Pokemon have bad name because of the series?

[Doublehex]

That's my belief, at least. The anime is without a doubt one of the worst pieces of animation I have ever seen, with horrendous dialogue, repetiive plot elements, and it gave the impression that Pokemon was for kids. I mean, just look at the comercial break thing, where they would have 'Guess that Pokemon'. That is something you would expect in a Toddler Activity Book.

 

[melod.ii ous demyx~♪]

^__^""

Those are some harsh feelings my friend...
Well, in all reality Pokemon IS a kid's show, and it's one of the few that can be shown to a five year old without much worry.
Personally I like it, it makes me feel so young when i watch it. I guess they could spice it up a bit, and make it less repetitive... :\ but that's what the show is all about.
I don't think it has a bad name because of the series, it certainly makes it look more childish... but it's not bad. ^w^

 

[miyo]

I disagree. I love the series very much.. it was because of the series that made me go into Pokemon.

 

[Astinus]

When you mention the word "Pokémon" to a non-fan, then the first thought that comes to their mind is the little yellow rodent saying "Pikachu" and the goofy kid with a hat. Why is this true in the majority of the cases? Because the anime show was really the aspect of the franchise that received the most attention. With the seizure episode for Porygon, the movies becoming blockbusters, and the show on television most of the time - getting its start on basic cable, which enabled it to be viewed by the widest audience - it is no surprise that most people know about the show.

The plots of the episodes do get a little stale over time, with the same basic formula being followed for most of them. But, then again, the only thing on the writers' minds is advertisment for the latest game/movie/money maker. If you want any real character development, deep plots, or anything of that sort, you are watching the wrong anime.

This is an anime for little children. All that they want to see mostly is their favorite monsters in great battles. They really don't care what sort of emotional development Ash went through as he loses a battle. They just want to see Charizard kick some major...gluteus maximus. (There are exceptions to the rule. I know that there are some young children who can follow a complex plot. More power to them, I say.)

The best thing to do with those who say that the Pokémon franchise is for little kids is this: Show them the games. There are the EVs, the IVs, the GVs, and other strategic aspects that would make them think twice about calling Pokémon "childish." And if they still don't believe that there is something for every age group, then really, there's no hope for them!

 

[icer]

Although the anime is not a bad show [quite fun to watch] it doesn't quite have the mature appeal which can be applied to the games. The anime is designed for kids, though adult Pokemon fans can enjoy it it's more tailored to appeal for kids, even more so than the games. I think it is also targeted at those too young to play the games very well, to hook them into Pokemon. The anime gets dumbed down even more for its Western releases. Most people when you mention Pokemon think of the TV show or maybe the card game, they are unaware of the games or think they are a spinoff of the show rather than vice versa. Since the TV show appears kiddie at least on initial appearences to a non-Pokemon player, people get their false impression that Pokemon is some dumb thing for little kids. In fact a long time ago before I played the Pokemon games, I thought Pokemon was some dumb thing for little kids based on seeing about 2 episodes of the anime and general [usually faulty] media coverage/observation of little kids. During the big Pokemon craze all the newspaper and magazine articles were about the TV show and maybe the card games, the gameboy games were barely mentioned. Probably because the games were so good they couldn't find faults to complain and sensationalise about. But the TV show had the Porygon incident and people would knife each other over rare cards and things so they could make lots of sensationalist stories about them. Also the TV show is free for people to view but they have to buy other things like cards, games etc. so more people have seen the TV show.
Anyway every time somebody finds out I like Pokemon they think I'm weird and it's something for little kids because all they have seen is the TV show and I have to explain I like the games not the TV show. [Though I do think the anime is fun because it depicts my beloved Pokemon and stuff from the games.] I wish these people could see the complexity of competitive battling. the difficulty of obtaining the gold symbols in the battle frontier in Emerald, the complex and imaginative world which has been invented etc.

 

[Hikarii]

There's too many threads like these I tire of repeating myself x3

Terrible animation? I'll have you know that the Pokemon anime HEAVILY influenced my art style. I got into drawing BECAUSE of Pokemon, I draw BECAUSE of Pokemon, and I LOVE drawing. This is personal preference, but I prefer Pokemon's art style over other anime such as Kiddy Grade and Air Gear, and sometimes Bleach (But I LOVE the manga style. <3) where sometimes the disproportionalities are blatantly obvious. Shiny, shiny hair gets to look too unnatural sometimes, and in most anime, I feel the blush looks a little odd.

One more thing. Hands. Satoshi has the hottest hands I've ever seen, and I want to draw hands like that. I pay a lot of attention to hands in anime, and never have I fell in love with anyone's hands besides Satoshi. Satoshi's hands > all.

/biased artist

 

[ArmchairRomeo]

When you mention the word "Pokémon" to a non-fan, then the first thought that comes to their mind is the little yellow rodent saying "Pikachu" and the goofy kid with a hat. Why is this true in the majority of the cases? Because the anime show was really the aspect of the franchise that received the most attention. With the seizure episode for Porygon, the movies becoming blockbusters, and the show on television most of the time - getting its start on basic cable, which enabled it to be viewed by the widest audience - it is no surprise that most people know about the show.

The plots of the episodes do get a little stale over time, with the same basic formula being followed for most of them. But, then again, the only thing on the writers' minds is advertisment for the latest game/movie/money maker. If you want any real character development, deep plots, or anything of that sort, you are watching the wrong anime.

This is an anime for little children. All that they want to see mostly is their favorite monsters in great battles. They really don't care what sort of emotional development Ash went through as he loses a battle. They just want to see Charizard kick some major...gluteus maximus. (There are exceptions to the rule. I know that there are some young children who can follow a complex plot. More power to them, I say.)

The best thing to do with those who say that the Pokémon franchise is for little kids is this: Show them the games. There are the EVs, the IVs, the GVs, and other strategic aspects that would make them think twice about calling Pokémon "childish." And if they still don't believe that there is something for every age group, then really, there's no hope for them!

Thank you for this excellent post. My friends just don't seem to believe that there can be any good games besides first person shooters. (Except one of them, who is a huge Pokemon fan.) I never once thought of showing them all the stats like that. I think I'll try it.

 

[Gama85]

I don't really care about the anime. I'm more into the games and the various manga series

I think the last eopisode I watched fully was the Bulbasaur vs. Scyther match during the Indigo Plateau, and before that, the ep where TR was trying to kidnap all those pokemon in viridian city pokecenter (the 2nd episode I believe). Since then I've only watched clips of battles during the gym matches/tounaments.

 

[miyo]

This is an anime for little children. All that they want to see mostly is their favorite monsters in great battles. They really don't care what sort of emotional development Ash went through as he loses a battle. They just want to see Charizard kick some major...gluteus maximus. (There are exceptions to the rule. I know that there are some young children who can follow a complex plot. More power to them, I say.)

interesting post.. now that you've mentioned it, I remember I watched Pokemon because it was very funny (the first episode I watched was Season One episode where Ash and gang enters Lavender Town to find ghost pokemon.. and they get fooled by gastly, haunter and gengar...). Yeah, I was still a kid back then, and I really didn't pay attention to emotional stuff.. I was more into the battles and evolutions.. I remember how excited I get when a Pokemon evolves, or when a battle takes place..