Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl is an anime series, the sequel series to Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and originally aired on TV Tokyo in Japan, with 191 episodes, all but two of which (clip shows) were dubbed into English. Following the Kanto Battle Frontier, Ash (Sarah Natochenny) and Brock (Bill Rogers) head to the Sinnoh region, with Ash determined to take on and win the Sinnoh League. They are joined by aspiring Pokémon Coordinator Dawn (Emily Jenness), and together the gang catch new Pokémon and face all manner of challenges. It is not just their various rivals, or the fact that the Team Rocket trio have once again followed Ash to a new region, but a far more serious threat in the forms of Team Galactic and Pokémon Hunter J (Sonny Dey).
PROS
- Excellent animation, which has crisp colour and lots of detail, shining especially during the battles and Pokémon Contests, with a consistent standard throughout the series.
- The filler episodes are used very well, with many serving to develop the characters – such as Ash and Dawn trying to improve certain things based on past mistakes, and Brock developing and applying specific aspects of his expertise.
- Dawn is developed very well over the course of the series, while the personalities and character development of everyone’s Pokémon are successfully done – especially Ash’s Infernape (Bill Rogers). However, character creation and development shines most in the rivals – especially Ash’s rival Paul (Julián Rebolledo), who starts out as a horrible antithesis to Ash, but who mellows, grows and ultimately comes to respect Ash.
- The Team Galactic and Pokémon Hunter J subplot(s) are paced and spread out over the course of the series quite well and provide some much darker and more suspenseful and serious episodes.
CONS
- Some somewhat questionable decisions over the course of the series, notably the very late introductions of Ash’s Gible (Tom Wayland) and Dawn’s Togekiss (Kikuko Inoue) and the recurring gags that centred around them; as well as how easily Ash’s Torterra (Billy Beach) lost to opponents against whom it had a type-advantage after reaching its final form.
- Despite having so much build-up to it over the course of four years and over 180 episodes, the Sinnoh League ends on an enormous cop-out which even the exciting battle and outstanding animation cannot distract from.
VERDICT: 8/10
Pete Kirkpatrick's Reviews 