Love or Hate: Team Rocket trio

[technickal]

Probably of the anime's most divisive characters, the Team Rocket trio debuted in the second episode and proceeded to appear in every episode for the rest of the first three series. They've drawn some ire for showing up in episodes when it would be better for them not to, but have an equally vocal set of fans who love their amusing banter. BW took the detractors' side and limited the amount of episodes they appeared in while playing them up as more of a threat, but this alienated some of their old fans who believed they weren't as entertaining that way. XY and SM tried to reconcile the two arguments by reverting them to their more comedic selves, but still limiting their amount of appearances. However, it seems as though OLM and TPC are having trouble finding the right balance, as both TRio-focused and TRio-free episodes have received mixed reactions. Hearing those reactions, I decided to bring this debate to light--do you love or hate Team Rocket? Or somewhere in between?

 

[BigDocFan]

I stand in the middle, I like them when they are more serious like in Best Wishes but not when they appear to try and capture Pokemon and fail every episode

 

[ii kanji]

HOW is this even a question?! They're the dream!

 

[Islander Princess]

I like them. I've been really frustrated with not being able to see past characters more often, so it's nice to have Team Rocket as a constant alongside Ash and Pikachu.

The only time I didn't like them as much was in BW when they tried to make them serious. What I like about Team Rocket is their personalities. They are really nicely written and complex characters, and the way they were portrayed in BW was nothing short of cardboard. Really just another example of the writers trying to be "edgy and serious" and failing at it. I was much happier when their personalities came back.

Some of the best lines in the anime, in my opinion, come from Team Rocket. If you asked me to pick out some of my favorite quotes from the show, a good chunk of them would be from Team Rocket. Those days in the dub are pretty much long over at this point, but that isn't the actual characters' fault. I still really appreciate them being included.

 

[SinnohEevee]

I don't like how they are treated better than some more important characters. Like why do they get a pass to appear in every series while better characters don't get it?

 

[ii kanji]

Because there are no better characters.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Because there are no better characters.

Dawn says hi.

 

[Islander Princess]

Dawn says hi.

That's personal preference though. And in any case, none of the companions stay on anymore past their own saga because of marketing. It's lame because a lot of those characters do get developed well and it would be nice to see them last longer, but that won't happen because at the end of the day, they are strictly being used to market the games.

Team Rocket has become as synonymous with the anime as Ash and Pikachu. I remember reading somewhere that at the end of the OS, there was a choice to be made between keeping Misty or Team Rocket. Team Rocket was chosen. Now, in my own opinion, Misty was the best female companion so obviously I wish she had stuck around. But seeing what the pattern has become with those characters, she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. Team Rocket doesn't have to be used to promote anything, so there's not really any reason for the writers to get rid of them.

 

[SinnohEevee]

That's personal preference though. And in any case, none of the companions stay on anymore past their own saga because of marketing. It's lame because a lot of those characters do get developed well and it would be nice to see them last longer, but that won't happen because at the end of the day, they are strictly being used to market the games.

Team Rocket has become as synonymous with the anime as Ash and Pikachu. I remember reading somewhere that at the end of the OS, there was a choice to be made between keeping Misty or Team Rocket. Team Rocket was chosen. Now, in my own opinion, Misty was the best female companion so obviously I wish she had stuck around. But seeing what the pattern has become with those characters, she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. Team Rocket doesn't have to be used to promote anything, so there's not really any reason for the writers to get rid of them.

If the anime can survive without Misty and Brock, I think it can survive without the TRio.
Team Rocket is old story in the games.

 

[Neo Blaze]

I'm kinda meh on Team Rocket. I can tolerate them in SM so far (much more than I could in XY) but I wouldn't mind if they were written off the show either at this point. They don't add much to the show anymore for me, and haven't in a long time. At least I'm happy they're no longer in every single episode.

 

[ii kanji]

Dawn says hi.

If the anime can survive without Misty and Brock, I think it can survive without the TRio.

Best Wishes says hi.

 

[Cresselia92]

I have nothing against them, but I feel they have stagnated for quite some time and have lost their original charm. I seriously miss James gushing over a bottle cap, for example, and I wish they got some more serious and emotional focus.

 

[ii kanji]

I seriously miss James gushing over a bottle cap, for example, and I wish they got some more serious and emotional focus.

I heard that bottle caps were a feature in the SM games? I'm kinda hoping that shtick comes back in the near future facilitated by that. (It hasn't been totally forgotten at any rate as it was referred to in his XY flashback + in Danka.)
Deffo up for some more focus though. Looking forward to seeing where they might take the Rocket vs Skull story in a couple of weeks.

 

[Islander Princess]

If the anime can survive without Misty and Brock, I think it can survive without the TRio.
Team Rocket is old story in the games.

It's obvious the games have no effect on Team Rocket though. They can co-exist with whatever evil team is in the latest games and usually have some kind of rivalry with them in the anime. It's a different story with companions who they explicitly use to market games as they're usually ripped directly from gym leaders or player characters.

Team Rocket is one of the things I still enjoy about the show. Not so much in recent sagas (they suffered from horrendous writing in BW, and XY) but I feel like SM has been somewhat of a return to form for them. There's been more focus on their comradery as a team which I appreciate much more than just shoving them into an episode to try and steal Pikachu. They were always presented as being more than just villains and that's something I really think has been neglected over the past few years.

 

[Sakuraa]

I absolutely despise them. They are easily my least favorite characters in the entire series. Especially Jessie. She's so obnoxious that I can barely stand to even look at her most of the time. Recently I've become so fed up with them that I just completely skip their parts whenever they show up in an episode.

 

[Johtohfiller]

Best Wishes says hi.

I don't think anyone's better but I put Dawn in the same tier.

 

[ii kanji]

I don't think anyone's better but I put Dawn in the same tier.

We can no longer be friends.

 

[Jez]

I love these characters from the depths of my heart since the half of my life, they are my only passion in the world, my only fandom. BW was the biggest disappointment of my whole life.

 

[Dogasu]

They're being criminally underused in Sun & Moon.

 

[Almonds]

I both love and hate them. Half of me is sick of them having the same goal of stealing Pikachu when they could be doing other productive missions for the syndicate (hence their rivalry/actions against other syndicates being quite exciting). I have a feeling that if they had put all their effort into doing other stuff instead of stalking an overleved Pikachu, Giovanni would have already gotten his wish.
But the other half of me is quite fond of their traits and personalities - especially James. He befriended most of his partners and caught them because they genuinely liked him. I enjoy seeing those relationships between trainer and pokemon, and James has been receiving particularly strong affection from his pokemon.