Pokémon Horizons General Discussion/Speculation Thread

[Jaye]

And even worse, she is already starting as a Mary Sue (I don´t like this expression, but I think it fits in this case since she is starting the series with a super duper rare item).

Possessing a rare item does not make a character a Mary Sue. By this logic, the majority of characters in fiction are Mary Sues, which completely defeats the purpose of having such a label in the first place.

Liko's pendant is the equivalent to the One Ring in Lord of the Rings, the nine-tailed fox inside Naruto, or the Four-Star Dragon Ball Goku owned. It's an object with a mystery and importance that allures people to it, which came into the possession of a character though circumstances outside their control, and exists specifically to drive plot events and character development. Owning the thing doesn't make a character somehow perfect or the object of wish-fulfilment, as Mary Sues tend to be, as this kind of set-up is extremely common in fiction.

For Liko to be a Mary Sue in this scenario, she'd have to be the only one to know about the pendant and it's true purpose, the only who knew where to find it, the only one who could use its power, etc. Nothing we've seen so far suggests any of that. It suggests the opposite. She was given it by somebody else and has no idea what its purpose is.

I don´t want to sound sexist, but, at least for now, she is nothing but a gender swapped Ash.

The brief footage we've seen shows her to be very different from Ash. Thus far, she appears to have doubt and hesitation, whereas Ash had confidence and acted on it from day one. Liko has yet to express any goal or ambition, while Ash shouted his Pokemon Master dream to the rooftops. Liko appears to be treating Sprigatito well early on, while Ash literally dragged Pikachu up the road using a clothesline. Liko seems to have a life and hobbies outside of Pokemon, while Ash was utterly obssessed with them.

The only similarity I've seen, is a willingness to put themselves at risk when the moment calls for it, which is just a generic trait most protagonists share.

It´s like the producers thought being a girl is already different enough. Add to this the fact that Pokemon is a show predominantly watched by boys and it´s a huge risk that won´t have the payoff they expect. Girls won´t start watching the anime just because it has a girl protagonist and, the ones that will won´t be in a huge enough number. Also, there are lots of girl animes inu Japan like the merchandise behemot Precure who is also running for 20 years and who girls will be more interested in bying products from. Also, I doubt the parents wallet is endless. There´s just to much competion in the girl market, especilly since it also has it´s own long estabelished franchises. Again, I don´t want to sound sexist, but someone has to adress the elephant in the room. There are also lots of boys who are fans and will stop watching beacause of the girl protagonist. I have first hand accounts of this as I wrote about in a previous post. Japan is still a country whith unfortunetly very defined limits between a boy and a girl. If the anime starts being called girlsh by the «boss» kids at school it´s over. Entire classrooms will stop watching, It´s a documented phenomenom that will undoutfully happen. I guess this is the real (and honestly only) reason for Roy´s existence.

The protagonist's gender is secondary to the overall tone and premise of a show when it comes to audience appeal. Your claim Liko's gender is an attempt to snatch up more female viewers simply isn't supported by the marketing we've seen so far, which has presented Horizons as a show aimed at everyone with no specific gender in mind. As opposed to Precure, a show very much designed for young girls to watch. Simply having a girl on the front cover isn't enough to determine which audiences they're targetting.

If Horizons was changing the tone, the setting, premise, themes etc. to target girls, then there'd be a case, but once again, there's nothing in the marketing suggesting this is the case. They've mostly pushed the adventure and mystery, two of the most universal genres in fiction.

For those calling me sexist about Liko, I will just try to explain my opinion with some more points. Right now she feels like a Mary Sue, but that can change. For those posts about Ash I will not lose much of my time because we will agree to disagree. Meeting Ho-oh doesn´t make him special since it never gave him any powers. Team Rocket started following him because they saw the raw potential in Pikachu, not because he had a special pendant that obviously will have a special power inside. The only thing where I agree that Ash is special is the aura. However, that wasn´t part of his character since the beginning. It came form a movie and, because it was popular, it made it´s way into the series proper. Also, to me, there are to types of special in fiction: those who gain power from the inside of their hearts, from their bonds with others (the case of Ash and Pikachu) and those I hate who are the ones who gain something special from an external force, like Naruto (he has special genes) or in this case Liko with her special pendant. Another point I have against Liko is somethng I already noticed and that my cousin´t students also pointed out. She looks very identical to a character from Delicious Party Pretty Cure called Kokone. She says during the announcement of the new series, one of the things she saw on social medi was people pojnting out this similarity and doing somethings like the «Can we have Kokone? We got Kokone at home» meme. That series aired during 2022. The fact that, im my eyes, the new series appears to be a last minute decision and her design being very similar to such a recent character from another popular franchise (a character who ranked very high in viewers preference during that season), makes it look like a case of putting together a would be marketable desing as fast as they could.

The main issue here is that you're simply way off base about Liko. Admitting to a bias against her doesn't change how faulty your argument is.

Functionally, what is the difference between Team Rocket following Ash for his special Pikachu (who you earlier described as "normal", incidentally) and the Explorers targeting Liko because she has a special pendant? There is no difference. You have two antagonistic groups targeting an otherwise unremarkable protagonist for something they possess. Why is it now a problem for Liko, besides the fact you simply dislike the character? The pedant isn't even giving her special powers in the slightest. What is she even gaining from it that's so special?

And while this isn't a Naruto thread, can I also say you've entirely missed the point about his character? Yes, he had a lot of power from external forces, but to master those powers he had to depend on his friends and loved ones. Again, I ask, what is the difference between a character like Naruto learning Sage Mode from the toads or how to use his tailed beast from Killer B, and Ash learning a bunch of new moves and battle strategies from numerous other trainers? Hell, Ash-Greninja was a thing, and that was a power that came less from his heart and more from his rear end.

What this comes down to is, everything you've argued against Liko's existence, can also apply to Ash, but you're wilfully ignoring that part of the argument. There is a very obvious double standard at play here.

 

[Weddingbells]

I am not turning around to anything. I dont turn around. By biases are laid bare in my comments. I am no hypocrite. Ash was never special. Pikachu was just a normal Pikachu. It became special through hard work. How many pendants like Riko s exist? Appearently not many, because the explorers want it specifically. So yes, for now, she is a Mary Sue. It can change.

As for people calling me sexist, do what you want. Rotulating people who disagree with you is par for the course, even I fall into doing it. It doesmt change the fact I speak the truth. Also, people saying Pokemon is directed to girls is delusion. Yes, they have things catered towards girls but they arent the main focus. If you disagree, you honestly dont have an understanding about japanese culture. Its like saying Super Sentai has girls as a main audience or that Pretty Cure is mainly for boys. They still watch it and have things catered to them, but theu obviously arent the main focus. For Gods sake, just watch the toy commercials. I am mot saying I am totally correct, but no one gave a sound argument against my point. I was just called harsh and sexist.

My points can be incorrect, but I did my studies before forming an opinion. Read about merchandise in the franchise and you will see where I am coming from.

Also I really like being called toxic when fans like me are being harrassed specially on twitter for like 10 years and no one cared. Am I being toxic? Yes. Am I living this more than I should? Yes. But at least I am not am hypocrite. My agendas are open for all to see. I speak with no falsehood, no double meanings and with no purpose to hurt anyone. If the mods think I am too toxic and a problem, they are free to ban me and I will understand and leave.

I will still think what the twitter PR team is disgusting and really hurt an already open wound. So yes, with all the innerent toxicity I want this series to fail.

How is she a Mary Sue? Because she has a special pendant? Are you kidding me? Jeez that word has been overused it basically female characters o don't like at this point

And I never called you sexist, so idk where your coming from with that. But it's weird the double standards you have

Ash Pikachu isn't special, yet he has a whole exclusive z move to himself, that no other Pikachu has. Leo cat isn't special either.

Ash was legit said to be the chosen one in the movie power of one movie. yet that doesn't bother you and you don't call Ash a Gary stu. But liko having a pendant is the issue

Roy has a special PokeBall yet I don't see u calling him a Gary stu. But liko pendant is going to far. Give me a break

 

[jungle_penguins]

I wonder how the English dub + other dubs will do this, label it Season 26?

 

[Poke Trey]

I wonder how the English dub + other dubs will do this, label it Season 26?

Most likely.

 

[ena9219]

re; the whole Mary Sue thing. The original meaning of the term was a fanfiction character who unjustifiably causes the established setting to revolve around her as wish fulfillment for the author. Even if you extended it to canon characters it's nonsensical to apply the term to the protagonist. The narrative is supposed to revolve around them.

In short, Liko can't be a Mary Sue, this is her story, and to a seemingly lesser extent Roy's, in the first place.

 

[Vengeful Ghost]

Acting like Liko is a Mary Sue is a baseless and idiotic take. To paraphrase OSP on the matter, the Mary Sue is not a character. Altering the characterization won’t help because the story is a fundamentally broken and awful story. It’s also a gendered criticism, but I think we’ve demonstrated that enough right in this thread.

You can’t even call Liko a Mary Sue based on anything we’ve seen so far because she absolutely has no story as it stands. Unless someone here has access to the episodes or can see into the future, we have zero story to call it a Mary Sue story.

 

[flowerfun]

I hate Riko. I know it´s a strong word and that we still know to little, but she will never be Ash. I never particularly cared about Ash, however I think he was a great protagonist even with his shortcomings. I still think retiring him after 26 years is madness. Look at other succefull shows that are decades old like Dragon Ball. Even if it sometimes focuses on other characters, Goku is still there. Even Boruto is a good example. Although Boruto is the protagonist, Naruto still appears. Why don´t do something like this with Ash and Team Rocket? They are iconic. I was doing small talk with some collegues the other day and the topic of Pokemon came about and almost all of them knew their names, could sing the original OP song and even recited TR´s motto! Their merchandise also continues to sell like hotcakes, even after all these years, proving that new kids still identify and enjoy the series with it´s old characters.

Ya, ya know what's also madness? Keeping Ash around for two and a half decades by dragging out his arc as long as possible and exhausting every single idea the writers could possibly do with him since gen 5. I don't think it really matters if Ash is iconic or not, continuing his arc when he's already been around for 26 years is not a good idea. Starting from BW onwards the writers very clearly began running out of ideas about what to do with Ash, so first, they tried to make Ash go through a random personality change by soft-rebooting him to his Kanto self in BW (And failed), and then made him go through a second personality change in XY, and then they made him go through his third and most drastic personality change in SM, and none of these three series continued Ash's character in any meaningful way at all; he didn't feel like he had a character arc in any of them. Journeys was at least a bit better because it at least tried to give Ash a real arc, Journeys still didn't handle Ash's development well due to giving him an underdeveloped team and skipping over most of his PWC matches. Journeys ended with Ash becoming the world champion and defeating Leon. How could they continue his arc after that? How could the writers possibly come up with a new way to continue Ash's character? The only way I could imagine Horizons trying to continue Ash's arc after THAT is by doing the same thing that BW did, and we all know how well-liked that series is.

I'm sorry, but hating Riko and calling her a mary sue solely for being a replacement for Ash is really really dumb. It feels like your trying to do mental gymnastics with your arguments here, such as your argument that male fans would be turned off from Horizons because it has a female lead...which is an argument that falls apart once you remember that shows like Owl House and Amphibia exist, two shows which have female leads that plenty of male viewers adore. The only people who would drop the anime for having a female lead and manchildren with a toxic masculinity problem. All your doing here is judging a character immediately solely because she is replacing Ash even though we know literally nothing about her aside from how she has a special pendant.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

I think it's obvious that there is some people who overly critical of the new show because they think it would fail if they criticize it so much, and OLM had bring back Satoshi., which is not gonna happen. Back to topic, could they be the same person?

Spoiler

 

[BigDocFan]

Found these on twitter courtesy of the TV Tokyo Pokémon Horizon page

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[Articfoxgamez]

Back to topic, could they be the same person?

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View attachment 169324View attachment 169323

Had the same thought for a bit but that asks what happened to Oshawott and where did the Quaxly come from. So I'm doubtful

 

[Articfoxgamez]

Found these on twitter courtesy of the TV Tokyo Pokémon Horizon page

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Is this just auto translation being bad with genders in other languages or confirming the pokemon's genders.
Edit: Got my answer on twitter, was Machine Translations fault.

 

[Kurolegacy]

re; the whole Mary Sue thing. The original meaning of the term was a fanfiction character who unjustifiably causes the established setting to revolve around her as wish fulfillment for the author. Even if you extended it to canon characters it's nonsensical to apply the term to the protagonist. The narrative is supposed to revolve around them.

In short, Liko can't be a Mary Sue, this is her story, and to a seemingly lesser extent Roy's, in the first place.

I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s impossible for a protagonist to be a Mary Sue just highly unlikely. For example, Alice from the live action Resident Evil movies was without a doubt a Mary Sue (didn’t help that the actress playing her was the wife of the director) to the point that canon characters from the games would become completely ineffective when around her leading to her having to do everything. In the case if Liko though, no way in hell. She has a problem with her partner right off the bat. Just because she has a macguffin doesn’t make her a Mary Sue.

 

[Konja7]

I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s impossible for a protagonist to be a Mary Sue just highly unlikely. For example, Alice from the live action Resident Evil movies was without a doubt a Mary Sue (didn’t help that the actress playing her was the wife of the director) to the point that canon characters from the games would become completely ineffective when around her leading to her having to do everything. In the case if Liko though, no way in hell. She has a problem with her partner right off the bat. Just because she has a macguffin doesn’t make her a Mary Sue.

I wouldn't say Alice was a Mary Sue since she was created for the role of protagonist in RE movies. I've understand fans of the videogames dislike this decision, but it's pretty common to see protagonists realizing big feats.

The issue with the Mary Sue term is that we don't really have a real definition. Even if a person has one definition, other person could have another.

Even the definition of Mary Sue as a character who is "perfect" has so many interpretations that we couldn't really agree.

 

[nickdt]

Found these on twitter courtesy of the TV Tokyo Pokémon Horizon page

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I hate Nidorum having Quaxly as their Pokemon, since that means it probably won't evolve

 

[Mr.Snack]

When I wrote in this thread, I wanted to have a discussion with other fans where we could present arguments ans provide evidence/experience even if flimsy and interact with each other. This is obviously not the objective of this thread and I appoligise for misunderstanding. I wasn´t going to reply here anymore, however I don´t want people to think I´m a coward and that I was intimidated by their no-arguments so I decided to give some retorts.

First of all, I do agree that calling Liko a Mary Sue was an error on my part. In my country we have a specific word for the kind of character Liko is and I thought Mary Sue was the most aproximate in english. I was obviously wrong.

On the topic of Ash, I would like to set something strait. I´m not an Ash fan. I never really cared about him. The characters I realy cared about were TR. However, that doesn´t mean I don´t find it idiotic to retire your main character after 26 years. I do have my problems with Ash especially in Journeys and I absolutely think he should have lost to Leon. If every contestant got the blessing to bend the rules, than Ash wouldn´go past Cynthia (dynamax + mega evolution) and it´s idiotic how a trainer like Leon who is estabelished to adopt fighting styles (seen with countershield) never thought of doing that with mega evolution and Z-moves. When I said Ash wasn´t special I meant in the beginnig of his journey. He had lot of «Mary Sue» moments down the line.

As for picking up on Liko and ignoring Roy, I already explained why, but it´s obvious people answer me without reading the entirity of my posts (I don´t blame them since my posts are huge, but if you want to answer them is basic argument courtesy to read everything). However, since some people are so upset, I will share my opinion about Roy. To me, he is even a worst offender than Riko. While Riko is a gender swapped Ash, Roy is a discount Ash. Also, like Liko with her special pendant, he has his special Pokeball, so what I said about that also applies here.

Speaking again about Liko, to me, she is also a discount Kokone from Delicious Party Pretty Cure in terms of design. And there is no way that wasn´t on purpose. Kokone was one of if not the most popular character of that season and always ranked very high in Animage magazine polls, where Pokemon also participated. You can disagree, but that´s how I see it.

To conclude this I just want to say that I really wanted a back and forth argument about the topic. However that´s definetely not what people who are anwsering me want. I may be biased, but I at least admit it. Your posts reek of bias and you act like saints who´s garden of Eden was invaded by me. Yes, I want Liko and her anime to fail, not beacuse I want Ash and TR to return (they never will) but for the company to learn a lesson in mistreatment of old fans, who, ironically, are the one spending the most money. Call me spoiled for saying it, but I really doubt anyone in this treat spends as much on this franchise as me so I am one of the people they absolutely should cater to. Also, your posts reek of bias against the «Ash anime» and some have been pushing that agenda in the past few years, but no one batted an eye. However, now that I dare to criticize the new series it´s the end of the world. Self awareness is a virtue.

I am very disappointed no one presents any arguments to refute my points. You may call what I say as nonssense and anedoctal evidence, but I at least present something, even if incorrect and insignificant to exemplify my arguments. You do nothing. Anedoctal evidence is better than no evidence. Than we have meme takes like comparing Owl House and Amphibia to Pokemon. Are you joking? Are you really comparing a bug to an elephant? Those shows don´t have the popularity and wouldnt do the money Pokemon does in a dozen lifetimes. This just proves to me people call my arguments nonsense but in reality thay have no idea of what they are talking about and have zero life and business experience. What´s next? Family guy is as popular and makes as much money as One Piece? Lik someone said to me, give me a break.

About the show for boys argument or changing your golden goose after decades I won´t back down. I will even give you another piece of «anedoctal» evidence even if I know the kind of criticism I will receive for saying it, beacause showing evidence appearently means agreeing with that evidence. Marvel phase 4. Like it or not, Marvel is still a boys franchise. They killed a bunch of popular male characters and switched them with female versions. You know what happened? The movies were flop after flop after flop. And I´m not talking about movie tickets. I´m talking about merchandize. There are lots of toys for the new characters being pulled from the shelves, because they just dont´t sell. Turns out fans want to buy Thor and not Mighty Thor. And that isn´t taking into account the state of the comics sales. They are being swalloed by manga in the USA that was their suppossed hub. It´s natural that boys want to see a boy living adventures and vice-versa for girls. I don´t know why people have such a problem with this, but it´s true. In this logic, it obvious that franchises like Marvel and Pokemon whose audience is mainly boys will have problems when they switch a male character for a female one.

And now I won´t say anything else. I want to appoligize to the mods for derailing this treat. It really wasn´t my intention. I won´t post is this treat anymore. I admit I can sound rude, but I honestly wanted a good argumentation with people where all opinios are valid. Even if my opinions are controversial I don´t want anyone to fell offended. I obviously stiil love and care for this series, if not I would have left with TR. I really wanted people to refute my arguments with pieces of evidence even if flimsy or anedoctal to, perhaps, even spark an ember of hope in me for the new series. I didn´t want this, so I sincerely appoligise and will go quiet.

 

[SammyW27]

Spoiler

 

[Kurolegacy]

I wouldn't say Alice was a Mary Sue since she was created for the role of protagonist in RE movies. I've understand fans of the videogames dislike this decision, but it's pretty common to see protagonists realizing big feats.

The issue with the Mary Sue term is that we don't really have a real definition. Even if a person has one definition, other person could have another.

Even the definition of Mary Sue as a character who is "perfect" has so many interpretations that we couldn't really agree.

There’s realizing big feats and then there’s having a zombie virus turn you into a super human. Even within the confines of Resident Evil she was the character equivalent of playing with cheat codes on. There’s protagonist plot armor and then there’s Alice.

 

[Eclipsical]

Maybe Gurumin inspires Liko to capture her own Quaxly? copium.

I also had the funny thought of Gurumin giving Quaxly away in a Twitch giveaway since she is clearly a play on streamers, lol.

 

[Articfoxgamez]

Maybe Gurumin inspires Liko to capture her own Quaxly? copium.

I also had the funny thought of Gurumin giving Quaxly away in a Twitch giveaway since she is clearly a play on streamers, lol.

"Hey guys! If I hit 50,000 Subs, I'll be giving away my dog to one lucky viewer!"

 

[flowerfun]

On the topic of Ash, I would like to set something strait. I´m not an Ash fan. I never really cared about him. The characters I realy cared about were TR. However, that doesn´t mean I don´t find it idiotic to retire your main character after 26 years. I do have my problems with Ash especially in Journeys and I absolutely think he should have lost to Leon. If every contestant got the blessing to bend the rules, than Ash wouldn´go past Cynthia (dynamax + mega evolution) and it´s idiotic how a trainer like Leon who is estabelished to adopt fighting styles (seen with countershield) never thought of doing that with mega evolution and Z-moves. When I said Ash wasn´t special I meant in the beginnig of his journey. He had lot of «Mary Sue» moments down the line.

It's not an idiotic decision to replace your main character when you have completely run out of ideas for what to do with him and have dragged out his arc for this long. It makes complete sense to end his arc here after it being dragged on for so long, like I said there is no way they could continue Ash's arc after Joureneys, he has reached his absolute peak, there is no way to continue after that and drag his arc out further. The anime is doing what most people have begging it to do for years.

As for picking up on Liko and ignoring Roy, I already explained why, but it´s obvious people answer me without reading the entirity of my posts (I don´t blame them since my posts are huge, but if you want to answer them is basic argument courtesy to read everything).

People have made detailed responses to your posts dude, I think they made have read it all fully.

However, since some people are so upset, I will share my opinion about Roy. To me, he is even a worst offender than Riko. While Riko is a gender swapped Ash, Roy is a discount Ash. Also, like Liko with her special pendant, he has his special Pokeball, so what I said about that also applies here.

Really? Now you're doing the same shit with Roy? Look, I like you finally have stopped calling Liko a mary sue, points for you, but you get those points revoked for then calling Riko a gender-swapped version of Ash and then proceeding to go and call Roy a straight-up Ash clone when we barely know either of these characters yet. You can't just call characters a clone of another character when we barely know anything about them yet; their series hasn't even been released yet. We don't know if Liko is going to be a gender-swapped Ash, and we don't know if Roy will be an Ash clone, we'll only get those answers when Horizons releases.

To conclude this I just want to say that I really wanted a back and forth argument about the topic. However that´s definetely not what people who are anwsering me want. I may be biased, but I at least admit it. Your posts reek of bias and you act like saints who´s garden of Eden was invaded by me.

Jeez, strawman much? Everyone in this thread has given detailed responses to your points, nobody here was throwing a temper tantrum over you having a different opinion. I think it's clear that everyone in this thread has read your points and all collectively thought of them as bullshit.

Yes, I want Liko and her anime to fail, not beacuse I want Ash and TR to return (they never will) but for the company to learn a lesson in mistreatment of old fans, who, ironically, are the one spending the most money. Call me spoiled for saying it, but I really doubt anyone in this treat spends as much on this franchise as me so I am one of the people they absolutely should cater to. Also, your posts reek of bias against the «Ash anime» and some have been pushing that agenda in the past few years, but no one batted an eye. However, now that I dare to criticize the new series it´s the end of the world. Self awareness is a virtue.

TPC is not "Mistreating" old fans by replacing Ash, in fact, many older fans have been begging the anime for years to replace Ash and end his story already, and people are not being biased against Ash, there are perfectly valid reasons for wanting Ash's story to end, no character should have their arc stretched out for 26 years. People are not being biased against Ash for defending Liko from your crappy arguments. Maybe you should come up with good counter-arguments instead of labeling everyone who disagree's with you as "biased".

I am very disappointed no one presents any arguments to refute my points. You may call what I say as nonssense and anedoctal evidence, but I at least present something, even if incorrect and insignificant to exemplify my arguments. You do nothing. Anedoctal evidence is better than no evidence. Than we have meme takes like comparing Owl House and Amphibia to Pokemon. Are you joking? Are you really comparing a bug to an elephant? Those shows don´t have the popularity and wouldnt do the money Pokemon does in a dozen lifetimes. This just proves to me people call my arguments nonsense but in reality thay have no idea of what they are talking about and have zero life and business experience. What´s next? Family guy is as popular and makes as much money as One Piece? Lik someone said to me, give me a break.

LMAO dude, almost everyone in this thread picked apart your arguments and presented counterpoints to those arguments, as I already said. Also, I love you twist my point about bringing up Owl House and Amphibia by bringing up how both shows make WAY less money than Pokemon when that literally was not my point. My reason for bringing those shows up was because I used them as examples of shows that have female protagonists in them that many male viewers like and adore to counter your argument that male viewers would be turned off by Horizons having a female protagonist.

About the show for boys argument or changing your golden goose after decades I won´t back down. I will even give you another piece of «anedoctal» evidence even if I know the kind of criticism I will receive for saying it, beacause showing evidence appearently means agreeing with that evidence. Marvel phase 4. Like it or not, Marvel is still a boys franchise. They killed a bunch of popular male characters and switched them with female versions. You know what happened? The movies were flop after flop after flop. And I´m not talking about movie tickets. I´m talking about merchandize. There are lots of toys for the new characters being pulled from the shelves, because they just dont´t sell. Turns out fans want to buy Thor and not Mighty Thor. And that isn´t taking into account the state of the comics sales. They are being swalloed by manga in the USA that was their suppossed hub. It´s natural that boys want to see a boy living adventures and vice-versa for girls. I don´t know why people have such a problem with this, but it´s true. In this logic, it obvious that franchises like Marvel and Pokemon whose audience is mainly boys will have problems when they switch a male character for a female one.

Using merchandise sales of newer Marvel toys to support your argument is laughable at best. This type of logic only applies to young boys who watch MCU films, not grown-ass adults. MCU toys are advertised for kids, so whether or not they sell well depends on how much they appeal to their pre-teen male audience, and it is true that kids are going to buy more things that cater to their specific gender, but that same logic doesn't apply to adults and to an extent teenagers. Many females watch things that have male protagonists and vice-versa. I'm sorry, but as a male that watches more shows with female protagonists than male ones, the idea that one gender would be turned off from a show because its protagonist is the opposite gender of them is just a bad argument.