By Brandon Yeo
Oshawott is the new otter species starter that was announced in Generation V, clad in a blue outer layer with blue pointy ears and a somewhat gloomy frown. From this description I thought, this is going to be one sad and grouchy pokemon. Also, when Pokemon Black and White (B&W) was first announced, you might have thought, “Wow an otter!”, now this is a first. But it turns out that Oshawott ends up as one of the more appealing pokemon in Pokemon Best Wishes (Japanese series). Initially, I actually thought that he was sort of weird as compared to other starters like Turtwig or Squirtle or Bulbasaur, seemingly normal animal-like creatures, but an otter? I believe however that they have really done a good job with Oshawott in the anime. He starts off with a flashy introduction to display his aesthetic cuteness as he attempts to sway Shootie(Trip) to choose him as his starter. From the point of that scene, I figured if Ash caught an oshawott of a similar interesting personality, he’ll definitely be a hit. True enough, his hilarious antics and actions were seen throughout the anime even as he is seen attempting to replace Pikachu by pushing him off Ash’s shoulders and throwing his shell upon it failing to defend him from Ducklett’s scald. More comedic is when he jumps into the attract done by Emolga when she fights Mincinno in a battle, really at such points of time, nobody has a clue what he is thinking or doing.
Truly, his unique personality of arrogance, kindness and laziness permeates throughout the anime. Being such a unique character, he (fortunately) has received much air-time and character development plot especially as he trains to defeat watchog and master his finisher, aqua jet. I figure the anime studio has finally decided to develop a character well apart from that of Pikachu, a job well done indeed.
What would I like to see from Oshawott in the future? The first simple rule would never to evolve Oshawott simply because it will ruin his charm and his aesthetic appeal which has definitely booster the potential of the Best Wishes series. Secondly, I would like to see conflicts between Ash and Oshawott, simply because of his carefree attitude and somewhat arrogance to other pokemon. It may simply not seem right accepting Oshawott for what he might be, perhaps a slight change to his arrogance might help, of course this could be part of plot development. A last change or perhaps no change would be to keep creating his comedic appearances as they indeed make Pokemon a better and enjoyable series.
Sincerely, only by creating ingenious and unique characters, can the Pokemon series improve and become increasingly interesting to watch since it has come a very long way of more than 10 years. Something new has to emerge and perhaps this is but a first step.
Tags: Pokemon TV Show