Pokemon (2019)

On a new day in the Kanto region, Satoshi gets invited by Professor Yukinari Ookido over to Professor Sakuragi's lab-opening ceremony in Vermillion City. During the ceremonial speech, Professor Sakuragi receives an alert of a possibly rare Pokémon appearing in Vermillion City's harbor, leading Satoshi and the other trainers to rush to the area in hopes of finding the mysterious Pokémon. At the harbor, they find Lugia—a Legendary Pokémon—engaged in combat with other trainers.

Noticing the other trainers' tactics, Satoshi has his partner, Pikachu, strike Lugia with a Thunderbolt attack. Unfazed, Lugia flees, but not before Satoshi determinedly leaps onto its back. To Satoshi's surprise, he meets another boy, Gou, who leapt onto Lugia's back as well. The two ride on Lugia's back as it brings them along on a bizarre adventure across the seas. As it lets the two back on the ground, Satoshi and Gou bid their farewells to Lugia and return to Sakuragi Institute.

Impressed by Gou's findings and Satoshi's insight taken during their encounter, Sakuragi requests for the duo to be his new research partners. And so the duo's journey begins, traveling across multiple regions to meet many new Pokémon—including ones that have the ability to Gigantamax!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Satoshi Main

Matsumoto, Rica Japanese

Pikachu Main

Ootani, Ikue Japanese

Lucario Main

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Gou Main

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Gengar Main

Mamiya, Yasuhiro Japanese

Hibanny Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Kairyuu Main

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Aceburn Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Rabbifuto Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Sarunori Main

Takeda, Hana Japanese

Katou, Hiroyuki Producer

Negishi, Tomoya Producer

Sekiguchi, Ayaka Producer

Tanaka, Shigehiro Producer

Reviews

Aug 24, 2023

Duckielover151

Recommended

I actually ended up watching this season all the way through twice. Which ended up being a good thing, because it really hit different the second time around. I wasn't that impressed with it during my first watch-through. What really made the difference was that, going into it the second time, I was already aware that this would be Ash's farewell season. That gave me a different opinion on the way Journeys is structured.

So to get some of the initially negative things out of the way first...
Pokemon Journeys can feel pretty disjointed at times. The idea of Ash and Goh being research fellows ... and going on a different adventure-- visiting a different region each time-- every episode or so sounds fun. And it was at times. But I've mentioned countless times before that I'm not really one for episodic storytelling. I miss the long continuous journey through a region.

Now I'm a little torn about this aspect. On the one hand, I can really appreciate the opportunity it afforded them-- to go back and revisit all the people Ash had traveled with before. That helped contribute to a really beautiful sendoff.
On the other, I can't help feeling that, because it had to share the season with all the other places in the Pokemon world, the Galar region wasn't really done justice in Pokemon Journeys. That was another big thing that changed for me. The first time around, I hadn't played Sword/Shield yet. The second time, I was already familiar with this region. But I'm a big believer in an adaptation being able to stand alone. I don't feel like you should have to play the games to feel like you got the full experience. And the first time around, I felt little to no connection to the episodes that went into the main storyline of the game with Eternatus and the Darkest Day. We'd just spent too little time in Galar up until that point. It definitely clicked better the second time, but I'm standing by my 'blind' opinion of that particular flaw.

But aside from that one aspect, I really have nothing but praise for this season. Particularly, Journeys crafted some of the best characters Pokemon has ever seen. Chloe's story was a little weak, but Goh really impressed me. I can't remember another time a Pokemon character's backstory held such a clear influence over who that person grew up to be. There is such a clear pipeline from: Lonely kid whose parents didn't have time for him, so he comforted himself with solitary research... to Know-it-all kid who couldn't make friends and learned to get defensive and combative at the slightest hint of judgment after the first few bad experiences. It really makes his character growth-- watching him make his very first friend in Ash and becoming the open, well-adjusted person he is today-- kind of beautiful. Especially because you really get to watch him grow over time. It is by no means effortless. I loved the little details they threw in along the way-- how awkward and on edge he'd get the first few times he met some of Ash's older friends, having to acknowledge that other people had a claim on his new friend too. For a character I initially found annoying, it was really great.

Similarly, there was a lot of depth to Leon. Even not having as much time to explore him, that's one place I felt the anime did one-up the game. I loved the episode where he spent one-on-one time with Ash and revealed that, as much as he loved being champion, that stress of being known as 'unbeatable' was starting to get to him. I don't feel like it's talked about enough that the Galar region's presentation of the Pokemon League is a very modern one. Its stars are celebrities in an age of social media. Their fans are constantly watching. They never get a break. There's this really great little scene, when our heroes first meet Sonia and she's talking about how she grew up with Leon and watched him become the star he is today. It's this still-shot of a much younger Leon, surrounded by adults aiming to capitalize on his early success, and just looking totally overwhelmed, almost fearful even. A picture is worth a thousand words, indeed. That really tells the whole story, right there.

Which all goes towards making it so satisfying to see him hand over the crown at the end. Those last few minutes of the Pikachu v. Charizard battle genuinely gave me chills. And overall, I think this was the best tournament arc Pokemon ever had. I don't think there's ever been another League where I felt connected to all of the competitors and everyone felt like real competition.

Pokemon Journeys got off to a questionable start but bloomed into something beautiful by the end. I thought I was ready to say goodbye to Ash years ago. Now I'm sad to see him go.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 10, 2023

Repulzer

Mixed Feelings

Sounds weird but.. the further you go, the better it gets.
Especially the last part... damn just awesome meeting so many fellow souls and seeing some eastereggs for old fans
especially the one with movie 5 got me so well <3

Is the story unique? -
i mean yes in the end I totally felt nostalgic and miss the fact that I wont be able to watch it anymore. Didnt expect this feeling, afterall sun and moon destroyed my whole opinion about the anime

Do you think the art style is fitting for the story?
yes

... Were the characters well-rounded? Did they have flaws and strengths, or were they unusually strong/smart/stupid?
well you knew most of them... ofc it just felt nice to see them again

Did the characters react to situations and events in a realistic way?
uhmm depends, it was fitting for those characters and how I got to know them over the years

Do you think others will enjoy/dislike this series, even if you didn't? Why?
Well I bet if you loved pokemon back then, you would like or even love the nostalgic parts in masters.. I guess even more but some parts especially at the beginnng with those stupid goh guy annoyed me tbh

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 18, 2023

Ichijiku

Not Recommended

This series was something that as I returned to just because of the nostalgia bit. Told myself I would watch the finale, the same way I swore in grade school I would watch Naruto, Bleach, One Piece to the very end. (Of course, that doesn't imply any obligation towards movies, spin-offs, legacies and so on.) What could I say, other than the fact that I enjoyed one or two battles and reunions, there isn't much of that nostalgia brought back in here. The show oscillates between couple fillers, couple interesting episodes, but this gamble actually killed some expected interactions, some reunions got lost in the ... filler spectrum of events, training for relevant battles sometimes is expected to be imagined, the alternative stories struggle to make a point or to become relevant, and some characters are so empty of their nostalgic originality that it's depressing to watch.

Other than the fact that the show is ridiculous as it always was (what can you do, that's the risk of the job), some fights are decent enough, some bonding moments are heartwarming and you're happy that everyone's happy and almost everything stays the same even after the end.

Maybe they do a better job to close the curtain in the next short series about Ash, who knows?

Overall, on one hand I am thankful that I got to see the end, on another it was pretty much no difference if I didn't. Thank you, Pokemon, for that reunion that I expected at the end, that made my day, but it wasn't enough for the whole impression. No thank you for the new side stories, fillers and redundant dialogues, zero real character development on the humans, and arguably on the Pokemons too, since getting new moves isn't relevant to character development in almost any way.

It's a company. This it how it makes money. The previous seasons are almost no different. But take a look back at the first few seasons, and you will see a huge difference. Just stop getting it mediocre scores or better because of the nostalgia bait. It incentivizes it to create further crap content, and you are directly responsible for it.

3/10 with huge efforts and bound by nostalgia, otherwise 1/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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