ribarukirikaindenial

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Thinking about it, it's interesting that despite introducing himself as "Shinji from Tobari City" as early as ep 3 from DP, we actually never see Shinji in his hometown once in DP, or at the very least not once in "present time".

In fact, the only moment when we see him in Tobari City is very specific. He appears there once in Sumomo's flashback in ep 66 when Shinji had won her Gym Badge.. that framing being a flashback, something symbolizing the past, a memory.

It's also worth noting that the only other moments Shinji appears to be connected to Tobari City are when he calls his brother, Reiji, through videophone. As far as I can recall, he called him twice: once in ep 69 (the arc when Satoshi and co were in Tobari City and Reiji was preparing to send Eleboo back to Shinji and they talked briefly), and another time in ep 186 (before Shinji and Satoshi's battle at the league started). Such a setting (a call through videophone) establishes a kind of distance and a wall between Reiji (who lives in Tobari City) and Shinji (who keeps traveling). We see Shinji's Pokemon in Tobari City, we see his brother there, but never Shinji himself during the course of DP! The first time Shinji and Reiji appeared physically in the same place was in ep 128 in Kissaki City, which was connected to Jindai, who is deeply linked to both brothers' stories.

Reiji was working as a breeder and living in Tobari City, so I think that the fact they avoided making Shinji appear in his hometown during DP served to highlight Shinji's issues towards his brother, and avoidance (to some extent). Despite him being, at the time, one of the few rivals characters who came from a specific hometown that we knew about. (Something that paralleled him to Satoshi, since they both introduced themselves as "[name], from [town]".)

Anyway, which is why it's even more touching and significant to me that Shinji's final appearance in the anime (ep 118 of JN) was him finally being shown in his home, in Tobari City. We got to know where his future was headed (becoming a Gym Leader), but his final appearance is something that highlights his familial bonds (as well as his rival bond, since he was watching Satoshi on TV ww). His final appearance is something as simple as Shinji being back home and spending time with Reiji, which shows that there is not this distance and wall between them anymore that existed during DP.

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oh yeah, it's tobari day or something

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anyway, still can't believe shinji took time to train three pkmn to match the champions aces and their battle styles just to train satoshi and push him forward. because he cares and luvs him that much.

and he clearly wanted to help him but he is too awkward so ookido hakase probably had to set up their training date. he called satoshi which made him go back to masara town and ookido was all like "satoshi, why don't you stay with shinji, i'm sure you have a lot to catch up to ; )" and shinji still couldn't suggest a battle. he had to wait for satoshi to ask him first even though he came all prepared and was ready to help him ww what were you going to do if he didn't ask for a battle huh

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happy 17th anniversary to daipa anime. shinji pokemon (fictional character) is 17yo, that's the kind of world we live in rn

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And the Masato and Shinji parallel as younger siblings is very Real, since Masato had this whole thing in AG where he considered his dad his hero and looked up to him a lot and was very frustrated when his dad lost to Satoshi in a gym battle and even cried over it (and didn’t want Satoshi to have the badge at first, but then he learned that his dad was okay with his loss and that he isn’t a gym leader just to win), and Shinji obviously looked up to his older brother a lot as well and probably saw him as his hero too and was also very frustrated when his brother gave up on being a trainer altogether after a single loss against Jindai. Masato’s dad is a gym leader and Shinji is going to become one too, so it is actually that deep. 

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Thinking about companions and recurring rivals in Satoshi’s anpk and realizing that there aren’t many little siblings characters: Kasumi (OS), Masato (AG), Shinji (DP), Eureka (XY), Mao and Lillie (SM). 

In conclusion: congratulations to Shinji for being the only recurring male character other than Masato to be a younger sibling, and the only rival to be a little brother. Which really stands out, especially in comparison to Kaki and Gladio, who are the only other rivals of Satoshi to have siblings and Kaki and Gladio are specifically older brothers (and it was actually something that made them similar and something they could kind of bond over since Gladio helped Hoshi, etc).

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just random thoughts that i’m writing but sometimes i wonder if the daipa writers hit a wall or reached a point of non return by making nozomi win the grand festival thus making her a top coordinator and perhaps putting a halt in the rivalry between her and hikari

these are just musings about the nozohika rivalry and me wondering what nozomi has been up to ever since dp ended 

i understand why nzhk rivalry was written the way it was, nozomi being a kind of stand in for hikari’s mom (she is a prodigy, takes on a mentor approach with hikari, she even has the cat pokemon whose name i forgot like hikari’s mom), hikari’s development being about growing out of her goal and the pressure she put on herself because of her legacy since her perfectionism held her down so she had to learn to be relaxed, learn that losing is okay, etc etc. so hikari never winning against nozomi was part of that and they probably wanted to make the finals be about two characters we’re invested in, rather than having nozomi win against some random or another side character. 

the thing is, i’m wondering if the nozohika rivalry still had grounds to grow further post canon, since hikari never caught up to nozomi once and nozomi already being a top coordinator kind of feels like she is in a unreachable place, plus again hikari’s development isn’t about becoming a top coordinator per se (again, i understand why things are written the way they are but when i compare to snst or even shhr rivalries, the latters seem much more equal, haruka eventually caught up to shuu and we got to see how the ag rivals were doing during the mikuri cup in dp, plus we knew they intended to keep challenging each other in johto)

i guess it’s because we don’t know much about the kind of roles there could be in contests, i guess a top coordinator can eventually become a judge during contests?? but even there, it feels onesided in terms of making a rivalry out of that if the nzhk rivalry had to go further. 

also, i’m realizing that if nozomi takes a route of mentoring new coordinators by being a contest judge, it would parallel shinji becoming a gym leader lol (the snst and nzhk rivalries have interesting contrasts, after all).

i guess i’m just really curious about nozomi post dp. we never got news on her after all. i wonder if she is a prodigy that hit the jackpot too fast by becoming a top coordinator so young, and after her very first grand festival (i think she never competed in a grand festival before the one in sinnoh). she kind of reminds me of dande, in that way (he felt like he had no room to grow further and was scared because of it).  

what else could she do now? of course she can keep competing contests, but i wonder if she can find a rival that keeps challenging her. plus her already being a top coordinator means she has the upper hand in a way if her opponent is still beginning (her rivalry with hikari started with her already having a ribbon for example, so she was already a step ahead and kept being a step ahead until the very end, on the other hand shinji and satoshi started on an equal footing). 

anyway, i had to check nozomi and hikari’s last interaction in dp and i think they just say goodbye to each other and there wasn’t a promise to see each other in a contest again (i think). nozomi said she was going to kissaki city because suzuna wanted to throw a party to congratulate her for becoming a top coordinator and she asked hikari if she wanted to come. hikari refused because she wants to support satoshi for his last gym battle and for the league. and that’s how it ends, and in retrospect, it’s kind of sad :( i don’t really get “hints for the future” from their last interaction. in comparison with shinji and satoshi (and again, i know they are different dynamics and i’m not pitting one against the other etc etc), dp ended with a big hint for their future which was unlike anything else we’ve gotten at the time tbh. shirona talking about how they’ll climb up the ranks of the champion league, which is eventually what happened with shinji helping satoshi for the m8 etc, and satoshi promised to battle each other again. even in their reunion, i still got “hints for the future” vibes from the whole setting since the writers always keep their possibilities very open (satoshi could always challenge shinji’s gym in the future and get his badge, they promised to battle each other again, we know shinji is always welcome in masara town since ookido hakase told him so, so even outside battles, there is potential for many things). so the possibilities are endless there (good for me, and good for them!).

just a bit sad for nozomi. i don’t doubt that her and hikari are keeping in touch with each other, but i just wonder how their rivalry could grow further. my imagination is kind of limited, so i don’t have many ideas for how it could turn out after dp.

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before the year twenty twenty two ends, let us remember that it gave me my Ship of all times sitting on the grass together and catching up together like old friends (bc that's what they are now).... forever thankful

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anpk san, pls confirm shinji as the new gym leader of tokiwa city before the end of the current era :/ 

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So, if Shinji doesn’t appear ever again after this, that means that his last appearance in DP was him watching Satoshi’s last battle in the Sinnoh League on TV (and looking disappointed that Satoshi lost) and that his last appearance in the current series was, again, watching Satoshi’s battle on TV (this time smiling because he helped Satoshi counter Daigo, ultimately leading to his victory)? 

It really is that Deep. 

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DP188 / SM144 / JN132

The “white space where time seems to stop for a moment” happened in all the final episodes of the milestone endgame battles.. ;; 

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An an addendum:

- There was an insert song but unlike VS Shinji and VS Kukui, it wasn’t Type Wild but Mezase Pokemon Master (which was very fitting).

- Noting the particular framing of Satoshi VS Kukui and Satoshi VS Dande, both battles lasting four episodes (and the only ones in the series being that long) and both battles ending with Pikachu taking the victory. And the similar framing of Satoshi VS Shinji and Satoshi VS Shirona, both battles lasting three episodes (again, the only battles in the series lasting that long), both battles ending with a Sinnoh Pokemon taking the victory, and both battles symbolizing a last push for Satoshi before going higher (Shirona being the last opponent before Dande truly embodies the fact that Sinnoh as a whole is a crucial step in Satoshi’s journey, so Shinji and Shirona had similar roles at different points in times).

Thinking thoughts about endgame battles and opponents in anpk and what they bring to Satoshi’s journey so I’m writing them. 

My personal view of “endgame battle” and “endgame opponent” in anpk is that the series in question was constructed around this eventual final battle, that the battle needed to happen for the series to reach its logical narrative conclusion, and that the opponent is a character that was set up from the start and is closely linked to Satoshi throughout the series in question and brings a lot in terms of development as a trainer, challenge, and meaning, etc.

In my view, over the course of anpk, there are exactly three characters that count as endgame opponents (going with my criteria above): Shinji, Kukui, and Dande. (I don’t think there were really any characters like that in OS, AG, BW, and XY. While these series had rival characters and their own rivalries to tell at times, and while there were tough walls to overcome like Jindai in the Battle Frontier, having a specific dynamics that shaped the structure and the direction of a series/functioning as a continuous thread from the beginning to the end actually didn’t happen a lot in the anime.)

In order:

Shinji: The climax of DP was literally their battle at the league etc, as soon as that narrative challenge was concluded, DP ended quickly ww Shinji was set up from the start of DP, he was a recurring rival, he is closely linked to Satoshi throughout the series. Their final battle was the culmination of everything that happened during DP, it was carefully built up and constructed over the years so it would pay off during the league (they had many echos to their past battles in the final one etc). In fact, their rivalry was set up before DP even started: the conflict between Shuu and Haruka towards the end of AG (their talks about complimenting your Pokemon or not just because they did well etc), in a way, set the ground for the upcoming rivalry between Shinji and Satoshi in DP, Shigeru battling Satoshi with an Elekible at the end of AG hinted at Shinji’s final Pokemon to defeat in the league, etc. 

Arguably, I would say that that battle was the culmination of the OS to DP era since Satoshi’s whole philosophy as a trainer and methods/views were put at stake there. He had to win and prove everything he built as a trainer there. 

Kukui: While Kukui wasn’t exactly introduced as a raibaru at first, it becomes increasingly clear during the series that he is going to be the final opponent in SM. He is Satoshi’s father figure, and he is also his teacher at school. So he is both the mentor/teacher and father to surpass, and that trope is an old one. There is also the fact that he is Royal Mask and Satoshi admires Royal Mask and wants to battle him etc. I think that they had one battle as Royal Mask vs Satoshi (can’t remember how many times they battled right now rip) which ended in Satoshi’s loss and set up the rivalry between Nyabby and Gaogaen? So it set the promise for more to come. Moreover, Kukui’s dream was to make a Pokemon League in Alola. This becomes much more personal for Satoshi once we get to the episode (SM125) where it is revealed that what made this dream possible is that Satoshi and Kukui met when Kukui was a kid, thanks to Celebi sending Satoshi in the past. Satoshi told Kukui about his adventures and leagues and stuff, and it’s thanks to their meeting that Kukui had the dream of hosting the first league in Alola. So it’s only fitting that Satoshi won it and that the series ended with the father and son battle, things coming full circle etc. The battle also functioned as a “graduation ceremony”, especially with Kapu Kokeko being Kukui’s final Pokemon. Kapu Kokeko watched over Satoshi from the beginning ever since he came to Alola, gifted him a Z-Ring, and Satoshi defeated Kapu Kokeko with a Z-Move, poetic cinema etc. So, father vs son, teacher vs student, and Satoshi’s graduation ceremony before he left the school. A battle about their love for battles. 

Dande: Dande has been Satoshi’s goal ever since he heard of the tournament and had an unofficial battle with him. Dande is basically Satoshi’s mirror, he is exactly like him, down to the fact that they both have a childhood friend who started as a trainer and ended up taking on the path of a researcher. Shigeru and Sonia are parallels for a reason (and they are both grandchildren of famous researchers, too). (It could even be argued that Dande having a little brother is similar to how Kukui and Burnet totally consider Rei Satoshi’s little brother.) Other than that, their training ep really showed how similar they both are in terms of personalities and outlook towards Pokemon. Sonia described Dande as a big kid who is really into Pokemon (a pkmn baka ww), and this description fits Satoshi as well. Dande is just really how Satoshi could be when he is older. And just like how we see Satoshi in Dande, the latter is reminded of his first days as a trainer when looking at Satoshi. In the PV, this battle was described as the culmination of everything that Satoshi and Pikachu have accumulated through their adventures, so it really encompasses their different journeys as well.

We’ll see how it ends, but I’m liking how elements of past endgame battles are incorporated into this one. And it does feel more meaningful that Kukui and Shinji were specifically brought back in a row to battle Satoshi before the M8. It is definitely intentional and has more weight to it considering all of this. They both represent major parts of Satoshi’s journey, and he had to face them both one more time before the end. Also, Type Wild was played as an insert song during both their battles in DP and SM, so the rule kind of says that it needs to be the same now too. Type Wild really is the endgame battle insert song.

In conclusion (or not), how I see it is that Shinji vs Satoshi (first endgame battle/opponent in the anime) was about overcoming/surpassing the rival (the opposite, the other side of the coin), proving one’s philosophy.

Satoshi vs Kukui was surpassing the father, the mentor, the teacher.

Satoshi vs Dande will be Satoshi surpassing himself (?).  

Also, as a last note, it is interesting that Satoshi’s first endgame opponent was someone who was the complete opposite of himself (Shinji, two sides of the same coin etc), and now, the current one (Dande) is someone who is a reflection of himself. It is really that deep. 

[ribarukirikaindenial]

Thinking thoughts about endgame battles and opponents in anpk and what they bring to Satoshi’s journey so I’m writing them. 

My personal view of “endgame battle” and “endgame opponent” in anpk is that the series in question was constructed around this eventual final battle, that the battle needed to happen for the series to reach its logical narrative conclusion, and that the opponent is a character that was set up from the start and is closely linked to Satoshi throughout the series in question and brings a lot in terms of development as a trainer, challenge, and meaning, etc.

In my view, over the course of anpk, there are exactly three characters that count as endgame opponents (going with my criteria above): Shinji, Kukui, and Dande. (I don’t think there were really any characters like that in OS, AG, BW, and XY. While these series had rival characters and their own rivalries to tell at times, and while there were tough walls to overcome like Jindai in the Battle Frontier, having a specific dynamics that shaped the structure and the direction of a series/functioning as a continuous thread from the beginning to the end actually didn’t happen a lot in the anime.)

In order:

Shinji: The climax of DP was literally their battle at the league etc, as soon as that narrative challenge was concluded, DP ended quickly ww Shinji was set up from the start of DP, he was a recurring rival, he is closely linked to Satoshi throughout the series. Their final battle was the culmination of everything that happened during DP, it was carefully built up and constructed over the years so it would pay off during the league (they had many echos to their past battles in the final one etc). In fact, their rivalry was set up before DP even started: the conflict between Shuu and Haruka towards the end of AG (their talks about complimenting your Pokemon or not just because they did well etc), in a way, set the ground for the upcoming rivalry between Shinji and Satoshi in DP, Shigeru battling Satoshi with an Elekible at the end of AG hinted at Shinji’s final Pokemon to defeat in the league, etc. 

Arguably, I would say that that battle was the culmination of the OS to DP era since Satoshi’s whole philosophy as a trainer and methods/views were put at stake there. He had to win and prove everything he built as a trainer there. 

Kukui: While Kukui wasn’t exactly introduced as a raibaru at first, it becomes increasingly clear during the series that he is going to be the final opponent in SM. He is Satoshi’s father figure, and he is also his teacher at school. So he is both the mentor/teacher and father to surpass, and that trope is an old one. There is also the fact that he is Royal Mask and Satoshi admires Royal Mask and wants to battle him etc. I think that they had one battle as Royal Mask vs Satoshi (can’t remember how many times they battled right now rip) which ended in Satoshi’s loss and set up the rivalry between Nyabby and Gaogaen? So it set the promise for more to come. Moreover, Kukui’s dream was to make a Pokemon League in Alola. This becomes much more personal for Satoshi once we get to the episode (SM125) where it is revealed that what made this dream possible is that Satoshi and Kukui met when Kukui was a kid, thanks to Celebi sending Satoshi in the past. Satoshi told Kukui about his adventures and leagues and stuff, and it’s thanks to their meeting that Kukui had the dream of hosting the first league in Alola. So it’s only fitting that Satoshi won it and that the series ended with the father and son battle, things coming full circle etc. The battle also functioned as a “graduation ceremony”, especially with Kapu Kokeko being Kukui’s final Pokemon. Kapu Kokeko watched over Satoshi from the beginning ever since he came to Alola, gifted him a Z-Ring, and Satoshi defeated Kapu Kokeko with a Z-Move, poetic cinema etc. So, father vs son, teacher vs student, and Satoshi’s graduation ceremony before he left the school. A battle about their love for battles. 

Dande: Dande has been Satoshi’s goal ever since he heard of the tournament and had an unofficial battle with him. Dande is basically Satoshi’s mirror, he is exactly like him, down to the fact that they both have a childhood friend who started as a trainer and ended up taking on the path of a researcher. Shigeru and Sonia are parallels for a reason (and they are both grandchildren of famous researchers, too). (It could even be argued that Dande having a little brother is similar to how Kukui and Burnet totally consider Rei Satoshi’s little brother.) Other than that, their training ep really showed how similar they both are in terms of personalities and outlook towards Pokemon. Sonia described Dande as a big kid who is really into Pokemon (a pkmn baka ww), and this description fits Satoshi as well. Dande is just really how Satoshi could be when he is older. And just like how we see Satoshi in Dande, the latter is reminded of his first days as a trainer when looking at Satoshi. In the PV, this battle was described as the culmination of everything that Satoshi and Pikachu have accumulated through their adventures, so it really encompasses their different journeys as well.

We’ll see how it ends, but I’m liking how elements of past endgame battles are incorporated into this one. And it does feel more meaningful that Kukui and Shinji were specifically brought back in a row to battle Satoshi before the M8. It is definitely intentional and has more weight to it considering all of this. They both represent major parts of Satoshi’s journey, and he had to face them both one more time before the end. Also, Type Wild was played as an insert song during both their battles in DP and SM, so the rule kind of says that it needs to be the same now too. Type Wild really is the endgame battle insert song.

In conclusion (or not), how I see it is that Shinji vs Satoshi (first endgame battle/opponent in the anime) was about overcoming/surpassing the rival (the opposite, the other side of the coin), proving one’s philosophy.

Satoshi vs Kukui was surpassing the father, the mentor, the teacher.

Satoshi vs Dande will be Satoshi surpassing himself (?).  

Also, as a last note, it is interesting that Satoshi’s first endgame opponent was someone who was the complete opposite of himself (Shinji, two sides of the same coin etc), and now, the current one (Dande) is someone who is a reflection of himself. It is really that deep. 

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shinji (handshake emoji) dande san

having a brother with purple hair and using satoshi’s technique during their battle

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@nerdinsandals It is strange especially since we were so spoiled for the Hoenn nods (so many rivals and CoTD I liked there...!), makes me wonder if we are allowed to hope for crumbs for the end ;; I get that seiyuu issues are one thing and sometimes it's just not possible to have them back, but one would think a silent cameo would be different so who knows..? It is a mystery etc.

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@nerdinsandals Same, I was a bit sad (since this was the last chance to see him, unless...) and I don't know what they were thinking (perhaps they didn't want to disrupt the flow of the Shirona focus? Or focus too much on the past?), it would have made some sense given that Gaburiasu is specifically the Pokemon Satoshi didn't manage to defeat against Shinji :/ At least, as viewers we know what happened for Satoshi to reach victory but I would have wanted a slight explicit nod to it and to see Shinji's reaction to it (I am sure he was happy though). I am hoping we get a compilation like XY in its last episode for the ending where we see how each character is doing at the end, I do think it would be fitting.

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Despite the fact that Shinji didn’t get a cameo during the VS Shirona (which ;_;), I really like that they still managed to express the idea that Shinji is Satoshi’s final push before the end (which was already shown during his cameo), notably through the use of Bullet Punch, a move that Lucario learned thanks to Shinji’s training. 

- The move that defeated Togekiss (Shirona’s second to last Pokemon, the one before Gaburiasu who was the final Pokemon to be defeated) was Bullet Punch.

- Bullet Punch was critical to weaken Gaburiasu, but it wasn’t the finishing move in this case, it was Reversal. Still, Bullet Punch was... the second to last move that was used before the end, it was used just before Reversal. So, there is a pattern there. (Plus, Shirona is the second to last opponent before the end. Shinji helped Satoshi and pushed him up until that point- afterwards it’s the end and Satoshi is “going by himself” so to speak.)

Not only that, but I think it’s also kind of fitting that Mega Evolution was used during this battle, since it’s only achieved if one has a strong bond with their Pokemon. I can’t help but think that it links back to DP040 (Shirona’s first major episode in DP), and how Shinji and Satoshi argued about their different stances towards Pokemon in that episode. How Satoshi said that what is important during a Pokemon battle is the bond with your Pokemon and that you can’t get stronger without it. Witnessing them argue spurred Shirona to show the ruins with the tablet with Dialga and Palkia on it to Shinji and Satoshi and tell them about the legends and the “when one life” saying (and the place with that tablet had a callback to it in this week’s episode, in Shirona’s flashbacks). Then fast forward to DP188, Shirona narrates their parting and she says that a bond was born between Shinji and Satoshi (again, “kizuna” which is also the word used when they talk about Mega Evolution). 

So it’s just neat and I think it’s all coming together, with how “bond” was emphasized during this battle, there is an additional reading connecting back to DP’s threads. Satoshi’s bond with Lucario allowing them to achieve Mega Evolution, which in turn makes them and their moves stronger, including the move that Lucario got to learn through a training, thanks to Satoshi’s bond with another trainer. Something something, together the students are surpassing the mentor. Yep yep. To me, that’s cinema.