The Curtain Rises! The Masters Tournament!! (1204)

[Jibanyan]

Hmmmm now why haven’t they thought of that brilliant idea….questions

Maybe they don't have that feature

 

[Sham]

Maybe they don't have that feature

Yea or… VPN’s exist. The guy has been on here since what AG? That’s probably not in the realm of possibilities

 

[doofinc]

Watched again with subs; my thoughts generally remain the same. Review time:
Positives

• Hop rightfully getting dumpstered given his place in the timeline - thankfully it's much shorter than Furfrou guy
  • This isn't a diss against Hop - I like him a lot in games. Just saying that given his apparent state in the anime, it makes sense that he isn't going toe-to-toe with Ash
• Alola League Champion Ash
• Open ceremony is pretty dope
• Girl champion moment
• Sycamore + Mairin cameos

Neutral

• Hop telling us that noone will beat Leon until Hop gets a chance monkaS
• Oh right Team Rocket exists - I think this might be the first full episode I've watched with them actually in it
  • I like their getups tbh - very similar to today's vlogger culture
• TF was Lance's pose in the opening ceremony
• Lance referencing Steven + Alain's relationship does not make up for Alain and Steven not interacting, but I already have a bunch of negatives so this goes in the neutrals
• Vines must be giving Alain PTSD
• Leon trying to hype up the audience but I think they forgot to animate the scene of showing the audience getting hyped
• Alain motivation is kinda mid TBH but I need less negatives at this rate

Negatives

• Subs helps the Ash/Iris reunion but it's still rushed
• No real Ash/anyone else interactions is also fairly bad
• No information on Alain's new mega ring + mega stone
• TBH I only just realized after 6+ years that Alain's pants are low hanging cargo pants that he wears backwards, so I have to -1 solely based on his outfit
• Battle section
  • Why did Leon GMax his Rillaboom instantly
  • Rillaboom vs Chesnaught animation was mid
  • Malamar sure got one-shot
  • Trying not to let my XY bias in but good lord the only music that was good was the Alain mega evo music. The rest of it was repetitive and boring
  • Mega Zard X sure got 3 shot in an awfully executed way
  • We didn't even get GMax Zard vs Mega Zard X, Alain got dumpstered before that
  • Alain got blown up in half an episode
• Sad Mairin moment
• No Team Rocket, this battle was ass

Overall thoughts

• It's as if they got an order to say "hey you gotta do this opening ceremony and get through the battle all in one episode"
  • Rushed to the moon
  • I genuinely wonder what would've happened with the episodes that were lost due to the pandemic if they would've added any breathing room
• Alain was wasted here
  • Very minimal strategy - the closest thing to strategy was riding the Gyro ball along whatever DMax move that was coming out of the drum
  • Even him beating GMax Rillaboom felt like nothing - it was so anticlimatic that even though it's objectively a sign of skill, I felt nothing from it
  • no BURASTO BURNS for old time salt even
  • easily the worst battle I've seen so far
• Leon dominance execution was fairly lame
  • We all know that these battles are foregone conclusions - Leon is going to win. But at least give us something interesting to watch
  • IMO instead of sheer dominance, I would've preferred if Leon were some kind of clutch god. Battles are still foregone conclusions from writing POV but we could at least get a more interesting battle
• Pray for the rest of M8
  • Extreme hopium on just betting that the other battles will be better since they actually have a full episode for each
  • Lance is gonna get dumpstered in the semis in a full battle within 1 episode...

Two weeks to fill up the salt mines.

 

[Power Up]

Can someone explain where they're getting that Ancient Power hit MCX? I've looked at the specific cuts in question as close as possible, and every time I look at it, I see MCX clawing through every single one of the rocks. Not a single one hit to my eyes. Watching the battle for the third time, I'm certain that Base Charizard was just hit by Air Slash and besides that, it was literally just Dragon Pulse that OHKOed Flare Blitz MCX. There's literally zero visual cue that there was any sort of recoil damage to Base Charizard/MCX when using Flare Blitz and the reason Alain brought Base Charizard back and used Malamar was because he didn't think he could get close enough with Base Zard, not because Air Slash did some major damage or something.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Cynthia saying “Go easy on me, okay?” Was the cutest thing ever. Okay why is everything PRIOR that awful battle good?

"Go easy on me...it'll be much easier for me not to feel bad about using all my power on your wandering Haxorus."

 

[Sham]

This episode was just disrespectful bruh

 

[Satokishi]

Alain Charizard only using two moves Flare Bltiz and Dragon Claw. While Leon Charaizard seen using Air Slash, Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast, and Ancient Power.

The battle isn't great. They don't gave Alain use all it move set. Alain acting like he can't reach Leon. When he has Flame Thrower. Asuming he doesn't have it anymore. Why don't Alain use Flame Thrower.

I can't make it out. They either completely ruin Alain move set. Was fine when it was Xyz. Blast Burn,Flame Thrower, Thunder Punch, Dragon Claw.

They really made Alain set to lose for some reason. He didnt' show out all his unknown moves. Not a good first match of master 8.

 

[RafaSceptile]

This episode was just disrespectful bruh

And unironically still better than some of the previous first episode of final tournaments arcs

 

[Almighty Zard]

And unironically still better than some of the previous first episode of final tournaments arcs

you can't get any worse than Pikachu vs Serperior.

You know, it's kind of sad that in retrospect that battle started out pretty good, with Leon using the tactical abilities of the Dyna moves to boost his Rilaboom's speed which is one of the reasons it dispatched Chesnaught so quickly.

It's a just a shame that it fell apart afterwards.

 

[Rune Knight]

Just a fun thought that I wanted to share.

My head canon likes to believe that Alain is a version of Calem who unmaliciously went rogue. Both are associated with Professor Sycamore, have black hair, a similar hair style, and close enough eye colors and facial structures.

Calem also owns a Chesnaught and Charizard X in the Adventures manga, which I tend to pass off as part of his canon team.

Chespin may have actually been Alain's original starter pokémon give to him by Sycamore as it was suggested that he already had trainer experience prior to owning a Charmander, and maybe also why he took such a fondness to Mairin and her Chespin as they reminded him of himself.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Can someone explain where they're getting that Ancient Power hit MCX? I've looked at the specific cuts in question as close as possible, and every time I look at it, I see MCX clawing through every single one of the rocks. Not a single one hit to my eyes. Watching the battle for the third time, I'm certain that Base Charizard was just hit by Air Slash and besides that, it was literally just Dragon Pulse that OHKOed Flare Blitz MCX. There's literally zero visual cue that there was any sort of recoil damage to Base Charizard/MCX when using Flare Blitz and the reason Alain brought Base Charizard back and used Malamar was because he didn't think he could get close enough with Base Zard, not because Air Slash did some major damage or something.

It got hit once

Spoiler

 

[Joltik-Kid]

True, but we are supposed to believe that Ash can beat the person who just wiped Alain? How can Ash newest team be on par with champion level pokemon that have been at this game for far longer.

Friendship

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

So did we beat Down to the Fiery Finish yet?

 

[Zweilous]

Hoo boy. That battle was freaking terrible. I tend to let things slide or see the bright side, but gross. Were they really so short on time that they couldn't give Alain/Leon their own episode? Alain deserved better than having this rushed travesty.

That said, there were pretty good elements to it. I like how Chesnaught outlasted G-Max and did damage. It lost to Acrobatics, but that's a 4x effective move and it was doing better than I thought it would. On top of that, Rillaboom went down to regular Charizard in one hit. Malamar was filler, but I was expecting one mon to exist solely to get eaten as a light snack, so it's w/e.

That also said, Alain is better than Leon and he got a raw deal. Anyway, on to the rest of the episode.

The Good

• Alain chose the best Kalos starter, just saying.
• The battle with Hop was a nice little distraction. Humorous, fun, and a good way to establish Hop's character. Even his Wooloo had its own character traits to match.
• Ash got acknowledgement from the other Champions!
• Team Rocket are still social media stars. I love it. Their outfits were ridiculous. I love it.
• Everything about Ash and Iris together.
• One thing I really liked is how the episode shifts into something more serious as we get into the Masters 8. The moment Ash and Iris see the Champions, you can tell something has changed.
• Alola League acknowledgement, sweet.
• Goh cheering for Iris. That's so sweet.
• But not as sweet as Iris thanking the crowd. Honestly, she was great in every scene she was in.
• Mairin!
• All the little interactions between the Champions. It was great.
• Grookey, you're great and I love you. I'm so glad when you're a ****-disturber, instead of a shoulder decoration.
• I loved how Alain sidestepped the Flying Max Move and had his Pokemon ride it. Real clever. Though it's kind of becoming a recurring thing at this point, where at least one Max Move will be shrugged off or countered entirely.
• I was wondering why they'd bother bother introducing Malamar. Like, just bring back one of his old Pokemon, if they're going to do absolutely nothing. But I can at least see the strategy he was going for with Malamar, and it's creative.
• So Alain wanted to battle Leon's Charizard. That's a nice little addition to the battle. Too bad this wasn't mentioned earlier.
• I hope all the episode previews are hosted by Team Rocket. This is great.

The Bad

• No Blast Burn.
• Where the heck was the budget for this and last episode? So many still shots, off-model moments, limited animation.
• When I first watched this, I missed Alain looking to Ash first. So I originally just saw Ash looking to him, and then Alain briefly looking back before turning away. It was funnier the first time because it felt like he barely even recognized Ash and wondered why this kid was staring at him. It was hilarious.
• Alain barely talked. Could they not afford Kensho Ono? I know he's busy, but he was practically mute outside of the battle.
• Chespie still hasn't evolved? Why can't this show let the little runt evolve at this point? Chesnaught would still share a similar design to her.
• It would have been nice to see Gyro Ball's speed mechanic get acknowledged. I was hoping they would, after mentioning the gorilla's boosted speed.

The Rest

• Leon talks about Ash, but I don't think he ever talked about his brother. L-M-A-O. Get freaking wrecked, Hopgoblin.
• Not an issue with the anime, but I hate Steven's ORAS redesign.
• I like how, after Iris asks the girls for a selfie together, we get a shot of Lance and his dour self as he's talking to Steven. I'm going to pretend that he's hurt Iris didn't ask him for a pic, given how they're both Dragon specialists.
• While Team Rocket are filming, you can see how slow Alain was walking across the field to reach Leon. That must have been really awkward for the audience.

 

[Hunter Zolomon]

Can you range ban him?

Unfortunately it's easier said than done. Especially with VPN around. At this point all we can do is nuke his alts as they come. Annoying as it is it only takes the click of a button. It also helps that everyone here reports his alts as well that way I can immediately see the reports. I wish he would just give it up to be honest. Why waste time making multiple accounts just for them to get banned? At this point he's just wasting time lol. It's his time that he's wasting, so his problem. So be it haha.

 

[Sham]

The soundtrack is amazing for this series. I know it’s “unpopular” but the composer here is really good. Wish the track that played when Diantha and Lance are about to fight had a name sigh

Nvm got it

 

[RafaSceptile]

The soundtrack is amazing for this series. I know it’s “unpopular” but the composer here is really good. Wish the track that played when Diantha and Lance are about to fight had a name sigh

I hope we can get either Lance or Diantha's them during their battle in the next episode.

 

[Dragalge]

Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue!

Oooooh. It's a nice peanut!

 

[Sham]

I hope we can get either Lance or Diantha's them during their battle in the next episode.

It would be sweet if they made it a purpose of playing a Champions theme of whoever is about to lose/win as a big hoorah.

We need a Leon theme as well. His imo is the best and it helps that it includes a crowd cheering anyway

It’s too bad we only ever got Gary’s/Blue’s theme ever composed

 

[DayQuil95]

It would be sweet if they made it a purpose of playing a Champions theme of whoever is about to lose/win as a big hoorah.

We need a Leon theme as well. His imo is the best and it helps that it includes a crowd cheering anyway

It’s too bad we only ever got Gary’s/Blue’s theme ever composed

Ash himself needs a theme, could be a remix of Red's, or if they decide on using Type Wild again, which I have no problems with.