Pokémon Review

The early Kanto stretch is better than its reputation. The writing gives Ash actual failures, Charmander and Bulbasaur are acquired through small ethical situations rather than combat, and Butterfree's release and Pikachu's initial refusal to obey are genuine emotional beats. The formula that follows is the problem. Each region resets the protagonist's competence, Team Rocket appears and departs on schedule, and gym battles resolve on a newly discovered move, so hundreds of episodes leave no residue behind them.

OLM's animation is functional television work in a bright, flat, readable style built for young viewers, competent rather than expressive, with the occasional ambitious episode standing out sharply against the baseline. Shinji Miyazaki's scoring and the theme songs are a large part of why the show is remembered so fondly. Ash's eventual championship win, decades in, quietly admits how long that reset had been running. As a durable children's programme it is a success; judged as a series with an arc, it barely has one.