Is anyone disappointed that Journeys will come to an end soon?

[Unireon]

Not at all.

Journeys is a complete mess, a piece of trash that not even the most skilled staff could save at this point.

This series has been an embarrassment to the whole franchise; there is not even a sense of quality or cohesion left.

I am just hoping that they make an attempt to rework for the SV Anime.
Paldea doesn't deserve the treatment Galar got, instead they should focus on all of its plots.

And please; sent Gou to Another Dimension, one from where he won't come back ever.

 

[sc190191]

This is actually a really interesting question to me. On the one hand Journeys is nowhere near the top of my list for series and certainly has numerous flaws (not even caught up right now), but on the other hand the "anything can happen" type nature of the show is something I will certainly miss depending on what replaces it.

In previous series there was always a small chance of a throwback, albeit usually very minor. In Journeys some old characters actually had fairly decent sized roles, while there were even some obscure and surprising references/callbacks. Beyond that, the fact that any week could be anywhere (including places that were missed in prior series) was pretty cool. So I will miss the "possibilities" even if most of the execution was a miss (and even if the stuff I really loved wasn't really very frequent).

That "anything can happen" nature is also one of the reasons I don't prefer this series, because I love when the series has continuity to itself, flow, and solid pacing/development. Considering I believe it is likely that the future remains episodic, at least the way Journeys was it had the potential to produce episodes I was really happy about (I smiled the whole day after seeing the stills from the Serena episode).

I would love to return to a series in the mold of Gen I-VI, but I'm really not sure how realistic that is at this point, so I could easily see whatever replaces this series actually being worse than where we are at now. At the very least, I have to believe we will at least get more female representation in the main cast, but who knows.

One (very minor) concern I have is if Ash defeats Leon and they decide to retire him (I don't think retiring him is likely, but really what else can they do with him if he beats the invincible trainer - its a lot different that winning the upstart Alola League) that they might actually reboot the series instead of just moving into the future, in which case callbacks to old characters would be over. It is always nice to have the chance for someone to reappear (even if it takes 10+ years) and never knowing when something like that might happen is kind of exciting. Just knowing it is the same universe and all those characters (even Pidgeot) are out there somewhere with the (remote) possibility of showing up is what I will miss the most depending on the next series' direction.

 

[isrrael120]

not for me really, Journeys is a huge disappointment with a lot of hype from being the "best" of all to what is just bad writing that can't be given a decent closure!

 

[Squad_Broke_Down]

If you had made this statement a year and a half ago, than I would actually have said yes, considering how the episodes back then were ok.
Now? I'd absolutely and utterly say no.
I don't know what happened, but something seemed to change in Journeys after episode 50.
There were still great moments, but it seemed that overall the quality took a huge nosedive entering S24 and ESPECIALLY now.
The quality writing is gone: replaced by rushed battles, terrible placement of filler, and bad pacing.
The bad pacing was a fundamental issue that Journeys had, but S25 cranks the issue up to eleven.
At thus point nostalgia bait is the only thing that keeps people excited (and a couple of good stuff too)
It says a lot when I can't find any episode past Episode 115 (except for the Iris vs Cynthia battle) that has had a majority positive reception.
This series had so much potential (A series where you travel the world and get to meet people from all over? That probably has enough to create a series with 200 episodes) which was just wasted. Chloe was wasted, character returns were wasted, and the potential offered from the Galar region was wasted as well.
Honestly, just end the season and move on to Paldea.
And please don't make Goh return because I do not want to see his little shit again

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

At this point I’ll be glad it’s ending because of the sheer amount of complaining about the complaining on the saga and vice versa. It basically took away everything I watch Pokémon for till the very end (seeing Ash raise a team of Pokémon and seeing each of them grow and develop with each other) so, thanks JN. It has had fine moments but everything is pretty much a monkey's paw scenario. Not to mention seeing Galar get completely ignored.

 

[PrettySylveon]

At this point I’ll be glad it’s ending because of the sheer amount of complaining about the complaining on the saga and vice versa. It basically took away everything I watch Pokémon for till the very end (seeing Ash raise a team of Pokémon and seeing each of them grow and develop with each other) so, thanks JN. It has had fine moments but everything is pretty much a monkey's paw scenario. Not to mention seeing Galar get completely ignored.

Honestly I think people complain way too much when it comes to both the Pokémon games and the anime.

 

[Handy Man]

I don't know what happened, but something seemed to change in Journeys after episode 50.

The director of Journeys actually changed with JN055. Maki Kodaira was replaced by Jun Ōwada. I’m pretty sure a director being replaced mid-series has never happened before until now, it would explain a lot.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

I must concur with most of the people above me: I won't miss Journeys one bit. (Maaaaybe the character returns, but probably only that.) The sooner this utter mess of a series is over the better. Hopefully, almost everyone involved with the production of the Pokemon anime have learned something from this debacle: what not to do to make a successful season of the Pokemon anime. Against all odds though, I'm still hopeful for the finale of Journeys. Just give me two memorable battles with Cynthia and Leon, happy reunions/new meetings with Ash's friends, plus another another Ash and Serena moment (longer this time, please!!) and I'll be good.

 

[Adelon]

Not really? I'm actually quite excited about the possibility of a ScarVio anime series. I love Spain and I want to see Paldea in all of its glory.

 

[Sai]

If you had made this statement a year and a half ago, than I would actually have said yes, considering how the episodes back then were ok.
Now? I'd absolutely and utterly say no.
I don't know what happened, but something seemed to change in Journeys after episode 50.
There were still great moments, but it seemed that overall the quality took a huge nosedive entering S24 and ESPECIALLY now.
The quality writing is gone: replaced by rushed battles, terrible placement of filler, and bad pacing.

The first year of Journey's was much weaker than the last two. There were some great episodes, but most fillers back then were just for Go to capture an old pokemon, or eps that felt like dull/strange homages to past seasons like the Ivysaur evolving episode or that Piplup/Croagunk filler without Dawn/Brock. Also remember back then Dragonite and Gengar went huge gaps without appearing or doing anything even though they were both captured from the start.

The show picked up around mid/late 2020, as Ash's Pokemon started to get more focus and development (although obviously there were still issues), and a lot of mid/late 2021-2022 eps were better. The character returns also got much better over time, with characters sticking around for multiple episodes and the writers handling say Infernape or such better the second time around. Not to mention Go's role was directionless till Project Mew started.

It's really weird I seem to be on the opposite end of things, the first year was just OK, but Journey's picked up after that. The problem is the, "damage was done" so to speak, with Ash's team and Go's first year wasted, (and Koharu in general I guess), so those stuck around the whole series.

 

[Sobblefan]

Personally I’m a little dissapointed, I liked the direction Journeys went. I liked that we got to see all the regions again. I still hope they make the next anime a quest for badges, and not like SM or Journeys. Not specifically like XY though, I think there wasn’t the humor we usually get from a Pokémon anime

 

[JinksChow]

The director of Journeys actually changed with JN055. Maki Kodaira was replaced by Jun Ōwada. I’m pretty sure a director being replaced mid-series has never happened before until now, it would explain a lot.

Nah, we also had a change of director mid-series before, though it was admittedly ages ago.

In AG170, the director was changed from Hidaka Masamitsu to Sudo Norihiko. Incidentally, this was also during a period of time when the Pokemon anime was in a lull in terms of ratings; just before the change of directors, Pokemon AG had not ranked in the Weekly Top 10 anime ratings for ten consecutive weeks, something that was unprecedented for the Pokemon anime at the time.

Also a bit off-topic, but it really irks me when the Thread Title and Poll Question require you to answer oppositely. As in, I am not disappointed that Journeys will come to an end soon (so my answer to Thread Title is No); therefore, I am happy about Journeys ending soon (so my answer to Poll Question is Yes).

 

[DuskAstral]

I just think Paldea will be added to the region rotation.
Somehow I doubt that the creators would like to return to the old formula, since it will be a backward development.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I just think Paldea will be added to the region rotation.
Somehow I doubt that the creators would like to return to the old formula, since it will be a backward development.

That hasn't really stopped the writers before. Plus, I can't really see them keeping the PWC regardless of the outcome of the finals. That doesn't necessarily mean that they have to return to the old formula, but there is a pretty good chance that they'll try out something new for the next series.

Besides that, I can't see them just adding in Paldea to the region rotation. All of the storylines in Journeys are currently being wrapped up. I don't see them keeping the world tour aspect going forward when Goh will most likely join Project Mew permanently and Ash won't be doing the PWC again most likely either. It would be such a waste to just put the newest generation in the region rotation again too.

 

[Mr. MoonStone]

I just think Paldea will be added to the region rotation.
Somehow I doubt that the creators would like to return to the old formula, since it will be a backward development.

So the alternative is for Ash to lose to Leon and start all over again facing people in the same regions (plus Paldea) traveling with Go for another 3 years? If anything, that would be worse than a backward development imo. It would be stagnancy.

 

[RileyXY1]

So the alternative is for Ash to lose to Leon and start all over again facing people in the same regions (plus Paldea) traveling with Go for another 3 years? If anything, that would be worse than a backward development imo. It would be stagnancy.

Yeah. It would be even worse than Ash losing the League six generations in a row.

 

[Islander Princess]

I'm very rarely disappointed when a Pokémon series ends. Even if I generally like the series, I'm just ready to move on and see something new after 3 years. I actually didn't want SM to end, I loved it so much, and actually cried watching the finale. I wasn't ever really expecting Journeys to follow that up, and it didn't, but that's not out of the norm for me when it comes to Pokémon.

Now, did I generally like Journeys? It's hard to say, honestly. When it was good, it was really good, and when it was bad, it was really bad. The inconsistencies in quality are jarring, but I don't think I'll be able to fully evaluate how I felt overall about the series until it actually concludes. Either way, I'm ready for the ending and look forward to the next series.

 

[PrettySylveon]

I just came here from watching today’s episode, and let me say this: if Ash loses to Cynthia, then I don’t think I’ll continue watching Journeys.

 

[Daren]

I just came here from watching today’s episode, and let me say this: if Ash loses to Cynthia, then I don’t think I’ll continue watching Journeys.

Him struggling early on is actually a good sign. Other than Ritchie and Tobias I think he usually took an early lead against league kickers.

 

[Silktree]

He'll lose spectacularly. This goes without saying, but he clearly isn't the world's strongest trainer just yet, nor should he revert to badge quests.