Pokémon Master Journeys - Review

 Take me on a journey!

Now here’s a post that’s overdue! Last year I reviewed the then recently concluded 1st season of the newest series of the Pokémon anime: Pokémon Journeys. It’s a series that did quite a few things differently. Gone was the Gym Leader filled road to the Championship tournament. Gone were the multiple companions based on game characters. Gone was the journey across the region. We now had Ash competing in the World Coronation series, travelling with brand new character Goh while travelling all across the Pokémon world. It lead to an interesting series that, while flawed, did what it set out to do and is enjoyable

How does its sequel season, Master Journeys fair? Better. It’s just as enjoyable as Journeys and addresses quite a few of my complaints even if other cracks are forming, so to speak.

Let’s dive in.

After his win in the Alola League tournament and becoming research fellows at Cerise Laboratory, Ash and Pikachu have set their sights on winning the World Coronation Series. A tournament that pits trainers from all across the world to determine the strongest of them all. While battling his way to the top, with rivals such as Galar Gym Leader Bea giving him a run for his money, Ash turns his attention to expanding his arsenal of tricks and strategies like Mega Evolution.

Ash's friend and fellow research fellow Goh, meanwhile, continues his journey to catch them all and, ultimately, Mew. When Gary makes a pitstop in Pallet Town, Goh learns of project Mew. A research project dedicated to finding Mew. Goh makes it his new goal to get into Project Mew by completing the challenges given to him.

Chloe, daughter of Prof. Cerise and childhood friend of Goh, encounters a curious Eevee. An Eevee that, for some reason, can’t evolve. Sympathizing with the Pokémon that, apparently, doesn’t know what goal to pursue, she catches it and set out to help figure out what to evolve into.

Our three protagonists and their partner Pokémon, ready for some action.

Pokémon Master Journeys is of the same calibre as its predecessor. There are differences, the season addresses quite a few complaints I had and it has flaws of its own, but a lot of what I said in my review of Pokémon Journeys still applies here.

For a children’s cartoon/anime show, Pokémon Master Journeys is pretty good. You won’t find anything groundbreaking here but what it does it does well. Most episodes tell a self-contained little ‘adventure of the day’ with some multi-part outings and episodes more important to the overall narrative sprinkled in. Business as usual, basically, though without a clear ‘progression system’ in place (you know how far Ash still has to go with the 8 Gyms, not so much with the randomness that is Ash’s placement in the world coronation series) the balance skews more towards the former than the latter.

The animation and soundtrack are good. To get the lesser out of the two out of the way first, the soundtrack is fine. It’s well orchestrated and nice to hear but sadly, generic. Aside from the covers from Sword & Shield, they’re not very memorable at all. Master Journeys does have some Diamond & Pearl tracks mixed in here as a result of the extra Sinnoh focus the Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl games brought which is certainly appreciated.

The animation of Pokémon Journeys is really good. The style is the cartoony and comedic tone of Sun & Moon but going in a more ‘realistic’ direction. The animation itself is fluid, the choreography of the fight sequences is amazing and the backgrounds can be stunning at times. It’s, once more, good stuff.

The improvements? Chloe has a larger role, a more concrete goal for Goh, the season brings back older Pokémon and characters and no more ‘2-for-1’ episodes.

As a first since its inception, Journeys did not have a female character as a protagonist. I thought Pokémon had moved away from the ‘it’s only for boys’ thing and I felt that not having a girl as a protagonist was a step backwards in that regard. Feeling represented, you know?

Master Journeys takes a step back in the right direction by upping Chloe’s involvement. With the capture of Eevee, the season kicks off a storyline about figuring out what she wants her future to be. An interesting story and I think a good one for children; it’s OK if you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up. Life’s a journey, not a destination. You’ll figure it out one day. Chloe still doesn’t go on every trip Ash and Goh undertakes, spitballing it I’d say she goes with them about half of the time, but she is here more.

I still have my issues with Goh. He’s, as the name oh so subtly implies, here for the Pokémon Go representation. Putting my feelings for Pokémon Go aside, I don’t like how his character is handled. He’s the polar opposite of Ash, reserved and thoughtful were Ash is outrageous and rash. He works in that capacity but his tendency to catch so many Pokémon every episode makes his big goal feel meaningless.

Giving him a more concrete goal to work towards helps give him direction but his other problems are still here. His tendency to forget about the Pokémon, and treat them as numbers and objects, is still here. Even worse so as his capture of Grookey pushed Cinderace, his ´Pikachu´ away.

The premise of Ash & Goh travelling all around opened up the possibilities to revisit old locations, characters, Pokémon etc. This season does more with this opportunity than Journeys did. We have the return of Iris, a small story arc with Korrina and, thanks to brand synergy with Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, two story arcs featuring Dawn and Sinnoh. They’re not just fun ‘callback’ episodes but actually move the plot forward and are some of the most fun episodes in the season.

Dawn returns for a few episode this season and they're some very fun episodes. 

Lastly, the less-than-stellar ´2-for-1’ episodes are completely gone! The ‘2 10 minutes episodes back to back’ format has risen in popularity again and I suspected the team behind the series wanted to test the waters with this format for Pokémon. I thought that they felt flat and didn’t work for Pokémon. Guess the team came to the same conclusion.

The new cracks? Master Journeys does a disservice to the current generation, Galar and doesn’t have as much focus on the Pokémon themselves.

Pokémon Anime was always used as a way to deepen the world. Put the spotlight and focus, even if only for one episode, on a certain Pokémon or character. These were always fun episodes. Episodes that told us more about the Pokémon or character in question informed the perception of their fans for years to come. Not every Totodile has such a playful personality as Ash’s but that’s how the cultural zeitgeist views Pokémon all because of the anime.

Master Journeys lacks in this department. Many Galar Pokémon, characters and locations are M.I.A. As a result, Galar doesn’t get a chance to be properly fleshed out in such a fun way. Their absence here is felt.

Conclusion

My thoughts on Pokémon Master Journeys mirror those of Journeys. It addressed many of the issues I had with Journeys but I wouldn’t necessarily call it superior. Why? Well, aside from the new flaws it has I don’t think it truly matters in the end. It does what it sets out to do and it does so satisfactorily. Like I said in my review of Journeys, I didn’t think that the flaws ‘broke’ the show. But that same token, the improvements don’t ‘make’ the season. It just makes it different.

Pokémon Master Journeys is a natural feeling follow-up to Journeys and people who enjoyed that season will enjoy this one just as much. Kids will find it a lot of fun, older fans will find it enjoyable with a noteworthy outing sprinkled throughout.

What more do you need from a Pokémon series?

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