Sweet Baby James (424)

[Haunter Hunter Sohrab]

I just saw the Pics and wow that was one nice episode.

[Revolutionary Destiny]

I just saw the Pics and wow that was one nice episode.

It really was a nice episode. The animation was really beautiful and the scenes between James and Chimecho were especially beautiful, as well as emotional. But I'm still confused as to why he left Chimecho behind even though he was crying over it.

[JazzJazz]

But I'm still confused as to why he left Chimecho behind even though he was crying over it.

From the pictures it seems as though chimecho was still bed-ridden and was probably still needed time to recover.

[The Big Al]

So Chimecho might come back once it's regained its health. Though then TR's team will be a bit Psychic heavy.

[FullMetalAlchemist]

I just read James' character bio and I was thinking this: I was hoping Ash would get Manene so he could eventually have a Mr. Mime, just like his mother.

[CyberCubed]

That would be repetitive. (But then again May getting a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, AND Munchlax are also repetitive since they're all Ash's Pokemon...but what the hell)

And yeah, if Chimecho is still in the opening with next weeks episode, at least we can hope to see it again sometime.

[Gravy]

Despite Chimecho departing for who knows how long, and no real mention of past characters associated with James, this was a really good episode. Probably the best that the Battle Frontier saga has offered thus far infact. There were some really memorable scenes, and the music pieces chosen for them were perfect. Not to mention the animation was on top form. Character expressions, movement and attacks all looked splendid.
And of course, there was that huge chunk of character development for James, which deserves two thumbs up~

The emotional scenes between Chimecho and James, especially when they finally part ways, really did pull at my heartstrings. It was all very touching, and was a big breath of fresh air from the usual endings we get lately.
And my god, Manene is freaking adorable. I absolutely love its voice and imitations, especially when it copies James throwing Cacnea's pokéball and ordering attacks. Watch it shoot to the top of my favourite pokémon list. Best prevo ever, 'nuff said.

Jessie and Meowth's whole attitude really stunk I might add. I really wanted to strangle the both of them at times. Speaking of which, Cacnea pwning Seviper = awesome. Heh, they really did deserve that thrashing this time around :P


One thing I'd like to know is, how the hell did Ash know Phanpy has Hidden Power in its arsenal? He didn't have it use the move in a previous episode did he? Truth be told, I haven't really bothered to look into the one or two eps I managed to miss ^^;

[S.Suikun]

Good to see James finally stick up for himself against Jessie. Probably the only time Cacnea will ever be victorious in battle. Chimecho looks absolutely adorable in the final few minutes of the episode. Unfortunately, this looks to be another flashback sequence which 4Kids will tinker with for absolutely no reason at all.

[vaporeon89]

What attack used Cacnea to Seviper with phampy?

[wobbanut]

*squeals* A sweet Team Rocket ending! Wow, we haven't had one of those in SO long. I'll really miss Chimecho so badly, but at least it's where James knows it's safe, and we'll still see it here in the U.S. for another year.

Also, wow, Cacnea attacked Seviper?! I mean, I know it did that in "The Bicker the Better" too, but this was different.

This episode looks AWESOME, even though I know it'll mean Chimecho's departure. Hey, the two groups getting along for a while, great TR material, and a sweet ending looks like it'll make 5 stars in my book.

[Murgatroyd]

A few of the main points of the episode, c/p-ed from my post at BMG. A lot of them don't seem to have been covered in this thread yet:
-The mansion was one of Kojiro's family's "cottages". He used to love going there because it was the one place he could really get away from the "proper" upbringing his family was trying to inflict on him.
-The old man and woman are old servants who are quite good at taking care of sick and injured pokemon.
-Not wanting to disappoint the people who cared for him so much when he was a child, Kojiro tries to hide the fact that he's in Team Rocket, claiming instead that he's running a company, and that Musashi and Nyasu are his assistant and manager. At the end, he does admit the truth, and they are not disappointed in him.
-The episode deals something of a severe blow to Rocketshipping, or at least that subship which claims they'll ever get married. Kojiro is utterly appalled at the servants' initial assumption that Musashi is his wife. (His panicked denial includes something that translates more or less as "ANYTHING but that!")
-Kojiro gets the Twerps to agree to a truce: He, Musashi, and Nyasu won't do anything bad here, and the Twerps won't reveal that he's in Team Rocket. Musashi and Nyasu, however, keep doing or trying to do things, and this culminates in the battle where Kojiro rather handily defeats Musashi before asking Satoshi to deal the finishing blow.
-There are several good scenes showing how Kojiro interacts with people when he isn't being part of TR.
-Chiriin is left, after a well-done (if fairly standard) farewell scene, because TR can't afford to wait around any longer, but Chiriin isn't yet healed to the point that it can travel safely.
-As Kojiro is getting Chiriin's ball out to leave it with the servants, an empty ball falls out of his pocket, and Manene promptly jumps in.

[greatfire]

I found very funny when James imagined how will be his life if he marries Jessie.
Also another good joke is that James called Ash by his nickname (Jari-Boy in japanese) and Ash actually responded to it.
The animation is good, especially when TR depart from the castle, but I found a mistake, or maybe a last minute change: When Ash & Co are departing in the wide shot James is clearly there, but not in the close-up shot. Look at the pictures.
The only problem lies in the plot: Ash & Co does almost nothing in this episode and their appearances are all a bit forced, it would have been better without them.

[Murgatroyd]

The animation is good, especially when TR depart from the castle, but I found a mistake, or maybe a last minute change: When Ash & Co are departing in the wide shot James is clearly there, but not in the close-up shot. Look at the pictures.

I think the third figure in the wide shot is Manene, not James, and is not visible in the close-up because of camera angle.

[The Big Al]

Episodes like this make you wonder why James remains with Jessie and Meowth. He's a brilliant Poke Ringer and would probably be an okay trainer or coordinator. He could make an honest living and actually get of his family's and Team Rocket's shadow. Jeesie and Meowth are what is dragging him down and making him a loser. I'd love to see him actually defect from Team Rocket and become a recurring character in the league or contests. Perhaps becoming a revival of Ash's or May's. How could such a kind soul be trapped in TR?

[Geodude]

Exactly. This episode provides interesting character development for James, emphasizing his soft, caring side, and his love of those close to his family. Well, those servants practically are family to him, but you get the idea.

So Manene's shtick is that it imitates everything James does. Very cute.

I loved the part where James sent out Cacnea and it faced Ash & co, and James told it to attack Seviper instead, and Cacnea had this surprised reaction as if to say, "What?? Are you sure?"

[JazzJazz]

So Manene's shtick is that it imitates everything James does. Very cute.

It'll be little things like that that'll make everyone start to love manene and regret the day they ever said anything bad about James getting the little guy... change is a good thing people, just look at what evolution (as is humans from apes, not talking about treecko to grovyle or anything...) did for us.

[Heracross]

Chiriin. ;_;

...Damn, this was a great episode. It had more character development for Kojirou since all the way back to "Gardie and Kojirou", and it was definitely the most emotional. This is why I love Kojirou. He's really a nice guy, with a soft and caring personality. Though whenever he tries to do something right, Musashi and Nyasu always do their best to mess it up for him. The way they behaved in light of the situation was disgusting, but they got what was coming to them. Seeing Sabonea own Habunake was awesome, and it was even better when Kojirou teamed up with Satoshi to knock them down a few pegs. I love the occasional episode when Satoshi-tachi and the Rocket-dan get along (or at least Kojirou in this case). It's great to see him acting as a normal person where his softer side can shine through.

It was great to learn more of Kojirou's childhood too. It's a shame there was no reference to any previously introduced characters from his past (no Gaa-chan ;; ), but that's of little importance really. The two old servants were great characters. It isn't hard to see why Kojirou relished the time he spent there, where he could actually be free to do his own thing and just act like a normal kid. They were much more caring and understanding than his actual parents were.

The scene where Kojirou had to part with Chiriin was so emotional. I cried. And I never cry over movies/TV shows. Even though Chiriin never did anything, it was so special to Kojirou, and therefore had a special place with me. Watching him forced to leave it was a heartbreaker.

And the ending was great. I love how Kojirou and Chiriin catch one last look at each other through the window as Kojirou-tachi float away in their hot air balloon.

Great stuff. How this rose up out of the pile of steaming sludge that is the Battle Frontier I'll never know...

[Yamato-san]

I'm with Gravy, as far as pre-evolutions go, Manene, well, any Humanshape actually, seems like one of the best.

change is a good thing people, just look at what evolution (as is humans from apes, not talking about treecko to grovyle or anything...) did for us.

Even though those kind of evolutions did wonders as well. Juptor, Oosubame, Wakashamo, Onigohri, and that's just in AG.

Despite Chimecho departing for who knows how long, and no real mention of past characters associated with James, this was a really good episode.

Actually, the old women did mention something about the "sir and madam", which left Kojirou freaking out, asking if his mother and father were at the mansion right now. I guess Murg could give you the full translation. BTW Murg, what was Kojirou calling the old couple throughout the episode? "Jiiya" and "Baaya" or something? Are those some kind of terms for, respectively, an old man and old woman caretaker?

You have got to be frakking me! That stupid clown pulls a Psyduck? Oy oy...*many oys later*...oy oy oy. This looked ike such a good episode but now it looks like a horrible one.

As Murg mentioned, it did not in anyway pull a Koduck. When the ball fell out of his pocket, Manene intentionally ran up to it, jumped into the air, and struck its hand on the trigger button before going into the ball. The ball didn't accidentally hit it, Manene didn't glare at the ball for a second wondering what the hell it was before tapping it, Manene was fully aware of what it was and wanted to go along with Kojirou. And might I add, that was probably the most well-done voluntary capture the series has had yet. Sure, it's great when the Pokemon willingly challenges the trainer to a capture battle, and of course anything's better than the typical scenario of a Pokemon just walking up to the trainer at the end of the episode after the trainer helped them out, but the way that Manene wanted to come along so much that it doesn't even ask before going into a ball itself just seemed so nicely dramatic.

Anyway, I've got a few points about this episode myself....
-I'm surprised that no one but Churly brought this up yet, but in Kojirou's flashback, we saw him chase around an Utsudon. It's not the same one that Kojirou got, of course, but it seems as though the writers intentionally made that scene, probably to explain why he has an obsession for that particular Pokemon and its evolution. Though the capture was extremely vague, this does shed some light on the explanation of why he supposedly went out of his way to get one in the first place (in the flashback of when he got it using Matadogas, it seems as though Musashi and Nyaasu aren't there with him, meaning he wandered off looking for one himself).
-Smile played in the background of the scene with the Chiriin montage and Kojirou leaving his Pokemon in the elders' care.
-Is this the first time they've shown that Kojirou's been keeping his Monster Balls in his pocket?

And is it just me, or has Advanced Generation been doing a good job of making Rocket Dan's releases (well, this isn't exactly a release, but still) seem more dramatic, like they actually are a big deal and that Musashi and Kojirou truley care for their Pokemon. It sure is a big step from Pocket Monsters, in which Musashi losing her Beroringa in a Sounansu trade seemed completely random and nothing to make much of. Kojirou losing his Utsubotto was also rather random, and rather than being dramatic about him losing his Pokemon, that episode had him comically going on and on about exaggerated memories he had with his pitcher plant. Both occurences also seemed like little more than a side-plot from the actual episode, which of course dealt with Satoshi-tachi. In AG, though, these episodes managed to make Rocket Dan the stars while Satoshi-tachi were the ones shoved into the background.

In any case, the Battle Frontier's been pretty crappy lately, but it's nice to see they did something right. It's a shame to see Chiriin go, although there is some hope of it returning eventually. Sure, it never did much, but it was pretty much in the same boat as Musashi's Sounansu, which more often than not is only there for randomnly popping out of its ball and offering comic relief (and I don't need to remind you all that such a role has left Sounansu, who probably would've been very overlooked in the games otherwise, as one of the most popular Pokemon out there, to the point that he gets his own pre-evolution). But anyway, I'd say this was the best Battle Frontier episode yet..... either that, or the Iwaaku kingdom, simply because we got to see Juptor kick some a** in that (and it was about the only time he did so in Battle Frontier, at least until next week's episode judging from the preview).... but then.... hmmm.... good action's actually somewhat commonplace in this series, but good drama and character development is once in a blue moon. Yeah, I guess I'll go with this ep as my favorite BF one yet.

[Chris]

Woah, wait. An episode..with CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?! Haven't had one of those in ages. o_O Definately gotta see it.

I think everyone complaining about Manene isn't complaining about the fact that Chiriin was swapped, but because of the fact that they made it do barely anything and then swapped it. Makes one wonder if there was even any point in having Kojirou capture it if it wasn't going to do anything at all.

And I shall also say HA! I was right about it not being Doku-chan not being dumped off. >_>

[John's Knight]

Chimecho is gone????? Well, i haven't seen any episode with chimecho yet, so i don't know i'll miss it or not. Still, it seems that it's a good episode. The cacnea and james and phanpy vs TR was great. was that HP from phanpy?