Recap: The Bicker The Better.

Hello everyone, it's Pokémon Advanced Challenge time again. I have a great

love of Pokémon. Though my favorite anime series is Gurren Lagann, my second favorite

anime is Pokémon.

I fully admit that the concept is ridiculous and it's every bit about marketing the video

game series (which I also love) as it is about storytelling; and the episode structure can

be quite formulaic. However, when I'm asked about why I still enjoy the series, I simply

reply, “because it's fun.”

I also state that I really did not want to watch the Advanced Generation series or

the Diamond and Pearl series. When I finally did decide to get into them, I came off as an

even bigger Pokémon nut than I was with the original series.

As I stated in my other recaps, every TV series has to have a bad episode among the good. My first recap was of “Love, Petalburg Style,” an episode about an inferred extramarital

affair involving Norman the gym leader and Nurse Joy.

In the meantime, I am going to recap an episode that really grinds my gears. That episode is “The Bicker The Better”; an episode that is such a blatant and contrived attempt

at a “battle of the sexes” plot that some countries have even banned the episode, putting it

in the same line as “Electric Soldier Porygon” (the infamous seizure episode), “The Legend

of Dratini” (the one with the guns and the 30 Tauros), and “Beauty and the Beach” (a lost

episode that I decided was best not to explore until the glorious invention of YouTube made

it possible so everyone could, 8 years after its only airing on Kids WB).

Before I get into this, let me explain something: people are free to like and hate

what they want. One person making fun of a work should not affect the enjoyment of

said work or said person. My scathing dislike of this episode should not drag down your

perception of it if you do like this episode. Disagreements are a large part of any fandom.

I mentioned Dogasu, a Bulbagarden contributor who operates his own website of changes

made in the dub. I recommend checking it out, his work is very insightful; and he has a snark

that effectively makes him the Pokémon equivalent of Red Letter Media's Mr. Plinkett character

(the guy who made exhaustively detailed reviews of the Star Wars prequels).

Still, there have been times where I disagreed with him. He felt that Team Rocket

actually becoming good at their jobs in Pokémon Best Wishes took away their charm, I said

that making them a threat gave them a drive and a new outlook on the series. He said that

the Don Battle/Club Battle arc was a waste of time; I found it to be one of the most entertaining

tournament arcs I've seen in an anime. In that same instance, when he complained about Zorua

being shoved in everyone's face; I found Zorua's antics to be one of the things I enjoyed most

about that arc.

I bring this up because he praised this episode in his recap of it. I am going to be the iconoclast and deconstruct this episode's flaws; giving a detailed explanation as to why it doesn't work.

We open on a beautiful morning at the Pokémon Center, as Ash and his friends are on

their way to Fortree City. I haven't played Ruby and Sapphire in a while, but I can say

that Fortree City is one of my favorite locations in Hoenn for virtue of being built entirely on

treehouses. Having seen the episode it was featured in when I was 19 first, it reminds me of

the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk in the Star Wars films.

They are all set to go, but Pikachu chimes in and they notice they forgot May. She is packing up her belongings, and Ash rushes back into the Pokémon Center and starts yelling

at her about it. Oh boy. Here we go.

Ash leads her out of the center, but May then stops to check herself in the mirror. You

know, in some cultures, vanity is considered a sin.

Ash again chews her out for her ladylike traits of admiring herself. May replies that

men almost never check their hair or clothes. Personally, I thought the costume design in

the Advanced Generation was reminiscent of the video game Jet Grind Radio, and I say that

as a guy whose fashion sense is just a step over hobo.  

As they exit the center and get on their merry way, May says words to the effect of

calling Ash a geezer. I can just imagine Ash replying, “Don't mock me! I'll be around for years!”

Once again, we get our theme song of “This Dream.” I stated that was a good theme

song, though my favorite theme of the Advanced Generation is “Unbeatable” in the following

season, “Advanced Battle.”

Next, we get our title card. Let this be an indication of what's to come in this episode,

why I have a deep hatred for it.

Ash and May are still fighting after we segue into the episode proper. Max and Brock

comment on how this fighting has been going on for some time. This is going to hurt, isn't it?

How do you even begin to deal with an episode like this?

The worst part of this is, they're played by the only
voice actress who will still have a career after this show.

Then, in come two characters that made sure I would have no chance of liking this

episode: Oscar and Andi. They are characters parodying the leads of The Rose of Versailles,

an 18th-century romantic drama.

These two keep insisting that Ash and May are in love. I'm simply going to call them

out right now: They're idiots. Do you want more proof? They say that Ash and May fighting

is the first sign of love. No, it's the first sign of domestic abuse.

Max and Brock point out there is something weird about them. Now that I agree with.

There must have been something in the water where they came from.

Oscar and Andi suggest a battle. That's good, I could really use some action right now.

Ash and May agree to it. I'm just going to come out and say that Oscar and Andi are way too

happy about this. Maybe it's because I haven't seen the show they're parodying, but every

Rose of Versailles joke makes me more lost. I have a tendency to reference obscure shows like

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, and I could use Saw Boss and some Monster Minds in this.

More on the way Oscar and Andi talk- their politeness contest just isn't working for me.

Brock, despite the fact that Andi is clearly in love with Oscar, hits on Andi. I definitely

needed his unsuccessful Romeo to make this stinker of an episode more tolerable. Max drags him away. I will talk a bit about Max. I used to really not like him, but after I branched out in

anime, I discovered there are far worse characters than him and loosened up about him.

Oscar and Andi declare it a tag battle, so Ash and May can put their love to the test.

Maybe they'll even put their love on whammy.  

Ash and May send out Corphish and Skitty. Oscar counters with Nidoking (Like a BOSS!) and Andi sends out Nidoqueen. Nidoqueen always looked like she was wearing a bikini

to me.

May ponders what move to use, which drives Ash nuts. I'm sympathizing with him

right now.

Oscar and Andi, however, are in perfect sync. While Ash and May's Pokémon attack each other, theirs lay devastating combos on them as they get stars in their eyes.

Ash breaks down on the situation.

Dinosaur King, Tai Chi Chasers, Little Bee, why was I in them all?

Oscar and Andi keep going on about their love. Take your love to a showing of Magic

Mike, and keep it away from my Pokémon.They finish them with a Submission combo that makes a heart. You know, JRR Tolkien once said that sometimes disbelief must not be suspended so much as hanged, drawn, and quartered. Here, I'm all for giving my disbelief death by lethal injection. These two are completely out of place in a series like this, and it just pads a generic “Battle of the sexes”

story.

Enter Team Rocket, with Jessie complaining that they haven't done anything typically

Team Rocket. Like overtake Silph Tower, sell Slowpoke tails as delicacies or attack Olivine

City.

Oscar and Andi then challenge Team Rocket to a battle. God, I thought we were done

with these “1776” castoffs.

They accept the battle, and also get Team Rocket fighting. These two are total Mary

Sues. I think the only reason these two existed is to make the pre-established characters look

bad in this “battle of the sexes” fanfic poorly disguised as an episode.

They beat Team Rocket, and this argumentative drivel is still going. I am now convinced

that Oscar and Andi are total Sues.

Among the few notable things in Team Rocket's arguments are that Jessie doesn't like

James' blue hair, though it is now lavender thanks to the switch to digital coloring. James

replies with a song consisting of nothing but the word “ugly.”

Ash and May, having a massive argument over their loss, come across Jessie and James

and still try to cram this moronic theme down our throats.  

Another tag battle occurs, with guys VS. girls. Now this is a joke. It just devolves into

a bunch of random attacks rather quickly. The episode has given up. They have thrown up

their hands and said, “we have no idea.”

It devolves further into Meowth shaking his rump. Why did Dogasu like this episode?

While this could have been funny, Jessie and James get the idea to steal Pikachu. You got

all that from interpretive dance.

Pikachu is stolen, and they give chase, with Skitty's Assist having it use String Shot.

Apparently, Assist sometimes turns Skitty into Spider-Man.

Kiss her, you fool!

They're back. Corphish knocks Team Rocket down and Pikachu out of the net. They

shockproofed the net, but didn't give it a top. That's actually pretty funny.

Ash and May muse they could have battled like this against Oscar and Andi. Oscar and

Andi can go screw themselves.

“The Bicker the Better” had absolutely no point. You could cut it out and it would have

absolutely no impact on the story. There were at least Johto filler episodes that were entertaining, and I'm in the minority that liked Johto. What I'm really astounded by is that

Dogasu liked this episode, but gave several legitimately good episodes lower ratings. These include the Misty-centric two-parter in Advanced Challenge, “Pikachu's Goodbye,” “Maxed

Out,” “March of the Exeggcutor Squad”, and “Showdown in Dark City.”

I know for certain that now I can bash “A Double Dilemma” as a horrible episode, but

you still must wait for that. Next time, I will take on Magical DoReMi, with an episode that

cemented the show as the Blue's Clues of magical girl series.