Do you like Stephan/Kenyan as a rival?

[Hellion]

Do you think that the character of Kenyan in Best Wishes is an interesting and character? Do you feel that he's a challenging rival for Satoshi? What do you think of his appearances up until now? Here's the place to discuss.

Personally, I'm very lukewarm towards Kenyan. The name gag got old really quick and there's nothing really else about his personality that really stands out to me. He doesn't really make me laugh or care about him as a character.

As a rival, he's okay, but that's pretty much it.

 

[Bouffalant Herdier]

Re: Do you like Stephan/Kenyan as rival?

He's okay, but nothing amazing.

Personality-wise, he's an inoffensive character, for the most part. He's certainly more likable and friendly than stick-in-the-mud Trip, but his name gag is one of the weakest ever. It doesn't have the same variety as the similar and far funnier running gag with Butch, and it's honestly irritating enough to make me dread Stephan's future appearances.

Battling-wise, even though he's a passionate trainer and has some cool Pokemon, I doubt he is considered important enough to ever pose a large threat to Ash, and that will instantly take away a lot of tension in their battles. I guess that's the cost of being genre-savvy.

 

[MizuTaipu]

Re: Do you like Stephan/Kenyan as rival?

Kenyan's...O.K. I guess. He has a nice character design and a terrific seiyuu, yet his bland personality and boring name gag negate that.

 

[Aestivate]

Re: Do you like Stephan/Kenyan as rival?

He got boring fast because of his only shtick. He's inoffensive and nice but there's little tension and chemistry with the rest of the cast and he's just okay. Not worth paying a whole lot of attention. Also his character design is absolutely appalling and the lack of sclera just sets up his design as even more bizarre and awkward.

 

[Cybersai]

Re: Do you like Stephan/Kenyan as rival?

I like him and he kinda reminds me of Morrrisson from the Hoenn league. He's just one of those laid back fat guys who are fun to have around. The anime needs more heavy set people and I like his Pokemon and positive attitude.

I hope him and Ash become bosom buddies, best pals, and good 'ol chums. What a fun, chubby guy.

 

[Hitomi]

Sawk and Zebstraika are both cool Pokémon and he has clearly done a good job training both. As a rival, I think he's not too bad, but it's hard to say seeing how Ash hasn't battled him that much. (Twice, I believe? Both in the scalchop episode?)

I think if the dreaded name gag got resolved so his lines didn't consist almost exclusively of him correcting people's pronunciation of it, and if he were given a little backstory (where's he from, why's he a trainer - at least with Burgundy, we know she wants to one-up Cilan, and Georgia has a vendetta against dragon-types, but with Stephan, he's just kinda... there) he would be even a little more interesting (to be honest, the Japanese version of the gag is more annoying to me, because I detect only the subtlest difference between how his name's pronounced and how it's supposed to be pronounced - at least Stef-fan/Stef-fawn is a noticeable difference); he's not lacking in confidence or ability, and he's friendly, so he's got that going for him. As it stands, I'm not too interested in him now though.

 

[Insanish Danish]

Personality wise I like him a lot, but it ends there. As a rival he's really...not good. The name gag is annoying and I hate his character design too. (Petty, but whatever.) Otherwise I do like him. He's a cool dude. But I really wish he had more going for him than other characters forgetting his name. It's annoying.

 

[Ampharos King]

Aside from his name gag, it seems that the writers have carried over numerous aspects of Morrison's characterization, including his basic appearance, when they constructed this rival. To be more specific, there were quite a number of times during the Club Battle tournament when Ash and Stephan appeared to compete with one another in a variety of ways. However, these contests were not as intense as the ones that Ash competed with against Morrison in AG.

Nevertheless, I feel that Stephan has the potential to become a powerful rival for Ash later on in the series. All of the pokemon that he has shown so far were very powerful and he was shown to win a few matches under his name. However, while Stephan may be the sort of competitive rival that Ash deserves to have for this series, since his other rivals don't appear to be interested in challenging him whatsoever, his characterization has been stale as of his most recent appearance. If we did not take his status as a recurring rival into account, Stephan could have very well passed off as a generic trainer that Ash might have fought in the initial matches of the Unova League. Stephan doesn't really stand out as a rival and he isn't a truly unique character. I hope that the writers can redeem some of the lesser aspects of Stephan's chracterization later on in the series.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

Unlike most, I'm actually amused by his running joke - at least for some time. Though I don't know how much longer that can last before I also get tired of it. As for his character, he's all right, and can make a fun "buddy-buddy" friend for Ash. Though in terms of rivalry, he's on the same boat as Bianca, in that he doesn't really have much going for him with that. Ok, maybe he's got more going for him than Bianca in that category (based on his debut), but he's still treated a bit more like a friend than a rival to me. I think I just need to see more of him before I can make a full judgement of him.

 

[Yoshi-san]

I love Kenyan. Yeah his gag got really old really fast (but I blame the Don Tourney for that one,), Yeah there's nothing much going for him Pokemon wise and he's a so-soo rival...but I really do like him anyway. I actually like his design and his personality. I also can't wait to see him again in BW69!

 

[Iteru]

Throw me in with the camp that thinks he's a bit bland and could do with some extra traits or backstory. The writers haven't really done anything wrong with him in my opinion (your milleage may vary on the name gag) but they haven't really done anything right either.

Hopefully more will be done to make him an entertaining rival, as well as a threat in the League.

 

[Hassel]

While I also think Kenyan needs more depth to his character, I really like him and think his scenes are fun. Call me easily amused but I find the name gag at least a bit funny. Kenyan is both likable and a good rival, in my opinion.

Kenyan is the only male rival in BW whom I care about, but sadly that's not saying much considering the boredom that is Shuuti and Luke. But yeah, he's great.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

Re: Do you like Stephan/Kenyan as rival?

I like him and he kinda reminds me of Morrrisson from the Hoenn league. He's just one of those laid back fat guys who are fun to have around. The anime needs more heavy set people and I like his Pokemon and positive attitude.

I hope him and Ash become bosom buddies, best pals, and good 'ol chums. What a fun, chubby guy.

Morrison wasn't laid back at all he was super hyper and freaked out in every episode he was in. Not only that but he had many powerful emotions. Stephan has four flat ones "ha heh" "eeeh" "Man" and "let's go". He does not make me angry like pretty much every character in BW but he is nothing I want to share with my non anime watching fans. He lost to Iris which pissed me off cause he sould have used stone edge. His team is something a kid would use before learning about base stats. He is not meh he's eeh.

 

[Caseydia]

He is an okay rival. He seems passionate. It's just that he seems kind of boring in some way. His gag is like Bianca's which is like a cold wind hitting your face.

 

[Jaye]

His team is something a kid would use before learning about base stats.

I'm not quite seeing how the make-up of his team could work against him as a rival, since every character in this show has a "team a kid would use before learning about base stats".

My own opinion of him is one of indifference. As a rival, I think he'd be good in the role of "freindly rival" who holds no animosity towards Ash and receives none from him. However, as a character he's bland and seems just sort of "there". Perhaps if we knew a bit more about his background and motivations, like where he came from, what his dreams are, what sort of trials he's had while travelling, etc. he'd be a more interesting character.

As it is, I dont' mind him on the show but I don't particularly care for him, either.

 

[Peppermint Phoenix]

His team is something a kid would use before learning about base stats.

I'm not quite seeing how the make-up of his team could work against him as a rival, since every character in this show has a "team a kid would use before learning about base stats".

My own opinion of him is one of indifference. As a rival, I think he'd be good in the role of "freindly rival" who holds no animosity towards Ash and receives none from him. However, as a character he's bland and seems just sort of "there". Perhaps if we knew a bit more about his background and motivations, like where he came from, what his dreams are, what sort of trials he's had while travelling, etc. he'd be a more interesting character.

As it is, I dont' mind him on the show but I don't particularly care for him, either.

I phrased that poorly his team seems weak to me. So it is hard to see him as a threat.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I think that Stephan is okay. He's friendly and laid-back, but there isn't much beyond his running gag that makes him memorable. I wouldn't mind if the writers did more with his character to make me care about him though. His team is just okay. I don't think he's much of a rival due to how little of a threat he poses to Ash. If they got rid of the running gag with his name and did more to develop his character, I'd probably like him a lot more than I do right now.

 

[Cybersai]

Keep in mind Stephen is a third-tier rival. He's not the main guy like Trip or the secondary one like Bianca.

And its a sad day when Stephen is more memorable and entertaining than Trip is.

 

[Caseydia]

Besides for the gag, he is entertaining but he is not as memorable than Trip. There are times that I forget he is even one of the other rivals.

 

[3Dchu]

Funny enough, I consider Stephan to be Ash's main rival.

He is adorable, nice, positive and a heart made out of gold. I don't see a thing wrong with him aside of his lack of Pokémon. But really, that's about it.