The fact that this was made for a more adult audience definitely shows in many aspects. For starters the animation feels clean and smooth and more of the animation you get to see in the Pokemon movies. Other things that clearly define this 4-part OVA includes the voice acting which is a step up from the normal anime - it doesn't sound awkward/cheesy at all, the fact that the Pokemon sound like actual animals and that there are moments that you would never even expect to see in the anime (though I give XYZ points for doing so) including the death of a Pokemon - although we don't actually see it, it is a step in the right direction.
All this contributes to it being better than the anime. BUT! Although this is an improvement from the anime it ironically suffers from some of the same problems as the anime. For starters the only Pokemon under the ownership of Red that gets any good character would have to be his Charizard, who is seen 90% of the time when we get to see Red on screen. Rather hilariously, this is pointed out in the OVA. The only other Pokemon that gets some decent on screen time is Jolteon.
Another big problem is the pacing of the OVA, which is probably the second biggest flaw behind the constant praise of Charizard. The only six major battles that we only get to see on screen and because of this a number of characters feel wasted, including the Kanto Elite Four and the entirely of Red's team sans Jolteon and Charizard. Whenever Red wins an on screen battle, aside from on instance, it will be with Charizard. I really wish that other members of Red's team made an appearance as it would add variety to the OVA and it really doesn't help Charizard - especially in light of the events that took place in XYZ.
Why couldn't we have had two more episodes dedicated to the Elite Four and the Champion Battle?
As with the anime the strength of the Pokemon is inconsistent at times, with the biggest offender being during the Gym battle against Giovanni and one particular moment really infuriates me, even if this using "Gen I logic". Another thing to note is that Shadow Punch makes an appearance despite being a Gen III move for no apparent reason - if it was Shadow Ball then that wouldn't be so bad as it made an appearance in Mewtwo Strikes Back.
The only other problem with this is that Red feels like a boring character, even more so than Ash in some regards. Granted, some of his personality traits are like the players of the games (which may explain why Charizard is much stronger than his other Pokemon but it really doesn't help the story) but even then they don't do much with it.
If all of this seems like complaining, don't worry I've got some more things to praise about it. First off is Giovanni - I absolutely love this version of him as his actions along with his demeanour and criticism of Red is exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from an older fan to a younger one and his voice is so calm it can be hilarious at times. Unlike most interpretations which make him out as a complete monster this one paints Giovanni as more heroic than other counterparts.
Another great thing about this is Mewtwo. After the... controversial 16th movie where we got a toned down version of the original series Mewtwo we get a different interpretation but this one is actually very different and very good to see on screen.
Final thoughts:
Overall I think that Pokemon Origins is better than the anime in terms of production values, but it still suffers from its fair share of problems. At the very least it's something that's worth watching once and appreciate the effort that was put into this.
