New ‘Sun & Moon’ Character Info, Anime Trailer, Updated Character Models for Team Rocket
As previously revealed, Ash will be attending school for the very first in the Sun & Moon anime alongside characters from the games. This will be a huge departure from the way the anime has been handled before and will probably open up a host of storytelling possibilities.
Samson Oak (Professor Oak’s cousin) is the principal of the school and studies the changes in Alolan Pokemon. Professor Kukui is the region’s Pokemon Professor and studies Pokemon moves. He’s the teacher of Ash’s homeroom class. Ash is living at his house.
As previously revealed for the games, the Pokedex will now be possessed by a Rotom; this unification will allow Rotom Pokedex to talk to the player and provide advice. In the anime, Ash will also have a talking Rotom Pokedex and it will assist Ash on his journey.
Lillie loves Pokemon. Her knowledge of them is top-notch. However, she can’t touch them for some reason. (If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s so obvious now she ain’t human! She some kind of alchemy or genetic experiment? Related to the Ultra Beasts? An embodiment of a Legendary Pokemon? What do you think?)
Lana is the oldest of three daughters, all fisherman. Mallow works for her family’s business at a cafeteria, helping to attract customers inside. Sophocles loves science, technology, and analyzing things. Kiawe works at his family’s farm when he’s not in school.
We already knew Ash would look different in the Sun & Moon anime, but it’s apparent now that Team Rocket’s character models have also received a radical update. Not only are their eyes different, but so are their overall body proportions and postures. Like Ash, they received an update in the Black & White anime series and then again in XY (mostly concerning their eyes). As always, they are out to capture Pikachu.
What do you think of the new character designs and the overall direction of the new anime series? In my opinion, having a school in which all of these characters attend will make for a rich storytelling base (if handled properly). For example, episodes could start out with Ash and friends in school, then they go out on an adventure on one of the islands to tackle a problem or mystery, then they come back for the night. An episode could focus on this character, that character, or character A’s relationship to character B. The fact that cafeterias and farms are mentioned could also mean Ash and friends could visit each others houses and learn more about each other while some crazy situation occurs that they have to solve. In other words, the “setup” for this season is wildly different than anything we’ve seen before and could lead to a completely different way of handling episode plots. Then again, I’m sure I’ll be disappointed. But I hope not!
