I'm going to start off my review by stating that I will treat Pokemon D&P as a full flege anime and negate from the games and other chilhood influences. At this point it should be noted that Pokemon D&P is apart of the long running Pokemon FRANCHISE. A franchise that has a basic formula. That formula is aimed towards kids so there will be a lot childlike situations and themes. It just so happens that that formula continues to be reused time after time again. Its old to a lot of veteran viewers but new to the younger and newer generations. However, despite D&P being
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a "rehash", it still finds it's place amongst the other series.
Story: Satoshi or Ash for us American viewers is traveling by himself as he makes his way to the Sinnoh region. He eventully meets up with his long time traveling friend Takeshi/Brock and a new friend Hikari/Dawn. Like the other series, Ash along with his friends explore the area they are currently in while seeing and capturing new Pokemon, participate in Gym battles, make new friends and rivals, battle Team Rocket all while learning about growing up, friendship and other themes of such nature.
Art: Compared to the older series, D&P is a step up in the art department. Of course the original has a nostalgic touch to it and Advance Generation has that sequal value but D&P is very vibrant in color. The environment is abosulutely beautiful and the way that some of the attcks look are perfect! It appears as if some of the attacks have texture to them. Somthing the recent series have picked up and started doing. the characters are drawn well. Although Ash and Dawn are 10 they very well look like they are at least 13 giving off a more mature appeal.
Sound: The music is good. It's not "rock your socks off" good but for its target audience, it gets the job done. A lot of the battle and travel music returns from the previous shows so if your a fan of those, you're in for a treat. The sound effects are good like the colision of attacks or something simple like the characters walking.
Character: Out of all the catergories in this review, the character catergory got the lowest rate. Ash and Brock are pretty much the same. They don't develop much however the introduction of the Sinnoh rival Shinji/Paul does add a bit of flare to something that was very well missing in Ash's life after the absence of Gary. Paul did in fact challenge Ash. I won't say that he helped Ash develop his style of battling. That actually came over the course of the series but Paul was serious about his job as a trainer. He was a tad bit cliche with the whole "pokemon are tools" outlook but nonetheless he gave Ash a run for his money. I was a bit disappointed with Dawn. Despite being the female lead to level out the male ratio, she didn't do much for team development and was a bit of a wasted character. Like her previous female lead, Haruka/May, Dawn is a Pokemon Coordinator. The main difference is that Dawn starts off as a coordinator while May grew into it. Also Dawn is the child of a famous coordinator. But that's really it. Dawn isn't that great at coordinating (at first) and the series introduces her as a rookie. She pretty much was in the same spot as May. When it comes to the overall character of Dawn, she felt forced. Forced to be liked because she was a good guy. Forced because she had a dream to be a coordinator. Forced because when she felt sad, the viewers ahd to feel sad as well. Honestly, I would've liked Dawn more if she was already somewhat advanced in her craft similar to Misty. The dynamic would've changed greatly if Dawn wasn't your avergae Pokemon rookie. The coordinator thing has already been done and it doesn't help that the previous female lead was more profound in the skill than the current. The rest of the characters were either short lived or not memorable. Did I mention that Team Rocket is still trying to capture Pikachu?
Enjoyment: I enjoyed D&P fairly well. As expected, things have changed but it's a new enviornment with the same fundamentals.
Overall: Pokemon D&P is an upgrade in the battle sequences, the story and is overall is visually stunning. Unfortunately the characters were lacking. Paul was an interesting add to the series but Dawn was a step backwards from the other two female leads especailly since she gave no reason to be liked or rooted for other than the fact that the audience is SUPPOSE to like and root for her. However if you've been riding the Pokemon train this long, why stop here? It's a decent addition to the series and it came at a good time where things were getting stale. Pokemon D&P defintely holds a place in the Pokemon family tree and is sure to be liked by the younger generations and the veterans who know how the Pokemon formula goes.
Jun 22, 2014
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
(Anime)
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I'm going to start off my review by stating that I will treat Pokemon D&P as a full flege anime and negate from the games and other chilhood influences. At this point it should be noted that Pokemon D&P is apart of the long running Pokemon FRANCHISE. A franchise that has a basic formula. That formula is aimed towards kids so there will be a lot childlike situations and themes. It just so happens that that formula continues to be reused time after time again. Its old to a lot of veteran viewers but new to the younger and newer generations. However, despite D&P being
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