Gotta catch 'em all... on TV!
Pokémon is a Japanese anime series that started in 1997 and still airs to this day. It is based off of one of Nintendo's most popular video games. The show has been a critical/commercial success, and spawned many spin-off movies.
Plot
Ash Ketchum, a boy from Pallet Town, dreams of becoming the greatest Pokémon Master, and with the help of Misty, Brock and Pikachu, he can succeed further to his dreams.
Why it Rocks
- Follows the source material very faithfully, to the point where Ash can be considered an anime version of Red.
- Very solid and detailed animation, plus the designs of the Pokémon are highly imaginative and colorful.
- Lots of funny moments.
- Amazing dub by 4Kids Entertainment that kept the show's writing very well faithful.
- A very wide range of likable characters, the most memorable characters being Ash, Misty and Brock, with latter two of which originating from the Indigo League. Ash himself is a very likable and well-developed character, who gets more mature as the series goes on and learns many things on his journey.
- The trainers sometimes use clever Pokémon battling strategies that also work in the game if fans want to try them.
- Similar to the Nintendo games, very epic and iconic Pokémon battle scenes that get more intense as the series goes on. One of the most epic battles is Charizard vs Greninja in the Kalos League.
- Earned a countless collection of great and decent movies, most notably the first movie.
- Really great voice acting. Especially from the 4Kids dub as all the actors are well casted, and put in a pretty great performance.
- In 2019/2020, Ash finally won the alola league
- The villains, Team Rocket, are hilarious (except in the best wishes show)
Bad Qualities
- Despite being Kids WB's very first anime, it ended up rated TV-Y for the Kids' WB! airings. This anime show can be too intense for preschoolers.
- The anime has used Ash Ketchum as the protagonist for far too long now without ever letting him win a regional league (save for the non canon Orange League). Because of that the series has gotten very repetitive with every season playing out more or less the same. Also, the new seasons that came after the Orange League is feels pointless as there is no proper end to the entire series.
- The Unova era is the show's weakest era due to it's slow pacing, and too many filler episodes.
- The "Electric Soldier Porygon" incident that caused over 650 Japanese people to have epileptic seizures.
- Best Wishes and Sun and Moon were met with overwhelmingly negative reception.
- Some cringe-worthy moments, such as James getting fake breasts.
- The GS ball side-story is never resolved.
- Some mean-spirited moments, like the time a racer tied up James and Jessie and tormented them by getting his Pokémon to do do just because they failed to help him succeed.
- Kukui and Guzma's backstory was dissapionting
- The new actors aren’t as good as the old ones
- Some bad episodes of this show exist like:
* A Legendary Photo Op! * Kicking It From Here To Tomorrow! * Pokémon Ranger: Heatran Rescue! * Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown! * A Showcase Debut! (depending on your view)