Do you think Ash/Satoshi should be replaced?

[Cybersai]

I want Ash to be replaced so bad after his regression in the Unova league, how boring he's gotten, and how much character development he's gotten from the OS to DP just thrown out the window. They're never gonna do it though because it all goes back to Pikachu. Pikachu is the most popular Pokemon and he's basically the mascot for Pokemon and this status just gives the writers a need to constantly market him and remind people he's always there even though nobody is gonna be forgetting about him anytime soon. At this point, especially with how much focus he got over the Unova Pokemon, I'm sick of Pikachu and he AND Ash need a break.

Very true. I would have been fine with Ash in Unova if they kept his DP skill and he finally won this league and entered a Champion league. But Best Wishes proved to me that the writers don't intend Ash to progress anymore, they'd rather make him a rookie again and just go through the same cycle every generation

The stupid thing is they wouldn't even let him get into the finals of a league before he regressed him. So I guess "Top 4" is the best he'll ever get.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Very true. I would have been fine with Ash in Unova if they kept his DP skill and he finally won this league and entered a Champion league. But Best Wishes proved to me that the writers don't intend Ash to progress anymore, they'd rather make him a rookie again and just go through the same cycle every generation

The stupid thing is they wouldn't even let him get into the finals of a league before he regressed him. So I guess "Top 4" is the best he'll ever get.

Not necessarily. Way in which Ash character was handled in one saga doesn't create pattern or serve as indication through which he would be treated in future. Its entirely possible that writers do better job in next generation with low interest for BW serving as lesson how something needs to change to keep people interested in future.

Current formula of Ash and Pikachu being hammered in strength, repetitive concept of starting "fresh" falling short of winning league, scarse continuity, abandon of ex companions and shallow development is on shaky legs and cannot sustain itself forever. And as evidenced by now negative reception of fans, complaining and drop in ratings only serves as index how this can't go on for much longer sending message to writers how things need to change by analyzing their mistakes and making better job in future.

Such as doing better development with characters making anime more continuity based by taking advantage of those who proven to be popular and successful breaking down monotony, along with embalming development of main protagonist with more substance .

As such getting rid of him for new protagonist wont suddenly give us more profound story, better character development and different formula being required first to clean up mess you did with current characters before moving on to next ones.

Not to mention it would be shame to have Ash leave on low note after 15 years without getting any conclusion or achieving something significant in story making all that years of traveling, learning about new strategies and experience he build over time pointless and did for nothing.

Especially when there clearly exist potential tom do much more with Ash character than just winning one pokemon league, which contrary to some belief is just one step which brings you closer toward master title.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

What happened to him in BW was truly terrible, but I don't know if I really want him to go.
Really he just needs to be written better

 

[Darth Darkrai]

One Word I have to say and that is "NO!"

 

[karczx]

He really needs to be written out at this point. I'm sorry but BW ruined him along with Dawn's cameo to the point that I don't want to see any of them in the show anymore. Maybe unless if they have a change of heart, which isn't going to happen.

 

[SSJ_Jup81]

He really needs to be written out at this point. I'm sorry but BW ruined him along with Dawn's cameo to the point that I don't want to see any of them in the show anymore. Maybe unless if they have a change of heart, which isn't going to happen.

The perfect time to have written him out probably would've been Johto, but Pikachu is just too popular and Pikachu and Sato are like two peas in a pod and in a way, you can't really associate one without the other at this point. I don't think he'll ever be written out.

 

[Almonds]

Come on - as much as we want it, we're all going to be stuck watching Ash and his endless loop for the next twenty years, with the writers never learning what they're doing wrong...

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

I don't know rating seem to falling and I don't remember BW getting a marathon on Cartoon Network USA for a non movie premiere. I could be wrong though.

 

[Caseydia]

He really needs to be written out at this point. I'm sorry but BW ruined him along with Dawn's cameo to the point that I don't want to see any of them in the show anymore. Maybe unless if they have a change of heart, which isn't going to happen.

The perfect time to have written him out probably would've been Johto, but Pikachu is just too popular and Pikachu and Sato are like two peas in a pod and in a way, you can't really associate one without the other at this point. I don't think he'll ever be written out.

Johto? After that crappy saga? Forget about just the league and think about the saga itself for a second. I would have hated they dropped Ash off after that. In Hoenn he was finally showing some maturity somewhere and in DP I didn't mind him at all. In fact, if it weren't for him, I'm sure there would be no Paul to interact with but someone else with someone else.

I personally don't think he should have been replaced in Unova either. But he definetly should have been written better. Words of the wise, never make "similar kanto rebooted clones". They will turn out bad.

 

[CrystaI]

Do I want Ash to be replaced? DEFINITELY!!!!

Do I think Ash will ever be replaced? Probably not, just by looking at the stereotypic progress of the current anime. I doubt the Pokemon franchise even ever thought of replacing Ash with another character. Besides, the best timing of replacing Ash had gone long ago. Making a sudden change right now will just destroy the current plotline of the anime and give a feel of incongruity.
But however, that doesn't mean the current anime is fine. What I mean is a paper that was dyed completely into black and stayed black for a very long time. Now, dye it immediately back to white will rather feel awkward, because we had accustomed ourselves to this "black paper" somewhere in between. Though, it might not be we as the audience who is accustomed to it, but rather it is the Pokemon franchise themselves. Just dump away this "black paper" seems too much of a waste, but yet dye it back to white also seems something not right (probably it is just against their will). Will Pokemon anime ever intended to gradually dye it back to white? I'm not sure, because the current Pokemon anime without the direct leading of Shudo Takeshi, the very first original scriptwriter of Pokemon anime, nor Tajiri Satoshi, the original creator which knows the best what and how the series should do to make Pokemon appropriate as "Pokemon", is hesitate to dye the paper back to white even only by slightly a bit.

 

[Almonds]

Hopefully, though, SOMEDAY they let Ash win a major regional Pokemon League, write a grand finale to his adventures and give him a good send off.

HOPEFULLY.... though chances are 0.000000000000000001% since the writers never learn from their mistakes. We just saw the disaster in Unova after all those years. They're probably going to keep recycling Ash until he's practically trolled from head to toe and is nothing more than a loser being sacrificed.

 

[Trevenant]

I don't think he will nor do I want him to be replaced. Satoshi has been the heart and soul of this anime since day one and it's always been the story of his journey, which they note at the beginning of every episode in the opening. Throughout the 700+ episode series, I've grown extremely attached to him and even in his BW incarnation, I still want to cheer for him. I want to see the conclusion of his story one day, but I don't want the anime to go on without him. I suppose this all boils down to a desire to see a proper ending for Satoshi - one that will require and effort to make happen - and I can't see him being written off the show as a good way of giving him and us a sense of closure about his story. If they ever tire of writing him, that's fine, but I'd rather see the whole series brought to an end and a totally different Pokemon anime brought in it's place. Now isn't the time for that, though. Ending everything after such a low-point for the character and his skills might seem tempting, but I think it'd probably end up leaving a bitter taste in a lot of peoples' mouths. I know it would in mine.

 

[Slkitzle]

Re: Do you think Satoshi should be replaced?

I don't think that they should replace Ash with another protagonist. I find him very entertaining to watch and I think that he fits the role as the main character very well. I think he could actually be a very interesting character, if they(the writers) actually took the time to develop him more. It's kind of weird knowing that you've been watching 16 years worth of a cartoon and you barely know a thing about the main character's life before the time the series takes place in. It kind of lessens the quality of a character if you fail to build them much of a back story.
But that's getting off-topic, isn't it?
I think the reason that he has been the main character all this time is because he is a dynamic character. His constantly getting new friends and traveling partners tends to change his personality, even if in a subtle way. After DP ended and Brock left, a part of his personality seems to have rubbed off on Ash, in my opinion, and he actually seems to have become more fatherly, particularly to his Pokemon. He also seems more laid-back in BW, possibly showing Dawn always telling him "not to worry" has paid off. It's just a crazy theory I guess. Though, the fact that he has become better at battling and Pokemon training isn't. If a character's personality can change, there is no reason to replace them.

 

[GWrando]

I think rather than immediately replacing him, they should move Ash to the Brock role and focus on a rookie trainer. It would enable them to keep Ash, have him grow as a character and still focus on new characters. They could also still have him gaining badges in this role, having him be both a rival and traveling companion of the new character... and have him either get to the Semi-finals or win the league.

It would allow them to try something new and see if it works, if having Ash as mentor/rival/companion doesn't work they could always change it back the season after by having it go back to Ash being the central character... or if it does work, they could eventually use it to segue Ash out and focus on the new character. Or continue with the new dynamic... just a thought.

 

[Cybersai]

I think rather than immediately replacing him, they should move Ash to the Brock role and focus on a rookie trainer. It would enable them to keep Ash, have him grow as a character and still focus on new characters.

They already did that with May, does that not count? Or did you not see the Hoenn saga?

 

[GWrando]

I think rather than immediately replacing him, they should move Ash to the Brock role and focus on a rookie trainer. It would enable them to keep Ash, have him grow as a character and still focus on new characters.

They already did that with May, does that not count? Or did you not see the Hoenn saga?

They did it poorly in Hoenn, Ash acted as the mentor all of three episodes until Brock returned. After witch he returned to business as usual. He still gave her advice, but as time went on he regressed more and more into his old patterns until around the battle with Brawly he didn't really act like a mentor at all. So no... that doesn't count.

 

[Cybersai]

They did it poorly in Hoenn, Ash acted as the mentor all of three episodes until Brock returned. After witch he returned to business as usual. He still gave her advice, but as time went on he regressed more and more into his old patterns until around the battle with Brawly he didn't really act like a mentor at all. So no... that doesn't count.

Not sure what you're talking about, given Ash blamed himself when May lost her first Contest. Granted he didn't train with her as much as he did with Dawn, but then again AG barely had any training episodes like the way DP did it. Also when she lost a contest in mid-Hoenn he actually took the time to tell her how to get better afterward. Plus with Max around you always got the impression Max was looking up to Ash.

The problem with DP, is the writers treated Dawn as Ash's equal, which made no sense as Dawn was a rookie trainer and Ash had 4 regions of experience over her. They had to downplay Ash's Pokemon just so Dawn could battle against and alongside him. I remember how ridiculous it was that in the episode right after Dawn's baby Cyndaquil hatched, it was actually giving Grotle trouble in battle...which made no sense. And then we had Piplup which the writers treated like it was as strong as Pikachu was so it could battle alongside it.

 

[GWrando]

They did it poorly in Hoenn, Ash acted as the mentor all of three episodes until Brock returned. After witch he returned to business as usual. He still gave her advice, but as time went on he regressed more and more into his old patterns until around the battle with Brawly he didn't really act like a mentor at all. So no... that doesn't count.

Not sure what you're talking about, given Ash blamed himself when May lost her first Contest. Granted he didn't train with her as much as he did with Dawn, but then again AG barely had any training episodes like the way DP did it. Also when she lost a contest in mid-Hoenn he actually took the time to tell her how to get better afterward. Plus with Max around you always got the impression Max was looking up to Ash.

Ash didn't blame himself, he attempted to comfort her after her loss, the act of a friend or a sibling... NOT A MENTOR!

When he took the time to tell her to get better that was also the act of a friend, so once again... NOT A MENTOR!

A mentor is one who teaches things to another individual, pushing them past their current limits to help them become better than they are. The archetypical mentor of AG was Brock as he was in OS and DP. Ash never became the mentor.

Max didn't really look up to Ash all that much, he more looked up to his father, and while he was impressed with some of Ash's achievements he also managed to see Ash's losses. You get more of an impression that he viewed Ash as another sibling than he did an idol. I never once while watching AG got the impression that Ash was a mentor to May or idol to Max. He seemed more like a friend or sibling to them. Then again that was the theme of AG... family. Ash, May, Max, and Brock became a sort of secondary family to each other.

 

[1rkhachatryan]

Hell no, not until they throw him a bone for once.

 

[Caseydia]

I think rather than immediately replacing him, they should move Ash to the Brock role and focus on a rookie trainer. It would enable them to keep Ash, have him grow as a character and still focus on new characters.

They already did that with May, does that not count? Or did you not see the Hoenn saga?

They did it poorly in Hoenn, Ash acted as the mentor all of three episodes until Brock returned. After witch he returned to business as usual. He still gave her advice, but as time went on he regressed more and more into his old patterns until around the battle with Brawly he didn't really act like a mentor at all. So no... that doesn't count.

It was the writers mistake for bringing Brock back not Ash's for trying to help May out in the beginning. Besides, I'm sure if he didn't show up he would have probably continue doing so along with Max. As far as his regression goes, this happened in every saga and will probably happen again either with him in XY or another protagonist. If the writers wanted him to succeed than he would have already. Changing main characters won't solve this problem that they seem to have.