How would the anime be different without Ash?

Discuss!

Well if the Anime was based more on the manga or Red, Blue, Leaf and Yellow, it'd certainly be different as there'd be a new Male Protagonist in each region. Anime Shipping would be completely out of whack since Advanceshipping, Pearlshipping, Negaishipping and Amourshipping wouldn't even exist. Having said that, I think its been a plus to have familiarity over the years with the same main protagonist. The only issue is that they've purposely locked him to be the same "AGE" as he travels, which denies his character growth that we can see with our naked eyes(grows taller, becoming an adult, etc.). Had they not done that, I think the Anime might have been a bit better had Ash been allowed to age a bit.

Interesting, how much is the little bit of aging you would recommend? Old enough to start a family?

Vigilance said:

Interesting, how much is the little bit of aging you would recommend? Old enough to start a family?

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Well, I judge his aging based on # of Episodes in a series and statements/information from the Anime itself. First off, Ash is quoted as saying that it took a year to get back to Viridian City for his initial Kanto Journey. Then watching the Pikachu short prior to the 3rd movie, he references the Anniversary of the day they first met, hence implying another year has passed. Meaning he's 12 by the time the 3rd movie or early on in Johto, hence doing rest of Kanto, Orange Islands and parts of Johto took about a year to do. After Hoenn, Brock comments that they've only been together some months(and not years, although it could be more than 12 but we don't know for sure). I estimate it being about 9 since Ash is a more experienced trainer so it takes him less time to get through a region. Add that to the remaining time in Johto, I would peg him to be about 13.5 by the time he goes to the Kanto Battle Frontier. Tag on another six months to complete it would put him at roughly 14 by the time he goes to Sinnoh.

Since Sinnoh took roughly as long as Hoenn and Battle Frontier, Ash should be 15 going on 16(roughly 15.25 or 3 months). Unova was relatively short in terms of number of Episodes, hence it probably didn't take as long to finish. Figure 9 months, hence Ash would be about 16(maybe a bit older) heading into Kalos. Ash being 16 as a opposed to a dense 10 year old would open up more mature avenues, including romance. The Amourshipping sub-plot was out of place with 10 year olds but if both characters were a bit older, it'd work wonders. I mean sure the target audience is kids and what not but shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender(and its sequel Legend of Korra) proved that a show can appeal to kids and adults alike.

Meaning Ash would be almost 17 heading into Sun&Moon if we're going by the above way of thinking. Ash certainly wouldn't be old enough to start a family but he wouldn't be this 10 year old imbecile that he is now portrayed as in the Sun&Moon anime.

Okay I really really like that thought in the above comment. That progression of age is definitely something that would have been well received. Thanks for the reply mate!

If it had the same staff behind it, there'd just be an Ash stand in that does the same thing as Ash which is never progressing substantially in their pokemon career.

It would be the samething but without Ash and to me would me more boring.

Something similar to Pokemon Chronicles. While it will indeed feel a bit weird as we have been wathcing Ash as the mc for 20 years I think it'll be great. Pretty sure much peope would love to see what happened in the adventures of the other main characters like May, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, etc.

I would like an anime with a different protag. Not that I dislike Ash, but it would be nice to see a change up, and see how a different character with a different personality would handle all the situations. Like, it was awesome to see Alan in the Mega Evo spin-off, and follow him for a while instead of Ash.

I don't Ash think is boring really, I'm just so used to his personality by now, that unless something big happens - which is once every few seasons - it'd be nice to switch things up.

I've said for years that I wanted a series that followed May through Johto. I know we saw Ash through Johto already, but May would've done Contests, and she responds differently to situations than Ash does. Following Serena would be cool too. I love all the girls and their contests and performances and what not, like give me a whole series full of it. Would watch.

Without Ash, I believe that the Pokémon Anime would be different to the point where it'd be actually fresh every time a new region is featured, especially if the main focus character is the male player character from that region's corresponding games. There would be substantially less of the same antics that have gone on since the Original Series that have made the show essentially worn out, particularly during the Kalos saga.

Seto said:

I would like an anime with a different protag. Not that I dislike Ash, but it would be nice to see a change up, and see how a different character with a different personality would handle all the situations. Like, it was awesome to see Alan in the Mega Evo spin-off, and follow him for a while instead of Ash.

I don't Ash think is boring really, I'm just so used to his personality by now, that unless something big happens - which is once every few seasons - it'd be nice to switch things up.

I've said for years that I wanted a series that followed May through Johto. I know we saw Ash through Johto already, but May would've done Contests, and she responds differently to situations than Ash does. Following Serena would be cool too. I love all the girls and their contests and performances and what not, like give me a whole series full of it. Would watch.

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What you'd be clamoring for is another round or second season of Pokemon Chronicles wherein they do Episodes involving May, Dawn, Serena, Iris and other past characters. That way if characters return to the series, there won't be any surprises with regards to their progress. I mean when Misty returned, we knew she had a Gyrados. When May returned, we had no idea her Bulbasaur had evolved twice, her Squirtle evolved into Wartortle and then her Eevee had evolved into Glaceon(although they divulge details for the last one). Would have been great had we been able to see the circumstances behind their Evolution as opposed to seeing it cold turkey. Since May can't really come back to the Anime thanks to her Japanese VA, they can do Episodes involving the other protagonists I mentioned. Heck why not an Episode or two involving Ash's past rivals like Paul. I can tell you right now that the fan base would find those Episodes way more interesting and entertaining than what they're doing right now with Sun and Moon.

As I said in my last post though, the Anime without Ash would be radically different. Would be way more mature and darker than what the Anime has become.

A series without Ash wouldn't necessarily mean I'd be darker or more mature. It all depends on who the other protagonist is. If the other main character is still the same age as Ash was then you can't honestly expect the show itself to become any different than what it is now. I'd just have a different cast as such, different dynamics when it comes to the group and other such things.

That said a show without Ash would be ... interesting to say the least. But if they wanted to have a different protagonist for each generation or something they would have done what Digimon or Yugioh did way back years ago. Or even Pokemon Special. But honestly one of the little things I like about the anime is that we're seeing one's journey throughout each region on his goal to become the greatest. It's not exactly a goal that one would accomplish after seeing one or two regions and one day I would like to see him actually meet this goal of his.

One .... day ....

Though I'm definitely not against a new side-series like the Mega Evo acts or Pokemon Chronicles just so we can follow someone else for a while hahah.

I believe that the decision for keeping Ash has to do with not only drawing in new crowds to the world of pokemon, but also to keep older and well received audience in tuned for nostalgic purpose. Look at how Digimon faired trying newer characters. It almost did not survive until they brought back older characters that were familiar. Can you imagine a new character with a Pikachu... and would it be the same? Pikachu is the icon mascot for pokemon, so it has to be there. Eevee is building in popularity.. it has even gotten its own theme website in Japan. But it is still not the mascot Pikachu is. I would love to see the characters age more, but the show does need to appeal to younger audiences to proactively relate to future fans. We will see what they do next.

I would absolutely support a spin off with another main character, which could be really great. It could even be a future generations series with Ash's kid or May or Brock's kid.. Maybe even a long lost brother or sister to Ash that went to live with Ash's dad (who is obviously separated from Ash's mom)

I gotta agree with PainterZane about the nostalgia thing *nod nod*

I've always wanted a pokemon series with a female as a lead though so many of my own fake series have different female leads to help that idea feel more real to me lol

That said......i'm not gonna deney i've wondered what Pokemon would be like with KORRINA as a main character :P Since she's like a female ash a bit. A side series about her journey as a mega successor would be cool. (also i'd probably blush every moment i watch of it due to the fact that I ALSO have a crush on her......hahahaha lol ://[)

If we are having different protagonists then I would assume we would rotate the side characters as well every region. In that case it would be interesting...