#looking forward to it and to dai sato's scripts. last ep he wrote the script for was ep 79 at the beginning of the year

[amelikos]

Horizons tomorrow!

[amelikos]

Going over monthly titles for January (from HZ079 to HZ082).

Monthly calendar is here.

Starting with HZ079 (link here).

I was kind of curious about the writer for this episode since we didn't have the information until now, so my interest is extremely peaked now that we know it's Dai Sato (the lead writer) who will be writing it. Which makes this his second script in chapter 4 (the previous one was HZ071). Also, the lead writer writing the first ep airing this year is just neat.

Dai Sato also wrote HZ046 (opening episode of chapter 3) which introduced both Omodaka and Chili, and both these characters will be appearing in HZ079, so that'll be interesting in terms of interactions and battles too (I tend to find battles written by him really interesting since they have something very specific to convey in terms of characters etc.. I really enjoyed his writing around Friede and Amethio, for example).

Overall, looking forward to how this ep will be handled, especially Liko. We also know Chili will interview the trio, so I wonder what kind of questions she'll ask them and what kind of answers they'll give her. Liko, Roy and Dot were asked why they wanted Terastal back in HZ046 and they all had different answers, etc.

Continuing with HZ080 (link here).

No mention of Onyx in the summary despite the fact that we know he is going to appear. Curious about that. Also, the summary mentions Sango teaming up with the Paradox Purin so idk if they'll remain friends?

Anyway, this ep is written by Deko Akao. That will be her first ep with Sango. Back in chapter 3, she wrote HZ058 and that was her first script with Onyx too, etc. Which is quite interesting to me, because these writers are branching out in terms of characters etc. Usually, the core writers handle the Explorers characters but ever since chapter 3, we've had two other ones writing eps with Sango and Onyx. And it's Sango and Onyx specifically, and not any other characters from the Explorers.

I am not sure what to expect from this ep and the kind of progress we'll have with Sango and Onyx.. But I am very excited to see them again. I want to see them interact with each other, and maybe they'll interact with the main group too?

Continuing with HZ081 (link here).

Seems like they'll deal with Entei in a single ep? Also, this ep is written by Michihiro Tsuchiya. He wrote the Basagiri two-parter. So we'll see how he handles another Six Heroes related episode.

I wonder if they'll explain what's going on with Entei in this ep, or maybe in a later one? Not sure if Lucius's Entei was always a Paradox one, or if he somehow mutated or something after what happened in Rakua.

And the month ends with HZ082 (link here).

I really like the title for this episode. Reminds me of how poetic the title for HZ075 was.

Seems like the Japanese title for this ep is 光り出した虹の先で and I want to point out that these words are said in the lyrics for Halo (the second opening). They are the last lyrics of the song (just before the "I found my dream", etc).

No summary for now, but it's written by Kureha Matsuzawa (the script coordinator) so I'm always very invested in his writing and narrative. He wrote the original Explorers backstory, the AmeLiko ep, etc.

I think this ep is probably going to have Rayquaza? Everything we've gotten in terms of titles and summaries matches what we've had in the trailer a few weeks ago. Omodaka, Sango and Onyx, Entei, and then Rayquaza. Last time the group saw Rayquaza was in HZ045 (Rayquaza appeared in the Lucius flashback in HZ075 but that's another thing since that was a story from the past etc).. Curious if Rayquaza could sense that all the Heroes gathered together and decided to show up to test Liko and Roy. Rayquaza has agency and also decided to appear back in HZ033, etc. I wonder if Rayquaza will join the group afterwards or not?

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Overall, looking forward to this month's episodes etc. One episode by Dai Sato, Sango/Onyx, one episode by Kureha Matsuzawa..

Not sure if they'll sneak in some appearances from the Explorers besides Sango and Onyx? Two of the usual writers handling Explorers eps are there, and if Sango and Onyx are appearing in ep 80, maybe we'll get some insight from the Explorers side of things this week? Like, Sango and Onyx being given a mission, which would explain their presence in ep 80. Not sure for ep 82, we don't know what comes after that ep so I'm not sure if the Rayquaza stuff will go on for another ep. (I am very invested in whatever is going on with Amethio's family drama, Gibeon and everything else, so I can't wait for what'll come next. Give me the old man, etc.)

[amelikos]

Going over information for February episodes (from HZ084 to HZ086).

Mostly taking a look at the writers list for this month now that the information has been released.

Starting with HZ084 (here).

Noting that Naohiro Fukushima is writing this ep.. We know the Six Heroes are going to appear, so that's the first time this writer will be handling an episode with them.

Continuing with HZ085 (here) and HZ086 (here).

No summaries released in the monthly magazine, so I take it as "we want to hide a little more what these episodes will be about".

But we do know that Kureha Matsuzawa (the script coordinator of Horizons) will be writing both episodes.. which is a great point of interest to me. He wrote the last two episodes (Rayquaza joining the group, and Amethio's focus episode). Surprised that almost four episodes in a row are written by him (ep 84 won't be though, so that's just one week skipped before going back to two eps in a row by him).

Since he wrote the original Explorers backstory and most of eps with Amethio and Gibeon, I'm looking forward to what's in store. Especially since we do know by the upcoming preview that Amethio will side with Liko and her friends, and that Lucius and Gibeon will meet again.

Also, ep 86 is airing one day after Pokemon Day. Makes me wonder what kind of reveal we'll have on that day that could be relevant to ep 86. Probably some kind of news related to Legends ZA (and by extension, Zygarde?), or something. When the Indigo Disk DLC was released on December 14 (2023), HZ033 aired one day after that and it was the episode in which Pagogo turned into the Terastal Forme for the first time in the series. So, some news coincide with anime episodes etc. (Personally, I dislike when game stuff is implemented in the anime in a way that harms the original narrative or feels like obvious "hey, buy our games, this is nothing but promotion, and also look at these characters from the games". Which means that most of the time, I don't want to see game characters or any game events etc. So far, Horizons has been good about this but still, my only demand is for it to keep being original and if game stuff has to be implemented, it has to be in a way that elevates the original narrative and feel natural. Please and thanks :v)

Either way, I'm curious who will be writing the remaining episodes of chapter 4. I think there will be three episodes airing in March. There was some kind of info about the second season (in the dub, named "the search for Rakua", I think??) having 44 episodes. (So if calculations are right, it means chapter 4 will end in HZ089 etc).

If Kureha Matsuzawa is already handling so many episodes in a row, I wonder if he'll be writing more for March or if the climax will be handled by someone else.. Naruki Nagakawa or Dai Sato? For information, so far the climax of each chapter has been handled by one of these three writers. Chapter 1: Dai Sato, chapter 2: Kureha Matsuzawa, chapter 3: Naruki Nagakawa. Anyway, the Rakua episodes look very promising! Also a bit stressful since we don't know what will happen after this w

Also, for future reference, the Animedia character poll is here. Love seeing Liko on those. And the Wonderful Precure girls all being up there too!