Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League Blu-ray Movie Review

This set doesn't catch 'em all.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 12, 2017

For those who think the Pokémon phenomenon is a relatively recently one, think again. Sure, the series has recently seen a spike in awareness and mainstream appeal thanks to parent company Nintendo's Pokémon GO mobile game, but the franchise has been a mainstay of the handheld gaming universe for decades, dating all the way back to the original GameBoy and on through a number of releases for the company's ever-popular handheld systems, up to and including the current 3DS (with many sales driven by the barrage of Pokémon releases). The series has even spun off into adventure and fighting games rather than the RPG-style exploration and Pokémon battle system that is the franchise's bread-and-butter. It's also spawned movies, manga, and merchandise the world over. It's a major brand, here to stay, and for fans of the game who haven't ventured far beyond the series' digital roots, Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League is a fun 83(!) episode series that explores the burgeoning relationship between a trainer and his Pokémon and the adventures that follow. Well, it follows that story here as much as Viz will allow, which isn't anywhere near complete. Gotta catch 'em all. Ha! No way, no how, not on this Blu-ray.

Ash Ketchum has finally reached his tenth birthday, and that means one things: he's old enough to get his own Pokémon. He has long dreamed of becoming a successful trainer, of nurturing a Pokémon, honing his skills, and achieving greatness. He's so into the idea that he breaks his alarm clock in his sleep, unsurprisingly oversleeps, and misses his opportunity to snag a Pokémon from Professor Oak. All of the usual starter Pokémon are gone, but Oak, not wanting to break the boy's heart, cautiously agrees to give Ash a small yellow Pokémon named Pikachu. Pikachu is not like other Pokémon. He's more rebellious, unwilling to stay in his Poké Ball, and behaves in a generally uncooperative, even antagonistic, manner. Ash has to literally drag his mousy new companion back home, but along the way Ash finds himself in his first Pokémon battle. Pikachu is gravely wounded, gradually recovers, and the two finally begin to bond. As their story develops, their bond deepens, and their adventures unfold, they find themselves new friends, like Misty and Brock, and new enemies, like the villainous Team Rocket.

Indigo League goes on for a sprawling 85 episodes...but not here. Viz's release stops with the episode "The Breeding Center Secret." That's episode 59 in Japan, 57 in the west. And that's also only episode 52 in this set. The following episodes are missing: "Beauty and the Beach,” "The Legend of Miniryu,” "Cyber Soldier Porygon,” "Holiday Hi-Jynx," "Snow Way Out,” "Princess vs. Princess," "The Purr-fect Hero,” and "The Case of the K-9 Caper!” Yikes. Granted, some of these episodes were seen as too controversial to air in the west, and one, "Cyber Soldier Porygon," was notoriously removed from circulation for causing seizures in several young viewers in Japan. Though the episode should have merely been edited to alter the problematic flickering and flashing and restored for viewing, its absence is at least understandable in a broader historical and medical context. Considering everything else, and not to mention the dozens of episodes missing from the season's second half, this a seriously incomplete release. It's a shame, because the show is well made and thoroughly enjoyable.

Sprawling though it may be and overstuffed with commercial interludes and rap songs, the show is otherwise tight and tidy. Stories expand the universe and characters and progress a larger narrative forward but often tell self contained tales. The show captures the charm, essence, and core battle mechanics of the game but expands on them all significantly, with much more action and movement as opposed to the more static battle screens that stand as the game's bread-and-butter presentation. Fans of the series -- whether they have played one game, a few, or have lived and breathed Satoshi Tajiri's games and have played and conquered them all -- will find this show a refreshing and enjoyable escape that faithfully builds the world with plenty of humor and action but a surprising amount of depth and heart as well. It's incredibly well balanced from beginning to end, and even if there are bits and pieces missing and then an entire chunk at the end (hopefully Viz will release a "part 2" as they have with the Sailor Moon releases), what's here holds together well and will leave the audience wanting more.

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League is released by Viz, the studio that has been known for up-and-down Blu-ray release quality over the years. Pokémon falls somewhere in the middle, leaning a bit more closely to the "down" side of the spectrum. While it's certainly more stable and technically firm than the disastrous Sailor Moon releases, it doesn't come anywhere close to matching the output of the studio's finest. From a very broad perspective, the image pleases. Clarity of animation and detail at a typical HD level are never superb, but basic textural qualities and clean, well defined material is more the norm. Image stability is fair, though the picture suffers from regular bouts of wobble and waviness that might cause sea sickness in a few of the most extreme examples where the image appears to ripple. Shimmering and ringing are problematic as well, though macroblocking isn't a serious problem. Still, the image enjoys a modest boost in overall sharpness of presentation and definition of subjects on the screen. It doesn't rise substantially over what one might find in an SD source (no DVD copies are included) and the image is limited a bit by the somewhat antiquated source material, but fans looking for a major boost won't find it here. Colors are satisfactorily robust, capturing basic colors -- the red Pokédex, Pikachu yellow, shades of natural greenery, Misty's orange hair -- with ease and pleasing richness and accuracy. Black levels aren't overtly problematic. The image does maintain its broadcast-native 4x3 aspect ratio, placing vertical "black bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 display. Overall, the image is certainly watchable, despite some flaws, but fans hoping for a Blu-ray revelation won't find it here.

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack does little to bring any verve to the proceedings. The show's dated sound design adequately conveys basics, but does so with little fanfare, vitality, major stretch, separation, or clarity. Generally, things are fine at the baseline. Pikachu's electric attack isn't a complete sonic fizzle, but neither is it a zipping, zapping, hair-raising listening experience. It's a modest buzz with some decent front-side space but offers little beyond a core structural reproduction. Music doesn't usually find significant front end width, favoring more a lingering location in no-man's-land between the sides and the center position. Even dialogue isn't perfectly imaged right up the middle. At least dialogue clarity and intelligibility are generally fine. There are a few examples of decent front-end reverb and a few nice little directional bits around the front during action, but don't expect much more than a simple, core reproduction of the show's sound elements. Much like the video, it doesn't get a major boost from Blu-ray.

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League ships with everything bundled in a sturdy and attractive slip box, covered by a clear plastic slip with front and back artwork, that houses the six-disc set inside a standard Blu-ray case with leafs to hold the middle discs. Disc earn their own separate side and are not stacked. Inside the case is an advertisement sheet for the Red & Blue box set manga collection. Also included is an attractive, glossy covered Pokémon Adventures manga sampler with black-and-white story artwork. Finally, a recipe card for "Pikachu Sweet Potato" is included. As for extras on the disc proper, a few of them can be found across the six-disc set, with most all discs featuring the same extra.

• Who's That Pokémon (1080p): A simple game that shows a character's mystery outline. Players are challenged to guess its identity. Hitting "enter" on the remote reveals the answer, another press goes to the next character outline, and so on. Different Pokémon can be found on different discs, and the game appears on discs one through five.
• Who's That Trainer? (1080p): The same game as above, with trainers instead of Pokémon. Disc six only.
• The Complete Pokérap (1080i): Two versions of the 90s-stlye rap/pop songs made for the show. Included are Version 1 (3:09) and Version 2 (3:01).

Pokémon: Season 1 - Indigo League Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Indigo League is an enjoyable show that captures the Pokémon spirit, fun, and sense of adventure by greatly expanding the characters and narrative from the games while hanging onto core battle mechanics and basic concepts. The show is fast paced (though it does slow down with the various commercial interludes and end-of-episode rap music) and fun, accessible even beyond the series' core players. A few episodes are missing from the middle and many from the end. Video and audio are midlevel at best, supplements are few, and the packaging goodies are decent but not at all special. Sadly, it's impossible to recommend given all the shortcomings.