#ub arc

We first saw Bevenom at the end of Episode 55, right after the conclusion to Lusamine’s arc. Also, you could say we get the setup for the Ultra Guardians which sounds pretty exciting but it actually ends up as the weakest point of SM anime, imo. But about it later. Now...

It took 10 episodes for Bevenom to appear in its own episode. Episode 67 Shining Love! Spinning Bevenom!! was pretty great. Also, Team Rocket got to see Bevenom which is or should have been pretty important. But then, you don’t really have anything going on with Bevenom (even though it’s an ultra beast) and it just exist alongside the cast like a normal Pokemon (which wasn’t really the case with Nebby).

Then, in Episode 73/74 we finally get to an official ‘start’ of the arc with Nekrozma revealed and Sakaki getting involved personally. It doesn’t mean we need to have a strictly constrained story arc but you expect some characters to maintain their focus, certain plots to get more exposure/foreshadowing. But then again... we wait, some things even turn awkward (Team Rocket) but nothing really comes out of this. Not until, at last, in Episode 84 The Shape of Family, Bevenom's Feelings! we finally get to see a bit more depth/story behind Bevenom. So again, nearly 10 episodes before something minor (but actually relevant for that storyline) gets underway. That’s pretty weak if you ask me.

Now, I’m not saying the episodes along the way and some fillers (if there were any) were bad. But I guess that planning of the episodes/order is at fault here, along with some writing. Because there are things/characters we could have seen much earlier, before Bevenom’s or Sakaki’s involvment in the series, which would give us more space during this UB arc to include more foreshadowing and proper build-up for it all. Yes, there are regular UB episodes here, but these are not enough since they’re pretty weak and could have been done better. Especially that I expected something more from the SM anime, you know? Maybe more mischievous and troublesome for Alola at large, maybe even included in the news (more like some Yokai from Yokai Watch, I guess, to give an example), maybe some exposure for the ultra space and a bit more awareness for these ultra beasts (aka Nihilego from before) rather than being that mindless and apparently... coming there only because an accident occured and they happened to enter Alola. But at the end of an episode they become friends with everyone, just regular pokemon formula that’s weak even compared to some wild pokemon from SM anime, you know, same series. But also, other than my personal disappointment regarding UBs here (they ended up as horribly as in the post-game of SM), there are other reasons why this period of SM anime is/will be the worst, imo, and it actually reminds me of the horrible parts and pacing of XYZ. Let’s see...

1/ You could say the interference of some characters/elements exactly at this point in time is reminiscent of how Alan’s/Manon’s storyline was cast aside and rushed (only there it was Ash/Greninja/showcases that occupied the stage). In SM anime it leaves you saying things like “Ilima is amazing, Royal Mask storyline is just gold!” but still craving for more since they already started Bevenom/Nekrozma/Sakaki cogwheels turning. Perhaps... they shouldn’t have done that?

Also, the above point rings even stronger if we consider the point number 2...

2/ Team Rocket, in a sense, is handled well enough. They get ambitious about UBs, recognize Bevenom as Ultra Beast, they even get that Alolan Nyasu episode at one point. Then, Sakaki becomes even more relevant and sends them to Nanu, they finally master Z moves! Also, seems like they might be having ideas to delay Kiteruguma and be able to focus on ‘things.’ But not really...

... because we also see more and MORE of Malasada side business + Royal Dome job + Mega Nyasu + daily attempts but not really a focus to target UBs, Bevenom, not even doing TR-related job at any interesting rate. It’s like XY anime writing: they know all about UBs and are ambitious about it (= Mega Evolution) only they can’t inform Sakaki for some reason, and when they finally do inform Matori about Nekrozma and it seems like the writing is doing the right thing... then we forget all about it (= XY107). So even if they did something regarding UBs... it was boring and not relevant... and if they did something nice non-TR related, then it was mostly boring/repetitive and improper from the storytelling standpoint (at this point in the series).

... like “hey, Ultra Beasts are actually hanging around in this forest of Alola, let’s use some gathered data on them to further Sakaki-sama’s plans regarding Legendary Ultra Beast Nekrozma” Not big enough??? Only hey, the writers put a lock on their mouth and actions even though we have these characters talking about that stuff RIGHT HERE.

XY all over it and recently it came to a point where they outright stated Malasada shop revenue is actually for the sake of Team Rocket organization...

Wait, what?!

Hence, once again the characters are ‘artificially’ constrained from participating in the plot, from taking advantage of the support of their organization, or - in this case - even the genuine Pokemon firepower/secret base they aquired (completely fair play!) throughout the episodes. Because you know, for the most part... they don’t use it! Because it’s a good idea to give them Z moves and not use them at all... just showcase more of Malasada shop all over again... Hmm, seems like they’ve already got a setup for something but it’s not like the writers want to do it right now. Then... why would you give them such a setup right now in the first place???

3/ Also, once again, there are some fun, relevant characters that take too long to reappear (Faba, Gladion, Rotom as a character, Team Skull, Jigglypuff?) and others that appear simply for mandatory reasons and even get their own arc/major focus but I guess they won’t be really that relevant once we’re done with them... (Ilima, for example, which reminds me a bit of Korrina‘s situation from XY). Hopefully it won’t be the case for Acerola/Kuchinashi.

Like, you know when the arc begins and what the main plot points of it are, and then you know when the arc has ended with all the plot points coming to an end. For example, Aether Arc is all about introducing the family dynamics of Lilie, build up for the Z-power Ring for Satoshi, and implementing the plot of Hoshigumo/Nebby into the anime. Also, introduces the love of Kukui’s life, Burnet, and dares to gives us a nice build up for how they get married. All of these come to fruitition by the end of SM055. Lilie finally got to tell her feelings to Lusamine, learns of why she became unable to touch Pokémon (also a huge theme within the arc), Gladio also getting closer again to his family. Nebby evolving to Solgaleo, Solgaleo leaving after Lusamine is saved, Satoshi performing his own Z-move for the first time. What else, I know Aether Arc ain’t perfect to a T, but it did so much good!

Necrozma Arc I feel like I should talk more about once we reach it next week, but it also starts with the introduction of Manalo Festival, Necrozma, the legend of the Radiant One fully explored, etc etc. I’ve said before how Necrozma Arc feels like a movie split into four episodes.