What's your favorite and least favorite Pokemon anime series

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Favorite: Original Series

Least Favorite: Journeys (Seems to be oddly popular it's hitting the bottom for most of us, ironic since many of us vary on opinions on the other Series-- but a general consensus here)

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

A while back I said BW and SM, but now Journeys takes the spot as my least favorite series.

 

[Eevee298]

Hmm a difficult question. I will try to explain properly, so I don’t offend people who love/hate my (least) favorite series.

My least favorite series are the Jotho portion of the Original Series and the current series, Journeys.

Jotho because the filler episodes. Fillers are nice, but after the 10th "Team Rocket tries to steal Pokémon A and Ash &co saved that Pokémon", you have seen it all. I am not saying that non-filler episodes aren't nice, like Ash vs Clair or the Jotho League. But it is very,very hard to get to that point due all those fillers.

Journeys because it has so much wasted potential. I know we shouldn't expect Journeys to fulfill all our little requests, but the series can't get some basic things right. Also the Master Eight Tournament is a mess,while it should be the pinnacle for Pokémon fans.
The fights feel stiff (are Double Battles still a thing?). And Chloe is a waste of a character, even as a supporting character. The only thing it has done good in my eyes are some returns (Serena,Lillie,Paul) and gave Iris the attention and praise she deserves. All the rest is mediocre at best.

My favorite series are a tie between XY,DP and SM.
XY: The fights,the animation. The character development, the heavy tone.
DP: Ash is getting the respect he deserves for the first time. Also I love Gliscor
SM: The comedy, the relaxed tone.

 

[sc190191]

Just catching up a bit on here, I find it really interesting how many people have Journeys as their least favorite. Even as someone who essentially quit the show and this site because I was so upset about Journeys (after 006) and didn't need that level of negativity in my life, I really didn't wind up hating it that much. Maybe part of that is not being on here exposed to the negativity week in and week out (actually thinking back sometimes when I watched an episode 2019 and before I was already thinking about what I was going to say on here instead of enjoying it, so I much prefer my significantly smaller presence on here where I just enjoy the content for the sake of it). It also probably helped to save up a bunch of episodes and watch them in a row so I wasn't as disappointed when certain weeks were duds. I'm still not totally caught up, but I have seen enough to know it isn't my least favorite because I do enjoy the throwbacks and varied locations and while the general tone is still similar to the SM style, it is toned down. I don't actually dislike Goh, even though I do think his goal is the worst goal we have ever seen and have lots of issues with it, if I ignore that as a character I actually am fine with him. The main flaws for me are Goh's goal, the lack of a female lead, and the fact that even though it is called "Journeys" it isn't really a Pokemon Journey (and that poor Galar got screwed). It probably is second last, but it still is fine and I certainly don't have the hate for it many others appear to.

Intro aside I guess if I'm writing here I should answer the question, although I'm sure I've answered more than one thread with the same topic years ago lol:

Favorite(s): AG/DP (basically tied, but I probably give the nod to AG if I have to choose)

Least: SM (but not as sour on it as I was while it was airing, I have gone back and watched again and had a better time with it the second time around once I knew what to expect)

 

[PrettySylveon]

Favorites:

• OG (Kanto) this was a good arc to start off the series.
• DP: I enjoyed Dawn, Ash, and the Sinnoh League…hands down the best league behind the Kalos league.
• XY: I enjoyed XYZ the most and the new Pokémon, Alain, Steven, Mega Evolution, the Kalos league and the Team Flare arc.
• JN: I love the new formula, the Gigantamax, old characters returning, and Ash’s party.

Neutral:

• BW: I enjoy this arc, but it’s neutral because there were some frustrating issues that were hard to ignore (the Unova League being one of them, and it was hot garbage!)
• SM: The idea of Ash being in a school setting was boring, but I still liked the series. Ash winning the Alola league was sweet.

Least Favorites:

• AG (too boring)
• OG (Johto)…it had too much filler and it was boring up until the Red Gyrados arc and the League.

 

[Emelie]

My favorite series is DP.

Good character development - Ash and Chimchar. Dawn was a co-star and also had some good emotional development. I like how her development still involved some battling unlike Serena's performances that felt a little too superficial and girly at times.

Good rival - Paul who represents a competitive player. I also like Nando who challenged the status quo by doing both contests and battling. They aren't mutually exclusive just like in the games.

Good villain - Hunter J and the Galactic arc. Shocking death scenes for both J and Cyrus. Villains feel like an actual threat.

Some good fillers - Evil Togepi episode is hilarious. Dustox episode is a great and very emotional Jessie focused episode.

Complaints: Brock doesn't do much, Cynthia never battles Ash, no female rivals at the league, Tobias is ridiculous, Dawn's contests were a little too repetitive since she had the same goal as May, Team Rocket mostly suck in this season, Kenny makes me cringe.

My least favorite series is Journeys. I must admit that I have skipped a lot of episodes. Chloe doesn't have a goal and only exists for Eevee promotion. Go's catching goal is poorly written even though it has potential. Galar feels ignored. Leon is a Gary-Stu. Serena's and Dawn's cameos were disappointing.

Some good points: Lillie's return episode was very good and emotional. Much better conclusion for Mohn than in the games. Seeing Serena's new character design was cool since it shows how she has matured. Cynthia battles Iris and finally battles Ash after all these years. The Cleffa filler was very emotional.

 

[Handy Man]

My favorite series is DP.

Good character development - Ash and Chimchar. Dawn was a co-star and also had some good emotional development. I like how her development still involved some battling unlike Serena's performances that felt a little too superficial and girly at times.

I really don't understand why people have a misconception that Serena doesn't battle at all.

• In XY047, Serena decides to capture Pancham by battling it with Fennekin.
• In XY064, Serena battled Aria in order to better understand Fennekin and Pancham.
• In XY085, Serena and Braixen battled in order to demonstrate their bond to the woodcrafter, showing that Braxien was willing to move on from her old stick and use a new one.
• In XY090, Serena was the one who initiated the idea of a tag-team battle. This is because she thought a battle would inspire new ideas for her Eevee's performance.
• In XY115, Serena battles Jimmy in place of Ash, even picking up on Ash's strategy from the Clemont gym battle.
• Throughout the Team Flare arc, Serena takes initiative in helping out Mairin. She even fights off the Team Flare grunts on her own, while Professor Sycamore and Mairin save Chespie.
• In XY138, Ash offers to battle Serena in order to clear her head, as battling cheers Ash up, and he noticed that Serena was upset. This battle lead to Serena making her decision to Palermo.

Yes, while it's true that Serena didn't battle often, battling did contribute to her development a bit. Dawn definitely battled more overall, especially considering things like her battling Maylene in DP067, and battling her mother in DP138. However, to say that Serena's development didn't involve battling at all is inaccurate.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I really don't understand why people have a misconception that Serena doesn't battle at all.

• In XY047, Serena decides to capture Pancham by battling it with Fennekin.
• In XY064, Serena battled Aria in order to better understand Fennekin and Pancham.
• In XY085, Serena and Braixen battled in order to demonstrate their bond to the woodcrafter, showing that Braxien was willing to move on from her old stick and use a new one.
• In XY090, Serena was the one who initiated the idea of a tag-team battle. This is because she thought a battle would inspire new ideas for her Eevee's performance.
• In XY115, Serena battles Jimmy in place of Ash, even picking up on Ash's strategy from the Clemont gym battle.
• Throughout the Team Flare arc, Serena takes initiative in helping out Mairin. She even fights off the Team Flare grunts on her own, while Professor Sycamore and Mairin save Chespie.
• In XY138, Ash offers to battle Serena in order to clear her head, as battling cheers Ash up, and he noticed that Serena was upset. This battle lead to Serena making her decision to Palermo.

Yes, while it's true that Serena didn't battle often, battling did contribute to her development a bit. Dawn definitely battled more overall, especially considering things like her battling Maylene in DP067, and battling her mother in DP138. However, to say that Serena's development didn't involve battling at all is inaccurate.

I don’t think it’s so much a matter of that people think she didn’t battle as much as, she becomes a radical departure from every previous female companion who were a lot more battle heavy. Misty was/became a gym leader, May and Dawn both had battes as a part of their Contest goals and would even battle outside of Contests and Iris was a strong battler from the getg even having her own rival and competed in all of the tournaments accords Best Wishes alongside everyone.

By comparison, Serena kinda started a trend with the girls where the writers started treating battle as a boys game and the girls haven’t really actually been battlers since. Serena’s goal essentially were Pokémon idol performances and even when she did do Contests, they were changed to accommodate her rather than the other way around. Mallow was such a non-battler that in a League battle she not only lost but did so with type advantage and while being unable to land a single hit. Lana was better with battling than Lillie and Mallow but was never really shown to be all that much into it and when up against someone who did have it down as a skill, got curbstomped. Lillie was a case where the writers had her express wanting to be a strong trainer like Ash and her brother but never really went anywhere with it, leaving her on the weaker end of the spectrum of her classmates to the point that Gladion’s Umbreon tanked a direct his from a Z-Move and easily beat Snowy seconds later. Finally we have Koharu who, outside of those ending drawings, never battled or even so much as expressed an interest in it. It kinda became something of a downwards slope starting with Serena.

 

[Blob]

I don’t think it’s so much a matter of that people think she didn’t battle as much as, she becomes a radical departure from every previous female companion who were a lot more battle heavy. Misty was/became a gym leader, May and Dawn both had battes as a part of their Contest goals and would even battle outside of Contests and Iris was a strong battler from the getg even having her own rival and competed in all of the tournaments accords Best Wishes alongside everyone.

By comparison, Serena kinda started a trend with the girls where the writers started treating battle as a boys game and the girls haven’t really actually been battlers since. Serena’s goal essentially were Pokémon idol performances and even when she did do Contests, they were changed to accommodate her rather than the other way around. Mallow was such a non-battler that in a League battle she not only lost but did so with type advantage and while being unable to land a single hit. Lana was better with battling than Lillie and Mallow but was never really shown to be all that much into it and when up against someone who did have it down as a skill, got curbstomped. Lillie was a case where the writers had her express wanting to be a strong trainer like Ash and her brother but never really went anywhere with it, leaving her on the weaker end of the spectrum of her classmates to the point that Gladion’s Umbreon tanked a direct his from a Z-Move and easily beat Snowy seconds later. Finally we have Koharu who, outside of those ending drawings, never battled or even so much as expressed an interest in it. It kinda became something of a downwards slope starting with Serena.

Not to mention Dawn became SO bad at contests, she had to go back to Sinnoh to re-live her glory days. It also doesn't help that Dawn is a walking Piplup advertisement and she hasn't caught or evolved a single Pokémon in what, 3 regions? Having a Lopunny could have advertised the DP remakes and Typhlosion Legends Arceus.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Not to mention Dawn became SO bad at contests, she had to go back to Sinnoh to re-live her glory days. It also doesn't help that Dawn is a walking Piplup advertisement and she hasn't caught or evolved a single Pokémon in what, 3 regions?

The first bit is just baseless conjecture as Dawn mentioned that she had done Contests in various regions in her return episode with Koharu. Really, with Contests only existing in 4 regions, you’re gonna end up coming full circle at some point. The second was just the writers being lazy and resulted in Dawn having the same issue Ash did for quite a bit where they ignored the other Pokémon of their team to only show a single one.

 

[Blob]

The first bit is just baseless conjecture as Dawn mentioned that she had done Contests in various regions in her return episode with Koharu. Really, with Contests only existing in 4 regions, you’re gonna end up coming full circle at some point. The second was just the writers being lazy and resulted in Dawn having the same issue Ash did for quite a bit where they ignored the other Pokémon of their team to only show a single one.

I don't think Dawn even went to the Johto contests and skipped it for Sinnoh again.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I don't think Dawn even went to the Johto contests and skipped it for Sinnoh again.

Dawn flat out mentions Johto among the regions she’s competed in when she first met Koharu. She even says Hoenn, Unova and others, meaning she’s probably been to Kanto as well. So she had been to various regions before circling back to Sinnoh in the present.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Not to mention Dawn became SO bad at contests, she had to go back to Sinnoh to re-live her glory days. It also doesn't help that Dawn is a walking Piplup advertisement and she hasn't caught or evolved a single Pokémon in what, 3 regions? Having a Lopunny could have advertised the DP remakes and Typhlosion Legends Arceus.

As much as I hate how the writers made Dawn effectively stagnant in her goal, I don't think going back to Sinnoh means that she's now bad at Contests. She mentioned going through multiple other regions, specifically Hoenn, Unova and Johto, so she still took part in Contests and I assume multiple Grand Festivals. Granted, she still lost those Grand Festivals, but I see that as less of a sign that Dawn is so bad at Contests and more like the writers don't know how to give Dawn off-screen progress, especially when she already reached the finals of her first Grand Festival. The fact that they seemingly aren't interested in revisiting Contests properly, despite having that tease of Dawn and Chloe going to a Contest together in their first episode together, also probably doesn't help, which is a huge shame.

I do agree that she could have gotten a Lopunny or a Hisuian Typhlosion. That would have given her some sign of progress from her off-screen adventures. The arguments as to why they didn't want to evolve Buneary always felt like weak stretches to me, but it seems especially baffling that they didn't do anything with her Quilava. Even if they didn't want it to evolve into the Hisuian Typhlosion for whatever reason, they could have easily given her a regular Typhlosion. It still would have given her a new Pokemon, show that her team had improved at least in some regard from their countless Contests and she wouldn't have come off as stagnant. It's mind boggling to me that pretty much every other returning character in Journeys got new Pokemon and signs that they had improved off screen while Dawn got nothing. Not to mention pretty depressing when she's my favorite female lead and easily had the best writing during DP too.