How could she be improved? Ahh, let's see. How about NOT making her like the Fiorello Fangirls, Maron (Krillin's ex) from Dragon Ball Z, the girls from Battle Vixens, or the girls from Love Hina (in other words, a Hina stereotype)? How about actually HAVING her try to risk her neck trying to rescue Manaphy when Phantom kidnapped him late into her movie instead of dithering like a coward and having Ash save the day again in what was supposed to be HER movie (honestly, Misty in the Mirage Kingdom arc at least actually tried to aid and defend Togetic against Colonel Hansen when it was in trouble during a similar event)? How about having her NOT cry at all when she lost the Kanto Grand Festival, or at least having her doing the same as or worse than before (I mean, seriously, Ash didn't cry when he had something similar happen in the Silver Conference, so why have her cry? It makes her seem like a huge sore loser, really. I mean, I'd forgive it if it was her first Grand Festival and/or she did horribly at it, but not only was it her second Grand Festival, she actually did far better than before.)? How about actually having her seem like she actually did have some hesitations to going to Johto and leaving her friends instead of coming across as just being glad they are off her back (from what I've read of the episode discussion on SPPf, her departure was extremely rushed)? How about actually giving her a reason for even bothering to go on a journey at all, never mind joining Ash (let's face it, she's tied with Serena for having the least justification for even going on a journey. While with Serena it was literally solely because of Ash, with May, she basically hated Pokémon, so being 10 or not, which I'll get to in a moment, she has zero reason to even bother going on a Pokémon journey at all, even if she DID get out of that rut)? Heck, how about they either make her chest very small, about as small as Misty's at least, or otherwise actually make SURE she's a much older age so her chest wouldn't come across as jarring (like, I don't know, make her 14, maybe 16 at the oldest. At least that rack wouldn't make her look like a Love Hina girl if she were 14 or 16). Seriously, Misty, Iris, and Dawn were 10, yet at least they actually LOOKED like they were 10 in the chest area, with Misty in particular even being explicitly referred to as flat-chested and scrawny. Oh, and cut down on the fanservice, especially the bit from Brave the Wave where she stripped in front of company (it may have been off-screen, but Max's reaction made pretty clear it was a striptease, actually got naked in front of everyone).
As far as whether I liked her character, seriously, even without her replacing Misty, the fact that she basically was a Hina stereotype was enough to make me hate her guts. The fact that they heavily sexualized a 10 year old (and made no bones of hiding it either per what Masamitsu Hidaka stated) also doesn't help either. I don't even like Dawn either, so don't think it's because she replaced Misty. Even if Misty was still on the main cast and May joined, if May's characterization was like that, I still would have hated her (heck, back before I actually saw, however briefly, an episode of AG, I barely even cared that May replaced Misty since I wasn't watching Pokémon anymore, and believe me, I knew she replaced Misty because I saw an article showing pictures of AG). Now, maybe if May were actually depicted in a manner closer to Misty, like not being a Hina stereotype for starters, I actually could at least tolerate her.
As far as a worthy replacement? You kidding me? I'm sorry, but May (or Dawn, for that matter. Actually, the only Pokegirl who came close to even being worthy was Iris due to her coming the closest to Misty in the scale of whether she was a Hina stereotype or not) is far from being a worthy successor.
Sorry if it's harsh for what I said, but you did ask what I thought of May, and gave you exactly what I think of her.
