Frontier - dissappointment

[sam_h12]

does anyone else agree with me when i say the battle frontier episodes are a total dissappointment? i mean, take the battle dome. they could have made it really interesting by having a few tournaments that ash had to win in order to get to Tucker. this could have given underused pokemon like Golduck, Starmie, Magneton some screentime, and taken advantage of the amazing graphics that we got on tv these days (theyve started to add little 3D things have you noticed?) those few tournaments could have only gotten Ash the silver symbol, thus making him travel around collecting all the silver symbols, adn competing for the golds on his way back to Pallet!!!

and there's the Palace. did ash have to let his pokemon make up their own mind, like in emerald? i wouldnt know cos i havent seen it (and its in japanese) but that couldve happened! otherwise, they may as well call the symbols badges cos theyre exactly the same as gym leaders. hmph.

 

[intergalactic platypus]

I don't necessarily disagree. They could have made more two part battles, and certain battles could have been improved, but others were fine

 

[GonbeTR]

I agree wtih you but I don't think we need silver and gold symbols, it would be repetitive.
My biggest disapointment about Battle frontier saga is lack of flashbacks and old minor caharacters. By this I mean, Ash could visit Misty's gym. We could see again AJ, Cycle road. Moreover, in Usohachi-ninja episode , there could be a flashback of Koga, Janine. Furthermore, In Saffron contest episode, Sabrina could watch May and talk with Ash, it would be a nice encounter with her and Haunter. There are a number of examples that they unfortunately ignored, skipped. In adition, Ash should use at least one old pokemon in each Frontier match, altough he used Charizard, Snorlax and Heracross. After the new opening, I hope they will shoe some encounter with Primape, Butterfree, Lapras and Pidgeot. But I highly doubt it.

 

[Gravy]

Thats the first time I've heard someone refer to the cheap-looking CGI as 'amazing graphics'...

This show prides itself on wasting potential, thats nothing new. More similarities between the show's interpritation of the facilities and those first revealed in the games would have been appreciated, but so far they've handled the majority of the battles well enough. The Factory and Tube are the only ones that I could deliver some negative opinions on, and whilst the usage of more scarcely seen pokémon would have been much more preferable than being subjected to more Venusaur and Hariyama antics, they weren't bad at all.

FYI, the Battle 'Palace' rules involved the pokémon and trainer using the entire island as their arena. They had the freedom to travel anywhere they desired in able to gain advantages over their opponents and this was brought up a number of times during the episode. IE. Sceptile battling in the forest or Swellow luring Venusaur onto the beach so it could use it's speed to full effect.

 

[Torchic23]

I think the episodes were pretty good! Anime is also different from the games. One thing that annoys me is that Ash hasn't lost a single match yet. Since the recent opening has a lot to do with the BF and it's almost over, a few rematches might have been nice and a good way to extend the BF saga, plus make it seem more realistic, because Ash is not that good a trainer >_>

 

[CyberCubed]

I think the episodes were pretty good! Anime is also different from the games. One thing that annoys me is that Ash hasn't lost a single match yet. Since the recent opening has a lot to do with the BF and it's almost over, a few rematches might have been nice and a good way to extend the BF saga, plus make it seem more realistic, because Ash is not that good a trainer >_>

I could let that slide, since Ash is using his strongest team at the moment.

Yeah the lack of old faces is disappointing, yadda yadda, we all know the drill. I've gotten over that near the start of the saga.

I do think the writers missed the opportunity to showcase Janine in Fushia Gym though. This was like the perfect time to introduce her, but they didn't do it. Eh...

The Brain battles despite being more or less the same as Gym battles are fine for the most part. I really don't care at this point as long as we get some good battles.

 

[MaskedManAbsolkid]

If the D/P saga will start when the games come out, it won't be anytime in the next few months, more like September. There's still enough time for Ash to lose the Battle Tower battle, but probably not the Pyramid if its the final battle.

 

[taitofan]

Seeing as I care more about Haruka's contests than Satoshi's battles, I personally like this saga very much. The fillers have been no worse than the last season, and there was really only one battle that ticked me off... *coughzenigamevsariadoscough*

But like Gravy said, this show loves to waste potential. We just have to suck it up. And the fact that the battles aren't like their game counterparts shouldn't be a surprise. They also love to make up their own rules, completely disreagarding the games. Doesn't bother me though. So long as they aren't completely cheap, I'll be okay with it.

 

[MasterJedi]

I really don't agree with anything you just layed out. I think the way they're actually doing it is the best way.

 

[The Benmeister]

If anything the frontier is the opposite of disappointment. Sure, they could have re-debuted old characters and locations (which is a rehash of everyone's opinion anyway)...but, thinking about it, what would that accomplish other than a happy fanbase for the particular character returning in question? I can cope, so should most other people. I personally see not a lot wrong with Battle Frontier, and I choose not to reflect on the negative sides of things most of the time.

 

[---Kyogre007---]

You know, I love the bf saga. It has really nice fillers. I dont mean these "onix kingdom", "jigglipuffs song", "sneasel & mr mime rastaurant" which were the most annoying fillers i`ve ever seen...

 

[V Faction]

The Battle Froniter had so much potential... yadda-yadda... The fillers were pointless... yadda-yadda... They screwed it up bad.... aaaand so on and so on.

Do I sound like a broken record? record? record? record? record?

 

[Poké_Master]

I have no idea what you're talking about. I think that the episodes are awesome and I can't wait for each one of them!

 

[Heracross]

I could have lived with the facilities being all screwed up. We did get a couple enjoyable battles out of them. The thing I can't stand is their refusal to tie anything in with the original Kanto, going so far as to use old locations as if they were new and we had never seen them before. Or making a totally new location and giving it the name of something we've already seen. It's nothing short of disgusting, and if I could write in Japanese I'd be sure to let them know how I feel about mocking loyal fans with this imposter region.

 

[Corazón]

Battle Frontier has been one of the best sagas, even if it is a filler saga (is it?). Better than the Orange Islands and almost half of Johto.
Kanto Contests had been the best so far. Except for Zenigame being on most of them.
I agree, the 3D bubbles are back!! So was Sand Tomb with Wakashamo!! I thought that was great. I thought the graphics were cute :3
Haruka-chan getting her team from this region was a nice addition.
I do agree meeting with old characters (especially gym leaders) would have been great. And Manene and Usohachi being D/P additions other than Munchlax was a bit too far for my taste. So was Zenigame being another starter/Satoshi pokemon. I believe the Grand Festival of Kanto is going to be a lot better. And the Battle Pyramid will have a surprise for us I think. I hope anyway, it seems to be the whole point of Battle Frontier.

 

[Seiryu]

I haven't seen any of the Japanese episodes, but while it would've been nice to bring back some old characters (at least the gym leaders) I still don't think the BF has been a disappointment at all. We're running through it at seemingly a faster clip than the Orange Islands saga with a Brain or Contest every few episodes and not filler after pointless filler, and we're getting some pretty decent battles in the process.

However, if they continue on through the Kanto GF and BF at the same rate, then I wouldn't be surprised if it was over and done with in Japan by maybe June. We still haven't received any significant information on the D/P games either, so I think there's a pretty good chance of there being another saga before the D/P region--either a Sevii Islands saga or something where they go around to old locations. Granted, the former is much more likely, but what I'm trying to say is that there is still at least some hope, even though not very much.

 

[Satoshi]

As I said many times over, the problem with Battle Frontier is it's strong lack of nostalgia. Satoshi-tachi are in Kanto, which is a good opportunity to re-visit some old people and Pokemon that they've left behind, yet it refuses to do so. Which shows that the Japanese writers have no care for continuity once so ever. The only thing that brought me a nostalgic feeling was the new opening "Spurt."

Many opportunities such as fullfilling the broken promises made by Satoshi (meeting again with Samurai, coming back and meeting Pijyotto again) and re-visiting old Gym Leaders (and meeting new Gym leaders, such as Janine) have really been overlooked by the writers. If they're going to have the Battle Frontier set up in the Kanto Reigon, at least give us some stuff the original Kanto had. They've might as well have put the Battle Frontier in the Sevii Island instead.

This isn't the first time the writers showed a lack of continuity and it probably won't be the last. The writers have yet again disappointed me for their obliviousness to nostalgia. But the Battle Frontier had its fair share of actually satisfying me, such as the battles and such.

 

[.Bambi.]

and whilst the usage of more scarcely seen pokémon would have been much more preferable than being subjected to more Venusaur and Hariyama antics, they weren't bad at all.

Can't forget our precious Arcanine, can we?


Anywhays, I wouldn't call the Battle Frontier as a whole a disappointment. It just isn't all it could have been [the writers seem to like doing that...]

The biggest letdown was the Frontier Brains. The Brains were awesome characters with unique personalities and Facilities, and the writers just took that all away from them. I mean, would it really have been that hard to follow the rules?

Another thing is giving Azami only 1 episode and the said episode having bad animation which made her look horrible *shot, burned, electrocuted, stoned, blown up, buried alive, cremated alive...pick my fate, people*

Other than that, they've evolved Grovyle and Phanpy, brought back some old favourites such as Heracross and Snorlax, and given May some great Contest episodes with Harley and Drew. They've also recently cut back on fillers and have been going at a faster pace.
Right now I really don't have any complaints EXCEPT for the Brains themselves. Then again, that's a pretty big chunk D:

 

[Ralts Master]

I could have lived with the facilities being all screwed up. We did get a couple enjoyable battles out of them. The thing I can't stand is their refusal to tie anything in with the original Kanto, going so far as to use old locations as if they were new and we had never seen there before. Or making a totally new location and giving it the name of something we've already seen. It's nothing short of disgusting, and if I could write in Japanese I'd be sure to let them know how I feel about mocking loyal fans with this imposter region.

You said what I wanted to say, but better.

 

[Rex Kamex]

If anything the frontier is the opposite of disappointment. Sure, they could have re-debuted old characters and locations (which is a rehash of everyone's opinion anyway)...but, thinking about it, what would that accomplish other than a happy fanbase for the particular character returning in question? I can cope, so should most other people. I personally see not a lot wrong with Battle Frontier, and I choose not to reflect on the negative sides of things most of the time.

Considering the fact that they are in Kanto, this is a perfect time for Ash to meet up with old characters. There were some pretty cool people that I'd like to see again (Nastina and Brutella, Samurai, AJ and Giselle, the bicycle gang, etc). I don't mind any of the new characters, but Kanto should bring some familiarity, right?

As long as any recurring-character episodes aren't boring (Duplica's return wasn't that interesting to me even though I liked the character), I'd like to see some episodes where other characters come. Other than that, I don't really see anything wrong with this arc.

Battle Frontier has been one of the best sagas, even if it is a filler saga (is it?). Better than the Orange Islands and almost half of Johto.
Kanto Contests had been the best so far. Except for Zenigame being on most of them.

Technically, it's not a filler arc because of the capturing and evolving of Pokemon.