Still Watching?

[Pillodox]

I stopped watching the anime after the D/P/Pt seasons since they axed Brock. What a legend he was.

 

[Eevee3]

I stopped watching about halfway through the Hoenn series, after they changed the voices in the dubbed version. xD

Since XY came out, I've wanted to get back into it but I have more animes to watch.

 

[Pendraflare]

I don't really watch the anime anymore, except for the occasional episode that has that one thing that excites me. I know for one I did watch the episode between Iris and Drayden back in February 2013, and the ones with Giovanni, Meloetta and the Undersea Temple. But generally I stopped really caring for the anime a while ago. I have heard good things about the XY anime, though.

 

[Hikamaru]

I pretty much stopped watching the anime regularly for unknown reasons around the Icirrus Gym battle in the Best Wishes series, but I guess it's because that in Australia where I am, new seasons tend to not air until like, a year after it airs in the US. We probably won't be seeing the XY series start until 2015 at this rate, and I also got sick of when they constantly aired reruns of the Diamond & Pearl series.

Yeah, so it was mainly dissatisfaction with how the anime was handled here that contributed to my "hiatus" from watching regularly.

 

[Kid Sonic]

I stopped watching in the middle of the "Rogue Dragonite" episode. I started watching again during the sneak peak of XY: The Series. Now I limit myself to watching anything that isn't filler episodes with old Pokemon, Ash losing without a victory rematch, a strict Officer Jenny, a conflicting Serena, and Clemont scolding Bonnie.

I still have some love for the anime, because it actually meant something to me.

 

[Puddle]

I stopped watching somewhere in the Hoenn series. I felt like they started making them a lot worse. I've seen a few recently and they seem really lame to me. Ash seems to try and appeal to little kids more than he did before. I don't know.

 

[Hiatus]

I used to watch it religiously when Advanced Generation season of anime were still a thing, but now... not anymore. My interest started to fade when D/P/Pt began, and it went away completely after they made all those changes in B/W. I know adapting to change could be hard for some people, but it definitely shouldn't be impossible. For me, though, I guess it was. ;o;

 

[Firox]

I guess, I'm the first one here to say that I still watch the anime, and enjoy it too.

I'm still a dedicated fan of the anime, it brings enjoyment - at least in the Spanish dub (it's my first language), the jokes make a lot more sense and are much more funnier.

As for the English dub? I still watch it for enjoyment too. At times the script and voice acting can be horrible, but I don't care I still watch it... it was the anime that got into Pokemon, I won't abandon the anime. I still wake up every Saturday morning to watch the new English dub episodes.

 

[Elaitenstile]

When I get myself to the unlimited internet (every Sunday or so) I do get myself a back and catch up on the X&Y anime through internet vids. And that's only because I have high hopes for the anime. I also occasionally (read: occasionally is inside another occasionally) watch a random episode from the finished series.

 

[Darkwing Ducklett]

It's not so much "still watching" for me as it is "watching again" right now; I stopped watching at the end of the DP seasons (I was NOT happy with how that ended) and I've decided to pick it back up again, since I liked the first couple of episodes of XY...so I'm using it as an excuse to watch the lot again. I should really give BW a fair chance anyway...

 

[Wobbu]

I never actively watched the anime until a few years ago when I discovered Pokémon TV. Since then I have been actively watching the anime and I always make it a priority during Saturday to watch the new dub episode. The new episodes on TV are always more fun to watch than older episodes online IMO.

 

[Kid Sonic]

I never actively watched the anime until a few years ago when I discovered Pokémon TV. Since then I have been actively watching the anime and I always make it a priority during Saturday to watch the new dub episode. The new episodes on TV are always more fun to watch than older episodes online IMO.

:-_-

What year were you born?

But seriously, the new episodes, on Pokemon TV (Best Wishes)?

 

[Wobbu]

:-_-

What year were you born?

But seriously, the new episodes, on Pokemon TV (Best Wishes)?

It's a secret :P
I don't have anything against the older episodes. I also enjoyed watching those on TV way back whenever I happened to be awake at the time. I just rarely woke up early enough to watch them. Now I have the capability of recording the episodes so that is no longer a problem. Watching fresh broadcasts of episodes on TV is nice because, for me, that used to be the only legitimate way to watch the anime since I could never find any physical videos or DVDs in stores. It's like a nostalgic feel :P

 

[skyluigi2]

I've never watched it a tonne, but I'm going to try watching as much of XY as I can. BW had two of my least favourite characters travelling with Ash, so I hated that... XY seems better. Still sad Brock's gone. As OP said, what a legend.

 

[KurcioDurcio]

I wanted to watch XY but then stopped after I had to go on a holiday.

 

[Kid Sonic]

It's a secret :P
I don't have anything against the older episodes. I also enjoyed watching those on TV way back whenever I happened to be awake at the time. I just rarely woke up early enough to watch them. Now I have the capability of recording the episodes so that is no longer a problem. Watching fresh broadcasts of episodes on TV is nice because, for me, that used to be the only legitimate way to watch the anime since I could never find any physical videos or DVDs in stores. It's like a nostalgic feel :P

There's always the internet. But I'm not going to lie, I myself can never go back to the original series (especially the beginning). Not just because it was a rocky beginning for Ash, not just because half of the early Kanto COTD's were jerk*sses, but because I got older and realized/remembered how much I hated Misty, Viridian City Nurse Joy, and the girls at the Celadon Gym. But all the all, season 1 executed the Pokemon showcasing nicely, along with Who's The Pokemon and the Pokerap, back when no one knew who any of them were. Unova, and especially the barren 60-niner Kalos can't seem to do that well at all. Meanwhile, Bonnie, and several newer fans see any Pokemon as brand-new. In short, you can watch the old seasons (if you can get the feeling of it), but I can't recommend it religiously. BTW, There are A LOT of them. You can also try Boomerang.

In this day and age, more serious discussions are held and debated by people who have been with the series since the very beginning, and you're kind of late. To be blunt, the newer episodes you've been are a complete joke, and you walked right into a lie. Meanwhile, the newer episodes of XY are to be handled/watched cautiously with a grain of salt. In short, thanks to the influence of Best Wishes, XY (Kalos) began its run on thin ice.

 

[Aquacorde]

That... sounds a bit religious there, bro. I mean we may not be in the ~golden age~ anymore, but that doesn't mean the show is no longer enjoyable. Even as an older fan, I was pretty entertained by most of BW. Despite being a bit crap in regards to Pokémon showcase/personality/training/most battles, it was pretty interesting in terms of recurring cast and their interactions. They tried to go a different direction and like, ~reboot~ everything- that wasn't just an Ani decision either. That was what the BW games were meant to be doing as well. Didn't work too well tbh. I can analyse the anime and compare relative merits and faults, but that doesn't stop me from being optimistic about it and still enjoying it for what it is. XY is doing better than BW so far, and I'm looking forward to what it brings to the table. We're only twenty-ish episodes in and it's looking up tbh.

The anime has always had some sort of catalyst for introducing new audience members to the show and the universe. Ash is often the person needing the exposition- mainly in OS and Unova, but also throughout the new generations. But we've also had May, who didn't like Pokémon and never bothered to learn until her journey. We had Dawn- not quite as naive, but still someone who needed to be introduced to a good amount of Pokémon that had been seen by Ash before. Now we have Bonnie and Serena- Bonnie's just a kid and hasn't met a ton of Pokémon yet. Serena's probably been stuck mostly with Rhyhorn.
There've also been the characters that are looked to for exposition. Brock, Tracey, Max, Cilan, various CotDs. Now it's Ash and Clemont as the experienced characters. It's just always how the anime has operated- their target demographic is children, ages like 5 to 12. Those kids haven't grown up with Pokémon, and as they grow out of it (lots of people do, shocker) more kids who don't know the ropes will take their place. We as older teens and young adults analyse the crap out of the anime and discuss it like pros, but it's legit not actually for us. We shouldn't be so put off by the standard expositional nature.
And I'm going to point out that XY is twenty episodes in and is probably going to run for a fair amount of time. They've only got 60-ish Pokémon and a few new features to focus on. They're working on a balance for that. Coming into that right off Unova is going to be a little abrupt.

You can't legitimately say "it's a joke, it's a lie". That's really, really extreme. It's all canon. It's different than it used to be, but that's to be expected after seventeen years. They're still working on where to go every time new things are introduced. It's not static, and it's not all up to the anime team. They're basing it on the games, and they have to try to figure out how best to incorporate things and capture the feel of the new stuff. Just because it's not what you like doesn't mean it's not going to appeal to others. Again, we here are not the target demographic. We can talk about what we'd like to see and how we think things should be all we like, but who the hell is going to take that into consideration? They're obviously doing well enough that they're still getting decent ratings and I'm sure turning a profit. I'm sure they're learning from what previously didn't go so well. It's still happening. Nothing's set in stone till a series is over, really.

Beyond that, I'd like to point out that Wobbu even said he's watched the older series; he just thinks watching the newer stuff and keeping up with current broadcast is more fun than going back and watching. And he's part of our Watch-Along Club, which tends to focus on older stuff because we have other discussion areas for new stuff. And he's a regular participant in our streams. It's not like he's unfamiliar with older stuff lol. Just because he's enjoying the newer series doesn't mean his opinions are less valid, or that the discussions he partakes in less interesting.
And for others that have only really gotten familiar with the anime around say DP or BW- there's a thing that people do when they care... it's researching what they're talking about. That's why I'd been able to discuss character & story arcs & development across the board for a fair amount of time despite not seeing a complete saga before BW. I'm now at about 2/3 for everything else but I've still not completed anything but BW, because who the flip has the time? But I can still read up on things and read other interpretations and form opinions that way. I can learn from others as discussions go on. It's not a be-all end-all if you haven't watched everything. It's not a "who's a better fan" competition. What we have here is a discussion environment, and what is mainly discussed is the new releases. Just because it's not as active a place as it used to be doesn't mean the discussions have any less merit.

To actually answer the question at hand, yes! Still watching! Started watching with intent of seeing everything at the beginning of BW. Life happened around episode 50 so I dropped it for a while but then came back, caught up, and have been watching everything since then. Generally I keep on top of the subs, but when they get too behind I give up on waiting and just watch raws. :P

 

[Apollo]

I stopped watching religiously after around Galactic Battles, I think. Nowadays, I watch episodes from newer seasons from time to time, but never really got the time to actually religiously watch them. I want to try and keep up with X&Y this time, because it has a great start, from the first few episodes I've watched so far.

 

[Kikaito plush]

I stopped watching in the middle of Black and White as it got boring.

 

[Jorah]

lol, how few people in the Pokemon anime section actually watch the anime :S. Weird.

I started with Indigo League and managed to watch up until Johto League Champions. I got bored there, and didn't watch the anime again until Advanced Battle. I then kept up with it every week online because it's too hard to follow the anime on UK TV (if you want to know how bad, they are stilled endlessly repeating Galactic Battles), and managed to catch up with most older episodes. I continued every week until BW, where I got so bored, hated the characters, and thought I'd grown out of it. Then I decided to watch an episode of XY out of curiosity and I love it again XD

I only watch it in Japanese now though, and have done since the end of DP - I prefer the voices, like the BGM left alone, and most of all, I'm impatient XD