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- Seen Apr 22, 2018
Maybe my expectations were too high, but everything about this anniversary celebration has been a letdown to me. :(
SM went out of its way to tease and reference Kanto. The protagonist moves to Alola from Kanto, Lillie travels to Kanto at the end, and an adult Red/Blue even appear in the Battle Tree. Yet, we're getting SM rehashes instead of a return to Kanto, rendering all of these teases and references meaningless and worthless.
The anime pulled a similar trick with Movie 20. They called it "I Choose You," and teased itself as a revisioning of Ash's early travels and his connection to Ho-Oh. Yet again, it turned out to be nothing but a cheap marketing gimmick, and it's yet another generic movie designed to market the latest Event Pok?mon (Marshadow) while also replacing the iconic original cast with random nobodies.
Why is this franchise so reluctant to revisit its past in a meaningful way? Sure, it loves to tease and reference Gen 1/Kanto, and it certainly loves to market and give new gimmicks to Gen 1 Pok?mon. But, when was the last time we actually revisited Kanto as region? Or, revisited any of its characters in a meaningful way?
It's becoming increasingly evident that past regions will never be revisited outside of a single remake. The anime also seems to have a similar philosophy in regards to past companions. They get their one cameo (Misty in AG, May in DP, Dawn in BW) and then are never seen or heard from again. Although, if Iris' lack of appearances in XY is any indication, they don't even get that much anymore.
As I said, maybe my expectations were just too high. (The 10th anniversary was even more of a non-event.) But, I can't be the only one who feels this way.
SM went out of its way to tease and reference Kanto. The protagonist moves to Alola from Kanto, Lillie travels to Kanto at the end, and an adult Red/Blue even appear in the Battle Tree. Yet, we're getting SM rehashes instead of a return to Kanto, rendering all of these teases and references meaningless and worthless.
The anime pulled a similar trick with Movie 20. They called it "I Choose You," and teased itself as a revisioning of Ash's early travels and his connection to Ho-Oh. Yet again, it turned out to be nothing but a cheap marketing gimmick, and it's yet another generic movie designed to market the latest Event Pok?mon (Marshadow) while also replacing the iconic original cast with random nobodies.
Why is this franchise so reluctant to revisit its past in a meaningful way? Sure, it loves to tease and reference Gen 1/Kanto, and it certainly loves to market and give new gimmicks to Gen 1 Pok?mon. But, when was the last time we actually revisited Kanto as region? Or, revisited any of its characters in a meaningful way?
It's becoming increasingly evident that past regions will never be revisited outside of a single remake. The anime also seems to have a similar philosophy in regards to past companions. They get their one cameo (Misty in AG, May in DP, Dawn in BW) and then are never seen or heard from again. Although, if Iris' lack of appearances in XY is any indication, they don't even get that much anymore.
As I said, maybe my expectations were just too high. (The 10th anniversary was even more of a non-event.) But, I can't be the only one who feels this way.