Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am happy to announce that we’re charging back into Sun and Moon, as we near the climax of this production’s first major arc. We’re not due for another Misaaki Iwane episode for a while yet, but I’m still anticipating a glorious display of animated action as our team enter The Twilight Zone. I mean, does the zone on the other side of these wormholes have an actual name, or can we just call it The Twilight Zone? Look, it’s already taking all my strength not to make any terrible jokes about the term “Ultra Hole,” so you can at least give me this one.
Ambiguous multidimensional nomenclature aside, the team has gathered and the conditions have been met. Let’s continue our journey through Sun and Moon’s most exciting act so far!
Episode 52
Aw shit, MEOWTH’s got the Pokeproblem today! And boy is he ever making the most of it, introducing himself with a theatrical twirl and a prolonged “Alooooola!” Hopefully this means our beloved Team Rocket will be making an appearance this week
Ahaha, this Pokeproblem is fantastic. Playing off the fact that Team Rocket mistook Nebby for a Koffing pre-evolution, the Pokeproblem’s “what does Nebby evolve into this week” selections include both Koffing and Weezing, along with Sun and Moon’s actual legendary pokemon
These flashbacks are reminding me that, in spite of its action-packed content, last episode was relatively light on ambitious cuts of animation. Hopefully that means we’ll get some impressive work this time!
This brief opening cut of Pikachu almost falling over Ash’s shoulder is so good. As a cat owner, I am quite familiar with the perils of your cat thinking they are half their actual size, and that your shoulder is a perfectly viable landing point
“The Altar of the Sun! Solgaleo Descends!”
Rotom is unsurprisingly losing his fucking mind at the appearance of all four guardian deities
Pikachu opens negotiations in strong form, by tugging on Kapu-Kokeko’s big claw
Interesting way of framing these deities’ collective abilities, as them “combining the different elemental field types” in order to create a kind of portal. The mechanical fiction of pokemon abilities tends to get a little hazy when it comes to the legendary pokemon, so I appreciate them still framing these actions in terms of conventional pokemon abilities
Reasonable mix of filter effects here – a soft light overlay mixed with heavy shadows for our crew, creating the sense of a “movie theater experience,” while the portal is heavily pixelated in order to emphasize it’s a recording, not a current event
We are very tastefully informed that Nebby is Solgaleo and Lunaria’s baby
Oh my god, Nebby’s Moses-style origin story. After Nebby was left with the guardian deities, they carefully set up him up to be discovered by Ash and Pikachu, who the legendary pokemon had apparently already chosen as their vehicles for Nebby’s ascension. Ash enters a new pokemon region and is immediately gifted the child of that region’s gods, what incredible protagonist syndrome
Apparently Burnet’s in some real trouble. I love this moment as Kukui leaves, waving the others away with a carefree smile, then whispering “counting on you, partner” to his pokeball. We rarely see the adults getting serious in this show, as that would likely detract from the show’s overall “you’re on an childhood adventure with your friends” tone, but that makes rare moments of drama like this all the more enticing
Meanwhile, Team Rocket are climbing straight up the cliffs surrounding these ruins. Why is life always so much harder for Team Rocket
Excellent smears as our intrepid trio start sneaking around the clifftop
Also love James always checking his Alolan Travel Guide to identify new pokemon
James’ claims of Nebby being a Koffing pre-evolution are fiercely tested by Nebby’s clearly non-Koffing evolution, but he pulls through. Fantastic expressions for both him and Jessie as they bicker about imaginary Koffings
Meanwhile, Burnet is surrounded by hostile pokemon in the ruins. It’s time for Kukui’s big moment!
Haha, they really go all-out for Kukui, backlighting him in order to turn him into a dramatic silhouette, and even throwing in some wind to let his cloak billow heroically
What a ham. He even tilts his hat as he lands in front of Burnet, really leaning into the heroic rescue aesthetic
Hat tilt and glasses push!? Look Kukui, I appreciate a cool signature gesture, but you can only pick one!
We even get that two-second held shot on Burnet’s surprised face, which is apparently universal anime shorthand for “you’re a lot cooler than I thought, and I might be in love with you now”
Tragically, Bewear claims Team Rocket before they can get to work. It seems its loyalty to the island deities exceeds its love for its awful adopted children
Another nice filter effect here, blurring Lana in the background of this Gladio shot to simulate the sensation of a very short depth of field, like we’re looking at hand-cam disaster footage
Architects should really look into the building techniques used by these trap-filled, ever-shifting mechanical temples. Ten thousand years of inactivity, and they’ve still got working lever and pulley systems moving massive stone tablets all over the place. Incredible craftsmanship
And Nebby evolves into Solgaleo! Beautiful animation for this transformation sequence, though I’m already weeping at the knowledge we won’t get any more cuts of Nebby walking around on his little cloud-tufts
Team Rocket are briefly impressed by this transformation, but ultimately more preoccupied with punishing James for his lofty Koffing promises. I love when they lean into this delinquent/yakuza look for Jessie, really dragging Megumi Hayashibara’s “ehhhhhh????”s to the breaking point
And Lillie still gives this new Nebby a hug. An excellent visual realization of her psychological journey. Through the initially harmless-looking Nebby, she has learned to feel comfortable being in physical contact with pokemon; now, both Nebby and that confidence have grown, to the point where she can just as comfortably hug an imposing creature like Solgaleo
And as Ash offers Solgaleo some of Nebbie’s favorite star snacks, the show illustrates another key lesson, one that applies to all of Pokemon: whatever their size or shape, animals are not monsters, they are simply their own beings. If you treat them with respect and care, they will do the same to you, and even a creature as imposing as Solgaleo can carry the heart of a creature as lovable as Nebbie
Oh, fascinating. The guardian deities are designed such that when they close their wings, their overall forms look like a variety of painted masks. A neat riff on natural phenomenon like how certain moths’ color patterns look like the face of a threatening predator
They collectively empower the shit out of Ash’s Z-ring, allowing him to cast some new Z-moves
The girls finally get the chance to compliment Lillie on her powerful new aesthetic
Pretty cool move Solgaleo’s got, actively ripping a hole in the space-time continuum. Imagine whipping that out a pokemon tournament – “sorry about the loss, kid, and also about teleporting your Eevee into the negaverse”
And Done
Goddamnit, they had just made it through the portal! I suppose next episode will be our climactic introduction to the Worm World – but in the meantime, this was actually quite a thoughtful conclusion of Nebbie and Lillie’s shared journey. Lillie’s arc exemplifies one of Pokemon’s key thematic goals, the instilling of a love and respect for animals in its young audience, and that moment of her embracing Solgaleo felt like a validation of all her work so far. Also, we got plenty of ridiculous Team Rocket moments, and even Kukui trying to act cool for once, so I’d say this was a pretty successful episode. On to the land of the Ultra Beasts!
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