Recap: The Strongest Mega Evolution Act I

So, here's yet another attempt at adapting Pokémon into an anime; The Strongest Mega Evolution Act I. It opens with some decidedly impressive showing off of all our favorite Pokémon from past generations. 

We then see the lead of this special, Alan, face off against one of the trainers who’s in the first XY movie, Astrid. As for you-know-who: I talked quite a bit about how I'm NOT trying to compare these specials to the mainline series. I do concede he's a good battler, but in terms of characterization; he seems very distant. Sure, he does have a clearly-defined goal, as any good trainer should, but I've seen more emotion from Sasuke! I think in the course of this special, he smiles exactly once.

I have a bad feeling about this...

Anyway, we get a battle with Mega Evolution, and-it's fucking amazing. While I wasn't sure about having the mega stones being pieces of jewelry on the Pokémon rather than biologically merged with them like in Origins, I do like the necklace on Absol and the sort of collar on Charizard. The way Astrid uses an earring and Alan has this sort of power glove to do this: that was pretty creative. 

Of course, Alan wins, and he seems bored with his streak; and wants something more. I like that idea, even if the character essentially has the emotional range of Hayden Christensen. If you get really good at battling, what then?

Then, we get the appearance of Maron; who is a large part of what dragged down this special for me. She is apparently a Chespin trainer; but she's a complete nitwit! It's rather telling that none of

the ads or trailers showed her before; because she has to give Tingle and the dog from Duck Hunt a run for their money in terms of annoyance. It wouldn't be so bad if she were just a one-off gag, but no; she's so big a fangirl for Mega Charizard X that she follows Alan around everywhere! Arceus, it's like Roger Rabbit was redesigned by Satan! 

Still, there are plenty of good characters to offset the bad ones. Remo, another trainer; is delightfully hammy. He could have served Maron's role much better, as could have Astrid. Heck, I'm even convinced they should have been the stars of this special because of how spectacularly wooden Alan is in personality. I'm reluctant to use that criticism, because I feel it often offends a rather useful building material.

His meeting with Professor Sycamore in Lumiose City shows how even though he's given a means to do great things, he has a stick up his ass the size of east Unova. I believe the reason people like characters is not just what they do, it's how much they enjoy doing it. Giving examples from the franchise: Red is as hot-blooded as his name suggests, Gold is a gambler with attitude, Ruby is a flamboyant showman, and from what I've read so far in his saga, Diamond is a joking glutton who likes mecha anime. Maybe I wouldn't be having this reaction to him if people weren't hyping him as the second coming of Kamina. 

My point is, that it's great if you're great at battling; but what's it mean when you don't enjoy the skills you have and the opportunity to test them? My favorite anime heroes are ones that would enjoy their conquests as much as I would: Goku, Luffy, Natsu, Simon, Rick Hunter from Robotech: they all love what they do. 

If you must have a stoic character, give them a reason for being the way they are. Spike Spiegel, Shinji Ikari, Madoka Kaname, Sosuke Sagara: they all had reasons in their backstory for not getting too emotionally involved in what they do. Alan seems like he could work nicely as a deconstruction of the Pokémon trainer; but without any qualities to endear him to the audience, he comes across as unsympathetic and unapproachable; despite his skills.

Now, we get to my favorite part: Alan's battle with Siebold of the Elite Four. He is a contender for my favorite member of the Kalos Elite Four. Well, him or Wikstrom. His Blastoise has this sort of headgear to hold his Mega Stone like one of the masks in Fist of the North Star; or like Spandam wears. Blastoise is my favorite starter of the original 151; and I'm very glad mine, Mako; proved to be so powerful. Siebold actually beats Alan, and also tells him he has a long way to go. I feel Alan needs this, as it proves he has some serious problems with his ego; as well as showing how joyless he is in most situations. 

Unfortunately, the dub changed this to praising Alan for his skills; essentially robbing the scene of much of the meaning behind this loss.

So, Alan sets off with that ninny Manon in tow; and we get what could help spruce up this special: the reveal of the leader of Team Flare, Lysander. His very presence in the games was effectively: you thought Ghetsis was the most vile main villain in Pokémon? Wait till they get a load of me.

This special was good, but not great. My skepticism towards new characters is not widely shared; but if I just took one new character as an opportunity to disparage another while ignoring the new one's own shortcomings; I'd be deluding myself, or a Kotaku writer. What I have been trying to convince people is that making a new character; or a new continuity in a beloved series is not as easy as one thinks, and this special is a good example of that. While the approach to Mega Evolution was very good, I found the story lacking and the characterization inconsistent. While Alan is certainly a good trainer; I barely know anything about him as a character, and I never felt an emotional connection to him the way I did other protagonists in the franchise. With Red: we got to see how he lived, what his family was like, and how he reacted to his role; which made his actions satisfying to see. Most of all, he enjoyed being out in the Pokémon world. Alan wants to train Mega Charizard X because he apparently has nothing better to do.

My point is, not even the best character can create a good story out of nothing. While I may not have had as big a case of hype backlash as I did with Chronicles; I still felt that most of my friends and other YouTube channels oversold Alan as a character. People claimed I would fall in love with him. I personally wanted to punch him out of his stoicism like Simon did to Rossiu. Maron is also a character that makes me appreciate Shauna from the games. It really doesn't help that Astrid, Remo, Siebold, and Sycamore would have been fine to have the special revolve around; and I'm expressing more interest in the villains for the next act! That's what hype backlash is: when other people set expectations that are so high, there is no way your own will be realistically met!

Still, though no Origins; this works remarkably well as an alternate continuity. I have also been trying  to get others to understand that the mainline series is not the worst anime of its kind, and people should really stop trying to expect qualities the creators clearly did not intend for it to have; when they should be enjoyed on their own merits as adaptations and extensions of the games. It's essentially like trying to compare the first two Christopher Reeve Superman movies to Man of Steel: different ways of looking at the same franchise; enjoyable for different reasons. I really can't believe I have to address this again, but here I am. Ash, Red, and Alan are essentially like trying to compare the Christopher Reeve Superman, the Tom Welling Superman, and the Henry Cavill Superman: all essentially different ways of looking at the same character. That's how I approach most of the adaptations. As if I was just playing a Pokémon game and saying, "Hey, this could make a good show." That is what I believe most of the adaptations try to create the feeling of, and many succeed in doing so. 

I will give the special this: the animation is incredible. The angles, the lighting, and especially the battle scenes: it almost looks like something made by Studio Ghibli. I expect the next act of the special to have this animation quality; even if the characters need more qualities to endear themselves to me.

The next act should be online by the time you see this; and I will recap it when it gets closer to the debut of Act III in Japan. I want to get more of the projects I wanted to do last year, but couldn't, done. See you, space cowboy.