This was very good. A very close, yet condensed tribute to the original games.
-Blue is an actual jerk and I love to hate him.
-Battles are far more physical. In fact, I don't think I remember seeing any logic-defying explosions that are ubiquitous in the main anime. Also no pokemon said there own names. I never found that annoying but it puts the battles in a much stronger context.
-Dat indoor battle tho. The damage done to the environment is plain to see, and its such a great deconstruction of making to hulking beasts duke it out in an office building.
-I felt real sympathy with Giovanni. I was always dumbfounded by the idea that a battle could make him want to immediately disband Team Rocket and relinquish his empire. This story has even managed to enrich the original games.
I think the criticisms on pacing are a bit unfair, considering it had to fit so much into merely 4 episodes. I can only wish they had an extra episode or two to flesh things out, maybe more on the battle with Blue. As for the speed of the battles that were shown, if anything its just an accurate representation on how battles actually go down in the games. Most battles are over in under 3 hits.
One thing I will accept is the idea that he only really bonded with Charizard. The only other pokemon we saw more than once on Red's team was Jolteon, and it would have been great to see say, Red's team mimic his Mt Silver team. On the other hand, it gave the greatest number of pokemon the greatest amount of exposure. Some 70-90 pokemon must have been shown across the whole special.
I suppose Pokemon Origins' greatest triumph making me nostalgic over someone else's childhood. I've never played Red or Blue or even. I didn't play pokemon as a young child. I got my first game, Heartgold when I was 11, as most people were putting them down. That remains my only taste of Kanto and its story. However, the pace of the show, with focus on the key events felt like a slideshow of memories, only conveying the most powerful emotional moments.
Ideal ending- the last shot is Red running towards Mt. Silver to look for Mew.
