Minior
If its core stays exposed, it will soon die off.
- Minior’s Pokédex Entry, Pokémon Moon
- Minior’s Pokédex Entry, Pokémon Moon
Minior are fleeting Pokémon. They’re born, form shells from space dust, come crashing down and finally they fade away. Their design is inspired by konpeito, a kind of star-shaped candy, and they frequently serve as food for other Pokémon living in the ozone layer. Yet Minior are also an attraction of Alola. Their cute, candy-like cores make them a perfect mascot and a group of Minior crashing down, known as a “Minior Shower”, is a sight to behold. The life of a Minior is as bright as it is brief.
The 79th episode of Pokémon Sun & Moon is also known as “The Minior Episode”. As you might expect, Minior acts as the “Pokémon of the Day”, with antics and shenanigans written to showcase the appeals of the species. This could’ve easily been an episode about some Hokulani Festival, where tourists and locals alike gather together in celebration of the year’s Minior Shower. And that is precisely why I’m so very glad we were given The Minior Episode. Minior are fleeting Pokémon, and the anime doesn’t shy away from this fact. Instead, it uses Minior as a vessel to explore transience.
The Minior Episode begins with the group on a field trip at Hokulani Observatory to observe a Minior Shower. At first glance, it’s a simple setup that Sun & Moon has used many times before, yet there’s something different about everything. The usually vibrant colours are ever so slightly muted, giving the entire episode a wistful look. Instead of mid-range shots to emphasise character expression, there’s an unusual focus on scale, constantly contrasting small human figures with the vast world surrounding them. Certain gags have an odd rhythmic flow to them, as if they were moving in-sync with a beat.
As the episode continues, the hints continue to pile on. Both Professor Kukui, the teacher of the class, and Molayne, the owner of Hokulani Observatory, are oddly hands-off for a field trip, preferring to let the class explore and discover Minior together. Sophocles, who’s been to the observatory many times, can barely remember what happened when he met a Minior, and eventually recalls a faint memory of himself crying. Again and again, we come across reasons to believe that this trip will not end as happily as previous ones have.
Despite this, the episode maintains its cheerful facade. It blasts the OP over a montage of the fun times the group has with a Minior. Poipole’s childish antics with its new friend keep the tone light. There is a wealth of visual humour driven by amusing character art, courtesy of the Animation Directors, Yasuda Shuhei and Murata Osamu. Despite all the ominous signs, they continue on as if it were any other episode of Sun & Moon.
Until the time arrives.
Acceptance
The Minior Showers reach their peak. The class watches as Minior rain down on Mount Hokulani. There are hundreds of them, perhaps even thousands. For a moment, they light up the grassy fields with their ethereal glow. A sea of stars resting before returning to the heavens. And as quickly as they arrived, they float off. Untethered, the Minior rise into the sky and fade to dust.
This is not the first time that Sun & Moon tackles the topic of death, and it won’t be the last. Yet this is perhaps the most unique of the three episodes. While the other two handle the loss of a loved one, The Minior Episode presents death as something that comes for all living beings, regardless of how well you know them. And because it is a natural part of life, it must be accepted. It is through the lens of Sophocles and Poipole that we explore this acceptance.
Poipole is the Guest-Star Party Member, the cute mascot added to Ash’s team to advertise Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon. It is also well characterised despite not saying a single word. Its antics are innocent and sometimes insensitive. It moves with boundless energy. It’s curious, bouncing around from attraction to attraction, searching for something bright and exciting. When someone scolds it, it withdraws and prepares to throw a tantrum. And despite all this, it can be surprisingly sensitive to emotion. Without a single word, Poipole’s mannerisms alone define it as a young child.
Knowing Poipole’s attraction to lights, it was no surprise that it would become attached to a Minior. And knowing it is a young child, it was no surprise that it would take Minior’s fate hard. As the Minior begin to rise, Poipole joins them, trying to stay with its Minior friend, only to see Minior fade to dust before its very eyes. And when it flies down, throwing a tantrum, Ash does a very simple thing.
He hugs it.
Rather than any kind of explanation, there’s only a statement of comfort. It’s such a powerful gesture. Children are smarter than we think they are. They can sort through their feelings by themselves, and when they can’t handle it anymore, we can lend them a helping hand. There’s no sense in protecting them from the harsh truths, that’s only delaying the inevitable. But there’s no need to rush it, for they’ll grow up in their own time.
Sophocles is the odd one out in the class. He hovers on the periphery of the group, a friend to all of them, but not really anyone’s best friend. He has indoor hobbies in a group dominated by outdoor types. Because of these, he always feels slightly more underdeveloped socially, feeling slightly younger than the rest. But without ever explicitly mentioning it, Sun & Moon begins elevating his character. A love of folk tales, a dream of going to space, and a flashback of crying after a Minior disappeared, filled with abrasive static. The same ones used for Lillie’s own repressed trauma. Suddenly, his fear of the dark takes on a completely different meaning.
As his memory returns, Sophocles begins to understand exactly what happened. He understands his trauma, and begins to move past it. The often distant camera zooms in on him, a sure sign of his growth. Where previously he had forgotten about the Minior, this time he vows to remember. Having finally accepted his past, he joins the rest of his classmates for the first time in the episode, standing with them as equals.
As for what comes after acceptance, it’s very simple. As Kukui says, “it is the duty of those left behind to remember the times they shared”. Remember them, for they haven’t truly gone until everyone left has forgotten. The episode hints at this conclusion earlier, using camera shutter-esque screen wipe transitions to sell the first rhythmic gag, and an actual photo shoot to sell the post-commercial break gag. Each photo we take is a memory of a moment, and there’s a story behind each one we keep. But more importantly, photos continue to exist, even beyond when their subjects have passed.
Transience
Mono no aware. Literally “The Pathos of Things”. Conceptually, it’s something closer to an awareness of impermanence, of the passage of time and our futile resistance against it. But it is also about the beauty of the impermanent. Treasuring the present, for you won’t find it in the future. Fleeting joys amidst the melancholy of ever changing life.
These are the feelings at the core of The Minior Episode.
It is here that we find meaning in a lot of the unease built up through the episode. Each of the visual quirks of this episode were designed to enhance the sense of mono no aware. The slightly muted colours evoke a sense of wistfulness and melancholy. The plethora of long-distance shots frame the characters as tiny parts of a wider world. The rhythmic timing of gags brings attention to the passage of time. Combined together, it is an episode that is constantly reminding you of how small you are, both in space and in time.
On the flipside, the wistful colours are a key reason behind the episode’s stunning visual appeal. The backgrounds gain a more imposing look that sells the larger scale of Ula’Ula Island. The opening scenes at dusk and the post-commercial break scenes at dawn take on a unique look found nowhere else in the series. When night falls and the Minior showers begin, they shine in pastel lights, giving them an ephemeral glow.
Mono no aware is an awareness of impermanence, and it is that awareness that is crucial. We are small and insignificant. We are just a flicker in the history of the world. There comes a time when you realise that. It’s terrifying. It goes against every single assumption you build as you grow up. Yet The Minior Episode also reminds us of something else. We are impermanent, but so is everyone and everything around us. And those impermanent people and things shine brightly.
There lies the other side of mono no aware, the beauty of the impermanent. The Minior Showers and their subsequent end are an unforgettable sight, and the episode makes sure to show it. And they are just one of the many fleeting joys of life. The warm sunrise or the mysterious sunset. The excitement of a field trip, emblematic of the curiosity of youth. The friendships you make, regardless of whether they fade. These moments may not exist in the future, but after they’ve happened, they will exist in the past.
If you look at it through this lens, the message of acceptance rings truer. The Minior Episode is about accepting transience. It is an episode that asks you to spend time with your loved ones while you can. It wants you to capture and cherish the now and, once now is gone, to remember it. And finally, it wishes that we can all shine brightly, becoming one of those unforgettable lights before we vanish into the night sky.
Perhaps most people won’t see it this way. They will watch this episode and feel sad for the Minior, for Sophocles and Poipole, and that will be that. But to those who were touched deeply by this episode, the post-credits scenes drop one final treat. Elsewhere in Alola, the various adults watch the distant Minior Showers. They who understand transience, reminded once more of a lesson they’ve already learnt. And what better way to show that than Lana’s mother watching the Minior showers, her twin daughters sleeping in her lap.
The time we spend in this world is limited, and the time we spend together is even moreso. We won’t last forever, so make the most of now.
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