Aug 29, 2015
Ah, Pokemon: The Origin. The highest-rated Pokemon-related anime in MAL's database. It is an interesting case for sure, and I will attempt to explain why in my first (and probably last) review.
For contextual purposes, I think it is extremely important to understand the basic history of the Pokemon franchise before trying to make sense of Pokemon: The Origin, so I will start with a brief historical summary. Also, from here on out, I will be referring to the original anime series and its sequels as simply "Pokemon" (as it is listed in MAL's database), and Pokemon: The Origin as "PTO".
In 1996, the
...
low-budget Pokemon Green and Red were hesitantly released in Japan. The unexpected success of the games led to the demand for the original anime series loosely inspired by the games to start airing in Japan barely a year later. Within a few years, the Pokemon franchise was a worldwide phenomenon, featuring massive commercial success across three mediums: anime series, video games (released outside of Japan as Blue and Red), and trading cards.
One aspect of the Pokemon anime that has bugged certain fans of the video games, such as myself, for over a decade, is that it makes no attempt to take anything but the surface elements out of the game and transpose them onto the framework of a Saturday morning cartoon. I say this not as a criticism of the Pokemon anime as it should be judged on its own merits, but rather to give context as to why there would be a demand for a "faithful adaptation" of the video games - one where we get to see the protagonist go through the same basic journey that we went through as video game players, only with new life brought to it through 3-dimensional graphics, human interactions, and various other nuances that couldn't be programmed into the low-budget video games.
PTO makes it clear in its presentation and promotional material that it should be viewed as an adaptation of the video games. Production IG provides great visuals that fit the setting perfectly, bringing new life to a two dimensional world. However, the plot basically goes like this (#7 may be a bit of a spoiler):
1. Introduce the main characters, similar to the main characters in the video games.
2. Spend a painful amount of time beating it into the head of the viewer that a kid leaving home for the first time has life lessons to learn.
3. Big battle, replacing any sense of video game mechanics with willpower and friendship power-ups, while showing HP bars to remind the viewer that apparently they are actually watching an adaptation of the video game
4. Skip over a big chunk of the video game plot in seconds, while making it seem the character has matured and learned.
5. Show a new filler scene that never happened in the video game. Progress through the filler slowly.
6. Repeat some combinations of steps 3-5 for the (almost) remainder of the show, while making sure to show that the protagonist somehow manages to simultaneously:
a) be a great natural talent who matures and learns quickly
b) actually not learn anything about Pokemon battling (using Normal instead of Fighting moves against Rock Pokemon for example)
7. At the very end of the series, in the midst of the final big event (where the protagonist still knows as little as ever despite being simutaneously talented and experienced), reveal that PTO is actually just a promotion for the new video games with a shameless asspull featuring game mechanics that weren't introduced until 2013.
I also forgot to mention some of the other not-so-subtle intermittent reminders that PTO was a video game adaptation, such as having characters repeat rote phrases from the game like "Your Pokemon are fighting fit!", and showing a save screen at the end of each episode, as well as the aforementioned HP bars in the middle of battles decided by willpower and friendship. All of these are done awkwardly, but I guess they serve the purpose of reminding the viewer that they actually are watching a video-game adaptation, because with about half of the 90-minute series being anime-original content that couldn't happen in the video games, the reminders may very well be necessary.
If you are a fan of Pokemon Red and Blue and want to get trolled by an "adaptation", Pokemon: The Origin is the anime for you.
Rating: 2/10 as an adaptation, 5/10 as an anime-original. Since it can be somewhat enjoyed if you keep telling yourself that it's not a video game adaptation, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a 4.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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