Pokemon XY

Satoshi and Pikachu have arrived in Lumiose City of the illustrious Kalos region to capture more Pokémon and continue their journey toward becoming the very best. Meanwhile, a genius inventor named Citron and his little sister Eureka wander the city when they run into Satoshi who quickly challenges them to a battle. However, they are soon caught up in a dangerous incident when Team Rocket, following Satoshi into Kalos, cause a Gaburias to rampage through the city.

Far away in the quiet Vaniville Town, a young girl named Serena slogs through daily Sihorn riding practice at the behest of her mother, a professional Sihorn racer. After practice, she sees the events unfolding in Miare City on television where she recognizes a boy from her childhood. Having left a significant impact on her life, the sight of him stirs in her a desire to meet him again; and so, Serena sets off to Miare City, determined to find the boy from her past.

Pokemon XY follows the group as they travel throughout Kalos in pursuit of their ambitions—Satoshi challenging Pokémon gyms, Citron learning from Satoshi, and Serena searching for what exactly her dream is. Along the way, they meet new friends, face new rivals, and continue to thwart Team Rocket's schemes, all the while discovering a little about the mysteries of mega evolution.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Satoshi Main

Matsumoto, Rica Japanese

Pikachu Main

Ootani, Ikue Japanese

Serena Main

Makiguchi, Mayuki Japanese

Citron Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Eureka Main

Kanai, Mika Japanese

Fokko Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Kojirou Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Musashi Supporting

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Nyarth Supporting

Inuyama, Inuko Japanese

Lucario Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Hosoya, Nobuyuki Producer

Tanaka, Shigehiro Producer

Yuyama, Kunihiko Director

Yajima, Tetsuo Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Feb 5, 2014

Lord_Odous

Recommended

**Updated 1/11/15 with all episodes seen. **

Pokemon XY turned out to be a really worthy entry for Pokemon fans, old or new to sit down, relax and enjoy.

STORY: 5/10 Mediocre

Don't expect much story from Pokemon, for it is still a show that is primarily directed towards kids. You will still see the power of friendship, teamwork, trust and love swirling around every episode, so the basic formula did not change from the old Pokemon series.

In Pokemon XY we follow Ash in his endeavor to beat all eight gyms to challenge the Kalos league, Serena in her conquest to obtain three princess keys by ... winning the Pokemon Showcases in order to be granted the right to challenge for the Kalos Queen title, Clemont in his journey to learn more about the world and broaden his knowledge as a gym leader, and finally Bonnie, generally serving as the cheerleader of the party.

The pacing is pretty uneven throughout the show, with Ash challenging the gyms at a crawling pace in the first half of the series, then him sweeping a number of them in the latter half. We see our human as well as Pokemon protagonists grow throughout the series, which is pretty satisfying.

ART: 10/10 Outstanding

Indeed, the art and animation of Pokemon XY is beautiful, that I was left dumbfounded and jaw dropped at the sight of the first episode. Granted, some characters look weird (for example Grant the Rock gym leader has hair resembling a crystallite), but most of the Pokemon designs in this generation could well be my very favourite, look at Scatterbug! It looked dull and boring in the official art, but in the anime itself it is one heck of an adorable creature. Look at Vivillion! It was majestic, almost unrivaled in its beauty.

I always loved looking at animated Pokemon Battles, they are exciting, and on top of that they looked gorgeous in this latest series. Heck, even the usual Team Rocket motto looked gorgeous! The Pokemon Showcases are truly a spectacle to watch.

I have nothing much but praise to the animation team, well done. This section alone makes Pokemon XY worth watching.

SOUND: 8/10 Very Good

You really can't go wrong with this part when it comes to Pokemon, as most of the voice cast are recurring from the previous generations, and the new voice actors did a good job voicing the new characters. The background music is often a delight to listen to as it is often the same song that plays in the game, which is sheer awesome.

For the OP and ED, my personal favorite are V (Volt) and DoriDori respectively, and they are often used as inserted songs throughout the series, the former often plays during Ash's gym battles, while the other during Serena's performance.

CHARACTERS: 7/10 Good

The old characters who made their return in this series did not change much, Ash is still brave and cares for his Pokemon as much as he did before, and is still a bit of an idiot at times. The Team Rocket Trio is still as cunning and 'evil' as ever and you can always expect them to blast off every episode they are featured in.

So the highlight should be the new companions that joined Ash on his journey. Serena is the childhood friend of Ash and the supposed crush of his in the series, she is also the cook of the group. Then, we need someone knowledgeable to provide us with all the info, and enter Clement, the gym leader of Lumiose City who will also humor us with his wide array of inventions, which will always blow up. Tagging along would be the imouto of Clement, Bonnie, who is the "awww cute" girl and she cares for Pokemon, a lot, well she's good for providing the needed cheerleading when Ash was battling.

In Pokemon, the centre of attention is not always to human characters, but the Pokemon themselves as well. Utilizing the Pokemon natures well, we get to see the many personalities of the Pokemon. Using Serena's as an example, her Fennekin is a Careful one, always cautious when stepping out as she's not one who likes to get dirty; Pancham is an Impish one, sometimes doing naughty things like stealing Ash's hat; Eevee... ah my personal favorite, is definitely a Timid one, so shy that she can cower and hide somewhere when a stranger approaches her.

Enjoyment: 7/10 Good

Pokemon XY will be a decent show to kill some time weekly, it is, without a doubt, eye candy, and for a Pokemon fan like myself, it can provide good and relaxing entertainment in a weekly basis.

The story did not end here, Ash hasn't won all the gyms, and Serena hasn't won all her princess keys. The 2nd season, XY&Z, judging from the trailer at the end of the show, promises more Mega Evolutions, more legendaries, and Team Flare will finally make their screen debut.

Saying this again, the graphics alone make Pokemon XY really worth it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 17, 2019

ktulu007

Mixed Feelings

Yes, we're back to talking about Pokemon, a franchise so long running that there are adults who weren't born yet when it started. I was, but I'm old and crabby. Any way, I was asked to review this particular part of the anime. So, all of you get to read me ranting about all the aspects of this anime franchise that get on my nerves. Besides, with Sword and Shield coming out soon and eliminating the Megas, it seems a good time to talk about when Game Freak was super proud of that element. 

Story:

We open with Satoshi travelling over to the Kalos region leaving Unova ... and all the Pokemon he "befriended" there behind. He meets the siblings, Citron & Eureka, and begins his journey to beat all the Kalos gyms while catching new Pokemon he'll inevitably leave behind when he moves on to Alola. Unfortunately for him, Musashi, Kojirou & Meowth are still following him to steal his Pikachu. 

I should note, the anime does not follow the game's mechanics as much as it makes nods to them. Which I can't really complain about. It would be even more boring if Pikachu had to dodge every attack because any hit would smash its frail defences and knock it the fuck out. 

The biggest problem with the series is just that it's all very repetitive and formulaic. You can pretty much tell exactly what's going to happen in an episode the moment the scenario is introduced. Satoshi will even say he hasn't decided which gym to go to next after every gym match, even against the 7th gym when there's literally one option left. 

In all fairness, the series can have a real sense of fun to it. And Team Rocket's goofy schemes can be entertaining even if we know every one is going to end with them getting blasted into the air and saying "this feels bad." 

Characters:

This is where the big problem in the series lies. The main characters are dull. Really, excruciatingly dull. Satoshi has no personality whatsoever. He's just vaguely amicable. Which is part of the problem with the franchise keeping the same protagonist from region to region. The dude can't learn any lessons without repeating old territory. He also can't develop as a character because every writer who works on the anime has a cemented image of him and what he's supposed to be. And it is hard to see him as having a real connection with his pokemon when he has a long history of saying goodbye to them at the slightest provocation. 

Then there are his companions. Citron is a boring sciencey boy who makes machines that blow up and is vaguely nice. Eureka is an excitable child who thinks every Pokemon ever is cute. Even the shite ice cream cone no one likes. And tries to get her brother a bride whenever she thinks a woman is pretty. Serena is a girly girl with a crush on Satoshi because they met once in camp when they were all of eight. 

The best characters are Musashi, Kojirou & Meowth. Just because they're allowed to be bad and revel in that but there's also a real attempt at making them sympathetic. Every member of the group gets some episode or other that showcases the better part of their nature. This also serves to make them more enjoyable than the main cast as well as more complex. 

Art: 

The artwork is fine. There are some pretty cool battles. The characters look fine. And the Pokemon look like their game counterparts. I don't really care for most of the 6th generation Pokemon personally, but that may be because I'm old and grumpy. You damn kids and your cotton candy pokemon and your slime dragons and your key rings and your pogs and your street sharks. 

Sound: 

The acting is fine. Everyone is perfectly competent but most of the characters are so boring they don't have much in terms of complexity to convey. Which is why our best performances come from Hayashibara Megumi, Miki Shinichiro & Inuyama Inuko. The music is decent enough too. Not great but functional enough. 

Ho-yay:

There are some moments with Serena and Sana. Eureka's obsession with pretty women also seems to be a strong indication that she won't be dating men when she gets older. 

Areas of Improvement:

Ditch Satoshi as the main protagonist. Honestly, I think the Pokemon anime franchise would be a lot better if each region featured a new protagonist. You could get more complexity for the character without having to undermine their bond with their pokemon to show off the new region's creatures. 
Have some surprises. I get it, this is a children's anime and they can't get too complex with it. But at least have some events that are mildly against the grain or that subvert expectations. Maybe even let the villains win in some minor way that isn't too bad for the heroes. 
More personality for the protagonists. A big part of the issue with them is that the writers try to make them too squeaky clean good. Give them some real flaws to overcome that can lead to some interesting interactions. It would make the series a lot more interesting. 

Final Thoughts:

Pokemon XY isn't a bad series. However, it's not a good one either. It's like that last Pokemon film I reviewed. It's a mediocre series that's probably enjoyable enough for the target audience, but doesn't provide much for anyone older. Even slightly older like teenagers. I'll give it a 5/10. 

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 28, 2021

SlavicIndo

Not Recommended

Many people will disagree with my low rating, but the fact is - when you watch too much of an anime (this anime has 93 episodes, and still has an XYZ season after it) it becomes it really boring, especially when there's a formula to an episode. I remember dropping on this anime at about episode 60, then a few months ago I went so far as to watch the XYZ version. The reason for all of this is because every episode, while they do something new, team rocket comes and annoys the hell out of them, then they get their Pokemon back, beat the ... hell out of them, and finally - continue whatever they were gonna do. It gets really repetitive as episodes go by. That's the reason behind my low rating on the show, even though when I was first watching it I thought it was amazing. You can't deny the great animation and sound, which carries the anime to 4. Without them I wouldn't have it at more than 2, or at most - 3.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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