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An Ode to Pokémon Sun & Moon
Last week, the Pokémon Sun & Moon anime aired it's final episode. It's the first series of Pokémon I've watched it's entirety (unless you count the Kanto and Johto portions of the original series as separate), and it's the first I've watched subtitled rather than dubbed.
In 2016, when they first announced the series, they presented it as a reset of sorts. Not that they were resetting continuity, but rather that it would be an easier entry point for viewers, like Best Wishes a few years earlier, than some of the other series. At the encouragement of a friend, I decided to jump in when the first episode premiered on November 17, 2016. And it was one of the best media consumption decisions I ever made. Honestly, I'm struggling to express how much I adore this show, and this post is inevitably going to come up short.
I'd be lying if I said I was a devotee to the series, anime or games. I've watched a fair bit of the original series dubbed, and played through some of the games. But after clocking in over 300 hours playing Pokémon X in college, I burnt out on the series in a big way. Hell, I still haven't even finished playing Pokémon Sun even though I loved it, and I'm pretty inclined to go back and finish it now along with UltraMoon.
Pokémon Sun & Moon set itself apart from the other series in a lot of ways beside the art style, the most obvious being the swapping of gym battles for island trials. The geography of the region also lent itself to the changed premise: Instead of journeying through the region with two companions, encountering different characters-of-the-week each episode, Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in the dub) stays at Professor Kukui's house and attends the Pokémon School with five of his new friends. This allowed the show to explore the stories of a large, ensemble cast and create stories and arcs that didn't feel like filler and all felt like they had a purpose. Even Team Rocket, the long-suffering "villains" of the franchise, found new purpose in the region. That's perhaps the aspect of the finale that made me cry the most. Each of these legacy characters had found a sense of stable home and family that's been largely elusive in the earlier series, and they had to move on from it.
I originally meant to write and post all of this the day it aired, but I've been progressively putting it off. Partially due to general exhaustion, but mostly because it's difficult for me to sum up all my feelings about this show in the span of one post. It made me fall in love with Pokemon again in a way I haven't felt since I was a kid, getting into it right as all my classmates were getting out. Gen VII has easily my favorite Pokemon since Gen II, and it was fun to see them get the spotlight in such interesting and prolonged ways.
The finale itself was nearly perfect. The only thing I found to criticize is that, while there is a sense of finality, it doesn't feel wholely "final'. Lilie still hasn't found her father, and sets off with her mother and brother on a journey to find him. Kaki, Maamane, Suiren, and Mao all dive into their ambitions in a serious way that's only been previously foreshadowed before. Kukui and Burnet start a family of their own as they work to bring more change to Alola while honoring the existing ways of life in the region. Really, it feels like all these characters journeys are just beginning, and I wish the franchise would spend more time with them.
My hope beyond hope is that the format of the new series premiering next week, when all past regions will supposedly be featured to some degree, these characters and their stories will be revisited. I now understand why XY fans were so vocal about wanting to see Serena again during the run of Sun & Moon. When you create bonds with these characters in a longer form narratives like this, you want to see them again. See their stories continue. One of the highlights of Sun & Moon were the brief returns of Kasumi (Misty) and Takeshi (Brock), and the show allowing them to grow instead of simply resetting them for fanservice.
I'd like to end this very insufficient post by simply saying thank you Alola. I hope that we visit you again soon!
In 2016, when they first announced the series, they presented it as a reset of sorts. Not that they were resetting continuity, but rather that it would be an easier entry point for viewers, like Best Wishes a few years earlier, than some of the other series. At the encouragement of a friend, I decided to jump in when the first episode premiered on November 17, 2016. And it was one of the best media consumption decisions I ever made. Honestly, I'm struggling to express how much I adore this show, and this post is inevitably going to come up short.
I'd be lying if I said I was a devotee to the series, anime or games. I've watched a fair bit of the original series dubbed, and played through some of the games. But after clocking in over 300 hours playing Pokémon X in college, I burnt out on the series in a big way. Hell, I still haven't even finished playing Pokémon Sun even though I loved it, and I'm pretty inclined to go back and finish it now along with UltraMoon.
Pokémon Sun & Moon set itself apart from the other series in a lot of ways beside the art style, the most obvious being the swapping of gym battles for island trials. The geography of the region also lent itself to the changed premise: Instead of journeying through the region with two companions, encountering different characters-of-the-week each episode, Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in the dub) stays at Professor Kukui's house and attends the Pokémon School with five of his new friends. This allowed the show to explore the stories of a large, ensemble cast and create stories and arcs that didn't feel like filler and all felt like they had a purpose. Even Team Rocket, the long-suffering "villains" of the franchise, found new purpose in the region. That's perhaps the aspect of the finale that made me cry the most. Each of these legacy characters had found a sense of stable home and family that's been largely elusive in the earlier series, and they had to move on from it.
I originally meant to write and post all of this the day it aired, but I've been progressively putting it off. Partially due to general exhaustion, but mostly because it's difficult for me to sum up all my feelings about this show in the span of one post. It made me fall in love with Pokemon again in a way I haven't felt since I was a kid, getting into it right as all my classmates were getting out. Gen VII has easily my favorite Pokemon since Gen II, and it was fun to see them get the spotlight in such interesting and prolonged ways.
The finale itself was nearly perfect. The only thing I found to criticize is that, while there is a sense of finality, it doesn't feel wholely "final'. Lilie still hasn't found her father, and sets off with her mother and brother on a journey to find him. Kaki, Maamane, Suiren, and Mao all dive into their ambitions in a serious way that's only been previously foreshadowed before. Kukui and Burnet start a family of their own as they work to bring more change to Alola while honoring the existing ways of life in the region. Really, it feels like all these characters journeys are just beginning, and I wish the franchise would spend more time with them.
My hope beyond hope is that the format of the new series premiering next week, when all past regions will supposedly be featured to some degree, these characters and their stories will be revisited. I now understand why XY fans were so vocal about wanting to see Serena again during the run of Sun & Moon. When you create bonds with these characters in a longer form narratives like this, you want to see them again. See their stories continue. One of the highlights of Sun & Moon were the brief returns of Kasumi (Misty) and Takeshi (Brock), and the show allowing them to grow instead of simply resetting them for fanservice.
I'd like to end this very insufficient post by simply saying thank you Alola. I hope that we visit you again soon!