I do think Serena is one of the best female characters in the anime, especially after the massive development she got lately after spending like a year of being untreated and causing the fandom to think she was nothing more than just a shipping item.
The haircut scene was handled so well, in fact one of the most epic scenes in the anime to ever happen. I was not expecting Serena to take her loss in the Coumarine Showcase so seriously, while having Fennekin and Pancham comfort her. Cutting her hair short and changing her clothes was a great move by the writers to help develop her as a character, since from my point of view the long hair she started with was marking the phase where she was not sure what to do with her life while the new short her has cemented her new phase as a Pokemon Performer. The blue ribbon which Ash gave her being present in the new outfit (and the fact she sometimes places her hand on it to think of Ash and how he told her to never give up) was another of my fave things about the redesign, because in scenes where she placed her hand on that ribbon it always helped think of what Ash said to her when they first met and how he said to her to never give up.
I know some people in the fandom have mixed thoughts on the redesign whether the criticism would be about the hair of the new outfit (including a certain anime critic in this forum who says that long hair brings a certain charm to some female characters) but I think she got way cuter in the redesign, and also somehow looks more mature because she's become more determined.
I'm going to be excited to see how the writers will continue to develop her, as well as hopefully winning her next Showcase. I know the writers try to intentionally not make main characters win their major tournament but if she becomes Kalos Queen she could become one of the few exceptions to that rule.
The haircut scene was handled so well, in fact one of the most epic scenes in the anime to ever happen. I was not expecting Serena to take her loss in the Coumarine Showcase so seriously, while having Fennekin and Pancham comfort her. Cutting her hair short and changing her clothes was a great move by the writers to help develop her as a character, since from my point of view the long hair she started with was marking the phase where she was not sure what to do with her life while the new short her has cemented her new phase as a Pokemon Performer. The blue ribbon which Ash gave her being present in the new outfit (and the fact she sometimes places her hand on it to think of Ash and how he told her to never give up) was another of my fave things about the redesign, because in scenes where she placed her hand on that ribbon it always helped think of what Ash said to her when they first met and how he said to her to never give up.
I know some people in the fandom have mixed thoughts on the redesign whether the criticism would be about the hair of the new outfit (including a certain anime critic in this forum who says that long hair brings a certain charm to some female characters) but I think she got way cuter in the redesign, and also somehow looks more mature because she's become more determined.
I'm going to be excited to see how the writers will continue to develop her, as well as hopefully winning her next Showcase. I know the writers try to intentionally not make main characters win their major tournament but if she becomes Kalos Queen she could become one of the few exceptions to that rule.
