#ep001

[musashi]

pokeani ➟ first lines / last lines

[dailykasumi]

EP001 Pokémon - I Choose You!

[a-pokemon-retrospective]

Ah, the first episode.

 There’s nothing like a first episode to a series. It’s rough around the edges, maybe it’s lacking an element we’ve come to expect or has one that was left behind as the series marched on, but it is the groundwork. The foundation. A good first episode will tell the viewer, “Hey. You’ve found something special.”

Not a whole lot actually happens in the episode, plot-point wise; Ash oversleeps, gets a stubborn electric rodent, runs around with the birds while arguing with the rodent, runs away from the birds, steals a bike. etc etc. The majority of the time spent it the back-and-forth between Ash and Pikachu, which I think works to its benefit. Ash and Pikachu both have really strong characterization right out of the gate. Their relationship is so central to the identity of the show, so it’s cool to see that consistent theme even from the very beginning. Pokemon knows it’s a show about friendship, so it spends the first episode making sure the audience believes in the core friendship. Overall, a solid writing decision.

I hadn’t expected nearly the amount of cartoon violence that I’d be getting from the early episodes, however. I swear, that blessing/favor from Ho-oh is what keeps this boy alive through all the nonsense he faces. By all accounts, he should’ve drowned in that river or died from electrocution, and that’s just episode one.

I can see the headline now: “Local boy drowns first day of Pokemon Journey: Sparks questions about trainer reforms.” Needless to say, that would’ve been a very different story.

The world of pokemon is fun and exciting, but also dangerous. I don’t remember this much danger from X/Y, but I could easily be mistaken. I’m interested to track this detail to get a view of the region’s environments and culture about the wild in relation to each other.

As for the characters introduced, there are many:

Ash himself is the main event, of course. The opening scene does so much to characterize him despite not being that long. He’s exuberant and confident, but still very immature with a lot to learn. Pokemon are everything to him. He’s meant to be a vehicle for a young audience to project themselves onto, and he works perfectly for that. His excitement, kindness and naivety are a perfect combination for the audience to learn more about the world alongside him. Not to mention it’s just fun to watch.

Pikachu, on the other hand, is equally as stubborn and decides not to like Ash immediately after being gifted to him. Their strong-willed natures clash intensely, generating much of the conflict for the first episodes. Despite this, it’s clear the two of them are more similar than they are different, as evidenced by mutually saving the other from the flock of spearow. I can definitely see the foundations to their later bond here.

Not much is seen of either Gary or Professor Oak in episode one, but enough to make me reevaluate my pop-culture based opinions on them. Gary is, a brat, but who wouldn’t be as a ten-year-old local celebrity with your own cheer squad? He’s clearly been spoiled. The professor, conversely, is goofier than I anticipated. It becomes apparent in later episodes, but the viewer can still tell he’s not that serious of a person here in episode one.

Even in episode one, the Pokemon Anime knows exactly what it’s trying to do. I respect that.

[dailypokeani]

EP001 Pokémon - I Choose You!

[desperatepleasures]

tbh lawrusso is what I wish condalbert was

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (10-16 Mar 2024)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Art Thief, Heart Thief (odetteandodile) - 58K, stucky white collar inspired AU - enjoyed how author took the WC set up (fbi art agent, criminal consultant) and made it theirs & perfect for stucky

💖💖 +195K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

Midlife Crisis (profoundalpacakitten) - MCU: stucky, 7K - reread, forever fave - the quiet, piercing, understated tenderness in this fic is unmatched

Progredi (justanotherStonyfan) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 37K - the next installment in the fabulous Honey Honey series

Pistachios and Rose Water (goldsaffron) - The Old Guard: kaysanova, 15K - J&N spend 10 years putting down roots, building a home & collecting a found family as Nicky learns to express his love through food

Consensual Catfishing (foresthearts) - Stranger Things: steddie, 32K - modern AU, told via social media - delightful story! adored these characters & their voices and using all different sorts of SM to tell it. brilliant idea, adeptly executed. the art is also pretty great

they're going to send us to prison for jerks (greatunironic) - Stranger Things: steddie, 16K - another really fun modern steddie with a strong social media AU premise

Os Impurum (the_deep_magic) - The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth: Marcus Flavius Aquila/Esca Mac CunovalMarcus/Esca, 18K - solidly good fic about marcus/esca post canon, esp marcus discovering some new things about himself 😉

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Ghosts (US) - s3, e5

Game Changer - s6, e3

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "For the Hoard!" (s7, e15)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Treachery at Gramercy" (s7, e16)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 1)" (s7, e17)

D20: The Unsleeping City: Chapter II - "Two Sides of the Same Coin (Part 2)" (s7, e18)

D20: Adventuring Party - s3, e12-16

Um, Actually - s9, e2

D20: Fantasy High: Junior Year - "Cursed Out" (s21, e10)

D20: Adventuring Party - "Cool Ranch Communion" (s16, e10)

D20: Tiny Heist - "Big Little Crimes" (s4, e1)

D20: Tiny Heist - "Chicanery at Shoeby's Casino" (s4, e2)

D20: Tiny Heist - "Scheming and Scoring Fairy Dust" (s4, e3)

Agatha Christie's Marple - "The Secret of Chimneys" (s5, e2) [shout out to @leupagus for this rec; they were not wrong about the acting choices made here 🤩]

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Worlds Beyond Number: Fireside - Fireside Chat for WWW ep001 The Open Door

What Next: TBD - Instagram’s Pedophile Problem

Desert Island Discs - Cillian Murphy, actor

WikiHole - Lenny Kravitz (with Paul F. Tompkins, Drew Tarver, and Heléne Yorke)

This Cultural Life - Andrew Scott

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Our 2024 Oscars Recap

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Grave of XYZ

Vibe Check - Hey, Sis: featuring Morgan Parker

WikiHole with D'Arcy Carden - Fear of Dolphins (with Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon, and Jonah Ray)

The Allusionist - 190. Craters

WikiHole with D'Arcy Carden - Tetris (with Adam Pally, Jon Gabrus and Blair Socci)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Lighthouse Keeper

⭐ Vibe Check - A Special Conversation with Afeef Nessouli

Short Wave - What We Know About Long COVID, From Brain Fog to Fatigue

⭐ Decoder Ring - Why Stylists Rule the Red Carpet

⭐ 99% Invisible #573 - Toyetic

You Are Good - My Best Friend's Wedding w. Sam Sanders

If Books Could Kill - Lean In

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Law of the Tongue

Imaginary Worlds - The Nine Lives of Red Dwarf

Today, Explained - Lip gloss, gum, and the Pill

Dear Prudence - My Ex Had Sex With My Brother. Help!

What Next: TBD - Is TikTok Cooked This Time?

Short Wave - Are We On The Brink Of A Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough?

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Love Lies Bleeding And What's Making Us Happy

Endless Thread - The Music Man, Part 1

Welcome to Night Vale #244 - A Multiplicity of Kevin

Today, Explained - Hollywood’s still not back

99% Invisible - The Power Broker #03: David Sims

Off Menu - Ep 233: Frankie Boyle (Live in Glasgow)

⭐ Hit Parade - Gotcha Covered Edition

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

The Donnas

Smooth Rockabilly

Respect: '60s Iconic Women

[nanayuz]

satogou, sigh .

i think goh fell in love with ash as early as jn003, the moment ash protected the ivysaur from team rocket with his own body. it was very similar to how ash earned pikachu’s trust back in ep001, he wanted to protect both people and pokémon he could trust, even ones he just met. 

goh noticed it right as ash protected the ivysaur. even though he’d thought ash’s idea of connecting with pokémon was stupid only minutes before, he now knew why ash thought the way he did. goh didn’t just learn a lot about ash, he learned a lot from him.  ash was his ‘first true friend’, at least in chloe’s words. and in the 10 second clip of goh staring at ash in jn003, goh seemed to want even more than that.

ash, on the other hand, took quite a bit longer. and, tbh, i don’t think he even realized he was in love until the last two episodes of jn. but there were quite a few times throughout the entire journeys series, where it felt like he might’ve been ‘starting’ to know, starting to feel.

like in jn015, where he went out of his way just to give goh the gift for his parents he’d dropped before getting on the bus. the first major time ash has done something for goh, just because he felt like it.

there are so many other moments, throughout the entire series. they’re always so in sync, always so knowing of each other. but, tbh, i don’t think ash fell in love until as late as jn135, when goh “broke up with him”.

throughout the entire episode, both ash and goh are deciding whether they should go on new journeys or not. neither of them talk to the other about it, which makes goh feel betrayed the instant ash just tells him out of nowhere. goh spent so long thinking about his future, not knowing what ash would say if he decided to go on a journey without him. well, he knew ash would tell him to go for it, but did he want that?

and the fact ash decided all by himself, seeming as if he didn’t even think of how goh would feel, the latter just . . felt betrayed. which was why he declared their friendship over and ran off, and the exact same feeling goh had in jn003 happened to ash. the same shocked look, not knowing if he was confused or not confused at all. 

chloe told ash about how goh wanted to go on a journey as well, and how he was afraid of all the things he felt ash wasn’t afraid of in those moments. how ash was goh’s first true friend, how he didn’t feel emotions he felt with ash before he came into his life. 

and at that moment, i think ash knew. i think he realized, realized how much he loved goh. from their 2nd episode together to their 2nd last, how much their feelings had changed. the small amount of hate they had for each other at the beginning now not even being recognized, because they became so close.

from their 1st episode together to their last, with the lugia they rid on being a reminder of their growth together. lugia, the master of the legendary birds, the birds who now left their nest after growing so much.

[gaycey-sketchit]

12, 17, and 23 for ash? (feel free to do any or all of those!)

Thank you Taylor!!

What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Even in adulthood, even after many years reigning as champion, he never stops adventuring! There's always more out there to see and experience, and it keeps him young. I still get sad about his departure from the anime sometimes, but it's nice to think of him always adventuring out there.

What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

Most of them that aren't one of my favorites or anything creepy, honestly. I'm pretty neutral to most ships--even if it's not something I personally go for, sometimes people do neat stuff with it!

Favorite picture of this character?

EP001 was a perfect first episode and the ending moves me to tears knowing everything Ash and Pikachu have experienced together since. This moment, where they’re both battered but they’re a team now, is just so perfect. This episode perfectly establishes them and their partnership, and how Ash’s unwaveringly kind heart is his greatest strength and what will make him the incredible trainer he becomes.

[endofthebookpod]

"... the lyrics feel... very relevant to the Winchester's ongoing struggle of always having to deal with another apocalypse and with the, like, definitely trying to break free from the narrative, but always getting drawn back to fate and Chuck's plan for them and the one thing that caught my eye was: “Moonlight and love songs, never out of date. Heart's full of passion, jealousy, and hate. Woman needs, man. And man must have his mate that no one can deny.” And is that not the heaven interference plot in a song from eighty years ago?... The chorus of the song is: “It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die.” And I just want these characters to have a chance to do and not die." - Prequel at the End of the Book podcast, EP001 "As Time Goes By"

The first episode of our 'Jarynatural' pre-season is available to listen to now on all streaming platforms!

Listen here!

[xnyasux]

God it's so weird to change my url from xpathetix to this. I've had it for ages.

But this will make it easier for ppl to understand that i am the same person as @3nyasu3 i think

Also it was weird to have a non-teamrocket-username. I mean ok, technically i chose xpathetix because of their raw "pretty pathetic" line towards Misty in ep001. But that's not really on the nose now is it

[chokkicx]

EP001: Morning Magic Routine | Motivational Queen Bee Channel 🐝

[40rabbanadua]

Calming Recitation - Surah Mulk | Ep001 | سُورۃ اَلْمُلْك - Full Withᴴ...

[desperatepleasures]

underrated moment in kkm is in ep060 when yuuri runs into the same exact bullies from ep001 and they try to give him a swirly again but he starts going on a weird rant about justice and honor and the bullies are just like man this guy's fucked up im outta here

[yourbonddaddy]

Fireside Talk - Mayor - Jody Czajkowski

Elliott Sondag, bail bondsman, entrepreneur & bounty hunter in Houston & Conroe Texas sits with Mayor Jody Czajkowski and the of The Crew in the first of our series, Fireside Chat.