kantoskies
Prepare for over-used stock animation!
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2011
- Messages
- 1,260
- Reaction score
- 3,187
It would have made sense to speculate Satoshi leaving so many other times before now:
Plus it’s been proven that Satoshi is really little more than a blank slate for the writers. Do they want an inexperienced rookie who doesn’t know how to catch a Pokémon and will lose to a low-powered Pokémon? Do they want a seasoned trainer that will act as a mentor figure to others? Do they want a goofy kid who’s on vacation? He can be any of those things, regardless of how he was in the preceding series. Plus since he’s been around since the very first episode he makes it much easier for the writers to throw in little nods to the past for nostalgia with flashbacks.
And if they did actually replace him, you can bet the new protagonist would have a very similar personality (determined, excited about Pokémon, optimistic, energetic, friendly) and would definitely have a Pikachu. They would inevitably be seen as a Satoshi 2.0, so why bother going to the trouble of creating a brand new character if they’ll just be the same as before?
The only way I could ever see Satoshi leaving is if Rica Matsumoto decided to retire or something. I don’t know enough about her or how the business works or what her contract dictates, but if she decided to leave the show I could definitely see them using a different protagonist. And while I don’t know for certain it seems like she is still having a blast playing the character so I don’t see her going anywhere anytime soon.
- After Kanto/Orange Islands because of the Gen II games having a new protagonist
- After Johto because it was the end of a series
- After AG because the early promos for DP were so Hikari-focused we could actually imagine what a series without Satoshi would be
- After DP because BW looked like the biggest departure of the anime yet
Plus it’s been proven that Satoshi is really little more than a blank slate for the writers. Do they want an inexperienced rookie who doesn’t know how to catch a Pokémon and will lose to a low-powered Pokémon? Do they want a seasoned trainer that will act as a mentor figure to others? Do they want a goofy kid who’s on vacation? He can be any of those things, regardless of how he was in the preceding series. Plus since he’s been around since the very first episode he makes it much easier for the writers to throw in little nods to the past for nostalgia with flashbacks.
And if they did actually replace him, you can bet the new protagonist would have a very similar personality (determined, excited about Pokémon, optimistic, energetic, friendly) and would definitely have a Pikachu. They would inevitably be seen as a Satoshi 2.0, so why bother going to the trouble of creating a brand new character if they’ll just be the same as before?
The only way I could ever see Satoshi leaving is if Rica Matsumoto decided to retire or something. I don’t know enough about her or how the business works or what her contract dictates, but if she decided to leave the show I could definitely see them using a different protagonist. And while I don’t know for certain it seems like she is still having a blast playing the character so I don’t see her going anywhere anytime soon.