Pokemon: Adventure Continues!

Synopsis: Ash wants to become the world's best Pokemon trainer. In order to do so, he has to capture all 150 of them. What are Pokemon? Pokemon are extraordinary creatures with varying powers and abilities. They are collected and traded by children of all ages. Pokemon are caught and kept in Pokeballs, and they can fight with other Pokemon. Also in the mix is a group called Team Rocket. They too are out to get Pokemon, even if they have to steal them all! Review: I initially thought that Pokemon was just about kids and their cutesy pets, so I wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. To my surprise, I found Pokemon to be quite fun to watch. The various kinds of Pokemon are either cute or interesting-looking, which are the show's main attraction. Although the plot revolves around catching Pokemon and keeping Team Rocket's activities in check, it doesn't get tiring because funny stuff erupts ever so often. Aside from the comical parts, there are also some episodes which pull some emotional strings. It's all very wholesome fare, something you can leave children alone with. The art and animation are simple and suitable. Graphically speaking, emphasis is given more to the Pokemon rather than the human characters. Colors are very vivid throughout, setting a bright and cheery tone. The English dubbing is tolerable in general, but Ash sounds like a whiney runt. I'm just glad they retained Pikachu's original Japanese voice. There's no official English subtitled version yet though, and I kind of doubt there ever will be. Id just like to say one thing before going any further: Thank God the Johto series is over. What a horrible 150+ episodes of animation, writing, and effort THAT was. And now, back to the review. For the very few loyal Pokemon anime fans left out there, rejoice! Pokemon Advanced is a new Pokemon series, and with it come some major changes, most for the better. First off, Misty and her annoying Togepi are gone. Aside from a cameo much later on in the series, Misty doesn't appear in the series at all, which may or may not make you happy (I know it won't make AshxMisty supporters happy, but then again, I'm not one of them). Second, for the first time since the beginning of the first series, the anime actually *gasp* does stuff from the original video games. Pokemon contests, berries, gym leaders using the correct Pokemon from the games, seeing Team Aqua and Magma, the old man and his Wingull ... all the stuff that happens in Ruby and Sapphire actually happens on the show. And extras of the day are far and few between, allowing plot to flow more freely. In fact, I'd say more happens in the first 20 episodes of Pokemon Advanced than the first 40 episodes of the first television series, gym leader battles aside. Third, Ash and Brock don new clothes. They also have brand new Pokemon from Hoenn, with the exception of Ash's Pikachu (duh) and Brock's Forretress. Fourth, May, the new girl, isn't just a replacement of Misty. Much like Ash, she is a beginning trainer, except while Ash wanted to be a Pokemon master, May wants to train Pokemon for contests. Unfortunately, she's very clumsy as a Pokemon trainer, much like Ash was at the beginning. But the fun part is how she slowly learns little by little how to communicate with her Pokemon, unlike with Ash, who gained 100% trust in Pikachu after a couple of episodes. And also, unlike Misty, May isn't a bitch who yells at everyone all the time for no reason. A bit whiny, perhaps, but totally more likable than Misty EVER was. I wish I could say the same for May's brother, though; Max is annoying. While he's not Scrappy-Doo, Jar Jar Binks, or Dragonball GT Giro annoying, the show would be a lot better off without him. All he seems to do is point out the obvious to his sister, who knows zilch about Pokemon, their kinds of attacks, etc. This would actually be somewhat helpful to the audience, except that the people watching this show are either: 1) those who have been with the original Pokemon anime for years, or 2) those who have played the video games. Overall, more good than bad is added to the traditional formula of the first series, with the biggest problems of the first series (filler, Misty, annoying extras of the day) weeded out almost entirely. Also improved is the animation and art. Not a tremendous improvement, mind you, but computer coloring sure is a nice touch to the series. In fact, when I first saw the Pokemon Advanced episodes on a preview on Kids' WB! in March 2003, I found it hard to go back to Johto animation/art two weeks afterward. It just looks that much better. The new Japanese music is nice too, but the dub is still pretty bad. May sounds exactly like Ash's mom (no joke), and the Pokemon voices are getting worse every season. The American music is getting more annoying as well, as most of it is recycled at times where it fits the least. If it actually FLOWED with the episodes, this wouldn't be a problem. But just like with all of 4Kids' other dubs (especially Yu-Gi-Oh!), it doesn't.