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amelikos · 4 days ago

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Just one detail out of the many great ones in episode 100 of pokemon horizons, but I feel like the last two episodes really solidified the parallels between liko and orio narrative roles in regards to friede.

Even before the arc began and the new designs for the trio have been revealed, aside for roy's direct similarity to friede, something I noticed was liko's new design's similarity to orio's. Their hairstyle is very similar, both having two strands of hair at the front and tying the rest up behind, and it was a particular enough choice for me to keep in the back of my mind and not chalk up to a coincidence, as almost nothing in this series is coincidental.

The opening two parter of terastal debut frame liko's grief around her bottling her feelings up, as she tended to do before her journey began, which I feel after the last episode surrounding orio, create direct parallels. Both of them were heavily shaken by the loss of friede, likely more than the other rvt members - friede was orio's childhood friend who roped her into building the brave asagi, and friede was the first person to swoop liko into her life-changing journey, and was a true, impactful mentor figure for her. In response to that loss, both liko and orio tried returning to the guise of normalcy - adopting a somewhat unhealthy "out of sight out of mind" mentality, because thinking about what they could have done and could do at present is too painful. Even more parallels can be drawn by their relationships with ann and karna respectively, as their outside figures from their grand adventure and their sole companion in their attempt to return to normalcy. Both ann and karna point out to orio and liko that their behaviour has changed, both try to understand what they go through, and both liko and orio resort to bottling those feelings up so as to not worry the other/prevent the painful feelings from resurfacing.

Resorting to a sort of routinely stagnancy, abandoning the days of journeying in order to try to, unsuccessfully and against their deeply seated desires, to reintegrate into an un-thrilling and socially normative life, was a nuanced and very realistic writing choice for both of these characters. Similarly, both of them are spurred back from inaction to action by roy's urging, while initially turning him down in a very similar manner. For both of them, the renewed encounter with roy spurs memories of friede - liko and her first encounter with friede at the indigo academy's roof as a direct mirroring, and orio seeing a grown up roy fade into an image of friede in her mind. And after the prolonged encounter, both of them tap back into their desire for adventure and taking action against the rakurium, continuing friede's will.

These similarities are further highlighted by the cinematography choices between episodes 90-91 and episodes 99-100. Both liko and orio are often framed at the side of the frame and out of focus, with only half of their face visible - highlighting their complex emotions in regards to the loss of friede, and both of their tendencies to bottle them up, trying to maintain a facade of being alright for the sake of those around them, not to burden them with their personal feelings:

They both first appear in the respective episodes with their faces at least partially obscured, and similarly reflect on the traumatic event of the past year in shots that mirror each other perfectly:

The out-of-focus framing is similarly used to highlight their internal emotional turmoil in both episodes, when they're confronted with their own stagnancy - liko watches roy and his newly acquired partner pokemon, lamenting about her own inaction and paralysis, just as orio opens up about her inability to move on - their faces are obscured for us as the viewers, just as they try to shove their feelings lest others will see.

It also leads me to believe that liko's knowledge of friede being alive is especially impactful for her as it is for orio, considering the similar framing - out of focus, barely in frame:

Which is also why I think it is no coincidence that in the previous episode, the one to truly convince orio is liko - she knows how she feels, because she's been in a similarly grieving headspace for the past year. She knows how it feels to sink into self imposed melancholy and becoming, as Karna said, "a bit of a stick in the mud". But with reinvigorated spirit, liko recognizes that friede wouldn't sit still, and so they must do the same.

Liko and orio are constantly highlighted in regards to one another in these two episodes - orio firstly points out liko's growth and change of look, further reinforcing my belief that the design similarities aren't a mere coincidence, and as orio decides to join the renewed rvts, liko specifically comes excitedly hugs her. It's a sweet gesture of warmth, but also highlights, to me, their narrative and thematic bond, and similar positions.

#and it was peak for it #the parallels between ann and karna especially. as the outside figures representing the mundane #liko #orio #friede #cloudbends #also you know i wanna read the 3028579 pages about the thematic triangle between liko friede and amethio-

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amelikos · 5 days ago

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Some character notes and episode notes for HZ099, writing them down for future reference.

Quick summary of the episode.

Liko and the others go to Karna's factory in the Galar region to meet with Orio. When they ask her to build them an airship, she refuses and tells them to ask someone else. While they wonder what to do, Cap suddenly senses something and runs towards the forest, where they find the Brave Asagi.

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Some things to mention about this episode..

Most of them are about Orio, so I’ll go over her first.

I think the way Orio’s grief was depicted was sensible and respectful.. It was a quiet sort of grief, which didn’t feel too over the top, yet was impactful enough. Orio buried herself in work to avoid thinking about what happened to Friede and was harming herself in the process since she wasn’t giving herself enough time and space to fully confront her own feelings. Orio admitted that she had to keep herself busy and moving to avoid thinking of unnecessary things. In fact, Orio’s behavior reminded me of Crave a bit since it’s implied that he drowned himself in work to cope with his grief about his wife’s death, which is something that ultimately affected his relationship with Amethio.. An interesting parallel to me here. Something about adult characters dedicating themselves to work to avoid dealing with things that are otherwise too painful to think about. Orio thinking about Friede and literally having to shake her head to make herself stop thinking about him and getting worked up and emotional when she mentioned that he wouldn’t be coming back felt raw and real.

Other things about Orio.. I really like her relationship with Karna. It reminds me a bit of Liko’s relationship with Ann, as both Ann and Karna are outsiders to the RVT and a link to the mundane for both characters. It also allows Orio to have her own relationships outside the RVT and her own social circle that she fostered by herself. I thought it felt real when Karna mentioned that she didn’t pry when Orio came to her with the Brave Asagi. Orio eventually slowly opened up over time and told Karna what happened, but it seems like Karna didn’t push it. Moments that stood out to me in this episode.. Karna reacted when Orio told her to consider what she’s told to do as “part of the job”.. Orio followed an unconventional path by quitting her previous job and I think Karna found someone she could really share her passions with when they met, yet Orio is now basically telling her that she should just do what she’s told to without questioning it too much. I liked that Karna was honest with Orio at this moment and told her she was being a stick in the mud. It shows how open and honest both of them are with each other, since they can say things like that to each other. Karna gently trying to pry in her own way (“is [not thinking about it] really the way to go?”) was good too. She could see that Orio was pushing herself too hard and was hiding her true feelings and encouraged her to do something else and talk to Liko and the others. As a side note, I thought it hit quite strongly that Orio unknowingly had a part in making the Strong Spheres (just the external parts, but still a part of them) given what happened in Rakua. I wonder why Spinel chose Karna’s factory.. Probably because it’s isolated and a small factory? Outsiders usually don’t come to that place.

Also, Orio’s relationship with her Pokemon shone through in this episode. Elekid noticing multiple times that Orio was spacing out/not okay and calling out to her in small ways was cute.. The fact that Metagross spontaneously came out to help steady Orio and help her move when she couldn’t do it herself, too. It gives a lot of agency to the Pokemon and makes them feel like full beings with their own motivations.

Something about the themes of the passage of time.. the fact that time has passed is highlighted through Orio’s reactions when seeing Liko, Roy and Dot again (commenting on Liko’s maturity, the fact that Roy has grown taller, and Dot’s makeover).. Or Orio mentioning that machines need maintenance because if they aren’t taken care of, or else they’ll rust in no time, and Karna pointing out that Nyahoja and Hogator had evolved.

I was also thinking that there is a difference between how kids handle grief vs how adults do.. There is an interesting nuance which made me think that Liko, Roy and Dot might be more resilient than we think because their understanding of loss and death isn’t the same as Orio’s or any other adult. Losing someone as a kid isn’t exactly the same thing as losing someone as an adult because our perceptions and understanding of death differ depending on our age. The weight of loss is different so it might not sink in the same way for kids and adults, which shows through Liko and Orio. It also made me think of how Amethio said that he didn’t really remember his mother’s death because he was still so small (and how her death impacted different people who were at different stages of life: Gibeon had lived a long life by the time he had a daughter, Crave was at an “average” age to have a family, Amethio was a small kid..). Amethio remembers her a bit but as you grow older, you eventually forget memories from your childhood and only remember some of them? Amethio’s understanding of loss/death was that of a small kid when it happened and it probably didn’t sink in until way later. He probably didn’t fully grasp the implications compared to Crave and Gibeon. (And in Amethio’s case, it’s interesting because he lost someone as a kid when he still didn’t fully understand what death was. As he grew up, he probably became more aware of loss since it was something he had already experienced once but his understanding of it is still not the same as an adult, since he is still a kid. He lost Gibeon recently, which is something he probably feels deeply and he is aware of what loss means at this point but his understanding and perception of it will probably change as he grows older.. Something interesting about Liko, Roy and Dot who probably had never experienced losing someone before Friede and who felt loss for the first time, vs Amethio who already lost someone during his childhood and who is experiencing something similar again as a teenager.. Much to think about, etc.)

In that regard, I think it’s interesting that they skipped a year immediately after the Rakua events, because it allowed them to give the characters some distance from the events. One year was long enough for the grief to subside a bit and for them to portray it the way they currently do (with a touch of melancholy to it).. Also shows that life has to go on, even if you lose someone and even if you feel like time has stopped.

Really liked that it’s Liko who brings up the idea that she is continuing Friede’s will with the others. She can say with certainty that this is the same path that Friede would have chosen and she feels like he is still with her even now.. which is a testament of the strength of her bond with Friede. It also highlights one of my favorite things about Friede and Liko’s relationship, which is that Liko emulates him in terms of outlook and behavior in a way? (for lack of better words) Liko’s report on Friede and Cap from HZ035 always comes to mind, since she really puts into words what she values about Friede. She wants to be like him because she thinks he brings courage to those who are around him and she feels like she is growing stronger thanks to him. I think Liko really sees him as someone steady and reassuring, and the fact that she believes he is gone yet is still able to take a step forward by keeping Friede in her heart shows that too. I really like the connection between Friede and Liko specifically, I feel like it’s not something we often see, especially between a male mentor and his female mentee.. Friede being Liko’s mother’s former student and now being his daughter’s mentor, etc. Friede and Liko share many similarities too, namely their cunning aspects and Liko’s capacity for leadership and ability to attract others to her mirror Friede’s.

Something I noticed about Roy is that he calls Lucius with the “-san” now.. He brought up Lucius’ name when he said he felt like Friede would keep his promise with Lucius. I noticed that Roy also called Lucius with honorifics when he met Rayquaza a few episodes ago. Which is interesting to me because prior to actually meeting Lucius in Rakua, Roy called Lucius just by name.. Probably because he was a distant figure, a hero he had never met. Now that he actually met Lucius, however brief their meeting was, Lucius became more real and tangible to him and now, Roy adds honorifics when it refers to him because it’s a person he actually knows. That’s how I see it.

I think Uruto’s immaturity was highlighted compared to the others, which was interesting because Liko, Roy and Dot were all trying to be mindful and acknowledged that there was an etiquette to follow.. Uruto wanted to jump straight into what they all wanted to ask of Orio and didn’t seem to get it when Liko mentioned that the “mood didn’t feel right”. Also noticing that Uruto was specifically not included when Karna told Liko and the others about Orio.. which makes sense, since he is not part of the crew as of now and doesn’t really know their story.

I thought it was intriguing that the two Explorers members who showed up wore outfits modelled after Spinel’s.. It does make it look like Spinel wants people “on his side” and the fact that their outfits reflect his could be indicative that he wants to inspire loyalty (much like how Gibeon did), even though none of it is genuine since both characters do not know about the truth. The fact that there are two of them made me think of Zir and Conia too. Does Spinel want his own Zir and Conia, i.e. subordinates who would follow him and swear loyalty to him? Or does he just think of them as convenient.. Either way, it’s interesting because part of Spinel is emulating Amethio to some extent, even though he mostly admires Gibeon. Spinel did spend a lot of time watching Amethio and know him too well, so I wonder if he is a bit jealous about his connections or the fact that Amethio inspires such strong loyalty in others.. Something Spinel isn’t able to do, because he cannot bring himself to be honest.

Also, the two Explorers members introduced themselves as guardians of "world order", which was an interesting mention because the word they used for “order” is the same one used to describe Zygarde as the “order Pokemon”. The wording is very specific. Given how Spinel is currently positing himself, by proxy, as a guardian of order, it adds weight to the idea that Amethio will eventually team up with the White Zygarde.

Overall, I liked this episode and especially the way Orio’s feelings were portrayed.. We should kill off more male characters to further female characters’ interiority, I think. I actually was wondering what everyone thought about Friede, and it turns out they really consider him to be gone.. I’m going to need more time to process this. A week wasn’t enough. I probably forgot to mention other things that I noticed. Seeing Cap on the Brave Asagi and the ship’s Pokemon was really good.

Favorite moments were Orio being unable to move and feeling like she would have been able to do it much more easily before, and Orio shaking her own thoughts away when memories of Friede resurface in her mind.

Also, I was absolutely feral about Friede/Orio. A bit insane over the fact that they are similar to Lucius and Rystal currently. Rystal lost her beloved at Rakua and carried on with her grief alone. Orio is also grieving.. Though, she should reunite with him eventually. This development makes the dynamics more delicious to me. There is a lot to explore about grief and regrets, and taking your time with someone for granted only for them to be torn apart from you when you never considered that such a thing could happen. (Potentially regrets about things unsaid.. I think Friede and Orio being apart for a while could easily make them realize certain things about each other. Whatever shall they be. How you never know what will happen in life, so you have to seize what moments you can with people you love, or something. Just a thought.)

#hz099 #character notes #episode notes

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