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Do you think they should change Ash's character?

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G Deoxys

Beginner Rom Hacker
21
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Honestly, i believe Pikachu and Ash are done. After the lengths the writers went to in making Ash lose to Tobias in a one sided semi-final in D/P was appalling, i mean come on! They should make him win a tournament and launch a new series 5-10 years in the future with a new trainer just starting out, and Ash as the Kanto champion or something..

i know a majority of people are just going to say i'm whining and should just get over it, or that Ash and Pikachu are always going to be the face of the pokemon franchise...

Overall i'm asking for people to post their ideas on whether or not they believe that the characters should change and a reason why.

so yeah, thanks for reading :D
 
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Perriechu

i make this look easy tik-tik boom like gasoline-y
4,079
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I don't want them to change. Most of us have followed Ash through his adventure since it began and it wouldn't be right to change the main protagonist now. Like you said, Ash and Pikachu are the faces of Pokemon, they're not going anywhere anytime soon. And I believe if they did change the faces of Pokemon that a lot of fans would be unhappy and the anime would possibly lose a huge load of viewers.

jmo
 
283
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Since Ash/Satoshi is pretty much Satoshi Tajiri as a kid in cartoon form, I highly doubt they'll replace him.

Honestly, i believe Pikachu and Ash are done.

Why? Just because he wins a Pokemon League Tournament doesn't mean his story is over. Tournament Champion is not the title he wants, nor is Regional Champion. He wants to be a Pokemon Master. We could very well see much more from Ash.

After the lengths the writers went to in making Ash lose to Tobias in a one sided semi-final in D/P was appalling, i mean come on!

That battle with Tobias proved that Ash was the second strongest trainer in the tournament. Ash remains the only known person to ever KO Tobias's Darkrai. No one even knew if Tobias had any other Pokemon besides Darkrai.

They should make him win a tournament and launch a new series 5-10 years in the future with a new trainer just starting out, and Ash as the Kanto champion or something..

A new trainer would just be an Ash clone anyway. Ash is the star of the anime and has been since Episode 1.

=====

I'm seeing more and more "replace Ash" and "Mature Pokemon" topics, all because of that trailer for Black 2 and White 2. I think people need to realize that Ash isn't going anywhere, and Pokemon will never go Mature. It's been a kids show from the start. If people can't enjoy it as a kids show, then they should just get out of Pokemon. Pokemon doesn't have to change.
 
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I can see where you are coming from O: I kinda feel the same about ash but they are still fun :P
The idea of ash being the champion and having a "in the future" series doesnt sound so bad O: Maybe for the new generation of Pokemon? I mean ash has been there for a long time and still has the same age, i believe its 10 xD
An adult ash would also be nice, maybe his son can be the protagonist? xD I heard they wont stop until the national pokedex hits 1000 pokemon so we still have time for change! :P
 

Tetrakeet

Lilligant's Caretaker
239
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11
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Ash seems to provide a self insertion point for viewers more than anything else. I notice he doesn't make the greatest decisions in combat either, which is probably to help younger audiences say "hey Ash, what are you doing!". He is meant to be flawed, but is shown to learn from his mistakes many times as well. (his voice actor needs work though, imho)
 
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Skitty1

Highlight my signature :)
171
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  • Seen Jul 20, 2012
Somewhat I am sick of Ash but I can deal with him.
 

Olli

I am still bathing in a summer's afterglow
2,583
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I really don't think they should, and highly doubt that it'll ever happen. Of course the show is called Pokémon and is mainly about the Pokémon, though it's following Ash's story and his quest to becoming a Pokémon master, so replacing Ash and Pikachu would be more like ending the show and starting it completely over, and I don't think people would be too happy with that, considering a lot of people grew up with Ash and Pikachu.

I mean, just think how upset people have been with Misty and Brock leaving. They were both main characters, but they were also a tad of supporting characters. Ash is the main protagonist, and though there are many people that don't like him and the way he battles, I think the majority have grown attached to him. And Pikachu is kind of the mascot for the whole franchise, there is like no one who doesn't know the Pokémon Pikachu, even if they aren't familiar with the franchise.

Also, as much as I want to see an anime based off of the B2W2 animated trailer, I wouldn't in any way want to see the current anime replaced.
 

psyanic

pop a wheelie on a zeitgeist
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If they wanted to replace Ash, they should have done it after Sinnoh, imo. He was nearly done with that, and they nearly rebooted the anime at the start of BW. It would have been perfect. Unova is probably the best point to have a reboot anime, so Ash would have been done at that. Besides, I'm still firm about Ash winning in the Sinnoh League. He could have won, called him a Pokemon Master, and move on to the next ten year old in line. Why? Because at this point, most of the Pokemon fans from the beginning were already dropping the franchise, so a newer audience was starting to watch the anime. This is why I don't see how people wouldn't be all that pissed off if Ash was dropped. They're not watching the anime anymore. The Pokemon anime is geared towards kids about Ash's age.

His personality is intolerable, because it's the same every region without any sort of development. Actually, any development that he goes through is thrown out the window once the next region comes around. I hate that. I wouldn't mind keeping Ash around if he actually developed and learned a thing or two, but he's completely static. That's why I want him gone. Even if the next protagonist is a carbon copy of Ash, at least it's a new design I'd get used to, or possibly a personality shift, which would be a lot better. I loved the Raikou: Legend of Thunder! mini-series, because I got to see a whole new situation in Pokemon with the characters, like Jimmy having a romantic interest and stuff. That's something new.

Of course, there's the issue of Ash & Pikachu being the mascots, but I don't see that as too much of a problem. If it really mattered, Ash could be a recurring character in the anime, or at least mentioned every now and then, so some viewers would be content with that. On the flip side, some won't be happy with that, but you can't please every single fan out there, so why try?

In short, they could have thrown Ash away and dealt with him relatively easily. Instead, the writers kept the 'safest' option and kept him in the mix for a good while to come. I'd have loved to see him gone, and still do, but they missed their chance. Damn you, Pokemon.
 
283
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If they wanted to replace Ash, they should have done it after Sinnoh, imo. He was nearly done with that, and they nearly rebooted the anime at the start of BW. It would have been perfect. Unova is probably the best point to have a reboot anime, so Ash would have been done at that.

Unless they have no plans to dump him after 15 years of hundreds of episodes and 15 or 16 movies. He is based off of Satoshi Tajiri himself after all.

Besides, I'm still firm about Ash winning in the Sinnoh League. He could have won, called him a Pokemon Master, and move on to the next ten year old in line.

Winning a League tournament doesn't mean he's a Pokemon Master. All that does is allows the winner to challenge the Elite 4 and Champion. And again, why replace the character based on the creator after 15 years?

Why? Because at this point, most of the Pokemon fans from the beginning were already dropping the franchise, so a newer audience was starting to watch the anime.

And most of the new audience have no idea what Ash did in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn. Possibly Sinnoh, but probably not. The older fans by now are grown adults who could probably care less about the show.

This is why I don't see how people wouldn't be all that pissed off if Ash was dropped. They're not watching the anime anymore. The Pokemon anime is geared towards kids about Ash's age.

Exactly, the older audience doesn't watch the show anymore (well, most of them), so there's no concern with replacing a character when the new audience probably doesn't know about his earliest adventures.

His personality is intolerable, because it's the same every region without any sort of development. Actually, any development that he goes through is thrown out the window once the next region comes around. I hate that.

I don't think the show is meant to be watched all the way through. The original audience was expected to watch through Kanto. After 4 or 5 years, that group is not longer in the target demographic, so they move on to the next region. The show just appeals to whoever is between 6-11 years old at the time.

I wouldn't mind keeping Ash around if he actually developed and learned a thing or two, but he's completely static.

The anime just promotes the game and can't truly retain all his skills or he'll just destroy everyone, like he did when he first started in Johto with Charizard on his team. Actually, the fact that he decides to go to a region completely blind as to the Pokemon he will encounter is impressive, like he decides to learn as much as he can about each regions Pokemon without relying on old strategies that may no longer work.

That's why I want him gone. Even if the next protagonist is a carbon copy of Ash, at least it's a new design I'd get used to, or possibly a personality shift, which would be a lot better. I loved the Raikou: Legend of Thunder! mini-series, because I got to see a whole new situation in Pokemon with the characters, like Jimmy having a romantic interest and stuff. That's something new.

That's why they started changing his outfit, to give him a fresh look for the audience to get use to. I liked Jimmy (mostly because he was voiced by Sean Schemmel) but he was still basically Ash with different clothes. The romance stuff...relationships are good when the show is based on them, but we all know Pokemon is about the Pokemon. The trainers teach the lessons it seems but the Pokemon are the reason anyone watches the show/movies.

Of course, there's the issue of Ash & Pikachu being the mascots, but I don't see that as too much of a problem. If it really mattered, Ash could be a recurring character in the anime, or at least mentioned every now and then, so some viewers would be content with that. On the flip side, some won't be happy with that, but you can't please every single fan out there, so why try?

But why take a risk when you know the current plan is working? Ash and Pikachu work, and they've worked since the start. Kids love them. Like they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

In short, they could have thrown Ash away and dealt with him relatively easily. Instead, the writers kept the 'safest' option and kept him in the mix for a good while to come. I'd have loved to see him gone, and still do, but they missed their chance.

Again, when it comes to business, you don't take unnecessary risks. You do what works. If Ash still has a strong following and is selling merch, they have no need to get rid of him. So there was no "chance" to get rid of him.

Damn you, Pokemon.

See, this is what I don't get. People actually seem to be building legit hate for the anime because they won't replace Ash. Akira Toriyama tried to replace Goku in Dragon Ball with Gohan and Goten, but the fans weren't happy about it, so Goku was brought back.
 
2,413
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16
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First off, if you want Ash replaced because you want someone with a better personality or a more mature series, you should probably just stop. Replacing him won't change the tone of the series, and the new replacement is still going to be our generic shonen hero. That won't change.

If you want Ash to be changed out because of growth, I can go with that. I agree that if there was a time for Ash to be finished, it was in Sinnoh. However, that's not because I think he's ready to be a champion or he's grown all he's could, it's just he grew period. In Sinnoh, Ash matured quite a bit in his rivalry with Paul, and he almost seemed older.
Then that gets thrown out with Best Wishes. He's not your normal reckless stupid, he's just silly stupid. I can take silly stupid, as he had that in the original series alongside recklessness, but he was also mischievous in the original. It's taken Ash awhile, but he slowly changed and matured from the original series to Sinnoh.

Best Wishes Ash is such a redesign and flubbed up backtracking, I pretty much consider him a different character anyway. They might as well designed a new character. Iris and Cilan are also so different in their game personalities that they might as well designed new traveling companions as well.

So originally, I was going to say that I don't think Ash should be replaced because it would be useless in producing something new. But I've just figured out I don't think he should be changed because he was already changed.
 

soulavenger

A Keen Observer
48
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14
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First off, if you want Ash replaced because you want someone with a better personality or a more mature series, you should probably just stop. Replacing him won't change the tone of the series, and the new replacement is still going to be our generic shonen hero. That won't change.

If you want Ash to be changed out because of growth, I can go with that. I agree that if there was a time for Ash to be finished, it was in Sinnoh. However, that's not because I think he's ready to be a champion or he's grown all he's could, it's just he grew period. In Sinnoh, Ash matured quite a bit in his rivalry with Paul, and he almost seemed older.
Then that gets thrown out with Best Wishes. He's not your normal reckless stupid, he's just silly stupid. I can take silly stupid, as he had that in the original series alongside recklessness, but he was also mischievous in the original. It's taken Ash awhile, but he slowly changed and matured from the original series to Sinnoh.

Best Wishes Ash is such a redesign and flubbed up backtracking, I pretty much consider him a different character anyway. They might as well designed a new character. Iris and Cilan are also so different in their game personalities that they might as well designed new traveling companions as well.

So originally, I was going to say that I don't think Ash should be replaced because it would be useless in producing something new. But I've just figured out I don't think he should be changed because he was already changed.

So basically,Best Wishes is being treated as the Kanto region of this decade where Ash is back to his newbie self (possibly worst than a newbie) and all the character development than occured in him over the past generations is gone.Now the whole cycle will repeat itself till he gains back his former glory...
 
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The only thing i'm saying that as a longtime pokemon fan since the beginning, it's jarring to see ash still nowhere closerr to becominga pokemon master than he was 15 years ago...
 
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I would like to see it change, but not by getting rid of Ash and Pikachu. But by letting them develop somewhat. Let him win a major tournament. I think it would make everything just feel a little more... I don't know the word for it. But that wouldn't stop the anime if he won, I would very much like to continue watching Ash post-winning, and continuing some sort of adventure.

I know it will most likely never happen, but y'know. I can hope.
 

大輔

Adventurer
270
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Honestly if they should've changed Ash, it should've been done BEFORE Hoenn, I mean he looks nothing like any of the canon game characters from Hoenn on. He kind of looked a bit like Red, and slightly like Gold, but once Ruby stepped in it kind of felt way off. I would've liked it if Brandon started doing his stuff in the anime with May... I mean he got his movie cameos as well as Lucas... Not only that but the Black/White 2 animations are just incredibly amazing... the effort put into the animated shorts were just insanely superior to anything ever created in the TV show...
 

-Grayscale-

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I hated Ash past the age of 7.
But he'll never be changed or replaced, simply because they will not take a risk like that. They should've swapped him a long time ago, back when he was still in Kanto. But hey, whatever.
It's odd, because obviously Ash isn't getting older, either. Adding in a new protagonist for each region could've been a very nice idea.
I really wish they'd make a series that looked like those B and W 2 promos. I could tell my parents for once I actually want to watch Pokemon.
 
19
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  • Seen Jul 27, 2012
Mixed

I have mixed feelings. I would miss Ash a lot, but I bet they would do a good job with a new character. Maybe have a Pokemon as a main character? ^_^
 

Altairis

take me ☆ take you
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I don't see why the should change him, other than that a few fans hate him. The cons of doing so would probably outweigh the pros, plus, Ash is probably one of the most generic hero trainers they could make, so I'm pretty sure changing the main character wouldn't really make a difference and even if they would "change" Ash's personality it wouldn't really change a whole lot.
 
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This is what YuGiOh does in every new season, forwards 10-50 years into the future and brings new characters. I belive is a good idea, it would at least help with random inconsistences like why Pikachu becomes much weaker at the start of every new generation.
 
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Unless they have no plans to dump him after 15 years of hundreds of episodes and 15 or 16 movies. He is based off of Satoshi Tajiri himself after all.

Yeah, and Red in the Pokemon Special manga, like Ash, was based on Satoshi Tajiri as well, and yet he still got replaced.

Winning a League tournament doesn't mean he's a Pokemon Master. All that does is allows the winner to challenge the Elite 4 and Champion. And again, why replace the character based on the creator after 15 years?

Two and a Half Men's main character was based on Charlie Sheen, yet they removed him from the series and replaced him despite being in effect the main character. Heck, Red from Pokemon Special, like Ash, was based on Satoshi Tajiri, yet the manga creator had absolutely no qualms replacing him, and that manga's still running in Japan at least.

And most of the new audience have no idea what Ash did in Kanto, Johto, or Hoenn. Possibly Sinnoh, but probably not. The older fans by now are grown adults who could probably care less about the show.

There's a thing known as reruns and DVD boxed sets, meaning that the younger generation could easily catch up. And besides, that didn't stop them from flashing back to characters who the current generation should have absolutely no idea without context anyway.

Exactly, the older audience doesn't watch the show anymore (well, most of them), so there's no concern with replacing a character when the new audience probably doesn't know about his earliest adventures.

Except the series implies that he's been through the journey for quite some time, and I'm pretty sure even a four year old would not take someone seriously who acts stupidly when he's supposed to be a seasoned veteran.

I don't think the show is meant to be watched all the way through. The original audience was expected to watch through Kanto. After 4 or 5 years, that group is not longer in the target demographic, so they move on to the next region. The show just appeals to whoever is between 6-11 years old at the time.

If the show was not meant to be watched all the way through, they shouldn't have made Ash the main character in the first place, and thus they should have removed Ash when they had the chance long beforehand. Heck, they wouldn't have had the "To Be Continued" messages throughout the show if that were the case.

The anime just promotes the game and can't truly retain all his skills or he'll just destroy everyone, like he did when he first started in Johto with Charizard on his team. Actually, the fact that he decides to go to a region completely blind as to the Pokemon he will encounter is impressive, like he decides to learn as much as he can about each regions Pokemon without relying on old strategies that may no longer work.

Maybe, but there's a fundamental difference between simply swapping out pokemon for new ones, and acting completely unfamiliar with the environment you're supposed to have been a veteran at. Think of Ash's position as a trainer as being, like, a football coach, or even a commander of a battalion, for example. A football coach, if he ends up being transferred to another team, will usually give pointers and strategies to the team he commands that helped him win the previous time. It's called using your experiences to aid in succeeding. I mean, would you take someone seriously who, despite supposedly being experienced and a hard veteran at something, is completely stupid in regards to the thing they're supposed to be experts at? I wouldn't, and I doubt most kids would.

That's why they started changing his outfit, to give him a fresh look for the audience to get use to. I liked Jimmy (mostly because he was voiced by Sean Schemmel) but he was still basically Ash with different clothes. The romance stuff...relationships are good when the show is based on them, but we all know Pokemon is about the Pokemon. The trainers teach the lessons it seems but the Pokemon are the reason anyone watches the show/movies.

And therefore, Ash truly isn't necessary in the grand scheme of things, and so should be replaced. If Pokemon is truly the sole point of the show, then none of the human characters are truly important, and thus they would replace even Ash simply because he is a human.

But why take a risk when you know the current plan is working? Ash and Pikachu work, and they've worked since the start. Kids love them. Like they say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Except it IS Broken. Otherwise, the ratings would not have decreased.

Again, when it comes to business, you don't take unnecessary risks. You do what works. If Ash still has a strong following and is selling merch, they have no need to get rid of him. So there was no "chance" to get rid of him.

In case you haven't noticed, the ratings are actually PLUMMITING since Johto, at the earliest, getting worse, so what they are doing IS ruining their business.

See, this is what I don't get. People actually seem to be building legit hate for the anime because they won't replace Ash. Akira Toriyama tried to replace Goku in Dragon Ball with Gohan and Goten, but the fans weren't happy about it, so Goku was brought back.

Yeah, and they constantly replaced the main characters of Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh multiple times, and they replaced the characters in Pokemon Special more than once, and that didn't decrease the ratings nor did it result in complaints as far as I know.

And even if that action did doom the show, so what? There hasn't been a Mario cartoon since Super Mario World, yet the Mario franchise was still continuing. Same deal with the Zelda series and the Megaman series, and it will certainly be the same with the Pokemon franchise even if the Anime dies.

And the amount of seasons he's been in mean absolutely nothing as to whether he'd be immune to being replaced, really. Brock had the second longest run of the protagonists only to Ash, yet he still was replaced and retired. Likewise, on the inverse, Brock's mom hadn't even been mentioned since the fifth episode of the original series/the entire series, and yet she still appeared nearly nine seasons later (six, counting the Hosos), and Jessiebelle took 9-12 seasons before she returned.

Unless the writers seriously make Ash actually seem competent at the profession he was supposed to be a veteran at (like Solid Snake was in Metal Gear Solid 2), they honestly should not keep Ash in the show.
 
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