RetroPokeFan
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- Nov 2, 2016
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If there was ever a battle for the best Pikachu portrayal I bet ya Journeys Chu would get thrown around by OG and Advanced Pikachu, hit by a quick attack by D&P Pikachu, smashed by an Electro Ball thanks to B&W Pikachu and then Iron Tail'd into the nearest trash can by both XY & S&M Pikachu combined all whilst the future Pikachu sits on a seat and rubbing his hands in glee.This is less of a properly established opinion and more of a rant, and I'm not sure how controversial this is-if, at all-but: Journeys’ direction in how they’re taking Pikachu’s character has got to single handedly be the worst version of Pikachu I’ve ever seen.
All of his positive qualities have been completely stripped from him, spamming the negative traits to make him look like the cute battle mon who’s endearing traits are as nonexistent as Ash’s Gengar. I used to find his childishness cute and endearing, but now I find it petty and annoying. I used to find his relationship with Ash to be the best thing of the show, now it feels so forced and contrived I feel like throwing the screen down anytime a moment between them is shown. I used to like his design, but now I dislike it. I don’t even like the way they animate Thunderbolt and the different ways they animate it throughout each series is something I’ve loved. He just feels like a cardboard cutout of an over glorified pet in the skin of the franchise’s mascot to justify poor writing.
JN030 has got to be one of the worst episodes I’ve ever seen in the entire anime and the amount of “focus” this atrocious interpretation of Pikachu has gotten makes my skin crawl. All of the Pikachu episodes before Journeys used to have a certain “charm” to them-a charm which was stolen from this series as soon as the pokemon being treated as nonexistent became a pattern.
He’s completely out of character, to the point where every episode makes me wonder if I’ll have an easier time watching Pikachu on-screen if I pretend its an impostor and not the same character...this is BW Team Rocket all over again. Every single moment with said character is either completely and utterly boring or absolutely gratingly painful to get through because of how offensive the characterization is.
He doesn’t have a single solid relationship with any of his teammates, sans Lucario...a relationship which actually, at this point, has once again fell to the endless abyss that is the forgotten of Journeys. In previous series, Pikachu was shown to be important, while in this series, I constantly wonder why the hell he’s even here. The supposed set-up battle between him and Leon’s Charizard feels like the MOST boring and uninteresting “rivalry” and future battle-so much so, that Pikachu’s “rivalry” with Mimikyu looks like it’s to the level of Ash and Paul in comparison. Pikachu's battle with Korrina's Lucario is ALREADY leagues above this battle and the outcome of that battle doesn't even make sense!
His relationship with Ash doesn’t feel organic and you’d have to force me to watch any of the Pikachu episodes in this series again because of how annoyed and utterly exhausted I am of Pikachu in Journeys. His design is weird, his “cute” moments feel annoying and not the slightest bit cute, his Thunderbolt animation feels weird, his relationship with Ash doesn’t feel as endearing as it used to either because it feels more of “human and pet” rather than “best friends” or "brothers" or "equal partners", Pikachu feels like a baby, and his role is so unfathomably bland and uninteresting that a piece of burnt toast feels far more appealing. There are only so many ways I can say how Journeys Pikachu makes my blood boil. I used to think I would hate it if Pikachu was removed from the show, but by all means, with the nonsensical direction that Journeys has already been taken since Episode 1, just DO IT. I’d cheer for joy if that meant that Pikachu would be back up to speed character-wise for Gen 9.
And before anyone asks, yes, I even find that Journeys Pikachu sucks battle-wise, as well. EVERY single battle he’s been in so far has been so dull and tedious to get through it’s a miracle I didn’t walk out of the room to take a nap on the couch during his battles. I’ve already said how I don’t like the animations for his battles...everything else just feels repetitive. And when his teammates battle, he doesn’t cheer them on anymore. This is ESPECIALLY irritating when I’m re-watching XY and so far, in EVERY gym battle...Pikachu is seen either battling or showing immense support for his teammates and helping Ash. His role is important-even when he isn’t battling. Remember Olympia’s gym battle? Ignoring the fact that Frogadier and Talonflame are best bros, Pikachu complained about wanting to battle until he got to HELP out. He didn’t mind not battling as long as he could help Ash and his teammates out and that’s what I absolutely ADORE about Pikachu.
I thought something similar would happen in the Iris episode(which ironically, is my only favorite episode from Journeys) but NOPE. He still retains his whiny and unlikable attitude that makes me wonder what happened to the electric mouse that I used to love so much. I miss his relationship with his teammates, I miss his tendency to be the “peacekeeper” and the “team captain”, I miss his leadership tendencies, I miss his wholesome and special relationship with Ash, I miss his actually interesting battles, I miss his important roles in the show, I just miss Pikachu period. Pretty much the only interesting thing I find about Journeys Pikachu is his relationship with Kangaskhan because I find that they made her a good PotD...but that’s it. The only thing I like about Pikachu in this series is ONE SINGLE THING that only showed up in one episode and was never shown again. What was the point in this backstory again? Ohhhh….right. They wanted to make it go viral. Silly me.
Honestly, just make an episode where Pikachu disappears for some reason for the rest of the show and I’ll be content. As long as I don’t have to see him until the next gen, I’ll be more happy with each episode that comes out from Journeys. Everything about Journeys Pikachu just frustrates me SO much that at this point, I’m going to skip every episode that gives Pikachu a major role(e.g JN073).
Sorry if this comes out as more whiny and obsessive complaining, but I've been keeping this on my chest for a while now.