Saving Darmanitan From the Bell! (667)

[gliscor&yanmega]

Looks like there is a little confusion to whether this is filler or not.

I'd say it's not since it does advance the plot for Team Rocket. Sure it's not full of stuff and nothing really for Ash and that but it still had Team Rocket getting ready for their next mission which if it's shown then would mean this was in fact not filler since it's related to this episode.


Although I don't care, I liked the episode regardless. Had a little shock with Hihidaruma appearing in it's other form which I don't think was in the opening. I wonder how they will do that for the opening though, if they will at all. I'm hoping that when it gets to Hihidaruma it will appear as it's pure Fire self then it changes into it's other form. Unless the other form was in the opening and I missed it, wont know until next episode I guess.

[Krizor]

There's no confusion for me, this episode was a flat out filler in my eyes.

TR getting a suitcase was not a major event and could have easily been done off screen.

[garfield15]

Hihidaruma Daruma Mode secondary type is Psychic though. Which was the mode it was in when using Psychic.

Right. I'm saying, I did not know that bit.

There's no confusion for me, this episode was a flat out filler in my eyes.

TR getting a suitcase was not a major event and could have easily been done off screen.

But we won't know how important it is until we get to Shippou City. Or then we'd be wondering "how did they get that super-important suitcase."

Or, even more importantly, what if there's a Pokemon in it?

The fact is that something in this episode happened that will affect the plot of a later episode. To what extent remains to be seen, but even if it's just 2 minutes, it completely removes it from filler even if it seem insignificant.

[Joe.]

Wait people are saying this wasn't a filler? lol.

[Darkxninga]

This episode was the attack of the "mexican jumping beans" ^__^ i wanted to poke them. Though, they looked a little ....strange.

Imo, i'd call it a filler. It was interesting though filler or not. Im a little confused on why the giant ape monkey was in the "frozen/standby" state and afterwards (i watched it in japanese with no subs of course). So, i'd give this episode a 6.5/10~

[Ciccone]

So then, we finally arrive at Best Wishes episode 8, the Darumakka and Hihidaruma episode. It seemed like it took us forever to get to this episode but at least it there were some fun events in between. I remember speculating on the events that would ultimately occur in this episode a few weeks ago but once again, I was pretty much off the mark when it came to my theories on the story. This episode wasn't nearly as entertaining as I had once thought it would be. We got some cool footage in the preview for this episode but it was just showing us the more exciting parts while the actual episode wasn't all that. It wasn't too boring though, and I'll try to point out the main interesting parts of this episode. Well then, things started out with our heroes, Ash, Iris, and Dento, setting up the table for a nice relaxing lunch by some river in a new town we've never seen before. I thought the setting of this episode looked a lot like Shippou City at first, but upon further inspection, it looked to be just another anime-exclusive town that wasn't all that important haha. It had looked like we had finally arrived at Shippou City, so I got a bit carried away. Sorry.

Anyway, Iris was seen bringing Ash, Pikachu, and Kibago a plate of berries she had apparently picked in the forest. Seems like it's Iris' quirk in the Best Wishes anime; picking berries from the forest. I feel sort of bad for Ash since berries must not be the best food to be eating. To my surprise though, Ash seemed excited about eating them. I wonder if he was just really hungry. Iris then proceed to place three berries (Oran, Pecha, Sitrus?) on a stick like one of those shish kabob things, which was odd. Ash wanted one of those neat berry shish kabobs, but Dento took the plate away from him haha. What was that music playing in the background though? I don't think it was from the games but it sounded really nice. Anyway, Dento proceeded to cook the berry shish kabobs but suddenly, Iris and Ash noticed that a Darumakka suddenly just walked into their camp! I must say though, Darumakka sounds terrifying in the anime haha. After the Opening credits, we saw Ash scanning Darumakka in his PokeDex since it's a new Pokemon to him and he always has to scan them apparently. Iris went to pet the Darumakka but it blew fire in her face! Haha, I'm liking this guy already.

I did notice that Darumakka looked bigger in the anime than I would have thought. Meanwhile though, while everyone else was distracted by the Darumakka, another Darumakka went behind Ash and friends and stole some of the Pokemon food that had been left out for Pikachu and Kibago. That's pretty crafty there; Pokemon distracting humans to steal food. Those Darumakka are pretty smart lol. Pikachu was the one who noticed the missing food, and it was clearly upset. Oh please Pikachu, you needed to lose weight anyway. Pikachu thought that Kibago had stole the food but Iris defended it. Ash was going to ask Darumakka if it had seen anything, but Darumakka had fallen asleep in a ball haha. I laughed harder when Iris just poked it and it wobbled back and forth. While that was happening, Pikachu noticed another Darumakka stealing the food. Kibago thought Pikachu stole it this time and they fought. Ash and Iris broke that up and then they noticed the second Darumakka that was behind the table. They chased it but it used a wall of fire to keep them away. We got some nice Isshu Wild Pokemon battle music that usually plays for rare Pokemon in there though, which fit the situation perfectly.

The two Darumakka made a run for it but Ash sent out Mijumaru to fight them. Dento told Ash to use a Water-type attack and Ash had Mijumaru use Water Gun on the Darumakka. That failed though as the Darumakka dodged it. The Darumakka then used a Fire-type attack and knocked Mijumaru out cold! No! Poor Mijumaru. The Darumakka then fled, lucky punks! I would've ripped them apart for hurting Mijumaru! Iris and Dento appeared next to Ash next, and I just noticed that Dento had an apron on. He looked faaaabulous in that; you go girl! Ash decided to take Mijumaru to the Pokemon Center in that town and when he arrived, he had Nurse Joy check on Mijumaru. She then has Tabunne take it away for healing while Ash looked on sadly. I'd be sad too, since Mijumaru is so lovable. Meanwhile, outside a cafe in the same town, we saw Team Rocket having some coffee. What was interesting was when the waiter came and Jessie asked for a "Rocket Cappuccino". The guy knew what she meant, like it was a secret code or something. Pretty neat there. Anyway, back at the Pokemon Center, Mijumaru was fully healed thanks to Nurse Joy and Tabunne's efforts. We heard that 8-bit healing jingle again, which was interesting. Ash seemed glad that Mijumaru was safe and returned it to it's Pokeball.

Iris mentioned the Darumakka from earlier and Nurse Joy seemed to recognize them. She looked out at the sunset as she told the story of how the people in the town loved the Darumakka but then about how the Darumakka became pests who stole food. I didn't get the story myself, but I just sort of rolled with it. After the story, Iris noticed a tower outside through the Pokemon Center window. Nurse Joy then explained how it was the town's clock tower. Right after that, just on time to ruin the moment, Ash's stomach announced it was hungry and I loved that look on Pikachu's face. He really looked annoyed. Ash and friends then decided to stay for dinner since it was getting late. I was surprised by how much Iris and Ash ate though. Nurse Joy came in to announce something regarding more food so Ash and friends went to check it out at the kitchen, but soon discovered those two Darumakka again, stealing food. The Darumakka fled the Pokemon Center but Ash sent Mamepato after them. I liked that Isshu Gym battle music that played around that point. Also, I was glad that Mamepato got to do something this time around, even if it was generic. Ash and the others jumped out of the window and chased after the Darumakka on foot. Those darn Darumakka left some destruction in their wake though.

Just as Ash and friends ran towards the Darumakka and were catching up, the Darumakka split-up and went into separate alleys. Ash and Iris went after one Darumakka while Dento went after the other one. Things were getting exciting and the animation matched that! Just as it looked like Ash and the others were going to catch up to the two Darumakka though, they suddenly disappeared which sucked. Ash and Iris regrouped with Dento and they talked about losing the Darumakka's trail. Just then, Mamepato arrived and pointed to the town's clock tower where the Darumakka were seen entering. Naturally, Ash and friends went to have a look. Meanwhile, on some misty bridge in the same town, Team Rocket were just standing around, apparently waiting for someone. Suddenly out of the mist, a woman appeared with a briefcase and asked Jessie if she was the one who said the secret code earlier. When that was settled, she left the briefcase for Team Rocket and informed them that it's contents would help them with their next mission in Shippou City. God, new Team Rocket keeps getting more and more serious; I hate it. Anyway, Ash and friends arrived at the clock tower and started climbing when they saw the two Darumakka doing the same. Ash then yelled after them, which is the opposite of what you want to do.

The two Darumakka were really surprised to see him and the others and they ran up the clock tower even faster than before. Ash climbed into a room and didn't see where the Darumakka had gone. However, the two Darumakka were on the wall behind him and they sent out a Fire-type attack! What the heck? That was too much and it could've seriously hurt Ash! Too much violence, geez. Anyway, Ash started scolding the Darumakka but from behind them, came a wall of fire. Ash had Mijumaru use Water Gun to put out the flames, but then the Darumakka proceeded to attack Mijumaru. Pikachu used Thunderbolt to counter the flames and then Mijumaru used Water Gun to stun the Darumakka. They fell and it looked like they were asleep again, but they were just faking it. They jumped over Ash and friends but Ash and Iris tried to convince them that they meant no harm. Right, which is why they battled them? Haha. Anyway, the Darumakka turned all friendly and showed Ash and friends a hole in the ceiling. Dento helped Ash climb over and then Ash had Tsutarja help Pikachu and the Darumakka get up there with Vine Whip. That's some nice thinking there Ash. Once everyone was up there, they went to the top of the tower and discovered a Hihidaruma, in Daruma Mode! God it looked creepy. I'm never going to look at Hihidaruma the same way again, that's for sure lol.

Ash scanned the Hihidaruma in the PokeDex, where it appeared in both of it's forms. Apparently, it was radiating lots of heat since Iris was sweating. Hmm, fan-service anyone? Jokes aside, it looked like the Darumakka were stealing food for Hihidaruma to consume, which was sort of unexpected. The Darumakka handed Ash some sort of metal rod and then Dento noticed that the rod used to support the bell in the clock tower. Since it was gone, it looked like Hihidaruma had taken to keeping it from falling using it's Psychic powers in Daruma Mode. Pretty nice of Hihidaruma. Ash and friends then told the Darumakka that they'd help fix the bell so that Hihidaruma would finally be able to move from there. Ash sent out Pokabu and Dento sent out Yanappu, which they would apparently use to fix the bell. Pokabu used Ember on the metal rod but it didn't work, and to make matters worse, Hihidaruma was starting to overheat! Pokabu tried to use Ember again and the Darumakka helped with their own Fire-type attack. Teamwork got the job done as the rod was finally blazing hot. Dento faaaabulously had Yanappu use Bullet Seed on the rod after that. I was curious as to what the point in that was, but it was soon answered; it was used to shape the rod back into an "S" form. Ash had Mijumaru help out and Mijumaru's Water Gun then made the "S" rod cool enough to touch.

Just as Ash was wondering how to place the "S" rod up on the bell, Hihidaruma made Ash and Pikachu levitate up there. Pretty cool that it could still help them even though it was under pressure. As Ash reached for the bell, it fell! Luckily, Hihidaruma went out of Daruma Mode and caught it before it fell over. It tossed the bell up and then did a few fancy jumps and placed the bell on the rod itself, solving the issue. Yay. The Darumakka were finally reunited with Hihidaruma, and Ash and everyone else joined in to laugh. Ugh. Too damn peppy for my tastes. In the morning, Ash and the others were leaving town but Nurse Joy stopped them to talk to them about the Darumakka and Hihidaruma. Up on the tower, we saw them waving down to Ash, Iris, and Dento which they were happy to see. They all said their goodbyes to the Darumakka and Hihidaruma and the episode ended with Ash and friends continuing on their journey to Shippou City. Well that was interesting to say the least. It was fun, but not the kind of storyline I had in mind. There were certainly a few surprises in this one though, like Hihidaruma in it’s Daruma Mode. I would still almost call this Filler myself, but why start arguments here? I'll just call this episode "decent". I give it a decent score of 7/10. It could have been a lot better, but it served it's purpose at the end. Well, stay faaaabulous~

[Vera]

Just coming in here to say I am loving this new version of Jesse, James, and Meowth in this season so far. They are mysterious and seem more of a threat than they have always been. The are actually doing something more than trying to steal Pikachu all the time!

If J,J & M are like this, Butch and Cassidy better freaking get a comeback from what they have fallen into since Pokemon Chronicles!

[pokemonloverXD]

Well, a pretty decent filler. I liked the Darumakka duo, they were cute <3

I wonder what TR are up to, they just become more & more of a mystery as BW goes on...

[SharpedoSteve]

Does it really matter if this or any other episode is a filler? Episode thread consists of filler this or filler that... as long as the episode is good and entertaining it shouldn't matter. imo.

[Kojo]

Does it really matter if this or any other episode is a filler? Episode thread consists of filler this or filler that... as long as the episode is good and entertaining it shouldn't matter. imo.

I agree. I don't mind fillers as long as they're fun to watch. That Ditto episode in the last season was considered a "filler," but it was still one of my favorite episodes.

The only thing I don't like about this episode though is that it wasn't very fun for me to watch plus nothing interesting with the actual plot happened. Maybe I just need to watch the subbed version.

[arceus7]

It actually isn't considered a filler since the plot was advanced for ash and the gang as well as Team rocket.

[rickdatduck]

Is everyone here new to Pokemon? 90&#37; of the show is usually dealing with the Pokemon/person of the day and the other 10% is Gym/league/"plot" stuff. Why is every one making a big deal about filler now?

[gliscor&yanmega]

This is for sure not a filler, the Team Rocket scene makes it so. The briefcase is suppose to be the key to Team Rocket's grand strategy, that's what was said by James.

So yah it's obviously a filler since the briefcase being all important and that wont ever be seen again, yup it's 100% filler(I'm being sarcastic for anyone who doesn't understand sarcasm.).

Maybe people just have different opinions on what a filler is, I go by "If it doesn't advance the plot then it's filler", well the Team Rocket part advance the plot and was used as build up for a future episode, so in my eyes it's not a filler.

But regardless if it's filler or not, I enjoyed the episode fully.

[Blaziryu]

I thought this episode was okay. Nuff said.

[Battra]

I'm really starting to like some of the designs of the 5th gen Pokemon now that i'm seeing them animated.

An enjoyable half filler episode, it's really weird seeing TR actually be all mysterious & act professional. Seeing Oak's little explanation about the Pokemon Center at the end of the episode got me thinking, i'd love to see an episode were Jenny is the Nurse & Joy is the Officer it would certainly be different.

[playerking]

With the letter E in the cappucino, was that from a preview because i swear i have seen it before. The bit with the metal "S" shaped stick bit near the end was interesting, good episode.

I will give my summary/review

Pokemon Best Wishes Episode 8: Darumakka and Hihidaruma! Secret of Clock Tower!

The episode starts of with the gang residing near a river, having dinner. Ash asks for when it will be ready, so Iris puts a plate of berries on skewers in front of him, she says she made it early so that they can watch the full moon early tonight. Dento says it’s not really a meal but Iris says that is still tastes good. Before Ash can Om nom nom on the berries Dento pulls it away to put with his rice dish that he is making and Ash is even more excited. A Darumakka comes near the group and it says it’s name.


After the opening, they have a look at the Darumakka. Ash examines it with his Pokedex and i says that when it sleeps it cannot be awaked for a long time and it can’t fall over. Iris pulls on it’s right eyebrow and it blows a Flamethrower in it’s face. Dento mentions that Darumakka never give up and are fortunate of good luck. Then something steal Pikachu’s bowl of Pokemon food, Pikachu and Kibago being on the table are stunned. Ash comes over and asks what happened and Pikachu said his food is gone and Kibago took it. Iris says Kibago wouldn’t do it and maybe Pikachu ate it. Ash asks if Darumakka saw anything but Darumakka is asleep. Iris tries to wake it up and she tires to make it fall over but it doesn’t. Then Pikachu sees a Darumakka take Kibago’s bowl of food and Kibago says that Pikachu did it. The two start fighting and Ash and Iris breaks it up. Pikachu says Darumakka did it but we see that Darumakka is asleep. But then we see a Darumakka that stole the food. The gang notice it and chase afterwards it, then the Darumakka that is asleep wakes up and jumps over Ash and Co. and fires a flamethrower in front of them. Ash calls out Mijumaru, Mijumaru fires a water gun but the two dodge and the two Darumakka fire a flamethrower at Mijumaru which badly injures it.

The Darumakka leave and Ash notice a town in the distance where they decide to take Mijumaru for healing. Nurse joy takes Mijumaru to get healed and Tabunne rushes it off to get better. Team Rocket are sitting in the same town near a river and are at a cafe table outside. A waiter comes over and Jessie utters a special password which the waiter understands, so the waiter gives them a cappuccino with the letter “E” in it, Jessie stirs the cappuccino. Meanwhile at the Pokemon centre Mijumaru is healed and Ash returns it to it’s Pokeball. Iris talks about the Darumakka and Nurse Joy understands. Joy mentions that in this city there are two Darumakka and a Hihidaruma, it’s evolved form. They used to be nice around town but lately they have been stealing food. She doesn’t know why but She knows that they live in the clock tower in their town, but since the tower is old it will soon be destroyed.

Ash gets hungry and they deiced to spend the night at the Pokemon centre. Iris and Ash chow down on some food at the centre and Dento mentions that they are actually alike(in terms of personalities), but Iris and Ash see that as an insult. Nurse Joy comes in and mentions to everyone in the dinning room that their ( is candy in her van) are special moon shaped dumpling in the kitchen and they will have to come with her to get them. They go to the kitchen and they come across the two Darumakka again. The two have been stealing the food from the kitchen, so they run out of the kitchen window. Ash calls out his Mamapeto and the two give chase, Iris and Dento follow. The Darumakka jump through town trying to stop mamapeto from catching up. Soon the Darumakka split up at a intersection. Ash and Iris goes to the right and Dento goes to the left. They try to chase after them, but they lose them and they find each other again. All three turn their heads right and notice at the end of the road to their right is the clock tower and the Darumakka enter it and Ash and Co follow them in.

Team Rocket are on a bridge surrounded by mist. A mysterious woman approaches them and she gives them a brief case, she tells them to go to shippou city and await further instructions.

Ash and Co. Run up the the stairs and the Darumakka notice them so they run quickly. Ash runs up the stairs and the two Darumakka are behind him and they fire a flamethrower at Ash but Ash used quick attack and he dodged it. Then Ash tells Mijumaru to put out the flames with his water gun. They fire another one but Pikachu stops it with thunderbolt. Then Ash’s Mijumaru fires a water gun at the Darumakka, they fall on the ground and they go to sleep. Iris and Dento walk up the stairs, the Darumakka wake up and jump over them, they all tell the Darumakka that they want to help them, so the Darumakka point to a opening above them. Ash climbs up through it, then Tsutaja lifts Pikachu up, the rest of the gang follow, and then when they are up on the next floor they notice the next floor above is really hot. So they all climb some stairs and notice a Pokemon up their. Ash checks his Pokedex the Pokemon is a Hihidaruma and it says that to restore it’s strength it changed to a different form. They notice that heat is emitting from it. Hihidaruma uses psychic and it brings the stolen food from Darumakka in it’s mouth. Iris asks if it should of returned to it’s normal mode yet but it might not have had enough food. The Darumakka give the gang a metal stick which used to hold up the bell but apart of it is now straightend. The gang notice that Hihidaruma is making the bell above it float. Dento understands now, the bell fell and Hihidaruma lifted it up but because it was weak it went into psychic mode and lifted it up with psychic, so the Darumakka have been trying to give it strength by feeding it. So Hihidaruma is lifting the bell up to stop the bell tower from falling.

So the gang have to fix the ruined metal stick, Ash sends out Pokabu and Pokabu uses ember on the stick in mid air but it isn’t powerful enough. So they throw it up again and the Darumakka help this time so they all burn the stick. Dento brings out Yanapuu and Yanapuu uses Bullet seed on the stick to make it an “S” shape. Mijumaru cools it down by using Water gun and the sick is perfect now. Hihidaruma lifts Ash and Pikachu up to fix the bell. So Ash puts one end on a hook and he goes to attach the other end on the bell but the bell falls down with Ash hanging on, but then Hihidaruma goes back to normal mode and throws the bell up and fixes the bell. Hihidaruma and everyone else is now happy. After that night, they walk out of the city and before they do Nurse joy walks to them and mentions that the tower wont be knocked down anymore. So now they are happy and they wave goodbye to the Darumakka and the Hihidaruma which are standing on the outside ledge of the clock tower. Ash and Co. leave town.

Good parts

We got to see all of Ash Pokemon in use again in this episode.

The story line

The Darumakka and the Hihidaruma


The bad points

I hated the episode at first but it takes a couple of viewings to like it

James still doesn’t have a Pokemon

After the first view i no longer saw Ash with a Hihidaruma but after the 3rd viewing i don’t know

7/10

[G50]

This episode was ok... It was cool to see Darumakka and Hihidaruma for the 1st time. Darumakka are really cute especially in their immovable state. They were definitely devious in this episode, but for a good cause. Hihidaruma looked so cool in both its Zen Mode and its Standard mode. It was cool to see it be very helpful in getting the Bell back in place. The plan the Darumakka used to steal the food was very creative, they are also very strong. I'm glad they decided not to take down the tower in the end.

50/100

[wind21]

I think Ash sums up how poor this plotline is when he tells the fire pokemon evolution something like, "We're not strong enough to pick up the bell, so can you put it on the hook." Ha ha ha.

The pacing of the episode is so slow, though, and there's so many flashy scenes, that this episode ends up being pretty peaceful to watch. If you've had a tough day, and just really want to take your mind off things w/o thinking at all, then I think this episode is pretty good for that.

My favorite scene was where Ash defeated the 2 fire pokemon really easily in the clocktower; it was a really nice show of skill.

TR was just tough to watch, for me. This isn't how they were meant to be at all; Meowth sounding seriously sinister is not right.

[lucario beast]

man i missed this episode going to find it on youtube

[SmartD]

It was a good episode. Ash and friends help out Darumaka to save Darmanitan.