What They Say:
Ash Ketchum is a brand-new Pokemon Trainer, and on his first day he gets his very first Pokemon, Pikachu! But their friendship gets off to a rocky start. It’s up to Ash to earn Pikachu’s trust as he and friends Misty and Brock follow their quest to collect Pokemon, make friends and battle their way to the Indigo League!
Contains episodes 1-78.
The Review
Audio:
I will not dwell on the dub so much to say the following: It is the 4Kids’ dub and includes everything from that dub in contact.
Video:
While watching the DVD’s I did see some significant interlacing issues. Using the latest firmware from the PS3 on the standard setup (as of this date) the squiggles on my TV were apparent when I looked close, but from afar, was not the case. The counter is that it was upscaled, which could be the case. WIth that said, no adjustments, both positive and negative, happened to my eyes.
Packaging:
The Packaging is a standard boxset box with 3 DVD cases and multiple DVDs within each case.
Menu:
The Menus are nothing fancy except for being able to get to your episode.
Extras:
The Pokemon rap is on the DVD in full and is an end feature for it.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers) (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Nostalgia is an interesting event. It makes you harken back to the old days without realizing what the old days and the context were at this time. It also pushes you to look back at old things to see if they hold up. It is with this in mind that I come into the Pokemon Indigo League DVD Collection, knowing full well that my time with it may shatter my perception of the past or further enhance it. I come out of it feeling that it did shatter my perception, but in an interestingly positive way.
As people know, Pokemon is about Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town working on his way to become a Pokemon master. Within minutes of watching things I did not catch as fast as a boy (Ash Ketchum, Pallet Town) suddenly came to me. Things that I had an emotional attachment to still held up (such as the Butterfree episodes). However, the timing and the pacing of the events came up quicker than I imagined. Watching it in syndication and on TV versus marathoning can skew the time perception but even with that in mind, events seemed to come up a lot faster than anticipated. Likewise, places seemed slower when getting to a long stretch of “filler” episodes towards Cinnabar Island. Aware of these things, taking the time to see Ash develop into the character we all know is a fascinating event.
Seeing the maturation of Ash is a site to behold when watching the Indigo League. Unlike the other series, Ash literally starts off from nothing and then has to work up to where he is now. It is interesting seeing how Ash develops his battle style. You see how he learns from his mistakes and wins as well as what the relationship between each Pokemon is (for instance Butterfree and Charmander). Unlike with the other series, Seen Ash mature from a person that doesn’t know about Pokémon, we get a sense of a boy growing up to become a more responsible person. A citizen that knows how to handle emotions asked of from adults as well as take care of persons that matter to him the most. Speaking of maturation Pikachu is also maturing In this series.First coming off as aloof, sometimes aggravated, you get a sense of how Pikachu and Ash’s bond become strong. The fact that they went through a lot of experiences together, Pikachu matures from a non-caring Pokémon to a respectful companion on this journey with Ash.
Speaking of maturing, the jokes and comedic aspects mature with Pokemon too. The beginning of Pokemon, for anime fans, maybe one of the most bizarre watches for them. Unlike with what people would remember with Pokemon, the series implemented some major anime tropes that would otherwise be found in a normal comedy not only of the 90s but in anime in general. Visual gags, comedic timing among others, Pokemon throws in a lot of these tropes in the beginning but then starts to dial them back, mainly because they found their comfort zone with comedy. For those who notice them, you will get a laugh only to wonder how did they put that in there in a kids show and how did you get it back then. In a way, it could be seen as a rorschach test for how you enjoy anime and how you got into it. Pokemon demonstrates, with its comedy, humor and even original setup, how a standard anime is created. With that said, it still is humorous considering it for a kid’s show and for a typical anime series.
The strange misses in the collection comes from the missing material. Both Beauty and the Beach (the beach episode known for James’ antic) and Holiday Hi-Jynx are both not included in the series. While there are circumstantial reasons, one would think that because of the time removed as well as the fact that it states its the complete collection it would have been okay. Apparently that was not the case.
In Summary:
In short, it’s Pokemon like you remembered it and somewhat did not. Seeing Ash develop his style of “Never going to give up” is interesting as well as seeing the dynamics of the original gang. The jokes and the comedy become interesting as you realize what they got away with in 90’s anime, as well as how they used certain anime tropes. For those into nostalgia, it’s a great watch. For those who are not, its worth visiting a couple of episodes from the collection. For everyone, its a nice piece of history demonstrating how a boy and his electric rodent rose up to become a juggernaut of Nintendo and a dominant force for the 90s.
Features:
English Language
Content Grade: A
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: B
Packaging Grade: C
Menu Grade: C
Extras Grade: A
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: October 28th, 2014
MSRP: $54.98
Running Time: 1850 minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Review Equipment:
Zenith Plasma TV with Sony Playstation 3
