A Tamagawa episode is just what I need to cleanse my palate after that stodgy Takeda episode I just watched. Now this is what I call animation! And with all the dancing going on, it helps to have an AD who knows what they're doing. Rei and Hana dancing out of the way of Utsubot's Leaf Cutter is especially well done. There's actual squash and stretch here, which is something I almost never see in anime, let alone on this show in particular!
The animation also really benefits Musashi and Kojirou's first attempt at a stage show. Poses and facial expressions are hysterical throughout, and there's a lot of perfectly timed smear animation when they run on and off the stage. I'm surprised they hadn't really taken advantage of the fact that Nyasu can talk before now, and I love when the poor cat gets stage fright and just shouts "Nya~!" while striking that weird "paws up" pose that he always used to do.
This is the third episode in a row to deal with a Pokémon who can't master a certain skill. We had a Donfan that couldn't sniff out agate, a Hoho that couldn't detect ghosts, and now a Kereihana that can't perform a complex dance move. Already, Jouto is showing signs of digging itself into a rut. But at least this episode proves that the show can be entertaining, even if it sticks to a formula as restrictive as this.
One scene I really liked in this episode is the one right after the commercial break, where we see Musashi-tachi eating dinner in an alley. It's a rather pathetic view of them that makes you realize what terrible Rocket-dan agents they are - Sakaki keeps sending them all these funds, and they blow it on giant mechanical robots and stuff, and they don't leave themselves enough left over to even be able to afford to eat indoors. In fact, it could even be inferred that they got their dinner out of the trash. And really, they bring it all on themselves, if you think about it. But somehow, it's still funny. Kojirou and Nyasu arguing over the last bite, only for Musashi to eat it when they're not looking, is really well done.
This is a very Rocket-heavy episode. In fact, Satoshi-tachi don't seem to get as much screen time as them, and when they are on screen, they don't do much and they don't come across as very compelling characters. All I'll say is thank goodness for Houen.
Flower Power!
Trying to get Meowth to speak before a huge crowd was also pretty interesting... I'm kinda glad he didn't ^^;
