How do you feel about kids growing up with the current series?

[Cybersai]

You ever think what it must be like for 8 year old kids nowadays to watch Best Wishes as their first saga? To them, Iris and Cilan are their, "Misty and Brock," and Team Rocket are actually competent villains. They may briefly know who Dawn and Brock were if they caught the tail-end of DP, but even characters like May (and the rest of the AG and DP cast) are probably unknown to them.

These kids don't know anything about the shows history, like Ash's rivalry with Gary, why Ash's Charizard was important, they may have seen very little to nothing of Misty or Brock in the show, and don't know about the majority of Ash's older pokemon. And no, most little kids don't go online to watch pokemon episodes from decades ago unless they're purposely shown them by older siblings. I know if I was 8 years old I wouldn't be thinkijng about these old pokemon episodes from years ago.

I thought it was always obvious the reason the writers do these, "Fresh starts," is because they don't want to confuse little kids too much about these older characters and Pokemon that they don't even know about.

We've already seen some people come into the fandom who said they started watching with Hoenn or Sinnoh oddly enough, which already proves the age gap of fans is now scattered between younger and older fans. How do you feel about little kids watching the newest arc?

 

[Karamazov]

My sister's a fan of DP. I really do enjoy seeing her grow up with a Pokemon series, even if it's not the same one I grew up with. I just wish she wasn't so adamant about only watching DP.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I thought it was always obvious the reason the writers do these, "Fresh starts," is because they don't want to confuse little kids too much about these older characters and Pokemon that they don't even know about.

There's also the fact that it's much easier for the writers to promote the newest Pokemon if they have a fresh start with each new series, but not wanting to confuse little kids who haven't seen the older series and aren't familiar with some of the characters is definitely a reason for the decision as well.

As for the question itself, I'm fine with it. Since Pokemon has been going on for so long, it's only natural that there would be a significant age gap among fans, especially online forums like this one. It isn't even a new development since there are plenty of kids whose first series was AG or DP, so the idea of BW being the first Pokemon series for kids doesn't feel like a stretch.

 

[PockyAddict]

I'm actually kinda fine with that. I look at it from a kid's perpective and some of them are attached to that season of pokemon like I kinda like I am to the 1st series. If AG, DP or BW are thier favorates, I have kinda accepted that. Heck some of them were'nt even born when the OS was airing.

And yeah that is basically the reason why they reset ash and pikachu for that reason.

 

[Gengarzilla]

I honestly have no problem with kids nowadays viewing TR as a threat and not knowing who Brock is. They're still fans no matter when they started watching.

 

[MizuTaipu]

I personally don't see a drop or rise in the series' quality from Kanto to Isshu so kids today aren't really missing much, especially since stations rerun earlier episodes too. However, in my honest opinion, kids born in the mid-80's to today did grow up with a sub-par Pokémon dub that's for sure.

 

[Winterdaze]

I tell ya, kids these days have got it easy, they don't know how lucky they are. Back in my day we didn't have no Best Wishes,600 Poke-mans, waiter boy or half-dozen rivals. We just had the 150 Poke-mans with the ponytail bird, ol' slanty eyes and the Gary Oak and if ya didn't like 'em then well phooey, ya just stuck with it cause folks was patient in those days. Shippin' was easier too, ya either liked this one or the other one, and if others didn't like it then ya declared war on 'em cause they was wrong. 'Course that's how I lost my leg but folks was tougher in those days. Then ponytail lass left the show in back in '03, we didn't like that and war were declared again, course I lost my other leg but folks could walk on their hands back in those days.
So all you kids can quit complainin' about what you have to deal with, you don't know nothin'!

 

[IcyNinjaX]

I personally don't have an issue with kids watching Best Wishes. If they like Pokemon, then let them be. I'd get pissed off If kids try to hate on older Seasons.
If I had my own kids, I would rather let them watch the Original series where It all began.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Im not sure how should i feel. When you have long running show like pokemon which constantly replace characters, erase older ones like they never mattered and has very small attention toward past its inevitable how new generations of fans wont know full picture of pokemon like older fans do.

Its sad some of them don't know how everything started, missed on many great characters like Misty, May, even Brock and how important thy were to series or Ash growth as trainer, don't know how Ash older pokemon are obtained and in what way pokemon anime evolved over all this years.

But that's perfectly normal for show with little continuity and which recycles audience too, so im not really bothered by it.

Although because of not being familiarized with some of this things i imagine they probably sometimes get confused too. Since occasional references to past, flashbacks,return of older traveling companions sometime as well revival of previous characters and events which later might influence story might raise up unanswered questions among them.
Such as Giovanni and TR organization.

And no, most little kids don't go online to watch pokemon episodes from decades ago unless they're purposely shown them by older siblings. I know if I was 8 years old I wouldn't be thinkijng about these old pokemon episodes from years ago.

I thought it was always obvious the reason the writers do these, "Fresh starts," is because they don't want to confuse little kids too much about these older characters and Pokemon that they don't even know about.

There are reruns of older pokemon episodes on several TV stations, there are DVD's, older relatives and information about older sagas on pokemon sites.

This doesn't apply to all of them, but good chunk of today kids actually do know about this things being surprising how informed they are about things which happened over 10 years ago.
Rejuvenated fanbase of older characters proves this too with many previous main character fans you see on forums being between 11 and 18 , and they obviously didn't grew up with OS or AG.

 

[ProfOaked]

tbh I am around little kids a lot and they know the OS and Ag characters just as well as the DP and BW characters. I guess the reruns on Boomerang help plus the local library and Blockbuster has the old series too. As for growing up in the BW world I don't see it much different then what the OS group grew up with. i mean we had minor differences but nothing drastic.

 

[The Togekiss]

I don't mind personally. Pokemon fans are Pokemon fans. And we all gotta start somewhere, right ?
I personally didn't grow up with the original series. I became a Pokemon fan around mid-AG.
But I knew who Misty was, I went to the local video store every few days and got those old tapes with a few episodes of the original series, along with some movies(I remember seeing Lucario and the Mystery of Mew with a golden sticker that said "NEW RELEASE!"). Sitting in the back bedroom on the bed,sometimes with a snack, without any f***s given. Oh, the nostalgia XD.

 

[Faye Scarlet]

I'm glad they're getting a quality dub, I can't even watch the OS episodes in English anymore.

 

[ProfOaked]

I'm glad they're getting a quality dub, I can't even watch the OS episodes in English anymore.

Wow a person who likes the new dub over the 4Kids one. You my friend are very cool. I like both tbh but I love how the current dub uses many acotors unlike 4Kids who seemed to use like 6 for the entire series. Heck we even got some Funimation people like Tatum,Clark and now Vic as Keldeo

 

[Hurricane Kishore]

If you people talking about the Kids who hang around me then I say that they lose interest in Pokemon.
They seem more interested in ''Inazuma Eleven'' and ''Beyblade'' !!!

 

[Archaic]

I understand the reasons for the fresh starts, and I even appreciate what they've done in helping to stop the franchise becoming stale. But I'll admit that I do sometimes feel a little weirded out that so much of the fandom, if not the majority of the fandom, really wouldn't have that much familiarity with its history. If Misty came back next season (just as a totally random hypothetical here), the proportion of the fanbase that'd actually fully appreciate that is incredibly small.

I guess it just makes me feel old, more than anything else.

 

[ProfOaked]

If you people talking about the Kids who hang around me then I say that they lose interest in Pokemon.
They seem more interested in ''Inazuma Eleven'' and ''Beyblade'' !!!

Well tbh Inazuma Eleven is better XD. But yeah Kids today do get better writing eps then we did 90s group. DP was much better written then OS by far. However OS had better fillers.

 

[Cybersai]

I understand the reasons for the fresh starts, and I even appreciate what they've done in helping to stop the franchise becoming stale. But I'll admit that I do sometimes feel a little weirded out that so much of the fandom, if not the majority of the fandom, really wouldn't have that much familiarity with its history. If Misty came back next season (just as a totally random hypothetical here), the proportion of the fanbase that'd actually fully appreciate that is incredibly small.

I guess it just makes me feel old, more than anything else.

If anything it actually makes sense why the writers actually stopped giving older characters cameos, because many younger fans don't know them. They give them one extra cameo in the series after they leave and that's it. I think this is because some fans carry over, for example all of us Kanto fans continued to watch AG when it aired, so to many of us we knew who May and Max were...and we saw them in DP. Then for the DP fans they got to see Dawn in BW.

It now seems like each main girl just comes back once in the series after they leave, and then that's the last we see of them. Same reason we haven't seen May again since the Wallace Cup, and why Dawn's recent cameo in BW is probably the last we'll see of her for the rest of the series.

 

[Toa of Ponies]

I'm glad they're getting a quality dub, I can't even watch the OS episodes in English anymore.

I hate the new dubs!! , Its just I grew up on the OS and can not get over the new voice actors. I admit sometimes its very bad quality, but thats why I like it

 

[Faye Scarlet]

I grew up with the original dub, too, and I still hate them. D: Kids today deserve a dub that cares.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Well tbh Inazuma Eleven is better XD. But yeah Kids today do get better writing eps then we did 90s group. DP was much better written then OS by far. However OS had better fillers.

Eh in some aspects, not all imo. DP generally had better constructed storyline treating plot, pokemon and development of characters better but when it comes to comedy aspect, creativity of plots and group dynamic i still think OS done better job there.

Sometimes i wander if kids who aren't familiarized with OS or AG would appreciate this sagas just as much as we do, if they watched them.

If anything it actually makes sense why the writers actually stopped giving older characters cameos, because many younger fans don't know them. They give them one extra cameo in the series after they leave and that's it. I think this is because some fans carry over, for example all of us Kanto fans continued to watch AG when it aired, so to many of us we knew who May and Max were...and we saw them in DP. Then for the DP fans they got to see Dawn in BW.

It now seems like each main girl just comes back once in the series after they leave, and then that's the last we see of them. Same reason we haven't seen May again since the Wallace Cup, and why Dawn's recent cameo in BW is probably the last we'll see of her for the rest of the series.

I don't agree with this approach. Anime maybe doesn't need them in cast to go on,but erasing previous traveling companions from existence like they never mattered is rather bad decision taking away from show credibility. After all if this is supposed to be anime with continuity, set in same timeline following adventures of constant protagonist(Ash)it only makes sense to bring back previous friends which influenced his development as trainer and receive more development themselves considering how writers have habit of not finishing what they started.

Such move also deprives younger generations from opportunity to better comprehend Ash past, and gets to know his friends which played important role in his growth he made over the years and anime history.

Not to mention when you see writers bringing secondary characters like Gary, Jasmin, Butch and Cassidy who kids in DP never saw either, it defeats purpose of preventing target demographic to end up confused. Recent revival of Giovanni and TR organization is proof in itself how if writers find older character might be beneficial for current storyline or decide to do something with him, they wont really hesitate on bringing them back whether today kids may know about them or not.

Beside we don't really know how much today demographic knows about older characters or not. They are certainly more blessed than we were back in day having easier access to internet, chance to watch reruns on TV stations like Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Pokemon Smash etc. giving them opportunity to find out about it.

p.s. About older fans which transfer over to new generation people who grew up with OS and continued watching when AG started were small minority, when taking in account how Hoenn had notably lower ratings than Kanto or Johto. Same applies to Hoenn or DP fans.