Pokemon Evolutions

As a fan of Pokémon many of these short episodes make me quite happy. I've always found myself loving any Pokémon anime episodes, trailers or shorts that aren't part of the Ash Pokémon series and are more connected to the actual lore of the video games. This series definitely delivered. There are 8 episodes, 1 for each region and I like every one. This mini-series is not without its flaws however. Obviously these episodes rely heavily on fanservice. This series in particular REQUIRES you to have played the video games. I absolutely love Pokémon Origins and Pokémon Generations but I cannot deny that these series' ... rely on prior knowledge of the video games to enjoy. I especially appreciate the specific stories told here. The animation in all of these episodes is stunning to say the least and I really think the studio went all-out with the visuals here. This is Pokémon, one of the biggest video game franchises of all-time. It deserves this kind of medium in this way. People actually care about the world of Pokémon so a lot of this show will make many fans quite happy.

I do have some nitpicks however, but they are based mostly around my bias and opinion. Some episodes I wish focused more on the REAL canon of the Pokémon universe. One of my favourite episodes is the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon episode with Lillie and the ultra wormhole entitled "The Eclipse". Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have already been said in the past to be part of an alternate universe. Again, this is an extremely stupid thing for me to complain about but I do slightly wish they chose the original Sun and Moon to base their game around since USUM is technically not connected to the rest of the episodes in the same universe.

The last episode, entitled "The Discovery" is based off of the Pokémon Let's Go games. Again, this is my opinion, but I really, really wish that they based this final episode on either the original Red, Green and Blue games or FireRed and LeafGreen. These games are both considered canon and those games are actually good (opinion). Green is a fantasticly written character in this episode and is voiced by Cristina Vee, which I noticed quite quickly due to her distinct voice. BUT, I would of absolutely been in shock if they decided to go with the superior character "Leaf" instead. Green, to me, is so much better off being left in the manga. The Let's Go games are quite clearly set in a completely different universe, with different protagonists and a different rival "Trace" that is significantly worse than "Blue" who actually makes for a very compelling rival in the games story. It just seems for this episode the team wanted to promote their silly Gen 1 games.

My absolute favourite episode is the one entitled "The Plan" which is a story based around Generation 5. The Unova games have always been my favourite and this just makes me so much happier to of experienced. N and Ghetsis are some of Pokémon's best written characters. I do not think the Pokémon anime series do most characters justice or portray them in the right way. It's always been centered around Ash and quirky mishaps. So I love how the characters and the stories here are just straight from the games. I just love it when the video game protagonists get anime spotlight too.

So yes, personal stupid preferences aside, this is very great. I didn't have any problems with the animation, or the voice acting. All my problems are just based around my feelings toward the Pokémon franchise and its games/story.
Definitely check this out if you're a Pokémon fan.

It's honestly kind of surprising. The 2010s have actually been a pretty amazing decade for the Pokemon anime, and by that, I don't necessarily mean the TV anime starring Ash. It's no secret that Pokemon as a franchise has been going on for years, and it's popularity isn't going to wane anytime soon. But for years, for anyone who couldn't play the games, the TV anime was all we got, and it's made no secret of the fact that it's mainly aimed at children and has no interest in getting rid of Ash Ketchum anytime soon, even long after he overstayed his welcome. Then a ... slew of new Pokemon anime not centered on him got released into the wild, such as Pokemon Generations, Pokemon Twilight Wings, the PokeToon shorts, and this most recent offering, Pokemon Evolutions, which is basically a season 2 for Generations, or at the very least a different continuity for it, covering content from Sun/Moon and Sword/Shield, which didn't exist when Generations was made. Needless to say, Pokemon fans who wanted more out of the anime are very happy to have more options, even if those options are small compared to the TV anime's over 1000 episodes and counting. Fans were hyped for Evolutions, as was I, and...well, it does have moments where it shines, but many can attest that out of all the short Pokemon anime we've received, Evolutions stands as being the weakest.

That's not to say Evolutions is bad. Like Generations, it's basically an anthology of shorts depicting abridged versions of significant events that happened in the games, with each episode covering a different game and event. Unlike Generations, Evolutions goes backwards, starting from Sword/Shield and ending with Red/Blue (Or, in this case, the Let's Go games). Rather than spend paragraphs talking about the entire series as a whole, I'm going to talk about each episode individually, as each one has their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, and the entire story doesn't have one singular narrative to comment on, with each episode being self-contained stories and all. There is one interesting thing to note though: Apparently, the animation was made to accommodate the English audio rather than the Japanese voices, with the entire music soundtrack done by not a Japanese composer, but by Abe Goldfarb, who makes the music for Pokemon's English dub. Not sure what prompted this idea, but I do like that Pokemon's trying to expand their repertoire like this.

The first episode, The Champion, focuses on Leon and his lingering feelings of guilt after the Eternatus incident. I like that this actually gave us some insight into Leon's state of mind after the encounter with Eternatus, and since the episode is very light on dialogue, it manages to convey Leon's feelings and guilt through his body language and the animation. Basically, show don't tell. But it does have the opposite problem of coming across as rather ambiguous in regards to what Leon could actually be thinking or feeling because it's so light on dialogue. I'm also not a fan of how overly muscular and bulky his design looks, especially the shape of his face and chin. He looks way too much like a bodybuilder who overdosed on steroids. On these aspects, I think Twilight Wings did them better. The second episode, The Eclipse, is honestly my favorite one and, in my honest opinion, the best episode, focusing entirely on Lillie and her progression from frightened shy girl to a more confident, self-assured person who doesn't have to let her mother's abuse rule her life. Not only are the character designs less bulky and much smoother compared to The Champion, it also shows us, in short snippets, Lillie's character development and how she became the person she does at the end of the Sun/Moon games. Combine this with great voice acting, luscious animation, and well-choreographed battles, and you have a feast for the eyes and ears. Also, I'm going to say this because I can: THANK FUCK THEY GAVE LILLIE AN ACTUALLY GOOD ENGLISH DUB VOICE FOR ONCE!!!

The third and fourth episodes, titled The Visionary and The Plan, are admittedly the two weakest episodes. I liked that they focused more on the villains and offered more insight to them, but in the case of Lysandre, Generations already covered his story, and this just felt like a rehash of it from different angles. Plus, the battle at the end was just Xerneas one-shotting his Mega Gyarados, because it's totally a good idea to pit a Dark/Water type against a Fairy type, riiiight? Plus, it didn't really show us anything that we didn't already know about Lysandre. The same goes for Ghetsis in The Plan. Poor N only got one line in that whole episode and that's it, and Ghetsis didn't sound menacing enough to me (I only saw it in English, so he might sound better in Japanese). Those two episodes felt more like rehashes than anything and didn't offer anything new.

Thankfully, episode five, The Rival, marks a return to form. Some people might have issues with this episode because of the static Pokemon battles, Barry's less emotive personality, and focusing more on his relationship with his father than with the player character, but I personally really liked it. It's refreshing to see Barry display other aspects of his character and be more contemplative than what we're used to, and I always appreciate it when creators try something new, even with established personalities for characters. Hey, if Pokemon Adventures can get away with it, I don't see why Pokemon Evolutions can't either. The next episode, The Wish, is also one of the weaker ones to me, because it has the same problem as episodes 3 and 4, in that it just shows us what we already know about Zinnia and the lore for Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire while only hinting at her backstory...and not letting the player character do anything besides walk around and shriek and survive falls from cliffs. If anything, The Wish would have been so much better had it delved more into Zinnia's backstory and explained who the original Aster was that she loved so much.

The seventh episode, The Show, is definitely one of the most creative ones, as it dives a lot deeper into the lore of the series and expands on its world, making it feel like a place that's actually lived in. It also has the neat idea of showing off the Kimono Girls performing a show and incorporating Pokemon attacks into it. It does suffer from some pretty glaring continuity issues in regards to the history behind the two Ecruteak towers, which Generations already covered, but that's really the only problem people had with it. Plus, it also has some cute comedic bits as well. I consider The Show to be my third favorite, just behind The Rival and The Eclipse. The final episode, The Discovery, achieves the perfect balance of being action-packed, funny, and heartwarming, and ends the anthology on a surprisingly sweet note.

Bottom line, Pokemon Evolutions is mainly focused on telling bite sized stories about the different Pokemon games, so the characters don't have a whole lot of depth to them unless you've played the game. If I had to name the most significant flaw Evolutions has, is that it's inconsistent. Some episodes do a great job of expanding on the characters and Pokemon world, while others just rehash plot points from the game and don't do anything new, and others have really glaring continuity mistakes. It tries to do what Generations did, but doesn't have the larger episode count the former has and often struggles with characterization and keeping with the basic lore of the series. That being said, I think the series works better if you consider it like a pseudo-sequel to Generations, since Evolutions is basically it but covering the generations the former didn't and having alternate takes on various events, like the Ecruteak towers. I still think Pokemon Generations is better, but I wouldn't entirely miss Evolutions, as it does have some good stuff to offer if you're willing to give it a chance.

And with that, this is my final review of 2021! Here's hoping 2022 will be even better for not just Pokemon, but for the entertainment industry in general.

My 8 might be a little biased, but I honestly wanna give this series props.

The Pokemon shorts have been really good. That isn't hard to see..but for some reason Evolutions just kinda sticks out to me.
The only logical conclusion I can come to is that it really has that magic that made Pokemon...well...Pokemon.

As of writing this, there have only been 2 episodes that have released. (Galar, Alola) Lemme just start with saying, they managed to capture so much more emotion and character in 8 minutes than they did the entirety of SWSH.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked SWSH, but it just kinda ... felt lacking in the...magic..element, but this isn't a review for the game..I could go on about it elsewhere ahah! The Leon short, however, really got me hyped for him! It made me feel for him, which is something you like to see. These two episodes also really put the story in a different view. It's nice to see that the protagonists are really just kids who got caught up in the action. (not saying they're not strong and what not lol) That, to me, makes the world feel so much more alive. USUM wasn't bad of course, but seeing Lillie in this short just made me love her a whole lot more. So much more intensity and emotion. Also the whole Necrozma appearance was sick.

So far, Evolutions looks super promising. I'm super excited for Unova for many reasons lol! The art and animation is MUAH very nice. The soundtrack is also good(though Pokemon doesn't really miss with soundtracks) and it isn't overly voice acted. It's a good addition to the Pokemon shorts, and I look forward to a new episode immediately after the next.

They're only 8 minutes, so I don't see why you wouldn't at least give it a shot.