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Pokemon XY(&Z) complete series review thread

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UltimateNinja

Praying for the holy relics
Time to get started with this.

The series Pokemon XY(&Z) ended today ignoring the specials. Review the series and explain your opinion. The same if you want to compare XY with the past pokemon series.

Please no bashing!


You can state your opinion about:

-Battles (including animation)
-Overall writing
-Plot
-Protagonists and Antagonists(humans and Pokemon)
-Pacing
-Rivals
-Other strengths/flaws
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
Battle animation was great but lacked in strategies.
Writing had good ideas but poor execution.
The plot was good particularly the Team Flare arc and Serena's character arc.
Serena is my favorite, Alan is my second favorite, Mairin is my 3rd favorite, and Bonnie was my 4th favorite. Everyone else was either ok or I didn't really care for them at all.
Pacing was horrible especially in the beginning.
Rivals were handled badly.
Ash got way too much screentime and Serena should have gotten more imo
 

Red and Blue

Well-Known Member
It started out slow but got better near the end. Lot of great stuff such as Alain, Flare Climax, and league battles. The Greninja storyline in XYZ was handled well and I liked the resolution to that of Greninja being Zygarde's protector

Though I'm disappointed they didn't use any of the games more compelling characters such as Emma or AZ. So much wasted potential.
 
Daigo.

That's enough for me to like this series.

Ok, moving on, Alan was awesome, Manon was cute, Lysandre was much better than his game counterpart, kirakira was a great character song, Ash-Greninja was pretty cool, XY&Z was a wonderful opening and Shota was pretty relatable.

But what I love about this season was the Mega OVAs and TF arc. Great animation, great execution, great way to bring the gym leaders into the mix, primals and ryaquayquay doing stuff in ME III was awesome, also giant rock-boss all the way. Oh and the end scene of ME IV is good just for how no matter what emotion I'm feeling I can relate to one of the characters in it. Only thing I didn't like about these bits was the end of the TF arc being kinda stale, considering that Squishy and Z2 could've actually saved the world the moment they stopped being mind-controlled.

I wasn't really a big Amour fan, so those moments weren't the most exciting of moments. Plus Serena not really getting any better or worse in Performances was kind of a let down. Oh, and Greninja's release was the biggest Deus Ex Machina ever.

So overall I rate it 8/10 - not quite enough water to put it down to 7.8.
 

satopi

Life doesn’t end, …it changes.
Main battles were really great with stunning animation and how the Pokémon used their moves.
Rivals except for Shouta sucked (I don't consider Alan or Sanpei as a rival). I like Shauna's character but she was barely a rival.
Writing wasn't bad. A few iffy decisions or bad executions but I don't think the writing was bad. Worse case was Serena's aside from her personality development that had to be added on as her status of shipping bait.
Plot was fine. I have no issues with it aside from Serena not doing anything with her goal for 50-60 episodes and I guess Corni's small arc (?) that took screentime for the other characters to develop.
Protagonists were fine even though Clemont's development and character disappeared until the Team Flare arc (;-; ) and I absolutely detested Serena's goal and lackluster effort of her finding a goal and how it was handled. I wish the focus was more of her conflicts and relationship with her mother than of her pointless crush gag that barely benefited her. Please don't have another main character have a crush on Ash again or better yet, please have it handled much better than Serena's and not make her revolve around Ash. Antagonists were fine, I just wished Alan suffered more and wasn't forgiven so quickly. TR was fabulous in the Team Flare arc, being a big help other than punching bags.
Pacing was alright I guess. Some things were rushed but it could've been worse.
Ash was overly glorified and static was a flaw. Ash Greninja's arcs were a strength.
 

345ash-greninja

Auto-Memories Doll
At the start of XYZ, I was hyped up a lot that Ash will achieve greatness in this saga, something he has never achieved in his career. But despite raising hopes to an absolute high, all hopes were crushed in the end. So XYZ was a dream-crusher in my opinion.
 

Frozocrone

Miraculous!
Battles: Animated well, but lacked much strategy aside the star showdowns.
Protagonists: One person always seemed to be neglected. Were a bit bland in terms of group dynamics and didn't really earn their achievements but overall fun to watch.
Pokemon: Someone always seemed to take centre stage and as a result, only Greninja, Chespin, Braixen, Sylveon and possibly Bunnelby/Hawlucha/Goodra (at a stretch) were fleshed out.
Rivals: Terrible, aside Shota and Shawna, who still didn't present a valid challenge to protagonists.
Team Flare: Pretty well done.
Writing: Mostly good, but when it was bad, it was bad. I put that down to bad execution, since the ideas were generally good or interesting.
Pacing: Overall decent pacing, although certain elements were rushed (league, Serena's goal for example).

Overall, it's been a fun experience to go through, can't say I haven't enjoyed it despite notable flaws. 7/10.
 

Holy157

Well-Known Member
Let's start with the facts. Manon was a cinnamon roll and Korrina's pouting was adorable. THEY CAN'T BE DENIED.

I'm mostly gonna ignore the flaws, since people have beaten on these things. A lot.

The openings. I loved the openings. XYZ was brilliant, Getta Ban Ban was awesome and Volt was great. Ignoring M Volt, pls never again give us the same opening.

The highlights of XY(&Z) were, in my opinion, music, voice acting and animations. Those 3 things were absolutely terrific. Ash vs Sawyer, Ash vs Diantha, Ash vs Alain, Ash vs Korrina and the TF arc. And that's only naming a few.

I touched on music slightly, but the ost was incredible. Like what played as Ash and Alain entered the Megalith is just an example of the ost. So good.

Alain's voice. I loved his voice. Might be my favorite voice. Also, Alain was generally a good character. The writers dropped the ball a few times on him.

The TF arc. This has been talked about so much. Really, it was mindblowing in terms of Pokemon standard.

There were a lot of other positives. Really, the above was what stood out to me.
 

Xenon Blue

No Hard Feelings
Story: Fairly good for the most part. At times it got a bit cheesy, but for the most part I didn't mind the cheese too much. The TF arc was well done and sets the blueprint for what a villain arc should look like in Pokemon, minus the interactions before the finale, in which case refer to TG. However let's just forget about how the league was treated.

Pre-IKUZE arc: 5/10 (slow and rough start I must say)
IKUZE arc: 7.5/10
League: 2/10
TF arc: 8.5/10
Farewell: 6.5/10


Character: Mixed feelings about this one. I'm surprised how well treated Bonnie was, and despite his random appearance in the league and awkward redemption, Alain was a welcome addition to the TF arc, although I would liked it if he stayed away form the league afair. Ash was pretty typical for the most part. He did have that depression arc which was decent but lots of wasted potential. Serena was alright outside of the showcases, in which I want to forget about those as well. Clemont is Clemont, nothing much to say here.

Ash: 5.5/10
Serena: 3/10
Bonnie: 9.5/10
Clemont: 5.5/10
Alain: 7.5/10
Sawyer: 8/10
TRio: 6.5/10

Other:

Animation: 10/10. Nothing much to say here other than holy crap am I watching a movie right now.

Pacing: 7/10. For the most part good. However when it was bad, it was REALLY bad.

Battles: 7/10. Some of the battles were ok, but the main problem I have with it is that the strategy was straightforward and felt like hyper-offense vs hyper-offense far too often. Still good though.

Fillers: 4.5/10. Some pretty good fillers (Serena becoming Ash). And then there is the Biancle filler.

Continuity: LUL/10

Overall: 7/10
 
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Jangobadass

Surprise!
The Good:
+ The best, most gorgeous animation the TV Show has ever seen. On level with the Movies and even better looking than the older ones.
+ Ash at his best
+ The TRio the best they've been since the OS
+ Breaking tradition in several places
+ Pokémon with a decent amount of personality or depth.
+ Hawlucha
+ The most dramatic and dire situations since DP
+ Bonnie, before the title change
+ Serena's crush (poor fool, she makes me laugh)
+ Team Flare
+ The Gym Leaders
+ The Mega Evolution Specials

The Bad:

- Showcases.
- Most of the Rivals--be they Trainers or Performers--being underused, underdeveloped, and underwhelming, doing well off-screen as the plot required, but being chumps when we actually saw them.(I almost wonder if they stole those Badges and Princess Keys...)
- Very underpopulated, with recurring characters going long stretches between appearances, the COTD population the highest it's been since the OS or early AG, the Joy and especially the Jenny populations the lowest they've ever been, and an almost record breaking number of episodes where Ash-tachii, Jessie, and Jameswere the only humans around.
- Clemont becoming a nigh-useless background character after his gym battle with Ash
- Ash-Greninja
- Bonnie, after the title change
- Squishy being Togepi 3.0 most of the time (Axew was 2.0)
- XY&Z fillers
- Jessie and James only getting one new Pokémon each. This the one tradition they shouldn't have broken...
 
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Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
The battles as a whole were good.... until post-Olympia, the only one I give a damn about after is Wulfric's. Mostly just a LOT of Sawyer/Alain fights, can you spell boring? Ash didn't fight Gary OR Paul that much, they should up at the right times and never felt forced like these two.
Speaking of the rivals, on Ash's end. Each and every single one of them was garbage. I love Tierno and Trevor but even Trip was handled better than them! And Sawyer's progression was handled horribly, you don't go from a noob to kicking a veteran's *** that fast. Sawyer should have been introduced at the start if they wanted him to turn better, it felt rushed. Alain was a freaking Stu and shouldn't even have crossed over, worst character ever.
Miette was the best rival in the show though, Shauna was good too but she barely interacted with Serena in the showcases! Nene was just unnecessary, should have been Amelia as a rival instead. Too many "friends", Miette may have teased Serena but she was no Harley/Ursula that could have been Amelia.

Pacing was good for Ash's goal, except for the League being before Team Flare....... Serena's pacing was garbage. Long time to find her goal and.... it's done before the series is even close to being over. That felt like a punch in the gut to her character. And they paced Noivern's development awful, hey let's rush the new Eevee into Sylveon and just ignore the bat! is what it felt like. After Noivern evolved was like the last development he got.

And the worst part of the series was they never let James or Jessie, but especially James get another capture. James had ONE freaking Pokemon the entire 3 years.... and did it learn any new moves? No it didn't! Could have given James Phantump, literally NOBODY owned one.
 

spacedp

Well-Known Member
Great battle animation/awesome battles (for the most part I guess).
Some filler was good, but most of them were REALLY bad.
Ash is better than BW, Serena was alright/good, Bonnie is a little annoying and Clemont's the most boring character in the main cast.
Good team for Ash, Serena's was laughable.
Rushed league (Sinnoh still has the best league imo).
Little to no continuity which was a problem that bothered me ever since Best wishes, but at least that had some flashbacks.
Alain's super saiyan charizard was unbeatable.

Good series overall, probably my second favorite.
 

Litleonid

Well-Known Member
  • The XY Cast: The combo of Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie was very refeshing after the BW group. This group actually felt more like a family to me, rather than a group of people traveling together. Serena was such a nice change of pace, after Iris, and I did love her character arc. While I didn’t like how long it took her to find a goal and her crush being the only reason she was traveling with Ash, she developed beyond that and I like how she did. Her crush didn’t bother me also. You see childhood crushes all the time in cartoons and anime. Clemont was very interesting and I loved his scienc-y quirks, though I wish he got more spotlight after his gym battle with Ash.His role in the Team Flare arc also was just great. Bonnie was actually very well handled for a younger character and her proposal gag wasn’t too annoying, until the end. I also loved how she interacted and bonded with Squishy, plus her role in the Team Flare arc. She ordered Lysandre’s death. That was actually great. The group dynamic with them and Ash was so refreshing and I just loved how they all interacted. While there could have been a tiny bit more, I don’t mind that there was little conflict, after listening to Iris criticize everything Ash did. I did like how Ash interacted with each character individually, and how Bonnie did, though I do wish Serena and Clemont got more interesting interactions. Aside from that, I really did love this cast. I will truly miss them all.
  • Ash in general: After a rather unnecessary reset, it was so refreshing to see Ash acting competent again. He actually trained hard, he actually used interesting strategies, and he actually matured a bit, to the point of not being so selfish about his own goal and putting Serena’s Master Class ahead of his last gym battle, which I don’t think he would have done in the past. It was nice to see him at his strongest and actually see others admire him rather than look down on him, as Trip and Iris did. Also, I loved to see the progression and development of his bond with Greninja and how he unlocked the power of Ash-Greninja. The Winding Woods episode was one of the best development moments for Ash I’ve seen in awhile. I don’t agree with the writers decision to force him to lose the league cause honestly, this Ash deserved to win it all. So, yeah, I did like how Ash was handled in this series.
  • The Gym Battles: After a generation of mediocre and bland gym battles, like Ash vs. Elesa, the Gym Battles were once again as exciting as they were in DP. They were all very well choreographed and they all had some good strategies thrown in. Visually also, they were quite impressive. I think my favorites have to be Ash vs. Ramos, Ash vs. Clemont, and Ash vs. Olympia, which might have been the greatest Gym Battle in the entire Pokemon anime. This was one of the best parts of the series.
  • The Main Pokemon: I feel like there was so much variety, personality wise, between the Pokemon on the main case, and the main cast had a pretty cool bunch. Greninja was a very stand out, powerful Pokemon with a great story and plus, there were some pretty interesting Pokemon like Hawlucha, Sylveon, and Goodra. Seeing a Luxray on the main cast did make me very happy and plus, I love the interactions between Pokemon like Goodra and Dedenne, Chespin and Sylveon, Hawlucha and Noivern, Bunnelby and Sylveon, aaaaand…
  • Chespin and Pancham: These two get their own plus, because they were definitely my favorites of the main cast because of their personalities and their adorably hilarious rivalry/bromance that continued through the whole series. Every time they were on-screen together I was always looking forward to seeing the antics they’d get themselves into. I think my favorite episode for them was XYZ 31 when they got stuck with Pikachu in the fun house. I wish though the Chespin errand episode had Pancham accompanying Chespin cause I love seeing them work together. Anyway, I absolutely loved these two and that’s why they get their own plus for the sheer comedy and depiction of their rivalry/bromance the anime had.
  • The Team Flare Arc: While the build up to this was a little slow, this five episode arc was one of the most intense, well written arcs I have ever seen in this anime. Every part of it had me on the edge of my seat as we saw Team Flare take over with everyone fighting to regain control of Lumiose City. The action was exciting, the stakes felt real, and I loved some of the more emotional moments, like Clembot’s death and Bonnie trying to break through to Squishy. Every major character played a role and it was actually awesometo see Diantha and all the Gym Leaders come together to help defeat the Megalith. Perfect Zygarde did not disappoint also and I just loved seeing it in action. Also, while it wasn’t directly said, props to the writers for actually killing Lysandre. There’s no way he survived that. It was definitely an amazing arc and certainly a high point in the anime.
  • The Animation: It was certainly a step up, even more, from BW. BW had some decent animation, but the animation we’ve seen here was just incredible. A lot of the battles had some very incredible visuals and animation, especially battles like Ash vs. Olympia and Ash vs. Sawyer. Serena’s performances as well were so beautifully animated and the special effects were just dazzling. This is some of the best animation I’ve ever seen in the Pokemon anime.
  • The Pacing: I actually didn’t really feel like XY was that rushed at any point, beyond the Kalos League. Gyms often had more than 15 episodes between each of them and it allowed enough time for characters to develop, captures, and such. While the League felt rushed and Pokemon Showcases should have been introduced sooner, the overall pacing of the series was good.
  • Team Rocket: SURPRISINGLY, I actually liked them in this series. Yes, this is a positive for me. I like that they didn’t appear in every episode, and it didn’t bother me much when they did. Jessie did get some good moments and development in her showcases was great. Seeing her take a loss with good humor for once was certainly great to see. Plus, James could be pretty entertaining at times, like in XYZ 31. They truly got to shine during the Team Flare arc, when they took on and defeated the scientists, broadcasted the events to the whole world, and helped Ash and everyone take on the Megalith. I laughed at how they edited the PREVIOUSLY BROADCASTED FOOTAGE THEY SHOT to make it seem like they were the true heroes to Giovanni. Overall, I thought they were good this series.
  • The Sendoffs: Seeing this group depart was sad, but it was very well handled. Much better even than BW’s send off. I loved the emotion between all the Pokemon, especially Pancham and Chespin. Dedenne also did add in a nice emotional moment. Before addressing the big thing that’s got a lot of people talking, I want to say that I like how we got closure for everyone. We got to see Alain and Marin go on their own journey. We got to see Sawyer aiding Steven. We even got to see what Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor were up to. I did like seeing Ash battle Clemont one last time and I did like seeing one last explosion from Clemont’s inventions. I am honestly gonna miss him and Bonnie. I did like how they handled Serena’s departure as well, deciding to decline Palermo’s apprenticeship and going to compete in Pokemon Contests, after Palermo suggested it. I am honestly shocked though that Serena kissed Ash for her goodbye. I will never forget that and honestly, I’m glad that they gave Amourshipper fans that moment. Overall, I did like how they gave everyone the send off they deserved.
  • Alain’s Redemption: I have a lot to say about Alain, but I should get a positive thing about him out of the way. I love how he redeemed himself in the Team Flarle arc and the ending he got. Seeing him wake up and decide to make up for his mistakes helping Lysandre was great and I did like that Ash was the one who made him realize it. He even thanked Ash for it. His role afterwards, was something that I thought was something he needed to do, and that was saving Chespie. I did like how he was the one to do that. In the end, it was nice see him rejoin Professor Sycamore, as his assistant and patch things up with Marin. I’m not gonna miss Alain, but he gets credit for having some good redemption.
  • The Music: While the Dub didn't have the best tracks, the Japanese version really hit hard with the music. Volt was probably one of the best Japanese openings and plus XYZ was a great opening as well[IKUZE!] The English dub openings were okay, except XY&Z's. Both series did have some good tracks kept in, like the Hall of Fame theme, Hawlucha's theme, and the trainer battle themes, though the Japanese version gets it for using tracks like the Ash-Greninja theme, Volt, and Serena's theme.
  • Ash’s Rivals: Looking at Tierno, Sanpei, and Sawyer, they were okay. Tierno was a cool character and I loved watching his and Ash’s battles, but he never posed a threat and didn’t even battle against him in the league as I wished he would. Sanpei was pretty cool as well, though a failed opportunity for a full fledged rival. He was kinda just there for Greninja’s development, though could have been more. Sawyer was the only rival I truly thought was great, because I liked how he developed and seeing him beat Ash before the league did add more weight to the great battle he had with Ash in the league. Overall, as a bunch, they were okay. Alain though….I’ll get to him later….
  • Goodra's Release: I think I'm more okay with this? I genuinely don't like it when the writers take away powerful Pokemon from Ash, but at least Goodra can be called back at anytime if Ash wants. Goodra could have left protecting the wetlands to Flogres, though I guess this is okay.
  • Lack of Continuity: I would have loved to see more references to the past, or seeing Ash talk to someone like Professor Oak more often. It would have even been nice to see familiar faces pop up watching the league from their homes. Plus, I kind of wish that Ash mentioned his own Charizard when meeting Alain’s It would have been nice as well if Ash acknowledged meeting Steven before. The lack of continuity though isn’t something I’d put under negative though, because, while it would have been nice to see them make references to the past, I’m okay with the fact that they didn’t.
  • Amourshipping: Okay, I’m more neutral on this, because I didn’t like this being Serena’s driving force for her journey, but it didn’t become the only part of her in the end. Amourshipping did have its good moments though, and I honestly did like the friendship between Ash and Serena. I honestly will never forget the heavily implied kiss Serena gave Ash and she does honestly get the award for the best send off. I think I'm more neutral though cause I'm a Pokeshipping fan more, but this was alright in the end.
  • Mega Evolution Specials: In the end, I didn't care too much for them, but they weren't something I didn't like. I like how they set up for Team Flare and it was nice to see the writers do something different. I was okay with Alain here, up until the last act, though Marin was nice and I did like seeing Steven Stone. They weren't something I'd put as a plus or a minus to the series.
  • Alain as a Trainer: Overall, I admit he had a good character arc in the end, but I have to say, I honestly did not like how they handled him as a trainer. He was just way too perfect to me. It wasn’t really apparent until the 4th act of the Mega Evolution specials,when his incredibly overpowered Mega Charizard X took down 10 Megas in a row, including Malva’s Mega Houndoom. Then we go on to see him defeat Ash twice, and after learning about the league, he gets all badges 7 episodes later. This honestly made his league inclusion feel forced and last minute. It frustrated me how he continually said “I’ll never lose again.” and continued to keep his win streak going, thanks to his overpowered, broken Charizard. Seeing that thing beat Ash in the league, after beating Greninja before, really bothered me, especially considering how much damage that thing took. It took 7 hard hits total, including a powerful super effective hit. Somehow, it still stood. The fact that they never had Alain lose once after Siebold really bugged me, because honestly, I feel like he could have gained some development from it. If it makes sense, I thought losing could have made Alain question his strength and if he was capable of helping Chespie even. This could have tied into his redemption and Ash could have motivated him to keep fighting for Marin and Chespie, if he knew. It would have been great also if he had to learn that he can’t win every battle and that it’s okay to lose sometimes, like the anime apparently tries to teach by having Ash lose every league…The writers had a great chance here, but they didn’t take it. I can give Alain credit for his character arc, but this is why I don’t like Alain as a trainer. He was too perfect.
  • Pokemon Showcases: First of all, I have to say that I don’t like how they took so long to introduce Pokemon Showcases into the anime. It took about 47 episodes for Serena to decide she wanted to be a Pokemon Performer, and another 13 for the first one. Secondly, the concept felt rather bland, compared to contests. It was basically an appeals round with a random uninteresting entry round like baking. In the end, Aria proved that it was mostly a popularity contest and that actual talent did not matter as long as you were incredibly popular. I thought Serena was far better than what we saw from Aria, but because Aria was more popular, she won, which of course made sense. I think Aria's talent should have been shown in greater detail though. In the end, these just didn't do it for me. If Serena was going to become a Pokemon Coordinator by the end, I wish they just did contests anyway.
  • Serena’s Rivals: For the most part, they were very weak. Miette had potential, as she often butted heads with Serena and knew how to get under her skin, but the writers failed to make her a serious threat to Serena’s goal. She didn’t even do well at the Master Class. Nene and Shauna were both very bland as characters and just as with Miette, didn’t pose any sort of threat to Serena at all. Maybe Shauna for a bit, but it became clear that she wasn’t ever going to. Jessie, as usual, was a good part of the rival squad and I loved her development, but in the end, Serena had some of the weakest rivals I have ever seen.
  • The Kalos League: After all the build up to this, the payoff was rather bad. It already started out bad when we saw Alain sweep through Trevor’s team, Ash being forced to battle the ever so unnecessary Everett, and only seeing a small portion of Ash’s battle with Titus. As if it couldn’t get any worse, we’re already at the Top 8 of 64 by the second episode. I wanted to see how Ash got as far as he did. It would have been great if we could see his full battle with Tidus, Astrid, and I would have loved to see him battle Tierno again also, even if he has beaten him 2 or 3 times before. Tierno and Sawyer’s battle was good though, but I didn’t like how we only saw a very brief portion of Ash battling Astrid, who deserved better treatment. It gave me hope when we saw Ash’s great battle with Sawyer and seeing how well the first half of his battle with Alain went. Then...It crashed. When the odds truly seemed to be in Ash's favor, the writers made the worst decision they possibly could have made and had Ash lose to Alain in the finals. Yes, Ash got to the finals, which shows how strong he was, but Alain winning just wrecked this league. I thought it logically made no sense for him to beat Ash a third time I thought and plus, Mega Charizard X should have been on the ground after taking 7 hard hits. It was Ash’s time to win, though he was robbed of it. Plus, it could have given Alain some good character development, though the writers failed to do this in favor of their absurd status quo that should have been kicked to the curb and left for dead. It was one of the worst things about this series.
  • Releasing Greninja: By now, I can accept Goodra’s release, because Goodra can be called back at anytime, as we were shown in the league. Greninja though? Just...No. While it wouldn't call it bad writing necessarily, I did not like how forced it felt. Aside from not liking how they took away Ash's first fully evolved Water type starter that was on par with Mega Evolutions, I felt like going off with Squishy and Z2 help protect Kalos felt forced because of this. We clearly saw how powerful Zygarde is and the fact that they created this new vine issue that only Greninja could see really downplayed the power of Squishy and Z2. The issue should have been solved when Perfect Zygarde eliminated all the vines, so creating this reason is why Greninja’s release feels forced. I would have been okay if he was left with Sycamore for some reason, but this is definitely one of the worst releases in the entire Pokemon anime.
The XY series was certainly a huge improvement over the Best Wishes series. It was great to see Ash back to his DP level of competency and skills and plus, I absolutely loved the main cast. There were many things that have improved over the Best Wishes series, including the animation, battles, and even the writing at times, especially during the Team Flare arc. The series did have some huge blunders though, particularly in the form of the Kalos League, which was a complete disaster. Plus, the decision to release Greninja at the end felt forced as could be. The bad things dragged down the score a little bit, but there are still tons of positive things about this series. In the end, I think the XY series was a pretty great series. I give the XY series an 7.75/10
 
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SkittleBox

Fanfiction writer
I really liked the XY(Z) series.

What I really liked were the battles (although they could've been a bit better with more strategy and pacing, still good though), the background music, Ash had a great team and he was a good battler. The companions in this series were awesome. Serena was awesome and could've used a little more work on her character, Clemont, although shoved to the side after the Voltage Badge battle, was a funny and good character to me. And Bonnie... I just want to take her home, she's so adorable and added a whole new dynamic Max couldn't as a little child. The plot was good and the TF arc was great to watch.

However, there were things I never liked. Showcases were a bore to get through and most of the rivals (excluding Shota) were a joke, battlewise or foiled with plot-armor (you know who we're talking about). Ash could've used a little more personality, it felt like he was too focused on being kick-butt to show emotion. Team Rocket's poor hearts... all they were used for was to be curbstomped and to blast off again. They didn't get more than one Pokemon each, which is pretty sad. The League felt rather rushed, though. We just flew by battles to get to two battles that eventually ended in tons of salty fans.

Overall, I loved the XY(Z) series. I'd give it a good 4/5, it was a great three-ish years in Kalos. I'll really miss our friends in Kalos now that it's all over.
 

dp045

Well-Known Member
Of all the seasons of Pokemon, XY / & Z was the least mediocre all. He had his baits to attract attention (the amourshipping and XYZ, basically), moments of hype, good as it was Ash this season, the issue raised with Serena your search Ahs and your personal goal, bad as are rivals, as the league management and as the Tripokalon is handling because seriously if now Serena will be dedicated to consursos pokemon in Hoen better than this had been his goal since first, I say they got contests in Kanto Kalos forcedly and really would not feel out of place.
The other thing to note would be the fourth ovas the ME because as parallel to the adventures of Ash story worked well and showed more action than I lacked XY, XYZ besides that joined both frames.
Now that I finish I'll see the last 7 episodes to analyze well but would give it a 7.5 / 10 comparing them with the other series of pokémon (OS, Advance, DP and Best Wishes).
 

mystic9899

Pokemon fan
i liked the series. it had its ups and downs, but overall very enjoyable. i loved the team flare arc, best villain arc so far in pokemon. some things i would change if it were me would be serena starting her goal earlier, team rocket getting more than 1 pokemon each, and the league being less rushed.

8.5/10 from me.
 

U.N. Owen

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night ...
This series ... was mediocre. I can't believe it, but it really was mediocre.

XY(Z) had some pacing issues that are really noticeable, especially on a binge watch.

The first year was pretty slow with Serena having to search for a goal. What made it so annoying is that we already knew about how she's just an example of the "tomboy mom, girly daughter" trope. It didn't feel shocking when we found out she was into performing. I wished she tried more activities so we could explore her character, giving her some depth. When she actually found a goal, it was lazy. The rivals were just glorified one-shots, Nene being the most pointless since she basically came out of left field. It was around 50 episodes. In contrast, the shortest badge quest was a little over 80. Another problem I had was the fact her goal and new found fame seemed to disappear when not being a performance episode. You'd expect the press to constantly ask for interviews, making Serena hide herself from them like Aria since she is the second most popular performer in the Kalos idol culture.

I hate to say it, but why do I feel like Clemont's focus episodes were mostly boring? Some of them were good, but a notable amount felt boring. Did we really need an episode dedicated to an old robot? If it wasn't boring, then some parts just felt interrupted. Clemont never fought Xerosic in the TF arc for the sake of adding more time to the Lysandre Labs plot. It's still a good episode, but I disliked how his own episode got hijacked.

Bonnie was cute, but her antics did get annoying. Her bond with Squishy made it pretty worthwhile, especially for establishing the means of breaking mind control. At least it was pre-established. I'm not really a fan of her voice, but I could put up with it.

I thought BW was my least favorite incarnation of Ash. XY Ash takes the cake. I can't believe I just wrote that, but why? His power level and competence really made the series enjoyable, but the writers made no effort to fix his character. While I could see he more excitable side in the 1st and 2nd years, I'm more distracted by how he inspires people. It's not just making Clemont want to be a braver person or Serena to go out and look for him (and leave her mother), but it goes for Alain too. Alain was so inspired that he went for all the badges with the confidence that Ash would be in the finals. After two interactions, he goes to such lengths. Suspension of disbelief, where are you?

As for the badge quest, I'm happy this time around, although Valarie annoyed me. I'm happy Clemont was chosen for companion so it would set up for the battle rather than face defeat first. Although he became a walking tree after that.


Animation was almost cinematic. Fluid, vibrant, and set the mood of the moment pretty well. Soundtrack wise, the Japanese and English versions need work. I've always felt overusing insert songs was annoying as it diminishes the dramatic value. IKUZE only furthered my point. The English dub was like pulling teeth. Music was constantly out of place. In a sad scene, we get happy lovey-dovey crap. In a dramatic scene, the music fails to highlight the importance. Thank you, TPCi, for proving once again that shows about colorful talking ponies and a sentient sea sponge can do better with their use of music. Still, the Japanese version is far superior, and I'm a fan of dubbed anime.



I honestly did not care about Ash thanks to his rather flat personality. Clemont and Serena caught my attention, but they slowly gained my apathy or ire. Clemont had a good run until his arc ended. He just became a joke until they needed him to be important. Serena was interesting thanks to a shared history with Ash that went nowhere. When she decided on her goal, I was outright annoyed. I guessed she was into that stuff, but I didn't expect they'd make up some glorified contest for her.

What made it so hard to get invested in the XY group is the lack of major group conflict. I get the lemon siblings fighting, but I found that the lack of conflict appalling. The fact they have no conflict makes them look bland and generic. I constantly feel like there is some wedge between Serena and Clemont to prevent them from interacting. I've said it before and I'll say it again, conflict management is the key to good relationships.

TRio interactions were basically voice clips that have been edited together for the new animation. That's how generic they feel. The humor was pretty bland in a good deal of places, but I've found ways to laugh nevertheless.


Yeah, I modeled this thing after Voice of Reason so bear with me. The one moral that annoyed me the most the league's message about not being a sore loser with Ash just smiling. At least that's what I think. The message should be that he can feel angry, upset, or sad, but he shouldn't let that dictate his actions after losing. Him smiling right after getting beaten to a pulp by the bond phenomenon just makes him look apathetic to his health, his dream, and to life itself.

I'll edit this later, but I think I've covered most of it.
 

Litleonid

Well-Known Member
I love to read the reviews people are posting. Its nice to see what people really think of this series and not letting 2 bad episodes ruin a great series of 140 episodes.
 
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