How to Fix Pokemon Sun and Moon

Round Two, here we go.

In a previous post, as one might remember, I went into lengthy detail about the major problems that the Sun and Moon series of the Pokemon anime had or was facing (I also had positives, but for now that's unimportant). It was quite extensive, and at the time, almost three weeks ago, I believed that new episode titles and the Gladion episode would turn things around in a great way!

I was, sadly, wrong.

But! I really do think SM could be fixed given the opportunity and with some choice ideas being made by the director and the writers.

In this blog post I'll cover the things that I feel need to be done in order to make SM a great Pokemon series, or at the very least good overall. Of course, I won't be ridiculous or try to change the premise that the show has set up with unrealistic expectations. That said, let's get into it.


1) More Battles

First full battle of the series
SM 9 of 28

Last full battle of the series
SM 10 of 28

As I stated in that previous post, there is a severe lack of battles within the series. There's no need for me to continue rehashing here what was said in that previous post, but I can summarize. By the point that we are now at within SM (28 episodes in) we have usually had a large number of completed start-to-finish battles. However, as of this moment we have...two.

Just two?! This shouldn't be the case.

At the start of SM, the director Daiki Tomiyasu said that he wanted to create really intense battles, but we haven't seen any of them. I had hoped that the Gladion episode would change this with a great rival battle, the likes of Paul, or even Sawyer/Alain. Yet the battle was interrupted 3 moves in by Team Rocket (a schtick they had outgrown back in BW, 2 series ago). So, as it stood, the problem remained.

But this is all criticism you've heard from me before. The point about this is how to fix it. The simple reason, and the most appropriate: give us more full battles. They don't need to be a rival. It could be Kiawe. It could be a CotD. It could be Samson Oak, for all I care! The point is, this series needs more battles to break up the "yay fun times" filler that are occurring. If it does that, it's already on the way to being a fantastic series. If they make those battles truly something to behold, then fantastic! But for now, an increased number will do.

2) Appropriate Faces

...not this.
It shouldn't be a joke.

This is how you should look
in a battle...

I've criticized the odd use of the faces in SM before, particularly the infamous uvula scene. And this is the second point of how SM can be fixed: make the faces appropriate.

I can honestly say I have no problem with the use of funny faces on principal. Even in past series, we saw a lot of them here and there in the filler episodes. I mean, funny faces are a norm of any anime series unless it's super dark and mature. But SM takes that and runs with it to the nth degree. Every episode is jampacked with them. Not only does this make them feel unwanted, but it's also less funny.

"You're not the target audience, so what do you care? Or what do they care?" You're right. I'm not. The target audience is 10 year olds. Kids on the cusp of puberty. Funny faces will stop being funny after a certain amount of time. It's also the age where kids will start realizing what belongs where. A uvula doesn't belong in a Kahuna battle. Bug eyes don't belong in an episode featuring SM's resident edgelord. There needs to be meaning and moderation in the faces made or they lose value when they do show up.

Likewise, SM is running into the problem of copying every style under the sun. From old artwork to tons of different other anime. Pokemon used to have its own identity in its animation, but in their effort to make funny faces, that very identity is being swallowed up in parody. They need to go back to their own style.

So, in essence: use the funny faces when appropriate, not overmuch, and keep a consistent art style.

3) Progression

Every XY, and past series', episodes
opened by reminding us of the
short-term goal down the line

Every SM episode opens up by...
asking us what will happen
in today's episode alone

A couple days ago, there were some episode titles about Ilima and the Akala trials. It was exciting! Finally, for the first time since SM 10 we were going to be moving forward on the trials!

Yeah, they were fake. And now it's a problem.

There is no feeling of progression in SM, as I've stated before. No narrator telling us that Ash is heading to some next location, or his next short-term goal. No mention of "let's train for our next trial". And in a 140 episode series, to be going 17 episodes before the mention of Akala's Grand Trial is actually acknowledged by Ash is not a good thing.

The thing is, there needs to be. Vacation or not, Ash's perceived goal is to complete the trials. Or it should be. This is a rather short point, but a simple one: Ash needs to move on the trials. The story needs to go there, otherwise what will happen is both a stagnation and a sudden rushing when the time comes to complete them.

I'm all for Gladion appearing and Team Rocket vs. Team Skull. But without that standard set, we cannot know when anything is ever going to happen. And no, relegating a minute or 20 seconds of non-filler moments to an otherwise filler episode does not count as progression (here's looking at you SM 26).

Simply put: give the show some pacing by introducing more trials and tell us, short-term, where you plan to be taking us, if you can't remove the fillers. At least then it won't feel so stagnant.

4) More Use of the School

We have this beautiful new, engaging location...
Let's actually make some use of it!

The school is this new exciting thing in the Sun and Moon anime; something never been done before. I mean, Ash has never gone to school. Of course, I don't agree with the fact that he should have, personally, but that's unimportant. Let us assume that the school cannot be changed. Ash is going to school, like it or not.

Problem is, we never use it. Out of 28 episodes, all of 4 episodes have actually given focus to the school aspect where it doesn't just feel like a vacation (like SM 12, which is supposedly a class, but really just comes off as a party on the beach). This is something new that has so much potential if done right, but is being squandered by a lack of use. It has become this place where Ash and his classmates gather and...that's about it. You could easily change the school out for Kukui's house, or the mall.

In order to make SM work with the premise it has been given, make the school relevant. Have a class every other episode that focuses on the Pokemon of the day. Or maybe the assignment is learning a new move. Maybe a battle. Or a guest speaker like Olivia or Hala, since the class seems to know everyone. Heck, a trial could even be made a part of the class. But make it a part of the class. By doing this, you not only keep the school relevant as part of the plot but also make it something exciting to watch that can also...well, lead to character development as in my point below.

5) Real, Balanced Development

2 episodes of focus (8 and 14)
out of 28

1 episode of focus (5)
out of 28

1 episode of focus (18)
out of 28

3 episodes of focus (6, 19, and 26)
out of 28

1 episode of focus (11)
out of 28...
See the issue, yet?

There are 6 cast members. As said before, that's a lot. Too many. However, for the purposes of discussion, let's assume that we must keep these six and not drop a single one.

With six cast members, you require a very strong juggling act through and through. When does one character develop? When does another? And this doesn't just apply to the humans. The Pokemon need it, too. Problem is, with such a large cast, we don't have that balance. Bounsweet evolved despite the fact we knew nothing about her. We still know nothing about Charjabug. And Turtonator? He just sits there. On top of this, if your name is Rowlet, good luck getting any meaningful screentime that isn't spent being the butt of a joke.

This is something that must be addressed. If you want a large cast, it's fine; I'm working on essentially the same amount in my own story. You just need to make sure they have something here and there. Mallow and Lana have had 1 episode, Lillie has 2, same with Sophocles (except he actually got three), and Kiawe is around almost all the time, giving him solid development...but that's about it. Beyond Lillie and Kiawe, no one gets any real development leaving them, essentially, as Bubble Girl, Fat Clemont and Wallpaper.

In order to fix this, just pace them out. Give each character an episode before you give someone another one. Make it meaningful beyond just establishing personality we already know (even XY had Serena doing a bunch of different things to decide on her goal). If you can combine it with the school, then you've got a winner!

6) Z-Moves

Yes, we just saw a Z-Move...to defeat Skull grunts...
And it isn't the last time, either.

This is the easiest thing to fix, in all honesty. Z-Moves are being used like candy. Blast away Team Skull or Team Rocket. For these all-powerful moves, they're being used in the cheapest of ways. What needs to be done is that they need to feel special. Save them for a specific moment to make them feel big, not an over-glorified Thunderbolt.

Sure, one could argue it would make Mega Evolution similar if they took that route, but they are still very different, and need to feel special for us to care about Ash getting a new one in the first place.

7) Ash's Personality

...to counterbalance stuff like this.

Let's have more of this...

I've liberally criticized the way that Ash has been turned into the butt of jokes in this series, and I stand by that. He makes most of the funny faces and is always failing at something not called battling, which makes him look stupid. From sucking at baseball to getting smacked by a Milotic and crashing into doors and beyond. It hurts to see the once competent, if naive, boy doing all this.

That's why the fix needs to be made to him, in conjunction with more battles. By giving him battles, it provides a competence to him that is taken away by every other moment. At the very least, have everyone not named Ash or Kiawe suffer the same kind of butt monkey tendencies so that it doesn't feel centered on him.

Beyond that, the boy needs to mention his trials. Train for trials, not just to train. Give him a goal that he usually has short-term. Heck, even in BW: DA! his goal was to get home. Here, it may be to graduate, but as we have no idea how to go about that, we need to be told what he's doing and why so that we can root for him on that path...and restore the character that has always been filled with wanderlust back to the way he was, and not a watered-down five year old.

Conclusion
I'd like to think I covered some good points on how to improve the series, though I really feel there are many more that I could speak of. However, these are the most important ones to consider that will vastly improve the series for, I think, any demographic, young or old, and even from a critical standpoint.

From giving us more battles, not only to improve Ash's personality but also to give us progression, to making sure that the faces are appropriate for what tone is being told and set, including keeping its own identity. Balance the characters and the usage of the Z-Moves and make sure that the school remains relevant.

By doing all these things, the SM anime can, at the very least, recover and become a much better series than BW was during its run, and even Johto. I pray that is the case and all these things come to pass soon. But, until it does,

Dare to Be Silly,
Epicocity