Re-design Ash Ketchum!

[Bluerang1]

So, say you were there when the Pokemon Anime idea was pitched, and you were part of those who were to create it. How would you have designed the main character who would be on our screens today instead of Ash Ketchum? What would be their name? Would they be make or female? How old would they be? What would their journey be about? Who would be their partner Pokemon? What would your target audience for this character be?

Discuss :)

 

[Hikamaru]

If I was making the anime, I would include Ash but not as the main character.

Instead I would make the main character Hilda from Pokemon Black & White games. For her partner, she might have Oshawott. As for travelling partners - Cheren and Bianca, also from BW games. Cheren would have a Snivy and Bianca a Tepig. I also wouldn't make their starters evolve like Ash's Pikachu and Dawn's Piplup.

It's sort of what I would come up with if I was designing the anime.

Do you think my idea was nice?

 

[TheUltimateMaster]

I would keep Ash, but instead of him staying 10 years old forever, I would allow him to grow, and become very powerful. The show would start with a younger aged audience, but the content would become more mature as the viewers do. That way people who watch the show wouldn't outgrow it. Lol if you started watching pokemon the first season as a 10 year old, you are now in your mid 20's.

That's the one thing I really liked about Yu-Gi-Oh. They had a plot, and eventually finished it. It was cool to see it wrap up, to see what everything had lead up to. Then they started over with new characters, a new plot, and a new group of viewers. All without abandoning the show's history. I really hope for the sake of the viewers that Poke'mon will eventually end the series with some sort of purpose.

 

[Bluerang1]

So you guys would keep Ash eh? Would a male and female protagonist duo have been better? To appeal to both genders?

 

[TheGr8]

I would keep Ash, but instead of him staying 10 years old forever, I would allow him to grow, and become very powerful. The show would start with a younger aged audience, but the content would become more mature as the viewers do. That way people who watch the show wouldn't outgrow it. Lol if you started watching pokemon the first season as a 10 year old, you are now in your mid 20's.

That's the one thing I really liked about Yu-Gi-Oh. They had a plot, and eventually finished it. It was cool to see it wrap up, to see what everything had lead up to. Then they started over with new characters, a new plot, and a new group of viewers. All without abandoning the show's history. I really hope for the sake of the viewers that Poke'mon will eventually end the series with some sort of purpose.

thanks Ultimate :p make me feel old from watching pokemon from first episode lol. I would keep Ash, simply because he is where it started.

 

[oshawott_]

I'd keep Ash but slowly age him so that he would be 14-15 right now. To appeal to the female audience I'd say give him a tough female rival. And because Ash would age, I'd like May, Dawn, Iris, Brock etc. to age too or simply match Ash's age. So May, Dawn and Iris would be 14-15 as well with Brock being around 20.

That might change the plot quite a bit though as May and Dawn couldn't be 14-5 if they were beginning trainers. Perhaps, they could change the beginning trainer age to be between 10-14.

 

[Hikamaru]

I think that the main characters should be the player duo from the main series games.

For ones like Red and Leaf, they should be given proper names.

 

[Bluerang1]

You guys didn't seem to get it. Would you have actually come up with Ash Ketchum or would you have another idea for a protagonist. Hikari got what I meant xD

 

[Masterge77]

I would replace Ash with Red of course, and it would be an anime of the Pokemon Special manga, that's how it would go.....

I would keep Ash, but instead of him staying 10 years old forever, I would allow him to grow, and become very powerful. The show would start with a younger aged audience, but the content would become more mature as the viewers do. That way people who watch the show wouldn't outgrow it. Lol if you started watching pokemon the first season as a 10 year old, you are now in your mid 20's.

The same thing happened with Harry Potter, the target audience for Harry Potter went higher as the number of books increased, and each book was darker than the last book.

That's the one thing I really liked about Yu-Gi-Oh. They had a plot, and eventually finished it. It was cool to see it wrap up, to see what everything had lead up to. Then they started over with new characters, a new plot, and a new group of viewers. All without abandoning the show's history. I really hope for the sake of the viewers that Poke'mon will eventually end the series with some sort of purpose.

I liked that too, the anime should have headed in that direction, with Gen 1 ending with Ash winning the league, then fighting the Elite Four, until reaching the final fight with Gary, then end the show on a high note, before making a Gen 2 anime, with a new cast and new plot, then repeat the same process each time a new gen comes.

 

[PearlShipper4Life]

I'd keep every thing it is now, I like Ash as the main character and I like how he looks now :D

 

[Venzeron]

Brock's oldest younger brother just turne ten and so they join back up with ash, Brocks brother doesn't want to be a breeder like his mom...I mean brother. So Brock takes him to learn from ash. Brock's younger brother is the main character, and he his main partner pokemon is Zorua. Team plasma steals pikachu successfully but eventually ash and brock's younger brother rescue pikachu and ash finally makes pikachu stay in its pokeball. Max is old enough now too and he pops up every now and then like Kenny.

 

[Shiny Gardevoir]

I guess I'd go with a random ten year old boy who's starting his journey... Pretty much like how Ash started his... Woke up late and all... And got lost... Met a Pichu and had some trouble with [insert swarm of certain Pokemon here]. Saved Pichu, got powerful bond... And evolved... Then met a stranger with a Pikachu who commented on how they did.

After finally reaching the lab, prof[insert prof's name here], prof comments that the kid should stick with the newly evolved Pikachu...

So... Long story short... It's pretty much like Ash, but with a slightly more dramatic meeting with his first Pokemon <_<

 

[psyanic]

Keep Ash til the end of Orange Islands, but move on to new protagonists as the regions and setting change. Such as the Johto region, you would start with Ethan/Kris and for Hoenn you would follow Brendan/May. I understand that Ash is supposed to "mature" throughout the show, but it just gets boring watching a kid age for 10 years. I guess following the games a little more closely would add a bit more interest.

 

[M4]

Replace em Red for Kanto, Gold for Johto, Ruby for Hoenn, Diamond for Sinnoh.. You get the idea. ;p

But then I would make it so they all kinda relate to each other, kinda like the manga.

 

[~Ryukaa]

If I were in the charge of the Pokemon Anime development, I'd probably make a character similar to Red, from PokeSpe. I would only keep him in Kanto, though, and have the male main character for the respective games take on their region. Each with a completely different personality, to keep things new.
Ash is just sandpaper.

 

[feralig8rx]

That's the one thing I really liked about Yu-Gi-Oh. They had a plot, and eventually finished it. It was cool to see it wrap up, to see what everything had lead up to. Then they started over with new characters, a new plot, and a new group of viewers. All without abandoning the show's history. I really hope for the sake of the viewers that Poke'mon will eventually end the series with some sort of purpose.

^THIS.

That was my favorite part about the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. I really wish the Pokemon anime did the same, because 14 seasons of Ash is just...annoying. But they don't have to completely get rid of him. Yu-Gi-Oh had duelists from previous seasons present in new seasons and I think it worked well. Let's hope that the Pokemon designers learn from Yu-Gi-Oh because if they do then I think we have a really good show on our hands.

 

[white lancer]

^THIS.

That was my favorite part about the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. I really wish the Pokemon anime did the same, because 14 seasons of Ash is just...annoying. But they don't have to completely get rid of him. Yu-Gi-Oh had duelists from previous seasons present in new seasons and I think it worked well. Let's hope that the Pokemon designers learn from Yu-Gi-Oh because if they do then I think we have a really good show on our hands.

I definitely think they should have had Ash Ketchum as the protagonist during the first season, then moved on to have him as a supporting character (perhaps as an older rival to the new protagonists) in subsequent seasons. It would have been nice to have some more continuity between seasons, instead of having so many COTDs. One would think that there would be a number of top-level trainers that you would see at most, if not all, Pokémon League competitions--I would have loved it had they developed Ritchie like that, and later moved Ash into a role similar to his.

 

[Mew~]

Heh, how about something a little different. I guess I would change his gender for a start. Maybe it could have been someone like yellow being the main character in the series, but chya, it would be a little different.

 

[tough]

Heh, how about something a little different. I guess I would change his gender for a start. Maybe it could have been someone like yellow being the main character in the series, but chya, it would be a little different.

Ash is never going to ever be replace and Ash will be staying on the show forever untill it come to a end.

 

[Ducklighter]

I like the idea of a different protagonist for each region. It would've added some spice to it and they could've explored different character personalities and perhaps gotten a bit maturer, the older you got. I read this in one of the earlier posts, haha.

I'd only change Ash in one aspect, and that's age him and have him stay constant. So, he'd grow stronger and knowledgeable instead of pressing a reset button in each season. XD