Strap yourselves in folks, we’re catching a flight to the sunny shores of Alola, for one more episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon! Sun and Moon’s last episode was essentially constructed as a tiny adventure film composed from the perspective of a cat, so, you know, that was fantastic. I’m not expecting episode eight to match a conceit as strong as “full damn episode about an adorable cat,” but I’m certainly looking forward to reuniting with Sun and Moon’s larger cast, and am particularly hoping that Team Rocket have a fun role in this one. However this episode plays out, Sun and Moon has been a charming and nostalgic journey so far, and as long as we continue to explore the delightful Alolan scenery, I’ll probably have a fine time. Let’s get to it!

Episode 8

Introductions by Lillie this time, whose hair is extremely fluffy. Hair in general has a strong sense of volume to it in this show, in part a byproduct of how its character designs focus on clean, simplified shapes that can be easily distorted

Togedemaru’s all hopped up and bouncing around the school, with some simple smears conveying its erratic movement

Pokemon tend to exist somewhere between a pet and a human friend, and it’s fun seeing the anime lean into various kinds of classic house pet behavior in order to better portray them as convincingly charming animals. Togedemaru’s rampage here should feel familiar to any dog or cat owners, as those animals have a tendency to work themselves into an overstimulated frenzy like this

It seems this may be our first Lillie-focused episode, as she potentially works to resolve her phobia regarding touching Pokemon

Principal Okido has a special class for them. Does this school even have any other students? What does this guy do all day

He’s got two Pokemon eggs, and asks the students to raise one of them. I suppose this classic Pokemon scenario points towards another aspect of Pokemon’s appeal: the fun of raising a child, and feeling you helped your Pokemon grow into its strongest self

Pokemon is all of these things, and would likely not have endured this long without its diverse appeal. “Make friends,” “raise a pet,” “build a unique team,” “beat the strongest opponents,” “collect ‘em all” – not all of these appeals are equally compelling to each Pokemon fan, but their collective diversity makes Pokemon capable of appealing to many kinds of fans

They have Lillie choose which egg they’ll take care of. Her phobia dovetails neatly with the unique Pokemon appeal they’re celebrating here; it makes sense she’d be less nervous about being intimate with a Pokemon she raised herself. In marketing terms, this is an effective “even if you don’t want to battle monsters, Pokemon can still be for you”

“Who’s in Charge of the Egg?” The classic framing of kids taking care of a doll or baby in order to learn responsibility, most commonly seen in magical girl shows

Extremely good Lillie faces when she’s spooked by the egg moving

Mallow suggests the point of this episode: having Lillie take care of the egg overnight

Oh no, one of Alola’s trash lizards is spying on them through the window

Oh dang, I just realized this means we might actually meet Lillie’s family. I’ll be interested to see how the anime portrays some of the characters who were essentially the main “villains” of the actual game; Lillie’s daily life in the anime seems to possess a great deal less anxiety and conflict than in the game’s narrative, and she hasn’t even come across the Pokemon that inspires the game’s central drama

I like this shot framed from the passenger seat of her driver’s car – it neatly implies how her friends are preoccupied with this display of wealth

Pikachu squishing its face against the car window is adorable

Just the fact that Lillie’s family has an estate on the island proper, as opposed to operating outside of a nefarious offshore lair, seems to imply they’re more integrated into the community in this version. And as a show that’s meant to be enjoyable even if you’re only catching scattered episodes, it makes sense that the anime wouldn’t prioritize an ambitious central narrative that demands you be up to date

The butler’s name is James. Hello, James

The trash lizard is still hot on their tail

The background art suffers a bit during this house visit, for possibly unavoidable reasons. They’re trying to convey the imposing scale of this building, as well as perhaps a light touch of anonymity in its stately design, but that same scale and relative lack of background details mean these shots are not particularly attractive, and naturally call attention to the rigidly geometric nature of these digitally constructed sets

It’s hard to make shots like these feel both impersonal and attractive. Tradeoffs everywhere, I suppose – though Land of the Lustrous does regularly square this circle, by focusing on symmetry and color work over background detail

They bring the egg to a room with an ominous row of open windows

Apparently Lillie used to be able to touch Pokemon, but has gained her current phobia since returning from another home

There is something extremely funny about Ash accosting Lillie with a smiling Pikachu on a food cart

Lillie’s hair is so wonderfully expressive. Her design embodies the strengths of Sun and Moon’s character art

This episode’s principle conceit seems to be “Lillie is fluffy and adorable,” and I agree

The garden is now brimming with all sorts of colorful, distinctive Pokemon. It’s nice to see a wide variety of Pokemon actually interacting with each other – something the games have also come to understand is a compelling hook, if recent entries’ camping mechanics are anything to go by

Ash about to throw hands with James the butler

Pikachu’s tough little battle stance is adorable. Any time Pikachu attempts to use his stubby arms in a threatening way is wonderful

Ash tosses out Rowlet, which that asshole James counterpicks by throwing out an electric/flying type. You’re not allowed to pick your starting Pokemon in response to your opponent’s pick, dickass!

Apparently this Pokemon changes type based on the berries it’s fed. Another successful advertisement for Alola’s unique Pokemon attractions

Aaand Rowlet immediately gets electrocuted

Ash defeats his opponent’s Mirror Move counters by further mirroring the Mirror Move, which… does that work? The thing about Pokemon battles is they’re entirely turn-based, and you can never “react” to an opponent’s play, only predict it and act accordingly. That translates pretty awkwardly to an ongoing drama like this, though, where the idea of taking turns one after another can result in somewhat stilted pacing and visual drama. This is a neat way to circumvent that, by varying up the pacing of commands while maintaining the turn structure, thus creating a sense of Ash “reacting” to a move in real time

James is doing his Pokemon’s dance as well, which I don’t think impacts the move’s power, but is appreciated regardless

The enemy’s Teeter Dance skill offers a fine chance for showing off Sun and Moon’s malleable designs, as Ash and Pikachu wobble back and forth. I like how Pikachu’s ears lose their rigidity when he’s tired, and just sort of waggle back and forth like dog ears

Oh shit, trash lizard is making its move

The storyboarding of the lizard’s retreat is quite nice. A dramatic low-angle shot and exaggerated character acting lend strong impact to its landing outside, leading into the defusal of tension through its comic, exaggerated movements and small stature in the following reverse shot

In the excitement of the moment, Lillie got over her aversion to touching the egg

And Done

To the surprise of absolutely no one, that was a very charming episode. I figured following up an episode entirely about an adorable cat would be a tricky challenge, but it turns out Lilly and her very fluffy hair are also pretty adorable, and watching her try to overcome her fears was an extremely charming experience. It was also neat to see a couple of genuine Pokemon battles this episode, which used a variety of interesting conceits to overcome the inherent difficulties of translating turn-based videogame battles into effective visual drama. And it looks like Lillie is well on her way to meeting her own first Pokemon, as well!

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