"The Ash Show" vs "The Everyone Show"

Would you rather have the pokemon anime center around just "Ash", kind of like the first seasons, rather than try to develop everyone equally. I think I prefer the anime to be just focussed on Ash, with his companions having a smaller role and sort of "cheerleading" roles.

I mainly watch this show just for Ash, not his travelling companions, and I rank generations/seasons based on how much I feel Ash accomplished in these regions, and the pokemon that he caught.

I would like a show that makes Ash's goals the main theme in every episode, and try to become a pokemon master, rather than spending episodes trying to develop the other characters (who will probably just leave when the season ends).

I'm not really a fan of dating and everything in pokemon, or episodes featuring cute pokemon doing cute things. I just want episodes showing badass battles involving Ash and turning him into a competent trainer like other shonen anime characters.


I also want to add that I really enjoy seasons where there is a main rival for Ash throughout the whole series, such as Gary or Paul. This helps Ash grow as a character, instead of him being all happy all the time with no worries and just coasting through the region not doing anything important. I would love it if Alan becomes a main rival for Ash, and actually makes him more competent.


What are your thoughts on all of this?

Yeeaah, "Ash Ketchum Power Hour" would have made things more trite well before BW.

In retrospect, I think just completely replacing all the protagonists and giving fair development to all of them would have made for a more interesting anime. At least then we wouldn't be talking about comas and agelessness.

Focusing on just Ash rather than his companions is a form of bad storytelling, because how are you suppose to like a medium if most of the characters aren't as fleshed out as the main character, making it harder for the audience to relate to them?

Pinkie-Dawn said:

Focusing on just Ash rather than his companions is a form of bad storytelling, because how are you suppose to like a medium if most of the characters aren't as fleshed out as the main character, making it harder for the audience to relate to them?

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Easily.
Prime example is Dragonball, focusing on the protagonist for majority of its length, while side-characters came and went. Sure, they had their own stories and moments, but the show was about Kakarot.

Pinkie-Dawn said:

Focusing on just Ash rather than his companions is a form of bad storytelling, because how are you suppose to like a medium if most of the characters aren't as fleshed out as the main character, making it harder for the audience to relate to them?

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Then I guess Original series was really Bad Writing because Its was an Ash show !
But It seem Pokemon's downfall started when it start to focus on every character.
Its because Pokemon always meant to be a Ash-show , Not everybody show !
Pokemon is a Protagonist-centric Anime ! In other word , Its Popularity mainly depend on how the Protagonist is developed !
Truth is , BW Series would have became a Better series if Ash wasn't treated like a crap .
An Kids Anime has only one main objective ! All the character are tied to that objective.
In Pokemon case , Its main Objective was Ash's Journey to be a Pokemon Master.So Takeshi shodu create traveling Companion who's job is to support & Develop Ash ! Same goes with Gary , His Role was to push Ash further as a Main rival .
Therefore , The story was simple , Balanced and enjoyable.
That main reason Pokemon lose the quality it had during Original series Because The New Director/Writer decide to make Pokemon a Drama Show that focus on everyone.
Look at other Popular Kids Adventure Anime , You will see that the Traveling companion are only treated as Supporter rather then Main character.
Look at now , Current Pokemon series doesn't seem to have any main Objective at all ! Or you can say . The series trying to focus on so many Objective that it no longer has a Main Objective!

twillight said:

Easily.
Prime example is Dragonball, focusing on the protagonist for majority of its length, while side-characters came and went. Sure, they had their own stories and moments, but the show was about Kakarot.

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Dragonball Z also follow the same formula.
The Series might has multiple Protagonist But It has only One Main Objective which is ''Saving the World from Evil'' .
Its doesn't matter Who saves it ! Ultimately The series is about someone saving the world by fighting Evil.
Even if its Goku , Gohan or Vegeta.

It should definitely be the "everybody show" for me. Ash's goal itself has been constant for 17 years now, and I think it really helps to give more characters to care about and see how they bounce off each other. I mean, they're already there, so might as well actually give them something to do rather than leaving them off to the side.

Honestly I say , Pokemon series should treat Ash & Rivals as Main character ! Various rival with One goal clashing against one another until they join force to Save the world .
Just like M07 Destiny Deoxy !
Here is they type of Rival Ash needs---


--Jock : The Main Rival ! Kento Gary is a good example

--Queen Bee : The Main female rival ! She start off as an arrogant mean girl who later falls for Ash.

--Sidekick : A Clumsy Airhead

--Pleaser : A idiot who tries to act Cool when he's not !

--Brain : A rival with high intelligence ! Rebecca (M07) is a Good example

--Goth : A girl who loves reading Book and want to writer her own Novel ! However I think She fit much better as a traveling Companion . A girl who travel with Ash to find inspiration for her novel.

--Sister : A Sweet & innocent girl that care about everyone .

--Nerd : A weaker rival who looks up to Ash for inspiration.


Also , Its possible to focus on Multiple Character with One Objective! But its impossible and stupid to try focusing on Multiple character with Multiple Objective!

twillight said:

Easily.
Prime example is Dragonball, focusing on the protagonist for majority of its length, while side-characters came and went. Sure, they had their own stories and moments, but the show was about Kakarot.

Click to expand...

Honestly, I really don't think that pulling out the Dragonball series is going to argue the point that an Ash centered show would be superior. I found the original Dragonball to be the best, whereas Dragonball Z just kept dragging on, and the need to include Goku brought down the appeal of the anime for me.

As for Pokemon, the Indigo journey was fine following Ash primarily. Why? Because it was exploring the brand new concept of Pokemon and the world it was set in more than his character. It wasn't about Ash and his character development. He pretty much didn't develop at all during that time. However, his drive to become a Pokemon Master brought him and his traveling companions from place to place and gym to gym to accomplish that goal.

The series really finally started to develop for me when they arrived in Hoenn and Ash actually stopped being incompetent overnight (it only took how many years of being a 10 year old for him to figure out how to be a 10 year old who understood basic battle typings) and helping May on her journey. Plus the story of the Ruby and Sapphire games started to sink into the anime more than the plot of the games had before. There was less filler showcasing some random pokemon (which got old really fast). Also, May provided all of the girls who enjoyed Pokemon with a female hero to cheer for. As much as I love Misty, she didn't have her own dreams and ideals that she was actively fighting for as much as Ash's later female companions (although I think Misty is the only one with a good romantic chemistry with Ash). Thanks to the main protagonist having a protege of sorts, we as an audience were able to see that he had grown as a trainer in his many years without a birthday.

It really solidified for me during the Diamond and Pearl arc, where the filler episodes were few and far between (meaning that in the episode a pokemon was caught, evolved, learned a new move/combination, a gym battle occured, a contest occured, or a DP plot point typically involving Team Galactic occured). This section of the anime has been the most enjoyable for me to watch because something actually happened in nearly every episode that furthered the story. It's also kind of fun to see more recurring characters, rather than having a flavor of the day character to showcase our latest "who's that pokemon".

Quite frankly, if Ash is going to learn and grow and develop, then the people around him should as well. Unfortunately, this is as far in the anime as I've seen (I've been watching it for almost a year from the very beginning throwing in movies and specials and such) because I barely started on the 4 seasons of Black and White. However, so far I'm disappointed because of the ridiculous retrogression of Ash, most likely from him once again traveling with gym leaders rather than trainers. I would much prefer a plot more like the Pokemon Adventures manga or something where all the protagonists of a game get involved in the story somewhat. Even if it's just for about 3 episodes (Thanks Lyra...and possibly Jimmy and Marina). Either recycle the protagonists for me or have more progression in Ash instead of him needing to restart in ability as a trainer, not just pokemon companions, with a new generation's release. Each region can be more challenging than the last, but lets show that our hero will at least grow and improve as a trainer even if he never grows or ages in any other way.