Thread: "The Lonely Deino!"

BW56 - The Lonely Deino!

Continuing on their way to Driftveil City, Ash and his friends encounter a Deino. Iris tries to approach it and while she is tackled to the ground, two other Deino eat the gang's food! Both Ash and Iris attempt to capture a Deino each, only to find out that both Deino have an owner. After learning that they are currently under the supervision of a daycare worker who doesn't have experience in looking after Dragon types, the group of friends agree to help out. One of the Deino is very shy and has been left at the daycare for a few days. Can Iris use her talents learned from the Village of Dragons to cheer it up in time for when its trainer returns?

Very interesting. I do wish that the complications behind training dragon pokemon would be more apparent, though. It would result in being similar to Charizard, though, so forget I said that.

That was Jamie McGonnigal as Bobby, wasn't it? He sure sounded like a nerdy, flamboyant version of Barry. Even though his voice is easy to peg, all his overacting is totally worth hearing for these eccentric characters. XD Must've been a nice break from having to keep that mundane Paul imitation for Trip (which is only funny because of how meta it is). Bobby himself was a nice, eccentric CotD and it's neat to get a good look at how daycares operate in the anime; it's a pretty rare occurrence.

And... all of that was way more interesting than the Iris/Deino subplot. It stung a little less because Iris won over the Deino by practicing something she learned from her village's elder - rather than inherently having a solution thought up all on her own without anyone's help or influence like the last few times. But still, I didn't feel moved by this shy Deino's problem and Iris' efforts to befriend it. It was just... bland. I'd rather have seen more of Bobby, or rather have HIM help in solving the problem since this only served to make him look inept despite his obvious flair for his job otherwise. I think the lack of dramatic tension is what killed the potential here; it would've been better for Iris to befriend a completely uncooperative and violence-prone Deino (unless that Druddigon-in-pain is what they'll count such a scenario as). Didn't really feel like there were any stakes with a shy Deino that, despite not eating like it should have, WAS still eating enough to survive, obviously. All it took was patience. So there wasn't much in the "struggle" department, Iris didn't learn anything new (since she was using a technique that she knew for a fact would work eventually), when all's said and done she hasn't changed a bit. Yawn.

Y'know, the flashback with the panicked Fraxure running out of the cave made me see that Fraxure itself can still be marketed as a cute and adorable species, so... now I see no reason why Axew shouldn't evolve (besides the fact that Iris hardly ever trains or uses Axew).

Yet again, the anime has a different pronunciation for Deino than I've been using all this time. I figured it must have been pronounced as day-noh since "dee-noh" just makes me think of the purple dinosaur from the Flintstones. Oh, anime, we'll never agree with certain pronunciations, will we?

It was a pretty nice episode. Very sad in some parts.

I liked the parts when Iris helps the Deino. I kinds feel sad for Deino. It's such a cool Pokemon. No reason for it to be lonely.

The COtD (Bobby?) was pretty cool.

Iris's backstory was pretty nice in this episode. I like how the elder got Druddigon out of the cave like that.

I do have one question though. Why does going between the cities take longer now? I noticed how in the beginning of the series, cities are reached in so few episodes. What happened?

Originally Posted by Serperiority

I do have one question though. Why does going between the cities take longer now? I noticed how in the beginning of the series, cities are reached in so few episodes. What happened?

Don't worry, they'll arrive in Driftveil City in the next episode!

I dunno, I kind of liked the subtlety of this episode...if it was an older series episode, Team Rocket would probably have attacked or, hell, if it was another Best Wishes episode, a random Scollipede or something would pop out of the bushes and Iris would win Deino over by protecting him or something, but instead it was just her waiting with it for its master. And at the end of the episode, it was happy to see its master and thanked Iris for waiting for it. I thought it was a pretty low-key episode, sure, but at the same time it set itself apart from some of the other episodes we've seen in the past with a similar plot.

It wasn't that exciting of an episode, but I'm not as critical of Iris in it really. She did the logical thing in my mind and I thought it was a good episode for her.

Well it was OK, reminded me of a poor man's version of classic old-school AG episodes like the Swablu and Ralts episodes though.

Iris backstory is the good aspects of the character I like.

Sean Schemmel was the rapper with the Foongus. I knew he was going to sound "gangsta" for us the moment I saw him in the Japanese version.

Originally Posted by Serperiority

I do have one question though. Why does going between the cities take longer now? I noticed how in the beginning of the series, cities are reached in so few episodes. What happened?

We'll be getting to Driftveil City in the next ep. Will take a bit longer for the gym, but it's worth the wait.

Anyway, a wild Iris episode appears! And while not particularly explosive, it was a fairly endearing episode for her and the gang. I thought Iris's line about Ash and Cilan going on without interesting. I know some people complain about Iris's lack of character, but I have a hard time imagining any of Ash's previous female friends saying that. I did find Iris's line about her village's matriarch a bit awkward. She said Elder was that was her actual name....but not a big deal.

Poor Stunfisk. He doesn't show it, but he's rather sensitive to having his internal organs step on.

Originally Posted by Shinneth

Yet again, the anime has a different pronunciation for Deino than I've been using all this time. I figured it must have been pronounced as day-noh since "dee-noh" just makes me think of the purple dinosaur from the Flintstones. Oh, anime, we'll never agree with certain pronunciations, will we?

It's probably due to us just seeing the names written and not said with their official pronunciations while the Anime is given the proper ones. It makes it easy for us to each pronounce them differently.

"We don't know the meaning of the word 'fail'?" Uh...Meowth? Which Team Rocket are YOU referring to?

Did Bobby have any catchphrase? I remember in the original he'd say "nanone" which the subs translated as ",hey" at the end of each sentence. I have to say, and this doesn't speak too well for Best Wishes, that Bobby, despite being a lazy bastard who made Ash and them do all the work, was probably my favorite COTD so far.

And did they keep the background rap the original had when the Jumpclone (aka the rapper with the Foongus) appeared? That was my favorite part!

Originally Posted by NoodleChefKyle

"We don't know the meaning of the word 'fail'?" Uh...Meowth? Which Team Rocket are YOU referring to?

Probably these robots who look like Musashi and Kojiro.

Hey, am I seeing right or is BW actually getting better? I mean, there were a few setbacks in the recent past, like the awful Alder-episode or the rather bland Maractus-story, but this week's episode has definitely been the best one since the subway crisis.
The story line revolving around Iris and her care for the sentimental Deino was really mature and conveyed exactly that message the Pokemon Anime is so well-known for: Care for Pokemon with all your heart and, by doing so, become one with them.
In short: I loved that motif and that touching plot because you couldn't help but be reminded of what many of the show's greatest characters, including of course the greatest one of all, Cynthia, said about the relationship between Pokemon and humans.

The background story about Bobby and the constant feeding of the Pokemon didn't really appeal to me much but it was probably necessary for the Iris-plot to develop properly.

Last but not least, I'd like to say that I was really happy to see TRio again. It was about time that we learned about their new plan and the way it was introduced and hinted at was indeed exciting.

Originally Posted by Sinneth

It stung a little less because Iris won over the Deino by practicing something she learned from her village's elder - rather than inherently having a solution thought up all on her own without anyone's help or influence like the last few times. But still, I didn't feel moved by this shy Deino's problem and Iris' efforts to befriend it. It was just... bland. I'd rather have seen more of Bobby, or rather have HIM help in solving the problem since this only served to make him look inept despite his obvious flair for his job otherwise. I think the lack of dramatic tension is what killed the potential here; it would've been better for Iris to befriend a completely uncooperative and violence-prone Deino (unless that Druddigon-in-pain is what they'll count such a scenario as). Didn't really feel like there were any stakes with a shy Deino that, despite not eating like it should have, WAS still eating enough to survive, obviously. All it took was patience. So there wasn't much in the "struggle" department, Iris didn't learn anything new (since she was using a technique that she knew for a fact would work eventually), when all's said and done she hasn't changed a bit. Yawn.

Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means trying to defend BW but I think you're wrong here.
First of all, when was the last time that Iris really came up with a plan on her own that saved the day? Secondly, I think it was made clear right from the start that this episode would center around Iris. Not only was Bobby rather bland and clownish, he was also intended to be merely a side character necessary for the main plot. Honestly, I wouldn't have wanted him of all people to provide a solution because that would have seemed a bit implausible, especially given Iris' fondness for Dragon-type Pokemon.
Also, I think you can't say that there was a "lack of dramatic tension". I apologize for asking you this rather direct question, but have you ever felt lonely? I can assure you, it hurts like hell and can even turn into a seemingly never-ending nightmare. Don't underestimate the dramatic potential of loneliness!
And how often have we already seen our heroes trying to befriend a disobedient Pokemon in previous episodes? I for one would have been disappointed if this week's story had turned out to be just another rehash of the good old Ash-and-friends-save-the day-by-befriending-an-angry-Pokemon scheme.

All in all, really good episode. I just hope this development continues.

I liked this episode a lot and I hoped that Iris would catch this deino.

actually I thought its called "Dee-ya-no" not " DAi-no".