OniCornwalis
Active Member
Hello there! After watching the entirety of the XY series, both by myself and through the Twitch marathon, I'd like to say what I thought of it. This is also going to be about the dub version, because I started watching this series on a site where only the dub was available, and I didn't want to switch to sub because I had gotten used to the character's voices and didn't want to disrupt, even though the sub's music was better.
THE GOOD
Serena's character development- Serena had a lot of really good character development throughout the series, going from being a girl who didn't know what she wanted in life and pretty timid to someone who had a clear goal and was confident in herself and willing to help others.
The battle strategies/animation- The battle animation was really good in this series, due to using the 3D camera smartly in this series and having good coreography and animation. The strategies were also pretty good, such as Rock Tomb climb and using the Meowstic's future sights back on them. In terms of the best battles, they were Ash vs Sawyer and Alain in terms of animation, and Ash vs Olympia in terms of strategy.
The family-type bond- The group in this series had a really good family structure, they all flowed well with each other, and it felt like they had known each other for their entire lives by the end of the show.
Hawlucha- While Hawlucha had only a decent battle record, his personality set him apart from the rest of the Pokemon in the group. He could be serious at times, at other times stoic, and midway through the series he even became a surrogate dad for Noivern! Easily in the top 10 for Ash's best Pokemon by personality.
Team Flare Arc- The Team Flare Arc managed to resolve everyone's stories in a very nice way, and gave everyone a decent amount of screen time. The scene where all the gym leaders fought off the giant stone thing at the end was also really cool.
Sawyer- Sawyer was a pretty cool character who looked up to Ash and learned from him, as a kind of student to teacher relationship. Eventually, though, Sawyer surpassed him and Ash had to play catch up, which was a really cool dynamic to see.
THE MIXED
Goodra's arc- Goodra had a really great arc where he transitioned from being extremely weak to a powerful figure that managed to help solve the issue in the marshland. However, his journey felt somewhat rushed, and should've lasted for a couple more episodes instead of just rushing him out the door when Clemont's gym battle was over.
Clemont's character growth- For the first half of XY, Clemont got a lot of character growth where he learned how to be a better gym leader and person through the rest of the group's help, and came out stronger by the end of it. However, in the second half of the series, he got barely any focus except for a couple of filler episodes and dealing with Bonnie.
All of the other animation- All of the animation outside of the big battles was really meh, as the characters stayed really static and in model for most of the series, and there was a lot of reused animation, such as Gourgiest's shadow ball and Bunnelby's mud-shot. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it could've been way better then what we were given.
Alain- While Alain was a pretty cool character, having two different sides to him, one where he was a nice guy and one where he was pretty evil in order to save Chespie, there were two big problems with him; One, he was fully introduced way too late into the main series, only coming 19 episodes before the league. 19!!! I don't care if he was in the Mega Evolution specials, having him meet the cast that late and interacting with them twice before the league is really bad pacing. The other big issue was how OP his Charizard was, and how it swept everybody in the league and presumably every gym battle before facing Ash, where he almost seemed to regenerate health during there.
The league- Here's the thing about the league; in terms of animation, the battles against Sawyer and Alain was some of the best in the anime, hands down. However, there were some very questionable things in those battles, even ignoring the ending vs Alain. For starters, there was barely any switching out in both battles. When Sawyer brought out Clawitzer aginst Ash's Talonflame, Ash should've immediately switched out to Pikachu, but didn't. When Pikachu was brought out, Sawyer should've switched to another Pokemon, but didn't. Ash's entire strategy with Goodra was just 'LOL, use Bide'. Then there was the time when Hawlucha dancing on ice gave it armor versus Alain, or how when Pikachu threw the piece of wood at Aegislash, the wood defied gravity. Then there was the whole incident with the Furfrou trainer and how it took attention away from the Mega Charizard battle happening in the background, and Ash's first three rounds were skipped entirely. Were there some good strategies in that fight? Yes, such as Noivern searching for Salamence through the fog using supersonic. However, for the most part, this league was very mixed and overall worse then the Hoenn and Sinnoh leagues.
The Bad
Showcases- Was Serena's character growth good? Yes. Was the animation solid for the most part? Yes. Were showcases well thought out and had a lot of effort put into them? Nope. The whole thing was a popularity contest, as the audience voted, and their votes weren't necessarilly for the best one, as indicated by when Aria won the Master Class even when her performance was worse then Serena's. It also sucked that we didn't get to see Jessie, who is a main character in the show, win her other two keys on screen. Finally, the theme performances were very lackluster, as most of them were either pretty bland, such as the poke puff baking performance, or just plain rigged, like Rhyhorn herding.
Team Rocket- Yes, it's true that Team Rocket had their moments, such as episode 107, episode 57, and episode 82. For the most part though, they only served to create artificial conflict or were shoved in when they shouldn't have in order to pad out episodes, like episodes 18, 46, 36, 66, 85, 104, 115 and 118. This was honestly their lowest point in the entire franchise, as they were both shoved into episodes where they weren't need AND didn't have the humor that made them tolerable in earlier seasons when they were put into every episode.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the XY series was a very enjoyable experience for the most part. Things like the gym battles, the group dynamic, Goodra's arc, Hawlucha, the battle animations and the Team Flare arc were awesome, but things like Showcases and Team Rocket brought down the enjoyment level for me. For me personally, this series is behind DP and SM for me, as DP did what XY did but better in every department except for animation and the evil team, and SM due to things like its world-building, the least amount of filler episodes in the series, improved animation overall from XY, and lessening of Team Rocket in episodes. I can completely understand if XY is your favorite series, but just make sure to also look at both the good and bad points of the series.
PS- Can someone tell me if there was going to be a final episode planned for the Malamar arc, or did it end on a cliffhanger?
PPS- Hopefully this doesn't break any rules. I'll be happy to edit it or post it somewhere else so that it doesn't.
Best gym battle- Ash vs Olympia and Ash vs Wulfric
Worst gym battle- Ash vs Ramos
Favorite episodes- The Team Flare arc, episodes 69 and 70, episode 19, episode 9, episode 78, episode 99 and 100, episode 105, and any episode where Hawlucha is the focus.
Least favorite episodes- Episode 14, episode 59, episode 45, episode 46, episode 92, episodes 95-97, episode 114, episode 111, episode 109, episodes 125 and 126, and episode 62.
THE GOOD
Serena's character development- Serena had a lot of really good character development throughout the series, going from being a girl who didn't know what she wanted in life and pretty timid to someone who had a clear goal and was confident in herself and willing to help others.
The battle strategies/animation- The battle animation was really good in this series, due to using the 3D camera smartly in this series and having good coreography and animation. The strategies were also pretty good, such as Rock Tomb climb and using the Meowstic's future sights back on them. In terms of the best battles, they were Ash vs Sawyer and Alain in terms of animation, and Ash vs Olympia in terms of strategy.
The family-type bond- The group in this series had a really good family structure, they all flowed well with each other, and it felt like they had known each other for their entire lives by the end of the show.
Hawlucha- While Hawlucha had only a decent battle record, his personality set him apart from the rest of the Pokemon in the group. He could be serious at times, at other times stoic, and midway through the series he even became a surrogate dad for Noivern! Easily in the top 10 for Ash's best Pokemon by personality.
Team Flare Arc- The Team Flare Arc managed to resolve everyone's stories in a very nice way, and gave everyone a decent amount of screen time. The scene where all the gym leaders fought off the giant stone thing at the end was also really cool.
Sawyer- Sawyer was a pretty cool character who looked up to Ash and learned from him, as a kind of student to teacher relationship. Eventually, though, Sawyer surpassed him and Ash had to play catch up, which was a really cool dynamic to see.
THE MIXED
Goodra's arc- Goodra had a really great arc where he transitioned from being extremely weak to a powerful figure that managed to help solve the issue in the marshland. However, his journey felt somewhat rushed, and should've lasted for a couple more episodes instead of just rushing him out the door when Clemont's gym battle was over.
Clemont's character growth- For the first half of XY, Clemont got a lot of character growth where he learned how to be a better gym leader and person through the rest of the group's help, and came out stronger by the end of it. However, in the second half of the series, he got barely any focus except for a couple of filler episodes and dealing with Bonnie.
All of the other animation- All of the animation outside of the big battles was really meh, as the characters stayed really static and in model for most of the series, and there was a lot of reused animation, such as Gourgiest's shadow ball and Bunnelby's mud-shot. It wasn't terrible by any means, but it could've been way better then what we were given.
Alain- While Alain was a pretty cool character, having two different sides to him, one where he was a nice guy and one where he was pretty evil in order to save Chespie, there were two big problems with him; One, he was fully introduced way too late into the main series, only coming 19 episodes before the league. 19!!! I don't care if he was in the Mega Evolution specials, having him meet the cast that late and interacting with them twice before the league is really bad pacing. The other big issue was how OP his Charizard was, and how it swept everybody in the league and presumably every gym battle before facing Ash, where he almost seemed to regenerate health during there.
The league- Here's the thing about the league; in terms of animation, the battles against Sawyer and Alain was some of the best in the anime, hands down. However, there were some very questionable things in those battles, even ignoring the ending vs Alain. For starters, there was barely any switching out in both battles. When Sawyer brought out Clawitzer aginst Ash's Talonflame, Ash should've immediately switched out to Pikachu, but didn't. When Pikachu was brought out, Sawyer should've switched to another Pokemon, but didn't. Ash's entire strategy with Goodra was just 'LOL, use Bide'. Then there was the time when Hawlucha dancing on ice gave it armor versus Alain, or how when Pikachu threw the piece of wood at Aegislash, the wood defied gravity. Then there was the whole incident with the Furfrou trainer and how it took attention away from the Mega Charizard battle happening in the background, and Ash's first three rounds were skipped entirely. Were there some good strategies in that fight? Yes, such as Noivern searching for Salamence through the fog using supersonic. However, for the most part, this league was very mixed and overall worse then the Hoenn and Sinnoh leagues.
The Bad
Showcases- Was Serena's character growth good? Yes. Was the animation solid for the most part? Yes. Were showcases well thought out and had a lot of effort put into them? Nope. The whole thing was a popularity contest, as the audience voted, and their votes weren't necessarilly for the best one, as indicated by when Aria won the Master Class even when her performance was worse then Serena's. It also sucked that we didn't get to see Jessie, who is a main character in the show, win her other two keys on screen. Finally, the theme performances were very lackluster, as most of them were either pretty bland, such as the poke puff baking performance, or just plain rigged, like Rhyhorn herding.
Team Rocket- Yes, it's true that Team Rocket had their moments, such as episode 107, episode 57, and episode 82. For the most part though, they only served to create artificial conflict or were shoved in when they shouldn't have in order to pad out episodes, like episodes 18, 46, 36, 66, 85, 104, 115 and 118. This was honestly their lowest point in the entire franchise, as they were both shoved into episodes where they weren't need AND didn't have the humor that made them tolerable in earlier seasons when they were put into every episode.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the XY series was a very enjoyable experience for the most part. Things like the gym battles, the group dynamic, Goodra's arc, Hawlucha, the battle animations and the Team Flare arc were awesome, but things like Showcases and Team Rocket brought down the enjoyment level for me. For me personally, this series is behind DP and SM for me, as DP did what XY did but better in every department except for animation and the evil team, and SM due to things like its world-building, the least amount of filler episodes in the series, improved animation overall from XY, and lessening of Team Rocket in episodes. I can completely understand if XY is your favorite series, but just make sure to also look at both the good and bad points of the series.
PS- Can someone tell me if there was going to be a final episode planned for the Malamar arc, or did it end on a cliffhanger?
PPS- Hopefully this doesn't break any rules. I'll be happy to edit it or post it somewhere else so that it doesn't.
Best gym battle- Ash vs Olympia and Ash vs Wulfric
Worst gym battle- Ash vs Ramos
Favorite episodes- The Team Flare arc, episodes 69 and 70, episode 19, episode 9, episode 78, episode 99 and 100, episode 105, and any episode where Hawlucha is the focus.
Least favorite episodes- Episode 14, episode 59, episode 45, episode 46, episode 92, episodes 95-97, episode 114, episode 111, episode 109, episodes 125 and 126, and episode 62.
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