If I Could Improve the Anime in Any Way...

[Palamon]

Because this is always a relevant topic.

The Pokemon Anime is far from perfect. I'm going to ask what ways you would improve the Pokemon Anime, if you were given that right to. Refrain from changing something out of spite or hate, however, be creative with your reasons, if that's a possibility, too.

If I could change anything about the anime, it would be to add more character development to pretty much all the characters, and less Characters of the Day. I want more characters to be focused on besides the Main Characters. We know how poorly focused most of the anime characters are, and it's kind of sad.

I'd also tinker around with the running gags a bit, and make them less frequent. I know it's a kid's show, but the running gags are always stale. I feel like BW did a great job of trying to put the Team Rocket gag to rest, shame it didn't work out, however.

 

[Wobbu]

Just to focus on the current series, I like how Team Rocket still exists but not near as persistent as they were before. To improve on this, however, rather than make their appearances as minor as they currently are (like being in one episode for maybe two minutes total or the occasional episode that is all about a Team Rocket plot) maybe give them more small episode arcs (similar to the episodes when Goodra left Ash) to make them more entertaining but still relevant and not as unnecessarily intrusive as they have been in previous series.

 

[Biogoji]

Actually make Ash competent and let him evolve his Pokemon and not release his good ways every five seconds.

 

[Guest123_x1]

^I second the above post as the least of changes that should be done, along with making him and the other main characters age as the show goes on, and not resetting him to 10 years old come time for a new region (like was most notably done in Unova).
Better yet, though, replace Ash altogether with whoever is the featured male player character in the paired main series games featuring the region that the show is running in. This means that Calem would be the primary character for the Kalos run, and retroactively, Hilbert or Nate would have starred when Unova was featured.

As for Characters of the Day, make more of them have repeat appearances (such as what happened with Casey and Sakura.)

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

I feel like the Pokemon anime has so much potential and interesting concepts that are just squandered by keeping things repetitive and the same from series to series. It's something I watch on and off because it gets stale to me really fast. So how would I fix that?

My primary thing would be to remove Ash as the main character. He could've been the main character in Kanto and maybe even Johto, but I'd make it so that each region restarts with a completely new cast of characters on their Pokemon journeys, with older characters appearing from time to mentor them or for a little fan service.

Then I would have each of these regional series focus on that specific cast's character development, and relationship with their Pokemon. The Pokemon themselves would also receive more focus, character development, and personality. It wouldn't just be about the humans using them as tools. (Which is kind of what the games and anime feel like to me, to be honest)

Also, Team Rocket would be removed as recurring villains as well. I find them to be extremely grating padding that just wastes time in a few episodes that could've been more interesting without them. Like Ash, I'd only make it so that they'd stay around during the Kanto or Johto arcs, and then be replaced by more relevant villains from the games.

Lastly, I'd get better voice actors for the English dub or give them better direction. I'm not one who is all "SUB SUPERIORITY" or anything. I like most anime dubs. But I think this one is quite bad. It sounds like they're not even trying. A lot of the characters, especially Ash, speak in the same tone without changing emotion.

 

[Concussion]

It needs to actually do something with its characters, such as aging and romance. It wasted so much potential. They probably should've kept changing protagonists with each series. Then they wouldn't be in the ratings hole they are now. Then again, the anime is beyond saving in my opinion. I say just reboot it entirely. I already made my own story with Serena as the main protagonist called Pokémon XCD. It's on Bulbapedia if anyone's interested.

 

[StormArius]

Have Ash win a League for starters. A new protagonist would be welcome, because then we could explore more themes, like with Yugioh. Hell, Yugi won more things than Ash! Also, Team Rocket should appear less and less but with more of their BW villainy.

 

[Lipstick Vogue]

Seems I'm the only one here that prefers Team Rocket as joke villains which occasionally team up with the main group. I do think that every episode is a bit much though, occasional appearances would be better. I also don't mind Satoshi/Ash as the MC. Certainly wouldn't like to see them swapping him for a stoic cool type like Red.

Scrap the digivolving nonsense. Or at least don't make so many eps centring around it so often. It's marketing so I know it wouldn't happen but the lore in the Pokemon world is interesting, they could focus more on that.

More ed animations where they dance.

 

[janejane6178]

I LOVE TR, when they leave I quit watching this show..
Other than that, I think that the Pokemon series could have a huge potential if it gets darker.. the filler episodes r killing me. ( Like the last one.. arg).

 

[Desert Stream~]

Its the same thing every time. Ash and his pikachu (seriously, we need a new mascot!) go to some new town. He meets the female protagonist, or a female gym leader, as well as a male one. they get all 8 badges, and fail the league, while facing the SAME OLD BORING STUPID TEAM!!!
Then they just HAVE TO HAVE a movie for EVERY MYTHICAL EVER! In a couple years, there will be some 30 movies that are all the same.

Then they go to a new region and say, Well I'm just going to give up all my hard work training and release every pokemon for some stupid reason!

Get a new protagonist/mascot and a new evil team. stop having random gym leaders follow them (seriously, what if I wanted to challenge a gym, and they never come back?) and the pokemon series will be that much better!

 

[Concussion]

Seems I'm the only one here that prefers Team Rocket as joke villains which occasionally team up with the main group. I do think that every episode is a bit much though, occasional appearances would be better. I also don't mind Satoshi/Ash as the MC. Certainly wouldn't like to see them swapping him for a stoic cool type like Red.

Scrap the digivolving nonsense. Or at least don't make so many eps centring around it so often. It's marketing so I know it wouldn't happen but the lore in the Pokemon world is interesting, they could focus more on that.

More ed animations where they dance.

I certainly don't like the Rocket Trio. They were better in early BW, when the show actually was shaping up to be something. Then real life intervened and it went to hell.

 

[Banz]

The fillers need to be better. Of course they cannot get rid of all the fillers, but they need to make them more interesting at least. Most of the fillers are very boring (meet a random characters, do some random stuff) and you tend to forget them after a couple of months. In the first few seasons, they also focussed a lot on the mysteries of the Pokemon world. They should do that more often.
Also like someone above said, they should drop Ash and have a new group of main characters for every new season (or couple of seasons). Ash has not aged or progressed at all, all this time. Every season he does the same thing, and in the end he gets rid of all his Pokemon sans Pikachu, which makes me uestion why he is even there. If you wanted to start with a blank slate, why not have a new character? This resetting is annoying for a fan who spent the last 2-3 with Ash go from zero to a league competitor, and again back to zero. Also don't treat the secondary main characters as something use-and-throw. I have no idea what Misty, Brock and the rest are upto now.

 

[colter519]

I feel that the anime would be much improved if it was more like the Pokemon Adventures manga. I loved having the main characters change every generation. They each had a different personality and different goals and went on journeys for different reasons. This would help the anime greatly because Ash and his team wouldn't have to be reset every single region. Plus, the current protagonist could be 10 (although I prefer them to not mention an age now because it allows me to imagine more) and could be a brand new trainer who is learning the ropes of training every single time.

Villainous teams could change with each reason too. I do find that Team Rocket has a great deal of charm, and when interacting with other teams I find them to be more fun to watch than the main group. As has been stated above (and also happened in the manga) these characters could be brought back. Heroes and villains. In fact, with each game remake, new chapters of the manga happened in those regions bringing characters back and introducing a new plot. This would be fantastic!

As for filler episodes, I question what they even really are in pokemon since other anime follow manga and filler episodes are essentially non-canon. However, the anime with the more enjoyable filler to watch create filler story arcs. I believe this would help the anime greatly. Something I do value in having so many random episodes is being able to highlight various pokemon in a new region, but making them a part of a story arc (like with larvitar, meloetta, and several others) would make the entire show more interesting. BW was, in my opinion, a terrible time for the anime (not wholly without merit though), but the arc where it focused on N was actually enjoyable. I'm also excited for this new arc in Z where all of the things introduced in Kalos seem to be coming together. I would love more arcs in each region that could be tied together at the end of each journey. Or not connected, but still a memorable time.