Pokemon Anime General Discussion

[KHCast]

So I watched the Legends Arceus special finally…and while I appreciate the connecting itself to the Diamond and Pearl arc from the anime years, something YEARS back…I felt kinda underwhelmed on the Legends Arceus stuff 

 

Hell, there’s not even a payoff in finding out what happened to Team Galactics leader Cyrus when he went “to the new world”, unless I missed something?

 

but yeah, back to my initial complaint, I felt as if there wasn’t a lot of “Legends Arceus” in this special meant to promote that game? Like the first episode/15 mins is your Legends Arceus content, and then it moves on. No real focus on the Hisui region, the Pokémon, etc.

I was kinda hoping, when the story started talking about the dimensional rift to another world very early on, and started opening it, that was the set up they’d use to send Ash and the gang to old sinnoh and that would be the real start to the special. They even had Ash, Dawn and Goh catch the starters with old pokeballs, only to never do anything with that afterwards? Idk, it felt like they were gonna go somewhere with it, but then got cold feet, and then we get this plot about heatran going rogue because Team Galactic pushed it too hard. Like, I think the implication is it goes into rampage mode because it gets hit with the lighting from the portal, like the game, as it changes form like the guardian Pokémon in legends Arceus, but if that’s the intended connection, it’s random because 

1. the guardian Pokémon in the game that were effected have direct lineage to Pokémon that were chosen by Arceus to become guardians/lords, this is just a random Heatran and

2. the way in which you calm their rampage was via the food balls, which would’ve been a more direct way to connect the two? 
 

Idk, so much about this special had me wondering what the point of it was.
 

This special just felt like it didn’t know if it wanted to be a follow up to a previous arc in the series, or a special meant to promote Legends Arceus, and unfortunately as a result, both ends there end up feeling really lacking 

[DaBigJ]

Well

That was unexpected 

[Celestia]

I'm glad they're sending Ash off with a single cour season instead of just leaving it at the last few Journeys episodes. I'm kind of curious just how much they'll be able to wrap up in 11 episodes though.

 

As for the new series, with all the rumours / speculation about Ash's run ending I assumed there'd be a replacement, but I didn't know when to expect it really so the announcement did catch me off guard a bit anyway, lol.

I kind of wonder if the new kids are even in/from Paldea actually, the starters don't necessarily mean that's the case and the teaser's wording seems to imply that they might be keeping the Journeys "go to any region for whatever story we want to tell this week" format? Also in that peek at a scene with Sprigigato and Riko in the school you partially see her in a completely different school uniform, but I guess that could be a scene before she transfers to the trainer academy. Hmmm.

[KHCast]

As many people have pointed out, this is gonna be a massive ass gamble for the Pokémon company. Ash and Pikachu have basically cemented themselves as THE face of the franchise, and so many people emotionally have tied themselves both in nostalgia and story investment in them, that a sudden departure like this, with completely new characters could very well blow the fuck up in their face. They have to REALLY market this new era to get people on board I feel. If this doesn’t do that well, I’m betting my life on them likely falling back to Ash being brought back and involved in the story in a leading role of sorts. (If this is years in the future, maybe a mentor or something that travels with these new protags)

 

Personally, yeah this is gonna take some adjusting, but I appreciate that they’re giving him a proper sendoff. (And I swear to god if the final episode isn’t about him finally turning 11 there will be hell)

[Kuzu]

Ratings have been dropping for years now. They don't really have anything to lose anymore. 

[KHCast]

Yes and no, views have been dwindling (thanks in no part to release schedule delays in countries like the US, who have fucked things by having the only way to watch there being Netflix) but also starting completely fresh with new everything possibly could drop those views even more if people don’t jive with these new characters. 
 

Imo they really shoulda taken the yugioh approach a lot earlier to avoid this concern altogether, cause 20+ years of ash is naturally gonna result in a lot of attachment to the character spanning multiple generations. Like yeah people missed Yugi, but it wasn’t a super hard pill to swallow that he was gone 

[DarkRula]

I think what'll make or break it is the first episode. It needs to show these characters in their strongest light. It needs to connect the audience to them to allow them to become invested. After all, Ash's first episode had him put himself in the firing line to prevent a Pikachu being further harmed from his own mistakes. And each starting episode of further series made sure to highlight some part of who he was so that new audiences could share that same connection, while also doing the same for his new travelling companions.

It will be interesting to see how they end Ash's time on the show. He's been with us a long time. It'll be sad to see him go.

[Fieryfurnace]

I just hope Jesse, James, and Meowth get a good send off too.

[KHCast]

Someone online joked about the Pokémon company even after ash is retired from the anime, using him in other material, like a YouTube vtuber podcast thing, and is it bad that now I’m thinking about that potentially actually happening? Like I get this eerie feeling, that there’s no way they completely drop Ash and Pikachu from the brand after this. 

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

39 minutes ago, KHCast said:

Someone online joked about the Pokémon company even after ash is retired from the anime, using him in other material, like a YouTube vtuber podcast thing, and is it bad that now I’m thinking about that potentially actually happening? Like I get this eerie feeling, that there’s no way they completely drop Ash and Pikachu from the brand after this. 

Well, if the theories of the new protagonist being his daughter end up ringing true, then there's your angle right there and how to keep him and Pikachu around. Bonus points if her companion is a Pichu or a Pikachu who's the offspring of Ash's Pikachu (now finally a Raichu).

[precita]

On 11/12/2022 at 12:20 AM, KHCast said:

Hell, there’s not even a payoff in finding out what happened to Team Galactics leader Cyrus when he went “to the new world”, unless I missed something?

The whole point was the Galactic commanders failed at finding Cyrus, and that their boss really was lost forever. It was a great way to close it rather than undoing the ending of the original Galactic arc if they found him. Pokemon usually doesn't do things like this, and it was a fitting conclusion.

On 11/12/2022 at 12:20 AM, KHCast said:

This special just felt like it didn’t know if it wanted to be a follow up to a previous arc in the series, or a special meant to promote Legends Arceus, and unfortunately as a result, both ends there end up feeling really lacking 

Yeah they shouldn't have marketed it like it was going to advertise the games, it was basically a sequel to DP's Galactic arc and did what it did there well. It let Dawn have a major role again and using Mamoswine, Brock being showcased as a doctor (and he now has a Blissey)  and the DP trio reuniting, Cynthia got a major role battling villains, and wrapped up the Galactic trio for good. It was basically a love letter to DP.

[KHCast]

4 hours ago, precita said:

The whole point was the Galactic commanders failed at finding Cyrus, and that their boss really was lost forever. It was a great way to close it rather than undoing the ending of the original Galactic arc if they found him. Pokemon usually doesn't do things like this, and it was a fitting conclusion.

My only issue with this is the special goes out of its way multiple times to gas up this “alternate world/reality that he was potentially sent to” with a literal portal gateway being opened to said world. There was a lot more interesting stuff I felt that could have been done with that, Vs what we ended up getting (a rampaging Pokémon). Added onto that is that we BRIEFLY see the legends Arceus universe, which I guess is heavily implied to be where Cyrus was sent to, and we see that for literally 10 seconds. It all just felt like massive blue balls for a way more cool plot imo 

[precita]

So since Misty/Brock are actually coming back for the end of the show how did you feel about the way they were handled in the anime? Misty lost a lot of her agency and personality when she got Togepi and we got into Johto, and Takeshi Shudo admitted they didn't really know what to do with her character at that point.

Brock was ok for a little while, but as we got into Hoenn and DP it became obvious he was just there to explain battles or provide exposition but his character was getting staler and staler every passing year he was on the show for.

The original trio was abandoned after the Johto saga since May became the most popular character in the series at the time so Misty was written off entirely besides brief cameos. That's also what paved the way for all the future female leads one after another.

I guess at this point we'll see what they do with them for the last arc of the show.

[Indigo Rush]

The idea of Ash retiring from being a Pokemon Master and becoming a V-Tuber is the funniest thing ever

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

4 hours ago, Indigo Rush said:

The idea of Ash retiring from being a Pokemon Master and becoming a V-Tuber is the funniest thing ever

Where is this coming from?

[Indigo Rush]

1 hour ago, Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon said:

Where is this coming ftom?

 

On 12/18/2022 at 12:59 AM, KHCast said:

Someone online joked about the Pokémon company even after ash is retired from the anime, using him in other material, like a YouTube vtuber podcast thing, and is it bad that now I’m thinking about that potentially actually happening? Like I get this eerie feeling, that there’s no way they completely drop Ash and Pikachu from the brand after this. 

 

[SanPolo4389]

 

 

Episode info for 2 and 3 have been revealed.

And here's for the 1st episode too.

[precita]

Does anyone find it ironic that all those Misty fans who rage-quit the anime two decades ago over Misty being "replaced" and sat there trolling Pokemon forums/anime sites/social media sites for decades, now actually have Misty coming back as a semi-main character for the last 11ish eps of the show?

In a way they finally got what they wanted, but now the series is actually ending, so it's only for a handful of episodes. I still remember the days when people thought Misty not being in Hoenn was a big deal, little did they know at the time she would stay gone for literally 20 years (2002-2022) and 900+ something episodes.

 

[DaBigJ]

Gee whiz I sure wonder what Pokémon the new character will have!

Oh.

[DarkRula]

Trading a Pikachu for a Pikachu with a hat.

Literally an ocean of water types or part water types, and we're pretty much back where we started with an electric mouse. Ah, well. I doubt this one will be taking centre stage.

[precita]

Well the anime has concluded. Misty/Brock departed, Ash went home and ran into Gary again. Ash's Pokemon Master goal was revealed to befriending every Pokemon he meets in the world, which fits the core themes of the series. Ash also meets Pidgeot again and surprisingly decides to stay with him (took 25+ years for that reunion)

The anime ended open ended with Ash and Team Rocket who will surely return in movies or specials someday.

Overall though I guess Misty and Brock weren't really that important to Ash's story after all, given they were marginalized even in these last episodes.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

So what’s everyone’s thoughts about the Pokemon Horizons anime so far?

[ouenji]

Just finished watching the episodes, and I've got lots of thoughts! I'll be spoilering, since it's not likely everybody will have watched them yet.

Spoiler

It's still wild seeing that Ash isn't the main character anymore, since he's had the role the whole time I've been alive and I've been pretty attatched, but there's something refreshing about the new protagonist Liko, and I think this sort of shakeup was needed. I relate to her quite a lot, which goes to show how unique they made her from Ash, because that boy is nothing like me haha. I'm also fond of Anne and Friede. Friede has one of my favourite personalities to see in a character (as well as an immaculate aesthetic), and Anne has that perfect energy to balance out Liko, even if I get the feeling we won't see her much past this when Liko goes off with Roy. Speaking of Roy, where was he? I get that he's coming in later, but it seems like an odd move to not introduce one of the main characters within the first two episodes. Overall though, I'm liking the writing, and it feels like they're leaning into an immediate overarching plot beyond the main characters goals, which is something I haven't seen in the anime before. Admitedly, I haven't watched Journeys so it may be different there, but either way, it's still a welcome element. I'm looking forward to the next episodes, and the future of the anime as a whole!

 

[sonicclaasic]

I remember watching Pokémon thought It was a great cartoon TV show back In the day especially I liked Team Rocket they where so cool.

[precita]

Remember when  Togepi drained away Misty's character in Johto lol