Review New series: Initial thoughts

[Hidden Mew]

Maybe the reason we haven't seen Kalos or Alola is because they aren't in Go yet?

I don't think that would be the case, if only because it would take awhile for them to update Go to include both of those generations. It might be longer given the virus situation too. Even if that wasn't a factor, they usually update new Pokemon in Go through batches instead of everything all at once, so getting the seventh generation in Go will take at least another year, if not longer. Not to mention I think that limiting themselves to regions featured in Pokemon Go would be a weird restriction considering that the series' main gimmick is being a world tour of shorts and they've already gone to Galar a few times. Besides that, I think that the biggest reason why they haven't gone to Alola yet is simply because it's still too recent. SM ended back in November and it's only April. They probably want to spend time away from the region so that the audience has more time to miss it and for the return to ideally have more of an impact, especially when it would be a lot harder to write around any continuity nods from SM. I guess they could do it, but avoiding any established characters, especially Ash's Alola team and family, and dancing around the fact that Ash is the Alola Champion would be more jarring than having a COTD battling Ash instead of Lt. Surge.

I'm not as sure as to why they're avoiding Kalos though. The games, and by extension XY, are old enough to be considered nostalgic at this point in my opinion. Maybe they're saving it for something special.

 

[Daren]

I'm not as sure as to why they're avoiding Kalos though. The games, and by extension XY, are old enough to be considered nostalgic at this point in my opinion. Maybe they're saving it for something special.

I could see Greninja reappearing being a special episode with how popular the line is. Alternatively if they decide to bring back Mega Evolution (maybe for a remake next year to keep Dynamaxing as a Galar specialty) using Kalos to showcase it.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

I could see Greninja reappearing being a special episode with how popular the line is. Alternatively if they decide to bring back Mega Evolution (maybe for a remake next year to keep Dynamaxing as a Galar specialty) using Kalos to showcase it.

Doubt it. The new anime looks like it'll be more self-contained from the other past series. If Greninja does come back, chances are it will probably be belonging to an original character in Kalos. Just like Piplup and Croagunk to some trainers in Sinnoh when we thought they were Dawn and Brock's. Megas in Kalos would return, but not as much, as the main focus is Dynamax/Gigantamax.

As for the Gen 4 Remake, well we've got ourselves a conundrum. As much as many fans would love to see Megas come back, it is highly doubtful that it ever will since Dynamax/Gigantamax has taken over that spot for Gen 8. Even if Megas do come back, then that's a waste of a gimmick for Gen 8. GF clearly haven't thought of their lore and how they structure there series very well. But then, they are only there for the money with less effort spent at this point.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Last I recall, Piplup and Croagunk weren't #1 in the Pokemon popularity polls, and Ash has been getting all of the fan favorites (including #2 Lucario). Besides, Ash-Greninja is popular and recent enough for his absence to raise serious questions.

Yet, this new anime studio probably haven't the rights to use some of the character structures from those studios that did past anime series including XY, regardless of it being under the same franchise banner. Plus the XY anime's head writer has moved on to do the AU films. If Greninja does come back, it will most likely not be Ash's but someone else's, perhaps someone who's competing in the PWC. Ash's Charizard is absent and that's replaced with Leon's.

 

[Daren]

and the XY anime head writer has moved on to do the AU films.

XY's head writer is still working on the series. He's written several episodes for it already.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

XY's head writer is still working on the series. He's written several episodes for it already.

Yes but if they would've bring some of the characters back, he would have done so already. Makes me think that this new series is a mini reboot that is self-contained from past series regardless of region hopping. Sure, some fragments do spill over, but yet so far with this new anime, not so much.

May spilled over into DP, Cynthia and Dawn spilt into BW, Cilan spilt into XY, but as you could see... no Serena, Bonnie or Clemont spilling into SM. Instead we got Misty and Brock, not seen since them spilling into AG (Misty) and DP/BW* (Brock) respectfully.

BW* - Special with Brock and Cilan

With this new anime direction similar to the AU films, it looks as if they've scrapped the old tiresome formula with SM marking the transition between XY and the New Series, just so to give the new generation of children (not us older folks) something fresh and new.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Yet, this new anime studio probably haven't the rights to use some of the character structures from those studios that did past anime series including XY, regardless of it being under the same franchise banner. Plus the XY anime's head writer has moved on to do the AU films. If Greninja does come back, it will most likely not be Ash's but someone else's, perhaps someone who's competing in the PWC. Ash's Charizard is absent and that's replaced with Leon's.

Please stop throwing around false information. I don't like that you keep doing that. There isn't any rights issues, so there shouldn't be any legal problem with using older characters. The Leon example is also pretty shaky considering that Charizard is his main Pokemon in the games too, so that doesn't really help with your case of someone else using Greninja instead of Ash. There isn't a new or more recognizable character from the games that also uses Greninja. Leon isn't even the only video game character associated with Charizard if we also count in Red. I still wouldn't bet money of Greninja coming back anytime soon, but I don't think it would be a stretch for them to do that either.

Yes but if they would've bring some of the characters back, he would have done so already. Makes me think that this new series is a mini reboot that is self-contained from past series regardless of region hopping. Sure, some fragments do spill over, but yet so far with this new anime, not so much.

We're pretty early into the new series, so saying that he would have brought back older characters by now if they were going to do it is a bit much. Admittedly, the chances of returning characters was always pretty minimal for me, but that's mainly because of how the anime has treated its older characters for ages. Even the notion that the new series is a mini reboot is pretty strange, especially when every series has been self-contained. We saw Ash's trophies in his bedroom, which included his Alola League Championship trophies, and Lance had his Shiny Gyarados. Those aren't really a lot of nods to previous series admittedly, but I think that disproves the whole mini-reboot theory.

May spilled over into DP, Cynthia and Dawn spilt into BW, Cilan spilt into XY, but as you could see... no Serena, Bonnie or Clemont spilling into SM. Instead we got Misty and Brock, not seen since them spilling into AG (Misty) and DP/BW* (Brock) respectfully.

BW* - Special with Brock and Cilan

With this new anime direction similar to the AU films, it looks as if they've scrapped the old tiresome formula with SM marking the transition between XY and the New Series, just so to give the new generation of children (not us older folks) something fresh and new.

I think it's strange to say characters spilled over when most of those characters appeared for multiple episodes. They weren't just a quick nod to past events, but almost all of them featured in an arc or so. It's just kind of hard for me see that these characters spilled into newer series when May, Misty and Brock's reappearances actually advanced their characters and the storyline for those respective series in general. The image of characters spilling into another series implies that it is a mistake or an accident when that isn't really the case. The new series is still set in the same continuity, so it hasn't really gone in a similar directions to the AU movies.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Please stop throwing around false information. I don't like that you keep doing that. There isn't any rights issues, so there shouldn't be any legal problem with using older characters. The Leon example is also pretty shaky considering that Charizard is his main Pokemon in the games too, so that doesn't really help with your case of someone else using Greninja instead of Ash. There isn't a new or more recognizable character from the games that also uses Greninja. Leon isn't even the only video game character associated with Charizard if we also count in Red. I still wouldn't bet money of Greninja coming back anytime soon, but I don't think it would be a stretch for them to do that either.



We're pretty early into the new series, so saying that he would have brought back older characters by now if they were going to do it is a bit much. Admittedly, the chances of returning characters was always pretty minimal for me, but that's mainly because of how the anime has treated its older characters for ages. Even the notion that the new series is a mini reboot is pretty strange, especially when every series has been self-contained. We saw Ash's trophies in his bedroom, which included his Alola League Championship trophies, and Lance had his Shiny Gyarados. Those aren't really a lot of nods to previous series admittedly, but I think that disproves the whole mini-reboot theory.



I think it's strange to say characters spilled over when most of those characters appeared for multiple episodes. They weren't just a quick nod to past events, but almost all of them featured in an arc or so. It's just kind of hard for me see that these characters spilled into newer series when May, Misty and Brock's reappearances actually advanced their characters and the storyline for those respective series in general. The image of characters spilling into another series implies that it is a mistake or an accident when that isn't really the case. The new series is still set in the same continuity, so it hasn't really gone in a similar directions to the AU movies.

I don't need proof and evidence to see for myself what is going on outside the box. Pokemon for what it's become is a canary in the coalmine on the world stage of stagnation, not just in the video game industry, not just entertainment and media, but all civilisation as a whole, and with the Caronavirus as one of many life-threatening examples.

All the things I have just said are what is most likely, I'm NOT setting it in concrete, we'll just have to wait and see. If you want to understand my personal opinion to how I feel about Pokemon right about now, look no further than to watch this video from TheUnluckyTug and his review on Thomas: Journey Beyond Sodor film that soon gave way to BWBA.

Please watch from 28:03 to the end in order to get the idea to what I'm coming from, he sums it up very well. You can easily apply this to Pokemon, as Thomas went down the similar road of decline.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbXiEHDPPaQ

 

[DynamicFusion]

If they evolve Raboot into Cinderace less than a year into the Anime without any of the other two starters debuting like the merch is suggesting, that's all types of ridiculousness and you cannot claim otherwise. This is objective. The Pacing of this Series is all over the place.

 

[Panky..]

I don't need proof and evidence to see for myself what is going on outside the box. Pokemon for what it's become is a canary in the coalmine on the world stage of stagnation, not just in the video game industry, not just entertainment and media, but all civilisation as a whole, and with the Caronavirus as one of many life-threatening examples.

All the things I have just said are what is most likely, I'm NOT setting it in concrete, we'll just have to wait and see. If you want to understand my personal opinion to how I feel about Pokemon right about now, look no further than to watch this video from TheUnluckyTug and his review on Thomas: Journey Beyond Sodor film that soon gave way to BWBA.

Please watch from 28:03 to the end in order to get the idea. You can easily apply this to Pokemon, as Thomas went down the similar road of decline.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbXiEHDPPaQ

Except you're not exactly in a position to make these claims given your own admittance to not watching this series (much less any series after DP) and apparent disdain for them, hence most of what you say is based on false positives, assumptions and fallacies... not content from the anime itself. This is further backed up by the fact that you called the series a mini-reboot (a reboot of any kind would imply a restart or revival which this series clearly is not) and throw around facts like GO making billions of dollars in a short frame without credible evidence.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Except you're not exactly in a position to make these claims given your own admittance to not watching this series (much less any series after DP) and apparent disdain for them, hence most of what you say is based on false positives, assumptions and fallacies... not content from the anime itself. This is further backed up by the fact that you called the series a mini-reboot (a reboot of any kind would imply a restart or revival which this series clearly is not) and throw around facts like GO making billions of dollars in a short frame without credible evidence.

I never said it's a mini-reboot. Just that it's partial.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I don't need proof and evidence to see for myself what is going on outside the box. Pokemon for what it's become is a canary in the coalmine on the world stage of stagnation, not just in the video game industry, not just entertainment and media, but all civilisation as a whole, and with the Caronavirus as one of many life-threatening examples.

You do need proof and evidence to back up your claims. Otherwise, you are just making assumptions and in some cases, making up complete lies such as the whole Go making more money within a few years than the entire franchise has within two decades. That is a huge reason why I can't believe most of anything that you say. Most of the time you either complain about Game Freak, the anime in general or both at the same time. Comparing what Pokemon has become to a global health crisis is completely tone deaf and quite frankly insulting.

All the things I have just said are what is most likely, I'm NOT setting it in concrete, we'll just have to wait and see. If you want to understand my personal opinion to how I feel about Pokemon right about now, look no further than to watch this video from TheUnluckyTug and his review on Thomas: Journey Beyond Sodor film that soon gave way to BWBA.

Please watch from 28:03 to the end in order to get the idea to what I'm coming from, he sums it up very well. You can easily apply this to Pokemon, as Thomas went down the similar road of decline.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbXiEHDPPaQ

I'm really not interested in watching a video on a different topic in order to understand your opinions on Pokemon. I think it would be more honest to just describe your opinions yourself instead of trying to rely on someone else to do it for you, but I don't know if that would be more honest either. Despite saying that you haven't watched the anime since DP, you keep making pretty huge claims and judgments over the series, so I think that does weaken your arguments.

I never said it's a mini-reboot. Just that it's partial.

You literally called it a mini-reboot that is self-contained from past series in post that I quoted earlier.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

I don't need proof and evidence to see for myself what is going on outside the box.

You said this: so unless you’re some kind of deity you need proof.

Yet, this new anime studio probably haven't the rights to use some of the character structures from those studios that did past anime series including XY, regardless of it being under the same franchise banner.

This is false. The anime has been handled by the same studio and there are no rights issues due to the fundamental way the Pokémon franchise works. Please stop fear mongering. You sound like a troll at this point and this should probably be considered baiting...

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Then perhaps you shouldn’t have put in episode and what happened in it on the wiki. If it isn’t for these thing, I wouldn’t be writing the fanzine based on something that is lost. I know, an actual Pokémon fan appreciated the effort and is amazed of how it feels like an actual Pokémon episode and not a fanfic as I’ve strived to make it, because I like Pokémon. Something that you yes fans that follow GF and TPC regardless will never understand.

 

[Kitasuki]

I honestly hate when people talk from the top of an imagination superiority tree.
You haven't watched the anime since DP : Fact
You said GO made more money than the entire franchise: Lie
You talk about what you haven't even watched : Fact
And I can go on and on.
Talking and making points when you are misinformed does not make you a fan.
In my point of view the only thing it does make, is that in the eyes of everyone your arguments equal 0.
To express a point of view you showed us a Thomas The Train video. Wow. Can't you write your own points of view yourself?
And do you even see how many callbacks we have in the anime?
I'm gonna tell you something. When you write it's better when you build up to something. They made LT Surge be away. But the reason was Ash. And they tease a future battle. That is good writing.
You. You want fan service. You want what you want otherwise is wrong.
An argument is made when people present facts and discuss them.
What you do, I've stopped doing it since kindergarten.
That is all.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

I honestly hate when people talk from the top of an imagination superiority tree.
You haven't watched the anime since DP : Fact
You said GO made more money than the entire franchise: Lie
You talk about what you haven't even watched : Fact
And I can go on and on.
Talking and making points when you are misinformed does not make you a fan.
In my point of view the only thing it does make, is that in the eyes of everyone your arguments equal 0.
To express a point of view you showed us a Thomas The Train video. Wow. Can't you write your own points of view yourself?
And do you even see how many callbacks we have in the anime?
I'm gonna tell you something. When you write it's better when you build up to something. They made LT Surge be away. But the reason was Ash. And they tease a future battle. That is good writing.
You. You want fan service. You want what you want otherwise is wrong.
An argument is made when people present facts and discuss them.
What you do, I've stopped doing it since kindergarten.
That is all.

Question: Do you make the anime? Do you write to the people that make the anime? Do you understand Japanese? I wish I could ask them myself. I don’t ask for much, only for an anime dedicated to Galar, which has been overshadowed by all the other region. I have been waiting with patience to see how Pokémon would present the UK in the anime (for over 10 years might I add) but is instead overshot as if they don’t care. They’re only doing so because the UK is the strongest nation after America, and if strongest is what they’re going for with Gen 8, and with them obviously not bothering with the UK, then why not China? Oh that’s right! Japan have just as much bias over China as me being british. I personally call this a slap in the face and yet you still don’t understand nor care, and instead would tell me ‘it’s fan fictions or ‘there’s no proof’ or my personal favorite ‘GF is not lazy’. You are correct, I am not a fan, I never call myself a fan, and tbh, I HATE the Pokémon Fandom and most of you elitists are the reason why. You would always criticize again the humblest opinions of those who examine its heart. You would always defend something that Is now a hollow shell to what it was. Not because we’ve grown out of it, by the fad has grown out of this current decade where we have much bigger things to worry about. There is a saying ‘don’t let anyone ruin something that you love’, but if the person happens to be the one who made the series, you have to ask yourself if this franchise really trustworthy with your wallet? Deep I know, not related to this forum, maybe. I’m just letting this all out to the frustration of not just the franchise I once enjoyed as a pass time hobby, but also you especially who GF doesn’t want to have, since they only care about the Japanese children that are under the age of 14 that they think are too stupid and have less attention to know any better. I just can’t wait to be done with the Fanzine and Gen 8 because I am so tired with Pokémon, I never want anything to do with it again as soon as Gen 9 comes out.

 

[Panky..]

Question: Do you make the anime? Do you write to the people that make the anime? Do you understand Japanese? I wish I could ask them myself. I don’t ask for much, only for an anime dedicated to Galar, which has been overshadowed by all the other region. I have been waiting with patience to see how Pokémon would present the UK in the anime (for over 10 years might I add) but is instead overshot as if they don’t care. They’re only doing so because the UK is the strongest nation after America, and if strongest is what they’re going for with Gen 8, and with them obviously not bothering with the UK, then why not China? Oh that’s right! Japan have just as much bias over China as me being british.

Do you make the anime or write to the people making it? Do you understand Japanese as well? Because those are a lot of assumptions that you made and you're stepping a bit too much into political territory there. I don't see what any of this has to do with certain countries and what not. If I didn't know better, you were being a conspiracy theorist.

I personally call this a slap in the face and yet you still don’t understand nor care, and instead would tell me ‘it’s fan fictions or ‘there’s no proof’ or my personal favorite ‘GF is not lazy’. You are correct, I am not a fan, I never call myself a fan, and tbh, I HATE the Pokémon Fandom and most of you elitists are the reason why. You would always criticize again the humblest opinions of those who examine its heart. You would always defend something that Is now a hollow shell to what it was.

Yikes, calm down there. We criticize the baseless claims that you made (which were listed in several posts above, several times), seems less like they came from a "humble heart". And if you didn't pay attention, I heavily criticized the missteps they had with this series, so don't group everyone under the same banner as being "against you". The only thing I'm against is the false claims and fallacies you keep making.

Not because we’ve grown out of it, by the fad has grown out of this current decade where we have much bigger things to worry about. There is a saying ‘don’t let anyone ruin something that you love’, but if the person happens to be the one who made the series, you have to ask yourself if this franchise really trustworthy with your wallet? Deep I know, not related to this forum, maybe. I’m just letting this all out to the frustration of not just the franchise I once enjoyed as a pass time hobby, but also you especially who GF doesn’t want to have, since they only care about the Japanese children that are under the age of 14 that they think are too stupid and have less attention to know any better. I just can’t wait to be done with the Fanzine and Gen 8 because I am so tired with Pokémon, I never want anything to do with it again as soon as Gen 9 comes out.

But how are you even coming to these assumptions in the first place without even watching the anime? You missed the quasi-serious tone and battle heavy nature of XY. You missed the familial themes of SM, along with the character focused narrative. You're too focused on the end result to enjoy the journey, hence why you made claims on why DP should have been Ash's last season, which it clearly couldn't have been when you think about it and factor in the World Championship. You've imparted your opinion of BW onto everything that came later and hence view them all in a black light, which is a very one-dimensional outlook. If I have to make a very wild guess, I'd have to assume that you're the person who runs the Satoshipedia page.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

Wow wow wow wow

Please no more ...

No more Thomas the Tank Engine it scared the shit out of me when I was little.

All of this cause confusion and delay...

Jokes appart...

Now that as you already know or not Digimon starts a True reboot this week.

Why I'm mentioning Digimon. Well you see the main problem here is that Go and Ash are too similar, you see when you got two main characters you want them to atleast have a litle bit of variety and even confrontation between them from a personality point of view. Appart from PM003 we have not seen this yet.

From my point of view Go and Ash are two really bland characters, we could have gone from an Edgy attitude of Go to be a simple character even when they showed his family it was nothing special. And Ash... Ash remembers me to DBS Goku and that's not a good thing for me. You see Ash is always smiling always happy always silly and for me that's not a good thing we need you know... a little bit of characterization some sad times serious times. DP Ash was good at that. Also I liked cocky AG Ash sometimes.

For me the only character that showed that is Koharu who had a nice episode and showed some personality.

And now it comes to Digimon... How it is possible that a cast of eight characters have more variety between them than a cast of two? Sun and Moon also did that but not as good.

They have to rethink his characters personality wise cause Ash and Go are not a good pair... For now...

 

[DynamicFusion]

Wow wow wow wow

Please no more ...

No more Thomas the Tank Engine it scared the shit out of me when I was little.

All of this cause confusion and delay...

Jokes appart...

Now that as you already know or not Digimon starts a True reboot this week.

Why I'm mentioning Digimon. Well you see the main problem here is that Go and Ash are too similar, you see when you got two main characters you want them to atleast have a litle bit of variety and even confrontation between them from a personality point of view. Appart from PM003 we have not seen this yet.

From my point of view Go and Ash are two really bland characters, we could have gone from an Edgy attitude of Go to be a simple character even when they showed his family it was nothing special. And Ash... Ash remembers me to DBS Goku and that's not a good thing for me. You see Ash is always smiling always happy always silly and for me that's not a good thing we need you know... a little bit of characterization some sad times serious times. DP Ash was good at that. Also I liked cocky AG Ash sometimes.

For me the only character that showed that is Koharu who had a nice episode and showed some personality.

And now it comes to Digimon... How it is possible that a cast of eight characters have more variety between them than a cast of two? Sun and Moon also did that but not as good.

They have to rethink his characters personality wise cause Ash and Go are not a good pair... For now...

I feel like you hit the hammer on the nail perfectly here. This is exactly the problem with PM2019.

 

[Panky..]

Wow wow wow wow

Please no more ...

No more Thomas the Tank Engine it scared the shit out of me when I was little.

All of this cause confusion and delay...

Jokes appart...

Now that as you already know or not Digimon starts a True reboot this week.

Why I'm mentioning Digimon. Well you see the main problem here is that Go and Ash are too similar, you see when you got two main characters you want them to atleast have a litle bit of variety and even confrontation between them from a personality point of view. Appart from PM003 we have not seen this yet.

From my point of view Go and Ash are two really bland characters, we could have gone from an Edgy attitude of Go to be a simple character even when they showed his family it was nothing special. And Ash... Ash remembers me to DBS Goku and that's not a good thing for me. You see Ash is always smiling always happy always silly and for me that's not a good thing we need you know... a little bit of characterization some sad times serious times. DP Ash was good at that. Also I liked cocky AG Ash sometimes.

For me the only character that showed that is Koharu who had a nice episode and showed some personality.

And now it comes to Digimon... How it is possible that a cast of eight characters have more variety between them than a cast of two? Sun and Moon also did that but not as good.

They have to rethink his characters personality wise cause Ash and Go are not a good pair... For now...

I wouldn't say Ash is DBS Goku level of OOC, that's a bit of a long stretch since the only parts he's been OOC in were written by Deko Akao or just some of the GO stuff (the latter is more of a problem with character based interactions with Gou in general, which also extends to Gou's captures). Otherwise, Ash has been very much in character especially when it comes to helping people or Pokemon. You can't really expect Ash to go back to being a cocky and arrogant brat, now that would be highly OOC. "Always smiling always happy always silly" doesn't make him like DBS Goku in any way. I assume you missed out on every previous series that characterized him a lot? Or even some of the episodes from this series itself that focused on him.

DBS Goku was outright different from DBZ Goku, he was more arrogant/egoistic and came off as an a-hole, not to mention that they made him a numbskull with the intelligence of an 8 y/o who doesn't even know what a kiss is (despite several moments in DBZ showing that he has romantic knowledge). Ash's OOC moments came because of writer flaws/incompetence, whereas DBS Goku was straight up written that way to fit DB Super's theme and attempts to appeal to a different audience.