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Why are the writers pretending like this doesn't exist?

SinnohBoi

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Seriously, what is wrong with showing continuity in the show? Especially if they're able to show us that ash did leave all those years ago and saw ho-oh?

The biggest problem right now is that the show has messed its own timeline up and it doesn't seem concerned in fixing it? Perhaps the best way is to keep ash's age mysterious like they did before best wishes. Maybe then they won't be concerned to let us know that ash is a 10 year old all the time.
 
I don't see how his age would fix it. I can believe that he was older than 10 in XY and I don't think it was stated, but that series was the worst offender in terms of ignoring continuity.
From what I recall having heard, the lack of continuity in XY was actually some sort of mistake. They just kind of forgot to make much continuity nods while building a strong in-series story.
 
From what I recall having heard, the lack of continuity in XY was actually some sort of mistake. They just kind of forgot to make much continuity nods while building a strong in-series story.
Don't trust everything people say in interviews. You don't just forget the show's past like that, and if you somehow do, that isn't a good thing.
 
The story of XY wasn't nearly as tightly woven as some would like to think, especially not during the first two years. There was ample time for references.

In fact, they did find the time to reference Ash's past as a young kid for Serena's sake, but it was barely consistent with his OS personality. And they made up some story about how he went to the woods to play with wild Pokemon (in the post-Wulfric depression episode), instead of using something that actually happened in the OS.
 
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Seriously, what is wrong with showing continuity in the show? Especially if they're able to show us that ash did leave all those years ago and saw ho-oh?

The biggest problem right now is that the show has messed its own timeline up and it doesn't seem concerned in fixing it? Perhaps the best way is to keep ash's age mysterious like they did before best wishes. Maybe then they won't be concerned to let us know that ash is a 10 year old all the time.

I'm not sure what Ash's age has to do with the timeline or how Ash still being ten messes that up. I think that the Japanese version didn't make his age mysterious prior to BW like the dub did. The dub would add in lines about how it had been years since Ash started his journey pretty frequently during the 4Kids seasons. Not showing much continuity is a problem, but I wouldn't say it's one of the biggest problems in the anime. It's more frustrating than anything else.
 
To be fair, most of the OS backstory that they showed us only revolved around his rivalry with Gary. Outside of that rivalry, it's quite easy to assume that he's always been outgoing, friendly and helpful in general. So there's not really any sort of contradiction happening.
He was too gentlemanly with Serena (at age 6...), in a way that never manifested even when he was older during OS-BW. This can be excused in that Serena probably embellished her flashback, but most viewers don't see it that way, which was the intention.

The current series presented a much more believable backstory about Ash failing to wake up on time for camp, and Oak agreeing with Go that Ash was excitable and simple-minded. That is not to say that Ash wouldn't have helped a girl like Serena, but he would not have been nearly as suave about it. What boy at that age would?
 
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The director did say that XY is really written from Serena's perspective (which probably explains why Ash's characterization feels a bit out of place with characterizations in prior series). Ash's actions at 6 don't really add up given how he acts in season one, but I think you can write it off as Serena having an over-idealized view of him.
 
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It's simple. The anime is meant for kids Ash's age--that is, 10-year-olds. Most members of its target audience aren't going to be watching the show for long enough to pick up on continuity references to episodes that aired before they were born. So that's why, with every new region, the writers get to "reset" and start over. They have a fresh audience who won't likely remember the old series.
 
It's simple. The anime is meant for kids Ash's age--that is, 10-year-olds. Most members of its target audience aren't going to be watching the show for long enough to pick up on continuity references to episodes that aired before they were born. So that's why, with every new region, the writers get to "reset" and start over. They have a fresh audience who won't likely remember the old series.
That's not a reason to ignore continuity, the "new fans won't understand or will be confused" and "it's a kids show" are terrible arguments that have been debunked several times over and over. And what do you mean "won't remember the old series" especially when that "old series" is literally the one preceding it...?

If you ask me, the writers just can't be bothered writing something cohesive.
 
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It's simple. The anime is meant for kids Ash's age--that is, 10-year-olds. Most members of its target audience aren't going to be watching the show for long enough to pick up on continuity references to episodes that aired before they were born.
Considering how many times I've heard this response, I might as well just copy and paste this:
The idea of confusing new viewers was never considered a problem in any of the previews series, so why should it be considered a perfectly acceptable excuse now? And no, the slot change isn't a valid excuse, since the episodes air at around 7 PM JST, when people (including children) are very likely to still be awake and able to watch them.


So that's why, with every new region, the writers get to "reset" and start over. They have a fresh audience who won't likely remember the old series.

Except that they've only started doing this recently. All of the series from OG through Diamond & Pearl had references to previous series and continuity nods here and there. Best Wishes started out by ignoring everything that came before, but gradually started referencing the past more often (Dawn's return, Ash's Charizard's return, Clair's return etc.). XY stared right where Best Wishes left off and had some minor references to past series occasionally (Oak's Rotom, Ash mentioning Dawn and her Piplup indirectly), but they eventually stopped as the series went on (which is understandable, as they chose to focus on the Kalos region and the XY series' story, which didn't offer them that many opportunities to reference the past series). Sun & Moon, on the other hand, was the most egregious. as that was the anime's 20th anniversary (the perfect opportunity for them to openly acknowledge all of the series that came before) and, yet, outside of four episodes, continuity was mostly non-existent. And, the same goes for this series: this series is set all over the Pokémon world (thus being another great opportunity for them to openly acknowledge the past) and, yet, outside of a few minor references here and there, continuity has been mostly non-existent once more.
 
Sun & Moon, on the other hand, was the most egregious. as that was the anime's 20th anniversary (the perfect opportunity for them to openly acknowledge all of the series that came before) and, yet, outside of four episodes, continuity was mostly non-existent.

That's not entirely true. Ash actually acknowledged he owned Tauros in the first episode, and recognised every Pokemon that wasn't native to Alola. On a more meta level, they also used Mezase! Pokemon Master and Type: Wild for its OP and ED for quite a while (I know these were technically movie promotions, but it's something older seasons didn't do).
 
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XY stared right where Best Wishes left off and had some minor references to past series occasionally (Oak's Rotom, Ash mentioning Dawn and her Piplup indirectly), but they eventually stopped as the series went on (which is understandable, as they chose to focus on the Kalos region and the XY series' story, which didn't offer them that many opportunities to reference the past series). Sun & Moon, on the other hand, was the most egregious. as that was the anime's 20th anniversary (the perfect opportunity for them to openly acknowledge all of the series that came before) and, yet, outside of four episodes, continuity was mostly non-existent.
XY didn't have any more continuity than SM and PM and it somehow gets a pass?

Since SM brought Brock and Misty back and there's a high chance of more references to the past in PM2019, XY stays as the worst offender when it comes to continuity in the series.
 
That's not entirely true. Ash actually acknowledged he owned Tauros in the first episode, and recognised every Pokemon that wasn't native to Alola. On a more meta level, they also used Mesaze! Pokemon Master and Type: Wild for its OP and ED for quite a while (I know these were technically movie promotions, but it's something older seasons didn't do).

Oops. I actually forgot about that. Still, one minor instance of him remembering something from the past doesn't change the fact that continuity was mostly non-existent in SM though. And the "meta level" doesn't mean squat when it comes to plot and fictional worlds.

XY didn't have any more continuity than SM and PM and it somehow gets a pass?

XY at least had an excuse compared to the other two. And I'm not trying to give it a pass. Guess I worded it poorly, but my point was that the whole idea of them pulling a "reset" started out with BW (even if it was eventually abandoned) and was continued after, making it a more recent development and not something that was there from the very beginning, as El Squibbonator claimed.

Since SM brought Brock and Misty back and there's a high chance of more references to the past in PM2019, XY stays as the worst offender when it comes to continuity in the series.

Yeah, SM brought back Brock and Misty twice, which is commendable considering their last appearances were years prior. But (outside of Lana getting one of Misty's special lures offscreen) they don't get referenced again in the name, nor do they have an impact. Not to mention that these were just 4 episodes out of a series that had 146 (a series that was also supposed to be the 20th anniversary of the entire anime and of the entire Pokémon franchise). Though, in fairness, those were 4 episodes that were entirely focused on Brock and Misty and were full of references to the past. So, I guess in that regard, SM was indeed better when it comes to openly acknowledging the past than XY (even if that past was cut down to just the OG series (and not even the entire OG series, but just the Indigo and Johto sagas)).

But the current series certainly doesn't have any kind of excuses and I'm not gonna consider it better just because of the small possibility that they might reference the past, especially since it already had plenty of opportunities to do so (like the BF episode or the Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden knock-off) and, yet, for some strange reason, it chose not to (outside of them acknowledging the first episode). And, in fact, I'd go as far as to say that it is the worst offender, as it actually introduces stuff that, unlike XY or SM, openly contradicts the past, like the Go mechanics, which clash with how captures used to work, or Ash now owning Mimey.
 
Oh boy here we go with the 'there's no continuity!!!' arguments. First of all I don't see why the writers would need to pander to older viewers by showing those old Pokemon. Because let's face it, everyone here already knows that those Pokemon exist, so why do most of those same people insist that we need reminders in the show of their existence?

Imo it isn't even feasible for the writers to show all of those Pokemon again given that they're focusing on Ash and Go traveling around to other regions and it isn't in their best interest to derail the new structure of the anime to give us an episode set at Oak's lab just so that the ~1% of viewers who would even appreciate seeing those old Pokemon again to start with can get their satisfaction.

I'm sorry but out of all the complaints that I've seen about this series, this whole 'Ash's reserves need to come back' thing is one of the more asinine complaints especially when you remember that we're only like 10 episodes into the series anyways, so there's still technically time for something like that to happen later on if you really want to get your hopes up.
 
Imo it isn't even feasible for the writers to show all of those Pokemon again given that they're focusing on Ash and Go traveling around to other regions and it isn't in their best interest to derail the new structure of the anime to give us an episode set at Oak's lab just so that the ~1% of viewers who would even appreciate seeing those old Pokemon again to start with can get their satisfaction.

They don't even need to go that far. They could just have an establishing shot of Oak's ranch showing some of Ash's Pokemon. People who don't know who they are will just think they're normal Pokemon. People who know who they are can be happy they saw them again.

References don't have to be obtrusive. Ash goes to the ranch every season; it wouldn't take much to have a few harmless shots of his Pokemon messing around. Or do what SM did with their scene transitions and show us a very brief glimpse of a Pokemon doing something.
 
View attachment 130593

Seriously, what is wrong with showing continuity in the show? Especially if they're able to show us that ash did leave all those years ago and saw ho-oh?

The biggest problem right now is that the show has messed its own timeline up and it doesn't seem concerned in fixing it? Perhaps the best way is to keep ash's age mysterious like they did before best wishes. Maybe then they won't be concerned to let us know that ash is a 10 year old all the time.
Ash's age was not kept mysterious. When asked about it over a decade, ago, TPCi said he's ageless in the same way that Mickey Mouse is.
 
Please note: The thread is from 4 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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