When I went through these movies, I didn't do any research on the gimmick of Black/White, so I had no idea what it would turn out to be. I started with White, just 'cause, and then went on to Black. And my reaction was...
This is real, right? I’m not dealing with some bizarre super-glitch in iTunes that swaps around the two Dragon-types in White and then plays that in place of the real Black - they really did this?
I’m not gonna say it’s not an interesting experiment, but - try something like this out with two episodes, man! That’s a whole movie you wasted! With the money that represents, you could’ve done a 15th anniversary film. You could’ve done a big TV special that brought back old travelling companions. You could’ve forwarded the cash to the American dub so they could hire back Veronica Taylor and the rest of the old guard. You could’ve thrown a raging office party with top shelf sake. You could’ve done anything!
(And since I didn’t talk about it with White, allow me to say a piece on Ash’s near-death here: I know at that scene really gets some people, and that does seem an awful way to die, but I’m afraid it didn’t move me. That’s partly due to the lack of suspense; I know Ash lived on for other movies, and they’ve done this sort of fake-out several times already. But the scene also has the same problem as Pikachu’s death in Diancie; the means of fixing the problem appear too fast. No sooner has Ash blacked out than Victini instantly breaks out the fire. There’s no time for dread or grief to build, no chance for suspense, because there’s no pause between the moment of death/near-death and its resolution.)