Pokemon Journeys: Thoughts So Far

[J Bouken]

You know, I also don't get it. Okay, the episodic format has it's upsides with the viewer being able to tune in and enjoy whatever is happening without having to worry about catching up with like, 50 episodes. But... why are the higher ups/writers aiming for that? I mean, you would want for your viewers to watch everything, right? Not just pick and chose whatever catches their eyes and ignore the rest.

I'm only theory crafting here, because there's no way I'd for sure, but it's mostly about modern viewing habits. They're accommodating large sections of the viewership who are too busy to tune in, or maybe have other things catching their interest. That sounds bad on paper, but what the show is essentially trying to do is be as open and as accessible as possible. It wants to be there if someone feels like watching and when they do, it's an easy show to hop straight into because you don't have to start at episode one and work your way up to whatever episode we're on now.

We're in an era where people's attention spans are shredded to bits. Maintaining interest over the course of a long-running TV show is the most challenging it's ever been, because the second something else interesting comes along people will hop on over to that. So rather than scrap for every bit of attention it can get, Pokemon is positioning itself on the outside. It's targeting a different part of the audience who maybe don't have the time or energy to commit to another long show but would rather like something simple and easy to consume.

 

[Enzo]

I'm only theory crafting here, because there's no way I'd for sure, but it's mostly about modern viewing habits. They're accommodating large sections of the viewership who are too busy to tune in, or maybe have other things catching their interest. That sounds bad on paper, but what the show is essentially trying to do is be as open and as accessible as possible. It wants to be there if someone feels like watching and when they do, it's an easy show to hop straight into because you don't have to start at episode one and work your way up to whatever episode we're on now.

We're in an era where people's attention spans are shredded to bits. Maintaining interest over the course of a long-running TV show is the most challenging it's ever been, because the second something else interesting comes along people will hop on over to that. So rather than scrap for every bit of attention it can get, Pokemon is positioning itself on the outside. It's targeting a different part of the audience who maybe don't have the time or energy to commit to another long show but would rather like something simple and easy to consume.

You know, I don't think you are are wrong. I agree with your points.

But like, streaming services. The biggest deal and arguably the biggest advantage they have is becuase you can watch a series in whatever rhythm you want to. You can binge watch an entire series in one go just as easily as you can watch a single episode by the week, and you still can enjoy it regardless of how you chose to watch it. And it's important to consider that pratically every series, including JN, are available on those services. So I personally don't think it's the same thing as having to watch a show every day regiously if you want to follow the story closely as you would in the past.

And something else is, even if they did the episodic format for those reason you listed, well, there's TONS of shows that are told in this way, and they deliver satifactory results. The big deal here is that most of the fandom is unhappy with the way the story is being worked. I would argue that the problem is not even the format itself, but that the writers are struggling with it, and this reflects in the story.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

I really hope Koharu isn’t becoming a Coordinator as first of, it feels way too late in the series to be doing this, and two, what a waste of time with the episodes she’s been in, with those episodes barley establishing anything in connection.

I generally give hope towards Koharu being interested in helping Pokemon as some sort of cater, or rescuer like a Ranger. That way, at least some of the episodes she was apart of makes sense.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

One thing I don’t like is how... artificial some plot points are. Some contrivance that helps to solve the conflict of the day cooked up right on the spot, without any buildup. Go needs to relate to Drizzle? Hey new backstory!

 

[Enzo]

One thing I don’t like is how... artificial some plot points are. Some contrivance that helps to solve the conflict of the day cooked up right on the spot, without any buildup. Go needs to relate to Drizzle? Hey new backstory!

What's so funny about it is that they made a whole deal about Goh being ''socially awkward'' and all, and they never brought it up again for god knows how long, and only mentioned it again because the plot asked for it in order to benefit Goh.

So can it even be considered a flaw at this point? It doesn't hinders Goh at all, in fact, it actually helped him.

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

Apparently on Serebii there was a post translating a magazine cover from Spoon.2Di n the anime, and there’s some interesting points.

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Apparently on Serebii there was a post translating a magazine cover from Spoon.2Di n the anime, and there’s some interesting points.

View attachment 146797View attachment 146798

Ash isn’t unbeatable right now?

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Seems like usual business to me with the characters.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I really hope Koharu isn’t becoming a Coordinator as first of, it feels way too late in the series to be doing this, and two, what a waste of time with the episodes she’s been in, with those episodes barley establishing anything in connection.

I generally give hope towards Koharu being interested in helping Pokemon as some sort of cater, or rescuer like a Ranger. That way, at least some of the episodes she was apart of makes sense.

As much as I'd love for Contests to come back in the anime, I can't see Chloe being a Coordinator. Not only because it's too late to do that like you said, but I can't really see Chloe being that into Pokemon battles. Coordinators need to be strong trainers too. I could see Chloe having something research based for a goal since she does seem to like learning about Pokemon.

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

Apparently on Serebii there was a post translating a magazine cover from Spoon.2Di n the anime, and there’s some interesting points.

View attachment 146797

I'm sorry, can we talk about what he said in the world-building aspect? Because like...what??? No wonder all the pokemon feel like background fodder in this series...this world isn't the "pokemon world" anymore, but rather "human world but with mysterious creatures in it". This is essentially changing the core values of the series, which...I guess that explains why so many of them feel more like animals rather than pokemon.

Seriously, though. Why did he decide to do this? "pokemon in humans world"...the series has always been centered on "humans in pokemon world". I understand if you want to experiment, but changing the entire core values of this series isn't the thing to experiment with! "Mysterious creatures in humans world' has been SO overdone in almost every piece of media. Meanwhile, Pokemon takes a different approach by making it so the world was meant for the pokemon, and the humans were just in it. The idea of pokemon working with humans, humans mistreating pokemon, pokemon disliking humans...all of these were because of the simple fact that this world was always meant to be "the pokemon world" and the fact that they're trying to change this just frustrates me. This world doesn't feel special anymore in Journeys. In past series, pokemon were emphasized as mysterious creatures that the humans couldn't understand but wanted to, hence the overall message of working together and overcoming obstacles together.

I know it looks like I'm being unable to accept change, but like...this was an important aspect of the world-building that benefited the series as a whole that they decided to change! If they wanted to improve on smaller aspects, specifically in the human world department, they could just as easily do that without pushing the pokemon to the side. No wonder Pikachu feels like a pet this series: that's his personality apparently! (And the pokemon that are given personalities that feel like they would fit in with previous series barely appear to show off the small cute-mons that are essentially just pets.)

 

[Fiamette]

"Pokemon in the human world"
Well, it's no wonder I felt like the Pokemon weren't as focused on in this series. This sounds like an interesting take on Pokemon but I feel like this should have been saved for another aspect of the franchise like a spin-off, short manga or what they're doing with the movies now.

I don't really mind Go and kind of like him but I wish his catching style wasn't a promotion of PKMGO and rather a unique style like Crystal from Adventures/Special. She was the first protagonist to really take the "gotta catch 'em all" slogan seriously and did it in creative fun ways (she soccer kicks Poke Balls and strategizes with her Pokemon) not to mention she actually uses the various balls for certain captures. I can understand why they don't focus on Go's captures all that much since then the complaint would turn into "why does Go's captures take more screen time away from Ash" etc. so no winning there.

 

[Rainbow-Rain]

So Chewtle was nothing but a gag?

This bothers me because I thought it would make a great Jessie Pokemon.

Instead we get the annoying Hamtaro wannabe

 

[KenzeyEevee]

So Chewtle was nothing but a gag?

This bothers me because I thought it would make a great Jessie Pokemon.

Instead we get the annoying Hamtaro wannabe

Rest in Peace...

 

[Enzo]

I'm sorry, can we talk about what he said in the world-building aspect? Because like...what??? No wonder all the pokemon feel like background fodder in this series...this world isn't the "pokemon world" anymore, but rather "human world but with mysterious creatures in it". This is essentially changing the core values of the series, which...I guess that explains why so many of them feel more like animals rather than pokemon.

This definitely explains a LOT about this series...

oooof...

 

[swiftgallade46]

I’m not really sure I understand the difference between the two. As in “Pokémon in the human world” vs vice versa. Other than like maybe the order in which they arrived to Earth? Idk, to me the difference just isn’t really apparent.

 

[Unireon]

If I recall correctly.....
According to the original drafts of the anime, didn't those say that Pokemon suddenly appeared one day and that was it?

 

[Reborn Talonflame]

I’m not really sure I understand the difference between the two. As in “Pokémon in the human world” vs vice versa. Other than like maybe the order in which they arrived to Earth? Idk, to me the difference just isn’t really apparent.

Saying “Humans in the Pokemon World” sounds like humans are exploring the ways in which Pokemon live and how diverse they are, so the focus on developing is more on them. I don’t know if you’ve watched Hunter X Hunter, but there’s an arc where they investigate a species called Chimera Ants, and it reflects how humans characteristics reflect onto these ants as the ants become aware of the possibilities in the world, adapting to being more selfish, whilst others are less so. It was the humans in the Chimera Ant world. “Pokemon in a Human World” sounds as though it’s taking the human’s perspective first, and the Pokemon are the ones who aren’t being viewed.
Well, that’s my take at least.

 

[Enzo]

I’m not really sure I understand the difference between the two. As in “Pokémon in the human world” vs vice versa. Other than like maybe the order in which they arrived to Earth? Idk, to me the difference just isn’t really apparent.

There's a pretty clear difference, and I think @AnimeJewel246 explained it really well in her comment, but I will try to add some more:

(spoiler tags due to size)

Spoiler

''Humans in the Pokémon world'' means that, basically speaking, the world was always meant to be filled with Pokémon from the beginning and humans, for some reason, showed up one day. So there always had this sense of like, ''a world we don't know that is filled with mysterious creatures and we want to learn more about them'' type of thing. It was like there was this entire planet full of mysteries and things humans don't fully understand and that they (we) want to discover new stuff.

I would actually even argue that this narrative take is what really brought people into Pokémon and makes them stay: when a new region is revealed, is not just the new Pokémon that we discover. It's the entire land. It's the new people. It's the way things happen and work there. There always was this great sense of ''adventure'' and ''discovery'' that really made everyone stay for the ride.

But ''Pokémon in the human world'' is a rather different approach: it's basically saying that ''this is the world we already know but there's some little creatures that just happened to show up one day". It's not necessarily a bad take, but it's just been so overdone that pratically every piece of media did this before. It's almost as if Pokémon weren't really special anymore. It's the narrative shifted focus from ''the Pokémon and how humans interact with them'' to ''humans and how Pokémon interact with them''. There's a difference there.

Spoiler

Just like how she said it, the Pokémon feel too much like pets and not actual characters like they used to. We don't really see Ash, Goh, Chloé or anybody else actually, deeply and consistently interacting with them and creating bonds with them. Nearly none of the little creatures on screen have any personalities, or desires, or challenges, and when they do, it's just quickly glossed over because we need to see the next Pokémon Goh is gonna catch to fill up his list, the next opponent Ash is gonna tackle or what Chloé wants to do with her life. There's not really any connection with Pokémon here: they don't really play a big part in the character's goals unlike in every other series, neither do they have those themselves.

Hence Goh forming absolutely no bonds with his Pokémon besides the Galar starters and maybe Scizor (with even that being too little), Ash's team not having enough focus or development, including Pikachu, surprisingly enough, Eevee being pratically a lap dog, etc.

There was this fine line between focus on the humans and focus on the Pokémon that the anime has always exceled at in the past series, but it's almost like the monsters are not important enough for the narrative (so to speak) anymore, so the world loses it's magic in a sense.

 

[FluffleFi]

My thoughts so far? Its all over the dang place as if it has no real direction; Ash's Pokemon aside from Pikachu hardly appear and can't even pretend to be a team. Go's goal and the way most of his Pokemon feel like props more than actual characters and Chloe, who's supposedly the lead female, hardly does anything. Now we got this nonsense about Pokemon living in the human world? This may sound like something minor but look at how most of the Pokemon have been handled recently, you can't just decide to change something so major after two decades. What even is this series anymore and where could they possibly go after Journeys?

I'm all for for doing something different and not just sticking Ash on the Gym challenge again, but i'd rather have that than whatever this mess is. Ash's team would get more focus, Chloe's goal of finding out what she wants to do would likely get more focus and the most important thing? Galar and its characters/locations would get more limelight, too.

 

[swiftgallade46]

There's not really any connection with Pokémon here: they don't really play a big part in the character's goals unlike in every other series, neither do they have those themselves.

This I definitely don’t agree with. I don’t really see how one can arrive at this conclusion. Pokémon are a huge part of both Ash and Goh’s goals and will extremely likely be part of Chloe’s especially given the emphasis on her Eevee.


I think it’s a big jump to conclude that “Pokémon in the human world” = “Pokémon aren’t forming strong bonds with humans anymore” or “Nearly none of the Pokemon are developed”. I actually disagree with both of those statements regardless.


Don’t get me wrong, I do agree there is a difference and I can see what you are saying. I just don’t think it’s quite so significant. I think it kind of feels like people are straining to find some kind of factor to blame their grievances with JN on and even if I agreed with all of the complaints, I don’t think this is it.

The dynamics between humans and Pokémon really are not significantly different in JN than before. People and Pokémon still care about each other a lot. Bonds and friendship are still constantly emphasized and the mysterious element is still very much present. The only difference I can tell is that we don’t see enough of it on-screen with Ash’s team. And yes, this is an issue compared to past series, but I don’t think attributing it to a minor shift in lore makes much sense.

My interpretation of it is that it probably was just meant to inspire some plots. Absol, Ninetales, Drednaw, Morpeko, Zapdos etc. were all examples of Pokémon’s mysterious powers somehow affecting human life. In almost all these cases, the humans needed to adapt to better understand the Pokémon in order to resolve the conflict.