Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Over in the real world, 2020 is continuing to escalate in intensity in every way possible, and I currently exist in a perpetual state of heightened tension, vibrating uncontrollably from the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep. There are meaningful, urgent reasons for me to feel this way, but all of us also need some time to relax and recharge our batteries, if only to return to the work of the moment with renewed strength and energy. In my case, I think the best way to do that is Pokemon Sun and Moon – a show that always helps me feel warm and secure, and through which I can hopefully help some other folks calm down a little, too.
Last episode featured one of Sun and Moon’s comfiest conceits yet, as Ash and Pikachu competed in Alola’s Grand Pancake Race. Watching Pikachu do his best to carry a stack of pancakes healed my heart immensely, and whatever happens this episode, I’m eager to spend more time on this delightful island, sharing adventures with this charming cast. Without further ado, let’s return to the endlessly endearing Pokemon Sun and Moon!
Episode 14
Lillie and her very fluffy hair are providing the intro this time. Oh right, her Vulpix finally hatched, and is the cutest thing in the world. Great choice of Pokemon for her – it even shares her extremely fluffy hair
Dear lord this thing is adorable. The animation here is somewhat limited, but it’s doing an excellent job of evoking the halting, hesitant movements of a newborn animal, even without that much fluid motion
Uh oh. Unsurprisingly, while Lillie eventually grew comfortable taking care of an egg, dealing with an actual Pokemon has brought her anxieties roaring back
SNOWBALL IS YOUR DAUGHTER, LILLIE. YOU MUST HUG HER. HUG THE FLUFFY BABY
It seems the other egg is hatching as well
“The Fruit of Courage: Lillie and Vulpix!” Alright, I guess we’re hunting down a Gum-Gum fruit for Lillie this episode
The egg brought in from Kanto is also a Vulpix, though it’s obviously the traditional kind
Aw, it’s cleaning its fur like a housecat. I have to assume the Pokemon animators studied a lot of animal videos in order to properly capture convincingly animal-like movement – even Shirobako featured some scenes of animators studying cat videos for the sake of their productions. It’s the idle animations like this that help us see them as familiar pets, rather than strange or potentially frightening creatures
It’s a lot of work, though! Artists spend years developing the ability to convey the human body, with all of its skeletal quirks and musculature, in a convincing approximation of movement. You can’t just immediately translate all of that knowledge onto an entirely different organism, which doesn’t just possess a unique skeletal shape, but even expresses itself in completely new ways beyond that (like this Vulpix licking its own shoulder). Just as there are specific animators who are renowned for their ability to convey the precision and crunch of satisfying mechanical animation, so too is animating animals a pretty specialized skill
Of course, that’s only if you’re attempting to convey convincingly animalistic movement – but for a show like Pokemon, the charm of seeing Pokemon act like believable animals is a key part of the show’s appeal
More nice details of animation here, like the Vulpixes being startled by Rotom’s flash photography
Ash tries to pet Snowball, and is immediately frozen solid
The other Vulpix helpfully sets him on fire
Oh wow, this is just a feast of wonderful Pokemon animation. The distinct personalities of these two Vulpixes is clear in their movement, as the fire-type bounds around and quickly makes friends with the other Pokemon, while the ice-type remains haughtily aloof. I feel like they must have taken some influences from the movements of deer to inspire the Vulpix’s excited movements – he prances with all four legs at once, more like a deer than a dog or cat. In contrast, the ice Vulpix is very convincingly cat-inspired, complete with tightly nested paws and a posture of exaggerated indifference
I often praise this show for its playful, stylistically loose animation, but this episode is demonstrating it’s also capable of creating remarkably convincing character acting for these little animals. Snowball’s posture is so convincingly cat-like, even as it tries to secure a foothold on this larger Pokemon
And of course, the other style is also fully in attendance. We get a terrific exaggerated cut of Lillie attempting to throw a pokeball
Oh my god, Lillie’s glittering happy eyes are too much
Lillie has such a powerful “I’m gonna do my best” face. You really believe she can do her best
I feel like I’m spending this whole post talking about Lillie faces, but seriously, she has such good faces
“There are many different kinds of relationships between trainers and pokemon.” Kukui’s words are fine encouragement for Lillie, while also emphasizing the actual nature of the Pokemon games. If you want to catch them all, that’s perfectly fine – but if you just want to catch a few pokemon and hang out with them, the game encourages that, as well. I personally know I spent a good chunk of my Sword and Shield playtime just playing fetch with my pokemon on camping trips
I like how the other classmates actually riff on Ash’s extremely protagonist-type nature, as he proudly announces his goals even though the conversation isn’t about him
“Will Lillie pet the fluffy Vulpix?” I have never been invested in any conflict more than this
“She’ll be okay. This is Lillie, after all.” Ash, what about Lillie’s personality would make you think she can handle this?
Fortunately, Mallow actually understands Lillie, and demands they follow her
It’s quite nice seeing Mallow demonstrate such concern for her friends. The character episodes so far have often felt a bit partitioned, in that they generally just involve Ash and their focus character, so I appreciate an episode celebrating the bonds that the Alolan students already share among themselves. It doesn’t just make them feel more sympathetic, it makes them feel well-rounded and alive – if they actually live here, then surely they must possess relationships outside of their bond with Ash
Aw shit, it’s Team Rocket. Jessie appears to be drowning her pancake-related sorrows in food
Team Rocket are on a mission for food and “parts for building our secret base.” They’ve spent this entire season so far sleeping, eating, engaging in local competitions, and working on their secret fort. Bless them
We’re getting some nice incidental shots of the town this time, which has a bit of an old-fashioned European vibe. Anime tend to imagine a great deal of overseas locations as fundamentally kinda like Venice, which is frankly fine by me – Venice is the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited, and I’m always happy to revisit it in fiction
Team Rocket pounce on Lillie and Snowball, which inadvertently turns into a pretty good trust-building exercise, considering they’re too inept to catch her
Mareanie immediately poisons James, and Mimikyu is indifferent to fighting because Pikachu isn’t involved. Terrific team they’ve built here
Team Rocket continues to accidentally help Lillie overcome her anxieties, by forcing her to jump and catch Snowball in her arms. Way to go, Team Rocket!
Jessie being extremely tsundere about giving a donut to Bewear
And Done
Well jeez, what a feast of adorableness that episode turned out to be. Lillie was already plenty fluffy and adorable in her own right, and then she went and got a pokemon that is actually even fluffier and more adorable than she is. The production team didn’t let this chance go to waste, either – the show’s expression work and character acting were in top form this time, breathing life into the story both through Vulpix’s incredibly convincing movements, and also Lillie’s consistently ridiculous expressions. Snowball is a welcome addition to the Sun and Moon team!
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