“Battling a Thaw in Relations!” Review Thread

[dman_dustin]

I think my reason for disliking the music is for a different reason:

Conway's battle, got to have a lyric song, while the battle had with Paul was instrumental.

That's why I think the music ruined the dub for me. For one thing, it makes no sense that a rival like Paul, would be second rate to Conway. And I hate that implication the editor's did.

Of course it could be because TPCI hates Infernape, since when it evolved it had instrumentals unlike the original, same with the 8th gym. But when it was Gible vs. Dusknoir, oh no let's be somewhat faithful to the original and actually use a lyric song. Seems like an obvious disdain for Infernape, to me.

TPCI, on top of Jimmy Zoppi not knowing how to write Team Rocket, you sure as hell don't know how to dub an episode in terms of music. Sure maybe every once and a while, you know what you're doing, but other times, it's seems obvious you don't. I really hope BW is better written, better made, but that's too hopeful.

[Fennel]

"Pikachu will show him a thing or two!"
"Whoo, whoo!"
"Infernape, good for you!"

That made me facepalm a little. This was a good episode; a great ending to a fantastic League battle.

[Contrary]

James said "a sticky wicket." I stopped right then and there.

EDIT: Of course I wouldn't actually stop. Looks like CommanderPigg was right about Cynthia being a comashipper, judging by her speech.

[Samurott]

I have no words. Did Reggie want to challenge him in the raw, because I don't think that was there before. To be concluded...

[CommanderPigg]

So one thing that's always bothered me about this episode is that the issue that started the whole Ash and Paul rivalry in the first place - the fact that Paul treated pokemon like disposable tools - is never really addressed here. Everyone just goes their separate ways without us having any more insight as to why Paul used to act the way he did.

Wasn't it addressed in the Brandon episode? Paul acted the way he did because he believed Reggie was weak for loving his Pokemon and that's why he lost to Brandon. When Ash finally beat Paul (whom Paul said acted like Reggie), he realized that loving your Pokemon isn't necessarily a bad thing (and if I recall he said, "Thanks Electivire," or something along those lines in the Japanese version).

This pretty much. Paul had a weird way of thinking...since he saw his brother to be a failure, he thought that doing everything opposite of him would make him...not a failure. Oh wow.

EDIT: Of course I wouldn't actually stop. Looks like CommanderPigg was right about Cynthia being a comashipper, judging by her speech.

Hehe. Well, this was pretty obvious since their first meeting, but I digress.

I have no words. Did Reggie want to challenge him in the raw, because I don't think that was there before. To be concluded...

He said something along the lines of "You'll get to battle again soon." So, it was pretty ambiguous...

Oh, and about Team Rocket. I liked them in this episode. Their actions mirrored mine when I first watched the episode XD They're such Infernape fans :)

[Queen Cynthia]

Excellent, simply excellent!


How do you describe something that's already almost perfect? Right, you lack the words, as words wouldn't do it justice and no description would be appropriate!
In this week's episode, the conclusion of the undoubtedly best rivalry in Pokemon ever, we enjoyed a battle that will certainly go down in history as one of the most intense, most epic battles ever seen. We've been looking forward to a thrilling showdown for years and this was everything we've been waiting for, everything we could ever dream of!
I'm tempted to say that Infernape was not of this world when he unleashed his wrath, went up in flames as if he had just been hit by an atomic bomb and then showed Paul all his power.
These were incredibly intense moments, sending a chill down my spine.
And finally we got magnificent, breath-taking Cynthia who appeared just like a supernatural being or an angel and concluded the rivals' farewell scene with solemn words full of wisdom and the hope for a glorious future. (And what's best: Her words also indicated that she'll return some day and that we'll see her again in the Champion League battles without any doubt! )


A flawless, brilliant episode and and the second best episode of all time after "A Battle finale of Legend".

9.5 out of 10 points

[Trainer Gabriel]

Bittersweet to see the conclusion of the greatest rivalry this show ever had so far. But it's gotta end or wouldn't be that way, so it's all good of course. Really wish that music for the climax of the battle could have been louder, but great finale otherwise.

[Contrary]

A flawless, brilliant episode and and the second best episode of all time after "A Battle finale of Legend".

9.5 out of 10 points

If it was flawless, why didn't it get a perfect score?

[J J M]

The song when Infernape activates Blaze was pretty bad.

The Ultimate Challenge fit the moment pretty well imo. Would've been better if it was louder and had lyrics, though not so sure on the latter. Sometimes it's just better having an instrumental, y'know. :)

Need to hear the full version of the song though NAO.

[Ace Trainer Star]

I liked this battle when it came out, and I really enjoyed it.
Paul gets his last Pokemon defeated by the Evolved form of the Chimchar he released, and is taken out of the tournament where a win really matters.

I have to remember to stay out of the discussion threads from now on,though, because when I watched the episode with the sound (I watch The episode when it airs with sound off because I'm the only one awake when it comes on)I kept trying to figure out why everyone hated the music, and it was distracting. I understand that the English version was quieter and not as intense, but all I heard was "creepy movie music replaced with normal but still creepy music." Analyzing an episode just drains the fun out of it sometimes...

The Ultimate Challenge fit the moment pretty well imo. Would've been better if it was louder and had lyrics, though not so sure on the latter. Sometimes it's just better having an instrumental, y'know. :) .

*nods* Definitely. I think it did just as well as a replacement for Type:Wild (if not better.)

[Masurao]

Now that I've gotten a chance to see the dub, it wasn't too bad. Granted, the Jap version is superior but w/e. They did a decent job for what's it worth.

I never mentioned this, but that whole tail grab thing Paul did with Electivire was really a good stragety, since really all Ash could do was attack close range anyway, due to electrical moves not working, and Infernape's flamethrower being nullified by Protect. But, lol BLAZENAPE had enough of Paul's BS.

[Froakie]

Yeah... this was/is my favourite episode of all time. I've been looking forward to it a lot. I just got to see it but it was really good. Unfortunately my favourite part, the ending lost all it's emotion in the dub because of the lack of that background music, but the rest of the episode was great.

Brock's 'You finally beat him... wow' like made me sad.

sigh

[dman_dustin]

I never mentioned this, but that whole tail grab thing Paul did with Electivire was really a god stragety, since really all Ash could do was attack close range anyway

What I hate about that is Ash did absolutely nothing. Not one single command. Ash just stood there and let his Pokemon get hit (Gliscor and Infernape).

However I think Gliscor could've used Fire Fang, and Infernape could've used its other arm or even a flamethrower.

But still Ash did nothing and just looked like "Oh crap, what's going ON?"

Sure the point was to knock out Gliscor, and get Infernape's blaze to work, but even still, Ash should've at least tried instead of "Gliscor get out of there, quick!".

[Masurao]

I understand Pikachu not being able to do anything, and to some extent Gliscor too. Infernape really could have used flamethrower, or it's other hand.

The funny thing about it is that Reggie was like "Lol Ash was planning for this all along." It's pretty obvious he wasn't.

[Grave-E]

I also thought it was unusual that Ash didn't try to give any commands to Gliscor the first time I saw this. OK, yeah, Electivire rendered him imobile and all, but he still had that long tail with a big ol' pincer at the end of it to attack with. :P