This is an interesting reviewing experience for me. I'm used to having about 100 episodes to have to sum up-- or sometimes twice or three times that amount. And these 24 episodes feel a little oddly placed... But they were pretty good, and a lot of important things happened. I'm not really sure where to start... so I guess I'll just go in order. I really liked that they brought Dawn back for a little adventure with the new gang. Continuing on in Unova, I missed Diamond and Pearl more than I'd expected to. Though that little adventure was brought down a bit by Meloetta... theMary-Sue Pokémon. I know Japan has a thing for idols, but she just... annoyed me. This powerful, important, damsel-in-distress legendary that everyone just can't help but fall in love with? Gag me. But the conflict with Meloetta did finally reveal Team Rocket's big plan, which was also... interesting. I mentioned that I liked what they were doing with Team Rocket in the past season-- portraying them as a formidable villain for once, and I was glad to see that come together. But it does feel a little strange that, of all places, in this season that hasn't even been particularly good... this is where Ash finally meets and confronts Giovanni. Who's on a quest to summon the dumbest-looking legendaries this world has ever seen. The episodes were handled quite well, but... I don't know. It just didn't feel right. And I'm wondering where this defeat leaves Team Rocket now. They all went back to Kanto together. Will the writers try to play it off as if their brief success was totally inconsequential and revert Jessie, James, and Meowth back to their usual pathetic selves? (Is it too much to hope that they'll just disappear for good, never to be seen again?)
Anyway, as this season reached its midway point, I was fairly pleased. There were a lot of things these 24 episodes did well. I surprised myself by really liking the episodes dedicated to developing Iris. I think she now has the most depth of any Unova character, and my opinion of her might just be softening a bit. And then we moved on to the Unova league and, as with the first conflict of this season, I'm about half and half when it comes to enjoyment.
There have been a few things the writers tried to do differently in Unova, and I've approved of most of them. (Especially because lack of originality was one of their biggest shortcomings starting out.) And while I appreciate switching things up a bit... I mean, do I even have to say it? There's a reason you don't write the match against the important rival as the very first qualifying battle of the tournament. I really like how much Trip seems to have grown since their last encounter, but I wish we'd seen a lot more of it. The final battle against the big rival of this season as just a one-on-one match? Not satisfying at all, in my opinion. I just didn't really care about any of Ash's other rivals, so after beating Trip and getting to move on, it was sort of inevitable that whoever he did end up losing to was going to be disappointing. Especially because the writers ended up going with Cameron, who's just stupidly strong. As well as being just stupid, period. Like, his strength does not make sense to me. But I digress...
The next season is even shorter, but I think I'm okay with that. Best Wishes redeemed itself a little... But I don't anticipate missing Unova like I missed Sinnoh. The time to move on to X and Y, which I've heard is really good, cannot come soon enough.
Mixed Feelings
Pokemon Best Wishes! Season 2 was an interesting ordeal, it focusses on the time after ash has collected 8 of the gymbadges needed to play in the Unova league. Story: Well story wise this part of the show is not much different from the indigo league, Ash participates and does not win once again, after the unova league is over the story shifts to meloetta and was not memorable enough for me to write more about it. Therefore I rate it a 6 for being ok, sticking closely to the pokemon formula but still dabble with some kind of plot arrangement. Art: The art of pokemon in black andwhite overall has been better than ever! The move animations stick closely to the game counterparts, even improving upon them! The pokemon look sharp and nicely animated as ever, Ash's design is ok, not worse than before but I feel like while he is 10, he looks a lot older in this season. Honnestly would not mind a remake of the original few seasons in this quality... Speaking of which! They show some scenes from the original show, flashbacks, or reminders, which almost seem re-mastered or just made again!
Sound:
I've got nothing special to say here, the soundtracks are great, if you have been watching pokemon like me, I usually put it on in the background while i'm doing housework or alike, the soundtrack for me has started to fade into the background in general.
Character:
Oh boy here we go...
I did not particularly like Iris and Cilan to begin with but it just gets worse with this... Yes in at this point in the series you do get to know Iris a little better, like where she's from and what her "goal" is. Cilan however is just incredibly frustrating, he replaced arguably the best character pokemon had seen, and does so in a smart ass kind of way. I think I'd like the show more if they just left him out as a main character in general, ash's main character-ness has been reduced enough already.
And have you noticed how both Iris and Cilan repeat things so many times??? Its more annoying than team rocket ever could have been, and to be honest, team rocket is actually full of character this season cause they are moving up the corporate ladder.
Enjoyment:
Even though I rated the show a 6, this is purely because of the art improvement. the lack of consistency of the main characters really took a toll on me, hopefully the new mc's in X and Y aren't as bland.
