Controversial opinions

[Nodqfan]

I know its been beat to death like a drum and I'm sorry for bring it up again but I think Ash could've been replaced as MC with game characters. after Johto and aside from obvious canonical changes like his relationships with all of the companions/Pokemons he's caught/bonded with over the years. and winning the Alolan League I don't think much would change in regards to the show's formula aside from the characters in each season and their goals but then again who knows how that would've gone over.

Probably the least controversial I'll have but the development for Ash's Johto team was awful like they all had a personality trait but it was never expanded on and it also didn't help that he used his Kanto mons early on and even after they were shipped off it felt like it was a little too late to develop them as characters. Thankfully this was fixed beginning with Hoenn where they would focus on one Pokemon per saga which, isn't perfect but I'll take it.

 

[prog rocker]

I sincerely think that could have worked. It could have saved us from two decades of diabolus ex machinas.

 

[Daren]

I think using game protagonists would have worked, but I can understand why it didn't happen. I got the impression that the G/S/C to R/S era was a time of internal uncertainty about Pokémon's future; there was the controversy over the lack of gen 2 to gen 3 transfer and people publicly guessing the franchise was about to fizzle out, with Gamefreak wanting to prove them wrong (I believe Masuda discussed this once).
So I can understand them not wanting to rock the boat for the anime at that time (even more than replacing Misty and dropping long-time Pokémon already was), even if I think it turned into a major mistake from a writing perspective.

 

[Ghost Diplocaulus]

I think the main reason Ash was kept as the permanent protagonist is because of Pikachu, who is the franchise mascot. It makes sense that the writers would want to promote it forever. Granted, this too could have possibly been solved simply by giving every new protagonist their own Pikachu, but I imagine that would have gotten stale and annoying pretty fast.

Other than the mascot issue, though, a new protagonist each saga would have more than likely been a much better approach. Or at least a less narratively frustrating one. Sadly, it feels like it might be too late now to change it unless Ash actually does beat Leon...

 

[SinnohEevee]

Many people raged after Misty was removed, imagine removing Ash too. I think DP should have been Ash's last series. BW was supposed to be a reboot after all.

 

[prog rocker]

I think the main reason Ash was kept as the permanent protagonist is because of Pikachu, who is the franchise mascot. It makes sense that the writers would want to promote it forever. Granted, this too could have possibly been solved simply by giving every new protagonist their own Pikachu, but I imagine that would have gotten stale and annoying pretty fast.

Or just have Ash appear in future sagas. It doesn't have to be in a major role, maybe an arc reminding us that he exists. That way Pikachu can also keep appearing, too. And it would get rid of another problem with Ash: he would keep his other Pokémon.

 

[SinnohEevee]

Also, good writing was never important in this anime.

 

[Craiden]

Sometimes it is (DP, Team Flare, etc) however, I think Pokemon Chronicles (which would be my preferred format, except with Ash) showed what happens when they try "replacing" him.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

If not for Pikachu I agree that having a new MC every season would be a good idea, likely with different goals and motives.

Pikachu was an accidental mascot, so giving a new pokemon the spotlight while keeping the breed relevant with some in-universe justification could maybe work (even if that would probably accelerate the “character>species” process some pokemon designs have gone through since).

 

[prog rocker]

You're not the only one who thinks that. I too (and I'm sure many poeple) feel like Ash should have been replaced after Kanto.

I feel that it could have been done after Johto due to Gen II being a direct sequel to Gen I, but yes, a lot of people agree.

 

[Greninjaman]

I know its been beat to death like a drum and I'm sorry for bring it up again but I think Ash could've been replaced as MC with game characters. after Johto and aside from obvious canonical changes like his relationships with all of the companions/Pokemons he's caught/bonded with over the years. and winning the Alolan League I don't think much would change in regards to the show's formula aside from the characters in each season and their goals but then again who knows how that would've gone over.

You're not the only one who thinks that. Many people (myself included) also think that Ash should have been replaced after Kanto.

Also, good writing was never important in this anime.

What do you mean by this?

 

[SinnohEevee]

You're not the only one who thinks that. Many people (myself included) also think that Ash should have been replaced after Kanto.

What do you mean by this?

Because of all the bad writing this show has.

 

[swiftgallade46]

I actually have no idea if this is a controversial opinion or not. I just haven’t seen a lot of people comment on this in general. But I figured I’d toss it in here anyways just in case.

I really miss the old animations for Pokémon coming out of their Pokéballs. Something about how the white light conformed to each Pokémon’s unique shape was just very aesthetically pleasing to me. Nowadays it’s always just some blue amorphous blob every time that dissipates. It’s minor, I know, but I still get nostalgic for it sometimes.

 

[RK9]

Because of all the bad writing this show has.

The Pokémon anime has never been a show that made use of good writing, to be fair.

 

[FelipePR]

I am playing Crown tundra and I can have a very controversial idea.

As much as I like the partner Pokémon feature in HG/SS, I can't say the same about the Isle of Armor/Crown Trundra element.

The feature is/was pretty nice in a 2D world, in which your Pokémon follows you very closely. Howewer, in a 3D world in which your Pokémon follows you loosely, the feature has so many issues. Your Pokémon constantly stumbles or gets stuck in scenery objects, sometimes it has bizarre visual interactions with objects or the scenario itself and, the worst, every time I turn over I stumble in its. Besides that, the Pokémon animations in overworld are a complete crap, theirs movements are quite odd and very awkward when you ride on the bike.

As soon as i figured out how to disable this, i did. For God's sake.

 

[Greninjaman]

Here's an opinion: I think the anime is NOT a commercial for the games. I honestly don't see how it is just a commercial for the games.

 

[Greninjaman]

You're right. It's not a commercial for the games. It's a commercial for the series as a whole now, and it's own entity independent (but not totally disconnected) from the games.

How so? By that logic, other anime like Naruto or Digimon would be commercials for their respective franchises.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Everyone who watched season 1 of the Pokémon anime is likely to remember Ghost of Maiden's Peak. But unlike many, I think, my favorite part of this episode isn't how dark it was, but Jessie calling out how stupid the "undying love" thing can be if it's taken as far as this ghost maiden had taken it, being unable to move on if their loved one disappears and refusing to accept that they're gone. Jessie lampshading how stupid this sort of trope is was awesome, and I am so disappointed that we didn't even get to see the actual ghost of the maiden react to it, since it was a disguised Gastly who was present when she said it.

Another similar case was during the Battle Frontier episode Time Warp Heals All Wounds, where an old woman lost the love of her life and comes to a decommissioned train station every day to wait for him, being in an unhealthy denial of his death that she's fully aware of. And then some random, unexplained magic mumbo jumbo ends up changing history so that the lovers do get together. I just don't like that sort of denial of truth. Sure it's good they got back together, but I hated the old woman's denial and the contrived way everything got changed. And maybe I've missed something, but why the heck the two getting together miraculously made the town be full of life again?

 

[Phosphene]

Old post, but...

You're right. It's not a commercial for the games. It's a commercial for the series as a whole now, and it's own entity independent (but not totally disconnected) from the games.

How so?

What better way to advertise than to create an anime showing off all these cute and cool monsters that you can buy plushies of at pokemoncenter.com for $19.99? While I wouldn't say the anime is exclusively a vehicle for selling things such as toys, I highly doubt the anime was not created with sales in mind--suggesting otherwise strikes me as a little naïve.

 

[Greninjaman]

Old post, but...

What better way to advertise than to create an anime showing off all these cute and cool monsters that you can buy plushies of at pokemoncenter.com for $19.99? While I wouldn't say the anime is exclusively a vehicle for selling things such as toys, I highly doubt the anime was not created with sales in mind--suggesting otherwise strikes me as a little naïve.

I suppose that makes sense.