S16 EP01 "Beauties Battling for Pride and Prestige!"

Anyway, let's get to work on this review.

This episode was a wicked, I really thought it was something awesome.

Dialogue was amazing! I did not expect the dub dialogue to be so good, the use of words and phrases in the script came off as so well done. No awkward phrases, wording, or unrealistic speak at all. All the cliche, "Yay Friends!", "Yay Pokemon!", "Yay League!" stuff was dealt with at the beginning of the episode and that allowed for a ridiculously colorful pallet of words and phrases that were so refreshing to the ears. TPCi gets props on their job on not making the dialogue too repetitive too, no "Without batting an eyelash!" or "This is no time for them to be fighting!"-type phrases at all. The only redundant word in the script was the constant use of "unattractive" but that's perfectly fine since it's very much relevant to Moira's uppercrust nature. Otherwise we got use of very vivid and non-commonly-used words and I loved it.

Pignite roasting Oshawott during their little spat was amusing, how ironic is it the pig is the slowest eater? Liked seeing Cinccino, it has a nice design and is a rodent as well as two uncommonly seen Pokemon in Roserade and Lilligant. Moira thinking Snivy was Iris's Pokemon at the beginning of the episode was just so choice, I know I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill but that seems like a real life occurrence that could happen. I just love how Iris was so nonchalant toward anything girly, especially when you consider how Dawn and Misty both valued their looks heavily. Though May did to an extent it wasn't emphasized as nearly as much with the former two.

Ash's female voice was too convincing! Sarah Natochenny is pretty good when she's doing a feminine voice like that, too bad she doesn't voice a female recurring character because I really liked her voice. Why wasn't she that good when she voiced Solidad? I've become so used to hearing the same set of 4kids, FUNI, Viz, VAs that circulate throughout the American Dub industry that hearing something different was really nice. This is why younger and talented VAs should be hired for anime dubbing more often. Speaking of which, Moira and her gang just had such flawless voices. Jason Griffith's female voice, that guy did a good job I have to admit. Dub music that played when Emolga gained the upper hand against Roserade was good, probably one of my favorite pieces of dub music, it also played when Elesa's Emolga battled Ash's Palpitoad and it really is a nice piece of quality music imo. Like some effort was put into it.

Pikachu and Pansage crossdressed was funny, Iris's hair was amazing. Didn't have a probably with the use of "ette" as everyone else did, I actually thought the overly femininity of it coupled with the fact that Moira and her clique had very stuck-up demeanor made it very fitting compared to something like "Miss." Cilan's small snark at Ash about him never looking in the mirror was amusing and I liked his costume.

I thought when Moira and Minana whispered they at least knew that Iris was indeed the girl they had insulted earlier. Ashley and Cilanoir XD

The balance beam matches were magnificent, again the art of walking on a balance beam is pretty feminine itself due to the fact it takes grace and finesse. It fell right in perfectly with the whole ladylike motif of the episode. Snivy pulling a judo throw and tossing Cinccino into the mud like that was pretty cool. For some reason I really liked how the Pokedex info was actually relevant and helpful this episode. It reminds me so much of Pokemon Adventures in which the Pokedex is treated like a very rare and very useful item that could decide the fate of the battle, the fact it told the gang about Cinccino's fur's special oil and Iris playing on that later on with Leaf Storm to wipe it away was anything short of innovative and was nice to see.

Battle-wise the battles didn't have much strategy, unless you count Emolga's use of gliding and Snivy's Leaf Storm-wiping strategy.(I do but your YYMV.) That doesn't matter since the battles were more about entertaining and revenge and not the central end-all be-all of the episode like a Gym Battle episode. Here's another point I have, I've noticed that recently in Pokemon the ability to fly is treated as very prestigious, like it's something very useful in battle now in recent series. Emolga's gliding apparently made all the difference in her battles. I dunno, Zoey said Togekiss's ability to fly made it an extremely tough opponent

....and Dragonite's ability of flight might have given Iris the edge to beat Drayden but Dragonite was against that.

Felt kinda bad for Pansage, thing looked like he was about to kill himself due to being dressed as a female which is kinda weird because he had no problem dressing up as Elesa's Emolga, guess the whole situation difference made it more stressful. Snivy and Emolga both got much-needed wins.

Kinda disappointed Moira didn't call Iris a beast like she did in the Japanese version :P The noblewoman's laughs were much better in Japanese as well, at least Emolga's got retained due to her sticking to her Japanese voice. "EmomomomomomoEeeeemomomo!"

Anyway wrapping up this huge tl;dr review, this is why I have an obsession like Iris so much. She was a true beast this episode, she found herself a cause, clung to it like a fucking maniac, and only was happy and felt accomplished when a punishment she deemed satisfactory was delivered and puts up with no one talking shit about her Pokemon, her friends' Pokemon, or bullying others.(Tepig/Shamus situation comes to mind.) Cilan, Ash, Brock, Max, Misty, or Dawn would have probably let it go easily but not Iris, Dawn wasn't even that bothered by Marilyn's comments about Piplup, she dropped it fast. There's just a certain "aggressiveness" or "meanness"(In a good way! :P) in her character that makes her so convincing and realistic. Ash and Cilan wanting to get the hell outta there when it was all said and done was great :3 This is definitely an episode that reminds you Pokemon is a kids' show and makes you feel good due to the sheer amount of entertainment value, I'll probably watch this again often and the best BW comedic filler since the Litwick episode.


Oh, Pokemon Anime, you slay me. XD

Lilligant-ette made absolutely no sense because it's an all-female species without a male counterpart.

I loved Cilan's girl voice, though!

I enjoyed it. Can't remember the last time "Ashley" made an appearance..haha

I didn't understand how the balance beam challenge in any way demonstrated beauty..but whatever. I was expecting some contest-like challenges. The word unattractive was used a little too much, too.

Snivy was awesome and I liked Iris battling with her. Some girl bonding time lol I think Snivy enjoyed knocking those girls down a peg as much as Iris. Seeing Ash be so uncomfortable cross-dressing is hilarious every time. Good comedic episode to start the series off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Karamazov

I'm confused as to what Iris was planning to accomplish before they got inside the mansion. Her plan looked like this:

1. Dress the guys up as girls
2. Sneak into Moira's house
3. Model with them
4. ???
5. They have taught the mean girls a lesson!

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I think Iris intended to sneak with the other two into the troupe's HQ in order to have a truly satisfying revenge, by defeating the ladies in an area of their own expertise. That's just my reckoning on it, though.

Also, any excuse for crossdressing fanservice, wah-hey!

That makes sense, sort of but not really. It makes sense in that a kid like Iris would have thought of it. But what would she have done if the people who have been training twice as long as her (I assume), and are masters at their art defeated her?

Well that was absurdly fun.

Wait, hang on, Roserade dude was a lady?? Also, Iris scares me sometimes.

So, I guess it's time to say "goodbye", Cynthia :( It was fantastic to have you there and I'll miss you so, so badly. Episodes that would have been lackluster without you were turned into a wonderful experience due to your appearance. You gave a whole new meaning to the show but now I'm afraid that the journey will go back to business as usual.
Farewell, angel! I'm sure you'll come back some day.

As for the rest of the episode, I have to say that it was a nice way to kick off the new season. The intro looks decent except for the scene where Bianca trips and falls to the ground. That one was unnecessary because it kind of takes away the seriousness. Isn't an intro supposed to get you excited? Said scene rather accomplishes the opposite because it makes you laugh instead.
Anyway, I liked Iris' plan which was pretty sneaky and also a bit "evil". But what exactly was she planning to do inside the troupe's house? She couldn't predict what the ladies were up to, could she?
Seeing Ash and Cilan crossdress was a bit...well...disturbing but also funny on the other hand. And finally I was happy that Snivy got to show how strong she is, even when Ash totally seems to have forgotten what a good trainer is supposed to do.
Judging from the outcome of the Unova League, Ash should have listened to what Cynthia told him today.