Phew, thank goodness we got an episode after 3 weeks. Feels good watching again.
A few things I wanted to point out is, does anyone else notice the character faces and overall model are pretty crisp? Like they polished the characters this episode instead of the usual complaints of their features looking too soft and cartoony. Props on them for not putting in over exaggerated faces which was another frequent complaint. It was a nice surprise hearing my username being said in the episode...
Last point I wanted to make is that once again, Pikachu isn't as oblivious to love as his best friend Ash is. It was explicitly explained so Ash can't act like he doesn't understand/can't distinguish between friendship and romantic attraction, and I'm glad that he was pretty neutral in his reaction. Honestly, he was more of a pacifist where he didn't want Pikachu to fight but that situation was out of his hands. I chuckled at Hoshi's knowledge on love and Kiawe freaking out on how she knew that stuff! I'm glad they came with Ash to the Pikachu Valley.
It was cute hearing everyone say pika at the end of their sentences. And this episode was funny, not in the slapstick way but more like a visual way where dialogue was needed to land the joke. I laughed when Jessie had to stay in that ridiculous pose on order for Mimikyu to keep it's strong Z Move and also the end where Pikarla was doing roll call and the group just
knew it was gonna last all evening!
I like her, she reminded me a bit of her being a past Performer judging by how she performed the Z Move and her overall energetic demeanor.
Bewear confirmed a boy!! Good on them for once again, addressing the difference between a male and female Pikachu. Ash needs a female in his group. An speaking of which, that opening was absolutely gorgeous!! I was close to shedding a tear because of how Ash centric it was. I'm gonna watch it again to observe what's happening in the opening again. I'm so glad they're keeping Rowlet and Torracat in their current forms for now. And I can't believe I'm saying this right now but I didn't mind Okazaki's voice. He sounded pretty good... well the music was good and his voice sounded less auto tuned and more emotional, like the visuals in the opening. Oh man, I also can't get over seeing the past characters which included Poipole despite it being in it's own world.
SM truly is the saga for Ash and Pikachu. ;~;
Fun episode. I thought Mimikyu capturing all the Pikachu and Pikarla using the Pikachu exclusive Z Move was kind of stupid and rushed but I know they just wanted to show that Z Move. I also liked that Rotom mentioned to Ash that Pikachu had to know Volt Tackle again. The battle between Pikachu and Bachan (I forgot his name already but I remember Kurin) was kind of cute. I liked that Pikachu didn't even look like he was trying and wasn't breaking a sweat. He took his dear time biting on Bachan's tail.