Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am more than eager to return to Pokemon Sun and Moon, having at last resolved some issues on the back end to actually allow me to continue (why oh why does Netflix only have dubbed episodes). I generally treat myself to a Sun and Moon every couple weeks, but it’s been over a month now since I last visited Alola, and the cracks are beginning to show. With the chill of a New England January keeping me mostly confined to my house, I’m hoping a fresh helping of Sun and Moon will at least keep my heart warm through the weeks to come.
Of course, it doesn’t seem like we’re in for any fun-in-the-sun vignettes at the moment. The Aether Foundation is currently experiencing a dramatic power struggle, and with Elton John having revealed his nefarious machinations, I’m guessing we’ve got a few more episodes of frantic conflict ahead of us. With Lillie having finally faced her trauma, let’s see how our heroes face off with the Rocket Man!
Episode 50
And here’s Rotom to offer our Pokeproblem, completely oblivious to the high-stakes drama happening in the show proper. Or perhaps he does know, but is such a professional that he’s capable of affecting a Pokeproblem-appropriate disposition in the midst of tragedy? You’re a champ, Rotom
“What toy do Ash and the others use at Pokeschool this episode?” Jeez, I guess this drama business is going to be wrapping itself up in a hurry if we’ve got time to jump on a trampoline or something
…yep, we’re just speeding on past that confrontation, and moving straight to “I can’t believe Elton John was up to all that nefarious business.” This might be a much breezier episode than I’d anticipated!
Good to see Lusamine rightfully blaming herself for her inattentiveness as a mother. She might not be the genuine villain of the games, but she still done fucked up
Meanwhile, Lillie is proudly demonstrating her new ability to Hug All The Pokemon
Oh my god, all this shameless hugservice. This episode is already a winner
Lillie is almost never this overtly happy, and it’s delightful to see. I also appreciate the goofy-ass run cycles they’re giving her, as she awkwardly charges at each new pokemon to hug it
Also like this detail of Sensei waiting outside, letting them enjoy the moment for a while before starting class
“Elton Strikes Back! Nebby Kidnapped!” THE FIEND
Today the Pokeschool kids will be learning to jump rope with their pokemon. I have no idea how this civilization hasn’t collapsed already, given half of its youth have never taken a math or history class
More copious playful animation as Ash and Pikachu strut their stuff, showing off their close synchronization by doing tricks during their jump rope. This episode is also consistently employing cuts of animation that see the focus characters essentially charging into the camera itself – that trick was employed to strong effect during Lillie’s hug frenzy, and here again it creates a strong sense of dynamic motion, as Ash and Pikachu eventually stumble directly into the camera
I see this episode was both storyboarded and directed by one of Pokemon’s most reliable veterans, Yuji Asada. That goes some distance to explain the playful synchronicity of its layouts and animation
This episode is also brimming with compositions that add just a hint of depth into the frame, like this shot with the defeated Ash foregrounded in front of his friends, or the earlier shot of Lusamine with a soft-focus cup in front of her. Such techniques naturally enhance the sense that we’re watching a “portal into another world,” rather than a flat piece of artwork, thus enhancing both our immersion and the drama
Jeez, this episode has so many wacky little run animations. Ash looks ridiculous as he charges over to Lillie, and it is good
They give Elton a whole goddamn magical girl attack animation for his “Electro Catcher,” complete with a saucy wink at the camera. This sure is a generous episode!
Lillie and Snowball take the stage, offering more delightfully awkward animation as they evade the jump rope. Having not watched this show for a full month, it feels newly astonishing to see just how much fluid character acting it employs for every single scene. The number of annual TV anime that achieve this degree of consistent movement generally ranges between three and zero
Lillie has achieved perfect synchronicity with all pokemon. Nothing can stop her now
Omigosh, more cuts of Nebby walking around using his little cloud-tufts as legs. My heart has grown three sizes this day
Meanwhile, Team Rocket are back to proudly selling donuts, which they consider far more honorable work than being Elton’s lackeys. It’s easy enough to act heroic when your normal daily activities are stuff like “jump rope with pokemon” – Team Rocket are working multiple jobs to pay rent, and they still are too honorable to embrace work that betrays their values. Better heroes than we deserve
They notice Elton attempting to steal Nebby, and are variably insulted by both his terrible disguise and his plan to steal their prey. Bless these idiots
Even the reaction faces feel particularly inspired this episode; I love how they express Elton’s “face going pale” as him literally distorting into a wandering black-and-white outline of himself
Team Rocket succeed and then just friggin’ book it, with James even waving his arms like an airplane as they flee from Elton. God I love them
Even more absurd run cycles as Team Rocket stumble their way forward. Some animator was having altogether too much fun with this Scooby Doo-ass episode
Perennial troll Nebby teleports Team Rocket right into Bewear’s arms, then heads back to the action. How did you even know to send them there, Nebby!?
Asada also seems to enjoy these compositions that create a fringe around the screen, creating the sense of “peering into depth” that compliments the other multi-layer compositions. We earlier saw a perspective shot of Elton peering through bushes at Nebby, and now we’ve got one framed from inside the backpack, as Ash checks its contents
Nebby, being dumb as hell, agrees to teleport Elton to the Aether Foundation
Lillie’s butler picks them up in the family’s private hyperjet. Nice use of shading and impact frames to add some drama to this moment
More clever use of framing and distance here, as Lillie’s declaration to join the team is accompanied by her moving towards the camera, thereby filling the entire screen with her presence/determination. An excellent execution of a key turn for Lillie, as she declares she’ll no longer hide from the truth
Nebby, being very stupid, agrees to float inside an ominous box Elton has provided for it
Ash is so mad he dispenses with pokemon entirely, and just shoulder checks Elton himself
Excellent choreography for Ash throughout this sequence, with a great sense of weight to his body as he’s tossed away from the reaction
In spite of the team’s efforts, Nebby undergoes some sort of transformation, and the Ultra Hole is fully realized
And the Ultra Beast that traumatized Lillie emerges!
Real sense of threat here, as all the most powerful pokemon we’ve met so far are easily brushed aside by this otherworldly creature
And Lusamine knocks her kids aside, leaving herself as sacrifice for the Ultra Beast!
And Done
Holy shit, what an episode! We’re clearly in arc climax territory here, as basically every goddamn scene of this episode offered an absurd buffet of fluid animation and dynamic direction. Asada’s storyboards and direction created a remarkable sense of depth in each new composition, evoking both a cinematic scale and an energetic sense of motion, as characters were repeatedly tossed about the multilayered stage. And those depth-rich compositions were put to terrific use by this episode’s remarkable animation, with characters leaping into and out of the frame as they did battle with their most dangerous adversary yet. Even the comedy sequences were top notch, embellished with plentiful goofy animation cycles and copious imaginative expression work. A generous episode by every possible metric, and we haven’t even reached this arc’s finale yet!
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