My Big Problem with the Pokémon Anime - An Essay and a Rant

[SinnohEevee]

That would be extremely disrespectful.

TPC will just tell them to carry on and they will have to abide.

 

[Almonds]

In that case, they'd probably replace Rica Matsumoto with someone else if she couldn't continue the role for whatever reason. It wouldn't necessarily be considered disrespectful. I know that Japan is respectful towards its voice actors, but they can replace them for popular characters if they have sadly passed on.

True. They don't get rid of the character just because the voice actor can't be present for recording for some reason. I did hear of one scenario where a character was killed off because their voice actor was a singer and had concerts to perform and couldn't attend recordings (it was probably someone from Gundam Seed or something) but that's, of course, the exception.

Most long-running anime have characters that do indeed outlive their voice actors. Although, I haven't heard of a main protagonist outliving their voice actor.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Putting Ash character development, treatment of villains, older pokemon and themes going for pokemon aside and all problems related to it.

Truthfully,i know this is going to bother quite a few people. But looking back at past 20 years of pokemon anime existence Ash traveling companions in end really do give out impression how they are pointless in general. This is something which always bothered me being one of biggest flaws and mistakes those in charge of this show are, were doing.

Because lets all of us ask ourselves one important question. What every one of Ash old friends did/do add up to pokemon anime and this long on going adventure? Where is their impact and footprint left on flow of storyline ?

What their adding one after another accomplish in longer run?

This isn't same like "Fairy Tail!", "Naruto!", "One Piece!", "Dragon Ball!" etc where every main character is kept in some shape or form relevant and acknowledged in storyline until very end. Continuing to receive development, their bonds with others being maintained, their expertize, skills and different professions bering used and called upon if they fit within certain arc or subplot.

With everyone being treated with respect and care in not being blatantly forgotten and abandoned in anime universe.

But in pokemon?

Do we ever see Misty, May, Brock, Dawn, Tracey etc in pokemon series? NO. Is there ever given follow up to their started careers, dreams and unresolved issues in each individual storyline? Is their relationship with Ash or any influence, bond, help thery provided to him even acknowledged or remembered?

Does it even feel like any of them was ever existing in pokemon universe and continuity with their incluision during respective saga they were in making difference? Making their development count?

Answer is big flat out NO. Since all main characters not named Ash or TR are replaced. Forgotten and buried in past never being brought up. Never receiving folliow ups, even small glimpses of what came out of them?

Their supposed of screen adventures, development, apparently becoming better and more successful once they left Ash staying limited solely to viewers speculation and imagination.
Never being used or called upon in newer sagas when there is tournament, some dangerous event or suitable plot where their service and knowledge would be of great use allowing to have them sometime appear and provide benefit both for adventure and themselves.

More so their friendship with Ash hardly being brought up or nurtured sending out impression how their character development, influence and help they left on Ash and other people. Their own backstories, goals, entertainment valiue, humor, unfinished plots, pokemon and position they played in pokemopnm world was ultimately irrelevant, undeeded and pointless anyway.

Because its never remembered, never recognized and never being broight up once they leave this show. Ceasing for all intents and purposes to exist, like none of Ash traveling companions was never present in pokemon anime in first place.

 

[Bloodstained]

Here's how I see these problems with the Pokémon anime: The writers and producers should not hype up expectations for a huge event if they never intend for it to happen (or want too, but cannot, and giving into producers' demands is just disappointing). Reusing the same characters without meaningful advancement just sets up for more disappointment with each passing series. A status quo formula can get tired very quickly. For all of these points, there is a set goal in mind throughout all of the series and the goal is not eventually met. It therefore causes extreme audience fatigue that makes it difficult or impossible to enjoy the series for many viewers, even if they hadn't experienced it before (the latter usually only holds true to those who researched the anime beforehand).

As I mentioned to _Dog in a conversation: "When the story truly doesn't amount to anything given its past and they try to do this without changing the core aspects of the anime itself, then it's a real waste of time for everyone." I still stand by that statement in regards to my own feelings about the anime. I haven't been able to find enough reason to return to it and I likely never will. That being said, if people out there still genuinely enjoy the anime, I'm glad you can find something about it you like that keeps you happy with it.

I still have other ways to enjoy Pokémon as a whole, though, and I admit that the anime did give me a reason to stay with the franchise for some time. It's no longer necessary for me to continue watching considering the trends it's followed over the years (and maybe I've just outgrown it and am no longer satisfied, especially since I've come to appreciate much deeper stories), but I guess I can't throw all of my hate at it. However, I don't believe I'll ever be a fan of this anime again. I'll have to make my own story for my own satisfaction.

 

[Yankees4life]

I feel your pain, OP but the mighty dollar will always conquer progression for a main character in Ash. That is always what you expect from this show. This isn't like Naruto where we see the main character grow from a novice to one of the strongest man on earth. The goal is always to promote the games and that is that

 

[Rath]

You've posted this same troll topic on multiple forums, enough is enough.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

You've posted this same troll topic on multiple forums, enough is enough.

This is the same thread.

 

[SinnohEevee]

This is the same thread.

There's a similar one on Serebii.

 

[Flynn]

My Big Problem with the Pokémon Anime - An Essay and a Rant at DuckDuckGo

He's posted this thread on a ton of different forums lol

 

[Matleo]

I have a greater problem, Z-moves start to be overused in the anime like megas in XY.
If they try to use one every 5 episodes or every third battle it will be ok, but not every single one.
And not both :ash and rival every time.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I have a greater problem, Z-moves start to be overused in the anime like megas in XY.
If they try to use one every 5 episodes or every third battle it will be ok, but not every single one.
And not both :ash and rival every time.

I don't think that Z-Moves are being overused. They're a new gimmick mechanic like Mega Evolution, but I don't think it's reach the point of being overused in the series yet. It might feel like it is because Ash has access to Z-Moves while he couldn't with Mega Evolution, but he hasn't used it every single episode or even close to that.

 

[_Dog]

You've posted this same troll topic on multiple forums, enough is enough.

Nope.

I still have plenty to respond to here. Hopefully I'll have it all done by the end of the month.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Nope.

My Big Problem with the Pokémon Anime - An Essay and a Rant at DuckDuckGo

This says otherwise (an EXTREMELY quick skim shows atleast 8 separate forums, ranging from GameFAQS to Serebii forums.

 

[Almonds]

I don't think that Z-Moves are being overused. They're a new gimmick mechanic like Mega Evolution, but I don't think it's reach the point of being overused in the series yet. It might feel like it is because Ash has access to Z-Moves while he couldn't with Mega Evolution, but he hasn't used it every single episode or even close to that.

All pokemon have access to Z-moves, but only a select few pokemon can Mega Evolve, and most of the pokemon that can Mega Evolve are on the rare side so while both features hold a central theme to each series, Z-moves are more easily accessible and would be used far more often compared to Mega Evolution.

Though, has it become the new Thunderbolt where Ash finishes off battles with Z-moves?

 

[Hidden Mew]

All pokemon have access to Z-moves, but only a select few pokemon can Mega Evolve, and most of the pokemon that can Mega Evolve are on the rare side so while both features hold a central theme to each series, Z-moves are more easily accessible and would be used far more often compared to Mega Evolution.

Though, has it become the new Thunderbolt where Ash finishes off battles with Z-moves?

More Pokemon can use Z-Moves and it has been a bigger focus for SM than I think Mega Evolution was in XY at least partly because of that, but I don't think that they've gone overboard with Z-Moves. It hasn't become the new Thunderbolt where Ash always finishes off his opponents with Z-Moves. He uses them, but not to the point of being overused.

 

[Bloodstained]

My Big Problem with the Pokémon Anime - An Essay and a Rant at DuckDuckGo

This says otherwise (an EXTREMELY quick skim shows atleast 8 separate forums, ranging from GameFAQS to Serebii forums.

He meant he wasn't done responding here, he wasn't denying the multiple posts.

 

[CrystaI]

Sorry for bumping this unfavorable controversial thread. Recently I read a very beautifully written post in another forum that gave a very intelligent insight to the main concern of this thread. So true and agreeable (at least for me if not for everyone) that it makes me once again doubt about the direction and existential reason of this show.

Your post leaves out a key, important fact about adults: We give birth to children. Maybe you're right that the average age of users here is 15-25, and maybe at that age you're not thinking of birth so much, but I'm 32, and for various reasons, some of which may very well be related to biology, I've recently started thinking a lot more about how I will bring up children when I have them, and what I want to expose them to, and not to sound like a prudish authoritarian, because overall I don't intend to be that sort of parent, but from where I'm standing, the notion that "it's for kids" implies a more liberal curb on which to grade things feels frequently bizarre. Not always, but frequently.

For example, what sort of disparate things does "it's for kids" mean? I still remember a decade ago that this designation was applied to "Crank Dat", by Soulja Boy, and since its lyrics contain multiple instances of "up in this hoe", I'm going to assume that the main reason adults came to that conclusion is they listened to it for a few seconds and decided, "this is too terrible to possibly be intended for older people who have had more time to refine their tastes". In all seriousness, though, "For Kids" tends to have four meanings:

1) Intended to entertain children.
2) Intended to educate children.
3) Intended to enculturate certain values in children.
4) Intended to to get the parents of children to buy them things.

Note that many children's media entail more than one of the above. Given the latter two, it should be obvious why I feel that sometimes, "it's for kids" warrants a greater degree of oversight; not a lesser one. The key question to ask of the purveyors of things that are for kids is, "Are you serving kids, or are you exploiting them?"

Not that I'd declare the simple act of wanting to sell products to children, exploitation. I wish I could say I still enjoyed Pokemon the way I did when I was a child, and I suspect many people have the same wish; it's not like any of us were unaware there was a business being run back when we loved it. But here's what I think does qualify as exploitation, what earns the Pokemon anime the most scorn from me, and what makes "it's for kids" not a defense, but an extra strike against it: On top of its plots being lackluster, repetitive, and sometimes featuring resets of characters to near plothole levels, the problem is it preys on the ignorance of children to enable itself to keep doing that. Note that I explicitly said "ignorance", not youth, because this isn't about children being stupid or having different tastes. I do not believe, for a second, that children want to see Ash lose leagues, nor constantly swap out his older, stronger Pokemon for weaker ones, or suddenly get dumb and weak again, to ensure that he continues to lose leagues, nor abandon his human friends as he moves on in his vicious cycle of perpetually pupal failure.

The Pokemon anime is not going in that cycle because it's what children actually want to see; it's doing so because it deludes children into thinking that the things they actually want to see are just around the corner when they never actually are. (That, and because funds earned from selling games pay for this show, it doesn't have to worry if people are actually tuning in to generate ad revenue.) Whether it's Ash's constant refrain amounting to "I lost this league, but next time will be different; just you wait", the escalating of the closest he's come to a romantic relationship only to drop it, or the teasing of the Rockets having some depth that just gets neglected as they keep banging their heads against the protagonists, or momentarily developing some competence, which just like Ash's, can be reset at any time, this show continues to let generation after generation of viewers down because it's exploiting the ignorance of newer and newer viewers who don't yet realize they're caught in its trap, and that is disgusting.

What makes it even more so, is it doesn't have to be this way. "It" meaning the Pokemon series and its merchandise-driven direction; fully acknowledged as a given unto themselves. The problem with the show is not that it exists to sell video games; it's that it insists on keeping around characters who have outlived their purpose and "continuing" their "story" on the side. The reason Ash gets the flak he does as a character, who hardly ever has a personality beyond "2BA Master" and is only occasionally even good at that, is because the showrunners insist on shoving him into the mold that's meant for brand new characters from the games. Likewise, Team Rocket is ineffectual because while the show is contorting itself to fit into the game plots, an effective arch-nemesis other than the games' villains would just derail them. This anime is trying to be two antithetical things at once, and tragically it ends up worthy as neither. Things could be drastically improved if only they realized this, and it would make absolutely no threat to the existing business model, since it revolves around selling games that Ash (beyond certain special occasion Pokemon) isn't even in!

Ideally, I think this anime should finally let Ash and Team Rocket retire with dignity. Give them a fulfilling ending, and take them out of the show, and then focus on the protagonists and villains of the actual games. But if that's too drastic and would, in fact, upset the hypothetical viewers who are attached to those travel-everywhere, go-nowhere characters, instead they could just keep them around but shift their roles. Give Ash a league victory, permanent development, and a strong reserve team of Pokemon iconic across generations, and when he moves onto the next region, instead of a n00b, he becomes the mentor to the actual protagonist of the video game; the boy, the girl, or maybe even both, and these game protagonists are now the ones who have the 2BA Master Quest. It's not hard.

It's a bit harder to determine how to evolve Team Rocket's role. Back in my day, they were in the anti-Goldilocks zone of villainy wherein they were too sympathetic to hate, and too pathetic to fear; I don't know how their characters have evolved since. But if they had to stick around, I'd say probably the best way is as some sort of anti-heroes. They can't be made competent enough to hinder the protagonists seriously or become the "Big Bad", for the previously-mentioned reason of derailing narrative, and they can't go straight without massive character derailment, but I think they could stick around as people who are selfish but mostly end up going up against the greater evils (ie, the game villains).

Again, it's not like such revisions would make the show more "adult". There's scant evidence that it would go against what children want to see. What it would do is offer a sense of satisfaction to viewers who had been there for a while. It's not about age; it doesn't matter if they were ten when they started and are now twelve, or eight when they started and are now ten. It's about getting your time investment rewarded with something big actually happening.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

"it's for kids" is a terrible excuse. It implies that bad writing is okay as long as most of the show's viewer are little children.

 

[KyseL]

My big problem with the Pokémon anime is that it took them 19 years to make it good.

(Also Ash becoming a Pokémon Master isn't happening, he's as much of a mascot for the anime as Pikachu is for the whole franchise and achieving his goal can only happen alongside the end of the series)

 

[Alola]

Winning a regional Pokemon League does not make one a "Pokemon Master." Thus, maybe the writers could give Ash a win for once (!) and shake things up, but continue to travel to other regions and still attempt to achieve that dream. This is the kid who won the Orange League and was offered a position of Frontier Brain, yet he still chose to continue his journey and better himself-the same principle can be applied if he won a regional tournament. If that's his passion, the writers can still have him achieve some victories within it rather than have him lose anything of significance.