A Rush of Ninja Wisdom (820)

[Nyter]

This was an OK episode and not entirely a filler since Froakie learned Double Team.
I also liked the comic aspect Bonnie, Pikachu, and Dedenne added to it. Oh and Ash with running on water. Made me laugh actually. It was an okay episode. The usual master and apprentice episode.

 

[CowNorris]

After watching both the Japanese (first time I've watched a Japanese Pokemon episode) and English versions of an episode I really don't get why people prefer the Japanese version.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

After watching both the Japanese (first time I've watched a Japanese Pokemon episode) and English versions of an episode I really don't get why people prefer the Japanese version.

It's probably not about the voices, but rather about how many original tracks there are that somehow get screwed over when going overseas.

 

[PokemonNation2000]

It's probably not about the voices, but rather about how many original tracks there are that somehow get screwed over when going overseas.

That's part of it, but the voices... well, I think they used to be pretty good in the English dub a long time ago, but now...ugh, no.

The script writing is another part of it, particular in Ash and Team Rocket's cases these days...they have a lot of stupid lines.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

That's part of it, but the voices... well, I think they used to be pretty good in the English dub a long time ago, but now...ugh, no.

I never got to hear the original voices because I started watching the English dub since DP...so when I did hear the past VA, I thought Ash's voice sounded too nasal for my tastes, and his current VA sounds more like a teen than a 10-year old.

 

[PokemonNation2000]

I never got to hear the original voices because I started watching the English dub since DP...so when I did hear the past VA, I thought Ash's voice sounded too nasal for my tastes, and his current VA sounds more like a teen than a 10-year old.

Ah, I see: yeah, I understand. I think Ash's older voice actress did a much better job of sounding like a 10 year old boy despite having that nasally tone at the start, and I feel like she dropped it later on with a smoother, more natural tone of voice.

I wouldn't mind Ash's current voice if he actually got older, but like you said, he sounds more like a teenager than a 10 year old boy-- that's why it's still jarring to me. The older actress was better fit for the role, IMO.

 

[Zoruagible]

I really hope we won't see Sanpei again. I didn't like him at all.

 

[zhixun]

I really hope we won't see Sanpei again. I didn't like him at all.

He is probably just the character of the day and I think Sanpei has no influence on the Kalos region. Actually Keromatsu learning a new move via this way is fun and surprising. The only thing is now Yayakoma and Keromatsu both know Kage Bunshin so it is somehow redundant in my opinion.

 

[chalkus]

Ash should have trained with Pikachu instead of froakie.

 

[Lord Trollbias]

Ash should have trained with Pikachu instead of froakie.

That would have made no sense in the context of this episode. Pikachu already knows Quick Attack, Sanpei has a Frogadier which was a parallel to Ash's Froakie, NINJA wisdom for a Pokemon that fully evolves into GreNINJA, the ninja Pokemon.

 

[X Drake]

Ash should have trained with Pikachu instead of froakie.

It makes a lot more sense that he was training with Froakie instead of Pikachu,also he most likely already finished his training with Pikachu at that time.

 

[NPT]

"A Rush of Ninja Wisdom!"

Another great XY episode! All the ninja references were cool, and the training session was fun to watch. Sanpei was an interesting character, but his comment about Ash's Froakie was uncalled for. Froakie's earlier training with Ash was pretty good, but it seemed that Sanpei thinks it's not good enough. The battle against Froakie and Frogaider was pretty good. I liked Frogaider's ninja-style Quick Attack, it was a creative way to use the move. Froakie ended up losing.... but I'm fine with it since he did well in the battle. Besides, it wouldn't make sense if Froakie managed to defeat his fully-evolved form so early in the series.

Good to see Ash taking his loss seriously and wanting to do more training with Froakie. Ash training his Pokémon was something that I really missed in BW, so it's great to see him so determined to train with Froakie. Nice to see Sanpei agreeing to help Ash with the training, it helped his Froakie learn some new ninja techniques. Jumping from one tree to another, trying to break rocks and running accross the water not only Increased Froakie's running speed, but his jumping speed too. During the training session, there were some fun moments. I particulary liked the scene where Ash tried to ran accorss the water. It's hilarious how he just jumped into the water without even knowing that Sanpei can't do the techique either. Then there's Clemont's new invention "Muscle Mass Magnifier Machine". The moment I saw his invention, I knew it was gonna backfire on him.... and it did! Oh Well, at least it didn't blow up this time. Also, Ninja Bonnie was really cute!

Unlike the other episodes where Team Rocket appeared for the sake of making appearance, they actually served a purpose in this episode. When Team Rocket captured Frogadier, Froakie had a flashback of the training session....and bam, It learned Double Team! I gotta admit, I was not expecting Froakie to learn Double Team instead of Quick Attack. It was surprising, but pretty cool at the same time. Double Team could be very useful in battles given how it can confuse the other. Ash could use Froakie's new move as an advantage aganist his opponent in future battles.

 

[pokepal123]

Just rewatched the episode it was a great one. Nice to see that Frokaie learned Double team instead of Quick attack though that is fine with me. I loved how they showed that Frogadier is a strong Pokémon and it actually battled like how Frakie's evolved form should and wrecked Froakie. The only thing I did not like about this episode was how Ash denied that Froagdier was its evolved form which is why its stronger then Froakie and also how Ash was ashamed that lost to its evolved form.
Anyway looking back at the last scene I think that Froakie actually came to be almost like friends with Frogadier and really looked up to it after initially being hostile towards Frogadier and don't think that if it evolves it won't reuse to or anything like that as of yet. Usually it is like the evolved form has to come to respect its pre-evolved form rather than the pre-evolved form coming to respect its evolved form. I like how Frogadier wasn't overconfident like Froakie and had nothing against Froakie and was actually willing to help it out and Froakie was the one who got mad for no reason

 

[The Pokemon Broadcast]

It might just be me, but it feels kind of out of character for Ash to get so torn up about losing battles these days.
In the past, if he lost a battle, it didn't seem like it bothered him at all.

Well, in the case of losing his first Kalos gym battle, it's understandable, since it's his first major battle for a badge.

 

[munchlaxboy]

A Rush of Ninja Wisdom reaffirms the notion that ninjas are cool...but they can be cute, too. Ash loses a battle to Sanpei, a young ninja with a super quick Frogadier. Wanting to better his Pokemon, Ash asks Sanpei to train his Froakie to be able to use Quick Attack like Sanpei's Frogadier, to which he gladly obliges. The episode was constructed with several training segments, each testing Froakie's jumping abilities and its tenacity. However, the highlights of the episode were really Bonnie, Dedenne, and Pikachu's ninja escapades. It was an adorable and downright hilarious gag that had me laughing out loud every time. Adding to the humor department was Clemont's invention, which suffered the funniest failure yet. This was undoubtedly the most humor-filled episode of XY, but it still had some substance to add in the story department as the writers seem to have established Sanpei as a character that will appear again as a rival for Ash. He's a likable-enough character that can be both critical and kind.

Overall, this was a good episode. It's too bad that Team Rocket was forced in at the end of the episode; adding to that, their dub voices (as well as Ash's dub voice) are definitely not strengths for the show. Regardless, this was one of the funniest Pokemon installments since the Indigo League. The humor was a huge plus to an episode that already had depth to it with the introduction of a new recurring character along with the furthered development of Froakie's driven, stubborn character and his strength as it added a new move--Double Team--to its arsenal. I'm excited to see where the writers go with both Ash's Froakie and Sanpei himself.

Grade: B+

Side Note: Dedenne is the cutest ninja ever. Also, quote of the episode:

Clemont: But running on water is scientifically impossible.
Ash: Nah, we can do it!

 

[JudySpell]

Sanpai was a wannabe Naruto that I think was only introduced to motivate Froakie's growth but I liked the ninja stuff here anyway. 7.5/10

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Sanpai was a wannabe Naruto that I think was only introduced to motivate Froakie's growth but I liked the ninja stuff here anyway. 7.5/10

Because Naruto made ninjas, not the other way around.

 

[*Frank*]

Awesome episode. It was a nice twist for Froakie to learn Double Team instead of Quick Attack, also it reminded me of that Advanced Gen episode where Treecko was practicing Bullet Seed

 

[Pikachu52]

Sanpei's a likeable enough character but his backstory isn't particularly well thought out. His entire purpose for training his Frogadire is so that he can challenge and defeat his brothers whom he says are the strongest ninjas in his hometown - which of course he eventually does. The plot feels somewhat rehashed from older episodes, Ash spends most of the episode learning techniques from Sanpei then the two fight Team Rocket together. Wasn't that similar to the episode in which Buizel learned Ice punch. It's a decent plot however and packs a fair amount into half an hour; Froakie vs Frogadire, Froakie undertaking several different training exercises, the group getting to know each other better over lunch and of course Team Rocket stealing everyone's Pokémon at the end. Most of the scenes have decent dialogue and humour thrown in. The highlight of the episode is definitely Pikachu dressed up in the ninja outfit - that was so adorable. The only question I'm left asking is "why is Sanpei a ninja." The entire concept of Ninja here seems to be based on stereotypes from Kung Fu movies. Sanpei doesn't do anything Ninja like other than camouflage a wearing something that vaguely looks like the black costumes you see on Ninja's in action movies and cartoons. Sanpei could simply have been another trainer and retained the same personality. If Ninja's are going to be a thing in the anime the characters should be fleshed out a bit more than stereotypes. What exactly does it mean to be a Ninja and realistically how are they different to any other trainer. The episode leaves that unanswered.

Ash should have trained with Pikachu instead of froakie.

I don't see why. It was a Froakie episode, not a Pikachu episode and that makes sense. Pikachu's an electric and almost certainly would have beaten Frogadire. Froakie by contrast was only recently caught and is therefore still somewhat weak. All of Sanpei's "Ninja" skills were adapted to Frogadire too. They wouldn't really have been transferable to Pikachu, whom Sanpei probably doesn't know much about.

7/10

 

[wobbanut]

Hahahahahaha, anytime Ash acts like a total idiot (walking on water) is a plus in my book. I wasn't sure about the episode at first because Sanpai seemed to give off that old-school jerk Gary vibe at the start, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. Bonnie, Pikachu, and Dedenne were adorable too with their side story going on. And Clemont gets a Team Rocket-style blastoff, LOL. It was great to see Froakie grow stronger as a pokemon too, and learn a new move on top of it.

10/10