#pokemon rewatch

[missmaymaple]

23 episodes into my Johto rewatch, and I am finding most of the episodes pretty charming.

There have been a couple that I am not crazy about and I definitely don’t think they are generally as memorable as Indigo, but I would say on par with Orange Islands in most cases. I was prepared for worse with all the hate that these seasons get now.

That said, I am only 23 episodes in, so I will report back.

[flossflowergarden]

When I started this I was worried I was absolutely going to HATE Ash, but you know what? I'm liking him.

It's kinda like watching that one little kid whose obsessed with animals and always tries to pet them but doesn't understand that they're scaring them evolve into a person who really understands and is compassionate towards animals, it's actually kind of cute.

And yeah, he's pretty dumb in the very beginning (then again Team Rocket are pretty dumb and they're my faves), but he's only just starting then and he's TEN and he gets better. OK he's still a LITTLE dumb, but it's less like he's got no smarts and more like his intelligence just got funneled into all of the weirdest places that most people wouldn't even think about. Places that don't necessarily get appreciated enough.

Overall: Ash Ketchum is a good kid. He deserves a cookie.

[avionvadion]

My favorite pokémon anime joke will forever be when Team Rocket is searching for treasure (season 13, episode 33: the Brockster is in) and James goes:

“Bingo! My favorite bling!”

Jessie: “Ooh!!! Is it Gold? Silver? Platinum!?”

Meowth: “Rubies and Sapphires!??? Although Diamonds and Pearls rock too.”

James: “It’s not quite that Black and White.”

[the-beloved-rival]

[missmaymaple]

Just finished watching the Johto Journeys season, so here are my final thoughts:

- this is a majorly overhated season and I still consider it mostly on par with the orange islands season. Honestly, I prefer some of the filler in Johto Journeys, but the orange islands does have the advantage of the lower episode count.

-excellent opening theme!

-two gym badges in 41 episodes really is slow pacing, but most of the filler was pretty charming and a lot of it was actually focused on switching out the old team for the new. I’d say there were only about 3 or so episodes I didn’t care for at all.

-Tracey was okay, but the OG trio really has so much chemistry together and it shined a lot in goofy scenes here. They all have individual chemistry and chemistry as a whole group, and the banter is well rounded.

-obviously I wish Misty and Brock had more to do, but Misty had some really good focal point in more great episodes than the season gets credit for.

-it does drive me crazy knowing the GS ball never comes back

-I wish we could see these gym leaders for more than an episode each to give them more personality. Speaking only for Faulkner and Bugsy so far, as I think some of the later ones might stick around for at least an extra episode.

-I would very much like to see more Gary. We’ve seen him what? Once in Johto so far?

-loved the return of Butch and Cassidy, and Snubbull being a very tiny recurring bit

-obviously getting rid of some of the old team members felt a bit forced and you can tell the writers didn’t know what they were doing going in. Heracross being sent away might be the biggest crime. I really wonder why they did that. Was he annoying to animate, or did they just not think he would be marketable? Bulbasaur hanging around and not joining gym battles is unnatural too.

I fear that Johto League Champions might actually show me where all the complaining about Johto comes from. We’ll see.

[missmaymaple]

Ranking of theme songs so far into the rewatch that no one asked for:

1. Indigo: Will be shocked if anything tops this. It’s iconic and synonymous with the brand for a reason.

2. Johto Journeys: this one is just pleasing to listen to. “Be the best that you can be” is such an ear worm.

3. Orange islands: this one is really unique and catchy. I debated having it as number two.

4. Johto League Champions: it’s alright, but definitely forgettable compared to the others.

[missmaymaple]

Finally getting back into my rewatch 💪🏻 I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen all the Johto episodes, even when I was a kid, but manifesting this is the time.

[missmaymaple]

A few thoughts after almost finishing my rewatch of the orange islands season!

-while it’s not as good as the first season, I think it’s a bit underrated as a whole. It still has a lot of the charm of indigo league, and though a few forgettable episodes are thrown into the mix, it has several iconic ones too.

-top notch pokeshipping.

-I feel like he’s unpopular, but I don’t mind Tracey as a traveling companion here. He isn’t as good as indigo league era Brock/I wouldn’t want him to be a permanent replacement, but for a relatively short stretch of episodes it was fine and shook things up a bit.

-Randomly, I feel like Squirtle finally got some nice things to do here. He felt shafted a bit in Kanto to me compared to the other starters.

-The gym leader’s themselves aren’t as memorable as the Kanto ones for obvious reasons, but the different challenges felt really ahead of their time. The battles themselves were also better than most of the Kanto ones.

-the battle with Drake was such a standout at this point in the anime