Last night, the first two episodes of Pokemon Sun and Moon were broadcasted on Japanese television. As expected, they were pretty goofy! But they were also intense.
[Image: myu_kun_]
Note: This article might contain spoilers.
Past Pokemon anime have also had silly scenes, but last season’s Pokemon XY&Z had a more mature-looking Ash who actually seemed like a winner. (That is, until he lost, proving that he is an eternal loser.)
In Sun and Moon, Ash and his mother are visiting the Alola region after winning a holiday there.
サトシママはアローラのすがたになっても可愛いですなぁ… #anipoke pic.twitter.com/PlZ4uMv2xK
— 田之助 (@shimizu111485) November 17, 2016
While wandering around alone with Pikachu, as Ash does, he comes across a Pokemon school that is filled with students and, you guessed it, Pokemon. The other students show him around the school, and if you are wondering what people learn at Pokemon school, this should clue you in.
画面に入ってませんよ #anipoke #pokemon pic.twitter.com/TlRjTN6bIr
— まかとら (@Macatora) November 17, 2016
Heh. They learn about Pokemon!
However, things really ramp up during dinner at a fancy restaurant, when the Pocket Monster Tapu Koko appears in a rather dramatic fashion and gives Ash his own Z-Ring. Later, Tapu Koko returns, showing Ash how to use it.
ピカチュウのZ技!!#anipoke pic.twitter.com/zJFcvad1iZ
— 青星◒祝サンムーン発売! (@pokezan9501) November 17, 2016
The Z-Move is rather intense! This one is Gigavolt Havoc.
My two youngest kids were already standing in front the television trying to pull off their own Z-Moves, so expect Nintendo to sell a bunch of these.
Pikachu’s Z-move Sparking Gigavolt (Gigavolt Havoc) from the anime #anipoke pic.twitter.com/m2sGkLQUOD
— マンメンミ!~ (@pKjd) November 17, 2016
After he gets the Z-Ring, Ash’s mum just leaves and Ash stays behind in Alola, enrolling as a student at the Pokemon school. (I guess Ash’s mum had some stuff to do back at home?)
The Z-Move stuff seems super powerful, and it reminded me of Dragon Ball. However, the way the sequence was done reminded many Japanese Twitter users of Inazuma Eleven‘s dramatic soccer plays.
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT
イナズマイレブンだと思った人RT#anipoke pic.twitter.com/2XTVIbrEoG— 雄乃shia (@yunoshia328) November 17, 2016
All the images on the left are from Inazuma Eleven. The image on the right is a Z-Move from Sun Moon. That soccer anime, of course, is from Level-5, the folks behind Yo-kai Watch.
Here are more comparisons, and again, the orange and yellow one is from Sun and Moon, while the others are from Inazuma Eleven.
Z技の演出をイナズマイレブンに混ぜても全然違和感が無い件について #anipoke pic.twitter.com/DK7Osh2Htv
— 田之助 (@shimizu111485) November 17, 2016
And in this one, the one with Pikachu is from Sun and Moon. Obviously!
どれがZワザか分かるまい #anipoke pic.twitter.com/NFqlzshMiY
— しゔぁかい (@judgment_baka) November 17, 2016
Now, test time. Try to pick out the Pokemon anime from Inazuma Eleven!
#anipoke
なるほどね pic.twitter.com/a6brZ1KhLS— トロン (@2toro2800) November 17, 2016
The two episodes were good, but there are A LOT of goofy sight gags. The show gets hammy real quick.
驚くすがた #anipoke #pokemon pic.twitter.com/unRyCTj7A2
— まかとら (@Macatora) November 17, 2016
ポリゴン久々にアニメ出演(セリフのみ) #anipoke pic.twitter.com/ktuWdXi1iI
— ポケモア (@moa151) November 17, 2016
サトシ(アローラのすがた) #anipoke #pokemon pic.twitter.com/eLRARSxIuG
— まかとら (@Macatora) November 17, 2016
ポケモンって顔芸アニメになったのか?w
#anipoke pic.twitter.com/1juA9ECDY9
— 聖[ひじり]@アニソン好き (@hijidora) November 17, 2016
殴りたい この笑顔 #anipoke pic.twitter.com/YGwX6qIZH2
— 田之助 (@shimizu111485) November 17, 2016
The hell?
その2
この人人間越えてるwww #anipoke pic.twitter.com/34XOxZSqfn— パラレル@ポケットモンスターサン&ムーン (@parallelworld_5) November 17, 2016
OK.
久しぶりにツボったわこの作画 #anipoke pic.twitter.com/4WiIFOJLn7
— サンタナ (@3t7__) November 17, 2016
Maybe this is Ash’s Alola form? He does look different.
As the show progresses, it will probably settle into a good rhythm of balancing the jokey slapstick stuff and the more serious and heartfelt bits we’ve seen in previous Pokemon anime.
新シリーズポケモンサン&ムーンのOP「アローラ」めっちゃ好きですね。 #anipoke #アニポケ pic.twitter.com/6US6Qze07w
— 腐川 (@Rariver3) November 17, 2016
The intro, though, is already very catchy.
Comments
6 responses to “The Pokemon Sun And Moon Anime Just Debuted In Japan”
I can’t wait for Ash to lose this League after 80 episodes of filler.
I see team rocket are hanging around…
Did the animation drop, or have I just forgotten off-model mishaps from not seeing an episode in the last decade or so?
It’s a way of refreshing the series to look like today’s popular effort lacking western animation like Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Regular Show, etc
That… seems like a weird thing to aspire to, but I suppose it’s the logical by-product of current showmakers being the kids who grew up on the likes of Filmation and Ren & Stimpy.
Nothing like having your art style described as “effort lacking” – I’m guessing you don’t know a lot about animation then?
Studied it for many years. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed the decline in quality for years. While 80s/90s animation was not perfect, it’s a million times better detailed and fluid than anything found in Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe or even Rick & Morty.