Best AG Japanese Ending *Spoilers, naturally*

[MagicBox]

With the recent addition of "Haruka's Theme" to the list of Pokemon: Advance Generation ending themes, I thought it would be a cool idea to see which endings everyone likes the best. This poll is only for the AG endings, I'm not including any of the endings from the original Pokemon show.

The choices are (in order of appearance in the show):
- Soko ni Sora ga Aru kara (Because the Sky is There)
- Polka o' Dolka
- Smile!
- Ippai Summer!!
- Glory Day
- Pokemon Kazoe Uta
- Watashi, Makenai! (Haruka's Theme)

I'd have to say that my favorite right now is Haruka's Theme, because of it's fast pace and excellent animation. Polka o' Dolka comes in a close second, and Smile! is my third favorite; even though I think the ending sequences for Haruka's Theme & Polka 'o Dolka are better, I believe that Smile! is the best actual song in all of Pokemon.

So what are everybody else's favorites?

 

[Pikachu]

Glory Day:

At least you'll know what's happened in the episode if would've missed it.

 

[CyberCubed]

If you missed the episode what's the point in tuning it on for silly 3 second flashbacks?

May's theme wins for me. Even with the lack of swimsuit scenes and/or fanservice, it rocks for the simple fact of May prancing around with all her girlyness in its glory. Oh, and the animation is excellent and the vocal song is fantastic.

Really, the ramen/noodle scene was simply adorable, (especially when she pokes her cute little head out from the bowls at the end!), the ice block scroll was really cool and May winks at me at the end! *gasp*

 

[Gravy]

'Smile'. By a mile.
It was sung beautifully, and coupled with the wonderful instrumental, it was a very soothing piece of music. While the accompanying animation may not have been as flash as the likes of 'Polka O' Dolka' or 'I Won't lose!', they were all very nice to watch. The more peaceful atmosphere showing all the characters and their pokémon was a welcome alternative to the Ash/Pikachu centric ones used in the past.

Polka O' Dolka gets honerable mention because anything that's both zany and catchy wins in my book.

 

[S.Suikun]

Smile, with I Won't Lose following closely behind. Really, I've never been all that fond of the endings as a whole, though.

Worst is Glory Day, no doubt about it.

 

[Sushi]

"Soko ni Sora ga Aru kara" is my second favorite Pokémon song, right after "Spurt!". I love Toshiko Ezaki's vocal performance in this one, as well as the pretty instrumental music playing in the background. It's about the only song I like in both vocal and instrumental versions.

As for my favorite ending visually, it's a tie between "Smile", "Polka O Dolka" and "Watashi, Makenai". Smile's video fit the song very well with all the peaceful scenes and pretty backgrounds, and while PoD is the opposite of that, I like it as well because it looked insanely cute when the main characters' Pokémon were all dancing.
"Watashi, Makenai" is my favorite one animation-wise as it has some really nice-looking visuals. The song is pretty good too, so it's probably my second or third favorite ending overall.

Well, I pick "Soko ni Sora ga Aru kara" anyway, because in the end I care more about the song rather than the visuals, since, after seeing new openings/endings for a few times, I just skip them to watch the actual episode right away.

 

[Torkoal Stu]

Smile!

Its just so....well perfect. We see all the characters (including in the later one Torkoal ^_^) and their Pokemon, the music is nice and calm and like sweet. Totally awesome ending, they should of kept it on longer IMO, it could of easily done the rest of Hoenn and still rocked.

But the Haruka ending is also good, just Smile beats it slightly.

 

[Yamato-san]

Polka O' Dolka gets honerable mention because anything that's both zany and catchy wins in my book.

Don't forget being sung by Nyaasu. ^^

Worst is Glory Day, no doubt about it.

Meh. It was overused to death, there's no doubt about that, but overlooking that, it's a pretty decent song (but hardly my favorite). The worst one has gotta be Kazoete Uta, which was between a couple of the Glory Day variants.

To all the people voting for "Watashi, Makenai!", may I suggest holding off a bit? Some of you may be voting for it just because its new (plus, there's the relief and hype that Glory Day could finally be put to rest). It's good and all, but it hasn't even been a week. You oughta wait a bit before voting, see if it has much of a lasting appeal.

Anyway, I'm going with Smile. For one, I'm just kinda accustomed to having slow, melodramatic themes used for my anime endings, and in Pocket Monsters, such endings are seemingly rare (probably about 5 of them, out of around 20 endings total, but it's probably no surprise given the light-hearted nature of the show). Like Gravy said, it also focused on all the characters, so unlike Soko ni Sora ga Aru Kara, there's a bit more to it (while still keeping that tranquil atmosphere of my favored endings). It gets extra points for being the first theme that altered with every change in Pokemon (which started a nice trend in Glory Day and Battle Frontier, and hopefully further opening/ending themes).

 

[CyberCubed]

To all the people voting for "Watashi, Makenai!", may I suggest holding off a bit? Some of you may be voting for it just because its new (plus, there's the relief and hype that Glory Day could finally be put to rest). It's good and all, but it hasn't even been a week. You oughta wait a bit before voting, see if it has much of a lasting appeal.

There are some of us, like me, who have watched the new ending over 15 times already. (Link to it on youtube in my sig for easy viewing)

I don't see myself ever getting bored with this song, even if they keep it for 50 episodes. (Even though I know they won't, I'm guessing it'll be gone as soon as the Kanto Grand Festival ends, because her arc will be over at that point).

The vocal song is stuck in my head, perhaps I just like upbeat songs than the usual stuff in the ending. Plus the visual is 95% May, and although I may be slightly bias, this ending seems to be tailored to girls and May fans especially. So many good parts, the ice block scroll, the ramen scene, the dance stage, the Pokemon firing attacks, the ending with Drew/Harley, Ash/Max/Brock cheering on from the sides, it just has all the good stuff.

 

[Shigeru-kun]

For me it has to be Smile. It was such a pretty song and the beginning oddly enough reminded me of Cowboy Bebop. oO;

Second favorite would probably be Polka o Dolka or Pokemon Kazoe Uta. I am fully aware Kazoe Uta was pretty much a copy, but I don't care. I love cutesy songs like that. ^^

 

[Korobooshi Kojiro]

I liked Ippai Summer. The song was cute, but lame animation.

However, Smile and the First Glory Day were good.

 

[jolteonjak]

Which is the one with the dancing? Is that Count? Its the one that was used at the beginning of Battle Frontier.

 

[Gravy]

Don't forget being sung by Nyaasu. ^^

Oh, most definately. Most people wouldn't expect to get much in the way of a song when it comes to Nyaasu's voice, but it has this delightfully odd charm to it that you just can't ignore.

Which is the one with the dancing? Is that Count? Its the one that was used at the beginning of Battle Frontier.

Yeah, that's the one aka. Kazoe Uta~

 

[Yamato-san]

There are some of us, like me, who have watched the new ending over 15 times already. (Link to it on youtube in my sig for easy viewing)

I don't see myself ever getting bored with this song, even if they keep it for 50 episodes. (Even though I know they won't, I'm guessing it'll be gone as soon as the Kanto Grand Festival ends, because her arc will be over at that point).

The vocal song is stuck in my head, perhaps I just like upbeat songs than the usual stuff in the ending. Plus the visual is 95% May, and although I may be slightly bias, this ending seems to be tailored to girls and May fans especially. So many good parts, the ice block scroll, the ramen scene, the dance stage, the Pokemon firing attacks, the ending with Drew/Harley, Ash/Max/Brock cheering on from the sides, it just has all the good stuff.

Well, of course I wouldn't expect you to get tired of the song, given your Haruka obsession. I'm just saying, it's a new theme, not even a week old. If it's at least somewhat enjoyable, people will have a tendency to play it over and over again while it's still new, maybe even exaggerate its enjoyability just for being new and go as far as to call it their favorite. But over time, their interest in the theme will die down and, whether they still find it good or not, they'll come to realize that it just wasn't able to top their all-time favorite. If, after several months, even years, the theme is still extremely enjoyable, and still has yet to be topped by another theme, then it could truley be considered a favorite.

 

[buster_wolf]

Well, basically, of all the pokemon themes, I think Haruka's "I Won't Lose theme" is one of my personal favorites by far. Sure it's new, but eh, I really enjoy it by far.

 

[~*Mudkip Fantastic*~]

My favourite ending is
Maemuki Roketto Dan but that isn't AG so ill have to say the one were they are dancing to Meowth drumming. The ninth ending. I don't remember what its called.
EDIT: It was Pokémon Kazoe Uta

 

[Ashy Boy]

Glory Day all the way

 

[Cerberus]

Smile, hands down.

 

[ZoraJolteon]

Pokémon Kazoe Uta, easily.

 

[skarmachild]

There are some of us, like me, who have watched the new ending over 15 times already. (Link to it on youtube in my sig for easy viewing)

I don't see myself ever getting bored with this song, even if they keep it for 50 episodes. (Even though I know they won't, I'm guessing it'll be gone as soon as the Kanto Grand Festival ends, because her arc will be over at that point).

The vocal song is stuck in my head, perhaps I just like upbeat songs than the usual stuff in the ending. Plus the visual is 95% May, and although I may be slightly bias, this ending seems to be tailored to girls and May fans especially. So many good parts, the ice block scroll, the ramen scene, the dance stage, the Pokemon firing attacks, the ending with Drew/Harley, Ash/Max/Brock cheering on from the sides, it just has all the good stuff.

What he said.