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Controversial opinions

Reader mode
One thing I like about the current cast is they're defined by their personalities first and their goals second. Like nobody thinks of Lana as just some girl who likes water pokemon, people think of her personality first. A lot of past characters were defined more by what they did in the anime, Dawn is probably the most obvious example of this, she's mainly remembered as the Contest/coordinator girl more than anything. She started off with a goal and it just defined her entire run in the series. Almost everything she did or wanted to do related to Contests in some fashion. Now characters are defined more by their personalities first and what they do second.
 
The first Johto dub song is the best English language opening and Mad-Paced Getter is the best Japanese opening.
Brock should have stayed gone after Johto.
Ash should have been the mentor to May in Advanced.
Ash should have won the Sinnoh League.
They should have replaced Ash as the main character in BW.
Ash should not have appeared in Kalos.
The Sun Moon animation is better than the Original Generation animation.
 
yab said:
Almost everything she did or wanted to do related to Contests in some fashion. Now characters are defined more by their personalities first and what they do second.
Click to expand...

Have you considered that it might have to do with the fact that they don’t have concrete goals?

I don’t even know what goals do Sophocles and Lana have, for starters (if they even have any).
 
FinnishPokéFan92 said:
Lana's goal was established early on, in her first focus episode, to be precise. And Sophocles mentioned his goal in the ice cave episode.
Click to expand...

So... its blowing human sized bubbles for Lana? It seems as vague as a Pokemon Master...

And I still cannot find Sophocles’ goal since it isn’t mentioned anywhere on his Bulbapedia page. A goal so hidden that not even Bulbapedia remembers it

Just shows how forgettable the goals are. Can’t have goals as a part of the personality if they’re not mentioned more than once...

In contrast, co-ordinating is a profession and passion for Dawn, so it’s influence on her personality is inevitable.
 
PkmnTrainerV said:
So... its blowing human sized bubbles for Lana? It seems as vague as a Pokemon Master...

And I still cannot find Sophocles’ goal since it isn’t mentioned anywhere on his Bulbapedia page. A goal so hidden that not even Bulbapedia remembers it
Click to expand...
If you look at the cave episode, specifically the scene where Mallow, Sophocles, and Lillie are talking together, if I recall correctly, Sophocles said he wants to meet Pokémon from outer space.
 
FinnishPokéFan92 said:
If you look at the cave episode, specifically the scene where Mallow, Sophocles, and Lillie are talking together, if I recall correctly, Sophocles said he wants to meet Pokémon from outer space.
Click to expand...

So yeah, it’s entirely possible to miss Sophocles’ goal if you miss that single episode of the anime...
Not really a prominent one then. Seeing that he hasn’t actively worked towards it.

The character’s goals are not focused enough on in this series imo.
 
People complain about the main cast having so few pokemon, but I actually prefer this approach to the past. Misty/Brock had tons of pokemon they either barely used, hardly every battled, and most of them with few exceptions like Psyduck/Croagunk generally had no personality. I mean what's the point of capturing pokemon if they're not going to be featured much at all? Brock's Vulpix, Crobat, Foretress, Mudkip and Ludicolo were so painfully underused in the series especially, and I don't even remember Geodude doing much of anything after the Gym battle. Misty's team could have been chopped in half and nothing would have been lost.

I'd also say May/Dawn could have also been limited to 4/5 pokemon. Dawn's Togekiss was obviously rushed in there just to give her a full team of 6, and even her Cyndaquil outside of obvious HGSS promotion purposes didn't really do that much besides some late end Contests. For May they could have kept her Hoenn team into BF, her Eevee was really only there for early foreshadowing for Glaceon.

I'm actually beginning to realize how much I didn't care for a lot of pokemon owned by the older cast. If you take away the nostalgia so many of their pokemon were just boring.
 
Sometimes I feel like that if the anime cuts back on the amount of filler it has, it could probably be better. Like, instead of just being a marketing tool for the games it was just its own separate kind of beast. They wouldn't have to try and show off a new Pokemon every episode and there'd be less Characters of the Day. I'm not sating all filler is bad - in fact there's a good number that I like. But if they didn't have to try and introduce a new character or Pokemon every episode just to show off we could get deeper looks into these characters personalities and such. Like Brock; His dad disappears for who knows how long, comes back outta know where and he's just OK with that? I feel like he should gave said a lot more to the man who abandon his entire family. Same thing with his Mom, she comes back out of nowhere and the only thing he's upset about is that she wants to turn the gym into a Water-Gym.

I know these are just kids and likely wouldn't have to much dept to them, but considering these same kids can travel across entire regions-on foot-without adult supervision and tame incredibly dangerous animals..i'd say they're a lot more mature than the children in the real world.
 
yab said:
One thing I like about the current cast is they're defined by their personalities first and their goals second. Like nobody thinks of Lana as just some girl who likes water pokemon, people think of her personality first. A lot of past characters were defined more by what they did in the anime, Dawn is probably the most obvious example of this, she's mainly remembered as the Contest/coordinator girl more than anything. She started off with a goal and it just defined her entire run in the series. Almost everything she did or wanted to do related to Contests in some fashion. Now characters are defined more by their personalities first and what they do second.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's a good thing in regards to the current cast for a few reasons. Most of them don't really have well defined goals and even then, few of them really connect back with Pokemon. They can't really be defined by their goals if they don't really focus on said goals. I don't think that most of the SM cast are burning with personality either. Most of them still fade in the background if they aren't getting a focused episode. This is especially the case for Mallow and Sophocles who barely have any presence in the series. We see the SM cast living more regular lives compared to other characters if that makes any sense. They go to school, live at home with their families and hang out with their friends. That might be a more realistic, for lack of a better term, way of showcasing a cast within a Pokemon series and it kind of fits with the more laid back/slice of life tone in SM, but I don't think it makes them more compelling or fleshed out characters.

Plus, it's kind of strange to complain that everything Dawn did was related to Contests. That was her goal, so of course she would be working towards it all the time. Not to mention I don't think it's particularly accurate to say she's remembered for only being a Coordinator. That is what she did, but most fans remember her for her struggles during her Contest journey and she's often considered at least one of the best written female characters in the series. Dismissing all of that just because she was focused on reaching her goal during DP just rubs me the wrong way. While I do like most of the SM cast, I don't think that they're going to be more memorable than other characters simply because they weren't focused on working towards their goals all the time.

On a similar note, I don't really see the appeal for Lana. I don't dislike her. She can be funny, her dub voice is actually pretty close to how I imagined she sounded like in the games and like most of the SM cast, she has had some good focused episodes. I just don't really see why she's considered the best girl in SM. I thought I would understand that more by the time I saw her capture Eevee, but nope. I'll often forget that she even likes Water Pokemon because unlike with Misty, it will rarely come up. She isn't as overly hyped as SM Lillie has been for me yet, but she's getting up there. Lana is at best okay for me.
 
Hidden Mew said:
On a similar note, I don't really see the appeal for Lana. I don't dislike her. She can be funny, her dub voice is actually pretty close to how I imagined she sounded like in the games and like most of the SM cast, she has had some good focused episodes. I just don't really see why she's considered the best girl in SM. I thought I would understand that more by the time I saw her capture Eevee, but nope. I'll often forget that she even likes Water Pokemon because unlike with Misty, it will rarely come up. She isn't as overly hyped as SM Lillie has been for me yet, but she's getting up there. Lana is at best okay for me.
Click to expand...

The only time I really liked Lana was the Tapu Fini mist episode where she knew about Mallow’s mother and comforted and handled her appropriately. And even that’s more to do with “best friend bond” thing than a true character trait.
 
Lana's personality is very funny and unique compared to past pokegirls, which is why she's become so popular. Most of the eps that focus on her are good too, and she has nice moments bonding with Mallow as her friend in various eps too. It's hard to describe really, but she is basically a mix of being mischievous, being troll-ish, being silly, and being snarky. There's really no other previous pokegirl like her. I think others can explain it better, but she is the surprise breakout character in SM for me. When SM first started I wasn't even expecting to like Lana, but she turned out to be one of my favorites besides Kiawe on the current cast.
 
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