Hello everyone, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time.

Bạn đang xem: Pokémon the series: sun & moon

Today I am eager khổng lồ relax with some Sun & Moon, and hope you all don’t mind if we just chill out in Alola for a while. After last episode’s absurd animation spectacle, which essentially compressed twenty years of animated passion into twenty glorious minutes, I’m not expecting a similar feat this time – and I’m actually quite okay with that. Animation highlights are fun and all, but Sun & Moon’s perennial attraction is the simple, peaceful joy of hanging out with this crew, & going on rambling adventures across their beautiful home. Sun & Moon is a place of rest and recovery, where you’re always welcome khổng lồ just chill out for a while, & I hope you all appreciate that peace just as much as I do. Whether we’re finding a new poketháng or just lounging on the beach, let’s ease right into another day under the Alolan sun!

Episode 44

Lillie on the pokeproblem today. It’s been quite some time since we had a Lillie episode, hasn’t it? Her last one was… lemme check… oh wow, taking care of Pikachu baông chồng in number thirty. She’s well overdue!

I suppose it makes sense that it’s a little trickier to lớn integrate Lillie episodes, though. It doesn’t seem lượt thích she’s training for the island pilgrimage like the others, & she’s not really interested in poketháng battles, so she tends khổng lồ miss out on the “my powers leveled up!” circuits the others go through. Her stories tover to lớn be driven more by emotional drama, as she works khổng lồ overcome her pokemon phobia, but that’s only a well you can return to so many times

There’s also the fact that her in-game character is intrinsically tied to lớn the fairly dark Sun and Moon main story, which this anime has largely foregone in favor of episodic shenanigans. If they start weaving in the game’s plot beats, her relevancy will naturally increase, making it also natural khổng lồ give the less plot-relevant teammates more time in the sun early on

“My mother appears in this episode.” OH SHIT IT’S HAPPENING. Game Lusamine was a megalomaniacal villain with no qualms about sacrificing her children for glory, so I expect her character’s receiving some touch-ups for the anime

We begin on an ominous cold open, as Ash appears lớn be led lớn a foggy, mysterious monument in a dream. Already, it seems lượt thích the show is turning towards a more focused narrative sầu, offering a menacing prophecy that may drive sầu us for episodes to come

They reach a temple marked by the sun & moon symbols, và the legendary Sun & Moon pokemon appear in the sky. An eerie sight undercut only slightly by Pikachu’s persistent “pika pika”s

All the isl& guardians take note as a new poketháng appears, và Gladio’s mysterious friover is restless. Shit is undeniably Afoot

Yep, the Ultra Beasts are arriving. These creatures felt like some combination of tragic mad science experiments và Lovecraftian void creatures in the game, so I’ll be interested to see how they’re integrated here

“Ash và Starcloud! A Mysterious Encounter!”

The gang are oversleeping after their vacation. Some delightful Pikachu animation here, as he rolls off the couch like the boneless lump he is. Is this… yep, it’s another Masaaki Iwane episode. Good times ahead!

Like all cats, Nyabby delights in waking up his master in the most abrasive way possible

Wow, a style of superdeformed faces we haven’t seen before. Will this show ever run out of silly Ash faces?

Oh my god, Pikachu just collapsing through the shot as a wipe transition.

Xem thêm: Các Bột Giặt Cho Máy Giặt Cửa Trên Đúng Cách, Bột Giặt Các Loại

Inspired. This is cinema

“The Alola Lady Award goes to Alola’s woman of the year.” I love sầu how unspecific this is. No competition or pageant or anything, just “yeah, you did a great job as a woman this year, have a trophy”

It goes to lớn Professor Burnett, a poketháng researcher

She researches “Ultra Holes,” presumably the portals used by Ultra Beasts

Oh wow, beautiful new background as we get a full pan of the Altar of the Sun

Lusamine and Burnett are both at the shrine, implying Lusamine will be an ally from the start this time. She’s still got that condescending ojou-sama attitude, though. Sun & Moon understands the essential things

We get the usual opening cut of Ash running to lớn the school, but it’s interrupted by a guardian pokemon leading Ash inkhổng lồ the forest. Oh god, that seems lượt thích a statement of purpose: “school time’s over, the plot’s starting.” I don’t need any plot!

Excellent “yo, where the fuck did you go” noises from Pikachu as he chases the guardian

Kapu-Kokeko leads them to lớn Cosmog sleeping in the forest. The processing effects get noticeably more intense for this key sequence, bathing the whole tiệc nhỏ in diffuse sunlight

Kukui wonders why Ash isn’t in class, và all of his classmates immediately assume he was distracted by a shiny rochồng. Love sầu this crew

Unsurprisingly for Iwane, Ash’s character acting is great this episode. There are lots of wonderfully exaggerated full-toàn thân contortions he’s doing, but then also neat subtle touches that feel very true-to-life, like the way he suddenly tilts his head to lớn hear Kukui’s answer

Oh my god, Cosmog và Rowlett are sharing the backpachồng lượt thích a sleeping bag. Too much fluffiness

AND NOW A PIKACHU-SHAPED STAR WIPE TRANSITIONS US DIRECTLY TO PIKACHU’S FACE. THEY CAN’T KEEP. DOING THIS, THEY’RE BREAKING CINEMA

Lillie names the little fluff ball Starcloud

He wakes up and immediately starts screaming, which I can certainly relate to

Just delightful character acting & expression work all around the crew. This sequence of Ash handing off the baby lớn Kaki is just perfectly executed, from the clarity of Ash’s salute to lớn the flawless comedic timing

Interestingly, while most pokemon are assigned pretty clear animal-lượt thích mannerisms, Starcloud is characterized more like a human baby, prone khổng lồ wild emotional shifts

Starcloud is a picky eater! Love this cut of Lillie devastated that Starcloud doesn’t want her cake

There are a lot more establishing shots in this episode than usual, which creates a sense of anticipation that is perfect for an episode all about the plot kicking into gear

Oh my god, this Lusamine is a quintessential embarrassing mom, immediately trying lớn squish her daughter’s cheeks in front of her new frikết thúc. Brilliant work

The simultaneous introduction of all these new adults really hammers in just how good pokemon’s character designs are. Lusamine’s hair và dress balance each other perfectly, while Wicke manages lớn evoke the clear aura of an office assistant while still maintaining plenty of individual flair. And then there’s Sauboh, who’s just Elton John

Easy khổng lồ see how Lusamine hasn’t shown up yet. She loves her daughter, but isn’t really much of a mom – she’s more of an embarrassing older sister character, without much genuine interest in guiding Lillie

And Done

Well, that certainly wasn’t the episode I was expecting! A whole bunch of plot in my Sun and Moon? But in spite of this episode being far more narratively propulsive sầu than I might have hoped, it was fortunately still brimming with all of the wonderful character acting and charming relationships that make this show special. In particular, it was delightful to lớn see Nefarious Mastermind Lusamine transformed inkhổng lồ Embarrassing Mom Lusamine, & I look forward khổng lồ plenty more scenes of her smothering her reluctant daughter in affection. Plus, those Pikachu wipes! Scorsese would be proud.

This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you bởi vì.