One of the characters that has caught my interest most of all, so far has been Alexa. I find her characterization very engaging and entertaining, a well developed combination of ditziness, maturity, passion and competence that occasionally comes to the fore. Her presence was what made me look forward to the episodes in the second half of Da!, after Journalist from another Region. And so far, her return in Episode 5 has been nothing short but a pleasure to watch - to me, it seems as if she's written not to be a Single Arc character, but a character who is likely going to recur again and again. And she fitted into the group dynamics in the second half of Da! quite well.
There is a very interesting dimension to the X and Y Season. In all previous seasons that I can recall (please do call me out if I get it wrong, since I've been popping in and out of the anime for many years), Ash always has an older travelling companion, be it Brock, Tracey or Cilan. In X and Y on the other hand, everyone of his companions, save for Bonnie is around the same age as him. There is no companion that takes the position of the older figure. And this changes the dynamics of the group significantly . Another thing that makes X and Y unique is the Gender balance. Again, I do not recall a season where males are not a majority among Ash's travelling companions (and no, episodes where, for recent example, Dawn, Cynthia and Iris all feature don't count).
This leads me to wonder about the role of Alexa in the X and Y Anime. Would Alexa disappear after the 6th episode, would she be a recurring character that pops out once every 10 -20 episodes or so, for 1 or 2 episodes at a time? Or perhaps, her role in X and Y might actually be major - there may be entire arcs where she ends up travelling with Ash and company, for a dozen episodes at a time.
More unlikely of course, the writers might abandon their experimentation in putting Ash in a dynamic without a "Cilan" or "Brock" older figure, or splitting their roles between Bonnie and Clermont. Now, don't get me wrong. I think they are doing a fairly good job so far in experimenting without the older "mentor" figure. But still, if the writers decide that the group dynamics needs an extra mentor figure within the group, Alexa is probably the best situated and set up to take on that role, and her gags at least adds another, fresher dimension of variety into the group. Which makes me wonder, whether the scriptwriters wrote in Alexa, not just as a trigger to make the transition to X and Y smoother, but also as insurance, in case their experiment without the "older" figure in the group fails. Another interpretation, was that Alexa was an experiment in writing group dynamics in the Pokemon anime with the gender balance equal.
There are possible counter arguments against Alexa eventually joining the Ash's travelling partners in Kalos. For one, her duties as a Pokemon Journalist might make tying her to Ash's journey unfeasible. For another, it takes the dynamics into yet another Terra Incognita, with three females and only two males in the group. It also takes the group up to five , which may prove problematic for writing, since with five members, someone is likely going to get shafted eventually. The last counter-argument I can think of is that Alexa is probably older than Brock, and therefore, a little too old to be travelling around with Ash's group, due to the target audience.
So, what do you think? Do you think Alexa is going to be an experiment that is discarded by the writers after episode 6? Or would she play a larger role, appearing again and again in the X and Y anime? Or would the writers eventually decide that they are better off putting an older figure into the group?
Personally, I am for more Alexa, and I consider the scenario where Alexa would eventually travel with the group, a few dozen episodes from now, the best case scenario. Should this happen though, her presence would probably result in many firsts. And there's always the risk that the more she get's exposed, the higher the chances the writers would butcher her character in the end, and turn her into a flanderized parody of her earlier character.
There is a very interesting dimension to the X and Y Season. In all previous seasons that I can recall (please do call me out if I get it wrong, since I've been popping in and out of the anime for many years), Ash always has an older travelling companion, be it Brock, Tracey or Cilan. In X and Y on the other hand, everyone of his companions, save for Bonnie is around the same age as him. There is no companion that takes the position of the older figure. And this changes the dynamics of the group significantly . Another thing that makes X and Y unique is the Gender balance. Again, I do not recall a season where males are not a majority among Ash's travelling companions (and no, episodes where, for recent example, Dawn, Cynthia and Iris all feature don't count).
This leads me to wonder about the role of Alexa in the X and Y Anime. Would Alexa disappear after the 6th episode, would she be a recurring character that pops out once every 10 -20 episodes or so, for 1 or 2 episodes at a time? Or perhaps, her role in X and Y might actually be major - there may be entire arcs where she ends up travelling with Ash and company, for a dozen episodes at a time.
More unlikely of course, the writers might abandon their experimentation in putting Ash in a dynamic without a "Cilan" or "Brock" older figure, or splitting their roles between Bonnie and Clermont. Now, don't get me wrong. I think they are doing a fairly good job so far in experimenting without the older "mentor" figure. But still, if the writers decide that the group dynamics needs an extra mentor figure within the group, Alexa is probably the best situated and set up to take on that role, and her gags at least adds another, fresher dimension of variety into the group. Which makes me wonder, whether the scriptwriters wrote in Alexa, not just as a trigger to make the transition to X and Y smoother, but also as insurance, in case their experiment without the "older" figure in the group fails. Another interpretation, was that Alexa was an experiment in writing group dynamics in the Pokemon anime with the gender balance equal.
There are possible counter arguments against Alexa eventually joining the Ash's travelling partners in Kalos. For one, her duties as a Pokemon Journalist might make tying her to Ash's journey unfeasible. For another, it takes the dynamics into yet another Terra Incognita, with three females and only two males in the group. It also takes the group up to five , which may prove problematic for writing, since with five members, someone is likely going to get shafted eventually. The last counter-argument I can think of is that Alexa is probably older than Brock, and therefore, a little too old to be travelling around with Ash's group, due to the target audience.
So, what do you think? Do you think Alexa is going to be an experiment that is discarded by the writers after episode 6? Or would she play a larger role, appearing again and again in the X and Y anime? Or would the writers eventually decide that they are better off putting an older figure into the group?
Personally, I am for more Alexa, and I consider the scenario where Alexa would eventually travel with the group, a few dozen episodes from now, the best case scenario. Should this happen though, her presence would probably result in many firsts. And there's always the risk that the more she get's exposed, the higher the chances the writers would butcher her character in the end, and turn her into a flanderized parody of her earlier character.
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