#plus it's either being homeless w the league or being homeless on his own so at least with those guys he can mooch a mcds or smth

[aro-aizawa]

i don’t know if someone’s made the connection before or if this is a new hot take or anything but i 100% believe that the only reason dabi joined the league and admired stain was because he called his dad a bitch and tried to straight up kill him on camera so.......

[themattress]

Best Wishes vs. Sun & Moon: comparing the similarities and analyzing the differences

In terms of the three Pokeani shows that have run throughout the last decade, Pokemon: Best Wishes (2010-2013) and Pokemon: Sun & Moon (2016-2019) are a lot more compatible with one another than Pokemon: XY (2013-2016), and the reasons why are worth analyzing. 

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BEST WISHES AND SUN & MOON:

Ash has a sillier, more immature portrayal and screws up a lot more - In an effort to return Ash to his roots and justify keeping him eternally 10 years old, the writers made Ash act more like a real 10 year old would. After all, his skills as a trainer shouldn’t have to make such a drastic impact on his personality, and their core audience in Japan reportedly found the “mature” Ash of XY terribly boring, which factored into that show’s ratings decline.

Ash travels to the region with his mother on a trip and stays there unexpectedly - In both BW and SuMo, Ash doesn’t set out to the show’s region by choice. He instead accompanies his mother there when she’s going on a trip (in the case of BW, alongside Professor Oak as well) and then stays after finding out about something: for Unova, it’s that it has a League Challenge, and for Alola, it’s that there’s a Trainer School that he thinks is cool.

A Legendary Pokemon takes an interest in Ash and Pikachu at the start - In BW, it’s Zekrom, who lends Pikachu its power, in SuMo, it’s Tapu Koko, who gives Ash a Z-Crystal.

Ash gets a regional starter who remains unevolved and mostly used for comic relief - In BW, it’s the spotlight-hungry Oshawott, in SuMo, it’s the lazy, backpack-dwelling Rowlet.

A recurring Pokemon ultimately becomes part of Ash's team - In BW, it’s a Sandile turned Krokorok who wants to defeat Pikachu, in SuMo, it’s a homeless, distrustful Litten.

Ash gains a main rival with blonde hair and a bad attitude - In BW, it’s Trip, who looks down on Ash for being a foreigner, in SuMo, it’s Gladion, who is an ill-tempered loner.

Ash gains a goofier rival more akin to him shortly before the League - In BW, it’s Cameron, who goes on to defeat Ash at the League, in SuMo, it’s Hau, who Ash defeats.

Ash's companions are all regarded as his equals - In the OS, Ash and Misty were equals but Brock was clearly in a higher position and was their caretaker. In AG, Ash and Brock were now equals but May and Max were beneath them, with May gradually becoming their equal overtime. In DP, Dawn started out beneath Ash and gradually became his equal, but Brock somehow sank to a lowly, almost useless position in the group. And in XY, everyone was beneath Ash from start to finish. BW and SuMo are the only times where Ash and his companions are all equal in their group dynamic, with each bringing something to the table.

Lana and Mallow bear some similarities to Iris - Iris is the heroine of BW, while Mallow and Lana are two of SuMo’s heroines. Like Iris, Mallow has dark skin instead of pale skin, a cheerful disposition, and a detailed emotional backstory. Lana meanwhile, shares Iris’ wild athleticism and prodigious affinity with nature, plus a frequently snarky and teasing attitude. 

Kiawe bears some similarities to Cilan - Cilan of BW and Kiawe of SuMo both appear at first glance to be fairly serious and professional in their attitudes, but pretty quickly show that they are far more flamboyant and comedically gifted characters than you would expect.

The TRio is sent to the region by Giovanni himself under a certain directive - In BW, it’s to lead the charge in a large-scale operation to take over Unova, in SuMo, it’s to conduct research on Alola’s Pokemon and capture the strongest ones (and later to master Z-Moves).

The TRio are the stars of their own subplot with their own new status quo - Rather than just following Ash and his friends around all the time like in the OS, AG, DP and XY, the TRio in BW and SuMo usually have their own matters to attend to. In BW, it’s engaging in missions for the Team Rocket organization, in SuMo it’s any number of odd jobs and side exploits. Through most of BW, they stay in Dr. Zager’s mobile research lab, through most of SuMo they stay in Bewear’s cave on Melemele Island which they construct a secret base above.

The TRio don't appear in every single episode - Although XY also kept this trend up.

The TRio are more competent and successful than is normal for them - The TRio succeed at their endeavors just about as often as they fail, and even their failures don’t tend to come so easily as their strategic thinking, technology, and Pokemon power has improved.

The TRio don't do much "blasting off" anymore - In BW, they usually make escapes (often on jetpacks) when defeated, in SuMo, Bewear almost always arrives to rescue them.

The TRio have another mission commander in place of Giovanni when he's busy - In BW, it’s Dr. Zager whom the TRio gets along with, in SuMo, it’s Matori whom they do not.

Giovanni takes up the Big Bad position once again - BW and SuMo are the only other times after the OS where Giovanni is the primary overarching villain who has conceived and is now conducting a master plan to take over the world by harnessing some great power. This transpires during the first and second years of BW, and just during the second year of SuMo.

It's a three-year show with mostly excellent pacing - For the most part, things don’t drag in BW and SuMo, with each stage of the show as determined by the current plot directive lasting precisely as long or short as it needs to. The only exceptions are the entirety of BW’s third and final year, and the middle of SuMo’s (between Poni Island and the Alola League). 

The region is faithfully adapted from the games - Although XY also kept this trend up.

The N / Team Plasma arc has similarities to the Nebby / Cosmog arc - Both of these story arcs are similar in length (14 episodes and 12 episodes respectfully) and thus have a very tightly-written, compact plot that plays almost like a mini-series. They are also loosely adapted from the games’ plots: a mix of B/W and B2/W2 for the former, S/M for the latter. 

The Meloetta arc has similarities to the Poipole arc - Both are as near cinematic as the previously mentioned arcs but less tight and more open in range, able to be extended through other plot points in the show. They also both feature a cute, rare Pokemon (well, Ultra Beast in Poipole’s case) who take a liking to either Ash or Pikachu and travel with them. Both arcs are also a part of both shows’ second years and conclude at the end of that year.

There are specific callbacks made to the Original Series - The biggest one in BW being the return of Ash’s Charizard, the biggest in SuMo being two guest spots by Misty and Brock.

The pattern of the movies in each year is the same - A well-crafted but notably flawed movie in the first year, an excellent movie that does something entirely different than what’s come before in the second year, and the weakest movie that stars Mewtwo in the third year.

The show's primary focus is on humor, adventure and character dynamics as opposed to shonen-style battling, shojou-style beauty contests, or adherence to formulas of the past - Really not much else to say here. That description kind of speaks for itself already.

The Pokeani fandumb can't stand it - For many of the reasons listed above, especially the previous one, since BW and SuMo both directly followed shows that were fandumb darlings because their primary focus was on shonen-style battling, shojou-style beauty contests, and adherence to formulas of the past: DP and XY respectively. Thus they will not shut up about how much they hate BW and SuMo, especially when compared to DP and XY, and take every opportunity on every platform they get to bitch and whine about how they’ve ruined the anime because they dare to be catered toward kids and not toward them and their entitled desires. But personally, I’ll take a well-made kids’ show over a bland, edgy pander-fest any day.

WHAT SUN & MOON DOES BETTER THAN BEST WISHES:

The animation - Many knock SuMo’s art style and I will admit I prefer BW’s, but the actual animation in SuMo is leagues and bounds ahead of not just BW but every previous series.

The humor - Not that BW couldn’t be funny, because it often could, especially when Shoji Yonemura wrote an episode. But SuMo, under new direction and with a new head writer plus many other new writers, is fresher and funnier in its humor, and it makes me laugh harder.

The worldbuilding - Unova may be rendered faithfully from the games, but Alola is even moreso. And because it only has a limited number of locations to use, it can flesh them out considerably more than locations in previous regions, building a recurring cast of side characters along with it, and as a result Alola feels realer and livelier than any prior region.  

The central cast - In BW, the central cast was relatively small as usual: Ash, Pikachu and the rest of Ash’s Pokemon, Ash’s two new companions and their Pokemon, and Team Rocket. Everyone else were occasionally recurring side characters. But in SuMo, we not only have Ash, Pikachu and the rest of his Pokemon, and Team Rocket, but also Ash’s five new companions / classmates, Professor Kukui as the first professor to be a regularly appearing character, Burnet, Samson Oak, Lusamine, Faba, Wicke, Gladion, and each of these character’s Pokemon!  And they all manage to be so varied, interesting and enjoyable! 

Ash, Pikachu and the TRio’s characterization - Ash may have had a sillier, more childish personality in BW, but it wasn’t done well. He was still written as pretty boring, irritating, and 1-dimensional, with Pikachu still being little more than a parrot who just reacted to everything in the same way Ash did. You can chalk that up to Atsuhiro Tomioka still being the head writer. And as badass as the TRio was in BW, they mostly had to suppress their personalities while on the job in order to get things done, and this rubbed many viewers the wrong way. SuMo, thanks to head writer Aya Matsui, actually writes all of these characters better, with Ash being enjoyable and endearing in the first time since forever, Pikachu actually having personality beyond Ash and even able to do things without him, and the TRio managing to be badass while still displaying their personalities...and it’s their actual personalities from back in the OS days, not the flanderization from AG and DP or...whatever the Hell they were in XY.   

The personal arc of the heroine(s) - Iris has one of the better personal arcs of any Pokeani heroine, but it was still notably flawed: in the middle of the show’s second year it suddenly stopped for a lengthy period of time while Ash and Cilan hogged the spotlight, then the writers had to pick it up again in a totally different and bumpier way than intended thanks to B2/W2, and then it got rushed to its conclusion at the start of the third year, with no follow-ups until an episode in the Decolore filler arc and a connected side-story special that aired five months later than it was originally intended to. There are no such issues with Lillie, Lana and Mallow’s arcs, which progress in a natural way, with Lillie’s standing as the best in the whole Pokeani.

The Myth Arc - Wow, was BW’s Myth Arc screwed over! Iris’ connection to it was severed, Zekrom never showed up again after the first episode, N and Team Plasma didn’t appear until the third year and their storyline was drastically altered from what was originally intended, there was a 45 episode gap between events transpiring within it, and just like DP’s it ended in an anti-climactic way and well before the actual show was ready to end...it was just a mess. SuMo, otoh, has its Myth Arc centered around the secrets of Alola unfold from start to finish without a hitch, and unlike XY it actually fully transpires within the confines of the show.  

The League Tournament - The Unova League sucked, there’s no way around it. Aside from Ash vs. Stephan, it was a travesty in everything from characters to story to battles. But the Alola League is the exact opposite, being the best League arc the Pokeani has ever had.

The show's structure in general - BW’s structure is solid for the most part, but there are some problems: half of the second year’s story stages (Nimbasa City Tour, The Road to Mistralton, and End of the Badge Quest) are notably shakier in content than the other stages from the first year and other half of the second year. And then there’s the goddamn third year, which not only has the aforementioned Unova League but also is paced like a checklist for the rest of the Unova Saga, speeding through the climax of Iris’ personal arc, the Unova League, and the N / Team Plasma arc that wraps up the show’s Myth Arc, and then wasting the last 5 months on the wildly uneven, passionless Decolore filler arc which was clearly mandated so that early Gen VI promotion could happen that would be certain to air in the US during those games’ worldwide release. SuMo’s structure is almost flawless in comparison.

The “Shudo style” - While both BW and SuMo aimed to follow the style of the OS’ original head writer Takeshi Shudo, the writing team of BW under Atsuhiro Tomioka weren’t quite as properly equipped to do so in spite of director Norihiko Sutou’s best efforts, often coming off as trying too hard. When they nailed it, they really nailed it, but otherwise you could tell it was an imitation. With the writing team of SuMo under Aya Matsui, it feels so much more natural and true. It’s ironic, since all of BW’s writers actually worked alongside Shudo when he was around, but Matsui and her team are somehow more instinctively inclined to Shudo’s style.

WHAT BEST WISHES DOES BETTER THAN SUN & MOON:

The villains - SuMo has a villain problem. Team Skull doesn’t show up nearly as much as they should and Guzma only appears in the third year to be the villain of the Alola League arc, Giovanni and the elite Team Rocket squad of Matori Matrix are great but also very seldom appear, Lusamine isn’t a villain at all, Faba does a good job as the villain of the Nebby arc but he becomes a full-on good guy afterward, a rich asshole named Viren becomes less threatening and more comedic the more he shows up, the Ultra Beasts are just rampaging monsters, even the TRio and their Pokemon sit out of doing evil deeds regularly. BW, when in Unova at least, handles its villains a lot better: the TRio as the regular villains are actually competent and threatening and true representatives of the Team Rocket organization, Giovanni has a constantly looming off-screen presence even when he isn’t showing up in person and Dr. Zager is great at filling his commanding role in his absence, and Team Plasma appears with their own story arc after the overarching Team Rocket arc finally concludes at the end of the second year and, Ghetsis aside, are portrayed very well.

The rivals - The only rival characters in SuMo are the games’ rivals, Hau and Gladion. Hau only appears in one episode before the League, where he loses to Ash in a hilariously cruel way that underscores just what an afterthought he was to the writers, and while Gladion is a great rival for Ash, his personal arc has nothing to do with him whatsoever, it’s all about him and his family. While BW’s cast of rivals weren’t always handled properly, they at least provided a lot of variety: with Ash’s rivals being Trip, Bianca, Stephan, Cameron, and a League-exclusive rival Virgil, Iris’ rival being Georgia, Cilan’s rival being Cabernet, and even Ash’s rival Stephan getting his own tournament rival in Montgomery. It especially seems odd that SuMo has such a larger central cast than usual, and yet only Ash gets any rivals. Wouldn’t it be awesome if Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and/or Sophocles had rivals? Yeah, large casts of rivals didn’t work too well under Tomioka, but Matsui could’ve made it work!

The scenery - The price for such great worldbuilding in a limited number of locations is that the scenery is going to stagnate. You’ll be seeing the same environments episode after episode after episode, and it can get tiring. The benefit to a series where the characters are always traveling is a variety of scenery, as almost every episode has a new location in it.

The dramatic weight - I don’t know what it is, maybe the art style, maybe the constant injections of humor, or maybe just the situations themselves, but the occasional high-stakes events in SuMo just don’t have the same gravitas that the high-stakes events in BW have. With BW, I always felt something serious was at stake whenever a big crisis hit, whether that be Castelia City, Milos Island, all of the heroes’ Pokemon, individual lives, the entire Unova region or, in one case, the entire world. I’ve never felt that with SuMo, all of the big events involving Ultra Beasts and Legendary Pokemon feel smaller in scope and more contained.

The English dub - The English dub of BW gets weaker as it goes on, but on the whole it is serviceable, with a lot of good performances. The English dub of SuMo, otoh, is a disaster. There are very few redeeming qualities to be found. Just stick to subtitles for this one.

[cdubs271-blog]

Bachelor Recap - Arie Ep.2

Hello everyone. Arie almost made it into the endzone before either or Georgia or Alabama. Let's take a look at the action...

Arie shows up on a motorcycle and leather jacket. Chris Harrison shows up in an perfectly fitted untuckit shirt. Advantage Harrison.

1v1 w/Becca K

Becca and Arie go on a motorcycle ride. Upon seeing the beautiful scenery, Becca mentions, "We're not in Kansas anymore." No shit. Was it the mountains or the Pacific Ocean that gave it away? But Matt, you say, surely she meant it as a cliche. Well, that's even worse! Don't bring common cliches to the Bachelor. This isn't "The Amazing Race".

Anywho, they end up meeting Rachel Zoe and Becca gets to try on a lot of dresses in front of Arie, which is kind of creepy. She ends up getting to keep all of the dresses she tried on (plus shoes! and earrings!) and then the Producers are in mid-season form already as they have her bring all of her swag back to the mansion for everyone else to see. Quality Bacheloring right there.

At dinner, Arie gives her a necklace. (Damn, Arie! How much bling you gonna give her. It's the first date. Don't blow the whole season's budget on the first night.) Becca talks about her father dying from brain cancer. Arie is moved. Becca ends up getting a rose, some confetti and some serious swag. A very productive first date for her.

Bama/UGA is at 0-0. My decision to watch the Bachelor instead is looking good so far.

1v1 w/Krystal

Upon hearing she's getting a date, Krystal proclaims she needs to get some beauty sleep. Cut to the next morning and it looks like her plan worked. Let's get on a plane!

We get to see Arie's house. It's a nice single family house with an open concept. ABC doesn't own HGTV, so my dream of a Bachelor/Property Brothers crossover isn't going to happen. But it should. Better yet, let's get a little Chip and Joanna Gaines action. First lady to profess her love of shiplap gets a rose.

We also get to see some home video footage of Arie that just happens to be lying around. As a child, Arie is incredibly blond. He is now a mix of grey with black highlights. Holy Just for Men! What happened?

We then have some boilerplate "family is important" convos as Arie takes Krystal to meet his family. At dinner, Krystal tells our Bachelor that she grew up in a "less traditional sense." Oooooooohhhh! Did she grow up in a circus? Hippie commune? A dystopian society where children are selected to compete in a compulsory annual televised death match? 

No. Divorced. Mom was emotionally distant. 

C'mon, Krystal. This is the big leagues. You've gotta do better than that. 

Wait? Your brother is homeless and doesn't want to leave the streets! Now, we're getting somewhere.

After dinner, Krystal gets a rose and gets to be serenaded by Connor Duermit, who probably has a cousin that is an associate producer on the show or something. Becca gets multiple dresses, earrings, shoes and a necklace. Krystal gets Connor Duermit. Advantage Becca...and Chris Harrison (just because).

Still 0-0 between Bama/UGA. I'm a genius.

Group Date

15 women. Demolition Derby! Excuse me while I open up my "woman driver joke" folder. I knew having that would come in handy some day. This looks like a fun date, but Annaliese is crying. Why? Because she has painful memories of being caught in a bumper car pile-up as a child.

Sigh. However, that bumper car montage! Well done, producers. A+ Bacheloring.

Annaliese sucks it up and decides to do the derby. Beka, who may have just gotten her learner's permit, is highlighted by the producers. However, Seinne and Tia make it the longest, with Sienne as your winner.

Brittany T doesn't join everyone for drinks after because of getting injured during the derby. Lame. Arie walks in wearing a grey cardigan, which instantly makes him look 20 years older. Jesus, Arie. Take a look in the mirror before you go outside.

Chelsea steals Arie right away. Tells him about her son. Angers the rest of the women. The other 14 start trying to figure out who's turn is next to be with Arie. Just make a list, ladies! Holy hell.

BIbiana is pissed that she isn't getting time with Arie. She storms out of the main room saying "I don't have a strategy." Ugh, clearly. It's ok to have a plan of attack here, Bibs. It's The Bachelor, not the college football championship (which is now at 6-0 UGA, with all points coming from the next Bachelor).

This brings us to Beka kissing with Arie. Between Arie's grey hair/cardigan combo and Beka still being on a curfew, the only person who wasn't weirded out by this was Roy Moore.

Arie gives Seinne the rose after giving a head-fake to Chelsea. Suck it, Chelsea.

Rose Ceremony

"The stakes are raised." Once again, ladies. It's The Bachelor. The stakes are never not raised.

Arie checks on Brittany T to see how she's doing. He then gives her a "Most Hardcore" award certificate for how well she did in the demolition derby. This is BS, because if she was really the "Most Hardcore", she would have made it to the cocktail party, concussion or no. Alcohol helps concussions. That's science.

Bekah talks about her "make out sesh" with Arie. This is turning into the weirdest Babysitters' Club Book ever. Also, how the hell does she afford that fur on a nanny's salary?

Krystal is getting Bachelor Syndrome very early. You're locked up in a mansion without no contact to the outside world and your sole purpose is to try to get one guy to love you. Common sense and basic human decency quickly fade. She's interrupting people left and right, even though she's got a rose. She's going a little Stage 5 clinger over here.

At the Rose ceremony, Valerie, Lauren G and Jenny don't receive roses. Maquel gets the first rose. Standard fare until Jenny won't give Arie a hug good-bye. Jenny didn't want to leave her newly-made friends (Arie...meh) and has also never been dumped before. Uhhhhh....me too.

Spare Thoughts

Special thanks to ABC for putting the rose ceremony back at the end of the episode.

Bibiana looks wayyy different with her hair pulled back vs her hair down. She also could easily be traded to Real Housewives of New Jersey and not miss a beat.

Bachelor contestant application questions:

What are your measurements?

What is your saddest personal life story?

Valerie did her best Melisandre cosplay for the rose ceremony. The night is full of terrors. Which you'll face alone. With no man. Possibly for the rest of your life.

Arie's friend collects doll parts? Is he a Batman villain?

13-0 UGA at the end of the rose ceremony. 2nd half was much better it seems. Very proud of my decision making tonight.  

Looking forward to next week. Please feel free to add some of your own thoughts in our thread below.