Pokemon: The Origin

The Pokemon anime series is something i droped for many years, basically is just the same formula but a different region with new Pokémon and so on.

I came back just for one reason. I played the original game in a Game Boy when I was 10, and since then i followed the games, maybe for someone the games are like i just said about the anime "the same formula but a different region with new Pokémon" but i think the games, in fact, are more fun and engaging.

Now, back to the animation... I love it.

It takes the most memorables moments of the original game like ... the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town,maybe it will jump many of your personal favorite moments, but the ones you really know, they are here. For only 4 episodes it was pretty good and awesome. 8/10

The characters are just like in the game like our cocky-hated rival Green or our greedy Giovanny, a copycat form the game, and that is GOOD 8/10

The music, an orchestrated tunes form the classic tracks from the game. Sure they are many, but I wish it had been more. 9/10

The art is not bat at all, acutually is pretty awesome but i think they could do it much better, like the Pokemon Movies.
Is something between a regular episode and a movie 7/10

It's a love letter to the first games (with a little wink to the next Nintendo 3DS relased) I recomend to any fan of Pokémon, more if you are more in the Games rather the anime and I enjoyed a lot 10/10

It's gets a 8,4/10 + 0,6 for nostalgia.
TOTAL=9/10

Story and characters: 4/10

The OVA promised to follow the story of the original Pokemon Red and besides adding a mega-evolution for Charizard at the end, it pretty much did exactly that. Our hero is named Red instead of Ash and he actually captures all the Pokemon. He doesn't randomly release his best fighters, he actually wins his gym battles without cheating, the Pokemon actually use real moves and not bullshit like "dodge", and he actually dismantles the Team Rocket Organization. So this is WAY better than the original Pokemon anime right?....right? The problem is that Pokemon wasn't a game that sold so well because of ... the amazing plot and characters. Games like the Final Fantasy games, Metal Gear series, Mass Effect, all sold copies primarily based on their interesting stories and characters. Pokemon sold games based on excellent gameplay, game mechanics, and addictive/competitive nature. Red says his goal is to "complete the Pokedex" rather than being the strongest trainer like Ash wanted. However, we never see any strong motive for Red's desire. He isn't a scientist trying to collect all the Pokemon to study them. The Pokemon seem to be literally stored as data in the PC rather than living on Oak's ranch, so he certainly isn't making friends. In fact that seems pretty damn cruel when you think about it. Red doesn't really have any character traits that make him interesting or give him depth. Green is just as bland. He doesn't have a squad of cheerleaders like Gary and while still a dick, isn't the same epic caliber douche that we all love to hate. The Gym Leaders aren't nearly as memorable and I actually started to miss the goofy Team Rocket trio because this Team Rocket was so boring. Pokemon Red's plot worked fine as a game, but had ZERO business being adapted into an anime.

Art: 6/10

The art was actually pretty good. I guess if there was a single thing that justified this anime's existence, it would be the art and getting to see pokemon battles with vastly superior animation to the original series. Of course, I haven't watched the main Pokemon anime since about 2001, so maybe the animation for the main series is just as good at this point.

Music: 5/10

The music is actually the music from the original game. That was a nice touch, but the original Pokemon anime had a soundtrack that I actually thought surpassed the game's soundtrack.

Overall: 4/10

"Pokemon: The Origin" is in the running for the most needless and pointless anime ever made. I've only seen a few other anime like "Eva: Death and Rebirth" that filled me with such a strong desire to scream: "why was this shit even made?!" I know it was made for the quick and easy money, but surely there must be a better way to both make money and please the massive Pokemon fanbase than this!

Pokemon a series that many people have lost faith in which is understandable with the recent years. Pokemon: The Origin however actually was pretty good. Pokemon: The Origin based off of Pokemon Red/Green is 4 episodes which gives a brief summary of the games they were based on.

The reason that Pokemon: The Origin was good was because of the characters
Red: The main character he did what the other guy(Ash/Satoshi) couldn't do and that is dominate, have a clear goal, and actually follows that goal leading him to become a great trainer in the long run.

Green: Even though he was made into a side character ... compared to Red Green was an enjoyable part of the story as well. He also was a better trainer than the other guy(Red/Satoshi)who pretty much knew how to train his pokemon the correct way. He was a good friend and rival to Red and their battles were fun to watch.

Overall my thoughts on Pokemon: The Origin is why did they not replace the other guy(Red/Satoshi) with proper characters from this show. All though the show was short it was a fun show to watch and made me restore a little faith into pokemon. Overall: 7.75/10 (Rounded) 8/10

Nostalgia can be a detriment to looking at something through a critical lens. Fond memories can blur your judgment concerning the quality of a work of fiction, especially if it's something you grew up on. This is the pit-trap waiting for the generation of anime fans who grew up in the 90's watching and playing Pokémon in this four episode special. Pokémon Origins retells memorable events of the first two Pokémon games in animated form. No doubt it will bring forth warm fuzzy memories of popping Pokémon in your Gameboy for the first time, but once put under a critical light, the special bares questionable ... results at best.

Origins chronicles the adventures of Red, named after one of the first two games, on his quest to become a skilled Pokémon trainer and complete Professor Oak's Pokédex. His adventure covers the entirety of the first Pokémon games, which means sticking to the original 150 Pokémon (for the most part). It also means condensing an entire games worth of content into only four 20-or-so minute episodes. The show deals with this by having narration that lists off events that happened presumably in the time between episodes. This, of course, is a textbook example of weak writing, not to mention it breaks the cardinal rule of ‘show, don’t tell’. The story is not being told to us as much as it is being spoon-fed to us. Certainly, the events will elicit major nostalgia for anyone who has played the games, however, that alone is not a sign of good writing. In fact, the storytelling here relies almost solely on nostalgia. Since large chunks of Red’s adventure are told though narration, it doesn’t feel like the audience is on the journey with him. We are told about the wonderful world of Pokémon, but we’re never allowed to explore it with Red. This results in difficulty actually being invested in Red’s adventure, outside of our own nostalgia of the game.

Not helping the matters is that none of the characters develop in a natural progression. We see Red become a master Pokémon trainer, but we never experience it. This is, again, because most if his adventure is narrated, which makes it more expository than experiential. It becomes difficult to gauge his growth as a trainer and a person, and summarizes what should have been shown as hard earned experience. He does have a distinct character arc that is easy to map out, but it just isn’t explored particularly well. Of course, Red is the central character and as a result the most developed, which doesn’t bode well for any of the other characters. Blue/Green (depending on what language you’re watching) is Red’s rival, and he’s given enough personality to not be one-note, particularly with his sometimes friendly sometimes antagonistic relationship with Red. However, he’s ultimately there to be a rival that Red can play off, and he doesn’t develop too much beyond that. Likewise, most of the characters feel kind of like stepping stones for Red as he develops into a better trainer; pretty much all of them are there to either teach Red a lesson or antagonize him into action. Needless to say, any character development for them is light or rushed. Team Rocket leader Giovanni’s sudden change of heart might have been an affecting moment if we actually got to know him first. Instead, we get his backstory in a few minutes during his battle with Red.

With all this said, it must be asked: is Pokémon Origins a failure? Well, no. Not really. This is a project that was clearly banking on the nostalgia of its viewership, and love for the franchise. In a way, it’s almost a reward for their devotion. It’s kind of a walk down memory lane for anyone who grew up with the games and the TV show. Watching Red travel, train, and battle reminds us of all the hours we put into beating the game and completing the Pokédex. We’re treated to game menu screens being incorporated into the show, fully animated re-enactments of scenes and battles, and nostalgia inducing iconic soundtrack. The animation is also much better compared to that of the TV series, perhaps even better than some of the movies. The boost in budget compliments the creative and varied Pokémon designs quite well, some Pokémon look better than ever. Battles are done with an abundance of energy, and while sometimes short and predictable, they are entertaining and often more violent than those of the TV show.

Nostalgia is nice, but it is no substitute for good storytelling. This is most certainly the problem with Pokémon Origins. The story being told is far too big to effectively be told in just four episodes, the world too expansive. This results in the massive amount of exposition, heavy narration, and unnatural pacing that plagues Origins. It might bring forth pleasant memories of your early gaming years, but doesn’t succeed in telling its story through the visual medium, instead relying on your own fond nostalgia. When it comes down to it, you might as well just play the games again instead, it’s a much more rewarding experience.

It's important to remember that when reviewing any topic, one should keep their personal bias to a very low minimum. This is especially difficult when dealing with a monster type franchise such as the Pokemon series, as most, if not all, people have been exposed to either the Pokemon series or games at some point in their lives. To the degree that this affects their opinion of the franchise is what ultimately will decide the fate of the future of the series. Keeping this point in mind, when it was announced earlier this summer/fall that a new anime would be produced that would follow the ... storyline of the original Pokemon games, it was safe to say that a few people were excited. They were promised a look back at what revolutionized a franchise in the form of a four-episode special. What it was willing to accomplish in those four episodes is the most debatable topic of all.

Once again, when reviewing one is recommended that they put their personal bias to a very low minimum. Keeping this in mind, I viewed this four-episode special through the mind of someone who has no prior knowledge of the Pokemon series or games. I watched Pokemon: The Origin as if I was playing the first game for the first time through the perspective of the main character. From what was gathered, the story begins with a character named Red, who is passionate about catching and training creatures known as Pokemon. He, along with his rival, Green, is tasked with collecting every species of Pokemon known to that world by the town's local Pokemon professor: Professor Oak. With his goal set in stone, Red sets out to catch 'em all.

With only four episodes to work with, there is a guarantee that not everything from the game will be shown in the series. To someone who has no prior knowledge of the game, these time skips do more justice as a form of confusion than anything else. Along with this, the special only chooses to show certain scenes from the game, with some scenes being obvious to the hardcore fan, while random to about everyone else. Due to this, each episode not completely focused on the goal of collecting every pokemon possible or advancing that plot accordingly is viewed more as a filler episode. To those not aware of the Pokemon games, they will also notice a variety of plotholes within the special that don't make sense unless you've played the game. One such thing is the absence of police or the logic behind sending a child out to collect potentially dangerous creatures in order to satisfy the wish of a man no one knows anything about. Without these security blankets, viewers won't know how to interpret the impact of certain scenes and their importance to the series. These gaping plotholes and the lack of any character development is prevalent and noticeable throughout the entirety of this special.

Speaking of character development, it wouldn't seem too far fetched to think that the special would focus a little time on developing the main character, Red, as he's on screen roughly 85% of the time, whether in recaps or otherwise. With the entire series being based on this one character, it's hard to really enjoy any other character that's introduced during the time span, that is, unless you're a fan of the series. I'm sensing a pattern here. The only other character that gets any amount of focus in more than one episode is Green, and even he doesn't develop into anything more than the rival character. The issue with the lack of depth can be solely attributed to the lack of time and the length of the individual pokemon battles. Whether in recaps or actual battle, Red is shown fighting other character's pokemon a big chunk of the time that this special has to offer. It does take the liberty to offer some insight on how Red develops as a trainer through his struggles with certain opponents, and the views he shares when facing someone with far different beliefs. Unfortunately, this is the most that the special is willing to offer.

What would be an appropriate way to animate a series trying to showcase nostalgic elements? Why, with save screens and in-game text, of course. At the beginning and end of each episode, the viewer is shown a small snippet of animation that plays to the feelings of those who played the original games. Before each episode, one has to load up the save file in order to continue their adventure, and when they're finished, they have to save their progress. These in-game pop-ups serve as a reminder of how important it is to save the game, what it matters to the quality of the animation is not exceedingly accurate. The recaps that I've mentioned before are also reminiscent of the original games as a small text box will appear at the bottom of the screen, explaining the situation that is being spoken of to us by Red. In terms of the animation of the series in general, it's appropriate, to say the least. It's not the most spectacular animation one will see from animators of the 21st century, but it's enough to satisfy both fans and newcomers alike. The battles are vivid and well-detailed, granted the viewer isn't stricken with how dull the humans look in comparison to the pokemon. Such is only expected from those who know the series.

Taking everything into consideration, if one is a fan of the pokemon series, this special will probably hold a special place in their heart. It's respectful to its source material (until the end) and the character Ash Ketchum, who plays the main role of the original Pokemon series, is nowhere in sight. Seeing as I am a fan of the Pokemon series, it was enjoyable to view from a fan's perspective, but that doesn't erase the numerous problems that are hidden behind the spontaneous animation. Some of these problems are excusable due to the time restraints that a series has with only four episodes, but there have been series that have done more with less, and to excuse something as enormous as Pokemon from doing anything less than possible puts it in hot water with those unfamiliar with the series. Everything else considered, this is the perfect treat for fans of the original games, but its purely restricted to that group in particular.

Origin might be a great example of how to do a short game adaptation. Sure, it's not that good, as it basically skipped most gyms and locations. But did it please it's fans? Well it sure did please me.

It's a bit difficult commenting on the overall story, as a lot was skipped, so all we got was Red starting his journey and battling Brock, Lavender Town, a bit of Silph Co and 8th gym battle against Giovanni, short E4 montage and Mewtwo battle. Pretty much the highlights of the Kanto games. The start of the journey was well done and portrayed how the game looked ... to a child. Lavender Town further expanded the Marowak story and made the segment quite emotional. Team Rocket beating Marowak to death was a bit too brutal though. Unlike the games though, Green was trying to help Red in the Pokemon Tower. Second encounter with Giovanni at the Silph Co was changed a bit to make it more interesting, and the fight was portrayed more realistically, just like the Squirtle vs Charmander fight. So we got some explosions and the last floor blew off. The eight gym fight was really great and further expanded Giovanni's character. Last portion of the special was spent on Red vs Mewtwo, which was mostly a Mega Charizard showcase.

The story really lacked any proper progress, as we mostly saw segments of Red's journey, with most of the stuff happening in short montages. All important moments like gym battles, obtaining rods, fossil etc. were shown via those short montages. But then again, Gen I isn't story driven, so not that much was lost in those montages. They kept the decisive Giovanni battle, which is the most important segment of the story.

I bet most of the 90s kids, who played Red/Blue during it's launch, found themselves in Red. Red did most beginner's mistakes a child playing the games for the first time would do. He tried catching a Pokemon on full health, he tried catching someone else's Pokemon and used wrong move types. He was quite incompetent in the first segment. Sadly, most of his development happened during the in-between montages. That's quite a bummer, as he instantly went from a beginner to an experienced Pokemon trainer. Green didn't seem as arrogant as that Douche from our little Game Boy screens. Perhaps he wasn't like that in the Japanese version, so the dub shall contribute to his character. Green just isn't the Douche I know without his "Smell ya later". He felt more like a "tsundere" type of character in Origin.

Ken Sugimori's Gen III redesign was adapted well in this special. Pokemon designs were changed a bit to make them look more threatening. The special was handled by three studios: Production IG animated the first episode, Xebec animated the second and third, and Oriental Light and Magic the fourth. Compared to the TV show, the battles were portrayed more realistically here. Squirtle's Bite was portrayed really sadistically. You could feel Charmander's pain. The attacks got redesigned and looked really high-budget compared to the show.

The whole soundtrack contained remixes of the game's song, similar to the show. The remixes were quite good. Unlike the show where Pokemon repeated their names, Origin went to a more realistic cry-based sounds. Makes me wish that the original show started with that too, as animals repeating their species name is quite creepy.

The enjoyment really depends on how well you know the game. Some things may bother a bit, like battles still being in the style of the show. But overall, I think Origin did well in the fanservice area. Stuff like Nurse Joy's "We hope to see you again" and the white hand NPC made me really happy. Seeing Mega Charizard before the release was also really great. While I am a bit sad that E4 was just a montage, the Mewtwo fight was quite emotional and done great. I really liked that the towns were close to their game design. So instead of being huge like in the show, we got towns looking like their game counterparts.

Overall, Origin is a 90min long Pokemon commercial (similar to the show). It lacked a story and character development. It was pure fanservice, and Gen I fans probably enjoyed it a lot. It's really not recommended to watch it if you haven't played the game. You won't get anything out of it. I myself enjoyed it a lot and might rewatch the dub for Green.

Pokemon: The Origin is a four-episode OVA series split between three different studios that is an anime interpretation of the reboot for the first-generation of Pokemon games (FireRed and LeafGreen). With the release of Pokemon X and Y for 3DS hitting the international market, Origin was more of an accessory item, but people were still excited. Does Origin live up to the hype? Let's take a look.

Story:
The story follows the story of Pokemon Trainer Red on his journey to complete the Pokedex and become the Pokemon League Champion: the same plot of the games themselves. He competes with his rival Green on his quest to ... be the ultimate Pokemon trainer. For veterans of the Pokemon series, there isn't very much new to discover here.

For a four-part OVA series between multiple studios, sure, things have to be condensed - but as a result, the story felt painfully rushed. Character development felt forced, and with the large amount of montages to supplement development, it feels like watching a late-series Rocky movie. Understandably, the story isn't exactly new. The series itself was designed as an accessory to the hype leading up to the release of Pokemon X and Y and as a nod to longtime fans of the series. However, it would have progressed much more fluidly if it had been a longer series, even to the tune of 12 to 15 episodes.

Art:
While the art isn't exactly impressive, it's certainly not awful. The choice of coloring is pleasant, yet plain. The style itself is similar to the style taken for FireRed and LeafGreen themselves (specifically box art and character design). There were some particularly impressive moments, especially in episode four with coloring and effects, but nothing terribly innovative. In summary: not terrible, but not particularly good either.

Sound:
Everything from the voice acting to the music score was on-point. The voice actors themselves fit their own characters and did well with their delivery. The sound effects for the Pokemon attacks were appropriate and the cries of each Pokemon were sensible and realistic. In addition, the music score was quite well-written and felt like something a person would go to a concert hall to listen to. This was probably the strongest point of the series.

Character:
Character development seemed more forced than anything else. While characters like Red and Green initially seem very static, their development does indeed occur, albeit with a certain force that doesn't feel natural to even the newest of anime fans. While development for characters like Giovanni is well-written and drawn out to a reasonable degree, there isn't much to see in terms of good character-writing.

Enjoyment:
While there isn't much new to see here, Pokemon: The Origin isn't unenjoyable. However, it is definitely geared towards a highly particular audience, that audience being the group of gamers who remember playing the Pokemon games back on the original Game Boy or the reboot games on Game Boy Advance. The ending credit sequence even had a border designed to look exactly like a Game Boy screen, and the end of each episode features Red saving his own game, exactly like the original Pokemon games. However, while the series is an interesting nod to the specific audience mentioned, it feels like nothing more than a cheap thrill. It had its moments within its montages that brought excitement and energy, in addition to emotion during its more tender moments, but it isn't exactly a stellar and shining example of an OVA series.

Overall:
Pokemon: The Origin is an interesting tribute to old fans of the series as the 3DS games Pokemon X and Y hit the shelves internationally. Unfortunately, it is plagued by a forcefully-quick story and a case of montage-mania like a Rocky film. In addition, characters are seemingly forced to evolve and develop. However, the sound effects, voice acting, and music score were all well-done, and while the art wasn't exactly innovative, it met par for the course. Unless you're a die-hard Pokemon fan or a person trying to get some more hype in their system for X and Y, it isn't likely you'll enjoy it too much. However, it's not disagreeable. It may not leave your palate satisfied, but at least you'll be asking for more - and hopefully you'll find that sweet satisfaction once a copy of X or Y gets in your hands.

Pokemon. The word itself should be very familiar to many people, as many people probably have seen at least 1 episode of the anime, played a game, or at least heard of it from the grapevine. From a long line of anime seasons and movies such as: Everyone's favorite "Pokemon: The Movie" featuring Mewtwo, the semi-ok "Manaphy and the Pokemon Ranger", the really bad Keldeo Movie, and the god awful Pokemon Black and White series, we have Pokemon: The Origin welcoming us to the new generation of pokemon, X and Y.

Story (8/10): With the idea of pokemon going back to its ... original first generation in a sense in the games, pokemon origins refills the nostalgia feeling of pokemon fire red and leaf green by creating basically the whole story plot line of the original 2 games in a 4 episode series. Though it does bring back its nostalgia feeling of going back to your childhood, it does bring up some problems. Because it's only 4 episodes, the plot is rushed, seeing as how about 15 or so hours of gameplay are being reduced to about an 2 hours. Meaning there will be some missing parts of the pokemon adventure and possible plot points in the games aren't integrated. Also, the idea of "gotta catch 'em all" is part of the story as well.

Characters (7/10): The characters are just as you would expect. They are all characters from within the pokemon game and are just as cliched as you would think. Not like that's bad considering the fact that they are FROM a game where they only get about 3-4 lines of speech. The story follows the main character Red, as he goes along his journey, with his charmander, and does basically what anyone in a pokemon game would do, get all 8 badges, defeat the elite 4, and beat the champion. However, there is quite a bit of development from him as he goes along his journey, showing how the trainer does mature along with his or her pokemon, which is nice to see.

Art and Sound (8/10): Compared to any other pokemon anime (except the black and white 2 trailer), the art for this is drastically better, as the characters show very well done shading for the time of day, and just overall a different and better feel. Pokemon: the origin actually seems to take itself seriously and shows how much the journey of pokemon can actually change a person due to its more darker looking art style, which I like very much. The sound is great. Featuring actual official tracks of remastered pokemon battle music and such, Pokemon: The origin goes back to its roots in another sense, bringing back the nostalgia that people everywhere love.

Personal Enjoyment (8/10): Let's just get this over with. My first pokemon game, was Pokemon Black. I know it's not THE best game to start off due to how long the franchise has been going on, but give me a break, later generation haters. Because I didn't play the first pokemon game, this was a completely new experience to me. From what I saw watching this, pokemon was taken to a whole different and darker level, making more like a real world where things actually frikin' matter, compared to the normal anime series where the main protagonist is immortal. In any case, I loved watching this as I have been a fan of the pokemon franchise for a very long time. I liked watching how the first generation and the sixth generation did a sort of integration together towards the end which was a great touch. But in all seriousness, pokemon: the origin was a great little series to help celebrate the next generation of pokemon, which, I have, of course. I love pokemon, and anyone else who loves pokemon should like it as well.

Note: I have pokemon X, so...if anybody has a spare Yveltal, can you send it my way? ;)

Pokemon, or Pocket Monsters was a part of my generation's childhood and every subsequent generation given that the series has continued with a new version being released every couple of years and that isn't even including the spinoff games like Snap, Conquest, or Ranger. The original pair of games, Red and Green, was released in Japan during February of 96. (Blue didn't come until later. We didn't get them until 99 and we didn't get Green at all. The games quickly grew into a major franchise with an anime that started broadcasting in 97 and has never stopped, getting new series added with every new ... game release. In addition to that it has a trading card game, a manga and a whole lot of merchandise. October of 2013 was pretty big for the series. Not only were the newest titles, X & Y released but so was a special hearkening back to the games that started it all. That being Pokemon: The Origin, a four episode piece. Brought to us by OLM, the same studio behind the rest of the anime, Production IG and Xebec. So, is this worth looking into?

Story:

The narrative opens at the same place as the original games, Professor Oak introduces himself and the world of Pokemon, although he doesn't ask if you're a boy or girl. It also shows the brief snippet of Gengar and Nidorino fighting that played before the title screen. Enter our hero, Red. He's summoned to Oak's lab long with his rival, Green. The two are given pokedexes and their first pokemon. Red chooses Charmander because of the connection to his name. Green calls that a girly reason and picks Squirtle, because being a dick is the manly thing to do. Red decides to focus on completing his pokedex while Green makes an effort to become the world's greatest trainer. After losing horribly against Green, Red realises that he's going to have to become a stronger trainer if he's going to have a chance to complete his pokedex and he decides to take the gym challenge. From there, it follows the same narrative as the games with the gym battles and encounters with Team Rocket.

Now, there are quite a few things in the story that I do like. One of the big things is the way they show the gym leaders pick which pokemon to use. They only show two gym fights, the first being against Takeshi and the other against Sakaki. Takeshi asks Red how many badges he has and decides which Pokemon to use based on it, which implies that Gym leaders base their pokemon on their challenger's progress. Which is an interesting addition to the universe and I'd really like to see it used in an actual game. It wouldn't be difficult, they'd just have to give you a more open world where you could challenge the gyms in any order and have the pokemon used by the gym leaders be dependent on when you fight them. They skip over a lot out of necessity, but the moments they do hit on are handled pretty well and get some good dramatic tension. I also like the usage of game imagery throughout the special and I do appreciate that Pikachu barely appears. I don't hate Pikachu, but it's so over-used in most Pokemon media.

Now, there are flaws too. They use montages to explain everything they've skipped and these are entirely pointless. They show you the loading screen at the beginning of each episode, which tells you how many badges Red has and how many pokemon he's caught. They rarely show the scenes of him catching pokemon so why do they need to explicate on how he beat gyms and got badges? It just takes time away from the moments they're actually focusing on. They could have spent more time on Sakaki's story arc so it didn't feel so rushed. That's another problem, Sakaki's story arc is taken care of over the course of a single battle. It lasts for maybe five minutes and the result feels forced as a consequence.

Characters:

Red is a great lead character, unlike certain other Pokemon protagonists who are incompetent and have trouble with the basic idea of actually catching pokemon. Red grows as a character in a way that makes sense and seems realistic for what he's going through. Green is overconfident and arrogant, but he's not a bad character either. He seems like a brash and abrasive teenager. I also like the bond between Red and his starter. Unlike some incompetent twits who can't even keep their pokemon from attacking them, (okay that's the last swing I take at Satoshi), Red develops a strong camaraderie with his Charizard over the course of the series which culminates in a very strong scene when they face their greatest challenge. The biggest weakness in terms of major characters is Sakaki, who undergoes a radical change for flimsy reasons.

Art:

This special looks great. The character designs are nicely detailed while staying fairly faithful to the source material. The pokemon battles can get surprisingly brutal and they just look awesome. At least what they show of them. The battles are another area where a lot of stuff gets skipped over.

Sound:

The voice acting is pretty good. Red is voiced by Takeuchi Junko, who played Dieter in Monster. She gives a strong performance. Green is voiced bu Eguchi Takuya, who gave a decent performance in Chokotan as Arima and gives an even better one here. The music and sound are frequently reminiscent of the soundtrack from Red and Green which is really cool.

Ho-yay:

There's no romance at all, homo-erotic or otherwise. 1/10.

Final Thoughts:

This special is actually really good. They do skip a lot of material, but it's understandable and necessary given the length of the special. Red is a great protagonist and they manage some really good send ups to the original game. There's a lot to like about it, especially if you were or still are a fan of the Pokemon games. It's not a perfect series, but it is a great one. My final rating is going to be an 8/10. Next week, another anime based on a Nintendo property. This one involving blades and sorcery. That's right, Fire Emblem had an OVA.

I expected a lot more.

Pokémon: The Origin is the special dedicated to Red and Blue/Green, the original Poké-games. It has been introduced as an epic moment for everyone, both who played the games and who didn't. Actually it has lots of not-so-good elements that give it the status of "just-enjoyable-but-nothing-more".

Some of them are caused by the lenght of this special, combined to the intentions of the writers. I can understand this is a special and must be just 1:30 hours long, that's not the problem. But, knowing it must be this lenght, you just can't make it represent a game based on travelling, experiencing, growing ... up with your Pokémon. One of the main Pokémon purposes is the journey. You just can't drop it down because you have a constricted lenght. So it should have been another pair of hands; maybe it could focus on just 1-2 events instead of giving a portrait of the ENTIRE JOURNEY in 1:30 hours.

So, following the single rating, I gave 5 to the story. Not because of the story itself; afterall it's greatly-built, with the Giovanni plot, the Red vs. Blue rivalry and finally that Mewtwo thing. But it's mostly based on the videogames, so that's not our point. You just can't do that in 1:30 hs. You must change your choice.

No problems for the art, where I gave a super-fair 8/10, it's clean and detailed, even if I prefer the main anime one. But this design is more suitable for a special like this, that has to recall some memories to someone.

Sound is good, too. Not as good as the main anime, that has majestic pieces. So 7/10, I didn't found ant OST that was memorable, but everyone was good.

Characters are a bad note... probably I can save - partially - just Red, that had some sort of character definition and development. Not that was so developed - it's only 1:30 afterall, I can understand this - but he was okay in the mood of becoming a Master and expecially in the Pokédex thing. The other ones were not defined at all. Blue has just a bunch of "I'm the best and --- the rest / I'm not the best anymore? How can this be possible". Oak appears rarely, Fuji too. Cubone was the only Pokémon to have a precise characterization! Let's not forget that every of Ash&co's Pokémon has an exact way of being. This should have existed here, too.

Enjoyment is 5/10 to me, because too many times I had to say "what? They skipped ALL OF THIS?". Caught Pokémon, Elite-4, every gym except Brock's one... and in addition, Giovanni's plot was so condensed I barely understood his sudden change of mind. That should take entire episodes - or 1:30 hours, like a movie. Why didn't they concentrate on that, for example?

Overall is a 6/10. Because I expected more epicness. I give it 7/10 being honest in my animelist, because afterall it wasn't that bad, but I want to give it 6 in this review. Because this special must not be over-considered, it had great elements to develop, but just episode 2 was REALLY enjoyable. Gigantic plot holes and sudden jumps from one thing to another made the rest not that great. In detail, first episode is 6.5/10, 2nd is probably even 9/10 because it WAS great, it WAS a story; 3rd is 6/10 and 4th is 6.5-7/10. A lot more could have been done with Origin.

Expecially saved because it's Pokémon. I expected more. More epicness, more story, more characters (that's why ep 2 was so good: do you remember Red screaming to Blue because he was going away in front of the emergency?), more Pokémon personalities, more development. But there wasn't so much of this...

This was really good. It followed the storyline of the games quite accurately. The only complaint I have was that it was way too short! As a result, everything felt quite rushed. I feel like I didn't quite get to understand the characters and the story to its full potential. If they turned this into an actual series I would definitely watch the crap out of it.

If you played the first Pokemon games (Red/Blue/Green/Yellow) you will love this short series, if you like pokemon in general you will enjoy this for shure.
This series shure brings back some memories, the music is really great, a lot of the OST music are orchestrated versions of the original OST 8-bit music, which is great.
It also shows the "new" concept of the Mega Evolution.
Overall it's an amazing anime, best enjoyed for fans of the Pokemon universe.

Cool info:
The main character (Red) is voiced by Takeuchi, Junko, the voice of Naruto

Ah, Pokemon: The Origin. The highest-rated Pokemon-related anime in MAL's database. It is an interesting case for sure, and I will attempt to explain why in my first (and probably last) review.

For contextual purposes, I think it is extremely important to understand the basic history of the Pokemon franchise before trying to make sense of Pokemon: The Origin, so I will start with a brief historical summary. Also, from here on out, I will be referring to the original anime series and its sequels as simply "Pokemon" (as it is listed in MAL's database), and Pokemon: The Origin as "PTO".

In 1996, the ... low-budget Pokemon Green and Red were hesitantly released in Japan. The unexpected success of the games led to the demand for the original anime series loosely inspired by the games to start airing in Japan barely a year later. Within a few years, the Pokemon franchise was a worldwide phenomenon, featuring massive commercial success across three mediums: anime series, video games (released outside of Japan as Blue and Red), and trading cards.

One aspect of the Pokemon anime that has bugged certain fans of the video games, such as myself, for over a decade, is that it makes no attempt to take anything but the surface elements out of the game and transpose them onto the framework of a Saturday morning cartoon. I say this not as a criticism of the Pokemon anime as it should be judged on its own merits, but rather to give context as to why there would be a demand for a "faithful adaptation" of the video games - one where we get to see the protagonist go through the same basic journey that we went through as video game players, only with new life brought to it through 3-dimensional graphics, human interactions, and various other nuances that couldn't be programmed into the low-budget video games.

PTO makes it clear in its presentation and promotional material that it should be viewed as an adaptation of the video games. Production IG provides great visuals that fit the setting perfectly, bringing new life to a two dimensional world. However, the plot basically goes like this (#7 may be a bit of a spoiler):

1. Introduce the main characters, similar to the main characters in the video games.
2. Spend a painful amount of time beating it into the head of the viewer that a kid leaving home for the first time has life lessons to learn.
3. Big battle, replacing any sense of video game mechanics with willpower and friendship power-ups, while showing HP bars to remind the viewer that apparently they are actually watching an adaptation of the video game
4. Skip over a big chunk of the video game plot in seconds, while making it seem the character has matured and learned.
5. Show a new filler scene that never happened in the video game. Progress through the filler slowly.
6. Repeat some combinations of steps 3-5 for the (almost) remainder of the show, while making sure to show that the protagonist somehow manages to simultaneously:
a) be a great natural talent who matures and learns quickly
b) actually not learn anything about Pokemon battling (using Normal instead of Fighting moves against Rock Pokemon for example)
7. At the very end of the series, in the midst of the final big event (where the protagonist still knows as little as ever despite being simutaneously talented and experienced), reveal that PTO is actually just a promotion for the new video games with a shameless asspull featuring game mechanics that weren't introduced until 2013.

I also forgot to mention some of the other not-so-subtle intermittent reminders that PTO was a video game adaptation, such as having characters repeat rote phrases from the game like "Your Pokemon are fighting fit!", and showing a save screen at the end of each episode, as well as the aforementioned HP bars in the middle of battles decided by willpower and friendship. All of these are done awkwardly, but I guess they serve the purpose of reminding the viewer that they actually are watching a video-game adaptation, because with about half of the 90-minute series being anime-original content that couldn't happen in the video games, the reminders may very well be necessary.

If you are a fan of Pokemon Red and Blue and want to get trolled by an "adaptation", Pokemon: The Origin is the anime for you.

Rating: 2/10 as an adaptation, 5/10 as an anime-original. Since it can be somewhat enjoyed if you keep telling yourself that it's not a video game adaptation, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a 4.

Enjoyment - 9
Extremely enjoyable for fans of the games though it should of been longer so they could of cut out the Summary/Timeskips that they had and extended it to a 12 episode anime with a Intro episode, 8 episodes one for each of the gyms, One for Red to battle with Giovanni at Pokemon HQ, Elite 4/Champion and one final episode after that for red to finish up the pokedex

Story - 7
Pros~
Adapted the games storyline without adding any unnecessary fillers
Cons~
Summaries were used for some of the important parts of the story (including Gyms and the Elite 4)

Art - 10
... Pros~
Pokemon look just as cool as in the games
Amazing Scenery and Attack animation
Cons~
None

Sound - 10
Pros~
Fantastic voice acting from both the dubbed and the subbed
Video Game Soundtrack
Cons~ None

Character - 9
Pros~
Red's development throughout the anime Starts off as a noob and then as he progresses he slowy becomes a master trainer most of his development comes from Brock/Takeshi
Cons~
Blue doesn't have much development and his progress isn't shown because They only battle twice


OVERALL SCORE 9/10

First of all, I was amazed when a friend of mine told me that Pokémon: The Origin was about to come out and I was like "What? Not only Pokemon X and Y but also an anime too?!". I had a great expectation for this anime and I guess I was right after all. I only play Pokémon games. I don't watch the anime because I think it's too much repetitive and is always the same thing, but this one is really the exception.

Most people started to connect with Pokémon not only because of the anime but thanks to the amazing games it has. Making ... an anime of the original Pokémon game and the trainer Red was just something that people of my generation 90's and some older fans were needing. While watching this anime, I felt a big feel of nostalgia, but the anime itself helped even more.

Story - 8/10
The story is basically a summary of Red's Story as a Tamer in Kanto, however, since this anime only has four episodes, they are not enough to tell the whole story in detail, but still the most important parts. Don't want really to spoil, but what they showed was the first days of Red has a Pokémon trainer, his fight against Brock, the story at Pokémon's Tower, the fight against Team Rocket (including Giovanni's Gym), the final fight against Gary and Mewtwo. All the others Gym fights and important events are mentioned at the beginning of each episode. Since most of the people who watched/are going to watch this already played the Gameboy Pokémon game, they already know somewhat what is going to happen a little. Even though the story has been shortened, I really enjoyed the story overall.

Art - 10/10
I don't really have argumentative competences to really talk about the art on detail, but you will notice as you watch the anime that it is really great and different. For example, in the first episode when Charmander uses the fire attack, the effects are really different from Pokémon's original anime, it almost feels that you are watching the art of a Pokémon movie, and doesn't it feels like? :P

Sound - 10/10
Yes, you can hear some musics recorded in your memories while you were playing Pokémon in your childhood. I don't have any complaints when it comes to this part, I think it's appealing and the voices are cool enough. Notice that Ash sounds exactly like Naruto, something that really called my attention.

Character - 8/10
Why didn't I rate it 10/10? Not wanting to spoil, certain things don't happen exactly like the game showed. Gary is not that little bast*rd that we used to know with his "Smell ya later" expression, but still we notice that he has on his personality his greedy and rival part that we always expected from him. When watching Red in images, I always thought of him as a badass character, somehow a little cold and serious, unlike Ash, but I got surprised that he was a boy with a nice personality, wanting to be a Pokémon Master just like his rival. It is funny because he did so much mistakes during the anime while battling and capturing and how he took advantages of learning from it and evolving as a Trainer. Still, I think they didn't really lost their essence. As for the other character, they have the same personalities as expected.

Enjoyment - 10/10
I watched the four episodes on a row and it was enjoyable. I think that those who played Pokémon Red/Blue won't deny that even though they don't really watch anime or enjoy Pokémon anymore will feel some nostalgic moments.

Overall - 9/10
A really great anime for four episodes. I could give it 10/10 if they did they really integrated some other parts of the story in this anime, but the important was there. One more thing I though is somehow a little "What the hell" is what happens in the end of Mewtwo's battle. I won't say what happened but they really took advantage of this anime to make an "ad" for Pokémon X and Y videogames and I think they ruined that part of the original story, but still enjoyable. I even though why did they not made it a movie instead of a four episode anime? Oh well, those are little details I took in consideration but they are not ruining the anime overall. So, Pokémon Red/Blue ex-players, what are you waiting for?

LostJoker

Most Reviews on here thrive at the fact that the whole thing was short, and while it sadly was too short, I will be ignoring this for my own one.

Pokemon: The Origin is a story seemingly based of the core of the original Pokemon. While short, this story takes things like the base game and similar things into a animated adventure.

With lot's of good moments of fun and tense stuff, plus all the memes we got from these 4 short episodes, this was a very valuable thing to watch for the huge Pokemon fan that I am.

It's simple... Do YOU like Pokemon? ... If so, watch it. This one is like a short special Limited Edition OVA. It was a great experience.

Pokemon was, without any doubt, my favorite childhood tv series, at least the first few seasons. Because as the episodes were going through, I lost interest in the anime and in the games, so finally I dropped it. Even so, I have good memories of this series.

In the first place, the sceneries and the bso are the same as the game. Unfortunately, you can’t enjoy them very much because 80% of the story is told in less than five minutes.

The animations are well done, and the way the battles are developed are more realistic than the main anime. However, the few fights that ... this special shows us are very short, and I couldn’t get enough of it, because the battles were my favorite parts.

But hey, we can’t complain about the brevity of this anime, because the objective of it is not to do a parallel show of the existent but to go fast to the final in which they can explain to us the Mega Evolution of Pokemon XY.

So, finally, watching this special has been a great injection of nostalgia. Therefore, if your situation with Pokemon has been the same as mine, I recommend this one to you. You will feel huge excitement with the first images, and who knows, maybe your interest in Pokemon will be born again. However, it's also frustrating because an anime that is based on a game in which I spent more than 1K hours and has so much potential, it's summarized in only 4 episodes. Despite the bad things, it is worth watching it.

The Pokémon series are infinite (even though I'm miles aware of watching all of then), I think there aren't any people who don't know the old Pikachu or Charizard or the poké-balls. It taste like childhood.
I've watched pokémon the origin, because of the game, I've enjoyed playing with my little brother and costs me a lot of time trying to catch all the pokémons, because at that time, I was only a little girl. The first pokémon are, without doubt, the better.
The sounds of the battles were nostalgic, the confrontation with Green were totally silly and funny, and the art is beautiful. Nothing is better ... than remmembering these things and enjoy a good history :D

It is true. This series of OVA 's came out with the sole purpose of presenting the Mega Evolution to come included in the games Pokémon X & Y in order to promote these new games in the franchise . Nevertheless , Pokémon : The Origin gives us an alternative view of the history of the Pokémon games (specifically the first generation ) . He presents Red and adventures in which he becomes involved after enter the world of Pokémon.

What is new then? Well, a very faithful adaptation of video games. For veteran players can become an experience of joy and nostalgic . I recommend ... watching these episodes to those who want to go beyond pigeonholed history (sometimes very repetitive ) Satoshi .

The weakness is its very short ... But what else could have been great series ! Still, it is worth investing time to see it

Pokemon: The Origin is a love letter to fans of the Gameboy games that started it all. The animation is pretty strong (albeit with a few hiccups here and there), the shout outs to the various elements of the games will bring a nostalgic smile to those who remember Pokemon Red and Blue versions fondly, and the soundtrack is full of remixes of some of the most recognized and memorable songs from those beloved games. And above all, it is a lot of fun to watch.

That being said, this series is not without its flaws. Despite being based on a pair of games that are ... fairly old by this point, ones that arguably are not exactly plot driven, this OVA was able to expand on certain aspects quite cleverly. However, at the same time, it also managed to feel rushed. Few Pokemon battles were shown in their entirety, with many of the Gym battles, as well as the Elite Four, and even the Championship battle being skimmed over. The pacing was rushed, and the villain's turn-over felt far too abrupt.
And this becomes even more apparent after one has read the Pokemon Special manga, also known as Pokemon Adventures. Because of this, I know that given even the bare minimum of its source material, this animated series had tremendous potential for not only the creativity of the action sequences, but for character and plot development along with the story narrative and the interpretation of the content of the games into a different medium. And had Pokemon: The Origin been given the length of a typical anime standalone series (approximately 12 or 13 episodes), this would definitely not have been much of an issue.

Sadly, for whatever reason, what should have been the equivalent of one season was instead produced as a four episode OVA. And while it does well what it can given that amount, its short length and the running time of each episode clearly works against it.

In the end, all I can really say is that this OVA is far from perfect. But even so, I would still recommend it for fans of the original games. It's a lot of fun, and the nostalgia factor is guaranteed to make older fans grin while they reminisce. It's no masterpiece, but it's still a great watch and will leave you smiling.