Pokemon Live
Nov. 18th, 2017 04:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
insaneladybugI also decided to check out Pokemon Live. I read a detailed summary of the whole thing and have been skipping around in the video looking at the Team Rocket parts. I'm not too fond of many of the voices. I'm generally okay with James', even though he has a way higher pitch than on the show. Jessie's voice, on the other hand, really makes me cringe. She shrieks and screeches half her lines and some of her dialogue sounds more fitting to Jessiebelle.
Giovanni's and Delia's voices are the best in the production, I think. And hearing Giovanni sing about his plans and using his robot to defeat trainers all while sounding like Pegasus will never not be amusing.
Not crazy at all about all the mush subplot nonsense. Of course. I'm not a Pokeshipper and I tend to think that spoils the great friendship Ash and Misty come to have in canon. (I also wonder why shipping them is called Pokeshipping. That makes it sound like the definitive pairing or something. Seems like Pokeshipping could describe almost any pairing on the show, so why was that name picked for them?)
I am kind of intrigued by Delia knowing Giovanni from the past. I may watch those scenes later.
Overall, the thing seems to be around the same crackiness level as the Turtles' live show. I'm trying to figure out why I get a kick out of the latter but am cringing at Pokemon Live. I think the mush subplot and Jessie's voice are the main reasons. And somehow most of the characters feel kind of off. Especially Misty and Brock. (And is it terrible that I find it super weird for Ash to sound like a teenage boy whose voice has broken?) In the Turtles' show, any OOCness is more for cracky purposes, like Shredder rapping. ROTFLOL. But in Pokemon Live, a lot of it is supposed to be taken seriously, like the mush stuff. (I think if Misty has a crush on Ash in canon, she's denying it to herself instead of knowing it and just keeping quiet about it.) Although I guess Brock's refusal to acknowledge they're lost and such was supposed to be funny. That felt OOC too and I didn't care for it. Of course, Baxter in the Turtles' stage show is OOC by 87 series standards, but I seem to be more forgiving of that since they actually included him. And since I decided the stage show is just a separate verse. It feels like its own verse because it has elements from different branches of the franchise. And there are so many Turtles verses that it's easy to accept one more. By contrast, for Pokemon I think there's just anime, manga, and game verses. With Pokemon Live, it really seems to be meant to be the anime verse, yet it doesn't feel like it. So yeah, I think those things are why I'm having trouble fully liking Pokemon Live. That said, I'm enjoying some of it, and if they'd left the mush and OOC stuff out, or else made it more clear that it's a separate verse, I'd probably accept it better.
I also figured out why I love the Orange Islands arc so much. I was watching one of the filler episodes from season 1, during the time Ash should be training for the Pokemon League, and I felt the same love for it that I do for the Orange Islands. Some of my favorite season 1 episodes are among those filler ventures. I've always had a habit of loving filler, largely because characters seem to develop the most in filler episodes, and because they're fun and usually without baggage, and Orange Islands feels like filler in between Kanto and Johto. I like the slice-of-life feel of those episodes. I also like how Team Rocket often gets to shine in filler, and how Ash and company seem more likely to help them in filler. They jump to help in both Onixpected and Blank-Out Blaistoise episodes. Not usual, and very enjoyable. (I also enjoyed Ash helping in the non-filler All Fired Up! episode, though I wondered why that occasion was different than the other occasions where they're on fire and he doesn't help.)
Giovanni's and Delia's voices are the best in the production, I think. And hearing Giovanni sing about his plans and using his robot to defeat trainers all while sounding like Pegasus will never not be amusing.
Not crazy at all about all the mush subplot nonsense. Of course. I'm not a Pokeshipper and I tend to think that spoils the great friendship Ash and Misty come to have in canon. (I also wonder why shipping them is called Pokeshipping. That makes it sound like the definitive pairing or something. Seems like Pokeshipping could describe almost any pairing on the show, so why was that name picked for them?)
I am kind of intrigued by Delia knowing Giovanni from the past. I may watch those scenes later.
Overall, the thing seems to be around the same crackiness level as the Turtles' live show. I'm trying to figure out why I get a kick out of the latter but am cringing at Pokemon Live. I think the mush subplot and Jessie's voice are the main reasons. And somehow most of the characters feel kind of off. Especially Misty and Brock. (And is it terrible that I find it super weird for Ash to sound like a teenage boy whose voice has broken?) In the Turtles' show, any OOCness is more for cracky purposes, like Shredder rapping. ROTFLOL. But in Pokemon Live, a lot of it is supposed to be taken seriously, like the mush stuff. (I think if Misty has a crush on Ash in canon, she's denying it to herself instead of knowing it and just keeping quiet about it.) Although I guess Brock's refusal to acknowledge they're lost and such was supposed to be funny. That felt OOC too and I didn't care for it. Of course, Baxter in the Turtles' stage show is OOC by 87 series standards, but I seem to be more forgiving of that since they actually included him. And since I decided the stage show is just a separate verse. It feels like its own verse because it has elements from different branches of the franchise. And there are so many Turtles verses that it's easy to accept one more. By contrast, for Pokemon I think there's just anime, manga, and game verses. With Pokemon Live, it really seems to be meant to be the anime verse, yet it doesn't feel like it. So yeah, I think those things are why I'm having trouble fully liking Pokemon Live. That said, I'm enjoying some of it, and if they'd left the mush and OOC stuff out, or else made it more clear that it's a separate verse, I'd probably accept it better.
I also figured out why I love the Orange Islands arc so much. I was watching one of the filler episodes from season 1, during the time Ash should be training for the Pokemon League, and I felt the same love for it that I do for the Orange Islands. Some of my favorite season 1 episodes are among those filler ventures. I've always had a habit of loving filler, largely because characters seem to develop the most in filler episodes, and because they're fun and usually without baggage, and Orange Islands feels like filler in between Kanto and Johto. I like the slice-of-life feel of those episodes. I also like how Team Rocket often gets to shine in filler, and how Ash and company seem more likely to help them in filler. They jump to help in both Onixpected and Blank-Out Blaistoise episodes. Not usual, and very enjoyable. (I also enjoyed Ash helping in the non-filler All Fired Up! episode, though I wondered why that occasion was different than the other occasions where they're on fire and he doesn't help.)
no subject
Date: 2017-11-23 03:13 am (UTC)I have to admit, I've only heard Giovanni's songs from the musical because wow, Darren Dunstan is good--even if it's so cracky to hear Pegasus instead. *snerk*
Ah, yes, the backstory that launched a thousand fics...
And hooo boy, Ash/Misty was THE favorite pairing in the fandom for the longest time. Recently, newer fans have started shipping Ash with the Gen 6 girl, Serena, which was definitely a one-sided crush, but the older fans still hold out for Misty.
But yeah, Live is not part of the official timeline, as far as I know...
Yess, I love filler arcs and episodes, too! Definitely a minority we're in there, sadly... Ah, well...
no subject
Date: 2017-11-23 03:25 am (UTC)Yes, he is such a good singer!
I can imagine.
Is that why it's called Pokeshipping, because fans feel it really is the definitive ship?
I wouldn't think so.
Indeed.
no subject
Date: 2017-12-06 12:08 pm (UTC)Indeed!
I believe so. I remember back in the day before ship names took off, it used to be abbreviated AAM or A&M, and fics would have that in the summary to indicate it. And it was everywhere.
no subject
Date: 2017-12-06 12:21 pm (UTC)