Following a Maiden Voyage! (469)

[DIZZI]

hmm a new series with a girl as the main character sounds different but looks like its got some potential.

[CyberCubed]

hmm a new series with a girl as the main character sounds different but looks like its got some potential.

Sounds different? It's about exactly the same as AG without a little brother.

[DIZZI]

no no i mean the series started with a girl right off the bat not a girl joining a group of trainers

[Bliksem]

yeah I noticed that and LOL'd. Anyway yeah the attack is definitly bide that Pocchamma uses against the Ariados. They havent used bide in the anime before have they or its been a long time at least.

thanx for the link to youtube BC, I like the music when the legendary is revealling itself to Hikari and Pocchama.

There was a Youtube link? Please show me.

[Rapiido]

The episode pictures aren't working for me.... TT Says "This page does not exist"

[Dreamcoat]

OMG! DUNSPARCE'S ALIVE?!

[Pika Hikari KT]

Rattata's also in that web, and I still insist the little guy deserves an episode to itself. It really does.

There was a Youtube link? Please show me.

I don't think we're allowed, sorry. I did watch the clip though. Pocchama's one stubborn little birdie!

[Umi Mizuno]

Hikari's mom is... freaky. Oo

Hikari's voice ok but a bit too high and girly, but I've withstood tons so I'll get use to it.

Yay for Ariados showing up, long needed screentime. :<

[Sailor Universe]

Well, I've seen the pictures, and it looks like the Shinou saga will be highly entertaining.

Hikari seems like a sweet little girl with lots of personality. The only thing that bugs me is that the producers immidiately made her a Haruka clone by giving her the ambition of being a Coordinator. Seriously, why does the female protagonist always get an ambition like that? :<

And Dunsparce gets some screentime! Yay!! Even if it just appears in a few seconds, I'm happy.

[Flamez]

Saw the episode. The start is excellent, Hikari and Poochama are great.
Hikari wants to take a whoe suitcase of clothes with her but her mom persuades her not to. lol
I loved the music.
Poochama is such a brat but at the same time its really cute. I love its personality. Poochama uses Bide against the Ariados to protect Hikari. The way they see the legendary reminds me of Ash seeing Suicune for the first time.
Hikari is pretty smart, she doesnt look at pokemon and say "whats that?" all the freakin time.
Ash is my favorite character and all but it was nice to see this episode concentrate on Hikari and Poochama.
Overall IMO, a perfect start.
Going to watch the second episode right now. Peace.

[The Benmeister]

The reaction Pocchama has upon being teased by Hikozaru is hilarious in my opinion.

[Kabuto]

LMAO, this episode was great. DP 1 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AG 1

[tangelax]

heres a link to the clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=kItajmeR2Bk, I think it its bind that pochama uses.

[BattleFranky~40]

Hikari's definatly an idiot, but a lovable one.

My favorite part was the fact that Naetoru just sat there eating his food while hell was going on in the lab.

[Akaba]

That was a pretty solid episode. Instead of haming a famous GYM LEADER parent, she had a famous COORDINATOR PARENT!

OH.

Now THAT is original.

And easily, seriously - the best part was the Hiko owning Poochama by taking it's food...

And Naetoru just eating.

Just eating.

Doin' nothing.

And I really do like Mukkuhawk. Really good desgin.

[Chatsy]

Seems people are way too caught up in the D/P hype to see that this is more of the same.

Seems some people are way too caught up in irrelevant details to make a generic conclusion which has no hold in the big picture.

Giving D/P a chance my rear end! You're already pointing and screaming "JOHTO" like a muslim would've yelled "JIHAD" at the writers. That's so... sad.

[Gravy]

Am I the only one who found it incredibly stupid that both Peck and Fury Swipes now have to be animated with that awful white glow shoved on top of them? Methinks someone behind this show has a fetish for this sort of thing. I bet shining a light on a mirror really turns them on~

And hey! Bubblebeam has, once again, been altered for absolutely no reason at all!

Also, I'd like to add that Hikozaru was freaking adorable. I loved it's 'Uki, Uki!' cry.
And Mukuhawk sounded like an early-morning rooster. Shweet.

The only real entertaining part of this episode was Poochama and Hikari fighting with each other.

The rest of the episode was fairly poor. Seems people are way too caught up in the D/P hype to see that this is more of the same.

It would be great if the good writing from AG/Battle Frontier could continue this saga, but so far they're setting themselves up for the johto syndrome.

AG 1 was pretty lame, looking back at it. All it happened to be was another mushy Ash and Pikachu episode, with Haruka's introduction kinda thrown in on the side for good measure. DP 1 wasn't exactly the best episode ever either, but at least this time around the writers actually made an iota of an attempt to do something different, resulting in something pretty enjoyable. The new character got (almost) all the focus, and some decent interaction with her pokémon, which was supplied with a decent personallity in the process. And the entire lab scene made me smile, so they're obviously doing something right.

[CyberCubed]

AG 1 was pretty lame, looking back at it. All it happened to be was another mushy Ash and Pikachu episode, with Haruka's introduction kinda thrown in on the side for good measure.

I watched AG1 yesterday in order to compare it to D/P #1, and while obviously May had far less spotlight than Hikari did, her introduction wasn't as sidelined as you remember it.

After May was introduced, she went to Birch's lab to look for him, then saw him on the field, then tried to help him with Mudkip and only got sprayed in the face, and then worked with Birch to rescue Ash/Pikachu out of danger.

D/P #2 focuses on Pikachu getting stolen/lost/whatever and found just like Ag1 did, so what's the difference? All they did was push the Pikachu story to the last half and continue into the second episode.

I also much preffered how Ash and May got to travel alone for a while before Max/Brock showed up. In D/P, we never get to see Ash and Hikari play off each other solo.

And for god sakes, seeing Ash with his AG clothes in D/P bugs the HELL out of me. He looks so out of place.

All they're doing this time is mixing the same story around. Hikari tries to capture her first Pokemon quickly, but May waits until AG2.

I also don't appreciate it that Hikari is another energetic girly girl, but that has more to do with her character in general rather than D/P #1.

[S_P]

Some people are too AG or Haruka biased to notice that there were several components that never been used before. Though we're all biased, since I tend to like episodes that have multiple events that occured sequentially.

Regardless of how you look at it, Hikari's debut different than Haruka's debut. If there weren't similar components, then it could have strayed too far from the original concept. I thought it was good in a completely different perspective. It also presented a different approach.

It also contained the strength of pokemon incorporating.

It looked like the D/P animation system is different in the context that they tried several new things. Emphasis on being lost was shown in mere seconds instead of an entire episode. Most of those facial expressions were almost never used either. The sliding of the pan I also don't recall was used often either. Also, since when did they have those square split shot sort of things? They've done split shots a million times in say battles, but the way they displayed that format was never done before. It felt nothing like AG.

Mishiro Town was so peaceful that there were no pokemon to pokemon conflicts. However, in Masago Town it seemed like by simple nature there was conflict. If D/P is really considered that much similar than AG, then congratulations since some believe AG was the best season, yay you keep the best format! But no that's false because the best part of AG was actually Haruka. I mean, the more similar it is to AG, the further it gets from things like Jouto syndrome. Isn't that a good thing?

I will say that the episode had plenty of exaggeration though. Some exaggerations were a bit much, but some were fitting in some ways.

I was satisfied throughout the episode. I liked the context, and the implementation of Hikari was definitely interesting.

[CyberCubed]

If D/P is really considered that much similar than AG, then congratulations since some believe AG was the best season, yay you keep the best format!

It generally is the same format, (Gyms/Contests, Brock, fillers, etc.), but the problem is its more of the same. The only real huge advantage D/P has so far is Ash's rivals, (Shinji and Gary)

But since they already piled two rivals on Ash, it makes me fear that Hikari won't get any at all. Are they really going to have three recurring rivals in the same saga?

I mean, the more similar it is to AG, the further it gets from things like Jouto syndrome. Isn't that a good thing?

Not if its too similar. Hikari was definitely written differently during her introduction and attitude toward Pokemon, but when you think of the future, there's the strong chance she'll revert to the same way May was in mid-Hoenn. She'll be competent, but still a bit clueless, and as such, we have a repeat of many of the same things May's character went through.

At that point Hikari will just seem like another energetic girly coordinator who is learning from the older trainers, Ash/Brock. It's far too similar a dynamic to AG, and Hikari doesn't get the benefit to her personality that May did, who had to look after a younger sibling.

I would enjoy Hikari more if she wasn't going to go down the same road May did, (Contests), because aside from the dancing, I don't see the writers treating the Contest eps any differently. Hikari will meet her coordinator friends, learn from them, etc., win a ribbon, move on. It's May's quest in a redux, and Hikari being girly doesn't help matters either.