Controversial opinions

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Aside from the episode it was introduce in. Other than that it was just there for cuteness factor. Togepi had that role too but at least interacted with the other Pokemon, unlike the majority of both Brock and Misty's Pokemon.

I personally don't find Togepi's baby antics that funny or cute. I just feel sorry for Pikachu who always gets to be the buttmonkey while Togepi lives blissful baby ignorance of the potential dangers it has just conveniently avoided. Thank goodness it eventually matured and evolved...

 

[FluffleFi]

I personally don't find Togepi's baby antics that funny or cute. I just feel sorry for Pikachu who always gets to be the buttmonkey while Togepi lives blissful baby ignorance of the potential dangers it has just conveniently avoided. Thank goodness it eventually matured and evolved...

I would've been cool if the egg had instead hatched into a Marill. Misty could have shown her motherly side to the baby but also could have raised it to show how focused and serious she was about being a Water-Type master.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I would've been cool if the egg had instead hatched into a Marill. Misty could have shown her motherly side to the baby but also could have raised it to show how focused and serious she was about being a Water-Type master.

That reminds me: where was Misty's Azurill during the S&M Kanto two-parter? It wasn't in Misty's arms like it's supposed to. If it had evolved and now spends more time in its Poké Ball, then fine, but that was never explained.

Frankly, I think the nostalgia pandering in that two-parter was taken a step too far when they chose to give Brock and Misty their old clothes instead of the ones we've last seen them wearing and show off none of their Pokémon that weren't either Kanto Pokémon or their evolved forms. I still enjoyed those episodes, but that is still a bit distracting.

 

[Seth Rollins]

Interesting thread! Well let’s see...

- Although I’m a huge fan of the original series, Misty is very overrated. She only complains and her dream is to become a water type Pokémon master but she doesn’t do anything to accomplish her dreams.

- I like Tobias just kidding, just kidding...

- I love the Team Rocket trio, they had some very funny moments. But they got very old and annoying, doing the same thing for many years? They should have replaced them after Johto.

- And finally...Ash is not a bad trainer. He has a silly personality but he isn’t bad. He actually is a good trainer who cares about his Pokémons. I like him more than Game Red who shows little personality. (Although he’s still pretty badass)

 

[CrashBash]

Like poor Oshawott. Began as a joke and ended as a joke, never really got a chance to shine or show that he can be competent. Even during that whole meloetta incident, you'd think Oshawott would get to shine in battle, but nah lets let Pikachu have the finishing blow. And how about we bring Charizard back to make the Unova team irrelevant? Why couldn't the poor guy evolve into Dewott? Imo it's a damn good blend between cute and cool. He could have easily kept the flirtatious personality, but could have also been braver and more battle-competent.

Which is frustrating for me because, since I started very late when it came to Pokemon gaming, Oshawott was my very first Pokemon ever, so it has a special place in my heart for me.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Interesting thread! Well let’s see...

Welcome! I'm sure you'll like this one!

- Although I’m a huge fan of the original series, Misty is very overrated. She only complains and her dream is to become a water type Pokémon master but she doesn’t do anything to accomplish her dreams.

Agreed. That's why most PokéGirls who followed her have been a lot better in that regard, since they've actually had solid goals and concrete ways of measuring their advancement towards said goals. Being similar to Misty in this respect actually hurt Iris's character a bit in my eyes, and the Sun & Moon girls' character arcs aren't complete yet, so we can't say anything sure about them as of now.

- I like Tobias just kidding, just kidding...

I actually didn't mind Tobias, as controversial of a character he was. In fact, I think Ash's loss to Cameron was way worse.

- I love the Team Rocket trio, they had some very funny moments. But they got very old and annoying, doing the same thing for many years? They should have replaced them after Johto.

There were actually some honest talks about that amongst the creative staff of the anime when the Johto era was nearing its end, but when it came down to whether to send Misty or Team Rocket packing, they came to the conclusion that while both options would be likely to cause a lot of commotion in the fandom, getting rid of Misty was the lesser of the two bads, so she was the one who ended up leaving.

I personally don't mind Team Rocket even now. Sure, during the Hoenn era, they were mostly reduced to being just comic relief characters, which was fortunately slightly less true in Sinnoh, what with Jessie actually winning Contests, the trio helping fight Team Galactic, and so forth. In Unova, they became badasses, but also bland and boring. Fortunately, in Kalos, they went back to being more comedic, while still retaining some of their competency from Unova, which was a blend I really liked. And while Alola is a very comedy-heavy region in the anime, I still think the trio is displaying great levels of competency, like actually using Z-Moves and having a really strong Pokémon in Mimikyu. They've even beaten Ash once without cheating. That should count as something, right?

- And finally...Ash is not a bad trainer. He has a silly personality but he isn’t bad. He actually is a good trainer who cares about his Pokémons. I like him more than Game Red who shows little personality. (Although he’s still pretty badass)

Agreed. Ash is a good Trainer, and he shouldn't be compared to a Trainer who, while definitely being more competent and badass, is from a completely different canon. Ash goes for quality over quantity when it comes to building up his Pokémon teams. (Most of the time at least, looking at you, Unova.)

 

[TheGoldenToon]

Man I have a lot of controversial opinions. Okay, let me first say that I do not hate Jigglypuff at all. But it's ignorance in it's own abilities can be very annoying. I loved it's debut episode, don't get me wrong, but the more Jigglypuff kept appearing and singing, and putting everyone to sleep when they are just trying to do whatever it is they're trying to do just to have that ornery pink balloon show up at the worst possible times just sort of frustrated me. And then it draws on their faces with a marker that was in Ash's backpack. I will admit I found it funny the first couple times, but after a while I got kinda sick of it. It was actually a breath of fresh air for me when it didn't appear for the longest time after that one AG ep.

I know it's not meant to be taken seriously, but I just watched the Articuno episode in Johto with Todd Snap, and the TRio were caught in some bad weather and needed to stay awake or they'd freeze to death. Guess who shows up with out a care in the world and puts them to sleep with it's singing. Of course the TRio is going to be fine, but I thought even they didn't deserve that. I am not sure if we're supposed to find Jigglypuff cute and ignorant like what they probably also intended with Misty's Togepi, but all it ever did is make me wish someone would just sit Jigglypuff down and explain to it that SING IS SUPPOSED TO PUT EVERYONE TO SLEEP! *ahem* Sorry about that.

I'm probably looking too deep into this, but I had to vent.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I am not sure if we're supposed to find Jigglypuff cute and ignorant like what they probably also intended with Misty's Togepi, but all it ever did is make me wish someone would just sit Jigglypuff down and explain to it that SING IS SUPPOSED TO PUT EVERYONE TO SLEEP! *ahem* Sorry about that.

Trust me. I agree with you completely.

 

[Jack 20]

I think Serena should never have had a crush on Ash.
And that Serena's showcases should of had more attention then Amourshipping

 

[KenzeyEevee]

I think Serena should never have had a crush on Ash.
And that Serena's showcases should of had more attention then Amourshipping

As an Amourshipper, I agree with the second statement

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

After watching a certain review of the first episode of the anime, I've come to see Ash, and by extension, every other anime protagonist ever, in a completely new light.

It is a common protagonist trope for the hero to basically be a "Chosen One", who is destined for great things, and initially has trouble accepting or accomplishing this, until they finally get over the difficulties and become the hero they were destined to be. Shows like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Naruto, and Digimon are good examples of this.

But then we have Pokémon: Ash Ketchum is this excited child who basically wants to be a Chosen One and be destined for greatness, but as soon as he's about to start his journey to realize those dreams, reality hits him hard in the face. He oversleeps and misses his chance to choose one of the three regular starters. He has trouble getting along with the Pokémon that's supposed to be his partner. He fails miserable at catching even one of the easiest Pokémon to catch. Because Ash isn't your typical anime protagonist. He is not a Chosen One who's destined for greatness. He is a regular child who's been fantasizing about adventuring for as long as he can remember, finding out that bringing those fantasies to life isn't as easy as it may seem.

Another common thing for anime protagonists is that they start out with a lot of potential and basically never lose any important fights because the fate of the world depends on it and yada yada, causing them to rise to this great hero status by just going from victory to victory. Again, shows like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto are good examples of this.

But then, again, there's Pokémon: Ash Ketchum doesn't start out as a hero with a lot of potential. Quite the opposite, in fact: he starts out as a bumbling fool who has practically no idea of how to actually do what he's supposed to be doing, just assuming that things will work out if you try hard enough. This is where Ash's traveling companions come in: they needed to be there to teach him that simply trying wasn't enough: he would also need to learn to use his head as well if he wished to have any hope of true success.

And this is why I've actually started to have this odd savor while watching shows where the main character(s) follow the tropes I listed above. Sure, they can be great, but it can get also repetitive when the hero always comes out on top, sometimes overcoming impossible-looking challenges by Deus ex Machinas.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Because Ash isn't your typical anime protagonist. He is not a Chosen One who's destined for greatness.

I do like this analysis of Ash but let’s not pretend Ash doesn’t get his fair share of chosen-one-ness. He just gets it in almost every movie and not in the main anime.

And recently Gladion pointed out the chosen one attitude when Tapu Koko began fawning over him, gave him a Z-ring complete with a Z-Crystal, had the premonition and ended up getting an all new Lycanroc form.
He also got a once in a 1000 years transformation in the previous series for Greninja.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I do like this analysis of Ash but let’s not pretend Ash doesn’t get his fair share of chosen-one-ness. He just gets it in almost every movie and not in the main anime.

And recently Gladion pointed out the chosen one attitude when Tapu Koko began fawning over him, gave him a Z-ring complete with a Z-Crystal, had the premonition and ended up getting an all new Lycanroc form.
He also got a once in a 1000 years transformation in the previous series for Greninja.

But remember, he didn't star out that way. And first impressions are always important.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

But remember, he didn't star out that way. And first impressions are always important.

When the ‘first impression’ was 20 years ago I’d say it’s pretty important. Specially since Ash effectively starts over his journey every region.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

When the ‘first impression’ was 20 years ago I’d say it’s pretty important. Specially since Ash effectively starts over his journey every region.

I'm talking about the first impression to those people who started watching the anime from the first episode. Of course there's no guarantee that everyone will see it as their first episode, but those that do...

Plus, they couldn't have possibly known back then that the show would still be running after 20 years. Keep that in mind.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I'm talking about the first impression to those people who started watching the anime from the first episode. Of course there's no guarantee that everyone will see it as their first episode, but those that do...

At this point more people in the target audience have probably watched the beginning of different series as their first episodes than the Kanto one...

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

At this point more people in the target audience have probably watched the beginning of different series as their first episodes than the Kanto one...

I repeat: that beginning was made for an anime that was supposed to last like a year and a half, not one that would still be going on over 1000 episodes later.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

Ash lost his spark in SM. He doesnt battle enough, his batteling personality isnt shown enough. Even BW and OS did it more!

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Ash lost his spark in SM. He doesnt battle enough, his batteling personality isnt shown enough. Even BW and OS did it more!

He may not battle too much, but when he does, he does it well. Remember that this series isn't as much focused on action as the previous ones.

 

[TheGoldenToon]

I think the main problem is his current team. It reminds me of his Johto team. Not bad pokemon by any means just not enough experience. A few strong fighters like Torracat and Lycanroc, same as Heracross and Bayleef. And some of the rest just are decent battlers, they just don't get enough focus.