Pokémon TV Series Volume 6 - Seaside Pikachu

Pokémon was my favourite cartoon series when I was younger. I loved the first and second seasons of it, as well as the movies. The creators changed the characters and Pokémon in the seasons that followed, and I didn't like it so I've not watched Pokémon in a while.

I found this video in my local Oxfam, where I volunteer at weekends. The reason I bout it was because I hadn't seen any of the first season of Pokémon videos in years. The ...
...first episode on the video, Pokémon Shipwreck, is continued from the previous one (which is on volume five, so you should probably buy it, too). In the previous episode, the team (Ash, Brock, Misty and Pikachu) and team rocket were on a luxury cruise on the S.S. Anne when the ship capsizes. Everyone but them manages to escape the sinking ship. This episode sees the group join forces with team rocket in order to escape the ship.

In ... more

Pokémon was my favourite cartoon series when I was younger. I loved the first and second seasons of it, as well as the movies. The creators changed the characters and Pokémon in the seasons that followed, and I didn't like it so I've not watched Pokémon in a while.

I found this video in my local Oxfam, where I volunteer at weekends. The reason I bout it was because I hadn't seen any of the first season of Pokémon videos in years. The shop was selling all their videos 3 for £1 so I bought all three of the videos they had in stock (which were this one and volumes two and ten - I'll be reviewing them later).

This particular video is the sixth in the series and contains episodes 16 ( Pokémon Shipwreck ), 17 ( Island of the Giant Pokémon ) and 18 ( Tentacool & Tentacruel ). All three episodes are water related (the reason for the title "Seaside Pikachu").

Pokémon Shipwreck

The first episode on the video, Pokémon Shipwreck, is continued from the previous one (which is on volume five, so you should probably buy it, too). In the previous episode, the team (Ash, Brock, Misty and Pikachu) and team rocket were on a luxury cruise on the S.S. Anne when the ship capsizes. Everyone but them manages to escape the sinking ship. This episode sees the group join forces with team rocket in order to escape the ship.

In my opinion, it's a pretty dull episode as it contains no Pokémon battles and has little variety of Pokémon types. Overall, it's not the best episode I've ever seen.

Island of the Giant Pokémon

This episode was a bit better than the last. There was again, a real lack of battles but there were a lot of different Pokémon featured.

In this episode, the gang and team rocket are stranded on an island after escaping from the S.S. Anne. The trainers are split from their Pokémon but are soon reunited when they are all running from the island's giant inhabitants.

Tentacool & Tentacruel

The third and final episode on the videois again related to the sea. Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu find themselves on a luxury island resort by the sea, after escaping from the giant pokémon of the previous episode. The resort comes under attack from Tentacool and their evolved form, Tentacruel. They are both jellyfish-like water pokémon. They have been disrupted by a local rich woman, Nastina, and the new hotel she is building on the water.

This episode contained a lot more action and a few new Pokémon appeared.

Animation

The Pokémon are all well designed and drawn, yet are simple enough to appeal to children. Some resemble real animals, such as Magicarp (carp), Ekans (snake) and tentacool (jellyfish). The human characters are also well animated. Most of the backgrounds and scenery in the episodes are also reaal good. Some of the scenes are quite picturesque.

Voiceovers

The voiceovers of the Pokémon are really annoying! All the pokémon say is their names (and variations of it, e.g. Pikachu says "Pika", "chu", "Pikachu", etc.) It does, eventually, get on your nerves.

Conclusion

Pokémon Volume 6 is a good video with three great episodes of the well-known TV series. I would recommend it to a friend, but most likely only people who saw it when it first aired will enjoy it. 

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