Controversial opinions

[LazySpy]

They lost their chance to replace Ash when he was still the main character in AG. I can understand why people would want Ash to be replaced for a few reasons, but I still find the concept of replacing the main character after twenty years really strange. Maybe it could have worked if they did it much earlier, but that ship sailed ages ago.

Totally. I think he should've been replaced either for AG or Johto series, but after that point, shuffleing became pretty much impossible.

At least they change his personality without giving any sensible in-story reason for it, hahahahaaha.....

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Since BW days, it is barely any different than changing Ash himself anyway. In each series, he has entirely different characteristics now almost like he is a different person. It doesn't bother me but at least different main characters would bring some diversity and I wouldn't be bothered by that either.

I think the main reason that Ash is unreplecable is the Pikachu factor. It is the face of franchise and giving a different starter to main characters in each series would make the show lose its popularity [according to the producers, at least]. Therefore, I don't think Ash is the major reason but Pikachu in fact.

Nah. I disagree. After being the main character for over 20 years and 1000 episodes, Ash has become just as important for the anime as Pikachu.

 

[FluffleFi]

You gotta wonder, though, would replacing Ash and Pikachu at the end of the Kanto Saga have done any good? I personally would have liked it; a new character every region, one with his/her own mascot from their region and a goal unique to them, cause not every budding trainer wants to be a Champion/Pokemon Master. How would things have worked in we had gotten am ain character that wanted to be a type specialist or a coordinator? Digimon did this for each of its series, yet the only ones that ever really get mentioned are the first three shows.

 

[RK9]

Digimon did this for each of its series, yet the only ones that ever really get mentioned are the first three shows.

Eh, the only one I never hear people about is that Xros/Fusion one.

Which is absolutely fine, because that is a dark stain in the history of the Digimon animes that should be erased.

 

[FluffleFi]

Eh, the only one I never hear people about is that Xros/Fusion one.

Which is absolutely fine, because that is a dark stain in the history of the Digimon animes that should be erased.

Yeah, i've heard those two series were terrible. And that's the thing, Digimon tries to have deeper stories, developed characters and mature themes, case in point Tamers. Pokemon anime doesn't do that, its aimed at kids and remains simple, likely for that reason. I just don't know if the anime would be any better if they replaced all the main characters each season.

 

[LazySpy]

Yeah, i've heard those two series were terrible. And that's the thing, Digimon tries to have deeper stories, developed characters and mature themes, case in point Tamers. Pokemon anime doesn't do that, its aimed at kids and remains simple, likely for that reason. I just don't know if the anime would be any better if they replaced all the main characters each season.

It'd certainly be a little better if we'd get a new character every season, but who knows. PokeAni was capable of screwing up so many things that had potentiall, but I'd certainly preffer that because I think it'd be just better, and I don't like... Okay, I'll say it:
I hate Ash with all my heart. Almost everything about him. I just hate him. Very, very much.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Totally. I think he should've been replaced either for AG or Johto series, but after that point, shuffleing became pretty much impossible.

At least they change his personality without giving any sensible in-story reason for it, hahahahaaha.....

Johto also could have worked if they made that into a different series as opposed to part of the first one. I mentioned AG since it was the second series, but they could have started replacing the main lead with every generation similar to what the Adventures/Special series does.

Since BW days, it is barely any different than changing Ash himself anyway. In each series, he has entirely different characteristics now almost like he is a different person. It doesn't bother me but at least different main characters would bring some diversity and I wouldn't be bothered by that either.

I think that having a different lead character wouldn't really do anything different at this point. If anything, they'd probably feel more like an Ash-clone considering the chances are pretty good he'd be doing the same things and have a Pikachu partner. I think that's one reason why they give Ash a whole new cast of friends every series. Not only does it allow for them to include more characters from the games, but they also get to do something a bit different with the main cast every series while still keeping Ash around.

I think the main reason that Ash is unreplecable is the Pikachu factor. It is the face of franchise and giving a different starter to main characters in each series would make the show lose its popularity [according to the producers, at least]. Therefore, I don't think Ash is the major reason but Pikachu in fact.

That is a important factor since Pikachu is the mascot of the franchise, but Ash was already a pretty well established main character by the time the original series ended. They probably didn't want to rock the boat too hard by replacing Ash when they were already going to replace Misty. Replacing the main lead after being around for a long time is a risky move and they didn't have any reason for them to really consider replacing Ash even when AG started.

You gotta wonder, though, would replacing Ash and Pikachu at the end of the Kanto Saga have done any good? I personally would have liked it; a new character every region, one with his/her own mascot from their region and a goal unique to them, cause not every budding trainer wants to be a Champion/Pokemon Master. How would things have worked in we had gotten am ain character that wanted to be a type specialist or a coordinator? Digimon did this for each of its series, yet the only ones that ever really get mentioned are the first three shows.

I don't know if they wouldn't want Pikachu featured prominently in the anime even if they did change the main character. A series with the main lead wanted to be a Coordinator sounds pretty cool, but I don't know how well that would have turned out. Since the Gyms are pretty much the main goal of the games, I don't think that they would have abandoned them for an entire series. If they started by the second or third generations, it might have worked. I never really had a problem with Ash being the main lead for so long, but I wouldn't have lost sleep if he was replaced years ago.

Eh, the only one I never hear people about is that Xros/Fusion one.

Which is absolutely fine, because that is a dark stain in the history of the Digimon animes that should be erased.

This is a bit off topic, but I thought that Xros Wars was generally well received by fans. I haven't heard that much backlash against it compared to Frontier or Savers and I thought it was pretty enjoyable. Now the Young Hunters series on the other hand is a different story. That definitely weakened a lot of what I liked about Xros Wars and is basically an unnecessary addition to an otherwise decent series.

Yeah, i've heard those two series were terrible. And that's the thing, Digimon tries to have deeper stories, developed characters and mature themes, case in point Tamers. Pokemon anime doesn't do that, its aimed at kids and remains simple, likely for that reason. I just don't know if the anime would be any better if they replaced all the main characters each season.

With Digimon, there is much higher expectations for each series due to how well series like Adventure and Tamers were received. Series that are just okay are much more noticeable and frustrating for fans probably in part due to these expectations. Digimon does change leads with every series, but I don't think that really connects to its lack of popularity. It doesn't have the same marketing presence as Pokemon does. Changing the lead does make it harder to give it more of an iconic lead/mascot combo like Ash and Pikachu, but the gap of time between each series is a much bigger factor in Digimon's popularity. While waiting a few years between series probably helps with giving the creative staff more time to work on them, it also weakens the presence Digimon has in the public eye. Pokemon always has a new series on the air and we get new games nearly every year at this point. Digimon just doesn't have that kind of attention from a marketing perspective.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise has different lead characters with every series, but it does pretty well in at least Japan from what I understand. None of the spin-offs took off in other countries for various reasons, but I don't think having different lead characters was a factor in that issue either. Although, now that I think about it, they had a bit more creative freedom compared to what the writers for Pokemon needed to do. A Yu-Gi-Oh! series can basically do whatever it wants as long as it features certain cards. While Pokemon has never been a faithful adaptation of the games, they would still need to feature certain characters/events to tie into promoting the games from that generation, so that does limit their options a bit by comparison.

 

[RK9]

A Yu-Gi-Oh! series can basically do whatever it wants as long as it features certain cards. While Pokemon has never been a faithful adaptation of the games, they would still need to feature certain characters/events to tie into promoting the games from that generation, so that does limit their options a bit by comparison.

Eh, it's not that easy. Arc-V at one point just kind of did whatever it wanted and that caused it to crash and burn, even amongst the Japanese fandom.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Eh, it's not that easy. Arc-V at one point just kind of did whatever it wanted and that caused it to crash and burn, even amongst the Japanese fandom.

I've heard mixed messages on how the Japanese fandom saw Arc V. Some people said that they didn't like how it turned out either while others said that it was still well received up even after it finished. Considering my experiences with the YGO online community have been pretty awful, I have a hard time believing what the naysayers say about my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! series like that, especially when they usually don't have the best sources to back up their claims. It usually comes off as trying to justify hating on the series by saying that even Japanese fans don't like it, which always annoyed me and seemed largely irrelevant. Granted, getting to the point where I couldn't even bring up Arc V without people getting on my case for loving it didn't help matters either.

Besides that, my main point was that the creative staff for a Yu-Gi-Oh! series don't have to adapt a storyline from another source. They can have a new cast of characters, different ways of dueling and I'd argue every series since Zexal has been set in its own universe. The only thing they really need to do is feature new cards and a gimmick way for the characters to duel. There are still limitations obviously. Card sales and what specific cards they need to promote can affect who duels more and/or who gets more focused, but they can do what they want with the characters and the story since they aren't adapting a video game storyline. They do have more creative freedom to do whatever they want to do more so than the creative staff for Pokemon do in that regard. That's was what I was trying to get across.

 

[RK9]

I've heard mixed messages on how the Japanese fandom saw Arc V. Some people said that they didn't like how it turned out either while others said that it was still well received up even after it finished. Considering my experiences with the YGO online community have been pretty awful, I have a hard time believing what the naysayers say about my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! series like that, especially when they usually don't have the best sources to back up their claims. It usually comes off as trying to justify hating on the series by saying that even Japanese fans don't like it, which always annoyed me and seemed largely irrelevant. Granted, getting to the point where I couldn't even bring up Arc V without people getting on my case for loving it didn't help matters either.

Besides that, my main point was that the creative staff for a Yu-Gi-Oh! series don't have to adapt a storyline from another source. They can have a new cast of characters, different ways of dueling and I'd argue every series since Zexal has been set in its own universe. The only thing they really need to do is feature new cards and a gimmick way for the characters to duel. There are still limitations obviously. Card sales and what specific cards they need to promote can affect who duels more and/or who gets more focused, but they can do what they want with the characters and the story since they aren't adapting a video game storyline. They do have more creative freedom to do whatever they want to do more so than the creative staff for Pokemon do in that regard. That's was what I was trying to get across.

Many of the characters are well-received, ditto with their decks.

The story and events after Synchro arc not so. I, myself, am just disappointed because of what it could have been compared to how it ended. Other people of the fandom are just... really toxic about it, yeah.

Which brings me to the point that having a story to adapt from doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. You already have a foundation laid out for you to follow up on, at least creating some sort of bottom-line in terms of quality and writing that certain works, without having to adapt something, don't have.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Many of the characters are well-received, ditto with their decks.

The story and events after Synchro arc not so. I, myself, am just disappointed because of what it could have been compared to how it ended. Other people of the fandom are just... really toxic about it, yeah.

I honestly didn't have a huge problem the story and events after the Synchro arc. I love the entire series, was engaged from beginning to end and I actually like the ending. Almost all of my favorite moments/duels come from season two and three. It was never perfect, even during season one despite how much fans put that season on a pedestal, and I do wish that they handled some things differently/better, but I don't have a lot of major complaints, even when rewatching the series, and I tend to disagree with most of the complains fans bring up about later arcs.

That being said, I can understand why some fans would feel disappointed about the series. It probably wouldn't bother me as much if I didn't have to deal with a lot of toxic people in the past about it. There are a few reasons why I don't go to Yu-Gi-Oh! sites anymore and that's one of them. Even saying that I love all of Arc V in some places could easily lead to more people getting on my case, if not flat out insulting me, so I usually don't bring up the series that often for that very reason.

Which brings me to the point that having a story to adapt from doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. You already have a foundation laid out for you to follow up on, at least creating some sort of bottom-line in terms of quality and writing that certain works, without having to adapt something, don't have.

That's a fair point. I wasn't trying to imply that having a story to adapt from is always bad. I just thought that not having to include specific characters/story elements could help to give the writers more creative freedom. Granted, I don't know how much adapting the video games' storyline affects the creative process for Pokemon, especially for SM considering that the Island Challenge is treated like an afterthought. The anime has always been more interested in doing its own thing instead of just simply adapting the video games and each series do feel distinct from each other for various reasons. I just thought that having a completely new cast set in different universes without having to adapt a specific storyline gave the creative staffs of the various Yu-Gi-Oh! series a bit more wiggle room creatively speaking compared to what the Pokemon anime can do.

 

[Cookies and Creme]

Sun and Moon's lack of consistency and an actual goal ruins the show. To be honest though I haven't watched much SM and am basing it off of summaries on Bulbapedia and a thread where I asked about Sun/Moon info.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm not sure how controversial that opinion would be. SM seems pretty divisive among fans. Not as much as BW was fortunately, but it's pretty mixed and one of the main complaints has been it's lack of a clear focus/goal.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

I'm not sure how controversial that opinion would be. SM seems pretty divisive among fans. Not as much as BW was fortunately, but it's pretty mixed and one of the main complaints has been it's lack of a clear focus/goal.

I may be splitting hairs here, but I don't think BW divided the fandom that much, since the majority of fans seems to hate it. SM has a way more even divide of fans and haters, from what I've understood.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I may be splitting hairs here, but I don't think BW divided the fandom that much, since the majority of fans seems to hate it. SM has a way more even divide of fans and haters, from what I've understood.

A lot of fans here didn't like it, but there were other sites where the series was better received. I think there were more people on Serebii who enjoyed it. Plus, the discussion here became so toxic that there were fans uncomfortable saying that they liked BW. SM seems more evenly split, but there was at least some sense of division among fans during BW's run.

 

[Ryan Massey]

the Pokemon anime sucks

 

[KenzeyEevee]

Fans will never be happy about Ash. "Ash is too serious" or "Ash is stupid". The way Ash is will affect the opinion on the series. You are never happy with Ash and you are all toxic!

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Anime reviewer Suede put it the best: Ash is an ordinary kid living an ordinary life in an extraordinary world. Unlike in many other adventure anime, where the main character is in someway special or skilled, Ash is pretty much just an average guy who is just a Trainer among Trainers. Suede mentioning this fact has made me appreciate Ash's character a lot more than before, not that I hated him before or anything. So yeah. I've got no problems with Ash. He's a great and iconic protagonist, whose faults some people seem to be taking a bit too seriously.

 

[FluffleFi]

Mhm, makes me glad him being an Aura-User never really went anywhere since it keeps him ordinary. So many people wants Ash to be this generic 'badass' hero who wins every league, evolve every single one of his Pokemon and get the girl in the end. For one I like that not all his Pokemon evolve to their final stage, it adds some variety to his line up and its not like being un-evolved hinders him at all. Second, those people who wants Ash to wn at every league likely don't really want that. Where's the tension if we already know he's going to win? Plus, it'd just make him look overpowered as hell. THirdly, why do so many people so desperately want this kid to get a girlfriend? As much as people don't like it, he's ten and very dense when it comes to romance.

 

[DarkraiKnight]

Anime reviewer Suede put it the best: Ash is an ordinary kid living an ordinary life in an extraordinary world. Unlike in many other adventure anime, where the main character is in someway special or skilled, Ash is pretty much just an average guy who is just a Trainer among Trainers. Suede mentioning this fact has made me appreciate Ash's character a lot more than before, not that I hated him before or anything. So yeah. I've got no problems with Ash. He's a great and iconic protagonist, whose faults some people seem to be taking a bit too seriously.

I don't know if "ordinary" really describes Ash, as there's definitely SOMETHING special about him, but I agree with your overall message.