Pokémon Origins

I grew up with the original Pokémon (Seasons 1-5) and I still love it to this day. It was nice to go back to where it all started since right now I couldn't stand Best Wishes and the more recent XY. However, I feel that just 4-5 episodes is just WAY too short to fully tell a Pokémon story. In the regular show every episode was worth the watch as it was more than just formula, it felt like reading a novel. They made Red to be too perfect unlike Ash who really felt more alive. Sorry fans of this one, but Ash's faults were there for a purpose not to drive you crazy. And the whole "win only one tournament" was there for a reason as well. Here the ultra condensed version is just mostly action, very little adventure, comedy, and drama and that's it. I liked how they played it out in the fashion of the Gameboy Games, but the reason I preferred the anime more, is that it had more life. Characters thought, had deep psychology, and made tough if difficult decisions. Here we don't get that as much. Finally, I felt that the mega stone thing was out of place. The creators should stick where it was back then and what it should be.

I'll admit, I may be biased because I don't like the Pokemon anime in the least. However, the Pokemon Red Version was my first GameBoy game ever. I was only 7-8 years old, and I remember being very confused as to why the plot line for the show was so different from the game. I later got the Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition game, which was marketed as having some touches that were intended to be more faithful to the show, but in reality, even the Yellow version has only little in common with the anime show.

(And yes, I do regard Pokemon Yellow as one of the greatest hand-held games of all time, with only two minor drawbacks. The first of these being the inclusion of the way-weird Jesse and James, and the second being that Pikachu's cry was altered to saying its name rather than the original cry that Pikachu has in Pokemon Red and Blue. I do very much like the other changes, such as improved artwork and the interaction with Pikachu.)

When I grew out of liking the show in a few years, my parents were kind of confused why I still played the games so much and never seemed to move past them. Little did they realize that comparing the Pokemon Games to the show is like comparing apples and oranges.

(And frankly, I really don't even like the word "Pokemon" as a title for the games and I wish the games were just called "Pocket Monsters," come on, that's not so hard to say. Partly because it's just a better sounding name in my opinion, but also partly because the games should be very distinguished from what aired on Kids WB on February 13th, 1999. And just in case you didn't know, yes, the games came before the television show. You probably already knew that if you're reading this review though.)

The Pokemon Origins TV Special is Pokemon Red and Green (Blue in the USA) adapted into an anime. The differences in plot are only minor and are probably only even there in the interest of making everything fit into four short episodes. Interestingly, each of the four episodes has a different director, and they all do a very good job. *Very Minor Spoiler Alert!* There also happens to be an ode to the newest generation towards the end.*End of Very Minor Spoiler*

Red is a likable enthusiastic protagonist (very unlike Ash) and seems to be a good representation of the eleven-year-old Pokemon league champion that we all remember, albeit now he finally talks. Green (the Rival) is very similar to how he was games, but maybe just a hair less obnoxious (which isn't saying much, but he doesn't say "Smell ya later").

The animation is top notch, the recreation of the towns and settings from the GameBoy games is superb, and they even went above and beyond with the cool intro sequences of a GameBoy selection screen, the HP bars as Pokemon are battling, and the fact that the Pokemon don't say their names out loud as their cry, but instead make noises like they do in the games. All of these things are to be commended. You are really given a sense of how different the characters and worlds of Red and "Ash" truly are.

The only depressing thing that keeps this from getting a perfect 10/10 score is the fact that it's only a television special, and not a full on anime series. Although this special does a fantastic job of summarizing the plot in four twenty-five minute episodes, this time constraint means they have to skip over a lot of parts of the games that would have been so fun to see. At the beginning of the second, third and fourth episodes, we see a brief summary of these events that those of us who grew up on the games are familiar with. Merely stating that such things happened just isn't quite enough, I would've loved to see these things played out, especially if it had been done with an equal amount of skill as the parts they did elaborate on. And worst of all, this results in there having to be a few minor plot changes from the games to make it fit the time block as I mentioned earlier.

But I won't let that stop me from being delighted. Who knows? This is the first review on IMDb, but maybe this will catch on. Could we possibly be treated to a similar special about the generation II games (Gold and Silver)? That would be fantastic!

In conclusion, may Red be known as the Pokemon League Champion, NOT Ash!

The very first time I played Pokemon I was about 13 years old and the first game I played was Pokemon Blue, then I played the Special Pikachu Edition which was a tribute to the anime, but had little in common with it. The character of Red is very similar to his gaming counterpart, but he is not as stupid and idiotic as Ash is in the anime. Blue is similar in the games as well, but he doesn't have that jackass personality as Gary Oak in the anime, and has no cheerleaders cheering him on.

At first I thought that it was gonna be as boring as the anime. Truth is, the anime WAS boring after Johto Journeys and Ash has barely won any tournaments except for one in the anime. An interesting thing in this mini-series is that the Pokemon don't talk unlike in the anime when Pikachu says "Pika pika".

The Team Rocket of this short is faithful to the team in the games and have absolutely nothing to do with the two bumbling morons from the anime. Professor Oak sounds a lot better than in the anime as well. Most battles were awesome especially the one at the end which I will NOT mention. That is for all of you to see, not for me to tell.

This is EXACTLY what the anime should have been like, because unlike Ash, Red was more determined and smarter. For old Pokemon fans, this is the BEST thing to see.

Pokémon Origins is the most faithful and grounded adaptation of the games yet, and it's still the best series that's been made about the ip. It's beautifully animated, the writing is on point at making the characters more flawed but not stupid (*cough cough, Ash Ketchum*) and also the way that everything just plays out is a great adaptation overall.

Pokémon Origins does what the base anime didn't, capture the heart and soul of the games, and with brilliant execution to top it off. It really feels like a labor of love as opposed to the main series which feels more rushed and mandatory, and without the passion involved in this story.

The story had the potential to carry the original story but they went more into motivation that the actual story. If you are a Pokémon fan then this is a much watch, though. It feels incomplete because only green ( blue ) and red do the fighting and doesn't even feel like a real thing. Leave games aside some elements like Police, guns should be added to the Giovanni part of the episode. Anime is just mid, nothing crazy. My review is unclear but this show isn't made well, they didn't put effort and added unnecessary stuff, like Mega Evolution in the last episode. This is so dumb, Battle with most of the gym leaders were like for a few seconds. This anime had the potential but became bad as they added unnecessary stuff.