Ta-Dough! Burn with Passion, Mallow's Family! (1015)

[lolipiece]

I think people have done that several times this saga, each time something glows in a preview I seem to see posts getting excited about it.

But yeah, Mallow's goal sucks. Why couldn't it be anything Pokemon related?!

This show has established dozens--no, hundreds of times that "being a whatever Master" isn't the end-all-be-all way of life.

There's more to this world than battling and Contests and whatnot.

Hell, the Eevee sidequest in the Sun and Moon games outright destroy that idea.

 

[Rohanator]

I'm a huge Lana fan but as far as focus on the actual main character in question goes, I actually preferred Mallow’s episode this time. When her dad saw the leftover sour berries and said “What a waste, I wonder if we could use them somehow?” I was immediately like “Hey, that’s a good lesson for kids” and sure enough Mallow took that to heart and acted when it counted, using her cooking knowledge to make jam of the sour berries, with Steenee's infamous Sweet Scent coming into play as the last touch, very nice. And we know her goal is to make their restaurant thrive so it's cool that she won.

 

[Remix2]

The only thing I got from the one hour episodes is that it give me more appreciation for the mha and how the female characters are written in that series.

 

[Satomine Night]

I must be one of the few people around here who actually enjoyed this episode. At least it didn't disappoint by teasing us with something—e.g., a Pokémon capture—only to pull the rug out from under us, so to speak. Mallow's brother was a fun character. He was full of energy, just like his sister, but in a different way. He and Brock should totally get together some time and work on their flirting skills together. I was actually rooting for U'lu to at least impress Noa by the end of the episode, but the poor guy got his heart shattered when he learned his crush/love has a fiancé.

I also appear to be one of the few people around here who saw this episode as progression of Mallow's goal. Her goal is to make the Aina Cafeteria the number one restaurant in Alola. Do people not think winning the Bread Festival for the Aina Cafeteria is a step toward that goal? Because it is, and if you look at it that way, then this episode was not really filler. It was Mallow taking one more step toward her (rather large) goal. Additionally, I think this episode showed Mallow's resourceful and her ability to turn around a bad situation. Making jam out of the leftover sour berries, and using Steenee's Sweet Scent as the last touch, was a great idea, and ended up being the saving grace.

I was also glad Team Rocket didn't interfere with the competition. Instead, they actually played fair for once and entered as legitimate competitors.

 

[DatsRight]

I definitely think this is a better example of how to do a Mallow episode, since it involved her agenda and her trying to promote and improve it in a creative way that involves her's or the other's Pokemon. Her first episode started this way, but was kinda obscure in direction and relied on TR and a DEM padding the third act like a 'classic era' episode.

If there's still an underlying problem it's that Mallow still felt a bit like second banana to a more bombastic character in this episode. She wasn't DULL and she did take presence in the end unlike her previous episodes, but her oniichan did kinda steal the show. Also Steenee DID get used, but still rather minimally, I want more characterisation besides Rowlet smacking already.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Must be super embarrassing your little sister cooks better than you going on a worldwide travel to improve yourself yet she never stepped out herself.

Mallow and development do not get along.

 

[AznKei]

Lol @ Mallow's brother being attracted by grown girls like Brock. This episode looks pretty standard with cooking contest stuff, but I like it better than the Lana's episode with all the hyping/teasing then trolling going through.

 

[mehmeh1]

yeah, seems like I'll be skipping these 2, next week looks promising though, but I said that about dewpider too, so IDK, but then again, it is a TRio episode, so it's bound to at least have fun antics

 

[Dragalge]

Re-watching the episode, I definitely don't think it's as godawful as some of you are making it out to be.

For one, this title didn't bait people hard like the Dewpider episode so it gets points over that. Second, it didn't have some boring montage of one Pokemon doing things for almost half the episode. Plus Mallow's brother didn't steal the spotlight from Mallow (and was also somewhat entertaining too considering he was a Brock of sorts in this lol) while Team Rocket were actually decent in this episode unlike the Oranguru episode. Plus Mallow at least got to do something that contributes to her goal unlike the previous one where it was just trying to find Dewpider a pond for it to live in.

Mallow is still eons from being a well developed character yes but this episode at least contributed to her goal. As for a move, while I would have liked for Steenee to learn a new one, what made people automatically 100% assume that the preview meant Steenee was going to learn something like Aromatherapy (which would have been extremely lame ngl)? Like...don't do that lmao.

 

[xEryChan]

This episode was a lot better than the previous one but it still was not that good, to be honest. I feel as though there were something they could have done to make it better but didn’t.

Mallow’s brother is a lot like Brock and I kind of got sick of that. After putting up with Brock and his pretty girl moments for how many seasons and then again in SM042, did we really need it from another character who isn’t Brock? I mean, really? That was really annoying and took away from the episode from me.

The idea of using Steenee’s Sweet Scent in the mixture was an interesting idea and I’ve got to hand it Mallow, she is really creative. That is why I am a Mallow fan, I just love her character.

Now, I’m going to complain about something. I really wish Mallow would have gotten more focus in this episode than her brother got. I get that this episode was supposed to introduce Ulu, which I am okay with, but still, they could have given Mallow more shine in this episode since it was based on her family and it was just a missed opportunity, if you ask me.

So all in all, this episode was not perfect but it was not terrible. It was so much better than the previous one.

Mallow is my favorite classmate of Ash’s so far and definitely is my favorite PokeGirl she is tied with Dawn in that category I really wish she’d get some more focus, she has not gotten any since the episode where Steenee evolved and it is really annoying at times.

 

[DatsRight]

As for a move, while I would have liked for Steenee to learn a new one, what made people automatically 100% assume that the preview meant Steenee was going to learn something like Aromatherapy (which would have been extremely lame ngl)? Like...don't do that lmao.

I will give credit that Mallow being resourceful with what she has did her more justice than say, Steenee miraculously evolving in her first episode. We've only had a couple odd times Mallow did anything clever with her Pokemon, and they tend to all involve Sweet Scent. This is where a new move or Pokemon might have helped, but it could have also dumbed things down if Steenee just got it by convenience.

Still we see where Steenee can be helpful to Mallow's cooking and that is something key.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

How many episodes has this been whose JP title has that overused "BURN WITH PASSION!!!" phrase?

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

How many episodes has this been whose JP title has that overused "BURN WITH PASSION!!!" phrase?

Exactly two this season with Torracat's episode using the exact same phrase.

Then the word Passion used once during the...that weird league from the previous region.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Exactly two this season with Torracat's episode using the exact same phrase.

Then the word Passion used once during the...that weird league from the previous region.

Fair enough.

I do sense this'll be a trend for the JP version, though...

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

Didn't like Mallow's brother at all, he feels like a carbon copy of Brock but without the talent to really care for pokémon (the only times Brock shone was when that pokémon caring side of him was the focus, other than that he was just the creep, the cook, or the exposition guy). At least he got his comeuppance when Nina already turned out to be engaged.

I think this episode would've worked a lot better if Mallow's brother hadn't appeared at all and it was just Mallow working for the bread festival. She was the one who figured out how to use the sour Grepa Berries, and she was the one who came up with the idea of using Sweet Scent. Mallow's brother hasn't done anything and quite frankly has given the audience no reason to even like him or care about him. He's been on this long journey trying to become a better cook and we see nothing to show for that. He gets a setback losing the sweet Grepa Berries and just gives up.

 

[satopi]

I enjoyed this episode. By the way, I knew this episode was going to be focused on Mao's older brother Ulu rather than Mallow herself so I'm not disappointed. Ulu reminds me a lot of Brock in the sense that he falls in love too quickly. He was a fun character and I liked that in the end, despite being heartbroken, he recovers and doesn't lose track on his journey of becoming a better cook. I really like Ulu, I wished he stayed longer.

The plot was pretty basic. Not the best but I was still entertained. I wished Mallow did more and I wonder how Mallow was at first considering that she evolved a lot the last time she seen her older brother. Was she continuously making mistakes? Was she unsure about herself? To me the only person who evolved was Bounsweet... literally. I'm happy to see they brought back Steenee slapping Rowlet again! And I love seeing how aware everyone is. specifically Mallow who noted that he's making Noa uncomfortable again. Great detail showing that Lana knew Ulu back then while Ash and Lillie are introduced to him. ('m assuming he seen Kiawe and Sophocles before.) Poor guy learned the hard way and got rejected by Noa, finding out that she's getting married. I hope he finds a serious girlfriend someday (and I'm glad to see he's thinking of his future with his partner. Not all guys think the way he does, even if he's getting too ahead of himself! )

I must say, I loved the background music that was playing when Jessie kept mixing all her ingredients together. I didn't think Team Rocket was really needed for an appearance but I'm glad that they stayed out of the main cast's business. It was also minimal and boy are they expanding their plot as being Honeymitsu Donut workers! liked/didn't mind most of the faces besides for one concerning Jesse... pretty good episode!

 

[NPT]

Boring episode. I didn't care for Mallow's older brother and his Brock-y personality.

 

[DatsRight]

I'm happy to see they brought back Steenee slapping Rowlet again!

Truthfully I'm getting sick of it, it's became too much of a 'petty abusive anime girl' gag that eclipses so much anime/manga, especially since we know now that Rowlet isn't even trying to eat Steenee. While I like Steenee got to do something else besides that gag, it's annoying how nearly every bit of relevance is connected to that gag over her developing with anyone else. It's not even expanded as a chemistry with Rowlet in particular, I could stand it if they had other interactions or Steenee was a proper Tsundere that cared about Rowlet deep down, but it's just this one gag non stop. Rowlet is ten times the Pokemon you are, Steenee, stop leeching already.

I must say, I loved the background music that was playing when Jessie kept mixing all her ingredients together. I didn't think Team Rocket was really needed for an appearance but I'm glad that they stayed out of the main cast's business. It was also minimal and boy are they expanding their plot as being Honeymitsu Donut workers! liked/didn't mind most of the faces besides for one concerning Jesse... pretty good episode!

I'm interested by the fact they're actually slowly improving business. At first they got zero customers, now they can draw in the bucks so long as there isn't any big competition nearby. I wonder if this is serving as a mini arc, and they might even catch a Pokemon to make them a proper food rival for Mallow.

 

[satopi]

Truthfully I'm getting sick of it, it's became too much of a 'petty abusive anime girl' gag that eclipses so much anime/manga, especially since we know now that Rowlet isn't even trying to eat Steenee. While I like Steenee got to do something else besides that gag, it's annoying how nearly every bit of relevance is connected to that gag over her developing with anyone else. It's not even expanded as a chemistry with Rowlet in particular, I could stand it if they had other interactions or Steenee was a proper Tsundere that cared about Rowlet deep down, but it's just this one gag non stop. Rowlet is ten times the Pokemon you are, Steenee, stop leeching already.

How can you get sick of it when it only happened 3-4 times in the entire saga? (Rowlet's debut episode, Bounsweet evolving, I think one time where Steenee was cooking, and now here) I was fearing that it was going to be a one time thing but thankfully it didn't and it's also not overused. Yes, they should create more interactions between the two but I don't think Steenee hates Rowlet or is being "an abusive petty anime girl". It's just slapstick humor which unfortunately is pretty gender biased (in the sense of hitting a man is funny but hitting a woman isn't.) One time where she hit him (the episode where she just evolved), she was unaware. I guess she doesn't want him to get too close to her. She mirrors her partner Mallow in which they are both cute supporting characters. I do agree that they should be developed more .^^

I'm interested by the fact they're actually slowly improving business. At first they got zero customers, now they can draw in the bucks so long as there isn't any big competition nearby. I wonder if this is serving as a mini arc, and they might even catch a Pokemon to make them a proper food rival for Mallow.

I know right?! I didn't even notice that they used to not get customers. I have noticed that they're consistently selling new items as well as getting their own food truck when at first, they were over the counter with a manager. I'm so happy to see how far they've progressed!! They'll definitely be a capable food rival against Mallow as well as finally being somewhat able to hold their ground against Ash.

 

[mehmeh1]

How can you get sick of it when it only happened 3-4 times in the entire saga? (Rowlet's debut episode, Bounsweet evolving, I think one time where Steenee was cooking, and now here) I was fearing that it was going to be a one time thing but thankfully it didn't and it's also not overused. Yes, they should create more interactions between the two but I don't think Steenee hates Rowlet or is being "an abusive petty anime girl". It's just slapstick humor which unfortunately is pretty gender biased (in the sense of hitting a man is funny but hitting a woman isn't.) One time where she hit him (the episode where she just evolved), she was unaware. I guess she doesn't want him to get too close to her. She mirrors her partner Mallow in which they are both cute supporting characters. I do agree that they should be developed more .^^


I know right?! I didn't even notice that they used to not get customers. I have noticed that they're consistently selling new items as well as getting their own food truck when at first, they were over the counter with a manager. I'm so happy to see how far they've progressed!! They'll definitely be a capable food rival against Mallow as well as finally being somewhat able to hold their ground against Ash.

the gag was also used for the combo attack in ultra space