A Donut Pokemon...?
I legitimately never thought I would be this obsessed over the Pokemon anime again. Oh past-Citrus, if only you knew what's waiting for you a few years down the road. So here I am, finally rewatching the original series (or Indigo League, as it's now called) for the first time in nearly 14 years.
The only reason, THE ONLY REASON I watched Pokemon from the very beginning was because of Sailor Moon. You see, waaaay back in '96/97 I would record SM on VHS when they aired at 6:30 in the morning so I could watch them later after school (aah, blank tapes and EP format. My old friends). At some point during the second season, aka Sailor Moon R (I think after the Rubeus/Ayakashi Sisters arc, or maybe it was the Wicked Lady arc), Sailor Moon moved from Fox syndication onto Cartoon Network, which meant I no longer had access to it D: (I did have a friend with cable record whatever they were calling the "Lost Episodes" though, which was probably the last 15 or so. Whatever, it was the nineties, and I don't really remember anymore. I know I DID get to see pretty much all of the first and second seasons sometime before college, so yay).
Anyway, one fateful day after school when I hit "play" on the ol' VCR, instead of finding sparkly girls fighting for love and justice, I got a "special Pokemon preview episode," which happened to be "Battle Aboard the St. Anne" (I'm serious, they went to the trouble of recording different narration and everything!) Well, it wasn't Sailor Moon, but it was pretty cute, despite feeling even at the time like one giant toy commercial/ringing endorsement of materialism (plus they were really smart picking that particular episode for a preview since it was a cliffhanger oh I see what you did there Pokemon) So anyway, though slightly cynical, that's how my sister and I got into Pokemon. We quoted it, made dumb lists of our favorite characters and Pokemon and episodes and Team Rocket costumes, we read some of the manga (of which there were three or four separate artists and stories)-- and because of all that, we were primed and ready to fall head-over-heels in love with Digimon, but that's a different story :)
So what it boils down to is that I used to be quite a fond of the first hundred or so episodes, at which point I became way over it, and never found a burning desire to revisit the series. But since a certain friend *coughcoughLELENMARGYLE* got me super-into the current season because of a certain too-cute-to-be-true blond-haired inventor *coughcoughCLEMONT* and since all of the episodes that I know and love are now on Netflix, I figured, what the heck, Nostalgia Party Time! So here's a far-from comprehensive list of Awesome Things from the first thirty or so episodes:
Things I Had Forgotten About:
Cowterpie?? Uh.... sure. Really makes me wonder what the original joke was.
Glasses + stubble + lab coat = very yes.
He looks so happy about it, too! *cries*
One million Magikarp. How could that possibly be a bad thing?
Rocket Prism Power... Make-Up!!
Trust me, this is at least as bizarre as it looks.
A hat crisis is serious business, MISTAY.
Adriaaaaaan!
Things I am Just Realizing:
The entirety of episode 3 was completely adorable, but this scene in particular. That last frame, though-- well, at least he's a cute jerk.
Kid pointing and shooting a (fake) gun at a teenager? Heavens no. Guns and monsters in a fantasy world?
Absolutely not! (granted, the original episode WAS pretty sadistic-- poor Takeru ;_;)
But adults pointing guns at children? That's A-OK!
Things I think I always felt, deep down in my long-dormant Pokemon-lovin' heart:
Is this too much like selfcest, or...?
The face that sunk a thousand ships. Dammit, Ash!
Pokemon Fashion Flash is still my absolute favorite episode (but Holy Matrimony is way up there too). Just look at those two doin' what they love! XDDDDD
I don't REALLY know how long these old episodes will keep holding my interest; there is definitely a thing as too much Pokemon, and I want to save the majority of my squealing for X/Y. I'm sure I'll go up to the Togepi/Jigglypuff episodes, but as soon as Tracey enters the picture, things kind of enter a holding pattern of "meh" (TRACEY FANS AVERT YOUR EYES). But, at the very least, they can provide some entertaining background noise while otherwise occupied, and it has been a fun trip down Memory Lane so far.
> To be continued...?
The only reason, THE ONLY REASON I watched Pokemon from the very beginning was because of Sailor Moon. You see, waaaay back in '96/97 I would record SM on VHS when they aired at 6:30 in the morning so I could watch them later after school (aah, blank tapes and EP format. My old friends). At some point during the second season, aka Sailor Moon R (I think after the Rubeus/Ayakashi Sisters arc, or maybe it was the Wicked Lady arc), Sailor Moon moved from Fox syndication onto Cartoon Network, which meant I no longer had access to it D: (I did have a friend with cable record whatever they were calling the "Lost Episodes" though, which was probably the last 15 or so. Whatever, it was the nineties, and I don't really remember anymore. I know I DID get to see pretty much all of the first and second seasons sometime before college, so yay).
Anyway, one fateful day after school when I hit "play" on the ol' VCR, instead of finding sparkly girls fighting for love and justice, I got a "special Pokemon preview episode," which happened to be "Battle Aboard the St. Anne" (I'm serious, they went to the trouble of recording different narration and everything!) Well, it wasn't Sailor Moon, but it was pretty cute, despite feeling even at the time like one giant toy commercial/ringing endorsement of materialism (plus they were really smart picking that particular episode for a preview since it was a cliffhanger oh I see what you did there Pokemon) So anyway, though slightly cynical, that's how my sister and I got into Pokemon. We quoted it, made dumb lists of our favorite characters and Pokemon and episodes and Team Rocket costumes, we read some of the manga (of which there were three or four separate artists and stories)-- and because of all that, we were primed and ready to fall head-over-heels in love with Digimon, but that's a different story :)
So what it boils down to is that I used to be quite a fond of the first hundred or so episodes, at which point I became way over it, and never found a burning desire to revisit the series. But since a certain friend *coughcoughLELENMARGYLE* got me super-into the current season because of a certain too-cute-to-be-true blond-haired inventor *coughcoughCLEMONT* and since all of the episodes that I know and love are now on Netflix, I figured, what the heck, Nostalgia Party Time! So here's a far-from comprehensive list of Awesome Things from the first thirty or so episodes:
Things I Had Forgotten About:
- Ash’s PokeDex being a literal sass machine in the first episode (it... basically called him stupid XD)
- Ash’s mom, who probably began my love of all cute anime moms (“Don’t forget to change your underwear!”)
- The PokeRap, and the fact that I used to have it memorized. How embarrassing >_<
- The fact that I REALLY LIKE MISTY OKAY. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind or call Ash out on his BS and they fight like an old married couple it’s actually pretty great.
- Meowth actually does interject his name a lot in these early episodes. He also participated in a few battles once upon a time. He used to be more than just a wise-cracking smart-alack, who knew!
- THIS SCREENSHOT.
Cowterpie?? Uh.... sure. Really makes me wonder what the original joke was.
- Seymour the (Poetic) Scientist in the Clefairy episode. Pretty cute.
Glasses + stubble + lab coat = very yes.
- A Macarena reference. OMG SO LATE 90s (This joke was more appropriately timed than Digimon’s thinly veiled Beanie Baby reference. Sorry, Digimon, you don't win this one).
- Brock has an official Pokemon tea set. Let me say that again. BROCK HAS. AN OFFICIAL. POKEMON. TEA SET.
He looks so happy about it, too! *cries*
- GARY WAS HERE ASH IS A LOSER. Whoa, sick burn there, Gar
- SQUIRTLE SQUAD you're the best (what is it with me and turtles??)
- OH YEAH MAGIKARP SALESMAN. I kind of love you and your flim-flammin' ways!
One million Magikarp. How could that possibly be a bad thing?
- James being a PRECIOUS BEAUTIFUL IDIOT DORK all the time, wow <3
Rocket Prism Power... Make-Up!!
- Pikachu doing its best to play Poke-charades and having a TON of screentime that involves it giving a million happy/cute reaction shots or just plain being too stubborn or lazy to actually fight half the time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Pikachus will NEVER NOT BE CUTE TO ME <3
- Ash making a deal with Team Rocket, after which they promptly put him in a dress and wig while pretending to be his parents XD
Trust me, this is at least as bizarre as it looks.
- The time Mankey/Primeape stole Ash’s hat and caused him to go bazonkers. Also, rice balls featured quite prominently but were inexplicably referred to as donuts. So... basically, this entire episode was COMEDY GOLD XD
A hat crisis is serious business, MISTAY.
- AAAGH PIKACHU IN BOXING GLOVES PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE WITH CUTENESS
Adriaaaaaan!
- Diglett-Dig, Diglett-Dig, TRIO TRIO TRIO. Man, that is waaay too catchy DX
Things I am Just Realizing:
- I KINDA WANT TO SHIP OFFICER JENNY WITH NURSE JOY I mean, I know there are tons of them (apparently this is Cloneshipping-- OK, well that makes sense I guess) but for reals, if the pair from Episode 2 (where Jenny drove her motorcycle through the front door of the Viridian City Pokemon Center and Joy was all “you could’ve just… parked outside, you know”
- Ash used to be a pretty big jerk sometimes! I guess he’s mellowed out a little over the years.
The entirety of episode 3 was completely adorable, but this scene in particular. That last frame, though-- well, at least he's a cute jerk.
- Also, Ash has so far obtained more than half his badges without actually winning gym battles. If he were actually playing a Pokemon game, I bet he'd be terrible at it 9_9
- Every time James kicks a Pokemon, it evolves. IS HIS FOOT MADE OF MAGIC. O_o
- Speaking of James and "lost episodes" WHERE IS THE BEACH EPISODE don't tell me they decided to pull it again oh well XP
- I thought they actually ended up dubbing the infamous Porygon episode too, and removed some frames from the part that was causing seizures :/
- Even with cutting two episodes, the censorship still seems pretty lax for a dubbed kid's show. They left in a scene where a group of people pointing assault rifles at Ash and Misty wields a cross to ward off a ghost. It's sort of surprising, because Sailor Moon couldn't get away with any gun stuff just a little earlier, nor could Digimon a few years later!
Kid pointing and shooting a (fake) gun at a teenager? Heavens no. Guns and monsters in a fantasy world?
Absolutely not! (granted, the original episode WAS pretty sadistic-- poor Takeru ;_;)
But adults pointing guns at children? That's A-OK!
Things I think I always felt, deep down in my long-dormant Pokemon-lovin' heart:
- GARY FANS AVERT YOUR EYES. Honestly, I never understood Palletshipping or Rivalshipping or whatever the heck Ash x Gary usually goes by. Like, they are rivals, sure, but they seem waaaay to competitive and petty to like each other “that way” (plus, Gary is more of an abstract concept for “the one to be better than” than an actual character for me to care about, you know?) Gary is BORING. The whole ship is BORING. Let’s move on.
- I remember really liking Duplica back in the day, and that hasn’t changed. She and Ditto have such a cute partnership and I actually… totally ship her with Ash a little bit (let’s face it: the only people that can catch and hold Ash’s attention are strong/dedicated/goal-oriented Pokemon trainers, and Duplica definitely has that going for her-- plus she calls him “Ashy-boy,” which is delivered with such wonderful inflection that's simultaneously forward, playful, and taunting- plus she can mimic anyone and she’s a born entertainer, why did she never get a spin-off show that I could be watching RIGHT NOW?? Ahem. There’s potential for a relationship there, is all I’m saying :3
Is this too much like selfcest, or...?
- Of course, THIS screenshot sort of unintentionally manages to capture how Ash's total lack of interest in actual human females renders the majority of all Ash ships quite frustratingly moot (but things are still looking good for Diodeshipping. We shall persevere!)
The face that sunk a thousand ships. Dammit, Ash!
- I don’t necessarily go in for Rocketshipping, but at the same time, I kinda... really go in for Rocketshipping. Jessie and James are just so catty-slash-fabulous together: insulting the twerps, criticizing people for their fashion sense, making dumb rhyming puns, ridiculous over-the-top machines and outfits and they're obviously very comfortable with each other from a long-term business partner and personality perspective so, you know, maybe?? Team Rocket was always my favorite part of these old episodes and I can't help loving them to this day (even if they’ve gotten a lot more boring/perfunctory over the years), and since I love confident/aggressive ladies and atypical/subverted gender roles, I can’t help thinking yes, this is a thing.
Pokemon Fashion Flash is still my absolute favorite episode (but Holy Matrimony is way up there too). Just look at those two doin' what they love! XDDDDD
I don't REALLY know how long these old episodes will keep holding my interest; there is definitely a thing as too much Pokemon, and I want to save the majority of my squealing for X/Y. I'm sure I'll go up to the Togepi/Jigglypuff episodes, but as soon as Tracey enters the picture, things kind of enter a holding pattern of "meh" (TRACEY FANS AVERT YOUR EYES). But, at the very least, they can provide some entertaining background noise while otherwise occupied, and it has been a fun trip down Memory Lane so far.
> To be continued...?