Do you think after DP the writer should retire Ash?

[Wigglytuff]

It makes no sense, from any perspective, to get rid of Ash. After reading a few pages it seems some people expect fan service to happen which is never going to happen. The anime is a weekly commercial to keep people interested, sell dvds/toys, and expand the market. The poll doesn't even make sense because Ash has no "character development."

The animators, frankly, don't care about you. You are not the demographic. They intend for new audiences to cycle in and out, which is why Ash keeps starting over with a new girl. I have no clue why people would even hope for some kind of conclusion...like that would be anytime soon. There is no point to bring things back from the past because the current audience isn't even aware Ash ever traveled to Kanto and raised a Charizard.

Scott you're delusional in thinking a new character would be any different than Ash. Ash is a cookie-cutter Mary Sue character...Actually, Ash is kind of devoid of any real personality other than courage and drive...any new character is going to represent the same traits of teamwork and leadership like Ash.

Not trying to be negative here...just saying. The anime is only going to disappoint people (including myself) because there's no real heart and soul in it. Sleet you hit the nail on the head...most fans cannot accept that they are not the target audience and the producers don't care for them. Trust me I'm in that boat of "Bring Misty back" and all the old jazz but I understand and accept it is never going to happen and from the company's perspective I'm perfectly okay with that.

 

[Mayiscool]

They need to give Ash better things to do beside getting Gym badges and filler arc. Why not send him on a quest were he hunts down captures a Legendary Pokemon with a Pokeball so that Professor Oak be able to study it.

Brock is the one that needs to have more character development.Why can't they give him an arc were he enters a Pokemon Cooking Contest to win a Trophy?

 

[ii kanji]

If they have to wrap it up, Ash and Misty had better be getting married.

And Musashi and Kojiro

It won't be the year 2040 and Ash/Pikachu will still be traveling.

Well, not if they aren't still making money from it, but otherwise...

 

[PDL]

Pokémon is going through the same thing that other TV shows like Spongebob Squarepants or Thomas The Tank Engine or The Smurfs went through. They've become so popular that it would be sudicidal for ratings to change the fundamental aspects of the show, including who the main characters are. Even if the creators themselves have expressed that they wanted to end it.

Scott you're delusional in thinking a new character would be any different than Ash. Ash is a cookie-cutter Mary Sue character...Actually, Ash is kind of devoid of any real personality other than courage and drive...any new character is going to represent the same traits of teamwork and leadership like Ash.

That's actually a pretty common trait among main characters of other super-popular franchises. Look at the kind of character development Mario has (barely any). Aside from being honest and having a sense of justice, he's pretty flat when compared to other the other characters he interacts with (The most interesting would be Luigi, who's developed quite a "second-banana" complex).

Mickey Mouse doesn't have much of a personality either aside from being good and honest. Before he became super-popular, he used to actually be quite a bit of a jackass. But when he became popular, his bad traits dissappeared to make him more appealing to audiences.

 

[Piplup]

It's funny to see people say Ash "don't have a personality" or "don't get character development"
Did you even watch the show? Ash chaged a lot and continue to develope and get interesting character interactions

I also hate to see people who think the anime is ONLY to advertise
They do use it to advertise but it's not the ONLY reason it exist
It's just like any other show/movie/whatever based on a certain story, this case based on the games
Anyone who even try to say the writers don't care about the older fans is just crazy, since they constantly remind us past events
Actually, the fact they keep Ash seems to hint they do care for the older fans who are used to Ash and love him... if all they care about was the new generation of kids than they'd probably just change the whole cast every gen

I think it's stupid to want Ash's story to end
There's absolutely no reason for him to stop
He still has tons of regions to go to, trainers to challenge, and Pokémon to meet
It's a never-ending journey and that's what it was supposed to be all the time... even if Ash win one league and even the Elite Four and Champion... that would be just one out of 32532 regions
He'll continue despite any achievements he got - to get even better
I won't say Ash will undoubtly stay forever, but I can seriously see that happening... I'm not completely against a fresh new beginning but I think I'd prefer Ash (and Dawn) to stay... I see absolutely no reason to all of a sudden cut his story... we followed him for 12 years already - and I think the opposite of Scott - if we followed him this long, why would we want them to take him away from us? I want to keep watching Ash's adventures and will be very happy to do so in 50 years from now
I don't care what others think, I'm totally in love with Pokémon and while I also have some complaints here and there - I like it the way it is and wouldn't want any drastic changes

 

[ii kanji]

It's funny to see people say Ash "don't have a personality" or "don't get character development"
Did you even watch the show? Ash chaged a lot and continue to develope and get interesting character interactions

Obviously this is true, and I agree that it's stupid to call Satoshi to a Mary Sue, but it's also true that his character does not have the depth that bad qualities give. He's not perfect, but because he doesn't have "evil" traits (think Shinji, TR) his character comes across as more shallow, and many heroes of popular shows have the same qualities as him, because otherwise it's hard to really like them. And yeah, if they replaced him, they might as well call the kid Satoshi#2 or Satoshi's Clone, because that's would he would be (eventually if not straight away).

 

[Yoshi-san]

Eh....

Ash has gotten some CD in the long run, and I understand the people who still want Ash to be the main character but after a while Ash will get stale. IMO Ash should get retired eventually.

 

[domesticshorthair]

I think Pokemon will probably only end when it stops making money.

If they retire Ash, who would be the new character? Not someone like Ritchie. Ugh. Ritchie was nothing more than a perfect clone. He was too perfect, too...smart. No fun. The new character would probably just be another Ash, so might as well keep this one..

 

[TheArsenalRisen]

It's Ash's story. It always has been. The thought of replacing him is stupid. I'm actually somewhat appalled that this poll was made in the first place... And that so many said "yes" to retiring him. If you're all so tired of Ash, why keep bothering with the show? He's the main character and probably always will be.

Damn, why does every fandom of any series have to be so wanky? >_> Don't you get tired of complaining?

 

[Yoshi-san]

It's Ash's story. It always has been. The thought of replacing him is stupid. I'm actually somewhat appalled that this poll was made in the first place... And that so many said "yes" to retiring him. If you're all so tired of Ash, why keep bothering with the show? He's the main character and probably always will be.

Damn, why does every fandom of any series have to be so wanky? >_> Don't you get tired of complaining?

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX/5Ds says hi

 

[TheArsenalRisen]

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX/5Ds says hi

Ash's story has been successful for 12 years. Yugi's story lasted a whopping 5 years. Try again.

Also, YGO GX fails, IMO.

 

[Piplup]

I'm also not totally against EVENTUALLY doing a fresh start
But it seems too soon to happen in the near future...
And no - Ash isn't the only star, Dawn is too... and May kind of was too
And even if Ash was the only star... don't forget people can like characters other than the star, they can like the world itself, the Pokémon, the plot, etc...
Not everyone who like the anime HAS to like Ash too

And it's stupid to say they "can't" replace him
They can easily to that if they'll want
And no - it won't hurt the rating or any stupid excuse like that
As a lot of people said in this thread - new kids join all the time so for them it won't be so sad to see Ash go... also, the main reason kids and most of viewers at all watch the anime is because they like the Pokémon world and the Pokémon themselves which are the most important thing above all - the starring characters can get replaced as much as they'd want... the only thing that is a "must" to have are the Pokémon themselves

I'm not against fresh start and I don't want it either
I AM against a fresh start in the near future...

 

[pokemonmaniacSLR]

THIS IS REALY OBSERRED THEY CANNOT GET RID OF THE MAIN CHARECTER!!!!!!
THEY CANNOT GET RID OF ASH-IT WILL KILL THE SHOW

-LIKE WHAT THEY DID TO DIGIMON-THEY GOT RID OF THE MAIN CHARECTERS AND FROM THEN ON DIGIMON GOT GAY!!!

as a fanfic writer when i got rid of the pokemon charecters for a silly story, i found it boring to do because pokemon wont be pokemon without the charecters who made it possibe

 

[Cybersai]

It's Ash's story. It always has been. The thought of replacing him is stupid. I'm actually somewhat appalled that this poll was made in the first place... And that so many said "yes" to retiring him. If you're all so tired of Ash, why keep bothering with the show? He's the main character and probably always will be.

Most shows eventually have an ending. I don't know why I keep having to say this.

 

[Duckgon Z]

Most shows eventually have an ending. I don't know why I keep having to say this.

It'll get an ending one day. I don't care if it ends when I'm 40, I'll just watch it until I decide not to watch it anymore. If it doesn't end before I'm done watching it, big deal. It was fun while it lasted, and I wouldn't feel cheated or anything because I got to watch a fun show for such a long time that still keeps going.

But maybe that's just you, you like to watch shows to the end, and you'd rather that happen now then when you're really old, because I'm sure you'll still be watching Pokemon and keeping up with Ash and Pikachu's adventures when your 60 years old with children and grandchildren. Really now, just quit watching when this generation ends, it'll just be that one special show that never ended.

 

[swampertuska]

This serial is about Ash. He is the only main character. For me all others including Brock, Dawn, May, Misty and so on.. They just supporting characters. I really don't care about them too much. All of them can be replaced. Ash not.

This is my point.

 

[Piplup]

Most shows eventually have an ending. I don't know why I keep having to say this.

Pokémon won't have an ending
With Ash or without him - it'll continue
And evne if they keep Ash forever - it's ok since it's a never ending journey and they proved they can give him new things to do, character development and interesting rivals
I think the only acceptable excuse to say that Ash "was here enough and should get replaced" is ONLY after the character really don't get any interesting rivals like Paul, don't get any character development at all, etc... but that's not the case with Ash, at least currently... so there's no reason to get crazy about it

One of the things that makes Pokémon special and not like every other show is the fact it's a never ending show
And Ash is constantly and gradually getting better... there's no reason to randomly throw him away

I'm sure you'll still be watching Pokemon and keeping up with Ash and Pikachu's adventures when your 60 years old with children and grandchildren.

There's nothing wrong with that at all
Just because some stupid decided from age X one have to force himself to stop liking cartoons and games doesn't mean it's the right thing to do
I feel sorry for all the stupids who force themselves to stop like these things just because of this ridiculous "rule"

 

[TheArsenalRisen]

Most shows eventually have an ending. I don't know why I keep having to say this.

Sure. But let me note that you said show. This has been Ash's journey, story, and show since the beginning. Ash has made many accomplishments through the series (as you listed several pages back) but he's still a long way off from Pokemon Master. That was his original goal, back from episode one. And until that is fulfilled, don't just dump him. That would be so stupid.

If they just cut Ash here, what would be the point of the series? They'd have made 600 episodes and 12 movies that were pointless. Entertaining, yes. But worthless, when you look at the big picture. :/ "Whoo! We made Ash go through all this, let's just cut him off by making him miraculously beat the E4 and Shirona." Yeah, that'll work.

 

[Duckgon Z]

Pokémon won't have an ending
With Ash or without him - it'll continue

Now that we don't know. I think it'll end one day, not anytime in the near future, but one day. Who knows what the future will bring us, if another Pokemon like thing will come along one day. But again, its stupid to talk about that right now.

There's nothing wrong with that at all
Just because some stupid decided from age X one have to force himself to stop liking cartoons and games doesn't mean it's the right thing to do
I feel sorry for all the stupids who force themselves to stop like these things just because of this ridiculous "rule"

I didn't mean it like that, you can watch it until whatever. I just meant Scott seems like he'll be ranting for the show to end when he's really old. "Pokemon needs to ends! Where's my social security check? I need to pay for internet to rant more about Pokemon! Kids, get Grandpa's medicine's it's time for me to tell you why Pokemon needs to end!"

I mean there has to be a time where you just don't want to rant/watch a tv show and actually wait for an ending, animated or not.

 

[Yoshi-san]

Ash's story has been successful for 12 years. Yugi's story lasted a whopping 5 years. Try again.

Also, YGO GX fails, IMO.

OK

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Justice For All
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

also says hi

The game didn't focus on Wright but he was still in it. Same thing for Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. IMHO This can work for Ash in Pokemon.