Following a Maiden Voyage! (469)

[Moonstardust]

Dawn was such a scatterbrained and amusing beginner trainer and seeing her save her brand new Piplup from the web was my favorite moment here.

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

Chimchar would've been awesome as her Starter in place of Mr. Steals Screen-time, aka Piplup. Too bad she chose him instead.

I thought Piplup was perfect for her despite his flaws. I liked seeing Piplup chase Chimchar however, plus how Staraptor went and got Chimchar back with its talons. :]

 

[Wednesdayz]

First off, I liked Dawn's mother a lot even if her hair was an awkward afro. She was realistic though, which was nice enough. I liked Dawn too: she was very easy to like, although her picking Piplup as her Starter doomed DP's future.~

 

[Mrs. Oreo]

First off, I liked Dawn's mother a lot even if her hair was an awkward afro. She was realistic though, which was nice enough.

Johanna didn't get much screentime here sadly, although she did seem nice and I liked how she owned a Glameow and the fact that she was a former Grand Festival winner was cool. I thought that her giving Dawn her old ribbon was very touching. ^^

 

[Shayuin]

My first impression of Dawn was that she needed to chill because she seemed nice, but frantic. One thing I noticed how small Lake Verity was though. It seemed more like a pond than a lake.

 

[Leonhart]

I enjoyed how Hikari was imagining herself using each Shinou Starter Pokemon in a Contest before she set off. Futaba Town looked quaint, and this was one of the few episodes where we saw Nanakamado-hakase with his brown coat. Hikari and Pochama's struggle at Lake Shinji was fun, mainly due to Hikari glimpsing Emrit. I liked Nokocchi's cameo, too.

 

[Zamin]

I am not keen on Dawn, I miss May and Max, and Misty. Dawn seems annoying and dull so far. I saw some parallels to the first ever episode though.

I bet Pikachu lands near Dawn and that’s he they end up meeting

 

[Leonhart]

I am not keen on Dawn, I miss May and Max, and Misty. Dawn seems annoying and dull so far. I saw some parallels to the first ever episode though.

Hikari literally just debuted here, so it seems somewhat unfair to judge her after a single episode. To me, she was average. I liked her courage when she saved Pochama.

 

[Zamin]

Hikari literally just debuted here, so it seems somewhat unfair to judge her after a single episode. To me, she was average. I liked her courage when she saved Pochama.

I've seen a few more episodes and I still find her whiny and annoying but in episode 13 I found her a bit more tolerable as she wasn't the main focus and wasn't complaining as much,

 

[gentwoer]

I decided to take a break from Indigo League and check out Diamond&Pearl since it seemed to be the most praised series by Poke-fans

I liked the parallels to the first episode of the original series. So far I liked Dawn as a character much more than May. It was pretty ballsy to not show Ash until the end of the episode. If I was watching this for the first time back in 2007 I would probably think they were actually going to write Ash off the show

 

[Leonhart]

If I was watching this for the first time back in 2007 I would probably think they were actually going to write Ash off the show

A lot of fans actually thought that he was being written off a few months before this episode premiered, because the first DP anime poster only featured Hikari without Satoshi.

 

[Daizy]

Dawn's origin was a lot like Ash's beginning. She started out as a huge Contest fan with lots of info about Pokemon and I think that Dawn is so far an amazing character.

 

[Denko Sekka]

So here began the Diamond and Pearl saga which is my favorite. Funny thing is that I didn't like this episode not even a decade later. Dawn just doesn't work as a solo protagonist and Piplup was too OP when he used Bide.

 

[Ubermuk]

This was one of the few episodes that showed a route from the games since Dawn passed the Route 201 sign when she was on her way to Sandgem Town. Cool reference. Didn't like how Piplup's Bide was strong enough to make such a big explosion. Bide is weak in the games so it seemed iffy to me that it was so strong in the cartoon.

 

[Leonhart]

This was one of the few episodes that showed a route from the games since Dawn passed the Route 201 sign when she was on her way to Sandgem Town. Cool reference. Didn't like how Piplup's Bide was strong enough to make such a big explosion. Bide is weak in the games so it seemed iffy to me that it was so strong in the cartoon.

In retrospect, maybe Pochama's Bide being so strong in this episode was a good thing since it foreshadowed the fact that he would eventually use Bide to prevent himself from evolving. And I actually like when the writers make a move stronger in the anime compared to the games, especially here where it was needed to save Pochama from Ariados.

 

[Scorbunnie]

This was the 1st Pokemon episode that I saw when I moved to my current country and I thought it was cool watching an episode where Ash only showed up for a few seconds while we got to know all about Dawn and see her start her journey.

 

[KyogreThunder]

A great starting episode for a saga. Dawn wanting to take a large suitcase on her journey was funny, and I liked Johanna telling Dawn to be more practical and sensible. I liked seeing Chimchar and Piplup get into a fight for food, and Turtwig pay no attention to them. Dawn's plan to save Piplup from the web was clever, and I loved seeing the penguin use Bide to turn Ariados' power against them. I laughed when Jessie and Meowth started arguing and Wobbuffet's Counter sent them and Pikachu blasting off. The Mesprit appearing in the soul form was cool, as were Rowan and his assistants seeing Dawn off on her journey.
10/10

 

[RafaSceptile]

Reviewing the Pokémon anime in 10 words or less:
"And arguibly the best series starts"

Episode: 8/10

 

[RafaSceptile]

Ok I am like 2 weeks later but as this is Sinnoh month, the Official Pokémon Company YouTube channel uploaded this full episode:

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

The best written series in anipoke easily, and what a great start to it!