Is it just me, or is Team Rocket going downhill?

[Kitori_theTeamAquaSuicune]

Okay, when the anime first started, I thought they were your pretty decent kooky villains. Now as the anime grows longer, they've kinda outgrown some of the jokes.

Now as the anime goes even further, I've noticed that they've changed the voices. As disappointed as I was to hear that, it got even worse. Team Rocket has now changed their motto in the Shinnoh series.

But that is just me. Do you think they're going downhill or uphill?

 

[bluechu]

i think they are just put in there for someone to make fun of.

i do agree with you, if you look back at around the beginning of the series (back in good old kanto) they were actually steeling OTHER pokemon, and not stalking pikachu like they do now. before they seemed like REAL villians, and now they are just a joke. *sigh*

 

[Adelaide-Amber]

i agree. it is going downhill. right now they're just so annoying. i'll be watching and getting interested in the plot, and then they show up, and i get this sinking feeling... they totally ruined the episode. i think they should cut back on how much they use team rocket. it's excessive. every episode i've caught in D/P they've been in it. i don't think they should be in every single episode, and it's just to steal another pokemon. really lame. and i don't like their new motto at all, i would have rather heard the other one for the 10824792645976 time...

 

[Sushi.]

I do go with you guys that we all like the old motto better then the new one. But at least the new motto can be a little bit funny some times right am I right?

 

[Apathetic_Yen]

Wow, where have you been this entire time? They've been down that friggin hill since the Orange Islands

 

[Miss Reyna]

I think Team Rocket is actually going no where. I mean they are not the same same Team Rocket from the first season but they are actually not going anywhere, uphill nor downhill. Ever since they first season they been tone down from major villains to comic relief villains. They still do bad things but they are not what we call evil. Really that is their main point in the show to be a joke or at least tell them but every once in a while Jessie, James and Meowth do pull a good job and come close to stealing a massive amount of pokemon but are always foiled by those meadling kids and their pikachu. Teeheehee

Yeppie Team Rocket isn't the same Team Rocket that they were before because in some episodes all they do is just appear and then blast off like in the recent episode Buizel Your Way Out of This! but like episodes like A Staravia is Born and A Gruff Act to Follow and Wild In the Streets prove they can pull a big job.

Also you have to admit there are some parts in the anime where they are funny can make the fillar episodes intresting with just them being there. Take All Dress Up with Somewhere To Go!. Without Team Rocket being there then it would have been just a very boring episode.

Also the mottos sometimes do rock. I kinda like it when the change the mottos skeleton because then it isn't the same. I have to admit the original motto was running a big low on rewriting it after five seasons. Battle Frontier was the sixth season right? Su? Still it been good so far. My fave so far was in All Dress Up with Somewhere To Go! wit the depress James and Mime Jr. Teeheehee

I guess to sum it all up is that Team Rocket hasn't been going downhill at all. They just been tone down and just in the same spot since after the first season which I think you can say is sometime during mid Kanto season. Still they are still going strong for me. I can't imagne seeing Pokemon with Ash and no Team Rocket following close behind. Teeheehee

 

[Charaxes]

I second Reyna. Although, there was something Dogasu said long ago, that I think it's apt. It was his commentary on the Zangoose/Seviper episode.

You know how there are all these fans out there who believe that the Rocket-Dan is getting old and that the show would be a whole lot better if they left? Sometimes I think that would be true, but when they save an absolutely horrible episode like this one, I can't see the show being the same without them. I didn't care about Kiyo at all in this episode, and I didn't really care too much for the Habunake/Seviper rivalry. No, the part of this episode that kept me watching was the Rocket-Dan. Musashi getting angry over Yamato showed some nice continuity, and seeing Nyasu fill in for Musashi during the motto was a great moment as well.

There are many recent episodes where I think that. I definitely think that during the Contest episodes, but I can understand the frustration. The series didn't want to do serious villains, so we're stuck like this. Which is why you got the games, Special, and other outlets for your need for proper villainy. It's still a shame, though.

https://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/houen/ep048.html

 

[MasterWGS]

Not that I wish Team Rocket was more "serious" (I actually enjoy them being kooky/silly), I just wish they were more... threatening, I guess...

I mean, I know, they're not going to win. They're not going to ever capture and maintain Pikachu. But I wish that when they DID show up, they'd be a lot more troublesome for the group. Not just these three annoying losers, but someone who actually makes things rough, and makes you wonder, "If they went after anyone else, would they actually succeed?" and make you think, "Yeah, they probably would."

I guess I just wished they were in the very first episode they appeared in. They came in, and everyone was scared. Only super-charged Pikachu could stop them.

Eh, but as of now, they just sort of annoy me, because I feel like they don't add anything except for the occasionally funny bit. I wish they actually added some sort of tension to the show.

 

[Cookies]

I agree, I mean, they were WANTED criminals with their own posters in the second episode!

Now they're just there for comic relief. And I'm fine with that. Sometimes there jokes make me laugh in a dull episode.

 

[PLatinumUser]

i think after getting shocked and blasted away about a million times thats why they arent doing it anymore at least Jessie and James

 

[Chibi - Dalgia_X]

I think Pikachu's Thunder has sizzled their style

I used to loove seeing Team Rocket in Kanto because they actually tied to blow up canyons, Destroy Buildings, Drown/Drought people they were just pure evil but now they've softened up and lost their touch

also hav u noticed that they always seen to appear right in the middle of the show for some reason

 

[MewthreeXL]

They appear right before the climax of the episode.

 

[Pokekid1995]

I thank they should be out of the show for a whoile and return in kanto

 

[Jorah]

i think they are just put in there for someone to make fun of.

i do agree with you, if you look back at around the beginning of the series (back in good old kanto) they were actually steeling OTHER pokemon, and not stalking pikachu like they do now.

Eh? In Kanto they only ever focused on Pikachu, in the later series they completly ignore Pikachu sometimes.

before they seemed like REAL villians, and now they are just a joke. *sigh*

I know. In the first episode they actually scared a whole town. In their second episode they lost to a Caterpie. LOL They went downhill from their second episode.

i agree. it is going downhill. right now they're just so annoying. i'll be watching and getting interested in the plot, and then they show up, and i get this sinking feeling... they totally ruined the episode. i think they should cut back on how much they use team rocket. it's excessive. every episode i've caught in D/P they've been in it. i don't think they should be in every single episode, and it's just to steal another pokemon. really lame. and i don't like their new motto at all, i would have rather heard the other one for the 10824792645976 time...

Not just D/P they've been in EVERY episode since Indigo League. Except the first. But I agree with you about their appearances being annoying, particuarly in gym battles. I get really into the battle and Team Rocket comes along and ruins it. Its improved in D/P though, Croakgunk kept them at bay XD and there have actually been a few episodes where they didn't blast off! I don't think they should be in every episode as well.

Anyway, Team Rocket have ALWAYS been comic relief. Not that they're funny every episode, but they can make some episodes funny.

But if people mean they were more evil because they used bombs, well...in the newer episodes they'd probably be edited out lol. I mean, even in the older episodes they called them "blaster bombs" instead of just bombs. It makes it seem more childish and less harmful in a way, like a toy. But that was the dubbers fault. But they wouldn't be able to make Team Rocket seem somewhat threatening anyway...that would require the writers to, you know, actually put in a bit of thought every now and again. Team Rocket sometimes seem like an easy way to put more "action" into the episode or something to me.

 

[Scales]

Team rocket is just annoying now. I wish they could get some new antagonists instead of them. Come to think of it I wish they could just reboot the series back at pallet town

Eh? In Kanto they only ever focused on Pikachu, in the later series they completly ignore Pikachu sometimes.

Actually in Kanto they were stealing other pokemon along with Pikachu. But then Ash and the gang come and stop them

 

[Jorah]

Actually in Kanto they were stealing other pokemon along with Pikachu. But then Ash and the gang come and stop them

Oh, I don't remember. I definatly rememeber that they ignore Pikachu in the newer one's though (sometimes)

 

[meltedfluff]

Basically the entire of Pokemon went downhill about the middle of Johto, possibly even before (I haven't seen the start of Johto so I don't know.)

Team Rocket had a lot of depth. They seemed like bad guys sometimes, but they had reasons for everything, and there was so much beauty, and drama and things that made you just hang on to their characters and believe that they were good and love them even more.

The underscore of Pokemon for different episodes and scenes really made it what it became a long time ago, and so many fans hung onto Pokemon because it was just so deep and beautiful, and amazing in every single way. And yes, there were jokes in there that either made you laugh or think really hard, like about James's sexuality, Ash's father and Butch's voice (and probably more that I haven't heard of yet) but it all pulled the fans together and made one huge family of fansites on the internet and awesome fanfics that were so dark or deep that they really drew you in.

And there were parts in Pokemon that scared you, or made you cry because the storyline was so sad and touching... but the best parts about them were... like I've just said above.

Unfortunately because Pokemon is entirely about making money instead of the actual depth and proper story to the fandom now, the series has been completely raped so yeah. Team Rocket has gone down as well as everything else. They went downhill a looooooong time ago.

And Pikachu is retarded now it's like level 500 or something, and there are no references back to their old Pokemon, like how much they loved them or were family or whatever. No history for any character now, or beautiful memories for the older, classic Pokemon. Same with Ash's Pokemon. TR's Pokemon just decided to leave them on a whim because of some random guy... which I can't remember much about, except he had a cage or a.. gun or something? The TR Pokemon wouldn't have run away they would've fought so...

 

[SBaby]

What can I say? You pretty much hit the nail on the head. But what really bothers me is the fact that the recurring (and undeniably redundant) Badges - League theme seems to overshadow concepts even as basic as what age the characters are. It doesn't help that we've suffered with this plot four times now. Can't they think of anything new?

What Nintendo really needs to do is show some backbone and start developing some of these characters, instead of simply replacing them just to 'start out fresh'. And maybe while they're at it, they might do something even more challenging, like creating a real villain. I mean, everyone else does.

Seriously, Nintendo's getting to the point where they're becoming another Sega.

 

[Miss Reyna]

Team Rocket isn't really suppose to be taken as a serious villain. Or at least the Rocket Trio we know. Maybe it is true that the show went downhill since the middle of the Jotho Saga but also remember that during the Johto Saga was the development and some depth behind the group of Team Rocket. There weren't many episodes but there were some where some smaller branches of Team Rocket like Tyson from Lake of Rage showed some seriousness to Team Rocket.

Also if you are intrested in serious villains then you can always look forward to episodes featuring Jay. She is a pretty serious villain when you think about it. Maybe just as serious as the Team Rocket group. Still to keep up with the format of Pokemon serious villains she only appears like every ten to twenty episodes. If I remember right she has appears twice in the Sinnoh saga.

The Team Rocket trio aren't the best of villains but they are the only main villains in the show and every once in a while they do come up with good plans and really I kinda like how they are in Sinnoh because some of their plans can be compared to one of the other Rocket teams, Cassidy and Bunch, Butch I mean. Teeheehee Watch Gymbaliar and see how closely related it is to one of Cassidy and Butch's plans. That one was a good one. I know there is another one during Battle Frontier where they had another good one. It just that Ash and friends come along and mess things up for them. Also they don't go after Pikachu all the time. Like in one episode they weren't even following Ash and friends and decided to catch bunch of flying type pokemon and Ash and Friends just came along and found out about it. Still I am kinda glad they are not serious or come up with serious plans all the time because if they did then the show will kinda be boring or in need in some change.

 

[Charaxes]

To go with Reyna's musings, "Dues and Don'ts," the Lugia three-parter, the Lake of Rage, plus the Raikou project (which was around the same time as "Dues and Don'ts" in Japan) gave a good look at the Rocket org toward the end of Johto. So, there can be a serious look after all, and our Rockets rather blended in each one, more or less. While Hoenn didn't feature the org, that's why you had the Chronicle episodes.

I'd argue bringing back Homura/Izumi as a nice counterpoint for our Rockets. If they could bother to return Bannai, then I don't see a problem.

Maybe the writers just don't like to think on evil for evil's sake. Hm.