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star3synth · 3 months ago

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the pokemon sun and moon anime: why it’s actually good and how the pokemon fandom is wrong about it

aka me analyzing (and defending!) an anime i really like purely because i can

so. the pokemon sun and moon anime. according to a large majority of the pokemon fandom, it absolutely sucks. most of the fandom completely ignores its existence at best or just spends way too much time complaining about it at worst. aside from pokemon journeys (which also doesn’t deserve the amount of hate it gets but that is a topic for another time), the sun and moon anime is probably the most widely hated portion of the entire pokemon anime series.

…..well according to me it’s actually good and worth watching, and i’m tired of people dismissing it without actually giving it a chance!

so first of all, why is it hated on so much?

one of the main reasons that people tend to hate on it is the anime’s art style. the sun and moon anime’s art style is drastically (like dramatically) different from the xy/xyz anime, so much so that it is a bit shocking and jarring going from watching that anime to this one. to be fair most of the series has stylistic changes in between regions, but this change in artstyle is huge compared to stylistic changes that were made in the past with this media. the characters are drawn and animated in an entirely different fashion than in previous region series, and the style is a lot more simplistic. people tend to just see the artstyle, hate it, and then proceed to complain about it without watching the anime at all.

i was one of those fans at first when this anime initially came out. it came out around when i was in middle school. having watched a good portion of the xy anime previously, i was pretty dang mad when i saw how the sun and moon anime looked and proceeded to ignore it entirely. fastforward a few years later and i see that’s it’s finished and out on netflix, and i randomly decide to watch it and give it a chance because i had a lot of free time on my hands. upon doing so i was amazed at how much i liked it, astounded by the quality of the story, and internally going “how did i miss this what”

concerning the artstyle, it is a big change like i previously mentioned. however, i think that most* of the characters are animated very well, and i like the artstyle (*the one exception to this opinion is ash. i do think he does look a bit weird in this artstyle). one of the things i think that this anime is very good at is expressions, and all of the characters have very varied and funny emotional expressions. there are multiple moments that i saw that i personally thought were beautifully drawn and it was clear that a lot of effort was put in. i think that the style really shows a large range of what these characters are like and how they act, and i personally think that is really cool.

some other reasons i think that people tend to hate on this anime: the change in structure and pacing, and the (admittedly small to me) change in humor/ maturity level. compared to the other main pokemon series, the structure of this anime is entirely different than the previous ones because there are no pokemon gyms in the alola region, and the league is not developed until much later on. ash instead focuses on attending the pokemon school and completing the island challenge, which results in a much looser structure than previous series and a lot more “filler” episodes. additionally, although the pokemon anime as a whole has always been aimed at children, there is a change in maturity level between the xy anime and this one. while ash and his friends still have their silly moments in the xy/ xyz anime, that anime as a whole is a bit more serious than the sm anime, with ash acting a bit more mature in that series. the sun and moon anime as a whole is a bit less mature and focuses more on humor than the xy series.

while how the structure thing is interpreted is often up to personal preference, i can see how people dislike it. personally, i think it is a refreshing and needed change of pace compared to other anime in this series. to me, the “go to eight gyms, defeat the leaders, and challenge the pokemon league” structure got pretty old pretty quickly, and i personally felt that by the time the xy/ xyz anime rolled around, that structure was getting boring and super predictable. it felt nice to not have that happen for once. additionally, the so called “filler” episodes offer a lot of insight into each character and their motives and still sometimes advance the plot in some way, with some of my favorite episodes in the series being considered filler.

the change in maturity level is not all that palpable to me. again, the pokemon anime has always been aimed at ten year olds. the xy anime still had its goofy silly moments just like other series, but there still is a change between the two. personally, i liked how the sun and moon anime was a bit more silly than previous pokemon series.

are critisms of these previously mentioned topics valid? yep! all media is interpreted differently from person to person, and everyone has their likes and dislikes.

however, my issue is that most pokemon fans refuse to even watch it and give the anime a chance before hating on it. most of the critism i see of it online doesn’t go any deeper than “well i think that the art style sucks!” when this anime has so many good things to offer.

so here are some of the things that i like about the sun and moon anime that have absolutely nothing to do with the art style, structure, or tone of it!

the anime has really good characterization. i would argue that nearly all of the main characters that get decent screentime, including ash, are multidimensional in personality and flaws, which is something that is not super common in anime sometimes. i would also argue that each character (besides the random side characters that only show up for one or a few episodes) undergoes some kind of character development, and i really like how that is handled throughout the series.

it also handles complex and hard to talk about topics really well, and talks about them in a way that a younger audience can easily understand. for example, lillie’s story of how she is afraid of touching pokemon and how she overcomes it and later finds out that it is due to a traumatizing incident that happened with a pokemon when she was younger felt like a realistic depiction of fear, traumatic experiences, and how hard people have to work to overcome their fears. this is done in a way that children can understand and digest really well without going too much into detail. (i don’t have experience with majorly traumatic events. this is my perception of it and i could be wrong.) there are also multiple episodes that talk about death and grief in a both symbolic and literal way, communicating the lessons of those stories in a way that would be clear and appropriate to their target audience. in one of those episodes a pokemon dies, and it is not communicated directly/explicitly for very obvious reasons, but the depiction of it on an implied/ symbolic level felt very thoughtful and it was interesting to me how the story was told (it still hurt me emotionally though….that ep had a lasting impact for sure). most animes aimed at a younger audience do not touch on topics such as these, and i think this anime does it particularly well.

the found family dynamics present are amazing. ash and his friends feel like a very close-knit group as the series goes on, and their dynamics are really done well in my opinion. ash’s pokemon team really does interact almost like a family, and it’s really cute in my opinion. and i didn’t forget ash, kukui, and burnet! it really becomes clear how much those three care about each other, they really do feel like a family of their own, and i just. god i love them and their dynamic so much aaaaa

ash WINS THE POKEMON LEAGUE IN THIS SERIES!!! like full on wins the whole thing!! he really deserved it after all this time!! the league also felt a lot more interesting to me this time around, with most of the major battles being well thought out and having interesting dynamics between characters. and ash coming out on top as the victor felt like an achievement that was a loooooooong time coming! (in my opinion he should’ve won the kalos league as well but whatever—)

the team rocket antics that we get in this series are top notch. the three of them literally live with a bewear and stufful (with the bewear capturing them after every single battle with the main characters) and open a malasada food truck and interfere in almost every competition event in the entire series. they also manage to watch ash during every single league battle he has in this series while *insisting* that they’re only there for work reasons and still being super happy when ash manages to win (personally i think that this is adorable). they get so much screentime compared to other series and personally? i’m here for it. i love them. they also almost manage to actually defeat ash in battle! they get so close and i was honestly a bit proud of them. james and jessie’s pokemon also have really interesting personalities and are adorable. as a whole i feel like the TR trio are just so much fun in this series while still having very few serious moments and personally i think that’s fun.

kukui and burnet are literally the cutest couple i have ever seen. i don’t usually like straight ships in media. they are the exception!! the episode where they get married almost made me die of cuteness and was so sweet!! and after they get married and the series goes on, it is so clear how much they love each other, both platonically and romantically. they win the award for most wholesome couple i swear.

team skull was also super interesting. admittedly, they didn’t show up all that often, and their interactions with the main characters were pretty short sometimes. i think guzma’s characterization was really interesting and well done. we also get glimpses of team skull in multiple episodes that emphasize their complexity and show that they are human like ash and his friends and that despite being “the bad guys”, they have their own desires too and also care about their pokemon.

ash’s pokemon also have really interesting developments and paths they take in order to become strong. litten’s and rockruff’s development are particularly good and compelling examples of this. his pokemon also have personalities that are really distinct from each other. (rowlet was my personal favorite of the bunch. it’s so cute and great.) additionally, there are multiple moments where it is emphasized that ash likes and accepts his pokemon exactly the way they are (🥺😭)

so in conclusion, i really like this anime. a lot. it has a lot of good qualities that make it worthwhile, and i think that the majority of the pokemon fandom tends to wrongly dismiss it on first glance without actually seeing what it has to offer. you don’t have to, but i would be glad if you watched it :)

*side note: i mentioned multiple times that the pokemon anime has children as its target audience. this is just simply me stating a fact. i am not meaning to imply, in any way shape or form, that it is purely just for kids and that teens and adults are wrong for enjoying it. anyone is welcome to enjoy the pokemon franchise! heck, i am 19 and am obsessed with the games and anime! i thought that mentioning the target audience was a pretty important thing to do while talking about this anime, and offending anyone with mentions of that is not my intent. i also do mention the xy/xyz anime multiple times and compare it to the sun and moon series. i do this because it is logical to compare these two series to each other since xy/xyz came shortly before sm, but it is not meant as a jab or insult to the xy anime. i also think that the xy anime is cool too i promise.*

(also if i see one more critism of this anime that is just “well the art style is bad and i hate it!” i WILL throw something out a window /hj /lh)

#pokemon anime #pokemon sun and moon #spoilers i guess?#anime analysis #ash ketchum #pokemon lillie #professor kukui #professor burnet #team rocket #cameron’s rambles #i am so autistic about this series guys

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firedragon1321 · 11 months ago

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It's Kieran hours again. Today I wanted to ramble about him, and also Carmine being an asshole. Spoilers for Teal Mask and possible spoilers for Indigo Disk (based on leaks) below.

So it's already obvious that Carmine's mistreatment of Kieran plays into his insecurity at the start of the game. The player is also at fault (hiding the truth about Ogerpon from him, spending time with only Carmine, and turning the other cheek to his mistreatment, amongst other things). Note when I refer to "the player" here, I mean the in-game avatar, not the actual human player. Others have agreed that we needed the choice to avoid hurting Kieran's feelings.

As an extension of that, we also needed the choice to confront Carmine. I know we couldn't because Teal Mask leads directly into Indigo Disk, and Pokemon games are linear by nature. But as a grown-ass adult who recognized the toxic dynamic between the siblings, I wanted to take Kieran and hide on Oni Mountain.

And it was all little things adding up to one oppressive hammer of discouragement. Constantly brushing him off, treating him as unimportant, etc. This behavior of Carmine's isn't exclusive to Kieran- the player is treated like shit until they earn her respect. But the player is from out of town. Kieran had to deal with this behavior for his entire life.

Carmine isn't evil like Lusamine (debatable due to Nihilego poison) or Ghetsis (I will get to these two in the readmore). But her behavior is still unacceptable. It's what made Kieran feel so small to begin with.

When he's finally given a chance at friendship and kindness, Carmine snatches the player, too (from his perspective). When he has a chance to catch Ogerpon, the player does instead, and he has to watch. At this point, the player is on Carmine's "side", and an extension of her lifelong psychological control over her brother.

There are rumors/leaks that a Pokemon may be controlling Kieran to a degree- similar to Lusamine- as the situation worsens. But even without this behind the scenes action, Kieran's behavior is understandable. He had two chances at friendship, snatched away by the girl who thinks he amounts to nothing and the apparent lapdog at her side.

So why bother with friendship at all? Why not become stronger and stronger, and bowl down everything in your way? It worked for the people who hurt you...

I want to veer off into other games with similar plot beats as a point of comparison. I put it under a readmore for people who don't care and for length. I'll probably add a reblog after Indigo Disk to conclude this ramble.

While Sun/Moon did a great job at portraying abuse, it didn't do a great job at resolving it. Lillie forgives Lusamine, Gladion is left to flounder, and Lusamine is resolved of increasing amounts of blame with each adaption. USUM and the anime make this issue progressively worse, with the anime barely addressing Lusamine's true nature, save one episode where it's treated as her "caring too much". I made an entire post about Gladion because this issue pisses me off. While Lillie's forgiveness of Lusamine makes sense for her character, it shouldn't be required of Gladion, Guzma, or any of her other pawns.

In Black and White, Ghetsis is not only called out on his shitty behavior, but N isn't obligated to forgive him. This remains true in all adaptations. Once Ghetsis drops the act, the game is bold enough to call it "abuse" without using the actual word. It understands that what happened to N is disgusting and horrible. In many adaptations- like Pokemon Generations- N is able to confront him- and by extension, his feelings- directly.

I also feel like Kieran is Wally if Wally wasn't a pushover. The player crushes his dreams of battling in a gym at his uncle's command. While his health is a concern, there is literally no reason he can't battle the gym. He only has Ralts and will likely lose. But he's prevented from even trying- by the person he considers a friend, no less. Wally doesn't show up again until near the endgame...where the player crushes his dreams again.

Wally takes it all with a smile. Kieran doesn't.

For Kieran specifically, I feel like they'll go the Sun/Moon route over the Black/White route. Which concerns me. If Kieran apologizes to Carmine even if he did something bad in Indigo Disk- I will throw up. He doesn't have to forgive her, or even the player.

#pokemon #tw abuse #tw parental abuse #tw neglect #all from the actual games #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sun and moon #pokemon black and white #teal mask #indigo disk #leak mention #spoilers #kieran #pokemon ruby and sapphire #character analysis #I'm still unwell over this anyway #parental abuse tag is for mentions of past games #kieran pain tag

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