Controversial opinions

[FinnishPokéFan92]

The series director changed not the head writer

My bad. I misremembered.

 

[Unireon]

The series director changed not the head writer

Thanks for telling me.
Still, it's a bad sign.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Honestly, even with a new director, I'm not gonna have much hope until I start to see things turn around for Ash, seeing them find a way to turn things around for the PWC, and present Goh with some actual challenges. He's had it too easy.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Speaking of “fan-service”, I think Lucario might be the biggest shoe-horn of all time in the anime, simply to market the Darkest Day arc.
In my opinion, Riolu had no right to evolve there, and should still be Riolu now. It didn’t feel justified, and quite frankly, it’s one of the most disappointing aspects of this series. For what’s marketed as Ash’s main Pokemon this series, having it develop, unfairly towards the other members of his team, only to completely drop any signs of its growth ever since the evolution, is down-right strange. I mean, Chimchar, Froakie, Treecko and Litten weren’t treated that way at all. They had development throughout and shared the spotlight - Turtwig’s Energy Ball training, as well as its adaptation to its evolution was mixed in with Chimchar’s entry and growth. Goodra took the wheel before Greninja, and Ash’s Alola team practically shared the attention every episode; they were that good you couldn’t even tell who Ash’s main was, Torracat or Lycanroc?
It’s strange for a otherwise brilliant Pokemon that reflects Ash’s desire to fight and grow, have a strange twist in personality, to where it seemingly sleeps all the time.

 

[BNSF1995]

At this point, the only way they can salvage Journeys is to split it into two distinct series, like what happened to Battle for Dream Island when it was split into Battle for BFB and The Power of Two.

One series would follow Goh and Chloe's world travels, while the other would be a traditional Sword & Shield series with Ash travelling Galar with Hop and either Gloria or Serena wearing Gloria's default outfit.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

At this point, the only way they can salvage Journeys is to split it into two distinct series, like what happened to Battle for Dream Island when it was split into Battle for BFB and The Power of Two.

One series would follow Goh and Chloe's world travels, while the other would be a traditional Sword & Shield series with Ash travelling Galar with Hop and either Gloria or Serena wearing Gloria's default outfit.

Who the hell would want to watch Goh and Chloe alone with no fighting/battling aspects? Cool idea, though.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

Speaking of “fan-service”, I think Lucario might be the biggest shoe-horn of all time in the anime, simply to market the Darkest Day arc.
In my opinion, Riolu had no right to evolve there, and should still be Riolu now. It didn’t feel justified, and quite frankly, it’s one of the most disappointing aspects of this series. For what’s marketed as Ash’s main Pokemon this series, having it develop, unfairly towards the other members of his team, only to completely drop any signs of its growth ever since the evolution, is down-right strange. I mean, Chimchar, Froakie, Treecko and Litten weren’t treated that way at all. They had development throughout and shared the spotlight - Turtwig’s Energy Ball training, as well as its adaptation to its evolution was mixed in with Chimchar’s entry and growth. Goodra took the wheel before Greninja, and Ash’s Alola team practically shared the attention every episode; they were that good you couldn’t even tell who Ash’s main was, Torracat or Lycanroc?
It’s strange for a otherwise brilliant Pokemon that reflects Ash’s desire to fight and grow, have a strange twist in personality, to where it seemingly sleeps all the time.

Honestly this applies to Raboot also. I think Raboot should have had more time as a Raboot and should have gotten its development spread out over the course of the series. And I'd even say the Darkest Day shouldn't have happened so early in the series. I would have spread out its development, such as seeing them gathering wishing stars, learning about Galar's history, and slowly uncovering info about the legendary doggos before we jumped to Chairman Rose starting the Darkest Day.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Thanks for telling me.
Still, it's a bad sign.

Why? If anything, I see it as a hopeful sign.

 

[Unireon]

The damage is already done to Galar.
They used and closed its main plot so soon.
How an anime based exclusively on that region could work without it?

Riolu/Lucario and Rabifutto/Aceburn were badly developed and their evolutions were rushed as highlights of an Arc, one that came out before being properly hinted towards and receiving enough build-up. The Black Night should have waited one year more, at least.

Why? If anything, I see it as a hopeful sign.

Changes of staff during production often result on inconsistencies or shifts in the tone of the plot.
What could come from the new director is not guaranteed to be better, but can still clash with what was already established by their predecessor.
It's open for plotholes, more derailment. Adding problems to the list, instead of fixing those that already afflict the anime

 

[ii kanji]

SM had a rather mixed reception with it going from everybody hating it in its first episodes to people slowly gradually changing their opinion after especially the Nebby Arc which made SM gain its own sub-fandom and status as a Top Three Series.

I remembered it being like this too, but for factual accuracy I must say that I am currently rewatching SM and rereading the old review threads, and it's surprising how positive the feedback was generally, with the exception of one or two of the same people bitching each week that the show jumped the shark. (Tbf each of these episodes is bloody fantastic and deserving of praise, glad we recognised it even at the time!)

 

[Daren]

I remembered it being like this too, but for factual accuracy I must say that I am currently rewatching SM and rereading the old review threads, and it's surprising how positive the feedback was generally, with the exception of one or two of the same people bitching each week that the show jumped the shark. (Tbf each of these episodes is bloody fantastic and deserving of praise, glad we recognised it even at the time!)

I recall a very strong negative reception when it was first announced but it seemed to calm down after the first episode or two (though I ducked out of following it pretty early on so I'm not sure what the opinion after that).

 

[Nicolas721]

My controversial opinion is that even with its flaws the PWC is better than the island challenge. At least in doesn't change its rules whenever it's neccessary and is a bit more active goal. I know some people disagree, but for me it damaged my experience.

Now look at journeys; it's the type of series that feels custom designed to run as long as needed. There are no benchmark goals dragging Ash closer and closer to a league he cannot be allowed to win; he can lose his rankings, or go lengthy periods of time without PWC battles because we have Gou to give episodes to; plus new Pokémon keep coming out so Gou has no end of future captures.

Whatever issues people have with it the setup works much better for a show you can't count on ever ending or being allowed to advance the main plot. I genuinely think the show would be more fondly regarded in the wider fanbase if it had been set up from the start as an episodic adventure series instead of a narrative that got stuck on replay for so long.

The main problem with this, as some discussed on this thread, is Leon. He's unlikely to remain noteworthy from Gen 9 onwards, why did they not used a anime-only champion then? Also, this series lasting further than 4 years would feel stale, kids who grew up watching it wouldn't have closure and newcomer kids would have a harder time connecting to overpowered characters.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Yeah, remember that a whole picture changes everything: BW and XY were extremely well-received during their first years, but as they went on they ended up being rather controversial sagas, especially BW. By contrast, Alola was rather divisive when it began, but ended up gaining a lot of favor by the time it ended. For all we know, something similar could happen to Journeys.

I don't know how controversial XY really is. People still disliked how the Kalos League was handled, but that didn't really seem to affect the series' overall reception. It's still probably one of the more popular Pokemon series out there, at least as far as the online community goes. It wouldn't surprise me if Journeys does gain more favor by the end of its run, or at least the hate for it dies down. Even though I do have my fair share of problems with the series and I can understand why people aren't as optimistic about it, I still genuinely enjoy watching the series. I like what I've seen of it and I don't think this series or Goh are the worst things to ever happen in the anime. As much as I understand and in some cases agree with the complaints towards Journeys, plenty of those complaints often feel like huge exaggerations too.

My controversial opinion is that even with its flaws the PWC is better than the island challenge. At least in doesn't change its rules whenever it's neccessary and is a bit more active goal. I know some people disagree, but for me it damaged my experience.

I can understand that. The PWC isn't as forgettable as the Island Challenge was, but when they remind the audience every episode that Ash wants to battle Leon, it makes it harder to forget the PWC by comparison. There were so many long stretches where the Island Challenge wasn't brought up that I really did think that they were going to drop it a couple of times. I do think that both goals suffer from being put on the side when they should be the main focus. As frustrating as the Island Challenge was, at least SM was going for a more slice of life format and they had a larger cast to work with. It didn't make the problem any better, especially when I felt that SM Ash had a lack of a clear goal in general, but it was kind of easier to deal with. It was extremely clear that they kind of gave up on regular Trials and just focused on Grand Trials about halfway through the Island Challenge since they were the closest to a Gym battle that SM could get.

The main problem with this, as some discussed on this thread, is Leon. He's unlikely to remain noteworthy from Gen 9 onwards, why did they not used a anime-only champion then? Also, this series lasting further than 4 years would feel stale, kids who grew up watching it wouldn't have closure and newcomer kids would have a harder time connecting to overpowered characters.

Having an anime-only champion would probably more forgettable than using the current generation Champion. Plus, they may have wanted to use eighth generation characters to some degree in the anime anyway. I really can't see Journeys lasting for more than four years. Three would still make more sense given its fast pace, but I don't think that the current setup would make it easy for them to make Journeys go on as long as they want to. With new Pokemon coming out all of the time, Goh would have new Pokemon to catch and Ash can just keep increasing his ranks, but by a certain point, the world tour gimmick and the PWC would feel a bit dull. Even now I don't know how they can make the world tour gimmick work when most of the time they're just bland backgrounds and they aren't interested in having arcs more often.

 

[Daren]

The main problem with this, as some discussed on this thread, is Leon. He's unlikely to remain noteworthy from Gen 9 onwards, why did they not used a anime-only champion then?

I'm not saying Journeys is perfect for a permanent series, but it's much better setup for one than the badge quests were, and the general thrust of my post is really that the show would probably have been better off embracing that sort of style from the start, although that's really an issue of hindsight.

Also, this series lasting further than 4 years would feel stale, kids who grew up watching it wouldn't have closure and newcomer kids would have a harder time connecting to overpowered characters.

With most of the prior series' ending with direct hooks to the sequel I don't think they care about closure.
Especially considering those who started when the show first came out haven't gotten it yet.

I don't know how controversial XY really is. People still disliked how the Kalos League was handled, but that didn't really seem to affect the series' overall reception.

I think it's generally XYZ that's controversial, and even then it's focused pretty heavily on Greninja and especially the Kalos league. Flare still seems well liked whenever it's brought up.
*

Edit: I suspect the large amounts of distaste for journeys is the feeling of wasted potential surrounding so many of it's core ideas like the PWC and the world tour. There's still time for recovery but I can't predict if that'll happen.

 

[Enzo]

Edit: I suspect the large amounts of distaste for journeys is the feeling of wasted potential surrounding so many of it's core ideas like the PWC and the world tour. There's still time for recovery but I can't predict if that'll happen.

That's my issue with this series tbh. It's a series that has a nice premise and that promises. And promises, promises, and promises once again, but never delivers.

Ash actually going to the ''next step''? Nope. PWC being treated fairly and being the big focus? Nah. Goh being a prime ground for developtment? Just smooth his flaws over off-screen. Chloe being a nice Pokégirl? She's a snore to me. Galar being presented in a satisfying manner and galarian mons having the time to shine? HA.

Seriously, I have never felt like this about a Pokémon series before. Even the series that I don't like, like the Johto part of OS, BW and some parts of AG and XY, still had stuff for me to come back to. But I have never felt this sheer disattachement towards a series. There's nothing about it that makes me want to come back and watch more of it. Each week gets harder and harder for me to just not drop this series completely. It's a scary feeling to have towards one of your favorite animes of all time tbh.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Despite being “Journeys”, the only episodes I’ve considered good so far have mainly taken place in Kanto and Johto, with the one exception being Korrina’s reappearance in Kalos, whilst Wilkstrom was wasted in all honesty (Episode was “meh” - 7/10).

Johto has managed to capture the unique landscape it has, all in that one Ho-oh episode alone, whilst Suicuine was another enjoyable episode showing off the grace of the beasts from the region. Kanto has been the primary ground for the show.

However, it’s an amazing how nothing else matters.
Honnen had that Flute Cup thing, and hasn’t shown off the region at all, and the same applies to Sinnoh and Kalos. Unova, had two episodes, and one of them probably ranked in the top five worst episodes so far this series for me, with lifeless backgrounds, and literally no appeal whatsoever. These regions, especially Sinnoh, haven’t even touched the landscape.

I wonder why Kanto and Johto have received this level of treatment. Coincidence? Maybe, but it’s absurd. There’s so much potential to give off adventurous vibes, yet they stick to the city all the time. What kind of researchers even are Ash and Goh? They never explore anywhere that hasn’t been touched by a general member of the public.

The other enjoyable episode was when Goh and Ash found Golurk in the Desert Resort, cause it used their strength and ingenuity to beat it, whilst exploring, and showing off the region of Unova. Why can’t all the episodes be like that?
I wish Journeys could embrace the land, and give some sort of adventure - explore Mt.Coronet for signatures of warping dimensions, Mt.Chimney for expedition on fire-types, Galar Mines for the natural resources the Pokemon there use to live, maybe seeing Roggenrola vs Rolycoly...not being stuck in the lab 24/7 being consumed by the roles of a frickin’ Plusle and Minun...cause the fillers are boring as hell.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I wonder why Kanto and Johto have received this level of treatment. Coincidence? Maybe, but it’s absurd. There’s so much potential to give off adventurous vibes, yet they stick to the city all the time. What kind of researchers even are Ash and Goh? They never explore anywhere that hasn’t been touched by a general member of the public.

They did explore that Dragonite Island earlier in the series. Maybe the Desert Resort could count too considering it is a historical landmark and would still benefit from being explored for research purposes, but that is a bit of a stretch. It does feel pretty rare for Ash and Goh to actually do work fitting as Research Fellows. Exploring the Desert storm that Flygon caused in the middle of Hoenn was another good example where it did feel more like they were researching Pokemon.

As much as I dislike the PWC, I will say that they handled Ash's losing streak better than I expected. For once, the fast paced one-on-one battles actually worked in the episode's favor since they wanted Ash to get three straight losses in a row. Plus, Ash being too focused in on his battle with Bea to understand how his other opponents would move differently, as well as causing him to be out of sync with Riolu, made a lot of sense. I haven't gotten to the Bea rematch yet, but if they actually showed Ash climbing back up the ranks instead of doing it all off screen, I think I would have given this losing streak storyline a bit more credit.

 

[DynamicFusion]

I never understood the hate for Sophocles. In fact, I find him pretty likable (Anime). Can someone explain to me why he was so hated?

 

[GrookeyFan77]

I never understood the hate for Sophocles. In fact, I find him pretty likable (Anime). Can someone explain to me why he was so hated?

Useless Clemont ripoff. Also SM006.

 

[DynamicFusion]

Useless Clemont ripoff. Also SM006.

Well, The two of them share similar traits, electric type users, tech nerds, not good at gym, etc. But those are superficial similarities. I don't understand the hate for SM006 either. It was probably the most funny (and entertaining) episode of the Pokemon Anime since the Diamond & Pearl Series. I remember when I first watched the episode, I was laughing and accidentally spit out my Coffee. It was one of the the most enjoyable episodes in SM to me. And you can tell the Animators were enjoying their work in that episode too, with how damn fluid and expressive the animation was. It was just so nice that after a Serious XY&Z Series, Ash was just having fun IMO.