Final Thoughts on X/Y.

[Palamon]

The anime ends next week, so what are your final thoughts on this particular saga, and why? Were you disappointed, were you satisfied? Etc

 

[Frozocrone]

Overall it's been fun, let down by bad writing in parts, neglecting characters (Serena up until episode 40, Clemont after the gym, recurring characters as valid rivals) and main characters not really earning their achievements (Ash and Serena didn't really lose for the sake of losing).

If I had to sum it up, I would give it a 3.5/5. Great potential and was fun, but bad execution for key moments made it hard to enjoy at times.

 

[janejane6178]

It was my fav series till the recent new episodes which ruined it for me..

 

[CidHazard]

It's been one hell of a ride... XY had revitalized the series for me after watching Pokemon BW out of obligation... Serena Eureka and Citron has grown to be one of my favorite companions for Satoshi. In terms of story telling, it's fairly decent involving a lot of intertwined stories with reasonably satisfying payoffs.

It's a Strong 7/10 or a Light 8/10 for me.

 

[Hikamaru]

I mostly agree with Frozocrone and JaneJane's points. The series had its good chemistry with the main cast and has had emotional moments (I will never get over Serena's epic haircut moment) but there have also been some letdowns caused by bad execution of the writing, such as Serena being mostly in the background until revealing her Performer goal, and of course a lot of the very recent episodes such as the Kalos League denying Ash a victory everyone wanted, Ash never defeating Alain once, Serena being denied Kalos Queen (I hate the status quo) and now, Ash losing two of his best Pokemon in Greninja and Goodra. Pretty much the XYZ arc was where this series went into letdown mode for me.

Final score is 7/10. The characters were great, but a lot of bad writing (Famon would definitely believe that) caused it to lose interest from me. Still better than the Unova series though, but Sinnoh will always be my best saga.

 

[Hikamaru]

It's been a disappointment from the start imho. There should have been more Serena at the beginning of the series and less of Ash.

I can definitely understand you. But then again, Ash is the lead and that's why the anime has always put more focus on him than his companions.

 

[Z25]

Overall the series is one of the better ones imo. Like stated, got to say I was only disappointed by the XYZ portion. Everything up to there was great, such as gym battles, and stories. I liked the group and their story arcs as well as other arcs. The Kalos league was pretty good to, Ash was smart in it and the animation and battles were done really well. Ash making it to the finals was nice and the battle was done well. Sure he lost, but it was a close match and he did well. Its slightly disappointing to see him lose, but I got over it.

The Flare arc made things great again. Loved the portrayal of Lysandre and everyone else in it. The story was well done and I liked the depth they gave Team Flare. Today's episode though, was upsetting. Goodra saying at the marshland is alright. I would prefer it to go to Oak's, but I'm pretty sure they'll leave it open for him to be called upon at any time. So that's at least nice.

But releasing Greninja is kind of dumb imo. It's a plot that works guess, as they didn't want Greninja to be special if sent to Oak's. I kind of like him being zygarde's bodyguard, but I also don't like it, as it's just to get rid of a powerhouse Ash has. This way it won't be the center of attention in the next series either. Hope Ash is given a mega in Sun and Moon since he has the Z-Ring.

Overall though, I'd give the season 8/10. For the most part it's quite good and worth watching, but has some pretty disappointing parts to it.

 

[CidHazard]

Such as Serena being mostly in the background until revealing her Performer goal

That was the point of her entire arc tho... She only left to travel because she was escaping from her mom... She never really had a goal from the start, always wanting to take everything easy. That's why the haircut scene had so much impact - After finding what her goal (Be a performer) she realized that it wasn't easy (her failing at her first tripokalon; because of her mistake) and have to push forward and try harder.

Really this was the reason why I believed that Serena will never go with Satoshi in Alola because it would ruin her whole arc.

Also, When the opening changed to accommodate Serena's arc (Basically making her the Lead) It was great... It showed just how important she really is to the series.

 

[Frozocrone]

My main problem with Serena's arc was that it felt shoe horned in (and rushed in execution). I think for the first round performances of the Rookie wins she got, everything she did was related to what she had done during 3 episodes in early XY (Rhyhorn, Poffle making and Sylveon trivia). I would not have minded her arc had she attempted a lot of things before settling on Performances (and later spreading smiles to people). Ash was on his 4th badge by the time Serena became relevant - not really what you want in the female lead.

 

[CidHazard]

That's more an issue with the shows pacing than Serena's character itself. The execution of her arc is undeniably sloppy as well... (They should've slowly raised the issue of Serena not having a goal than dropping it all in one episode... That's why it felt rushed.)

but still what we got was fairly decent for a show written for a younger audience...

 

[Frozocrone]

That's more an issue with the shows pacing than Serena's character itself. The execution of her arc is undeniably sloppy as well... (They should've slowly raised the issue of Serena not having a goal than dropping it all in one episode... That's why it felt rushed.)

but still what we got was fairly decent for a show written for a younger audience...

Yup. I couldn't quite put my finger on it until about XY130 about why I was confused about whether I liked Serena. It's not her - I don't have a problem with her personality. It's the way she's been handled that I don't like. I like to summarise her in four words: Great potential, sloppy execution.

As for fairly decent - I agree, it was, I wouldn't have given it 3.5/5 if it didn't have redeeming factors (such as the Team Flare Arc). But XY(&Z) has legitimate flaws that should be acknowledged - yes this includes the league but not because Ash lost as a lot of people state; it's because Alain had no reason to be in the league and the rivals weren't properly built up as obstacles for Ash to make it feel like he earned his achievements. Ash losing is a disappointment/rage inducing. How he lost was bad execution of the narrative.

 

[Florges]

This series overall made me enjoy the anime again. The group was tight-knit, which I loved. Ash was competent, Serena has some of the best character development out of any character in the series, and Clemont and Bonnie were great. However, I do hate that it took forty episodes for Serena to figure out what she wanted to do and the fact they stopped developing Clemont after his gym battle. I also hate the fact that Serena lost because she wasn't popular and Ash lost the league he deserved to win.

 

[Altairis]

It's been a disappointment from the start imho. There should have been more Serena at the beginning of the series and less of Ash.

I feel like there was plenty of Serena compared to Ash, being the main character. She had a lot of episodes focused on her, any more and there would have been more than Ash I feel like..