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Amourshipping Thread V3

Satoshi no masara

Professional couch potato
Something from my friend @AshSerena


This moment is brief but it's great. Didn't realize until now that Serena's eyes were sparkling. while there is lack of blushing than before, I'd say that is still a sign. And the way how she said she'll aim to be the greatest performer after Ash said he wanted to be the best champion pretty much hints that she's still aiming to stand with him at the top
 
Ngl I wasn't expecting any hints this episode purely because it's Koharu focused and we had reason to believe Ash isn't going to get a proper reunion right now.

When I got to the boat scene, I began to think there was a chance it could be setting up for a hint there, but we ended up just getting subtle stuff like a lot of teasing and tension leading up to that moment and that nice final scene with Serena staying behind a long time to watch the boat sail off.

It's mostly visual so we got nothing obvious yet, but I felt like they did throw some bones our way on Serena's feelings without dropping anything conclusive on it yet, and I think only going this far for now is fine. Just gotta hope this isn't her last appearance and she gets a proper reunion in the future. The promotions kept her appearance a tight secret for so long when they're normally so quick to drop bombs like this, I'd like to think there are plans for more.
Imo they had to do this to even bring her back. It was either she gets air time and never sees Ash as a running gag, or they don’t show her at all. It seems they found a middle ground to give off the impression that IF there is ever a conclusive ending that we might see it play out. But for now she’s still working on her own goals to fulfill her promise she made at the end of XYZ to pursue winning performances. As for her feelings it’s kinda in limbo as far as I can tell. She quoted Ash’s words and now they can potentially meet up again in the future without it being as awkward as, I mean, how were they going to meet up without THAT being the forefront? Whether it’s a retcon or actually development I can’t say off of what we got.
 

Manqoba

Shipping List Manager
So nobody's gonna talk about how Serena basically ignored the hell out of Goh ? and you guys think her feelings are gone LMAO she just matured, part of her developpement in XY was about stopping to be shy around Ash, that's what the kiss was all about.
lol if there's one pairing we can write off today, it's WhoNeedsAshShipping aka Goh x Serena
 

Dragonsoldier77

Bittersweet Satisfaction
Something from my friend @AshSerena


This moment is brief but it's great. Didn't realize until now that Serena's eyes were sparkling. while there is lack of blushing than before, I'd say that is still a sign. And the way how she said she'll aim to be the greatest performer after Ash said he wanted to be the best champion pretty much hints that she's still aiming to stand with him at the top
I mean i feel this pretty much confirms that ash is still serena’s goal. With the way she immediately say that she will also aim for the top while he does as well.

So I’m honestly happy with it, and going by twitter it seems the japanese side are as well.
 

Satoshi no masara

Professional couch potato
I mean i feel this pretty much confirms that ash is still serena’s goal. With the way she immediately say that she will also aim for the top while he does as well.

So I’m honestly happy with it, and going by twitter it seems the japanese side are as well.
What intrigued me is that Ash seem to tell Serena what his current goal is. To me, that implies that Ash wanted Serena to aim higher just as much as he can, implying that he acknowledges the fact that he is Serena's goal

Oh yeah, the Japanese fanbase are very happy with this episode. If we weren't spoiled by the leaks, we would have had the same reactions
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
So nobody's gonna talk about how Serena basically ignored the hell out of Goh ? and you guys think her feelings are gone LMAO she just matured, part of her developpement in XY was about stopping to be shy around Ash, that's what the kiss was all about.
I really wanted to see her interact with Goh lol

I pretty much expected that any hints were going to be subtle like this in the episode. It really does seem like she developed since the end of XY.
 

Heekful

Well-Known Member
Something from my friend @AshSerena


This moment is brief but it's great. Didn't realize until now that Serena's eyes were sparkling. while there is lack of blushing than before, I'd say that is still a sign. And the way how she said she'll aim to be the greatest performer after Ash said he wanted to be the best champion pretty much hints that she's still aiming to stand with him at the top

IMO the biggest reason why I think her feelings are still here is how she watched the boat go away for idk how much time, it truly felt bittersweet.

The writers really know what they're doing and Yonenmura wrote this episode, I remember he was one of the very first writer to give subtle little Amourshipping hints during XY early era. (XY021 for example).
 

Manqoba

Shipping List Manager
IMO the biggest reason why I think her feelings are still here is how she watched the boat go away for idk how much time, it truly felt bittersweet.
Fully agree with this. Idk if she still likes the guy romantically but she definitely still has some very strong feelings of some sort.
 

Panky..

Discord: Panky..#9281
Haven't watched it yet but I'm aware of what happened in the episode. People might claim that "oh he had a boat to catch so they couldn't interact" but the fact that they had to shoehorn in Wallace until the very end shows the writers purposely wanted to avoid Ash and Serena having a proper reunion just so they could avoid the whole thing. So yep, revisionist history time from the anime.
If they were indeed trying to remove it or fade it out, they would have Ash and Serena interact for a longer period of time and have it appear platonic, or outright avoid a reunion.

But no, they were stalled from reuniting up till the last moment, and when they did reunite, they didn't get much time to do much beyond the bare minimum, that in itself is implication that it could have gone beyond and they're trying to limit it to a bare minimum due to non-committal writing. And if their sadness at the sudden ship departure is anything, it does seem like they had more to say to each other. They left just enough subtle hints (eye sparkle, anyone?), sidelined Goh and Chloe completely while SatoSere declared their affirmations to each other, her staying behind at the pier, the unique manner of the reunion compared to every other so far etc. And just remember that we only got Serena's PoV at the end of the episode and not one of Ash's on the boat. If anything, the episode makes it clear that the status quo from the end of XY still remains, just dangled over a carrot-stick just out of reach and not in our face like something out of a shoujo.

When something is completely uncertain or some aspects are not brought up, use Occam's Razor and apply the last known status quo or fact(s). You definitely need to watch it because the visual and audio cues are very important, something that merely hearing about it won't let you know.
 
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Speed22

Well-Known Member
Well from what I've gathered, it seems too early to know what they're going to do with Amour. Though the fact that Koharu and Goh, had no involvement with their brief reunion, does raise some eyebrows. And the guy who wrote it as Heekful mentioned, was known for throwing in subtle hints during XY.

Jury's out. But don't go on 4chan, lol.
 

Pokemonfan5

Well-Known Member
I don’t see the point of having hopes and expectations at this point? If anything this episode proved that status quo still rules supreme and that none of the characters will ever achieve their dreams.
Kukui achieved his dream of making a Pokemon league in Alola
 

BlueDragonfangirl

Well-Known Member
Good thing I kept my expectations really low for the episode, remember folks always do that with a Journey’s, I’ve learned my lesson from the past.

At least it didn’t kill the ship.

Hopefully she gets another appearance in the future like Dawn did.
Well from what I've gathered, it seems too early to know what they're going to do with Amour. Though the fact that Koharu and Goh, had no involvement with their brief reunion, does raise some eyebrows. And the guy who wrote it as Heekful mentioned, was known for throwing in subtle hints during XY.

Jury's out. But don't go on 4chan, lol.
What’s going on over their? All I know is that’s the worse place for spoilers.
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
If they were indeed trying to remove it or fade it out, they would have Ash and Serena interact for a longer period of time and have it appear platonic, or outright avoid a reunion.

But no, they were stalled from reuniting up till the last moment, and when they did reunite, they didn't get much time to do much beyond the bare minimum, that in itself is implication that it could have gone beyond and they're trying to limit it to a bare minimum due to non-committal writing. And if their surprise at the sudden ship departure is anything, it does seem like they had more to say to each other. They left just enough subtle hints (eye sparkle, anyone?), sidelined Chloe and Goh complete while SatoSere declared their affirmations to each other, her staying behind at the pier etc. And just remember that we only got Serena's PoV at the end of the episode and not one of Ash's on the boat. If anything, the episode makes it clear that the status quo from the end of XY still remains, just dangled over a carrot-stick just out of reach and not in our face like something out of a shoujo.

When something is completely uncertain or some aspects are not brought up, use Occam's Razor and apply the last known status quo or fact(s). You definitely need to watch it because the visual cues are very important, something that merely hearing about it won't let you know.
Watched the episode after this comment (so I had watched it when I commented in the episode thread). Visual cues made it a bit better I'll admit but still, while I'm not dooming it completely, the fact remains that the writers are very incompetent and I don't trust them to do the right thing. The anime prefers to ignore and sidestep and hope people just forget rather than giving proper explanations. I'm still hoping for a positive outcome but you can't blame me if I'm cautious cause of these writers' track record.

That aside, I did like the episode. One of the better JN episodes for sure and I personally thought Serena was the best handled returning companion so far in JN.
 

Speed22

Well-Known Member
What’s going on over their? All I know is that’s the worse place for spoilers.
It's been absolute carnage over there for the past week, fighting, spamming, you name it. /padt/'s pretty much a nuclear war zone. Subtlety's never been one of their strengths, or something they even consider.
 
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Panky..

Discord: Panky..#9281
Watched the episode after this comment (so I had watched it when I commented in the episode thread). Visual cues made it a bit better I'll admit but still, while I'm not dooming it completely, the fact remains that the writers are very incompetent and I don't trust them to do the right thing. The anime prefers to ignore and sidestep and hope people just forget rather than giving proper explanations. I'm still hoping for a positive outcome but you can't blame me if I'm cautious cause of these writers' track record.
This wasn't incompetence. Incompetence would imply a failure at doing something intended because of negligence, lack of skills or carelessness. This was very much intentional, with the constant stalling of Ash through Wallace, and later Goh running off to catch Altaria, keeping things "close, but just far" quite often (Ash talking into Goh's phone to Chloe, Serena being announced on the livestream being watched on the mobile etc). And if they expected people to forget, they wouldn't even have added the hints that were there, they could have made everything platonic and blank, or outright ignored it all.

JN writing has been pretty inconsistent, but for the first time, they've done something right that ended up being a frustratingly obtuse way to leave people hanging.
 
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BlueDragonfangirl

Well-Known Member
Watched the episode after this comment (so I had watched it when I commented in the episode thread). Visual cues made it a bit better I'll admit but still, while I'm not dooming it completely, the fact remains that the writers are very incompetent and I don't trust them to do the right thing. The anime prefers to ignore and sidestep and hope people just forget rather than giving proper explanations. I'm still hoping for a positive outcome but you can't blame me if I'm cautious cause of these writers' track record.

That aside, I did like the episode. One of the better JN episodes for sure and I personally thought Serena was the best handled returning companion so far in JN.
Journey’s sucks with that stuff, it’s nice that they have been bringing back characters and all but the way they do it is awful.

In my opinion they didn’t kill the ship but they didn’t really add to it either, just left hanging in the air again like last time.

I‘m worried about Paul’s up coming appearnce, he’s my favorite rival of Ash’s.

It's been absolute carnage over there for the past week, fighting, spamming, you name it. /padt/'s pretty much a nuclear war zone. Subtlety's never been one of their strengths, or something they even consider.
Well, dam. Is it shipping Wars or something?
 

masdog

What is the airspeed of an unladen Swellow?
So I need to wait for the better subs to come out tonight, but my initial reaction is kind of in line with my expectations. I stand by my opinion that this is a setup for things to come later in the season.

Something from my friend @AshSerena


This moment is brief but it's great. Didn't realize until now that Serena's eyes were sparkling. while there is lack of blushing than before, I'd say that is still a sign. And the way how she said she'll aim to be the greatest performer after Ash said he wanted to be the best champion pretty much hints that she's still aiming to stand with him at the top
There is something very interesting in this moment besides Serena watching the boat sail off.

I'm probably over-analyzing this, but...

At the end of most series, the Pokegirl will run towards Ash and shout thank you as they sail apart. It feels like they reversed that here. Ash is the one yelling as the boat sails away, but instead of "thank you," he's now saying "this is where you can find me" and "I'm closer to my goal."

The other thing is the tone of voice. They both seem really excited to see each other, and then disappointed when the boat horn sounds.

The effort that they went through to hide Serena's return, Serena's redesign, the ending of the episode, and Chloe's love of romance and trying to reconnect people tells me that this isn't quite over. They couldn't make it any more obvious if they had a giant flashing neon sign that said "Watch this space!"
 
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