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Controversial opinions

At the risk of going on a tangent, you just described the experience of me, someone who has had Raichu be their favourite Pokémon, who’s being used as a punching back for the past 20 years just to make its pre evolution look good. The initial Lt. Surge episode, in spite of being the first appearance of my favourite Pokémon, is something I never want to watch. The franchise as a whole sure tries their hardest to convince you not to use a Raichu. I wonder why they created it if that’s what was going to happen to the species.
The thing is with the Lt. Surge episode is that it was relevant to the story line and a main character's development yet people ignore this(but yeah, if Raichu is your favorite I can see why it might be annoying). The REAL issue comes afterward-the writers having no creativity whatsoever and only making copy raichu of the two templates they got from OS: one a jerk(Lt. Surge) and the other a wimp(The one filler episode from Orange Islands). The only time that Pikachu/Rivalry was actually enjoyable in my opinion was the goddamn pancake episode from Sun and Moon-it was just a fun little rivalry, and Raichu's comments always came across to me as more of a "playful teasing" in a weird combination type of way. (Or maybe it's just cause I'm biased towards Alolan Raichu... :wynaut: ?)
The entire thing with Raichu is just annoying because it REEKS of bad writing-they are literally just copy pastes of two Raichu from OS. One which had an actual interesting story(the filler one) and the other which was just...I mean, like trainer like pokemon ammiright;)?
The anime has no creativity when it comes to marketing at this point. "Hey, how do we make our mascot look good?" "Well, option A is screw the other evolutions, option B is to over-use it and give it OOC moments in the anime, or we could go with Option C-give proper character arcs to it and justice to its evolutionary-" "Let's go with...A and B!" "...sure! :wynaut:"
:bulbaFacepalm:

[EDIT]: I forgot Goh's Raichu...:bulbaFacepalm: I love her too. :bulbaLove:
 
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The thing is with the Lt. Surge episode is that it was relevant to the story line and a main character's development yet people ignore this(but yeah, if Raichu is your favorite I can see why it might be annoying). The REAL issue comes afterward-the writers having no creativity whatsoever and only making copy raichu of the two templates they got from OS: one a jerk(Lt. Surge) and the other a wimp(The one filler episode from Orange Islands). The only time that Pikachu/Rivalry was actually enjoyable in my opinion was the goddamn pancake episode from Sun and Moon-it was just a fun little rivalry, and Raichu's comments always came across to me as more of a "playful teasing" in a weird combination type of way. (Or maybe it's just cause I'm biased towards Alolan Raichu... :wynaut: ?)
The entire thing with Raichu is just annoying because it REEKS of bad writing-they are literally just copy pastes of two Raichu from OS. One which had an actual interesting story(the filler one) and the other which was just...I mean, like trainer like pokemon ammiright;)?
The anime has no creativity when it comes to marketing at this point. "Hey, how do we make our mascot look good?" "Well, option A is screw the other evolutions, option B is to over-use it and give it OOC moments in the anime, or we could go with Option C-give proper character arcs to it and justice to its evolutionary-" "Let's go with...A and B!" "...sure! :wynaut:"
:bulbaFacepalm:
The best representation I think Raichu got was in Summer Camp on Diamond and Pearl, but then that happens to be the series which gave us a rehash of Lt. Surge but worse...
 
The best representation I think Raichu got was in Summer Camp on Diamond and Pearl, but then that happens to be the series which gave us a rehash of Lt. Surge but worse...
Actually, you listed two examples of copying-the Raichu from the Summer Camp honestly felt like it had a similar arc to the one from the filler in OS. The Lt. Surge rehash was just...unnecessary. It undermined everything the OS gave us(which wasn't very much anyway...) and just...yeah-no creativity whatsoever. Personally, I like Nina's Raichu the most(did I mention it's the cutest thing ever?). (I just realized how humorous this conversation is in hindsight-someone who's favorite pokemon is a Raichu discussing with someone who's favorite pokemon is [Ash's] Pikachu over how Raichu gets overshadowed by Pikachu constantly in the anime :p )
 
The best representation I think Raichu got was in Summer Camp on Diamond and Pearl, but then that happens to be the series which gave us a rehash of Lt. Surge but worse...
Raichu is, without a doubt, one of my favorite Pokemon and my favorite of Kanto overall(in fact my picture use to be of a Raichu before I changed it to Cinccino). I can understand why you'd hate the rehash episode in Sinnoh, its unoriginal and just put Raichu in the bad light again. But while I adore Pikachu that episode gave me one of my favorite moments in the anime; Raichu pinning Pikachu to a rock and knocking him out with a point-blank Hyper Beam. He may have lost in the rematch(cause they can't have their precious chu have a loss against its evolution)but I still enjoyed the episode just for that moment.
 
Raichu is, without a doubt, one of my favorite Pokemon and my favorite of Kanto overall(in fact my picture use to be of a Raichu before I changed it to Cinccino). I can understand why you'd hate the rehash episode in Sinnoh, its unoriginal and just put Raichu in the bad light again. But while I adore Pikachu that episode gave me one of my favorite moments in the anime; Raichu pinning Pikachu to a rock and knocking him out with a point-blank Hyper Beam. He may have lost in the rematch(cause they can't have their precious chu have a loss against its evolution)but I still enjoyed the episode just for that moment.
LMAO that's why you enjoyed the episode? :LOL: (That's MY reason for enjoying the episode-again, despite loving Pikachu:p)
 
At the risk of going on a tangent, you just described the experience of me, someone who has had Raichu be their favourite Pokémon, who’s being used as a punching back for the past 20 years just to make its pre evolution look good. The initial Lt. Surge episode, in spite of being the first appearance of my favourite Pokémon, is something I never want to watch. The franchise as a whole sure tries their hardest to convince you not to use a Raichu. I wonder why they created it if that’s what was going to happen to the species.
The thing is with the Lt. Surge episode is that it was relevant to the story line and a main character's development yet people ignore this(but yeah, if Raichu is your favorite I can see why it might be annoying). The REAL issue comes afterward-the writers having no creativity whatsoever and only making copy raichu of the two templates they got from OS: one a jerk(Lt. Surge) and the other a wimp(The one filler episode from Orange Islands). The only time that Pikachu/Rivalry was actually enjoyable in my opinion was the goddamn pancake episode from Sun and Moon-it was just a fun little rivalry, and Raichu's comments always came across to me as more of a "playful teasing" in a weird combination type of way. (Or maybe it's just cause I'm biased towards Alolan Raichu... :wynaut: ?)
The entire thing with Raichu is just annoying because it REEKS of bad writing-they are literally just copy pastes of two Raichu from OS. One which had an actual interesting story(the filler one) and the other which was just...I mean, like trainer like pokemon ammiright;)?
The anime has no creativity when it comes to marketing at this point. "Hey, how do we make our mascot look good?" "Well, option A is screw the other evolutions, option B is to over-use it and give it OOC moments in the anime, or we could go with Option C-give proper character arcs to it and justice to its evolutionary-" "Let's go with...A and B!" "...sure! :wynaut:"
:bulbaFacepalm:

I honestly don't understand why this marketing method of "lets have every other character be a jerk/weakling/useless to make the one we want people to like look better!" even exists. Like, why the heck do writers feel the need of stamping other characters down just to prop up another one? People who already liked the shilled character wouldn't stop liking them just because they're not browbeating everyone else every time they appear, and people who disliked them are only going to have that dislike reinforced if those characters do nothing but show up everyone else every single time. And the fans that fall somewhere in the middle, those who are either neutral/indifferent, would most likely start resenting the shilled character, especially if it comes at the expense of characters that the neutral fans like. It just doesn't seem like a very smart marketing strategy because it's going to do the exact opposite of endearing the shilled character to the audience.
 
I honestly don't understand why this marketing method of "lets have every other character be a jerk/weakling/useless to make the one we want people to like look better!" even exists. Like, why the heck do writers feel the need of stamping other characters down just to prop up another one? People who already liked the shilled character wouldn't stop liking them just because they're not browbeating everyone else every time they appear, and people who disliked them are only going to have that dislike reinforced if those characters do nothing but show up everyone else every single time. And the fans that fall somewhere in the middle, those who are either neutral/indifferent, would most likely start resenting the shilled character, especially if it comes at the expense of characters that the neutral fans like. It just doesn't seem like a very smart marketing strategy because it's going to do the exact opposite of endearing the shilled character to the audience.
It's funny, because despite Pikachu supposedly being their "mascot", they give it the dumbest treatment-by making it only look good through putting another pokemon down. Like...why??? I cannot stress this enough-the first Raichu battle was for character development-this isn't a rivalry related to the overall plot of the anime! It was a "one and done" deal, so why do they keep making this big thing about it??? It's not the end of the world if Pikachu gets along with or loses to a competent Raichu battler-at least do it in a training montage if it's too much, for god's sake...!!! :bulbaFacepalm:
 
The thing is with the Lt. Surge episode is that it was relevant to the story line and a main character's development yet people ignore this(but yeah, if Raichu is your favorite I can see why it might be annoying). The REAL issue comes afterward-the writers having no creativity whatsoever and only making copy raichu of the two templates they got from OS: one a jerk(Lt. Surge) and the other a wimp(The one filler episode from Orange Islands). The only time that Pikachu/Rivalry was actually enjoyable in my opinion was the goddamn pancake episode from Sun and Moon-it was just a fun little rivalry, and Raichu's comments always came across to me as more of a "playful teasing" in a weird combination type of way. (Or maybe it's just cause I'm biased towards Alolan Raichu... :wynaut: ?)
The entire thing with Raichu is just annoying because it REEKS of bad writing-they are literally just copy pastes of two Raichu from OS. One which had an actual interesting story(the filler one) and the other which was just...I mean, like trainer like pokemon ammiright;)?
The anime has no creativity when it comes to marketing at this point. "Hey, how do we make our mascot look good?" "Well, option A is screw the other evolutions, option B is to over-use it and give it OOC moments in the anime, or we could go with Option C-give proper character arcs to it and justice to its evolutionary-" "Let's go with...A and B!" "...sure! :wynaut:"
:bulbaFacepalm:
Let's never have another episode like that.
 
I feel that the conception of Leon, his Charizard, and their undefeated streak, was partially inspired by Alain.
I respectfully disagree. Leon was clearly meant to be a grown-up version of a player character. Think about it: he never lost to anyone besides another player character, he had a rival in Raihan and a supportive Professor in Magnolia, he became a Champion, and his ace is a starter Pokémon. Those are characteristics of a player character.

The Galar games were all about passing the torch to the next generation, with Sonia becoming a Professor in place of Magnolia, Bede becoming a Gym Leader in place of Opal, and the player becoming a Champion in place of Leon. Leon passing the torch to the player is basically meant to represent the older generation of Pokémon players making way to the newer ones. That could actually be why Leon's ace is a Charizard: it's a popular starter amongst the original Pokémon players who are around Leon's age now.
 
I honestly don't understand why this marketing method of "lets have every other character be a jerk/weakling/useless to make the one we want people to like look better!" even exists. Like, why the heck do writers feel the need of stamping other characters down just to prop up another one?
At some point you have to wonder if they genuinely are trying to make Pikachu look good or if they're just plain lazy. Again, all these Raichu are copied from a template-anytime a Raichu is the center of an episode, it must have a rivalry with Pikachu because the very first Raichu introduced was a gym leader's pokemon that Pikachu had to defeat. Every other Raichu? Has a rivalry with Pikachu for no legit reason. Therein lies the problem: Raichu is almost always(not anymore) presented as a goal for Pikachu to overcome(how original, writers :rolleyes:) and since Pikachu's a main character, it would just feel unsatisfactory if Pikachu doesn't overcome it(actually, this is another reason I like the Alolan Pancake episode-Raichu was at least presented as an equal to Pikachu, which you don't really see-and it made their rivalry make a lot more sense than...literally every other so called "rivalry").
 
At some point you have to wonder if they genuinely are trying to make Pikachu look good or if they're just plain lazy. Again, all these Raichu are copied from a template-anytime a Raichu is the center of an episode, it must have a rivalry with Pikachu because the very first Raichu introduced was a gym leader's pokemon that Pikachu had to defeat. Every other Raichu? Has a rivalry with Pikachu for no legit reason. Therein lies the problem: Raichu is almost always(not anymore) presented as a goal for Pikachu to overcome(how original, writers :rolleyes:) and since Pikachu's a main character, it would just feel unsatisfactory if Pikachu doesn't overcome it(actually, this is another reason I like the Alolan Pancake episode-Raichu was at least presented as an equal to Pikachu, which you don't really see-and it made their rivalry make a lot more sense than...literally every other so called "rivalry").
If anything, Pikachu having the need to constantly one up its evolution diminishes his resolve to not evolve. It’s like he’s still insecure about his worth.
 
If anything, Pikachu having the need to constantly one up its evolution diminishes his resolve to not evolve. It’s like he’s still insecure about his worth.
main-qimg-b8de20b79947fd85bfba82bd4ec9bcc7.gif
 
Well, now time for a SM controversial opinion:

A Birdacious Battle! Brave Bird vs Sky Attack!! is the most underrated episode in the anime history:

A lot of people is saying that this episode is one of the worst of anime's history, but is far from it, let's compare with some other episodes proclaimed as one of the worst:
  • The Ash vs Ritchie episode, 3/4 of the episode was TRio being annoying ignoring the fact that is a Pokémon League episode, and the other 1/4 is a rushed battle with an awful outcome. Nothing is salvageable
  • The Axew Filler episode that should not happened during the league. Nothing is salvageable
  • The Ash vs Elesa episode. This episode has some salvageable moments but Ash being so OOC at the start killed the episode.
  • The Pikachu and Mimey's episode, similar to the previous one but with Pikachu being so OOC.
As for the Ash vs Hau part 2 episode, the start of the battle before the fake KO was decent, and the start of Sophocles vs Kiawe was actually good. As for the KO, neither Rowlet, Nanu or Hala were OOC, it was just....something that happened by a human error. The only two bad things that I really can think about the episode are that Hala considered the possibility of Rowlet being asleep but not Ash, and how Feather Dancer worked as Substitute, but neither of those are enough reasons to be at the level of bad of any of the episodes above.

The episode is in the worst case scenario, a decent episode for the Pokémon anime, which is still a bit lower for a Pokémon League episode, but later episodes on the league were much better.
 
The Ash vs Ritchie episode, 3/4 of the episode was TRio being annoying ignoring the fact that is a Pokémon League episode, and the other 1/4 is a rushed battle with an awful outcome. Nothing is salvageable
Except that Ash losing because of Charizard's disobedience could be seen as a moment of him having relied on luck over skill coming back to bite him big time and teaching him to actually train his Pokémon properly. But otherwise, yeah, the episode was just awful.
 
Except that Ash losing because of Charizard's disobedience could be seen as a moment of him having relied on luck over skill coming back to bite him big time and teaching him to actually train his Pokémon properly. But otherwise, yeah, the episode was just awful.

That is more credit to the next episode where Ash finally realized what was wrong with his way to train Charizard thanks to Misty, Oak and Ritchie. What you say is the only reason why that episode is a 2/10 for me instead of a 1/10
 
What do you mean this episode should not have happened? What's wrong with having an episode that takes place between battles?
There isn't anything wrong with it. The problem is both its execution and the content of the episode. If it was an episode focused on relationships between characters or making a wacky adventure happen that actually relates to the story, that's fine. The issue here is that it's a filler about Axew getting lost and had nothing to do with the plot whatsoever.
 
It robs League of proper battle time and instead gives us pointless filler.
This, and the Unova League is already the shortest League of them all (yes, even shorter than the infamously rushed Kalos League, surprisingly enough). And the fact that literally the only battle in it that was remotely good was Ash vs Stephan. All the others were either downright terrible or not shown in full.
 
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