Anime & Manga General Discussion

[Soublades192]

Well that’s the thing. With Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh, it’s a regular thing to change the protagonists. Not the case with Pokémon and that’s why changing Ash for two new characters is gonna be a BIG risk

It’s either gonna work or flop. And that Ash could return is a sign he will be ready to return if things don’t work out

 

[Hidden Mew]

Yeah, but after all this time, I thought they'd finally break that cycle with the announcement of Ash's imminent departure as the MC. Oh, and you may or may not be wrong saying that none of the characters in the anime age. For example, Professor Kukui and Burnet having their child, Lei, means that, unless the laws of their universe are completely illogical, someone must have aged in the time it took her to have the baby, right? Also, one other instance of aging, and this one is irrefutable:

View attachment 168406

Now, I'm aware, Pokemon might age differently than humans, but still-you said none of the characters in the anime age. Now, obviously I know you meant human characters, but this is still irrefutable proof of a being aging in Ash's universe. (Honestly, I betcha Shudo would've gone a different route with all these characters, so sad what happened to him and a pity he didn't stick around as director.)

I was thinking more about Ash and his friends since neither Max or Bonnie have aged despite wanting to be trainers themselves. I know about Lei, but considering that Ash is still ten in spite of Burnet going through a pregnancy, giving birth and he looks a good few months old, I wouldn't use that as proof of aging. Nothing about the passage of time in the anime makes sense and I thought that was solidified the moment Lei was introduced.

And I also remember that bit from Lapras' first return, but I also think that's a pretty big reach for irrefutable proof, or at least it feels like a bit of a melodramatic way to describe it as such. One instance of a Pokemon aging from over twenty years ago doesn't mean it's more likely that they'd have Ash or anyone else age at this point.

Oh, and I believe I worded "nostalgic plot device," poorly. Apologies if I came off as harsh, I wasn't trying to be. But you kinda got what I was going for anyway, right? I meant to say Ash will basically be just a guy who shows up later randomly for nostalgia bait, kinda like how his friends made returns in the past for the same purpose. Which, now that I think about it, I guess wouldn't be sooo bad. But you said it well yourself, you get that I and others would like a more conclusive ending for our hero from Pallet, and that the same old thing for Ash forever (his never-ending, eternally 10 years old journey) would just be kinda depressing. Like I said, give the man a happy ending for god's sake! I think he deserves it after all these years. And while the never-ending journey thing suits him, I think in the long run it'll make him kinda.....I don't know, forgettable? If he had a concrete conclusion, a happily ever after, if you will, it would pacify people in the long run better, I think.

It mostly felt like a harsh way to phrase it, but I still got what you meant. Using Ash as nostalgia bait instead of giving him a more definitive ending may not sound happy to you and other fans, but for me, I think it's fine. As much as I can understand wanting more closure for Ash after all this time, I think it keeping the door open for him is still better in the long run. Changing protagonists is a huge risk after all this time and they don't want to put all their money on the new leads by closing the door on Ash completely in case that bet doesn't pay off or pay off well enough for them. Plus, I kind of like the idea of Ash and Pikachu continuing to have adventures off-screen together. Not only because of the possibility of seeing them again, but I feel like that's just a more fitting way to send Ash off than having a time skip with him as an adult or something like that.

I highly doubt that Ash is going to be forgettable in the long run without a more concrete conclusion. He's been around for over twenty years as the face of the anime and both the Alola League and PWC victories gathered a lot of attention from fans online. Even regular news sites were reporting on his victories. I don't think he'd be easily forgotten. Plus, I'm pretty sure that they'll still use Ash for marketing or merchandise around the anime.

 

[Soublades192]

I swear…sometimes I wonder how a year works in AniPoke

 

[Imtnt]

So evolution, hatching an egg, brith to a baby, day and night, the time it took to grow hair on Serena's head .. all had nothing to do with the aging of Ash. Space and time went crazy anyway in the anime. He got shorter in Jns and all of his Jns pokemon became eggs. He saw 2 dif version of himself, he sort of died in skme movies.

After all this years? The only reason to age him is party with all of his friends or birthday mems in his home town.

 

[Emmy]

Do I dare hope that we might get a trailer or even some screenshots of the anime from the upcoming Presents?

 

[Konja7]

Well that’s the thing. With Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh, it’s a regular thing to change the protagonists. Not the case with Pokémon and that’s why changing Ash for two new characters is gonna be a BIG risk

It’s either gonna work or flop. And that Ash could return is a sign he will be ready to return if things don’t work out

I don't think this is the reason why he said Ash could return in the future.

I know there is this idea that they will return to Ash as a protagonist if the new season with Liko and Roy fails, but I really think it's unlikely. They will likely try with new characters for a new season.

An anime returning to a previous protagonist because the new series is a flop isn't common. Some people have mentioned Youkai Watch returning to the original protagonists, but they don't mention that the two times he has retuned has been reboots (where Nate discovers the Youkais in the first episode again).


PS: Honestly, do you really think the staff would comment about the return of Ash if the failure of the new season is needed to his return?

 

[Soublades192]

I don't think this is the reason why he said Ash could return in the future.

I know there is this idea that they will return to Ash as a protagonist if the new season with Liko and Roy fails, but I really think it's unlikely. They will likely try with new characters for a new season.

An anime returning to a previous protagonist because the new series is a flop isn't common. Some people have mentioned Youkai Watch returning to the original protagonists, but they don't mention that the two times he has retuned has been reboots (where Nate discovers the Youkais in the first episode again).


PS: Honestly, do you really think the staff will comment about the return of Ash if the failure of the new season is needed to his return.

I am more wondering why the staff wants to 'retire' Ash already after all of those years and to give a reason. Yes he just won a world championship, but you would think with how his journey will always go, that there is more stories to tell with him

 

[Eitarou]

Do I dare hope that we might get a trailer or even some screenshots of the anime from the upcoming Presents?

Unless you count the Hisuian Snow reveal, these don't cover anime stuff. Though, since this is a brand new era for the anime, it would make sense to give us something.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

Time doesn't really matter in the anime until it really matters. There's really no reason to expect to see him age any time soon.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Do I dare hope that we might get a trailer or even some screenshots of the anime from the upcoming Presents?

I think it's possible. They did show a family watching Journeys in their video about Pokemon Together shortly before they announced the Pokemon Presents. It's more likely that they'll focus on the mobile games, main series titles and potential spin-off games instead, but I could see them at least mentioning some new details about the new anime.

I don't think this is the reason why he said Ash could return in the future.

I know there is this idea that they will return to Ash as a protagonist if the new season with Liko and Roy fails, but I really think it's unlikely. They will likely try with new characters for a new season.

An anime returning to a previous protagonist because the new series is a flop isn't common. Some people have mentioned Youkai Watch returning to the original protagonists, but they don't mention that the two times he has retuned has been reboots (where Nate discovers the Youkais in the first episode again).


PS: Honestly, do you really think the staff would comment about the return of Ash if the failure of the new season is needed to his return?

While trying again with new protagonists if Riko and Roy aren't received well is probably more likely to happen, I don't know if I'd rule out Ash coming back entirely either. He is still iconic, marketable and getting him back after a few years would still attract attention to the anime, regardless of whether or not it would be a reboot. I can't say how likely it is that they'll do something like this, but it's one of the reasons why I think they'd want to keep the door open for Ash to return to some degree.

 

[Imtnt]

I feel like Ash wont come back as the main protagonist in the future anime storyline. In my eyes 10 year old version of Ash should be gone with this ending. Maybe in the movies / specials his spot is less problematic. More likely they would plan his future return for a smaller role if anything.

 

[nickdt]

You realize people will probably be pretty disappointed by this, myself included, right? Like, how is this a fulfilling end to Ash's adventures? Ohhhh, he's "forever ten." How does that make any logistical sense? If he's not going to be the MC from this point onward, they don't even have any reason to do that anymore, as he no longer has to be "relatable" to the "target audience". I just find this announcement to be rather annoying, honestly. Hopefully it's wrong, because I really don't see why Ash can't get an "ending" of sorts to his story.

Ash needs to stay relevant from a marketing standpoint... he needs to make the occasional cameo with Pikachu, since they are the faces of the franchise + it makes logical sense cuz if you age Ash up... you have to age up everyone... including the Alola cast, Misty, Brock to name a few examples and they are never gonna do that... since that prevents them from making cameo's for remakes or future games (Like for example if we get Lets Go Johto, it makes no sense to have aged up Bugsy in the anime... but child Bugsy in the game).

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Ash needs to stay relevant from a marketing standpoint... he needs to make the occasional cameo with Pikachu, since they are the faces of the franchise

They have AU Ash now for that.

it makes logical sense cuz if you age Ash up... you have to age up everyone... including the Alola cast, Misty, Brock to name a few examples and they are never gonna do that... since that prevents them from making cameo's for remakes or future games (Like for example if we get Lets Go Johto, it makes no sense to have aged up Bugsy in the anime... but child Bugsy in the game).

That's assuming that they even need to appear when we barely get any appearances from the past gym leaders despite of all these remakes.

 

[Imtnt]

I don't think them being aged is a problem. It is Ash and his friends got dif looks anyway, we could see Jns Ash, Master Ash, SM Ash..

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Happy Pokémon Day!

 

[Emelie]

I wonder if the new DLC set in Japan (?) could be the explanation for Liko's school uniform. That would explain why it looks like a Japanese school uniform even though she is from Paldea. But will the new anime take place in the DLC location? I suppose SV is a few months old now and they want to advertise the new DLC.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I wonder if the new DLC set in Japan (?) could be the explanation for Liko's school uniform. That would explain why it looks like a Japanese school uniform even though she is from Paldea. But will the new anime take place in the DLC location? I suppose SV is a few months old now and they want to advertise the new DLC.

Scarlet/Violet is still relatively recent and hasn't really had time for the anime to promote it, so I don't think that they'll feel the need to focus on just the DLC, especially when the first part won't be released until the fall. We also don't know how much focus Scarlet/Violet will have in the new series. They could ideally still adapt the storyline over the course of the series or they'll cram in the climax in single arc like they have been doing. Journeys didn't even cover the DLC for Sword/Shield. They use the new areas, but that's about it. A part of me wouldn't be surprised if the new series does the same thing with the DLC.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

The anime doesn't seem to care about advertising the games anymore. They …ostly care about plushies and the merchandise that use pokémon.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

Anyone else wish this had happened waaay more often during Journeys? I just found Chloe to be a far more interesting character than Goh. And even though it was only a short time, I liked the dynamic she and Ash had. Plus, they were sorely missing female representation during Journeys for about 95% of it.

 

[BigDocFan]