confidence issues?

Like, it matches Sango in terms of energy and noise and has a bit of a mocking streak too, so it can keep up with her banter and Onigohri's. But for a Pokemon that is all about screaming, they pointed out that when it's scared, its voice won't come out. Onipurin was seen tearing up at some point, too. And there was lots of focus on Onipurin's expressions during the battle, which made me think that it was kind of inspired by Sango's determination and guts and that seeing her and Onigohri try their best spurred it into action and made Onipurin want to keep fighting?

Onipurin clearly wanted to follow Sango at the end too (that shy looking towards her at the end because it didn't want to leave yet, and allowing itself to be caught). Sango said Onipurin was awesome too, so it's cool that Onipurin must have been touched by her words enough to want to stick by her side. And that Sango comes off as kind of inspirational and someone to get attached to, despite everything.

Anyway, it's kinda neat how Sango managed to befriend(?) Onipurin by being her usual (obnoxious) self. Also, it's cute that Sango probably doesn't know it's a Paradox Pokemon. She just assumed it was a Purin and gave it a nickname based on that assumption. I wonder if she'll learn that it's a Paradox Pokemon eventually, especially given Agate's words towards them (her thinking some truths must never be revealed, etc).

[amelikos]

Not sure if Sango and Onyx will still be around during the Entei and Rayquaza battles, but they've been ordered to monitor and report on progress from the RVT and so far they have nothing to report on, so they could very well be spying in the background during the upcoming episodes.

At most, 7 or 8 episodes left in this chapter after January ends.

[amelikos]

Going over monthly titles for January (from HZ079 to HZ082).

Monthly calendar is here.

Starting with HZ079 (link here).

I was kind of curious about the writer for this episode since we didn't have the information until now, so my interest is extremely peaked now that we know it's Dai Sato (the lead writer) who will be writing it. Which makes this his second script in chapter 4 (the previous one was HZ071). Also, the lead writer writing the first ep airing this year is just neat.

Dai Sato also wrote HZ046 (opening episode of chapter 3) which introduced both Omodaka and Chili, and both these characters will be appearing in HZ079, so that'll be interesting in terms of interactions and battles too (I tend to find battles written by him really interesting since they have something very specific to convey in terms of characters etc.. I really enjoyed his writing around Friede and Amethio, for example).

Overall, looking forward to how this ep will be handled, especially Liko. We also know Chili will interview the trio, so I wonder what kind of questions she'll ask them and what kind of answers they'll give her. Liko, Roy and Dot were asked why they wanted Terastal back in HZ046 and they all had different answers, etc.

Continuing with HZ080 (link here).

No mention of Onyx in the summary despite the fact that we know he is going to appear. Curious about that. Also, the summary mentions Sango teaming up with the Paradox Purin so idk if they'll remain friends?

Anyway, this ep is written by Deko Akao. That will be her first ep with Sango. Back in chapter 3, she wrote HZ058 and that was her first script with Onyx too, etc. Which is quite interesting to me, because these writers are branching out in terms of characters etc. Usually, the core writers handle the Explorers characters but ever since chapter 3, we've had two other ones writing eps with Sango and Onyx. And it's Sango and Onyx specifically, and not any other characters from the Explorers.

I am not sure what to expect from this ep and the kind of progress we'll have with Sango and Onyx.. But I am very excited to see them again. I want to see them interact with each other, and maybe they'll interact with the main group too?

Continuing with HZ081 (link here).

Seems like they'll deal with Entei in a single ep? Also, this ep is written by Michihiro Tsuchiya. He wrote the Basagiri two-parter. So we'll see how he handles another Six Heroes related episode.

I wonder if they'll explain what's going on with Entei in this ep, or maybe in a later one? Not sure if Lucius's Entei was always a Paradox one, or if he somehow mutated or something after what happened in Rakua.

And the month ends with HZ082 (link here).

I really like the title for this episode. Reminds me of how poetic the title for HZ075 was.

Seems like the Japanese title for this ep is 光り出した虹の先で and I want to point out that these words are said in the lyrics for Halo (the second opening). They are the last lyrics of the song (just before the "I found my dream", etc).

No summary for now, but it's written by Kureha Matsuzawa (the script coordinator) so I'm always very invested in his writing and narrative. He wrote the original Explorers backstory, the AmeLiko ep, etc.

I think this ep is probably going to have Rayquaza? Everything we've gotten in terms of titles and summaries matches what we've had in the trailer a few weeks ago. Omodaka, Sango and Onyx, Entei, and then Rayquaza. Last time the group saw Rayquaza was in HZ045 (Rayquaza appeared in the Lucius flashback in HZ075 but that's another thing since that was a story from the past etc).. Curious if Rayquaza could sense that all the Heroes gathered together and decided to show up to test Liko and Roy. Rayquaza has agency and also decided to appear back in HZ033, etc. I wonder if Rayquaza will join the group afterwards or not?

--

Overall, looking forward to this month's episodes etc. One episode by Dai Sato, Sango/Onyx, one episode by Kureha Matsuzawa..

Not sure if they'll sneak in some appearances from the Explorers besides Sango and Onyx? Two of the usual writers handling Explorers eps are there, and if Sango and Onyx are appearing in ep 80, maybe we'll get some insight from the Explorers side of things this week? Like, Sango and Onyx being given a mission, which would explain their presence in ep 80. Not sure for ep 82, we don't know what comes after that ep so I'm not sure if the Rayquaza stuff will go on for another ep. (I am very invested in whatever is going on with Amethio's family drama, Gibeon and everything else, so I can't wait for what'll come next. Give me the old man, etc.)

[amelikos]

Intriguing that Sango is set up to team up with "an odd-looking Purin" in HZ080 given that Agate specifically brought it up in HZ056 and considered the existence of Paradox Pokemon to be absurd.

(Sango is potentially catching it too, given that she has a whole drawing song about it and she is the only Explorers admin with only one known Pokemon unlike everyone else who has at least two Pokemon.)

[amelikos]

Sango and Onyx narrating the preview for next week's episode.. (and the PR account posting about Sango's song).

[amelikos]

Sango and Onyx in the upcoming trailer.

Writing thoughts for future reference, etc.

A look at the title for HZ080 (here).

I thought it was intriguing that the title contains "オニイケ" in it, since Sango uses "oni" in her speech pattern (why did they have her use "oni" when she talks.. not only "oni" like "Onigohri" but it's also reminiscent of "Onyx"). So potentially, more focus on Sango? Why did they use words with her speech pattern in the title?

I am curious about what Sango and Onyx are going to do? Who is dropping them off from the Explorers helicopter? Hamber? Someone else who wants them to gather info on Area Zero? But like, why would they trust Sango with this kind of mission given how she is... Maybe they are just there to monitor Liko and the others, though? Or they didn't expect them to be there at all, so they'll be surprised to run into each other? Sango sounds excited and happy in the trailer, so it seems like she is going to have fun. She was bored last time we saw her.

Also curious about Sango's specific focus with that one pink Paradox Pokemon. Showing her with it in two different scenes. Emphasizing it in such a way makes me think they will be building up a capture for her, but I'm not sure. Sango is the only admin with only one known Pokemon so far, iirc. Onyx has two, one of them being a Pokemon mostly used for transportation purposes. Sango doesn't need that since Onigohri always carries her, so maybe she only has one Pokemon. Which makes me wonder if she actually passed her implementation test during the Terastal Debut chapter since they needed two Pokemon for it. Maybe she has another one we don't know of, maybe she didn't pass that test because she didn't care, maybe she borrowed a Pokemon from Onyx or something..

(I don't really focus that much on characters getting new Pokemon. If it doesn't really fit their arcs or characters, then I don't see the need for it and Horizons seems pretty specific with characters getting meaningful Pokemon that fit their personalities/designs/growths and stories in general.. and most characters only have two Pokemon since they are genuinely considered as partners in life, so they are limiting the number of captures etc. As an aside, I think it's neat that a character like Sango who looks "cute" has a main partner Pokemon who looks "scary" and is a demon, and they perfectly fit together.. Sango really cares for Onigohri too, which is good.)

Either way, we'll see what they are planning to do with Sango and that Paradox Pokemon. It does intrigue me though, since we haven't really seen an Explorers character in such a situation? I also wonder if Sango and Onyx will interact in some capacity with Liko and the others? It'd be kind of interesting to see how their dynamics could evolve from now on. I don't know what to expect with the direction they'll take. Last time they faced each other, Liko and Roy won their battles against them and they were enemies. Onyx also asked Liko to remember his name, so I wonder if she'll call him by name if she comes across him? Will Sango and Onyx get in the RVT's way, or will they be forced to cooperate somehow in Area Zero? Will they only appear in one episode and then leave, or will they be present in at least two eps?

Also, not really going over the rest of the trailer but I think it's meant to cover the January episodes. So we'll get the trio facing Omodaka in HZ079, then they'll go to Area Zero in HZ080 (Sango and Onyx will be in this ep). Entei and Rayquaza potentially for the last two episodes of January? Curious about Entei's story, since it possibly changed forms in Area Zero and now looks different. I wonder who will be writing the January episodes?

Overall, I didn't actually expect to see Sango and Onyx again. I expected them to show up towards the end of the arc, so I look forward to seeing them earlier than what I thought.

Sango and Onyx together means my world is healing etc, so this is just good. I love seeing them together. I just think they are neat.