What do you think of the XY saga so far?

[Lillie]

I have mixed feelings about it. I like Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont, but Ash is bland and gets way too much screen time imo and Team Rocket are only back to being plot devices. I also wish that Serena was more active and that she had an active goal that involved battling.

 

[Ambipom666]

I'm liking XY so far. I feel the hype from the premiere has kind of worn off (which is nothing bad, the real thing is generally not as satisfying as the hype) but the writers seem to be going for developed, entertaining characters, which is a plus. Ash hasn't really been making waves but just the fact that he's not his BW self is enough to tide me over. I'm really hoping his Froakie will go places and evolve. Clemont is a real funny guy and the writers have already set up his and Ash's battle which will hopefully be something worth remembering. I was a little sad that his Lumiose Gym Pokémon didn't join gym after the Gym episode but hopefully they will after his Gym Battle. Bonnie is pretty cute and enjoyable (I admit, I haven't really watched the Bonnie-centric episodes but I like her. honest!) Serena is a little too focused on Ash for my tastes but the writers won't let that become her character for the entire series... right?

The fact that this series is actually sticking somewhat loosely to the games really makes me happy. Silly as it sounds, but when the anime portrays events from the game, like the Battle Chateau, or Korrina's upcoming appearance, it really excites me. I'm also excited about the Mega Evolution Acts for being a thread that's running alongside Ash's story and hopefully they'll meet up eventually. I'm waiting for Serena to catch something new, but it'll happen before too long I think. I'll admit, I'm not as hyped now as I was at this point during BW (which was hype factor rising for TEAM ROCKET VS. TEAM PLASMA until those episodes got pulled) but in the long run XY looks like it'll be more... stable.

Also, as a side note, many try and deflect criticism of her by saying "It's only been X episodes, wait" (did you give Iris that chance? No).

You make it sound like people hated Iris from day 1 which is really not true. People liked her at the beginning of the series, and there was a lot going for her between her aspirations, her Axew's aspirations, and her issues with Excadrill. She got a bunch of focus episodes which people generally liked (Also, the 24th episode of XY is airing this week, incidentally, the 24th episode of BW to air was the one where Iris catches Emolga, which was well-received.) Also, she played off Cilan well since they were opposites (e.g. her superstitions vs. Cilan's stock in science) and in the first year of BW, their quirks were still fresh. Forum-goers didn't really start to have issues with her until she won the Don Battle Tournament, which was some 40 episodes in, and even then then, it's not like people outright hated her. She wasn't too popular around the beginning of Season 2 and the Junior Cup but that was 80-90 episodes in to the series which is a fairly long time.

Basically Iris started off really exciting, quirky and promising at the beginning of BW and became quite controversial as BW went on. Hopefully Serena will do the reverse and grow richer as a character as XY goes on.

 

[ReadsALotOfBooks]

Soooooooooo, my answer would beeeeeeee... this would be only the third full series of the anime I've seen so far, (orange islands and kanto, both via YouTube)(and only once it's finished) but I have seen all of the episodes with female protagonist returning, so I'm pumped to see Iris coming back, hair, Axew, Gible, and all. But, otherwise, I'm not expecting too much, other that some cool Pokemon, and the return of older Pokemon after the league, hence Charizard's return in BW. Maybe Primeape?

 

[MattySadler]

I think the series is a bit of a slow burner at the moment to be honest, but I really like it and I'm excited for what the future holds. I'm really hoping Ash's team ends up Pikachu, Greninja, Talonflame, Hawlucha, Phantump and then either Honedge/ Doublade/ Aegislash, Bergmite/ Avalugg or Tyrunt/ Tyrantrum, I'd be made up with that.

In terms of characters, Ash is Ash and I'll always love him and want to see what he is up to next, whatever he does.

Bonnie is exactly what I expected and I don't particularly care. She isn't a bad character, but I wouldn't really mind if she wasn't there.

I'm loving Clemont. Cannot wait to see more of him.

Serena is really disappointing me. She just doesn't do anything and if she carries on like this, she'll definitely be the worst of Ash's female companions so far. Really hope this changes soon though, I'm sure it will.

Overall, a great start and I'm eager for the story to start picking up pace and developing. I thought the BW series started off really well, especially in terms of Ash's team, but I ended up being really disappointed how that turned out. I'm sure this series won't go that way though.

 

[Epic-Ash-Fan]

Well I love in the UK So I've only seen up to the Espurr episode so far. (The poor thing ) But I am loving what I'm seeing. I still enjoyed the B/W episodes, but I do see where the naysayers are coming from now. I must say Clemont is just freaking adorkable! I'm loving that guy!

 

[zhixun]

Citron: I think he needs to improve his invention skills in the future. At least one success in every three to four attempts will suffice in my opinion.

Eureka: I think she is a little bit too annoying for her to follow similar to Takeshi's trait of finding a woman. She needs to do something new other than that. Eureka is more mature than Masato in AG.

Serena: I love her character being inactive towards Pokémon. Her aversion to battling makes her unique compared to other characters. Let her Fokko still being her pet and not to battle except in emergency.

Satoshi: I am so tired of him being in cast for almost two decades and has not achieved a Pokémon master. So I hope he will retire soon from the cast and start off a new one.

Musashi: I still remember she is doing well at the contest in DP which is much better than AG. Hope some day Hikari will make a return in XY and either one of them will become a top coordinator in a Grand Festival.

Kojiro: I think he is somewhat a guide of Rocket as he has the cards that explains the details of Pokémon. May be sometime later there will be a chance to visit one of his holiday resort in Kalos if it really exists.

Nyarth: I like he wins against Fokko during XY023 and he should battle more often and learn some more moves other than Midare Hikkaki such as Shadow ball. It is a sad thing that very unlikely to happen because he is too lazy in training his skills.

Sonans: I missed him from BW series and it is always nice to see that he is much more competent than before. The patient Pokémon surely makes them pay back double when attacked by the group and makes a good shield.

 

[majormanafemale]

So far I am enjoying Kalos as mich as I did Hoen. Their tied as my 2nd favs. I didn't intended to like either but I did enjoy Hoenn and so far enjoying Kalos but after dp being soem what disappointing and bw unwatchable I am being catious and enjoying the good stuff. Jhoto is my all time fav. I hooe Kalos stays good. I have only watched up to ep 16.

 

[LuxrayOfTheWild]

After the train wreck Best Wishes was, XY is such a refreshing series! I am actually really enjoying this series so far. There's so many things I have enjoyed about it so far so why don't I list them all.

Pros
-The group: The XY group is far more interesting than the BW group. For the first time since AG, Ash is traveling with three characters and each of them have their own interesting traits and they mix SO WELL with each other. I love the chemistry between the four characters. I think Clemont and Bonnie stand out the most of Ash's new traveling companions. Clemont's personality just really mixes well with Ash and his inventions are always interesting to see. His development so far has been great as he's gained enough confidence to throw himself into danger to save his friends. Bonnie is actually amazing. She's very mature for her age at times and her bravery is outstanding. Her love of Pokemon of all kinds just astounds me because I'm just waiting for her to find one she DOESN'T like XD I still find her gag of asking others to marry Clemont is funny and kinda feels like a throwback to Brock. Who can forget how Serena and Bonnie feel like they're very sisterly and how Ash and Clemont kinda feel like brothers in a way.

-Ash: While he gets annoying while marveling over Clemont's inventions, he feels like he's improved a lot since BW. He actually trains with his Pokemon and now he impliments some strategy into his battles once again. He feels like he's edging towards his AG self, though he's still not incredibly mature and overly confident though as he was in AG.

-The gym battles: FINALLY we're back to battles where they use strategy! Ash has been shown training for his gym battles and so far, the first two gym matches have greatly improved from what happened in BW. BW's battles were kinda rushed and had little to no strategy often. XY's battles often have often utilized strategy to overcome the challenges, like Viola's "Ice Studio" and Grant's use of Rock Tomb.

-Pacing: So far, the pacing feels really decent. By this point in XY, we've gone through two gyms by XY 30 and by this point in BW, Ash had 3 badges. I don't feel like we're in a rush to get from once city to the next and I think this was very apparent between Santalune City and Cyllage City. It took them about 19 episodes I think? They did take a little bit of time to give the characters a little bit of development and not to mention show off the Parfum Palace and the Battle Chateau. I'm hoping they keep the pacing up because it doesn't feel too fast or too slow.

-The Music: A lot of the music taken from the games is used in the series, though some of it oddly doesn't make it into the dub at times. They make frequent use of the trainer battle theme and I'm REALLY pleased that they often times use the Kalos Hall of Fame music at the end of a good amount of episodes. The music fits often times though and we do sometimes get stuff like the Welcome to Kalos theme.

-Mega Evolution: This is actually being handled fairly well. We're introduced to Mega Evolution at the beginning of the series and its presence doesn't really fade much. We've had Meyer and his Mega Blazekin show up on occasion to help Ash and co and plus we had the Mega Evolution special. Recently we've gotten into an arc where Ash and co learn about how Mega Evolution is achieved when they learn from Diantha and Korrina about how they need a powerful bond and both the mega stone and key stone for it to happen. It doesn't feel like its being forced so far.

-Running Gags That Aren't Annoying: BW was loaded with annoying gags from Bianca pushing Ash into bodies of water, name gags, and characters tripping often. XY hasn't really had any gags that just make me groan out so much though. I find Bonnie's running gag of proposing to women for Clemont to be funny so far(SHE EVEN ASKED DIANTHA TO MARRY CLEMONT OMG XD) Clemont's

-The Starters: Froakie, Chespin, and Fennekin themselves are very interesting when they're on screen together and on their own. Froakie is a very serious and somewhat brash Pokemon who looks out for others, though shows he can be rather warm and friendly. Chespin kinda reminds me of Oshawott in someways, being the lovable goofball of the group. He's lazy and gluttonous, but very brave. Fennekin herself is also very interesting when it comes to being very proper and tidy, plus I love her temper and sass XD They're really great members of the cast and I'm glad that they didn't all go to Ash.

Cons
-Serena: While she's really refreshing after putting up with Iris for 3 years, I don't like how they're handling her. Sure she has her interest in making PR videos and Pokepuffs, but they haven't given her a true goal for her yet and she hasn't had a single capture yet. She feels like she's just traveling with Ash because she has a crush on him. When is she gonna get a goal? When will she capture a Pokemon? When will she even have a great battle?

-The overuse of Pikachu: He continues to star in every gym and seems like he's staring in the 3rd one even. He gets the most screen time out of Ash's Pokemon, so why not use Froakie, Fletchling, and Hawlucha more. Pikachu should only really be used if he has a big type advantage.

-Stock Animation: This still seems to be used a lot, mostly during the Team Rocket mottos. I just wish they'd stop using the same animation for the Team Rocket mottos, though this has been around for a while.

-Lack of rivals: So far besides Millifieu, we haven't had any real rivals for the main cast. Usually Ash meets his main rival within the first three episodes, though so far he doesn't have a rival to push him to do better. This could change though with the upcoming introduction of Tierno, Shauna, and Trevor

So far I have to rate XY with an 8.5/10. Its very refreshing after the train wreck BW was and its starting to give me the feelings AG had. Its overall a good series so far and I'm really excited to see how things will go on.

 

[ocelotlrama jaguar]

I think they're okay. Not terrible, but I feel something is missing compared to the previous series that we have seen. For the most part, I like the characters in this series a lot more than the characters introduced in Black and White. Black and White may have been my favorite games in the series, but geez, the anime reeked!

I guess I am still thinking like a kid because there are three Pokemon I am dying to see in the anime and they have not even been announced for future episodes. When are we gonna finally see Litleo and evos?? I just hope they don't give them a crappy episode. I am hoping for something good!

Until then, I shall continue watching and enjoying. I like 'em.

 

[BlackButterfree]

Well, America is only 20-something episodes in, with the entire series only being about 34-ish episodes. But I love it. The beautiful animation, the remixed Pokémon theme, the large group of friends... I don't know, it just calls to mind the best of every season, particularly the original one. Ever since I found out that the anime was supposed to end with a time skip and Misty laying under a tree with her and Ash's daughter, I refuse to accept that he could ever end up with May, Dawn, Iris or Serena. Misty and Ash forever. But I do love Serena. She's cute, she's sassy and she has Fennekin which is my absolute favorite Kalos starter.

Ok, so let's address everything:

Ash: I knew shit was gonna get better this time around when he DOVE OFF OF THE EIFFEL FREAKIN' TOWER to save Pikachu. Although I suspected as much when he started CLIMBING the tower. He's back to his battling prime. I hated that Black and White was sort of a reset, especially after all of the battle experience he'd had and the little character development he'd gotten. I was a little shocked that 17 seasons in, they were giving us Ash backstory via Serena, when we haven't had that since the third movie (Ash knowing Molly Hale) and the Johto saga (his past with Gary), both of which were well over a decade ago. But if backstory isn't out of the question, neither is character development, which means we could meet Ash's father someday (the anime creators have confirmed Ash's father is alive and they will meet someday if it'll help Ash's character development!). Overall, he's faster, smarter, stronger and just overall better than he was in his Unova days.

Serena: I like her. She just seems kind of... there, but again it's only 20-something episodes in. I don't remember being too attached to Misty or Brock 20 episodes in either, yet I still loved them. Again, Misty was supposed to end up with Ash, so she's the only PokéGirl I can see him with. Also, he's 10. I don't appreciate the creators of the show just shoving Serena and Ash down our throats. But I will admit that they'd be cute together. I like that she doesn't have a set plan for her future at ten years old, and I like that she's not... well, perfect. She's overly girly, she's slightly fussy and she's a little sassy. I hope to see more of those traits come out. In fact, considering how big customization was in X and Y, I'd love for her to maybe consider being a model. Maybe have a protagonist with a non-Pokémon related goal for once who just happens to have Pokémon with her.

Clemont: Meh. The "everything I build fucks itself up" gag got really old, really quick. He's supposed to be a Gym Leader, and to have invented SUPER TRAINING, yet he can't fix a simple robot? He's the throwaway "always has supplies" character like Brock or Cilan. Except Brock was iconic and actually useful 9 times out of 10. Not to mention as beloved as Misty. Cilan is at least memorable for being annoying as hell and his horrible food puns. Clemont has no redeeming qualities except for his dub voice actor. Whoever he is, he sounds hot, which stops me from hating Clemont. Clemont has potential. But get rid of the gags and make him a serious inventor.

Bonnie: I love her. I love Dedenne. Her voice gets annoying sometimes, but thankfully she doesn't get too focused on. And I love that she basically has her own unofficial Pokémon. Unfortunately, that makes Max the only traveling companion to have never owned/taken care of a Pokémon, so I hope he makes a return (to promote ORAS) and has a Ralts and a Shuppet, two Pokémon he bonded with. Anyway, back to Bonnie. Her "finding Clemont a wife" gag is going to be very stale if they make it happen as often as Brock's romances, so hopefully they don't over do it. It has the potential to be the next great gag of the series.

TRio: Jessie, James and Meowth return to their iconic motto and comedic relief role. Sad. If there was one thing I liked about BW, it was that the TRio were finally the efficient, malicious, evil super-spies that their debut episode made them seem. Even when they were defeated, they still managed to escape somehow. After Giovanni was defeated, they returned to their old tricks, with some of the new coolness mixed in. This seems to have completely reset itself in Kalos. They're back to their old ways. I wish James and Jessie Bond had stayed around for a while... "Meowth, that's right!" But I do love the reintroduction of Wobbuffet. It's yet another element that evokes the original series, something they tried to do with BW and slightly achieved, but is definitely far more effective in Kalos.

Overall, although I haven't seen all of the episodes just yet, I do love everything about the XY saga so far. Even the filler episodes have something interesting. The Espurr episode was above and beyond any BW episode IMO. In fact, it made me think of the episode with Brock and Lokoko (I think that was her name... the old Ninetails whose owner looked just like Brock... It's a Johto saga episode...) If the movies and following seasons keep up this awesome quality, we could be looking at a new level of the Pokémon anime.

My one complaint is that with 72 Pokémon, 6 of which are Legendaries, how will they stretch out this saga to be around 150+ episodes like the others? Considering Kalos is the LARGEST of all of the regions, it should take the longest time to travel it, shouldn't it? But then again, with different Formes and Mega's (which get their own 2-part special) there's about 144 new Pokémon. Mix in the other 385 older Pokémon available in Kalos, and I guess we could touch upon some largely ignored Pokémon. Despite there being at least one episode for every Pokémon, there has NOT been one episode CENTERED around each Pokémon. Kalos could help rectify that to a certain extent.

However, with 3 Legendaries being featured in the first Kalos movie, how will they stretch out Zygarde, Hoopa and Volcanion for two more movies? Hopefully, we could get Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre and Primal Rayquaza in the second movie, endagering Kalos (again, more ORAS promotion), which causes Zygarde to come out in full force, with Hoopa and Volcanion relegated to the third movie with some Generation 7 Pokémon.

Either way, I give Kalos my highest rating, 9.5 out of 10. Even the Original Series is a respectable 8.5. I have high hopes for the Kalos saga, and it has a lot of potential. I love it.

 

[pika34]

So far I have really enjoyed XY. I love the fact that there are Pokemon from the other regions. Pikachu is looking as adorable as ever. I would love it if the writers brought back one of Ash's older fire Pokemon instead of having him catch a new one. I really would like to see Quilava make a comeback and evolve into Typhlosion and also bring Infernape back for a few cameos. I was so happy to see Pichu finally get another focus episode. I also love the Pokemon Pancham basically because it's species is a Panda and pandas are my all-time favorite wild animal.
I am really enjoying Ash's new traveling friends. Clemont is pretty cool and funny but I still adore Brock the most. Bonnie is totally adorable and I love that she has an electric type Pokemon like Ash does. Serena is pretty cool but a little too girly for me. I prefer Misty and Dawn over Serena. I just hope that Serena catches another Pokemon soon.

 

[Caseydia]

Let's see:

In my opinion the XY series has been pretty okay so far. It reminds me a little of AG in some sense and I like the characters almost just as much.

Ash- What can I say? Compared to what they did to him in BW/BW 2/Da, Ash so far has been a big improvement. He isn't acting like a bigger kid than Bonnie that's for sure. And that would be bad if BW's Ash were to be around Bonnie. I like how he's more in tune with training more than he was when he already had over six pokemon by now in the last series. I also like how he's still a little funny and a bit serious at times. I understand him being bland to some but he's been on for years and if you're watching the how for just him, than someone is missing the point of the show.

As far as the bad parts are concerned, I don't like how he's e only one doing something yet again. It was kind of bad in the past when only one other character but him did something and it was even worse in BW when the other two characters goals were barely being done t times, but in XY now, no one is doing a thing.

Pikachu- As bland as a pokemon can get Pikachu got on my nerves at times but never like this. I understand it's popularity but share the battles a little. If I see Pikachu in another gym it doesn't need to be in, I will scream. unless the degenerated mouse evolves this season, there is no need for it to hog most of the battles, along with the titles of the gym battles too.

Speaking of Pokémon, what' with the Lucario love all of a sudden? I someone I nthe staff a Lucario fan or are they just hyping a simple pokemon that doesn't need to be hyped anymore. I figured with Maylene(excuse spelling), Riley and from the movie and Cameron, tht tey would be tired of it by now. After this I hope I never see one again unless necessary. If they are going to hype a pokemon like that then they could have atleast give Ash one.

Clemont- He's okay for a second male character. He's a ttle shy and nerdy. But he's refreshing and he doesn't feel like he's a perfectionist like the last couple of boys. I also like the dynamic between him and his sister. I also think that he has/had potential to have a goal of his own. I don't mind him being a gym leader but there is so much to do in XY, that I was expecting them to make the second boy move for a change. I feel that they put them in a corner all the time and people hold Ash and the girl to some sort of candle. I don't think it's fair to either,

Serena- She doesn't bother me like some other girls. I don't care if she's girly or not. It makes sense since XY has a lot of stuff that some will consider more for girls. That's not her fault. Her crush however, doesn't do anything for me either unless Ash does something to return it. As far as her Fennekin is concerned, it is the only fire type I can't stand. It doesn't nearly do as much as I expected. It's bad enough when a trainer does squat but a pokemon that doesn't seem to what to get it's paws dirty when it's born to get it's paws dirty makes no sense to me.

As far as goals are concerned, there is no excuse. There's so many things that they can write and make up for her to do in XY it's ridiculous. I don't think that was there intention with her though. They just wanted something new.

Bonnie- She's cute and pretty cool and that's about it. I would like to see her interact more with Ash alone than with the other two. Since in AG, Max kind of admired Ash I haven't seen that sort of closeness with those two just yet. It would be awesome to see.

 

[Krash]

This is the first pokemon series I've made an attempt to watch all the way through in about ten years. While I praise the art style, Ash has gotten too stagnant. There's no actual drama to the story, no motivation for Ash aside from beating the gyms. Where are the rivals? Also, I thought Serena left to go on an adventure. She hasn't done much battling.


And since when the hell was "Dodge It!" a move?

 

[Osprey]

The couple of times I've watched it, the animation was pretty good, the storyline wasn't too grating, and the battles didn't make me scream "What the hell are you doing, you moron?!!" and bolt from the room. So yeah, I'm good with the XY series. It seems to be going in a better direction than BW ever did.

And since when the hell was "Dodge It!" a move?

About that. The anime's always done that at one point or another. It annoys me that Pokemon can just leap willy-nilly around 100% accuracy moves, but that's anime physics for ya. And sometimes dodging doesn't even work and the Pokemon gets pounded.

 

[Johtohfiller]

And since when the hell was "Dodge It!" a move?

Since Johtoh.

I'm loving XY for the most part, but I do think they're spamming Pikachu too much. Hopefully the upcoming Hawlucha capture and Fletchling evolution will help fix that.

 

[Solayoh]

Well I do wish Serena had a few more Pokemon. And Bonnie really is the anti christ in my opinion, but overall its good, not as good as Sinnoh, but better than AG and BW.

 

[Maria]

I think it's going cool so far.. Specially Serena is making it more great for me..

 

[BlazeKicker]

*WARNING: UNPOPULAR OPINION HERE-- DON'T READ IF YOU LIKE POKEMON THE SERIES: XY AND YOU DON'T WANT TO READ A NEGATIVE REVIEW*

The XY Series is just as overrated, and somehow even *more* terrible than the Diamond & Pearl Saga was, which is really saying something.

Why, you ask, do I dislike the XY Series? Oh boy, where do I begin?

Ash: Blander than ever, still as incompetent as ever (e.g. lost to Viola in XY005, lost to Sanpei in XY017, almost lost to...TEAM...FREAKING...ROCKET...in XY001, and yeah, I know he was battling against Clemont prior to that in the latter case, but anyone can take down TR, even when weakened severely, honestly), and his outfit is worse and more unoriginal than ever (e.g. lame rehash of Red's hat-- duh, we know Ash is supposed to be Red in the Anime, so why give him this hat in Gen 6's Anime when you could have given it to him years ago? Gee, how ORIGINAL; hipster jacket/clothes, gloves are a rehash of the BW ones, etc.), and he has only two viable emotions: happiness, and sadness. No sense of selfishness at times (that's a bad thing-- makes him less human), no sense of selflessness either (that's also a bad thing and once used to define Ash's character to me-- that crap where Pikachu conveniently fell off the building in XY002 doesn't count considering the focus was on removing Garchomp's collar most of the time-- to see this scenario done right and better, watch AG001, thanks), and generally Mr. Borg has returned in the flesh with even less emotions than his DP counterpart. Great job, writers, and great job, fandom: the "mature" plain as paint Ash has returned in lamer than ever fashion, so I hope you're happy-- he'll also be "badass" in battles even though he'll ultimately fail epicly at the Pokémon League or if not there, the Champion League, anyway, but it doesn't matter-- forget his character, let's just care about how "cool" he is! LOL!

Team Rocket: They aren't funny, they aren't competent, and heck, they aren't even remotely tolerable at all in XY: they are symbolic of utter stupidity incarnate. Apparently Da! was just the calm before the storm, because somehow TR have taken a level in dumb*ss so far down in XY, that in the Pancham episode and the "Kindergarten Chaos" episodes, they have proven to out suck their DP counterparts in terms of unbearable stupidity by some ill twist of fate, and instead of James having his flanderized whiny crybaby personality, Jessie being a flanderized b*tch, and Meowth being menancing cold-hearted and evil personality wise like was the case for me in DP, TR are now all the same kind of spazzy, moronic, cocky idiot like three sides of a die...they have no emotional episodes so far, they don't express any signs of intelligence 90% of the time, and they have gone back to their almost borderline mentally challenged antics to catch Ash's Pikachu. I suppose most of you are happy the serious BW TR are gone, but I frankly am appalled TR have managed to regress backwards like this and I don't like THIS kind of "comedy" at all from TR.

Clemont: He's alright, but his personality is a little blander than I'd like akin more to Tracey than Brock or Cilan's energetic enthusiastic personalities, and while I found the invention gag entertaining for the first 15 or so episodes, it's already gotten stale for me and I'm not finding it funny anymore. I like his characterization, though: Clemont shows great promise to be the standout for me from XY if he just gets a little bit more goofiness or silliness like when he runs clumsily and such in his personality.

Bonnie: Poor. She has her moments like with Flabebe, but in some other episodes, like the one where Dedenne gets confused for Pichu, Bonnie is absolutely unbearable and intolerable. I find that "cuteness" does not make a good characterization, and Bonnie is no exception to this. Her character needs improvement in spades, and we need less XY004 and 16 eps. from her, and more like XY027, if possible. That's the Bonnie I want to see more of, and less of...well, you know, THAT.

Serena: Awful. Congrats, Bonnie, the one heroine who has managed to be so horrendously characterized thus far in the XY Series that makes you seem more like the heroine than she is! She's shallow, vain, and conceited with her obsession with Ash almost consuming her at times, her fear of getting dirty at one point with Fennekin (though admittedly at least that was *somewhat* overcome), and her biggest fault is her lack of participation in battles sans TR of what I've watched of XY so far (if anything has changed past Episode 30 w/Serena, I apologize, but this is based solely off of the first 30 episodes w/her). The writers really mishandle her, sadly, so it's not all her fault: she gets the shaft akin to what happened to DP Brock, IMO. Good potential, but severely wasted: I wish we'd see more of the sassy Serena like the one in the first two episodes, where she got mad/pouty at Ash for not remembering her, and finally the one where she slaps Ash's hand when he tries to eat something that I (think?) was her food/cake/pastry or something.

Chespin is good and Froakie is okay as far as the Pokémon go for me, Fletchling is as generic as watching grass grow, Pikachu's liking of ketchup was nice but his characterization still falls flat with me and he still feels TOO much like Ash now, Dedenne is a plushie-mon that I don't like to me, and I'm mixed on the others as well.

Overall: Yeah, not impressed, and not happy at all-- pretty much lost interest in the Series as a result here Anime wise, though of course it's mainly Ash's never-ending failures at the League, his "Pokémon Master" goal that will never be defined and most likely never realized, and TR's utterly deplorable characterizations and lack of anything resembling depth that has made me lose interest in general.
WHY can't we get something good like Pokémon: The Origin again instead of this? *sighs*


*Side Note: The English dub of XY is also unbearable as well to me, and this solidified my belief that the 4Kids cast + crew were the best for the dub's run-- the dub will and can never be as good as it used to be with the TPCi/DuArt cast + crew, IMHO-- it's just fallen way too far at this point...the voice acting has hit a new low, the script writing has too, and the intro/ending XY Remix + Instrumental is HORRIBLE-- the only good thing I can say about the dub is the insert dub BGM for the WTP Segments-- that is well put together and well composed, honestly.*

 

[blowsave]

Not great, but it at least seems kind of competent compared to Best Wishes. The group dynamic is probably the best that it's been since Hoenn, in that it exists (unlike Sinnoh) and isn't unbearable (unlike Unova), and I think that's gone a long way in helping me overlook some of the more glaring flaws I've noticed so far (the recycled plots, Team Rocket, etc.). On their own merits it's kind of shocking how bland all of the main characters are, even by this show's standards, but I think they've done a really good job selling the group as actual friends. Sometimes Serena can kind of feel like they grabbed a background secretary from Mad Men and dropped her on the show, and that's disappointing, but hopefully she gets some character development sometime soon. Ash...is Ash. He's always been defined by the characters that surround him, so he's been pretty okay in XY. I'm thrilled that they moved on from "idiot nuisance" and went back to "boring nice guy" again, because they milked all the humor out of him being dumb about a decade ago.

I wouldn't call it a strong start by any means, considering I haven't found much of it memorable at all, but it's been pretty inoffensive and it can be fun to watch how the characters interact with each other. In a lot of ways it feels like they're playing it really safe this season, maybe because a lot of the more experimental things they tried in Best Wishes were so poorly handled and received. Advanced and DP had missteps, too, but those series also made me feel like they were a little more willing to shake up the formula. I don't think it panned out at all, but I also liked the way Black and White threw a million things at the wall, trying to find anything that would stick. It would be nice to see more ambition out of the show; right now it's really paint-by-numbers.

 

[Ambipom666]

Not great, but it at least seems kind of competent compared to Best Wishes. The group dynamic is probably the best that it's been since Hoenn, in that it exists (unlike Sinnoh) and isn't unbearable (unlike Unova), and I think that's gone a long way in helping me overlook some of the more glaring flaws I've noticed so far (the recycled plots, Team Rocket, etc.). On their own merits it's kind of shocking how bland all of the main characters are, even by this show's standards, but I think they've done a really good job selling the group as actual friends. Sometimes Serena can kind of feel like they grabbed a background secretary from Mad Men and dropped her on the show, and that's disappointing, but hopefully she gets some character development sometime soon. Ash...is Ash. He's always been defined by the characters that surround him, so he's been pretty okay in XY. I'm thrilled that they moved on from "idiot nuisance" and went back to "boring nice guy" again, because they milked all the humor out of him being dumb about a decade ago.

I wouldn't call it a strong start by any means, considering I haven't found much of it memorable at all, but it's been pretty inoffensive and it can be fun to watch how the characters interact with each other. In a lot of ways it feels like they're playing it really safe this season, maybe because a lot of the more experimental things they tried in Best Wishes were so poorly handled and received. Advanced and DP had missteps, too, but those series also made me feel like they were a little more willing to shake up the formula. I don't think it panned out at all, but I also liked the way Black and White threw a million things at the wall, trying to find anything that would stick. It would be nice to see more ambition out of the show; right now it's really paint-by-numbers.

I can agree with some of this. Granted, when it comes to moderately amusing by-the-numbers stuff vs. very poorly executed experimental stuff, I think I'd prefer the former almost every time. I do think part of what's coloring our opinions is that we're still at this early point in the season, so we haven't seen the full payoff from things like Korrina's arc, the Mega Evolution specials, and Serena's search for a passion.