Do you feel overwhelmed by Ash and Pikachu

[Rockapheller]

It's been over 20 years since we started watching Ash's journey across many regions. How do you feel about them? Do you think they expired already and need to be changed, or do you believe Ash and Pikachu are potentially the best characters we could end up having?

 

[Silktree]

They're stagnant. I wish at least the movies would take a break from them; they aren't any different in the new ones than they are between the different series.

 

[Hidden Mew]

While I don't think they're the best main characters, I don't feel overwhelmed by Ash and Pikachu. I've never really had a problem with Ash being the main character for all these years and we're well past the point where replacing him is a possibility. People still want it to happen and it always comes up every time a new generation is announced too. I can understand wanting new characters, but replacing the main lead after twenty years really doesn't sound like a good idea for multiple reasons. For better or for worse, Ash and Pikachu are always going to be the main characters of the anime.

It does limit what they can do with Ash's character, but this isn't really a new development or something that the writers could necessarily change. If they are required by higher ups to keep Ash around for every series, then they can't do anything like give him a sense of closure. They might be able to do that for the movie continuity, depending on how they want to handle that series, but even then, I don't know if they'd want to do something like that for the movies either.

 

[Felix-Culpa]

I rewatched Pikachu's Goodbye and I can honestly say no lol. Sometimes I do get annoyed with the abundance of Pikachu when he has other Pokemon he can show, but overall it doesn't bother me.

 

[Almonds]

After seeing the height of their potential during XY/XY&Z, I'm not really overwhelmed by them.

However, I do feel that occasional breaks from them would be a great way to freshen things up. The ME specials were brilliant with a completely different (and a more traditionally 'shounen') style of an older protagonist, Alain. Perhaps if they used other characters once in a while (and maybe for movies, too), Ash and Pikachu wouldn't be too overwhelming.

 

[Nicolas721]

Yes and no.

Yes because they have become the one and only symbol for the anime, they went from a representation of a normal trainer to the poster child & pet to everything. There have been a few exceptions when they aren't the protagonists, but most of the time the producers avoid giving screentime to other protagonists and making stories without Ash. He is like Goku and comic superheroes, his personality will change a bit but his looks and his spirit will be the same forever.

No because they are fun to watch, Ash specially is very relatable. I doubt there will be a point when I decide not to watch an anime production just because Ash is the protagonist.

 

[DoctorWhy]

Overwhelmed isn't quite the word I'd use.

Personally, I've adopted a new position since Movie 20 and the announcement trailer of movie 21.

The anime series should get a new protagonist and the movies should star Ash and they should remain fully independent of each other.

 

[kantoskies]

overwhelmingly BORED maybe!

...


But in all seriousness yeah they've gotten kind of stale but I wouldn't say I'm overwhelmed. Satoshi hasn't really been interesting to me since DP and Pikachu since like mid-Orange Islands. But really if they were ever replaced any new main character would be Satoshi 2.0 because let's face it, this show is formulaic as hell and any changes would probably be superficial. Satoshi doesn't really have any unique character traits or a strong personality. Like pretty much everything you could say to describe him is stereotypical anime protagonist stuff. Which is necessary for a show like this; one series he can be energetic and full of excitement and another he can be reserved and battle-focused. So any new main character would just be one of these versions of Satoshi with a different face. Plus they would obviously need a Pikachu so that would make them even more similar. I mean it would give an excuse to have the main character be a rookie without it being a reset but by this point I'm pretty used to that happening so it doesn't bother me too much.

I've always thought that since Satoshi is such a stagnant character by design and can't exist for this long without either a) constantly being reset or b) becoming a more-boring version of his XY self the writers should focus on the series-specific characters more but we haven't really gotten a strong, cohesive companion story since Diamond&Pearl. It would have made sense to replace him after Kanto ended because that was the end of the saga based on his origin games. It would have made sense to replace him after Johto because that was the end to the first series and the writers were changing the cast for the Ruby&Sapphire storyline. It would have made sense to replace him after the Battle Frontier because Hikari was being billed as the star in early Diamond&Pearl promos and Satoshi had an "exit ticket" (being a Frontier Brain). It would have made sense to replace him after Sinnoh because his character had seemingly reached a peak and Best Wishes was going for a stronger reset of the series/a fresh start feel to mirror the Black&White games. And arguably he could have been replaced after Kalos because again his character seemed to reach a peak and M20 could have been a last hurrah for his storyline and the Sun&Moon series has already shaken up the formula more than before(picture the SM series with a whole new cast and a month or so in an all-star film with Satoshi, all of his old friends, and the Rocket trio was announced as a grand finale....could u even imagine). There have been numerous times he could have been written out but it's clear him and Pikachu are here to stay.

Plus the Rocket trio, be still my heart, would almost definitely leave along with them if they were replaced so it would absolutely not be worth it!!!

 

[SinnohEevee]

I am not overwhelmed by Ash, but he stopped growing after DP, which makes his character less interesting. He will basically stay the same for ever.

As for Pikachu, he's overrated. I call BS on him tying with a Latios.

 

[Gengarzilla]

In all honestly, XY gave me a new appreciation for the Ash and Pikachu duo when it started shoving Ash-Greninja everywhere like this near indomitable force. Take what you have now; it could always be worse.

 

[Poke Trey]

I couldn't. As long as they're still around, I'll always have things to say about them and well they've been here since my childhood, why change that?

 

[Alola]

I wouldn't say overwhelmed, no. Though, it would be nice to have the spotlight occasionally shifted to other player characters from the games, with differing personalities. Seeing Ash & Pikachu constantly, especially when their growth ultimately amounts to nothing when the next region comes, can get boring.

 

[Harryghost]

Overwhelmed? Not really. Personally, I feel Ash and Pikachu are decent main characters: certainly not the best, but not outright bad either. Of course, all the growth gathered in one region, simply being put down the drain in the next, can be pretty discouraging and certainly off-putting at best, but nevertheless if it drives the plot forward and keeps me entertained, then I don't mind it at all.

 

[Greninjaman]

At this point, I think many people will agree that Ash should have been replaced after Kanto. He's been around for 20 years. If they swapped out protagonists, they could have that person win the league. What do you guys think?

 

[Matleo]

they wanted to show how a person has it hard to make his dream come true and how many hard work it takes.\
I want to see Ash full jurney.
Not every one has talent, some need many years to become masters.
That is the best , he never gives up and tries more.

 

[spykerspyder]

I don't mind Ash as a main character at all, although he does feel kind of stale and same-y sometimes. I would like to see a different protagonist even for a short time--like a segue into a different character's story that gets blended into Ash's story somehow and Ash is in the background for a time. I mean, after 20 years in the spotlight, surely Ash himself would like a break (or maybe not).

Pikachu is the mascot, so of course he's not going anywhere. People who have no idea what Pokémon is even about know of Pikachu or have at least heard of him, or would recognize him as a Pokémon character if they saw him.

 

[Greninjaman]

Well, if the whole point of the anime is to advertise the games, then they could have used the main character of each region. I wouldn't care if they have the same personality, as long as it's a different person.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Well, if the whole point of the anime is to advertise the games

It's not, whole point of the anime is selling toys and other pokemon products.

 

[Greninjaman]

It's not, whole point of the anime is selling toys and other pokemon products.

Is that not what I said?

 

[Hidden Mew]

Well, if the whole point of the anime is to advertise the games, then they could have used the main character of each region. I wouldn't care if they have the same personality, as long as it's a different person.

What would be the appeal of having different leads if they all had the same personality? That sounds like it would get pretty boring really fast. Not to mention there would be a lot of people complaining about how all of the leads are just Ash clones. If the only thing that changes among the hypothetical new leads is their appearance, then it wouldn't be worthwhile. Ash isn't the most interesting lead character, but he generally works for what they want to do with the anime and he's likable enough to where people would want to follow his journey and see him making more friends along the way.

They could have gone the Pokemon Adventures route with having new leads based on the playable characters of each region, but that just isn't possible now. Ash has been established as the main lead for much too long for the writers and higher ups to consider replacing him. The only times they really could have replaced him were either once they started promoting the second generation or when AG started given that was the second series. Maybe they didn't think it was necessary to do and just kept Ash and Pikachu as the faces of the anime.