ernser.yasmeen - 2014-07-07 07:08:24

To read the review on my site as well as other reviews, click here

Pokemon Origins was a new turn in the Pokemon anime department. They did a four episode special where they relived the experience of the original games Red and Blue. (Green for those in Japan) It followed the journey of Red from his first Pokemon to capturing the hundred and fiftieth Pokemon. And yeah, in four episodes, so it’s pretty short and sweet. And that’s one of its best compliments, although I wouldn’t have minded seeing at least a twelve episode series. That being said, they did a good job. The animation is nice to look at, and the character designs are refreshing when used to the original anime’s character designs and art style. And just looking at buildings and environments that actually resemble the games drills in that nostalgia. And the characters are more entertaining than the games, I will say that. Looking at a character and hearing their voice is better than reading text and looking at a Gameboy game. And battles are gorgeous too. And some of them get really intense, especially the last one that ends the series, and the one on episode three. Ultimately it was just refreshing. Pokemon cut away the bullshit that was clinging onto it, and although it’s still there in the big picture, just the fact that this exists is awesome. It’s a spin. From Charizard’s wails taking you away that this is initially a kids show concept, to seeing what you knew Pokemon to be actually forming from fighting champions to getting fossils and fishing poles from various strangers. Seeing something so familiar brought to a different platform in identical concept is extraordinary, even if not in the same pacing. However, I still very much enjoyed this series. It felt like playing an old Pokemon game, capturing the childlike wonder as if simply as a Pokemon entering a pokeball. It wasn’t this amazing product, it’s not like I was in depth the whole time. It’s an easy watch for anyone though. It was just really good, but not much beyond that. It brings something to the table, but doesn’t add anything new or push any boundary. And that’s fine, because they still pulled it off quite well. Classic and nostalgia, there’s a reason I used those two words so many times in my review. It brought a world we thought we knew so well into a current up to date time of the present, letting us all lean back and enjoy a warm simple four episode reimagining of the games, and it was definitely refreshing. Well, that’s the end of the review. Smell ya later!

Episode 1: 4/5

Episode 2: 3/5

Episode 3: 4/5

Episode 4: 5/5

jacinto.brakus - 2014-01-04 04:38:55

Kumori Review #2: POKEMON ORIGINS

Suffering greatly in the story department, POKEMON ORIGINS does almost everything else right.

Short attention span? Here's the gist:

+ Amazing & nostalgic soundtrack

+ Very refreshing art and animation

- Latter half of story is lackluster and ultimately an advertisement for the Pokemon X and Y games

!!WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS IN "The Story" SECTION OF THIS REVIEW!!

The story of POKEMON ORIGINS, or PKO for short, is essentially an adaptation of the story from the games RED and BLUE. The only problem is; however, that RED and BLUE are fairly long games which each take about 30 hours to complete and PKO is only four episodes which takes less than two hours to finish. So naturally, the story for this anime special is rather rushed and many events from the games’ stories are skipped over. Anyway, let’s begin with episode 1.

~EPISODE 1: : As I was anticipating this anime, I was expecting something that looked nice, but maybe suffered in terms of story and pacing. I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong (at least by episode 1). I was greatly impressed by this first episode’s story and pacing, and especially by its likeness to the original games’ plot line. My main concern was how the rest of the story would be played out because, after all, there are a total of 8 gym leaders and Red only beat one so far. Nevertheless, I was greatly looking forward to episode 2.

~EPISODE 2: Episode two was probably the best episode out of the four. It really felt like it was a single (well-written) episode from a full-length series. There were no pacing issues or story problems or anything. It was legitimately an ideal episode of pokemon. I was actually quite astonished by how closely it followed the Lavender Town story arc from the game. The only problem was that it skipped many, many important milestones in the game, reducing gym battles and whatnot to simple clips in a 2-minute montage. This made me think, “Oh, so this is how they’re going to do it. In that case, I wonder what’s next..”

~EPISODE 3: Episode three was, truthfully, a slight disappointment. With a total of TWO montages making significant events appear trifling, three things occurred in the episode:

1) Red storms the Silph Co. and tries to beat Geovanni.

2) Red tries to beat the 8th gym leader, which is incidentally, Geovanni.

3) Geovanni disbands Team Rocket.

…Ok, WAIT. WHAT. That escalated pretty darn quickly. Somehow, Red was able to inspire Geovanni and remind him of his childhood of loving pokemon so much, that it made Geovanni DISBAND team rocket?? What about all the other trainers Geovanni faced while being a gym leader? Were they not as inspiring? Anyway, after this episode, I eagerly moved on to episode 4. But wait, is Red going to beat the Elite Four in one episode?

~EPISODE 4: Here we are at the final episode. Let’s see what’s on the agenda today: Okay so we have 20 minutes for Red to beat the Elite Four and the champion Blue. Hmm...also I want to show Red capturing some legendary pokemon (plural) and Mewtwo especially. We got this. As you can tell, this episode has some severe problems with its setup, making this possibly the worst episode of the series; also consider the fact that this is the grand finale. First off, I think it may have been better if the Elite Four and legendary bird battles were NOT 3-second scenes in a montage and if the final RED VS BLUE battle was longer than five minutes. But the BIGGEST problem I had with this episode was when Charizard Mega-evolved to defeat Mewtwo. Wait a minute, i thought this was an adaptation of the original RED and BLUE games; and I’m pretty sure there was no mega evolution in those games. Oh wait I get it; this anime special is not a tribute to the RED and BLUE games; it was an advertisement for the X and Y games. The proof of this is that in this special, Charizard mega-evolved into its X form, which had not been announced yet. Remember the trailer for this anime?

It started like this: “To everyone who played PKMN RED & BLUE...” Here, Let me finish the statement: “...Buy PKMN X & Y because there’s black-colored, dragon-type charizards!” In a way, it honestly feels like Game Freak betrayed their original fans. Anyway, aside from that I think I should also mention the ending. The most abrupt ending to anything I've ever seen. what happened? Oh right, it cut off immediately after Red vowed to catch mew, the 151st pokemo—

The characters of PKO are basically what you’d expect them to be. You’ve got the heroic and brave Red, the arrogant Blue, the kind Mr. Fuji, the expert trainer Takeshi (Brock), as well as the educated Prof. Oak. Even Red’s caring mother appears for a short scene!

The character designs for this anime special are also incredibly superb. If this anime has anything going for it, it has to be the art and music. The characters are not copy/pasted from the POKEMON TV show; they are given new looks, inspired by Ken Sugimori’s artwork from the games RED and BLUE. It all gives way to a very very nice-looking anime and a very refreshing take on the pokemon world, appearance-wise.

Ok let’s now talk about the arts of PKO. First off is the music. As I have previously mentioned, PKO is based off the 1996 games POKEMON RED & BLUE. Therefore, most of the music and OST’s in PKO are remakes/remixes of original music from the games. The music and soundtrack of PKO is composed by Shota Kageyama and Hiroaki Hayama. Maybe I’m biased thinking this, but the techno, electronic, guitar-filled remixes, I think, are incredibly AMAZING. And I’m sure every Pokemon fan can agree with me, especially the fans who played the original games. Sadly, only 5 of the OST’s made it onto the official X &Y soundtrack album (Title, Wild Pkmn Battle, Trainer Battle, Final Battle, and Cycling). I honestly enjoyed almost all of the songs and I wish they would have put songs like Lavender Town, Route 1, and Pallet Town on the album. Aside from the music, we also have a few notable voice actors. There’s Junko Takeuchi (Naruto Uzumaki) as Red, Takuya Eguchi (Kazuya from Gosick) as Blue, Katsuji Mori (Speed Racer aka Go Mifune) as Prof. Oak, and much more. The english voice cast contains, among others, Bryce Papenbrook (Kirito form SAO) as Red. Another thing I noticed in this anime is that the pokemon don’t say their names when they growl or cry, which is much different and more realistic than the original PKMN anime.

The art of PKO, as I previously said, is heavily inspired by Ken Sugimori’s original artwork for the first PKMN games. Everything including the people, the backgrounds, the props, and especially the pokemon all have a refreshingly clean and satisfying appearance. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Compared to the original first season of the PKMN anime as well as the original PKMN RED and BLUE games, everything is much more polished and clean. The animation should also get a mention. The three animation studios who worked on PKO are Production I.G. (known for Attack on Titan, Psycho-Pass, FLCL, etc), Xebec (known for Love Hina, To Love-ru, Pandora Hearts,etc), and OLM Inc. (known for Pokemon, Berserk, etc). Each episode is also directed by a different person from each company. And man, the animation really looks amazing compared to the original anime’s old-fashioned style of animation. The fluid animation and clean art really come together nicely to make an anime that is greatly pleasing to look at.

With great art directors and composers, POKEMON ORIGINS exceeds the musical, artistic, and animation quality of many other anime including the original POKEMON series. Sadly, the series was set up with a terribly tight schedule of only four episodes to tell the story of Red and his journey through the Kanto Region. POKEMON ORIGINS had a phenomenal start that any pokemon fan will love; however, the final half of the series was greatly lacking in story-writing quality and it turned out to be a POKEMON X & Y advertisement, ironically. Despite these flaws and my nitpicking, I enjoyed this anime very much; but not as much as I was hoping to. I honestly think I would have given POKEMON ORIGINS a much higher rating if the story was stretched out to at least a 12 or 13-episode anime series. Nonetheless, I definitely enjoyed POKEMON ORIGINS (to an extent) and I would recommend this to anyone who loves pokemon or who played the original games. (I recommend watching the dub if you grew up with the games RED and BLUE, since the dub is much more aimed at the english-speaking audience and it uses the official English terms for the “Pokemon jargon”). Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope to see you again!

~Andre Kumori, January 3, 2014

stehr.floy - 2013-12-30 22:05:36

I really enjoyed this.

As many other reviews have stated, much of this special short series is pure fan-service, in the purest sense of the term. From remixed and remastered tracks from the game, to nearly exactly recreating the opening scene with Professor Oak.

Watching Red hit all the key landmarks and moments from a game I really enjoyed really appealed to me.

However, there was a fatal flaw. And oh boy was it fatal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah I'm pretty sure anybody reading this review saw this coming.

For those of you who don't know (and for some reason kept reading past the spoiler tag) the final scene of the series is Red facing Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave. The battle peaks when Red comes down to his last pokemon, Charizard.

Red and Charizard still cannot defeat Mewtwo however, and they are knocked into the lake behind them. As they sink, Red wonders why he couldn't defeat Mewtwo, but realizes Charizard does not want to quit just yet.

As they continue to sink, we hear Mr. Fuji talking about a hidden power between trainer and pokemon, which when linked will trigger the stones that Mr. Fuji gave Red. The stones begin to react in Red's pocket.

And then, this happens.

Why.

I have to say, this completely ruined the series for me. This 30 seconds.

I personally expected Red to believe that he really could beat Mewtwo, Red and Charizard would burst out of the water, and Red would defeat and catch Mewtwo. The end.

That was all I wanted. I believe myself and a lot of others would have been satisfied by this.

I assume they did this to promote the idea of mega evolution, as this was before X and Y. However, they could have done this ANY OTHER WAY THAN THIS. Even though this was before X and Y, it is completely out of place in something that (in my opinion) was mostly done out of love from the creators to people who wanted something like this.

Other than this moment, I thoroughly enjoyed this series. They did a good job condensing the entire pokemon adventure down into four 30 minute episodes, and the skips did not feel out of place to me. If I had watched this before Pokemon X and Y was a thing, maybe I would have liked it more.

That being said, maybe I wouldn't have.

jordane.luettgen - 2013-12-19 04:44:45

Story

This is something fans of Pokémon have been waiting for a while, a Pokémon anime adapting the story from the video games and that is what Pokémon the origin does so well. It follows the main plot line from the first generation games Pokémon red and blue(green in Japan) you follow Red from choosing his starter to becoming the league champion. But as this is only four episodes a lot was cut in the process the most notable being the gym battles as the only one that had focus was the Brock’s. It also shows off important events such as going to Pokémon tower, beating team rocket at sylph co., and lastly going to the scary cerulean cave where the trill mewtwo lies in wait. At the end of the day it makes the most of the four episodes with giving us a solid story that will make any game fan proud even though there are a couple of changes to some events but nothing to major.

Arguably the most iconic main character in the Pokémon games Red is not that silent badass standing up on Mt.Silver waiting for someone to challenge him for the title of the Pokémon master! Instead in this adaptation Red is rather a normal trainer who’s main goal is to fill out the pokedex(who does that anyway?) and begins as a noob and does not much about the Pokémon world but as he got destroyed by Blue in their first battle you see how evolves and becomes one hell of a trainer. Blue is the other character that comes to focus and is like exactly how he was in the games a huge cocky, arrogant trainer that is Red’s rival and friend throughout the show. The characters in Pokémon the origins are nothing to write home about as it’s hard for anyone to give them character development in only four friends but it does benefit from the game as most people have played to already know how these characters are going to be also Giovani had some dumb stuff happen to him.

Production I.G was the main studio that worked on this anime and it shows, Pokémon the origins looks great and has a nice clean look to. The art style has a nice updated look as most of the characters will have their firered/leafgreen and heartgold/soulsilver look to them like Brock which looked well in the show. The Pokémon battles also looked fantastic the charizard versus mewtwo fight was amazing it’s unfortunate though that you do not see a lot of them as battles are mostly cut out. Overall the animation was great for the show it even has dialog boxes for characters which was awesome.

The OST for the show is amazing as they will use music from the games like the battle theme from firered. The music is great and just adds to the nostalgia factor when watching this show it even has some nice remixes in there as well. The English dub for the show was also great as JOHNNY YOUNG BOSCH VOICES BROCK but the characters had great va’s that fit their role quite nicely and I had no issues with the dub overall so it’s all good.

Pokémon the origin is a great four episode series as it does many things right but has issues in regard to the story and some of the characters. But for any Pokémon fan you will die from happiness from watching the first episode or if you’re like me die when I heard Johnny Young Bosch’s heavenly voice come from Brock. I would recommend this anime to anyone that is fan on the Pokémon games and want to watch something that depicts the OG games. Pokémon the Origin gets a 9/10 from me as this is an amazing show to watch for Pokémon fans but it can irk a couple due to it not following the story exactly or even the length. Alas hopefully Pokémon the origins will become a major success can convince somebody to make more of these adaptions to the games. God Speed my fellow anime viewers when you embark on this nostalgic trip!

ricky.cummings - 2013-12-18 06:38:16

chomenick - 2013-10-26 15:22:54

So, you sick of the crappy, generic Pokemon anime that's been airing for the past 15 years? You want something along the proper storyline of the Red/Green/Blue games? Well here it is. It is, at the same time, an animated and fast forwarded version of the games, but then it does a 360º at the end, by [[SPOILER]] Having Red's Charizard hold a sync stone, and go into the Mega-Volution evolution (A le Pokemon X) [[SPOILER END]].

There were a lot of interesting elements in The Origin, such as the fact that Pokemon die if they are killed (Hah!) in battle (Whoa that shit is dark), and Rocket Gang getting disbanded (All taken from the games actually), which is all good and well, but is shallow as hell. I'm glad that they followed the games pretty well, but perhaps they could have made it a bit less shallow and sugar coated perhaps (Other than the Pokemon dying in battle)? Perhaps I'm just nitpicking. Perhaps they would've if they had extended this OVA to more than 4 episodes. I'm not going to, however, make an excuse that "Perhaps if they changed it a bit from the games, it could've been more interesting and enthralling and less shallow", because they quite clearly did that at the end with the whole Pokemon XY push.

Gotta give them credit for the animation though, it was pretty sweet. The battles were quite well animated, and seem to make a bit more sense than the turn-based other Pokemon anime. And the fact that the Pokemon coming out of the Pokeballs weren't coming out through a fucking laser, that they just pop out like that (wut). They even took the sound from the games and chucked it into the battles. It really was like an animated version of the original games (except the end).

Red was nothing special, just like the game character (lol). I'd love to know how a beginner trainer can just, learn shit like that and beat a gym leader straight off the bat. To begin with, why are the gym leaders so weak? Ok ok, I'll stop, this'll turn into a whole debate thing since it looks like I'm dissing on the game as well, original gen loyalists will send their elite assassination squads after me, and all hell and shitstorm will break loose. Green is a spiteful little shit, so much that sometimes I think he might be bad enough for Prof. Oak to be such a dick to (Nah, I'm just kidding, Prof. Oak is a dick to his own grandson, end story).

I must say though, I did enjoy this anime most of the time. The only times I felt bullshitted was the gym battle with the head of Rocket Gang, and the Pokemon XY push ending. Other than that, it was solidly enjoyable.

Pros

+ Original Pokemon game OVA (No Ash)

+ Pokemon die if they are killed

+ Stock game story (That's not bad for an OVA)

+ Nice animation

Cons

- Time Skips

- Character Levels up too fast (See what I did there lol)

- Rocket Gang leader's heart changes through a gym battle

- Pokemon XY push at ending

iprosacco - 2013-10-08 15:40:25

Pokémon: The Origin

God I’m 32 years of age and there are a few things that still make me giddy so now and then. One of them is getting my old Game boy out and playing Pokémon Red and Blue. I play it for the nostalgia, it was one of the games that I keep playing. Just because its funn.

So now the Pokémon company decided to do the a tribute for those 2 games. Did they deliver? Well that’s a good question. It try’s to keep close to the games as one very fanatic person showed us. But is it enough for me to watch it.

I really looked forward to the new Pokémon even at my age it’s one of my enjoyments. So yeah I enjoyed it but the jumps in the story do make the pacing of watching it a bit off. And as it starts out good you soon realise that they should have probably added a few more episodes to the ova’s to not abuse the time laps montage so much.

The voice work is good although I started hearing Naruto from the get go, is probably more that I associate Junko Takeuchi with Naruto after more than 10 years of doing this specific voice.

The battles feel like the game and yes you still feel like punching blue (green, Gary) in the face because of his Ego.

And after the 3th episode I was like wait there is a 4^th episode and then you realize that there is also a fan service moment here teasing the new game mechanics. I really appreciate it but I also have mix feelings about it.

So if you love Pokémon, and relay like going to memory lane this is really the Ova for you are you a Anime connoisseur maybe avoid it. But I loved it.

ukeebler - 2013-10-05 09:19:06

Since the dawn of April of 1997 kids everywhere enjoyed Pokemon! Lots and Lots of Pokemon! From cards, to the video games and the anime.

Pokemon the anime became a hit, beloved by children of all ages. But the passage of time goes on, and like every good show, they have their dead seasons, their popular seasons and classic seasons (where everyone swears the writing was better). The age group that loved the original anime, veterans of the days of Pokemon Red and Blue/Green grew up, got older, and now sport children of their own.
And if they watch the anime today, they'll swear the original Anime lost any luster years ago, putting the season season on infinite loop but with a new color. The anime continued with the older audience crying out for nostalgia, familiarity, and even a more mature setting, maybe even with a main character who is relate-able, and doesn't need to re-learn the same lesson every season. 14-15 years later we where teased with a sample of that which older audiences wanted the most with a promotional animation for Pokemon Black2, and Pokemon White2. Main characters who are actually from the video game, no Pikachu riding around on shoulder, wider variety of Pokemon, and animal-istic sounds with some really intense battle animation (biting, explosions, etc). It felt more like an anime than the actual anime.

16 years later, close to the release of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, enter "Pokemon: The Origin". While not exactly what the older audience wanted, it's pretty darn close. Pokemon: The Origin is a 4 episode OVA series retelling the tales of Pokemon Red and Blue/Green. The anime boasts updated designs (as you can tell from Brock's HG/SS design, and Red's FR/LG design), and also boasts music from the original game with orchestral upgrades.

Every episode begins with the menu from the original games, with a "Continue" at the beginning of every episode (Save for Episode One which features "New Game" and "Options" only). The anime roughly follows the same plot as the game with a slight tweek here and there. For one, the battles between the Red and Green are vastly in Green's favor (which adds reason to his boasting and ego). Secondly, while manly veterans proclaim Red as, the greatest of the great, the cream de'la cream, in this, Red is about as average as a player would be expected to be. From is inability to understand type differentiation, to how you can't catch people's Pokemon in the middle of a battle. Red and his Pokemon get pummeled rather often by main characters, Green, Giovanni, even Brock whomps on Red a bit. Then there's the Pokemon. Returning are the realistic animal sounds (instead of someone screaming their name loudly)

Of course this anime is not without it's faults.
Most importantly.
ONLY FOUR EPISODES? This could have, or might have, been a bigger hit if it was turned into an actual series!

Then there's the animation. I'll say this right now, I love the animation and character design, how they veered greatly away from the past animations in Pokemon. The animation remains in HD while having a somewhat classical feel from old fashion 1990's animation design.

If I have to nitpick at some things it has to be the story progression.One episode, Red will be battling Brock, the next climbs Pokemon Tower, then in the next, he battles for his Earth badge, and while this may not hold much with the older audiences who know everything that happens in between. Newcomers who've never played the original (of FireRed and LeafGreen for that matter) might not understand the quick flash cards of events that happen in between big scenes. This is also a massive problem with story progression. Intense moments like the battle at Silph, and sadly the battle with Green at the very end of the Pokemon League is cut down, and leaves little on the impression, you're so caught up with trying to keep track of whats going on you can't even enjoy the Champion theme playing in the background for an epic scene.

All in all, give it a whirl, see what could have been if the original anime took a much different approach. I would have liked this to have been dragged out a bit longer, flesh out more characters, emphasis on more important scenes, such as the assault on Rocket's Hideout in Celadon City, Victory Road, Mount Moon, the SS Anne, and battling the Elite Four. Heck, I would've liked to see exact what Pokemon Bill turned into (since the games only give us a vague default sprite).

Give it a watch, watch all four episodes at once and pretend it's a movie as opposed to a series.

zboncak.jamil - 2013-10-03 11:02:37

~Opening Statement~

I haven't written a review in a while but I feel that this was necessary and before I say anything. So without further ado. 

 ~Facts of the Case~

Pokemon The Origins. If you are a Pokemon fan you have probably been looking forward to this and Pokemon X and Y for months now. So is Pokemon Origins really the be all of end of all that we as fan want it to be? Yes, it is. Though it is not perfect, if you are Pokemon fans you are bound to find something to your liking here. If anything this show that the execs really do still care about us longtime fans. This special really was pretty much basically one big love letter to those played the original games.

~The Evidence~

If I had describe this special in a word it would be pure fan-service. I am talking the fan-service in the truest sense of the world. Honestly in spite of everything what I found most enjoyable here was the fan-service. There are certain details here and there that only those who played the original games or the subsequent remakes will notice. The attention to detail here is outstanding.

Another thing that impress was of course the animation. The animation style reminded me strongly of the time when I was younger flipping through the instruction manuals of the original games. Just way the everything was presented was very true to Ken Sugimori's styling. If you don't already know Ken Sugimori was the original artist for the games. He single-handedly the designs for the original 151 Pokemon which is quite an accomplishment in of itself.

The story was also very true to the original games throughout. The story even opens with Professor Oak's lecture about the world of Pokemon. The next scene you see is in fact a battle between Gengar and Nidorino on television in which Red is watching with excitement. This is also highly reminiscent of a scene from very first episode of the original anime. From then on you follow Red on his journey has take on the world.

The fight are another I enjoyed in this special. Many will note the fights are especially brutal and realistic at least in comparison to the regular anime. Not to mention well-animated especially during the more crucial moments. There is one scene where you see Green's Squirtle bite down on Charmander. Their something about the scene that really make you cringe. I mean I seen my fare share of violent anime but the one scene was too much in a good way though. You really get to feel the weight of every blow. The Pokemon don't say their names here instead the Pokemon sound more animalistic like the original games. I feel the Pokemon in the regular anime have devolved in cartoon caricatures behaving less like animal and more like people. There is nothing particularly wrong with this but the Pokemon here aren't the Pokemon in the regular anime.

I really love the second episode. It really does go place that the regular anime will never dare thread. It touches about the mortality of Pokemon. You do actually get to see Team Rocket murder Cubone's mother albeit off screen. That in spite of the fantastic abilities, they are still living breathing creatures and that pass on. I wouldn't say this was dark because I wouldn't say the original games were dark but I will say their is darkness present. It was world where bad things happen sure but the doesn't mean good can't come of this world. The regular anime often portrays the Pokemon world being the a world filled with nothing but sunshine and rainbows. The world portrayed here is more in line with the games.

The story of the Pokemon Tower was always one of my favorite of the games and I glad to it finally adapted here. The regular anime had it a own story with the Pokemon Tower but it was nowhere near as powerful as the original story.

Another thing of note was definitely the music which are mostly orchestral remixes of the chip-tunes of the original games. They all sounds very good and play at the most opportune times at various points in this special. Each of the corresponding themes trigger upon a certain arc or battle. Particularly well done and notable were Team Rocket's and Giovanni's theme. The soundtrack is supposed to be released with the release of the Pokemon X and Y's soundtrack so that it something I will be looking forward too.

The rest of special was pretty good in my opinion. I am trying not to spoiler too much here. To me the special was wanted from the Pokemon anime. I enjoyed watching Red more than the episodes of I spent watching Ash in recent years. Gary was likable jerk as he was in the games. Team Rocket is truly ugly and really do begin to despise them for the short time we see them. Giovanni actually does stuff here and he isn't just sitting on his chair in some office somewhere petting his Persian. Everything about this special was a really treat. I do have one thing to say though.

I have to point out this is only four twenty minute episodes and while you do get to see a lot you want see everything. The majority of the events of the games and several gym leaders have devolved in simple montages and it make you feel you missed out about half of the experience. Only a few gym battles are ever shown in full and even the battle with Elite Four are merely skimmed in a matter of few minutes. The various battles and event we do see are really worth it but it does leave you want to more. However, there is only so much you can do with a mere four episodes. Those looking for more in-depth look at Kanto will probably feel a bit disappointed.

~Closing Statement~

Overall, this was pure fan-service and I mean that in a good way. There are those who might be bit disappointed in these special but again there are so much in a cram into four episodes. Just be thankful we even have this and that it doesn't feel entirely like a glorified clip show which I feared it was going to be. This proves that maybe those in charge of the Pokemon anime franchise are willing to deviate from their traditional, stagnant formula they have pumped out for so many years now. Perhaps maybe we can more special like these in the future. Possibly even a entire series to run along with the regular anime but that maybe it a bit too hopeful.

~Overall Score~

I am giving Pokemon Origins, 7 stars out of 10. I also highly recommend it for those who are Pokemon fan or even old time fans who fell of the bandwagon years ago. It also a perfect for fans to wet their appetites until Pokemon X and Y are released next week as it should be.

If you want know more about my rating system and or want to chat about anime? Go to http;//myanimelist.net/profile/fourteethangel!

borer.loyal - 2013-10-03 05:51:28

When I first heard that there would be a new Pokemon anime released, and furthermore that it was based upon the Fire Red/Leaf Green games, I was rather excited. As a fan of the games and manga I've waited a long time hoping for something other than the disappointing anime where the writers so shamelessly retcon the story and frequently bend and defy the Pokemon world's logic whenever convenient to showcase merchandise. I guess I should have checked my enthusiasm however, as all I got for watching this was more disappointment.

Pokemon: The Origin offers nothing interesting to the fans, new or old, that hasn't been seen before in some form. Those that have played the generation 1 or 3 games already know well how this story goes and to greater depth than this OVA series gives. People who read the various Pokemon manga will have read of far more interesting Pokemon adventures, and even those who watch the regular anime will have seen better battles.

To begin with the primary issue: This story feels rushed, badly. What should be major event arcs and intriguing battles with the gym leaders, or the sense of adventure of exploring a new area and what makes it unique, are glanced over in simple montages upon the start of each OVA and you simply feel like you've missed out on over half the experience. In fact, only two gym leader battles are ever presented, and even the Elite Four are reduced to mere montages. For those looking for a greater in-depth look of Kanto or maybe wanted more dialogue from the gym leaders for a richer experience won't find it here.

There is nothing particular that feels memorable or will make the watcher reflect and while Green (Blue, Gary) is given a closer role to the protagonist and some unique dialogue, the few characters presented are even less dimensional than those in the regular anime. Red's growth as a a trainer and his experiences and mistakes are touched upon in the first OVA, but then he is practically rushed via montage barrage into a competent trainer well on his way to becoming champion. The final OVA is objectively where the story gets the most interesting and unique to a degree, but that is only used to showcase new merchandise to further hype up Generation 6.

Another thing I note is that similar to the anime the world's own lore logic is horribly ignored for plot convenience, particularly noticeable in OVA's 02 and 04. I honestly don't know why I expected something different.

The animation for each OVA was split up between four studios. However while Production I.G. is famous for working on many visually appealing series such as FLCL or Ghost in the Shell, don't expect it to show here; it is actually in the fourth OVA, where Oriental Light and Magic were in charge, where the best animation and most interesting sequences are presented. However, since Pokemon is already their most prominent work I guess they had home field advantage. Outside of these few battles though the animation is quite simple and will fail to impress people who have already watched a decent amount of anime. As I touched upon earlier the regular Pokemon series features more interesting battles with a consistently better quality of animation. The characters and locations featured are however all recognizable to fans and are consistent with lore. The battles themselves outside the fourth OVA are quite simple, but they are somewhat more conformed to the game style of battle rather than the anime with such features as HP bars and techniques used. There is also an unexpectedly gritty side touched upon regarding pain the pokemon experience that the traditional anime never really portrays. It is by far one of the more memorable parts of this overall as well.

The music I found to be one of the better elements, the classic, corresponding themes trigger upon a certain arc or battle. Particularly well done and noticeable are Team Rocket's and Giovanni's (Sakaki) theme.

Overall Pokemon: The Origin is wasted potential used to push hype for merchandise and any fan could watch some pokemon leak youtube videos for that. If you enjoy the games or manga you already have had richer experiences than what this will provide and for the hardcore nostalgic fans: This isn't the anime you will likely expect it to be. The only good of this is that maybe the fact this was made is a sign that those in charge of the Pokemon anime franchise will be willing to further deviate from their traditional, stagnant formula they have pumped out for so many years now and more original, properly thought out and well paced works will be produced for fans.