In terms of quality, why do people consider Kanto better than other regions?

[Vernikova]

Really, why? I hear people talk about how great Kanto is compared to Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh a lot and it is really puzzling. It's pacing was pretty bad, any Gym battle outside of Lt. Surge or Blaine were mediocre or cheap, and the Pokémon, the real stars of the show, weren't treated well at all. Out of Ash's, Misty's, and Brock's Pokémon, only Charmander, Pidgeotto, Caterpie, and Krabby. In Sinnoh alone Ash has evolved Gligar, Turtwig, Chimchar, Aipom, and Starly as well as Dawn's Swinub and Brock's Bonsly. That's almost twice as many and they haven't even started the Sinnoh League so many more Pokémon may be evolving as well.

I know that there's going to be someone that says "It's their opinion." but I just want a better reason than that. I mean, you can say that you like Kanto better but it's when people say that it's better in quality when compared to Hoenn, Sinnoh, or even Johto that confuses me. Brock is being treated better, the female is bing treated better, the criminal syndicate is actually appearing unlike Team Rocket who really did nothing outside of the S. S. Anne and creating Mewtwo, and Ash's rival(s) are actually appearing with some kind of development with them.

This thread will probably get 1 to 5 posts but I could care less as long as someone actually answers the question: In terms of quality, why do people consider Kanto better than the other regions?

 

[Lash]

It's the original region. It's the one original fans grew up on, the one that easily got anyone new to the franchise hooked.

I should know, I've been a fan since 1999. Back when Kanto was the only known region in the states before Johto was introduced. Since Kanto introduced me to this eternal franchise, it will always be my preferred region.

 

[Vernikova]

So it's because of nostalgia?

That was actually the answer I was expecting. I've been a fan since Kanto as well but I never seen the appeal of it to be honest and I was just wondering why people viewed Kanto in that light.

Oh well. That's the only answer I need so thank you.

 

[Mew~]

Nostalgia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And people just love complaining for no good reason.... its realy realy rrreeeaaaallllyyy stupid you people need to wake up and smell the fresh air! the indigo season is never comming back and thats it XP

No offence to anyone ^^

 

[Jorah]

So it's because of nostalgia?

That was actually the answer I was expecting. I've been a fan since Kanto as well but I never seen the appeal of it to be honest and I was just wondering why people viewed Kanto in that light.

Oh well. That's the only answer I need so thank you.

Hey, no. I found a great answer that isn't about nostalgia a few weeks ago on bmgf, and decided to save it, and seeing as you want an actual answer, I'll post it. The second is a response to the first.

Spoiler:

The one thing people miss though is the "adventure" aspect of the series. This is one thing Kanto did nicely, and Hoenn had some of this too. The DP series is very heavily focused on battles. Even the fillers this arc are about battles. The characters are constantly battling or training their Pokemon. So if you don't find battles too interesting, I can see why people would lose interest in the current arc. The older seasons were more about the adventure, whereas the newer arcs (from say Battle Frontier onward, Hoenn wasn't as battle heavy just yet), the show became battle-centric. So the point is, do you like battles or adventure/comedy more? That's the main difference between Kanto and what the show has become.

Very good points, very solid summation of things. Once you isolate the key differences like that, it's really easy to recognize.

I mean, since when have we had another case like The Marsh Badge, in which the gym leader was slightly corrupted and threatened Ash and co upon defeat, or they traveled to a dark and mysterious haunted tower to obtain a ghost Pokemon that would be key in success over the gym leader. There was more of an "adventure story" to it. Now it's more training and battle-oriented, in which Ash and co must develop techniques and strategies, or gain further experience before taking on a gym leader like Fantina. It's kind of straightforward. Now we see a lot of Ash, and even Dawn, training to improve, and actually developing various techniques/moves. Whereas in Kanto, battles at time would take a backseat, and Ash wouldn't even win each of his badges conventionally.

There is deeeefinitely a difference, and it really just comes down to preference, because both are great. In fact, if you really look at it, you can kind of see a steady development towards where the show is now...Kanto was a good mixture of adventure and battle, leaning towards more adventure.OI took this adventure theme and ran with it, by having the gang explore the islands, and even having the different gym leaders provide particular challenges and tasks that varied from battling.

While returning to the usual battle format, Johto had also packed the show with adventure, so much so that they had many episodes centering around quests that were unrelated to the goal of the protagonist, creating at least a 20-30 ep spand between most gym battles. In doing so, it tried to explore more of the habitat and nature of different Pokemon, which separated itself from Kanto in the type of adventure aspect.

Hoenn really began to emphasize the battling and competitive aspect of Pokemon more. Adventures were still carried out, but it was clear that there was kind of an overturn as to the direction of the show. With the addition of contests, we would not only see gym battles galore, but those of the contest as well, creating more competition, and more training involved.

Battle Frontier was like the exact opposite of OI in some aspects. It was clear that the theme was definitely to conquer the BF and Contests in Kanto.

And then, of course, there's Sinnoh. Sinnoh obviously has adventures as well, but it's quite clear that the competition aspect of the show has accelerated. We have a lot of onscreen training going on - much more than any amount we've had in the past. There's an emphasis on strategy, gaining experience, techniques, etc... All relating back to the main goal of either of the protagonists. Even in the Galactic Arcs, etc... There's a lot more battling going on than say, when Ash would take on some TR heads in the older seasons. The ratio's shifted to get to this point.

 

[DonRoyale]

Two words: Character development.

There is very little character in the anime now that Ash has become a complete bland Gary-Stu (He's always been a Gary-Stu, he was just less bland when he was a bravado-ridden dumbass), Dawn has very little to no personality whatsoever, while Misty was chock full of it (which is the main reason why I like Misty over the other two girls in the first place), and Brock's whole flirting with girls routine has gotten very, VERY old.

And we had James' old VA, for the couple episodes it mattered.

The Pokemon might not have evolved, but to this day, they're some of his strongest. Bulbasaur can outperform some of Ash's strongest fully-evolved Pokemon.

Plus, there's "WHO'S THAT POKEMON?!", and the PokeRap.
The Narm-ridden opening theme.
The great BGM's. (RBY Gym theme, to give an example)
And the lack of filler, in comparison to the show's future (Dedicating an entire arc pretty much to filler, well over half of Johto being entirely filler, a lot of AG being filler, and the filler in DP being...retarded. :|)

Kanto ftw.

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

Kanto was great but honestly the fights were a bit boring, I mean when Ash was gonna battle Richie in the Pokemon he only gets 5minutes to battle since he got kidnapped by Team Rocket for the first 15. Now Team Rocket don't intrude on important fights people have been waiting for but it's annoying if they try to get Pikachu during a League match.

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

I think because of Nostalgia and for the fact that the Battle Frontier was placed in Kanto


:t354:TG

 

[Inferno1]

I have no idea why but i dont really like kanto lol i think it is just a bit of a mess

 

[Shadow Sneak Sableye]

Kanto was great but honestly the fights were a bit boring, I mean when Ash was gonna battle Richie in the Pokemon he only gets 5minutes to battle since he got kidnapped by Team Rocket for the first 15. Now Team Rocket don't intrude on important fights people have been waiting for but it's annoying if they try to get Pikachu during a League match.

that was part of the suspence to see if he'd even make it in time.

 

[Napalm]

Kanto is what I first got used to, the classic, original idea. The classic voice, the classic characters. The classics are always the best in quality, I think.

 

[BowtiePenguin]

1. The Pokemon were well-balanced, original and varied.
2. The story was spread out a bit and didn't play out like a check list.
3. The absence of stupid gimmicks like the PokeNav, Poketch, etc.
4. The story was, at this point, fresh and original.

You can't beat the original. Just ask 'New Coke'.

There's more, I just forget them.

 

[Hatenko]

I'd think anyone prefers the region that was newest when they were introduced to the franchise. I was introduced to the anime about the time of late Kanto/early Johto and started playing at Hoenn. However, I prefer Sinnoh because I think it has the greatest diversity.

 

[ReyRey-Pyon]

NostalgiaNostalgiaNostalgiaNostalgia
its actually pretty dangerous though, and should only be taken in small servings ~n~ /high

i have no opinion on the region itself
but i like the sinnoh pokemon and characters just as much as i liked the kanto ones, if not more

but in the case of the games, johto out awesomes them all

 

[Guns]

1st gen pokemon are my favorite and so are the gym leaders. I have nostalgia too, but I despise the actual region of Kanto geography wise.

 

[river_hunter979]

Yeah, Nostalgia is a huge reason for it being liked so much, but not only that.
I think there's something that can't be explained a 100% about it. It was new and fresh with characters that actually had personality. I also truly believe that then Pokemon ,in my opinion was not as toned down for younger people as it is now.It had something that was different, probably the uncertainty of the characters, Ash as a beginning trainers goes off to face the world and most of the time came out with unexpected challenges.Now its just the same thing over and over, and the personality has been sucked dry.
lol that's my opinion, yeah that was sorta long but that what I think.

 

[EagleVision1999]

I also think it's because he actually began back then. I mean he had good reasons to be silly and I liked his start. Back them it was understandable when he acted stupid or lost battle because of lacking knowledge because he's just a little dense. And being shouted at by Misty for doing something totally stupid was funny (although I seriously didn't like Misty back then...havn't forgiven her the Caterpie and Togepie-egg thing...).
And when he first completed the collecting of his eight batches it was actually very special because it was the first time. It's the same with his paticipating in the Pokémon league. It was the first time and we saw it with the eyes from a beggining Trainer. It's just special to take part in someting big like this withut knowing what will happen.
Back then, Pokemon was about the clumsy trainer Ash Ketchum who began its journey witch endet when he lost the league and returned home.
After that they stretched it so much that it became unbelivable (I mean...more unbelivable than it already was). He continued his journey over years without aging (don't argue...officially he's still ten) and with similar things happening (the bike thing the losing-again-against-friend thing ). It's also ridiculous how Team Rocket followed him all these years. I can imagine doing this one year or so (well probably not) but this is too much (although I love the trio ;_; ).

Basically what I wanted to say is that everything gets old after some time. Back them it was fresh and new and the storyline, due to the fact that he was a real beginner, seemed more exciting and belivable.

Personally, I like unexperienced really-ten-year-old-idiot-Ash better ;_;

 

[False Flag]

Really, why? I hear people talk about how great Kanto is compared to Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh a lot and it is really puzzling.

It's nostalgia. Kanto is what started it all. ;_;

It's pacing was pretty bad, any Gym battle outside of Lt. Surge or Blaine were mediocre or cheap, and the Pokémon, the real stars of the show, weren't treated well at all.

Even those battles were full of hax. *Aim for the horn, pikachu!
*Although in the Pokemon TCG, ground types are considered fighting and can be hit with electric attacks.

This thread will probably get 1 to 5 posts but I could care less as long as someone actually answers the question: In terms of quality, why do people consider Kanto better than the other regions?

Nostalgia, and the fact those guys miss Misty. When Misty left, they stopped watching.

 

[Miniduffa]

TBH, I think Kanto and Johto both trump Hoenn and Sinnoh. I just find them way more interesting. Also, the Orange Islands are quite good as well, if lacking Brock. Hoenn and Sinnoh fail from a loack of Misty :p

 

[XxDawnfanxX]

It was the peak of the amine of course. Johto and Kanto were the best ones because the origionals were fun to watch. I think it kind of fell off during Hoenn and Sinnoh. James new voices sucks, I have started to adjust to Ash's but I also miss his attitude he had in the origional regions. Kanto and Johto were my favorites anyway, I loved the regions and the characters. Sinnoh does have my favorite female, Dawn though which is the only reason I still watch. I'll always be a Kanto boy at heart.