Pokémon Sword and Shield anime speculation thread

[Islander Princess]

I'm honestly surprised there's even the thought that Galar isn't going to be the main setting of the anime. That's pretty much the one thing I'm confident about going into this series. They just aren't going to shaft the newest region that's featured in the games; at the end of the day, the anime is still basically the franchise's biggest marketing tool, so you can pretty safely bet they're going to use it to show off the region and the things that are unique to it.

It's more so how and the extent to which the other regions are going to be incorporated in the series that is much less clear at this point.

 

[Charcoatl]

Personally I think reboot wouldn't make sense unless in one of following scenarios:

1. AU Ash starts his journey in Kanto, though unless they'd give the region 3-4 years to give it justice, they better don't do it at all.
2. AU Ash starts his journey in Galar and ends it there, each new series is a reboot, but that's most likely not happening because the series is set in all the regions.

I just don't see a point of rebooting the series unless they'd give each region significant amount of focus.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

They are using the movie title that was created to separate the AU movies from the main series. It is amazing to me how you keep willfully ignoring this. Unless they are just trolling, it makes zero sense to use that title since fans are smart enough to notice the significance. They could have easily used the original name, but designed a different title.

I think using the M20 logo could imply that the new series will share the art style of M20/21, but will still act as a continuation from Sun and Moon. Heck, most of the films aren't canon to begin with so I have a hard time believing that the writers would create a whole series to act as a continuation of two movies that are so stand-alone. The new series will probably take a lot of thematic beats from those two films, but I don't think it will be a reboot.

Or current Ash could continue into the movies and AU would take over the anime. This is a theory I joked about a while ago, but there was recently a leak stating that this was exactly the case. I think it's been written off as fake, but that's still kind of scary.

 

[DynamicFusion]

The way the Anime did things back two Gens isn't going to be the way they are going to promote things now. There is clearly a change in Mindset and Approach ever since Sun & Moon began, not only in the Main Series but also with the Movies. And Rica views both the AU Ash and the TV Anime Ash as the same in personality. Ratings is also a big thing in this, TV Tokyo may say they don't care however that might not bode well with the Pokémon Company. If the Anime is getting a Rating of 0.8, it may fall down into a 0.1 in 3 Years time. As noted by Pokémon Matome, a Japanese Forum Discussion Site, a reconstruction as a whole is needed.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Anyone who thinks that the new series is featuring a rebooted Ash is seriously overthinking things. The only reason M20/21 featured an alternate timeline version of Ash is so that the writers could have more freedom in choosing the setting and characters that were featured. This was necessary because the SM series was already underway and they clearly didn't want to be trapped into making SM movies.

Fast forward to now as the SM series is wrapping up. Ash will going to a new unexplored region and meeting new people. There is a completely blank slate. Rebooting now would be pointless because the series is going to change drastically whether it's a continuation or not. The writers have never been limited by the fact that Ash has had such a long past, in fact they're more than happy not acknowledge it at all most of the time. There is absolutely no reason to reboot Ash at this point, the new series would turn out exactly the same. The only reason I would see it necessary to reboot him is if they were actually going have him redo everything he has done from Kanto to Alola, just for the sake of showing off the regions again. I see that as very unlikely though.

 

[Panky..]

I don't see why people strongly believe in a reboot/AU Ash and it's ironic when they point out other people looking too deep into things. A reboot/AU Ash would render the Manalo win completely useless and would only anger a lot of people.

For that matter, I'd like to respond to the guy who talked about Rica stating that she felt the same about AU Ash.

Matsumoto: "From here on out I think things like Satoshi's sincerity and the parts of him that won't change are gonna stay that way forever. But even so, he'll meet many people and experience many things, and he'll mature just a little bit and maybe be able to go on to the next level. So please keep showing him your support."

That doesn't sound like her words with AU Ash in mind.

 

[BigDocFan]

I wonder if the Hoenn part of the saga might feature an older Max setting off on his Pokemon journey

 

[Kerhelion]

Characters growing up in Pokemon ? Have you lost your mind ?

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

I wonder if the Hoenn part of the saga might feature an older Max setting off on his Pokemon journey

And that he would have Ralts.

 

[DynamicFusion]

It does have TV Tokyo advertised so it might have something to do with the Anime so I'll post it I guess...

 

[BigDocFan]

Characters growing up in Pokemon ? Have you lost your mind ?

What about thoughts of Ash actually winning the Alola league lol, anything's possible

It does have TV Tokyo advertised so it might have something to do with the Anime so I'll post it I guess...

Very interesting, especially seeing Lucario, Machamp, Mew and Eevee among Pikachu and the starters

 

[Panky..]

Characters growing up in Pokemon ? Have you lost your mind ?

Uh... Ash winning a League was considered impossible in the past so anything is possible. Besides, they could age up the main cast by 3 years... technically a 13 year old could still have the same appeal as a 10 year old, not much of a difference. And his height did keep increasing over the years.
For that matter, we could also see Bonnie start out on her journey.

It does have TV Tokyo advertised so it might have something to do with the Anime so I'll post it I guess...

Does this mean Kukui also has an Eevee, a Mew and a Machoke Machamp (didn't open the image to see properly)? That'll make it a full team.

 

[BigDocFan]

Does this mean Kukui also has an Eevee, a Mew and a Machoke? That'll make it a full team.

Its a Machamp actually

Can't be certain it is his team though Lucario is certainly part

 

[game3524]

I think using the M20 logo could imply that the new series will share the art style of M20/21, but will still act as a continuation from Sun and Moon. Heck, most of the films aren't canon to begin with so I have a hard time believing that the writers would create a whole series to act as a continuation of two movies that are so stand-alone. The new series will probably take a lot of thematic beats from those two films, but I don't think it will be a reboot.

Or current Ash could continue into the movies and AU would take over the anime. This is a theory I joked about a while ago, but there was recently a leak stating that this was exactly the case. I think it's been written off as fake, but that's still kind of scary.

Yeah, i don't see that at all.

Both movie 20 and 21 have different art styles, so I don't see how you can use title to link them together. Either the title doesn't matter and they just like it (which IMO is dumb since you can easily alter it and not have people speculate about a potential reboot) or they are going to reboot and streamline Ash's history, which makes it easier for them as writers since they want to travel to older regions.

Also, on the notion that Rica thinks mainstream Ash is different from movie 20 and 21 Ash. Just read this interview from two years ago around time movie 20 came out. Does this sound like someone who treats the character as two separate entities?

Pokémon the Movie 20: I Choose You! | Interview With Rica Matsumoto | MANGA.TOKYO - Part 2

 

[Sakuraa]

It does have TV Tokyo advertised so it might have something to do with the Anime so I'll post it I guess...

Every time they reveal more pictures of Scorbunny it just gets cuter and cuter.

 

[Grass Type Gardenia]

Yeah, i don't see that at all.

Both movie 20 and 21 have different art styles, so I don't see how you can use title to link them together. Either the title doesn't matter and they just like it (which IMO is dumb since you can easily alter it and not have people speculate about a potential reboot) or they are going to reboot and streamline Ash's history, which makes it easier for them as writers since they want to travel to older regions.

Also, on the notion that Rica thinks mainstream Ash is different from movie 20 and 21 Ash. Just read this interview from two years ago around time movie 20 came out. Does this sound like someone who treats the character as two separate entities?

Pokémon the Movie 20: I Choose You! | Interview With Rica Matsumoto | MANGA.TOKYO - Part 2

But that was 2 years ago, what makes you sure what she said recently hasn’t Surpassed that previous interview?

 

[Almonds]

It is weird not having any official Gen8 Ash art revealed...

 

[RileyXY1]

It is weird not having any official Gen8 Ash art revealed...

We're probably going to get it on the 29th, assuming of course that Ash sticks around and is not replaced.

 

[Panky..]

Also, on the notion that Rica thinks mainstream Ash is different from movie 20 and 21 Ash. Just read this interview from two years ago around time movie 20 came out. Does this sound like someone who treats the character as two separate entities?

Pokémon the Movie 20: I Choose You! | Interview With Rica Matsumoto | MANGA.TOKYO - Part 2

That was 2 years ago. I doubt they'll want to throw away all the positivity and potential progression that can happen, that the Manalo win brought with a no-sense reboot. And if she sees AU Ash in the same light as Original Ash, what was the point of the alternate continuity in the first place?

It is weird not having any official Gen8 Ash art revealed...

29th September.

 

[Emmy]

It is weird not having any official Gen8 Ash art revealed...

Makes me wonder, since S&M Ash took cues from Elio's clothing scheme, will SW/SH Ash then take inspiration from Victor possibly?