Best Wishes ratings in Japan

[Cybersai]

It probably is the big reason. We were promised a big epic storyline with Giovanni finally returning as the main village of the series, the Japanese especially were hyped up about it due to all the promotion (see Dogasu's article to see how much they did), and then its skipped, Giovanni disappears, and Team Plasma is nowhere to be found. I also wonder how many of them were fans of N and were disappointed he didn't get a debut either.

Likewise Trip's character being a bomb compared to Paul, and possibly the lack of Contests may have made some of them lose interest. I wonder how much impact BW2 will have on the ratings due to Dawn/Piplup.

 

[Jukain]

I honestly don't know what to make of this myself. The franchise itself is doing well, so it could just be the anime. I also don't think the quality of the story has anything to do with it's decline, given what I know. (then again, I don't know what the JP fans think of previous sagas) This is still news to me, although I'd like to know how this stands against the other anime, since last I knew, Pokemon was still in the top 10. (this might've been during DP, though)

 

[Silktree]

But Masuada wanted the games to surpass the sales of G/S/C, which BW failed to do.

He was actually less ambitious than that, saying that he wanted Black and White to surpass Diamond and Pearl's sales. Despite the strong pre-order sales, the final sales figure will probably be roughly equal to Diamond and Pearl's.

 

[Sweet Veil]

Okay, not to sound like a smartass but most of you that are assuming ratings have gone down due to newer sagas being inferior to past ones are way off base. Ratings most of the time don't work like that, things just have changed over the years.

Ratings don't matter too much for Pokemon because it thrives on merchandising. The games, toys, cards, plushies, and anything crap you can think of mainly keeps it afloat. Worldwide Pokemon is probably one of the most popular Japanese Children Franchises in existence, the merchandise sells excellently in America, Japan, and everywhere else. Pokemon doesn't need high ratings to survive, not that having high ratings is bad because Pokemon gets great ratings, even in America BW has gotten higher ratings since last year. But, that's not the point.

Over the years people in general just aren't watching tv as much as they used to. TV Ratings just aren't a nearly as effective way of measuring shows' successes as they used to be. We have things like CN Video, Hulu, YouTube, Toonzai, Internet, iPhone Videos, Downloads, things we didn't have back when I was five. Not to mention children these days are encouraged to be more active, go outside more, do extracurricular activities, and not sit in front of the TV.(Whether this part is effective, I dunno.) What motivation do people have to watch TV in the morning/afternoon when they can just hop online and watch it whenever the heck they want. Not to mention half the people in Japan don't even supposedly have cable. I wouldn't be surprised if the Earthquake situation was even more devastating. With all that

In terms of online media affecting ratings. Take many ABC shows for example. The shows TV ratings have dropped, but they still are some of the most popular shows watched online due to Hulu popularity and such. The best example I can probably think of is Family Guy, popular online and TV. Hell, Spongebob is still popular online and over the years on TV cause it gets a lot of advertisement and airings, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter cause the show sells merchandise like the wind around the world no less. I know many Bulbagardeners who just watch new "South Park" or "Legend of Korra" episodes online rather than on TV, because they either live in another country, are in college, don't have cable, or just wanna watch it on their own time. I'm probably one of the only people who actually wakes up to watch it live, one person out of a dozen fans. The show gets great ratings, I'm just using that as an example.

"The drop in quality" is nothing but a bunch of skewered anime fandom nerd nonsense. Ash's idiocy at times and Team Rocket blasting off every episode may be forcing the *anime nerds* to change the channel but, I can assure you that's not the case for the target audience.

"People" (Grandparents, parents, kids, general tv watches, teenagers, basically "people" who aren't in the fandom) don't care about Trip being inferior to Paul, they don't care too badly about the TP Special being taken out of order, and most likely didn't completely stop the show because of it, they aren't quitting the show because of it.

Dawn appearing, Cynthia, Piplup, these characters are just appearing to advertise BW2, that's that. This isn't some convoluted attempt to boost ratings. The only "Ratings" booster attempt I could see being plausible is Mamoru Miyano being in Pokemon and this whole "Ouran Host Club"-ish crap with Cilan, even then that's hardly anything and most likely just a coincidence with the whole "Bishounen" genre.

Plus like someone mentioned, less babies are being made.

tl;dr. Developments are happening, things are changing in the media world. Ratings are becoming outdated, and more and more people just are not watching TV liked they used to, this ain't just Pokemon it's just TV in general people.

At the end of the day, it's easier to watch an uninterrupted episode of Pokemon online instead of an interrupted episode at 8/9AM in the morning on a Saturday.(Sport Events, Scouts, Practice, Various things)

 

[Dogasu]

Not to mention half the people in Japan don't even supposedly have cable.

TV-Tokyo is not a cable network, though. Anyone with a TV in Japan has access to the channel.

Still, the rest of your post is correct. The idea of "appointment TV" - that is, being forced to be in front of your TV from this time to this time - is becoming a thing of the past, and that's probably one of the bigger reasons why the ratings keep going down. People back in the Kanto days couldn't go online and watch the newest episode whenever they wanted and were just stuck watching the show whenever TV-Tokyo felt like airing it. With things like YouTube and torrents, that is no longer the case.

 

[Silktree]

With things like YouTube and torrents, that is no longer the case.

But how many kids use those? I don't think that YouTube provides access to full episodes anymore, either.

 

[SSJ_Jup81]

Could another reason for less people watching be due to the fact that there are less kids in Japan now? The birthrate is dropping tremendously, which would also explain the new immigration rules/laws for foreigners, but that's a bit OT. Just wondering if that could be it or the cause.

Also, I doubt Japanese elementary school kids are using the Internet that much. Seems to be a rarity for them to.

Why is population in Japan going down? They're moving to other counties or having less children?

Edit: I see my reason was mentioned, so ignore my post here. ^^

More people are opting out of having children for many reasons. One being that some people just don't want children because of how expensive it is. Women are more career focused now. Some people are worried about job sercurity since, unlike how it once was, you can't get a job with a company and hope to keep it for a lifetime until retirement anymore (hence more two-income homes compared to the past). For the MOST part, it's pretty much economic reasons.

Not to mention half the people in Japan don't even supposedly have cable.

TV-Tokyo is not a cable network, though. Anyone with a TV in Japan has access to the channel.

Maybe in Kanto it's not considered cable, but in other places, maybe that's not the case...seemingly. It's like the WB back home. It's not a cable station, but in my area, we didn't get it.

This is my second time living in Japan, and I'm in a situation, again, where I've never had access to TV Tokyo outside of the Kanto area.

 

[Jukain]

I'm not too sure that the Internet is all to blame, since the majority of the anime's decline was in Johto itself, and that was a time before video was as prevalent in the net as it is now. In fact, even though each successive saga does generally do worse than the last, the graph shows that AG and DP were pretty stable throughout their run. I might be able to say the later eps were mired by being available through other means, but I still think there is something about that initial nosedive that mired it for the rest of it's existence. I know Pokemania has never not been strong in Japan, so it's not that. Barring Johto, I would suppose that this is just the function of a show that has been running for a long time, and really the most they can hope for is to match the previous saga, although that is perhaps unlikely in itself right now

 

[Cybersai]

Its funny, the first 3 episodes of DP were all aired together and they got a 9.3 in Japan, but after the opening DP's ratings declined a bit. DP then continually got worse ratings than AG in the same time period.

What, did people just watch the first 3 episodes to see Dawn and Paul and then drift out?

This is what makes me think that a lot of AG's ratings also included people who grew up with Kanto/Johto. By the time the DP series began most of those old fans were adults, so they stopped watching the show. AG came early enough that most kids from Kanto/Johto were still in their early teens at the time, but DP was 10 years into the franchise, when everyone was hitting their late teens and early 20's.

Now with BW, its aimed at almost an entirely new generation of kids besides the few DP fans who stuck around for it.

 

[Jukain]

Remember that animation is not viewed the same as it is here. It is more acceptable for people of all ages to watch it, but I can see how the target audience would shift over time. Maybe the anime really isn't as prevalent anymore, I dunno. That would depend on if the merchandise can move on it's own beyond what the anime allows.

 

[Garren]

People misrepresent that...animation as a whole is more accepted in Japan, whereas in America it's usually considered the dominion of children unless it purposefully sets itself out as "adult (South Park for instance), but that means Japan creates animation for varying age groups. It does not mean that Japanese animation made for children is gleefully eaten up by adults without any social stigma. Adults just have more animation targeted at them.

 

[SSJ_Jup81]

But Pokemon is aimed at kindgergarten and elementary school kids. They're the target audience, in this case. Besides, at least they're around to watch the show. JHS kids and high-school kids, more than likely, wouldn't be, given that it comes on at 7:00 pm.

 

[Jukain]

I understand how they would shift to other shows as they get older. I doubt the adults even care beyond what their kids are watching. That's why I said I know it would shift over time. I think regardless of culture, kids are just exposed to different things than they were several years ago. This is why things have to struggle to remain relevant. Although I see no problem with Pokemon doing this, it is possible that the anime just no longer matters.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

BW drop in ratings in Japan is probably culmination of several factors. In my opinion writers attempt of making this series as some sort of alternate "fresh start" with lack of continuity, lack of older pokemon , lack of older companions along with repetitive and overused to death same story of Ash being regressed going from start was one of reasons which disinterested among audience. From what i noticed outside of Japan, almost nonexistent continuity in start with past being ignored wasn't accepted well at all, and i wouldn't be surprised if good portion of viewers over there didn't liked this approach either.

Formula drastically changing from DP with contests being excluded and all that build up toward Team Plasma being done for nothing didn't helped either. People were hyped up for TR vs Team Plasma confrontation for months wanting to see those episodes and expansion on it, but everything was in vein ending disappointed.
Every time writers screw some major plot, or do unexpected and shocking change of things this reflect on anime starting to decline. It happened in mid Johto because of GS ball being dropped and too many fillers which leaded nowhere(though fad started to die out too, being probably main reason). It happened when original trio was disbanded after Johto(outside of Japan), and it happened now in Best Wishes as well because of writers misplays and abandoned storylines.

People which say how today kids don't spend much time in front of TV like they used to before bring up valid point and this could be one of reasons too, but im inclined to believe how there is more than just this behind Bw drop of ratings with series quality and lack of viewers interest being one of major reasons imo.

I pretty much agree with posters which say how BW2 outburst of older pokemon and companions is probably one of attempts to boost ratings up. Like Dawn and Piplup return which are very popular with writers deciding to reuse some of characters which proven to be successful bringing good ratings, trying to maintain people interest with such surprises leading to possible return of other all time favorites too.

It already happened before with Misty return in AG, or May in DP bringing boost to ratings attracting more viewers,so it wouldn't be strange if one of reasons behind unexpected returns in BW is for this reason.

I tend to wonder if the gradual decline in ratings will eventually lead to a complete reboot. You can tell the writers are trying to shake up the anime but every series tends to do less than the previous.

Although I strongly believe the reason BW's ratings declined is because the TR episodes were skipped, and Japanese fans felt they couldn't see something epic and gradually lost interest when TR stopped appearing entirely for one-off missions. The fact that so many Japanese still want to see the episodes despite the tragedy in their home country says a lot.

People don't want fresh start, they want better story and better development for characters. Replace someone so popular like Ash and do complete reboot which still involves weak story with new face tacked on it, and this will reflect on ratings very negatively.
In BW writers had attempt of half reboot and ratings still dropped showing how people don't want alternate show, but more enjoyable current anime.

I'm not too sure that the Internet is all to blame, since the majority of the anime's decline was in Johto itself, and that was a time before video was as prevalent in the net as it is now.

I could be wrong, but didn't Johto still had higher ratings than BW?

 

[Cybersai]

I think we'll know in two weeks how BW2 will impact the ratings. There might be a spike at the beginning and it may go down again until the TR stuff happens.

 

[Zero Gravity]

Frankly I think they really need to drop this series, it had a good run, but everything in it that has been done (filler wise), has just been done to death.
I think they really should look more into that BW2 anime special they made for the game.

The characters wouldn't overstay their welcome with each changing game, movie could be even more interesting. DO what the Super Sentai and Kamen Riders do with their movies, have the main protagonist team up with the previous series' protagonist, maybe even show a spoiler for next series' protagonists.
There's so much material in the games to work with that you don't even need filler.

 

[Hurricane Kishore]

I don't know if this is surprising or not, but Best Wises anime ratings in Japan seem to be the lowest the series has been in some time. I've checked both AG and DP's ratings for the same time period and they were much higher.

Apparently BW2's marketing push of old Pokemon an characters returning is supposed to boost ratings. Any idea if possibly the abandoning of the TR and TP episodes caused people to lose interest?

You wanna know why ''Best Wish'' rating dropping ???
Easy !
Because Writer doesn't paying any attention in Ash image !!!
Thats the main reason ! From the beginning of the series Ash lose a trainer who just got his very pokemon ! Not just once but Twice !
Tell me , If a Newbie trainer who just start his journey become superior then Ash then Who else is Left for Ash to be inferior to ???
Now , Ash look totally like a LOSER who can be beaten by any trainer no matter what their condition is !
I mean , In other series Writer did concern about Ash image but now they doesn't give a second thought about ruining Ash's image & reputation .
I wish someone who know japanise send this one line to the Pokemon Anime Writer-
The more you people gonna ruin Ash's image , The lesser TV Rating you people will have !!!
I admit that their are some popular Anime with Pathetic protagonist like slam Dunk , Naruto and Yugioh Zexal but Those Show has a APPROPRIATE PLOT in APPROPRIATE TIME !
But Best wish doesn't have a ''Appropriate Plot'' and the ''Appropriate Time'' for Ash to be inferior passed 14 year ago !
The Current Plot & Current Time of Best Wish require Ash to have a ''Great Formidable Character Image''
But Writer keep using Ash as a Scapegoat for other character ! Like Pod , Drew , Kenny ,Trip Etc !
Just because Ash is main character doesn't mean Ash has to be scapegoat !
SCREW THOSE PEOPLE WHO KEEP SAYING THAT ASH TAKE ALL THE SPOT LIGHT SO WRITER SHOULD GIVE CHARACTER MORE FOCUS !
Those people didn't watch AG and DP series or they are blind because Writer give plenty of attention toward other character in those series even if they had to use Ash as a Scapegoat !
Other character like May , Dawn , Drew , Zoey ete got more then enough spotlight ! Truth is , Other Anime wouldn't pay that much attention toward them !
I'm not saying that Writer should on Ash ! But Writer should focus only on One goal & the thing that connected to that goal rather then many Separate goal !
He also try to Connected other goal to That goal !
Like , If pokemon is about Ash becoming a Pokemon master then writer should find a plot where he become a Pokemon master and at the same time he save the world ! That way 2 different goal will be connected !
Like Slam Dunk , It was a Story about a Delinquent Basketball hater boy named Sakuragi who end up playing Basketball and fall in love with playing this game !
All the other other event such as Sakuragi's one sided feeling toward Haruko , his fierce rivalry toward Kaede and his team goal of winning the National was point toward in this one Goal !
That why the Mange ended when Sakuragi admit and declare that he loves playing basketball !
If Pokemon about Ash becoming a Pokemon Master then Writer should only focus on that Goal and the people or Event that conected to it !
He shouldn't try to focus on those who has nothing to do with that goal ! Even if they are Ash's traveling companion !
He should treat Ash & his Major rival as Main character ! that way ''Best Wish'' would got more rating !

 

[garrison-san]

If you want to discuss whether the anime should call it quits altogether, feel free to submit a thread to Pokemon League for our consideration. But this isn't the place to do so.

Also, please don't treat this thread as a general soapbox for ranting about what you think is wrong with Best Wishes. We have plenty of other debate threads where you can discuss those concerns. This thread is about trends in the Japanese ratings - you can discuss which factors may have caused ratings to drop or rise when, including certain aspects of the anime, but please make sure it pertains clearly to the topic. It is certainly no place for angry rants directed at the anime's writers.

 

[Cybersai]

It's interesting enough the TR radio thing has like 10,000 followers, I think people are hoping that leads in to the eventual airing of the skipped episodes and Gio's return in the anime.

 

[Ghetsis-Dennis]

Do you guys really think the TR Vs. TP episodes would change anything? Even if they were aired in their original time, the ratings will still be the same as today because once they finish watching those episodes, they'll stop watching the anime overall until the next TP episode.