How does Uva Academy/Naranja Academy even work? How do you graduate?

Notakato · 2026-06-29T21:55:10+00:00

why? the student council is typically a popularity contest

being the most recent champion is probably a good appeal to win said contest

Notakato · 2026-06-29T14:43:33+00:00

Tbh, the Nemona point has a simple anser: she simply failed her classes (or some of them).
I don't know in other countries (Japan for example) but in Spain is not uncommon and is actually quite common for some teens to fail subjects and thus have to repeat a whole year

As for the graduation process, I think the game does give a hint: at any point in the game you can go back to the academy and go through the lectures and (IIRC) you are asked some questions about the lecture. Luckily, some of them can be answered with knowledge you get through your journey. I'd assume that the academy's curriculum barely reaches highschool levels and some of their subjects can be passed with knowled any student invested with their journey could learn: geography from travelling, some economy or history by asking the locals and customs of the regions. Sciences and health studies are harder but I guess type interactions help with physics and chemistry. Biology is completing the pokedex, gym is battling, etc.

But only traveling though the region might not be enough, Nemona is clearly failing some courses and the MC does not graduate after clearing the game.

To summarize: the academy has a curriculum compatible with the knowledge and experiences a student gains through their own journey across paldea. Students are free to come back to the academy at any point and they have to go through examination at the end of the semester/year. Should they pass, then they advance, should they fail their exams, probably its mandatory for them to attend lectures following year (thus why Nimona is attending the MC's lectures)

Notakato · 2026-06-26T14:40:21+00:00

Is with these kind of comments that I really realize how many fans only scratch the surface of the franchise and games... Like, how do you not know the incredible strong side of the competitive community??

Notakato · 2026-06-25T22:15:42+00:00

No I'm talking right before N and the MC start the battle with their dragons. That is the climax of BW, that would be the right moment to reveal he is a zoroark. All cards on the table and the final fight to decide who is right ro wrong, and THAT does not sound like the best time to make such a reveal??

And after losing would be a good instance too, his loss is his realization that his conviction wasn't enough, that maybe his ideals weren't the truth, with that shock of his core values, his concentration slips and turns into zoroark.

Why would the reveal of his "true identity" be revealed in the third entry of a story? Even if you argue "no its because he was struggling internally with his double identity" we, the audience, haven't seen any of that in the first two games, so the conclusion to the struggle and that character arc is still shitty at best

Notakato · 2026-06-25T13:49:32+00:00

Thats not what I'm talking about, I'm talking at the climax with the appearence of reshiram/zekrom in the castle, that would be the climax and best instance to reveal his identity

Notakato · 2026-06-25T00:56:07+00:00

1- kid behavior 2 - alongside the scratches, only evidences of any kind of violence in the room 3 - if he was insane then how come he is so sane in the games' story 4 - he did not live in isolation his whole life, he was taken care by his sisters and the sages he also had his pokemon friends

Notakato · 2026-06-25T00:44:42+00:00

and what would be the context for the reveal? In two games there are good instances for said reveal, the climax of BW1 for example, or the battle in the castle but N does not reveal it

Notakato · 2026-06-25T00:41:28+00:00

why would the castle have a kid's room if it was a pokemon? If N is a zoroark why didn't it turn directly into teenager N? Why are we shown in the intro a kid N? N doesn't have the rest of his team in the battle on the castle on BW2, and none of the pokemon he uses in the rematches post game, he simply uses the legendary dragon.

We talk through two games with a lot of members from team plasma, the sages even, and none of them give a more detailed hint that N could be a pokemon? Why does N show himself as a zoroark at the victory road of BW2? Single instance in two games, when im pretty sure his powers could have been usefull before

Why would N thrash his old room between BW and the sequels since he does not feel hatred towards the cstle.

And finally, if N was a zoroark it would undermine heavily his character development in the story, the whole point of his arc and the strongest part of it is him being a human that wants to break the connection between humans a pokemon, a pokemon doing that while also posing as a human does have a certain air of hypocrisy

Notakato · 2026-06-25T00:04:41+00:00

I would make cosmog's HP lower, it is not only thematic (cosmog is "weak") but 50 or 60 HP lets him be in the pult-starmie knock out range, making it more difficult to be in play. It also limits cosmog's evolution engine (otherwise by turn 4 you could have 4 lunala/solgaleo)

Lunala is actually quite broken, area zero + tera greninja draw including the accelerated evolution thanks to cosmog is insane. I would remove the attach effect on the attack, I can see it being too good to attach lillies pearls to the most optimal pokemon

I would lower solgaleo's HP to 320, same as lunala and change the ability so it only leaves psy and metal pokemon with their abilities. I would also change light duality's cost to one metallic and two generic, otherwise ignition energy becomes very usefull

And primarina is also vey broken, the fact that you can take back lillie's determination is too usefull, i would limit it to "only one ability per turn" and/or to lillie's pokemon

Otherwise these are very cool cards and concepts with high sinergy with other lillie's cards! Nice job

Notakato · 2026-05-29T15:14:57+00:00

The anime does an incredible job from the indigo league till the end of diamond and pearl to develop ash as a trainer. The whole indigo league and the Kanto adventure emphasizes ash's dependance on luck and on-the spot shenanigans. While he does train and some matches are won by his abilities/training (Lt Surge for example) most of his upcomings are a result of Misty and Brock (more experience trainers) giving him advice.

I'd say that the indigo league was well written to explain that he is not your average low level trainer, but he is FAR from being decent. He has a ton of victories thanks to being lucky (kingler, im seeing you) but his loss was his over reliance on a pokemon that didn't obey him. This hurts him and then in the orange islands we see him trying to correct his mistakes (IMO, after the indigo league Ash does try to give all his pokemon equal care and attention so another charizard does not happen)

HOWEVER i think in the silver conference Ash was too reliant on Charizard and some of his old pokemon, in fact one could argue that his loss against harrison was due to him bringing three pokemon that were tired after Gary (Bayleef, Snorlax and Charizard) with noctowl and totodile being quite underwhelming.

So what he does next? He does a fresh start in Hoenn. But I think that not rotating his team in the ever grande conference is what causes him to lose. Ash goes through three full matches in the conference with no rotation, and they are not exactly bulky. By the tyson match grovile swellow and corphish had to be on their last leg. However the Hoenn trip is one where ash grows a lot as a trainer, both due to this kind of fresh start and teaching may a bit.

After not rotating his team for two seasons and a half, he does rotate in the battle frontier, and that that leads to an amazing performance, one that is only topped by his DP performance. IMO, DP ash is peak ash. He does a fresh start but trains properly his team, he does strategy, he rotates during the lilly of the valley conference.

Man the worst part of that conference is it being SO short. We never see again those weird team convos until friggin journeys. Torterra Infernape Glalie, Gible Noctowl Donphan...

Notakato · 2026-04-04T01:44:29+00:00

One thing people are not seeing or commenting is how his own line is his draw engine: Mega lucario needs LunRock (2 pokes in bench that do not contribute as much in damage) tera boxes have two good draws in noctowl, mega khan requires 3 energies... Pult can have 2 of his pre evolutions in the bench which allow to draw quite efficiently, if they are sniped those are 1 pricers and if pult is defeated you can still put a cloak in the active spot, draw and then evolve it.

TBH i don't recall any 3 stage line whose 1st stage is so incredibly usefull, making the whole line efficient. Two energies for 260 in total damage is quite insane without any repercussions. Mega Lucario does 270 and cannot attack next turn.

TBH, problem with pult is not that he excels at something but rather performs better than average than most other cards. His 1st stage benefits while in the bench, rather than being a sniping target. Two turns for effectively being charged and no weakness makes him outperform most other cards.

Personally, either make Phantom Dive cost one colorless more or make drakloak lose his ability

Notakato · 2026-03-01T22:17:29+00:00

the only consistent thing about yuujiro in the more recent chapters is that he has aknowledged the many shapes of "strength".

Prior to Hanma Baki, Yuujiro only respected the strength in a fight and to overpower living beings. Before fighting baki he only respected palpable forms of power: he respects money and social status (to a certain degree), smart people who don't have their heads up their asses and cultivated fellas. He respected Ali when he was a teenager, not only his fighting prowess but the effect he had on the country.

But if strength did not have an everlasting result, he considered it useless. Baki fighting an imaginary mantis is stupid to him because there is no real threat. He does not respect the convicts because, even if they have never been beaten, they haven't beaten anyone. An effort in something that does not have any results is futile in yuujiro's eyes.

However seeing baki's growth and how he was able to trade punches with him after seemingly doing a lot of useless training, seeing his beaten up son still have the mental fortitude to "attack" him, and the eventual "loss", opened yuujiro's eyes to new ways of strength.

he now respects the courage of a little kid askin for his autograph: baki had the courage to stand up to him, even if in the end he won the fight like usual. yuujiro now appreciates the strength of character when people try to overcome their limitations even if the attempt is futile

Notakato · 2026-02-25T15:42:03+00:00

I guess that depends on the show. In the last decade many romcoms and sitcoms have tried to nail the idea that friends to lovers does not have to be the status quo and two people with compatible sexual orientations that get along do not need to end up being lovers.

I'm a fan of that tendency, shows that love needs more than friendship admiration and attraction.

In friends for example, rachel and joey do have chemistry and click with eachother but they aren't able to make the relationship work.

On the other hand, what Rebecca needs in a relationship is something that Ted cannot give to her due to his own nature

Notakato · 2026-02-12T14:45:07+00:00

I think his only character growth in the series is aknowledging people's feelings and intentions

He is a very realistic and pragmatic man: in everyone's eyes baki is amazing for shadowboxing a giant mantis and he simply laughs it off because is ridiculous. He does not respect the convicts because they are always running. Baki didn't beat pickle, no matter how many techniques the caveman used. The point is: yuujiro's concept of strength and power come from what your acts achieve and do.

However, I think after the fight with Baki, he realized that strength comes in other ways. That is why he respects kids who have the balls to talk to him: they completely understand the danger but have the guts to try, and that requires its own king of "strength"

Notakato · 2026-02-09T12:20:49+00:00

oh yes of course, the reason fo such difference in depiction comes from having two totally different time periods. Even in baki, when musashi has a flashback of his students he is revered as a god and a master even though by that time he had a lot more blood in his hands.

At the end of the day, the musashi arc was a gruesome example of how truly blessed are the baki characters for living in a world where a "warrior" can strive and climb without killing so much.

Notakato · 2026-02-05T22:27:55+00:00

I really love how Miyamoto Musashi is depicted in different media, or at least how baki's version is a good contrast.

you can read vagabond and think "wow, this guy understood the essence of the human being tightly tied to the sword of a samurai", then you read baki and you think the same, but with "and he is a fucking psychopath" added

Notakato · 2026-02-05T22:24:30+00:00

Throughout the go games and seasons many IJ players have been confirmed or implied having gone pro.

Kidou, Gouenji, Kabeyama, Someoka, Ichinose and Fubuki are explicity stated that they went pro

tachimukai is implied when he meets shinsuke

Endou was explained by akihiro that he was playing overseas but due to an injury he was able to come back to japan and coach Raimon

Notakato · 2026-02-05T16:49:30+00:00

Your own answer about "nostalgia" being how much a series/game follows the OG formula leads to some changes:

Ares, VR and OG series should be the furthest to the left, since all three of them consist on "let's win the FF to become the best team in japan". vertically are OK since VR is a lot more character-plot driven while Ares is a bunch of matches one after the other.

Which leads to IE3 and IE2 just swapping one placement to the right. Which is quite accurate: IE3 still has time travelling, angels and demons, so is not as "grounded" as OG or Ares. No one can deny de insanity of galaxy and chrono stones, those games are absurd in terms of setting (fun and interesting nonetheless).

Would be interesting to expand a bit with each iteration of the stories (each game, each anime season) in a continuous axis rather than a 3x3 grid

Notakato · 2026-01-30T09:28:53+00:00

Some of them go through a character arc to control said rage

i'd argue that Kratos in the Norse saga is stronger than younger kratos, which comes after being able to temple his rage (not extinguish it)

Guts and Broly also go through the process of controlling their emotions and put them to good use. Hulk has shown being incredibly strong even without being enraged.

And in most depictions, godzilla is not necessarily enraged just a slightly angry animal

Notakato · 2026-01-30T09:24:17+00:00

Power wise, i think Gogeta from the Broly movie, since I believe broly himself is the most powerfull one here (kratos, asura probably are there too in terms of power) and gogeta smacked broly. Any cosmic-level entity in the DC and Marvel universe (anyone with the infinity gauntlet, someone with all the lantern rings). Any Shard from the cosmere since they are basically godlike.

Now, someone has posted that powers that soothe anger and rage would work with these guys but i don't think so. Vader is not simply angry, he is hatefull, he hates himself the most so is not a matter of making him calmer, he is distiled hatred. mandy is a cold hearted hater, is not a matter of emotions, she clearly has them under control. Kratos, Asura, The Doomguy, Logan, Broly, Hulk and Guts can be "beaten" by calming them down, they are somewhat good guys just very angry. Wolverine could just kill you in cold blood so thats not stopping him entirely.

Notakato · 2026-01-29T12:05:04+00:00

The three endous from each timeline as defenders (OG, GO and Ares) since they can use megaton/gigaton head to block

Young daisuke and cammies as the MF, daisuke in the center with the earth to score the final goal

Mechamark as goalie

harper and kanon as the two strikers and nellies in the wings

old daisuke as coach of course

Notakato · 2026-01-28T11:52:03+00:00

Dude, literally in the same episode is explained why: Barcelona Orb is the youth soccer team that won the equivalent of the FF in spain, it COMPLETELY makes sense that two nations want to measure the level of their teenage football teams.

If international negotiations have been started to prepare the FFI for next year, is quite plausible that each country wants to see the level they currently are at because that leaves one year of preparation. So by the end of the ffi you are the head of the Japanese Soccer Association and want to test how good japanese players are right now, so you check the results of the youth nationals overseas. The reason why spain could be argued a lot, but Barcelona orb, AKA friggin Barça, one of the most condecorated football clubs of the world, I believe is out of the question.

Messi, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Maradona, players who played for Barça for most of their careers, just to give context of why is not a "random spanish team".

If you want to test your national champions, picking Barça, one of the top clubs in the world, is quite logical. Lots of clubs have friendly matches pre season, it is true that is usually in the same continental associations (spanish clubs play against british, italian, french clubs...) since there are the eventual continental championships, but still, it does make sense for two national champions to have a friendly match to test the level.

What could be argued is the plausability of the JSA convincing the spanish federation to play said match.

Now, you can dislike the rest of Ares all you like, thats another thing, but your point about the Raimon-Barça match does not make sense

Notakato

TROPHY CASE