Forum - View topicThe Top Twenty Original Pokémon Episodes
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FilthyCasual
Posts: 2237 |
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I read that Aerodactyl book before I saw the episode years later on Cartoon Network's website.
Ahh, the hype for Togepi. |
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Stuart Smith
 Posts: 1298 |
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The entireity of Pocket Monsters consists of the first episode until Satoshi heads to Houen. I assume Master Quest is one of those dub-only classifications they give the show every dozen or so episodes for some reason. Anyway, the original's problem with pacing and filler is pretty notorious. The Kanto Gym Battles were rushed through extremely quickly which led to a lot of filler, and Johto's were streched so far apart. This can easily be attributed to not knowing how successful the franchise was going to be and how to handle transitions from one generation to another. It remains the only series to cover two generations. Funnily enough, Diamond and Pearl had a year-long drought between two Gym Battles, but given the other plot lines in the show like contests and Team Galaxy it didn't feel like a year because the characters and story was always moving forward in one way or another The later series have a surprisingly little amount of filler given their length. That was when they started doing things like giving Pokemon personalities and actually training them to learn moves and overcome obstacles they had, and adding in tons of side characters like Hikari's rivals in DP and Bel, Kenyan, Langley, and Cabernet in Best Wishes to focus on and play around with JaconYBM and MajinAkuma covered most everything else like direction and character development for Pokemon and characters. I'll also add in gym leaders and rivals being actually characters in future series. Diamond and Pearl and XY especially were great with how they were handled. Shinji was great, and I loved the history and dynamic Suzuna had with Nozomi., and Corni traveling with the group for a bit in XY was great as well. -Stuart Smith |
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O-chan
 Posts: 78 Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan |
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Well since everybody is sharing Pokemon nostalgia stories my personal experience is I got into the show while in college. I actually loved watching the Indigo League through Orange Islands but began to not watch it religiously starting with Johto and also because I was getting more attached to Digimon at the time. The weird thing is I never completely divorced myself from the Pokemon anime. Throughout the Advanced series I popped in from time to time especially when the new dub cast came in during Battle Frontier. For some reason I more or less kept up with the movies and specials. Around the time Black and White started I had just upgraded to DVR through Comcast so I began recording the show on a regular basis. The funny thing is during XY's run I started watching the Japanese version continuously while I would watch the dub secondary. These days I love the Pokemon anime because it's doing a lot of interesting things in terms of both the animation and art design of the series AND how it writes the characters. Team Rocket stopped being boring for me since Black and White and even though they went back to being the comic relief the shows staff seems to know how to utilize them better. Heck, even with Sun and Moon I like their Pokemon lineup better than Ash's and they're not in EVERY SINGLE episode. Overall Pokemon has returned to being my regular watches again.
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Somer-_-
 Posts: 997 Location: Canada |
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The episodes I really like that aren't on the list yet are the breeding center secret, the episode where Charmander is caught, Pikachu vs Raichu, Ash vs Ritchie, and my absolute favorite of the Kanto episodes, the island with the gigantic Pokemon. I still crack up at Jessie and James making an R with their phone lines as they annoy Giovanni by reciting their motto.
Edit: aw way off Last edited by Somer-_- on Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CCTakato
Posts: 514 |
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My favorites are the Ash vs Misty gym battle because Misty is best girl and she has the coolest fight scenes. I also love all the Sabrina episodes and still watch them every Halloween in spite of how weirdly nonchalant the Pokemon League was about Sabrina's severe human rights abuses.
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 819 |
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I had to stop watching Pokémon weekly around the time it took Ash and friends forever to get to Goldenrod City from Azalea Town. The level of "filler" that was ramped up in the Johto era just didn't seem sustainable on a weekly basis to me(also, I was becoming a teenager and waking up at 7 AM to catch a new episode grew increasingly less easy). Also, there are just a slew of bad Johto episodes. Advance Generation was a saving grace where I tried picking it up again weekly, even if I suffered similar post-second-gym-battle-fatigue in the Dewford Town episodes.
I think as far as the original series goes, "Pokémon Shipwreck" might possibly be my favorite. Everybody does something in that episode and it's incredibly funny. It's technically part of an ongoing storyline that started when the S.S. Anne wasn't sinking and ends with everybody lost and separated in the jungle/Big Pokémon Theme Park, but I don't think those episodes surrounding it were nearly that good. Other favorites: -The first episode. I watch a lot of TV, and one thing you just rarely see anymore is origin material or how things get started; I think it's network demanded that the "action" or "meat" start as early as possible. Contrast that with much anime, where they almost always start with "he was normal middle school student and then..." or something similar. Ash's lofty goals and childish nature are captured so well; the team does a commendable job in translating the silent protagonist from the games into a relatable goof/underdog protagonist for young kids. -Going off the idea that Ash is a guy with much aspiration but an equal amount of hardship, the episode he catches Krabby is also nice. He's made to feel like a loser for only having six Pokémon, and not in a joking way like when Gary writes snotty messages on a post, but a real, crushing "you should be trying harder and doing better" way. It's a little depressing but hits you. it's kind of telling when that apsect of the episode overshadows the whole "angry Dragonite comes to blow everything up" part. -ANY EPISODE FOCUSING ON MEOWTH. Next to Ash, he's the guy who gets the brunt of the Charlie Brown-esque treatment. The one where he moves to Hollywood, learns how to talk, and is rejected by the girl he likes; the Paras episode where he is once again rejected by the (human)girl he likes; these are Orange Island episodes, but the one where he and Pikachu are stuck together and lost on an island, and the one where he's heralded as a God because of the move Pay Day, but Meowth hasn't learned that move yet so he has to sneak away. Meowth is a great secondary mascot character and a lot of that is also in the performance; both Inuko Inuyama and Maddie Blaustein(R.I.P) breathe life and exude so much personality into him. Bulbapedia breaks up the the Indigo/Orange arcs at episode 80, but since this article's tagline mentions 82 episodes, I will say #81 and #82(along with #83 and #84) are great interstitial/beginning episodes into a new storyline. Much like episode one, they are very comfortable starting episodes that lead you into the action as opposed to just dropping you off in the middle of it. Team Rocket somehow borders on menacing in #82's blimp takeover, even after 80-something episodes of them crossdressing and hanging out in trash cans outside of the Pokémon League stadium. |
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writerpatrick
 Posts: 672 Location: Canada |
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I have to wonder how many watching the show today have watched it since it started. Most of the fans of the show now seem to be kids who caught it later. Sort of like the Simpsons.
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Lord Oink
Posts: 876 |
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Best Wishes is underrated, but still justifyably shat on. We have to blame the games for the way the anime tried to be a soft reset to the series. The game's tried to push it as a brand new starting point like not being able to catch International Pokemon until postgame, so the anime was made to be like a remake of the first series. Satoshi traveling around with two gym leaders (lol Iris) who don't have any real goals, which mirrors Kasumi and Takeshi. The only difference is Dent and Iris we're better written and at least had recurring rivals to clash with. The fact Satoshi rotated his Pokemon routinely is also a much improvement the original series could have done rather than letting his Pokemon with zero combat experience suddenly winning League battles. BW is basically what OG should have been. It gets a lot of hate since its a huge step down from DP but it's still better than OG and even AG. It also doesn't help the earthquake in Japan pretty much destroyed the Team Plasma storyline which got shoved all the way to the end of the series. Serious Team Rocket was also one of the worst things they've ever done but the arc where Nyarth joins the group for a while was pretty great though and I loved his interaction in their adventures.
Been watching since day one. Obviously kids aren't old enough to watch since the beginning but every series is written so you can enjoy it as a standalone experience |
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robertbaldie
 Posts: 154 |
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Great list, so glad to see the Sabrina episodes really high up there.
Can't agree with the number 1 though, was pretty cringey for me. Maybe it's because I just didn't like Pikachu enough as a character to care. I would've preferred to see Episode 1 at number 1. Even Bulbasaur's near-goodbye ep I would rate higher. |
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Azmodeus
Posts: 185 Location: Sweden, ass end of nowhere |
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Gonna be honest here, Time to say goodbye is one of those songs that still makes me teary eyed. That and Vandreads version of It's a wonderfull world always hits me right in the Otaku feels.
Last edited by Azmodeus on Thu Feb 09, 2017 1:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1755 |
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Was sad to see that the "Island of the Giant Pokemon" (episode 17) did not make the list. I loved it when the Pokemon became separated from the humans. It lead to a fun scene of Ash's Pokemon, gathering around what looked like Osomatsu-san Chibita's oden stand, with Ekans mentioning how Pokemon aren't bad, just their owners are...with Koffing's mouth full of food, sobbing on the side.
Also would have liked to have seen episode where Muk surprise attacks Professor Oak. I'd love to see Ash call Oak more often, just for Muk. Also would like for him to use old Pokemon (other than Charizard) more often. Bayleef needs to make a triumphant return to assert that she, not all them other silly girls, is Ash's woman. That would make for an entertaining episode. Other than that, I agree with the high rating of the episode about Meowth and James' past. I really liked old James and Meowth, especially once their dub VAs got accustomed to the character and were able to take them into outlandish areas. |
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Koda89
 Posts: 278 |
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Honestly my favorite episode is Bye Bye Butterfree because as a kid Butterfree was my favorite Gen I Pokemon. Yeah Bulbasaur was my favorite of the starters but Butterfree was my favorite mon, because I just loved insects(hey I was a bit of a weird kid). I loved Butterfree so much that as a kid when doing the requisite imagining going on my own Pokémon adventure I wanted Caterpie to be my starter.
Hell to this day the Bug-type is still my personal favorite(with Grass and Ghost right behind). 
Needless to say I marked out hard when Ash got a Heracross in Johto. |
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rizuchan
 Posts: 976 Location: Kansas |
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I'm guessing this is an unpopular opinion, but I didn't care at all for Pikachu's Goodbye. I guess it was just too obvious that Pikachu would never actually leave for me to get emotional about it. I think Pidgeotto/Pidgeot upset me the most. (YOU SAID YOU'D COME BACK FOR HIM ASH YOU *&%*$% LIAR)
@Stuart Since you used Japanese names I should have been thinking of the "seasons" that way as well. "Master Quest" is the last part of Johto (When the OP changes to Ready Go! in the Japanese version) So yes, it was part of the Original Series you were referring, but I think most people in this thread are referring to the Kanto episodes (everything up to the first OP change) when they talk about the original show. Since I couple other people have been talking about other seasons, I want to say that I absolutely recommend Diamond & Pearl to fans of the original show. It has a lot of the same quirkiness with the single Pokemon-centric episodes, and the gym battles are actually interesting. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Thank you for reminding me of the Holy Matrimony episode! I could recount nothing of it, until I read the name 'Jessiebelle' and instantly recalled it being cried in the distinctive timbre of James' voice. Quaintly yet reassuringly, the rest all came thundering back to me.
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MajinAkuma
 Posts: 1199 |
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I predicted it. It's just Kanto again, even though the Orange Islands and Johto journeys are part of the original series.
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