Customer Reviews

Pokémon: Indigo League - Season One, Part 3

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want to collect some or all of the pokemon anime episodes on dvd, then here is a comprehensive guide that will help explain the progression of the pokemon series and the current availability in box set form.

Season 1: Indigo League (available in 3 dvd box sets, 79 episodes)
Season 2: Adventures in the Orange Islands (1 dvd box set, 35 episodes)
Season 3: The Johto Journeys (*no box set available, 41 episodes)
Season 4: Johto League Champions (*no box set available, 52 episodes)
Season 5: Master Quests (2 dvd box sets, 64 episodes)
Season 6: Advanced (2 dvd box sets, 40 episodes)
Season 7: Advanced Challenge (*no box set available, 52 episodes)
Season 8: Advanced Battle (*no box set available, 54 episodes)
Season 9: Battle Frontier (2 dvd box sets, 47 episodes)
Season 10: Diamond and Pearl (2 dvd box sets, 51 episodes)
Season 11: D/P Battle Dimension (tba)
Season 12 D/P Platinum (tba)
* = can be found on vhs and single disc dvd containing 3-6 episodes ea.

All 3-disc are in Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and all are in the English language.
Closed Captioning only, no subtitles on any of the 3-disc.
No special features or banned episodes again.
The picture format is in Fullscreen 1.33:1

'Pikachu's Jukebox' is hear, it's just not included as a special feature since it appears in between episodes.


Disc 1: Episodes 53-61

53. Princess vs. Princess
54. The Purr-fect Hero
55. Riddle Me This
56. Volcanic Panic
57. Beach Blank-out Blastoise
58. The Misty Mermaid
59. Clefairy Tales
60. The Battle Of The Badge
61. It's Mr. Mime Time


Disc 2: Episodes 62-70

62. Holiday Hi-Jynx
63. Snow Way Out!
64. Showdown At The Po-ké Corral
65. The Evolution Solution
66. The Pi-kahuna
67. Make Room For Bloom!
68. Lights, Camera, Quack-tion
69. Hollywood Heartbreak
70. To Master The Onixpected


Disc 3: Episodes 71-79

71. The Ancient Puzzle Of Pokémopolis
72. Bad To The Bone
73. All Fired Up!
74. Round One - Begin!
75. Fire And Ice
76. The Fourth Round Rumble
77. A Friend In Deed
78. Friend And Foe Alike
79. Friends To The End

I enjoyed watching Pokemon when I was growing up, and so when they released the box set I had to get it. Unfortunately, Viz Media doesn't quite live up to the anime DVD standards set by other companies. The overall lack of quality was really disappointing.

- The cases themselves feel really flimsy and weak. My first thought when I touched them was "bootleg." The box art is colorful but really kind of plain. It just didn't look as polished and professional as other anime DVDs, which was shocking since I dare say Pokemon is probably one of the most popular (or at least well-known) anime series of all time. Furthermore, there are no included inserts: just an episode list that looks exactly the same as the one on the back covers of each DVD. (I wonder why they even bothered?)

- DVD menus are colorful, albeit very plain and minimalistic (only options are "play" and "episodes"). No Japanese track, and no subtitles. No extras either. You get the dubbed episodes plus the full Pokerap (which isn't a menu option, so you have to skip to it). Again, the price is comparable to the Cowboy Bebop or Big O collections, which also have 26 episodes, but those collections include the full Japanese language track, subtitles, and extra bonuses. AND the box art, DVD menus, and overall quality just feel more professional.

- "Princess versus Princess" and "The Purr-fect Hero" are the first episodes in this collection, which were taken out of order from the second collection and stuck here. It's nice that they did put these episodes in (as opposed to leaving them out altogether, like what they did with "Beauty and the Beach") but it's a bit odd that they didn't just put them in order. It's not that big a deal since Pokemon is fairly episodic, so the chronology of things isn't messed up too much.

- These videos aren't uncut and uncensored, like what you'd find with most typical anime. That's fine with me, since it's not like 4Kids censored or cut a whole lot of stuff from these episodes anyway, but it's still worth noting here. Digital paint is out in full force, mostly just to cover up Japanese text that was present in the original. If you didn't care when you first saw these episodes on TV, you won't care now.

- The video and audio quality are beautiful, and exactly what I had hoped for. Certain scenes might seem kind of "glitchy," but that's because the original animators went back and slowed down the framerate and muted the colors because of the infamous seizure incident. Those scenes really stick out and look funky and ridiculous, but that's not Viz's (or 4Kid's) problem.

Even though I love these episodes, I cannot in good conscience give this collection higher than three stars, an "average" rating: these DVDs contain only the bare minimum to be considered a "collector's box set." Poor production values, combined with zero extras and a rather steep price, hold this back from being really exceptional. If they threw in the Japanese track, a handful of extras, and stronger DVD cases, then we'll talk. As it stands, these are only slightly better than my old VHS recordings of the show, and those tapes didn't cost me $35.

Again, I compare this collection to Cowboy Bebop or Big O: all three series include 26 episodes, but Cowboy and Big O just have so much more. I would've expected Viz to handle Pokemon, part of a multi-billion dollar franchise, with the same kind of respect and reverence afforded to these relatively obscure series.

I have been an avid pokemon fan since childhood. I've definitely been craving some sort of compilation of episodes that I could watch where ever and whenever I want. So, when I stumbled across this box set, I was super excited. So, I coughed up the money. My package arrived promptly (as fast as a super saver shipping does...5 DAYS!!...that's another story). No, the video quality isn't crystal clear HD, but I think people forget that these episodes were made in 90's...NOTHING WAS IN HD. From what I can recall, the video quality remains true to it's original form, and I enjoy that about this box set. It reminds me how and why I fell in love with the series. The ONLY problems I encountered was that in one or two of the box sets (I purchases vol. 1-3 all at the same time, but I didn't want to write an individual review for each one)two of the episodes are out of order. (SPOILER ALERT): In one episode Ash's charmeleon evolves to a charizard, but in a future episode Ash's still has a charmander...weird. Also, there is an episode where Jessie (from team rocket) has a lickitung, but the previous episodes didn't explain how she obtained lickitung. Originally, I thought she might have caught it in the banned episode (not included in this box set), but a few episodes past this one, we actually see Jessie capturing lickitung...again, weird. Overall, I am happy with my purchase, and I'd recommend this box set to anyone who enjoys pokemon just as much as I still do.

I wanna be the very best
Like no one ever was
To catch them is my real test
To train them is my cause

I will travel across the land
Searching far and wide
Each Pokémon to understand
The power that's inside

Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), it's you and me
I know it's my destiny
Pokémon...ooh, you're my best friend
In a world we must defend
Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), a heart so true
Our courage will pull us through
You teach me, and I'll teach you
Pokémon
Gotta catch 'em all!
Gotta catch 'em all!
Gotta catch 'em all!

Yeah...

Ev'ry challenge along the way
With courage I will face
I will battle ev'ry day
To claim my rightful place

Come with me, the time is right
There's no better team,
Arm in arm, we'll win the fight
It's always been our dream

Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), it's you and me
I know it's my destiny
Pokémon...ooh, you're my best friend
In a world we must defend
Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), a heart so true
Our courage will pull us through
You teach me, and I'll teach you
Pokémon
Gotta catch 'em all! (5×)


Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), it's you and me
I know it's my destiny
Pokémon...ooh, you're my best friend
In a world we must defend
Pokémon (Gotta catch 'em all), a heart so true
Our courage will pull us through
You teach me, and I'll teach you
Pokémon
Gotta catch 'em all!
Gotta catch 'em all!
Pokémon

If you (like my ten-year-old son and I) enjoy Pokemon video games, cards and movies, this is for you; this DVD is the third and final collection of the first year of the fantastically-popular Pokemon TV show that first aired in 1999 or so. Find out why james is such a dweeb- delightin Meowth's story - find out what happened to Jesse on Doll Day! This also includes a visit to Santa's polar workshop by Ash, Misty and Brock! All in all, a great investment for Pokemon fans!

Great . Arrived before estimated day to arrive. Good choice, very powErs with the product. I bought it cuz I trying to recreate my chhild hood in the 90s so Wen I have kids, they can c wut their dad grew up wit

Card were just what I wanted. It was a great purchase. Couldn't be more happy with item. My son loved them.

I'm not talking about beauty and the beach, legend of dratini, or computer warior porigon, but they did include Holiday Hi-jynx. For those who don't know, Holiday Hi-Jynx was banned after it's first or second American airing. The pokemon jynx was considered racist by a Carole Boston Weatherford, a concerned parent, and after seeing the episode contacted 4kids about it. They removed the episode from syndication promptly, and Nintendo recolored jynx in later incarnations to be purple. Her origional black skin and big red lips seemed to be depicting african americans in a racist fashion popular in the 1930s and 40s.

When I saw that it was on the box set, I wondered if it was the rumored edited version where jynx was purple. I was really happy to see that it was the origional american broadcast version. It would be nice if the set was uncut with origional dialog, but it could have been worse. They could have left this eisode out, or edited it to purple.

I didn't miss an episode of Pokemon when i was a kid and it was first coming on, now I can own them forever. It feels like reclaiming a small but very important piece of my childhood.