Pokemon Sun and Moon Ratings

[Unown Seer]

I don't think there's ever been much of a correlation between hype factor and ratings. What the producers care about is the anime's effect on merchandise sales.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

I don't think there's ever been much of a correlation between hype factor and ratings.

Then why is it that when shows get very low ratings, they tend to get cancelled? Just look at Heroes, GCB, Maureen, or Super Mario World (and that one, like Pokémon, literally relies on sales of Super Mario World games and merchandise, yet it got cancelled due to low ratings)? Or for the Japanese side of things, Love Hina, which got cancelled due to low ratings, certainly low revenue, and the Mega Man Star Force anime. A lot of the guys who do that rely on ratings to succeed, and ratings often are tied directly to hype (that's also why they tend to do some stunts to boost ratings).

 

[BanFairy]

I don't think there's ever been much of a correlation between hype factor and ratings. What the producers care about is the anime's effect on merchandise sales.

Hum... Why are they not selling Misty and Brock merchandise then ? Be real , they tried a big fanservice factor and it failed ,Brock and Misty's return failed to bring back more viewers and Japanese don't really care about them anymore...the ratings didn't up even with the original characters and it's a disappointment.

What's even the point of this thread if at the end everybody is saying "Ratings doesn't mean anything" ? Just close this thread if that's the case.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Hum... Why are they not selling Misty and Brock merchandise then ? Be real , they tried a big fanservice factor and it failed ,Brock and Misty's return failed to bring back more viewers and Japanese don't really care about them anymore...the ratings didn't up even with the original characters and it's a disappointment.

What's even the point of this thread if at the end everybody is saying "Ratings doesn't mean anything" ? Just close this thread if that's the case.

To be fair, they actually ARE selling Misty merchandise. I'd know because I actually just preordered one set of merchandise from eBay a couple of days to a week ago (Gachapon Misty. Well, technically, its Gachapons of all girls from Misty to Serena by Takara-Tomy, but I largely got the whole set just for Misty, and from what I checked out, Misty actually was sold out by the time I tried to preorder back in July. And I know this much, Iris was the last one sold out.). And that's not even counting that bonus poster with Ash, Misty, and Brock in a campfire that was to be released on the October issue of this Japanese Anime magazine. Or the fact that Misty got a 20th anniversary box with her Togepi and Psyduck on it (actually preordered it myself). And heck, they also released that Brock figurine shortly thereafter by the same company. I think its the G.E.M. series. And the fact that they quickly sold out shows just how popular they are. And that's just for the anime-related merchandise. For game merchandise, she even got a figurine based on her Gen 1 days released as well, alongside Brock and the other gym leaders for the games' 20th anniversary.

And do I really have to remind you that that Japanese poll had Misty ranking second-highest of the girls (second only to Serena) and third overall, and Brock getting first place? That was a Japanese-exclusive poll, issued to 10-29 year olds, which formed 90% of the voting bloc. If they got as high as they did, it's pretty obvious they were intensely popular even to this day. In fact, you should know, since you were the one who posted the link to the poll in the first place.

 

[Frozocrone]

Slight correction, 90% of respondents were 19 and above.

Furthermore it's not 'favorite character' - the questionnaire asked for the three companions. There's no telling how many people put Brock down as a second choice, or any other variation that may sway results for characters.

 

[BanFairy]

To be fair, they actually ARE selling Misty merchandise. I'd know because I actually just preordered one set of merchandise from eBay a couple of days to a week ago (Gachapon Misty. Well, technically, its Gachapons of all girls from Misty to Serena by Takara-Tomy, but I largely got the whole set just for Misty Misty, and from what I checked out, Misty actually was sold out by the time I tried to preorder back in July. And I know this much, Iris was the last one sold out.). And that's not even counting that bonus poster with Ash, Misty, and Brock in a campfire that was to be released on the October issue of this Japanese Anime magazine. Or the fact that Misty got a 20th anniversary box with her Togepi and Psyduck on it (actually preordered it myself). And heck, they also released that Brock figurine shortly thereafter by the same company. I think its the G.E.M. series. And the fact that they quickly sold out shows just how popular they are. And that's just for the anime-related merchandise. For game merchandise, she even got a figurine based on her Gen 1 days released as well, alongside Brock and the other gym leaders for the games' 20th anniversary.

And do I really have to remind you that that Japanese poll had Misty ranking second-highest of the girls (second only to Serena) and third overall, and Brock getting first place? That was a Japanese-exclusive poll, issued to 10-29 year olds, which formed 90% of the voting bloc. If they got as high as they did, it's pretty obvious they were intensely popular even to this day. In fact, you should know, since you were the one who posted the link to the poll in the first place.

Like you said it's Gachapons of all girls from Misty to Serena so... It's not a real Misty merchandise.
GEM series is releasing almost every important characters like Team Rocket , Brock , Lana etc... Serena will get one soon but there's still no pictures of it.

I never said that they are not popular but yeah I should have used another word , I meant that the young audience of Sun&Moon don't care about them and that's why the ratings are still low even with their appearences, that what I meant.

My point was just... I hope this low rating won't affect others characters from coming back, we saw in today's episode some performers from XY&Z and a Oshawott , I hope it's a foreshadowing for Iris or Serena (or even May).

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Slight correction, 90% of respondents were 19 and above.

Furthermore it's not 'favorite character' - the questionnaire asked for the three companions. There's no telling how many people put Brock down as a second choice, or any other variation that may sway results for characters.

Wait, I thought Dephender's translation indicated that 90% of them were between 10 and 29, instead of 19-29. It mentioned something about half being 10-19, and the other half being 19-29 in terms of who voted.

And I never said "favorite", actually, I said popular. In fact, technically, I said much of the same thing as you did last time, that a lot of people thought Misty, Brock, and Serena should return.

Like you said it's Gachapons of all girls from Misty to Serena so... It's not a real Misty merchandise.
GEM series is releasing almost every important characters like Team Rocket , Brock , Lana etc... Serena will get one soon but there's still no pictures of it.

I never said that they are not popular but yeah I should have used another word , I meant that the young audience of Sun&Moon don't care about them and that's why the ratings are still low even with their appearences, that what I meant.

My point was just... I hope this low rating won't affect others characters from coming back, we saw in today's episode some performers from XY&Z and a Oshawott , I hope it's a foreshadowing for Iris or Serena (or even May).

If she got toys and other stuff from it, it's Misty merchandise, period, even if it's part of a collection rather than dedicated to her exclusively. Pokémon rarely has character-exclusive merchandising lines anyways. Even Dead or Alive doesn't have their characters have their own merchandising line, and those girls are popular enough to have their own fanclubs. Besides, on some of the sites that preordered those stuff, you actually CAN choose which ones you want (I'd know because I actually attempted that. However, by the time I figured out where to find them, they were all sold out of all girls save for Iris).

And just so you're aware, that Anime magazine I alluded to that had the bonus poster of Ash, Misty and Brock at a campfire, that had an interview that, among others, stated that they may revisit other regions and may revisit other of Ash's friends shortly.

 

[Rajas20]

Ratings is hardly ever a good factor considering most people watch all shows illegally so I agree with what's said above that merchandising is all that matters. With all the nods SM are putting in to hint many previous regions, it's fair to assume that returns will occur just spaced out.

 

[Frozocrone]

I misread my quoted post, sorry. 90% was 10-29.

That said, it's hardly representative of the age group (7-12).

The questionnaire asked for three favorite companions, sorry for confusion.

That 'may visit other regions line' seems like a will they won't they keep watching to find out to be honest. Because Tracey was nowhere to be seen and quite frankly Pikachu forgot the specific term Pikachu-Pi used when referencing Kasumi (Misty's Japanese name). Seemed a lot like fanservice - and yeah they may bring back some characters but I wouldn't be optimistic.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Ratings is hardly ever a good factor considering most people watch all shows illegally so I agree with what's said above that merchandising is all that matters. With all the nods SM are putting in to hint many previous regions, it's fair to assume that returns will occur just spaced out.

Yeah, though even for watching them illegally, Pokémon's if anything underperforming even there (besides, shows such as NCIS managed to do very well in terms of ratings even WITH streaming).

Still, if merchandising plays a key role, we may still have a chance at Misty returning again, and this time, for her to actually resume her Water Pokémon Master goal.

And I think that poll mentioned three characters you want to return, not necessarily favorite (I could list a character I hate immensely that I nonetheless think deserves a return simply because they got a raw end of the deal, so it really doesn't really prove favorites).

 

[Iceshadow3317]

I said from the start bringing Misty and Brock back wouldn't effect ratings.

There was obvious fan service in these 2 episodes. People don't care about Brock and Misty as they once did. Serena, probably would of had a slight higher impact sense she is the post popular girl in Japan in Pokemon according to the survey a few months ago.

But ratings don't matter that much. My Hero Academia is one of the most popular animes and it got beat by something like Shaun the Sheep. My Hero Academia is even on the verge of being a new member of the Big 4 anime wise since most others have ended.

Yo-Kai Watch has never done as good as pokemon when it comes to merchandise. And it completely and utterly failed in USA. Pokemon has a bigger section now in most stores and Yo-Kai has almost completely disappeared from the shelves and is in clearance or not even on shelves anymore.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

I said from the start bringing Misty and Brock back wouldn't effect ratings.

There was obvious fan service in these 2 episodes. People don't care about Brock and Misty as they once did. Serena, probably would of had a slight higher impact sense she is the post popular girl in Japan in Pokemon according to the survey a few months ago.

But ratings don't matter that much. My Hero Academia is one of the most popular animes and it got beat by something like Shaun the Sheep. My Hero Academia is even on the verge of being a new member of the Big 4 anime wise since most others have ended.

Yo-Kai Watch has never done as good as pokemon when it comes to merchandise. And it completely and utterly failed in USA. Pokemon has a bigger section now in most stores and Yo-Kai has almost completely disappeared from the shelves and is in clearance or not even on shelves anymore.

I'm pretty sure the fact that Misty's GEM figurine, the whole GACHAPON line including Misty actually selling like hotcakes, and that anime magazine with a special artwork coming with it that involves Misty, Ash, and Brock sitting around a campfire would disagree with you there. Not to mention that poll, if it's the same one I think you're referring to, actually has Misty and Brock making top 3 alongside Serena (heck, Brock actually won first place in that poll, believe it or not). If they were truly less than popular as you claim they were, they wouldn't have gotten as high as they did (in fact, barring maybe Max, Tracey, Bonnie, Iris, and Dent, they would have gotten lower than May and Dawn if they truly lost as much popularity as you implied.).

And either way, if ratings don't actually matter, why report them in the first place. In fact, if I were Japan, I wouldn't even BOTHER reporting the ratings since they're literally meaningless anyway. Besides, I can name a few Japanese shows that did in fact get cancelled due to bad ratings, like Love Hina or Mega Man: Star Force.

 

[Prochief]

You both know that you are talking about TV rating and not about the overall rating, right? Young people don't care about TV anymore, they can just watch their anime on the internet and pokemon is easy to find every series gets lower ratings than the last so it was to be expected for SM to get lower ratings than XY. The last episode of XYZ had a rating of 3.0 and the episode was popular because of the kiss. As one notices very well the ratings do not say how popular an anime is and if the ratings really would say then the last episode of XYZ should not be popular. The anime ''Sazae-san'' has the best ratings and isn't popular.. I just wonder why. The ratings come from TV and not from internet but it does not mean the TV ratings tell the truth because the internet is much more popular than TV. Nowadays everyone has internet or a mobile phone. TV ratings say only who is watching the anime on TV. The more people watch anime on TV the higher the TV ratings.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/anime/anime100/ani_report/index.html
Rankings has been in decline since OS, the previous series always having better rankings than the current one. This would explain why OS is 85, XYZ 209 and XY 348. So ratings doesn't matter because it says not the truth about how they really like/dislike the anime. Yokai-Watch was more child-friendly than XYZ, which is why the TV ratings were higher for Yokai-Watch(now we have SM). Comparing the anime '' Sazae-san '' with Yokai-Watch ... there will be no anime as child-friendly as Sazae-san and therefore always has the best TV ratings.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

You both know that you are talking about TV rating and not about the overall rating, right? Young people don't care about TV anymore, they can just watch their anime on the internet and pokemon is easy to find every series gets lower ratings than the last so it was to be expected for SM to get lower ratings than XY. The last episode of XYZ had a rating of 3.0 and the episode was popular because of the kiss. As one notices very well the ratings do not say how popular an anime is and if the ratings really would say then the last episode of XYZ should not be popular. The anime ''Sazae-san'' has the best ratings and isn't popular.. I just wonder why. The ratings come from TV and not from internet but it does not mean the TV ratings tell the truth because the internet is much more popular than TV. Nowadays everyone has internet or a mobile phone. TV ratings say only who is watching the anime on TV. The more people watch anime on TV the higher the TV ratings.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/anime/anime100/ani_report/index.html
Rankings has been in decline since OS, the previous series always having better rankings than the current one. This would explain why OS is 85, XYZ 209 and XY 348. So ratings doesn't matter because it says not the truth about how they really like/dislike the anime. Yokai-Watch was more child-friendly than XYZ, which is why the TV ratings were higher for Yokai-Watch(now we have SM). Comparing the anime '' Sazae-san '' with Yokai-Watch ... there will be no anime as child-friendly as Sazae-san and therefore always has the best TV ratings.

Yeah, I still don't buy the whole TV ratings being less popular than internet ratings claim, TBH. For one thing, from what I've gathered from various people on here, Pokémon reflected poorly even in regards to internet and DVR viewership. For another, I can name off the back of my head plenty of TV shows that managed to do exceptionally well in terms of ratings DESPITE internet streamings. Like, for example, Blue Bloods and the three NCIS series.

Besides, Pokémon's been doing badly in terms of ratings starting with AG since before even YouTube became a known phenomenon.

 

[Piii]

I said from the start bringing Misty and Brock back wouldn't effect ratings.

There was obvious fan service in these 2 episodes. People don't care about Brock and Misty as they once did. Serena, probably would of had a slight higher impact sense she is the post popular girl in Japan in Pokemon according to the survey a few months ago.

But ratings don't matter that much. My Hero Academia is one of the most popular animes and it got beat by something like Shaun the Sheep. My Hero Academia is even on the verge of being a new member of the Big 4 anime wise since most others have ended.

Yo-Kai Watch has never done as good as pokemon when it comes to merchandise. And it completely and utterly failed in USA. Pokemon has a bigger section now in most stores and Yo-Kai has almost completely disappeared from the shelves and is in clearance or not even on shelves anymore.

People don't care about the anime entirely, because it is not good anymore. Misty and Brock coming back wasn't going get people to like the anime again, and bringing back Serena isn't going to change the ratings at all either.

SM designs for the characters are not all that good, i wasn't to happy with Misty and Brock designs. Misty seem less of a tomboy this time around and Brock really didn't seem to be his self either.

The OS had a lot of well done mature characters designs, Misty design was very mature and sexy, Brock design was really cool and badass, and Ash really had a much cooler badass badboy character design, that is what made the OS so damn great back in it's glory days, nowadays the new anime really do suck and i'm not surprise why the ratings are so low now.

 

[BanFairy]

You both know that you are talking about TV rating and not about the overall rating, right? Young people don't care about TV anymore, they can just watch their anime on the internet and pokemon is easy to find every series gets lower ratings than the last so it was to be expected for SM to get lower ratings than XY. The last episode of XYZ had a rating of 3.0 and the episode was popular because of the kiss. As one notices very well the ratings do not say how popular an anime is and if the ratings really would say then the last episode of XYZ should not be popular. The anime ''Sazae-san'' has the best ratings and isn't popular.. I just wonder why. The ratings come from TV and not from internet but it does not mean the TV ratings tell the truth because the internet is much more popular than TV. Nowadays everyone has internet or a mobile phone. TV ratings say only who is watching the anime on TV. The more people watch anime on TV the higher the TV ratings.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/anime/anime100/ani_report/index.html
Rankings has been in decline since OS, the previous series always having better rankings than the current one. This would explain why OS is 85, XYZ 209 and XY 348. So ratings doesn't matter because it says not the truth about how they really like/dislike the anime. Yokai-Watch was more child-friendly than XYZ, which is why the TV ratings were higher for Yokai-Watch(now we have SM). Comparing the anime '' Sazae-san '' with Yokai-Watch ... there will be no anime as child-friendly as Sazae-san and therefore always has the best TV ratings.

The kiss was popular because nobody saw that coming and it wasn't announced , that's why people got shocked. You can't compare something that was not announced and was basically a "surprise" and something that was announced 1 month ago with previews , promotion and stuffs. Japanese knew that Misty and Brock were about to be in this episode and they still didn't watch while for the kiss between Ash and Serena nobody expected this so that's not the same thing.

Weedle you seem to talk about Misty a bit too much , did I need to remind you that Serena also got a lot of stuffs sold like hotcakes too ? Japanese asked Bandai themself to do a Serena music box and Bandai made a limited edition because they knew people would buy this like hotcakes, now this music box is now selling around 300-400$ on the net, another Serena GEM is confirmed so it will be the 4th big merchandise about Serena selling this year , it's more than the Alola girls when Serena is not even in the show anymore.

Now , I definitely agree that Brock is the more popular , I will probably trigger you Weedle but I'm pretty sure the ratings would be better if they brought Serena and Brock instead of Misty and Brock because Serena is more popular (these days not overall) and more relatable to the audience of Sun&Moon. Now it's just my opinion and it's pointless to talk about this because it will never happen especially when the fanservice they did failed to bring more ratings, I'm pretty sure no others characters will come back and this "trip to another regions" will be cancelled by the writers (unless they are already working on it but it's hard to believe it).

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

The kiss was popular because nobody saw that coming and it wasn't announced , that's why people got shocked. You can't compare something that was not announced and was basically a "surprise" and something that was announced 1 month ago with previews , promotion and stuffs. Japanese knew that Misty and Brock were about to be in this episode and they still didn't watch while for the kiss between Ash and Serena nobody expected this so that's not the same thing.

Weedle you seem to talk about Misty a bit too much , did I need to remind you that Serena also got a lot of stuffs sold like hotcakes too ? Japanese asked Bandai themself to do a Serena music box and Bandai made a limited edition because they knew people would buy this like hotcakes, now this music box is now selling around 300-400$ on the net, another Serena GEM is confirmed so it will be the 4th big merchandise about Serena selling this year , it's more than the Alola girls when Serena is not even in the show anymore.

Now , I definitely agree that Brock is the more popular , I will probably trigger you Weedle but I'm pretty sure the ratings would be better if they brought Serena and Brock instead of Misty and Brock because Serena is more popular (these days not overall) and more relatable to the audience of Sun&Moon. Now it's just my opinion and it's pointless to talk about this because it will never happen especially when the fanservice they did failed to bring more ratings, I'm pretty sure no others characters will come back and this "trip to another regions" will be cancelled by the writers (unless they are already working on it but it's hard to believe it).

She's only more popular currently. Let me remind you that people also said Dawn and May were more popular than Misty way back then, and guess what, going by that poll, Misty outright beat them out.

And for the record, they had plenty of Misty merchandise back when she was on the show, as well, and the fact that they even released her in the G.E.M. series, or that she's part of that gachapon lineup at all (much less that people can actually CHOOSE to preorder her by herself), shows that, yes, she is indeed very popular. I mean, did they sell Max merchandise, or Tracey merchandise? Heck, even Iris got merchandise, and she's probably the least popular Pokémon Girl in the anime right now.

And use common sense, do you really think Serena coming back would have ANY impact on the ratings? Not even Brock managed to impact the ratings in any positive way, and he won first place in that poll by a substantial amount. What makes you think Serena would impact the ratings positively? Besides, going by those doushinji things, Pokeshipping and Advanceshipping sold like hotcakes while Amourshipping barely got any sales whatsoever. Besides, most people certainly didn't expect Misty and Brock to return at all, especially when they not only hadn't done so back in DP (well, technically, Brock was in DP as a main character, but Misty, lure aside wasn't even alluded to at all), BW (not counting flashbacks), and XY (which didn't even reference Ash's past at all barring possibly his Unova League participation), but also proceeded to basically make Movie 20 an AU that didn't even feature Misty and Brock in the actual movie. If anything, that news about Misty and Brock returning was a huge shock and actually looked forward to (no reason the writers and animators wouldn't post all the concept art and teaser screencaps if audience receptivity wasn't high).

People don't care about the anime entirely, because it is not good anymore. Misty and Brock coming back wasn't going get people to like the anime again, and bringing back Serena isn't going to change the ratings at all either.

SM designs for the characters are not all that good, i wasn't to happy with Misty and Brock designs. Misty seem less of a tomboy this time around and Brock really didn't seem to be his self either.

The OS had a lot of well done mature characters designs, Misty design was very mature and sexy, Brock design was really cool and badass, and Ash really had a much cooler badass badboy character design, that is what made the OS so damn great back in it's glory days, nowadays the new anime really do suck and i'm not surprise why the ratings are so low now.

Well, I ultimately have to agree with the overall designs for SM, certainly Ash (though to be honest, even though I had more of a preference to their original designs, Misty actually didn't even look half-bad in SM design). However, technically, Misty barely qualified as a tomboy in the original series since she was seen falling for cute things and getting all romantic. Heck, the episode that actually got me to have undying loyalty to Misty in the first place, Princess vs. Princess, literally dealt with girly aspects to her character due to partaking in the Princess Festival.

So far as your last bit, Brock was actually cool and badass in Kanto, I'll agree there. Unfortunately, in Johto, he seemed less "badass" and more like Glenn Quagmire from Family Guy (which really wasn't appropriate at all. In fact, if anything, I'm actually glad they toned down his more flirtatious character for this appearance, and pleasantly surprised that they did that.). I'm not sure I'd call Misty looking very mature and sexy in the OS, though. If anything, she actually DID look like a standard 10 year old (which if anything is one of the things that actually MAKES her the best Pokegirl, with Iris being a close second.). If anything, May and Dawn looked more mature and sexy in AG and DP than Misty ever did in the OS, and not in a good way (they looked much older than 10 with the hourglass and voluptuous figure in May's case, and the really short skirt with panty shots in Dawn's case), not to mention Serena is explicitly crushing on Ash in a way that you'd expect a mid-teen to do despite being 10, and having a comparable figure to May and wardrobe to Dawn. At least Misty and Iris looked and actually ACTED their age. And yeah, agreed regarding Ash, he definitely looked badass during the OS, and unlike future series, we actually SEE progression in his goal in many ways.

 

[BanFairy]

She's only more popular currently. Let me remind you that people also said Dawn and May were more popular than Misty way back then, and guess what, going by that poll, Misty outright beat them out.

And for the record, they had plenty of Misty merchandise back when she was on the show, as well, and the fact that they even released her in the G.E.M. series, or that she's part of that gachapon lineup at all (much less that people can actually CHOOSE to preorder her by herself), shows that, yes, she is indeed very popular. I mean, did they sell Max merchandise, or Tracey merchandise? Heck, even Iris got merchandise, and she's probably the least popular Pokémon Girl in the anime right now.

And use common sense, do you really think Serena coming back would have ANY impact on the ratings? Not even Brock managed to impact the ratings in any positive way, and he won first place in that poll by a substantial amount. What makes you think Serena would impact the ratings positively? Besides, going by those doushinji things, Pokeshipping and Advanceshipping sold like hotcakes while Amourshipping barely got any sales whatsoever. Besides, most people certainly didn't expect Misty and Brock to return at all, especially when they not only hadn't done so back in DP (well, technically, Brock was in DP as a main character, but Misty, lure aside wasn't even alluded to at all), BW (not counting flashbacks), and XY (which didn't even reference Ash's past at all barring possibly his Unova League participation), but also proceeded to basically make Movie 20 an AU that didn't even feature Misty and Brock in the actual movie. If anything, that news about Misty and Brock returning was a huge shock and actually looked forward to (no reason the writers and animators wouldn't post all the concept art and teaser screencaps if audience receptivity wasn't high).

My point was just that Brock and Serena would eventually have bring more ratings because Serena > Misty (for now) so , logically Brock + Serena > Brock + Misty but yeah you're right it would probably be slightly the same anyway. We'll see what they will do in the future I don't want Serena to come back, I want Serena to have a special episode and Iris to come back, I'm sure it can still happen.

This is not the thread to talk about shipping so... I don't want to talk about it here and I don't like shipping anyway , I'm talking about characters's popularity and S&M ratings and it has nothing to do with stupid shipping talk.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

My point was just that Brock and Serena would eventually have bring more ratings because Serena > Misty (for now) so , logically Brock + Serena > Brock + Misty but yeah you're right it would probably be slightly the same anyway. We'll see what they will do in the future I don't want Serena to come back, I want Serena to have a special episode and Iris to come back, I'm sure it can still happen.

This is not the thread to talk about shipping so... I don't want to talk about it here and I don't like shipping anyway , I'm talking about characters's popularity and S&M ratings and it has nothing to do with stupid shipping talk.

The shipping's tied to their characters, though, so it's still something (and personally, I don't give a care about either ship. Why should I, when they neither entail love at first sight nor is it actually reciprocated, preferably both?). If the ship's not popular, why would the characters be popular? Heck, XY isn't even remotely popular either (forget its ratings, its movies actually did poorly, worse than even Best Wishes' movies even with the first one, while M20 for all of its faults WAS a big box office blockbuster on par with BW's movies at least), so if the series wasn't popular, why should Serena be popular, ESPECIALLY compared to Misty.

And as far as Brock and Serena, what good would doing slightly better ratings do if it won't even make the top 10 anyway? Have you ever taken THAT into consideration?

I do agree with you that Iris should come back, though. Other than Misty, she's the only one of the Poke Girls who doesn't have her goal limiting her from coming back, not to mention unlike Misty, actually is able to pursue her goal. Serena, on the other hand, is doing contests in Hoenn, and will most likely be pursuing contests in Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh shortly afterward. She really has no reason to come back right now especially considering that her returning to Ash if anything would actually ultimately harm her as a character. She needs to pursue her own goals. And besides, Alola doesn't even have Pokémon Contests anyways, so what business would she have in Alola. We don't want a repeat of Dawn where she was in Unova despite having no business there in the first place (Misty at least had that Togepi thing not to mention had her sisters outright forcing her out of her Water Pokémon Master goal beforehand as an excuse, and May at least had the Wallace Cup, what did Dawn have? Besides, it also ended up being a complete waste when if anything they'd do more to actually promote B2W2 by bringing Misty back due to the whole Pokémon World Conference thing.).

And quite frankly, Misty deserves a return far more than Serena. At least Serena is pursuing her dreams, and thus doesn't need to return. Misty, on the other hand, was forced out of her dreams by her own sisters. No one should be forced out of their dreams, and for that, she needs to return, if not permanently, then certainly to the extent of actually ALLOWING her to pursue her Water Pokémon Master goal again. Let me put it another way so you might be able to understand where I'm coming from. You're a bit of a May fan, right, based on your avatar? Well, suppose at the end of AG, May's about to head off for Johto to pursue contests, there, yet, similar to GCYL, they have Caroline and Norman calling May demanding she come back to Hoenn immediately to run Petalburg gym due to a freak accident or vacation or what have you, thus forcing her to put her dream of Coordinator on the back burner, clearly not being happy about it at all. Would you even think that would have been a good end for her? It's the exact same thing with Misty.

 

[Prochief]

The kiss was popular because nobody saw that coming and it wasn't announced , that's why people got shocked. You can't compare something that was not announced and was basically a "surprise" and something that was announced 1 month ago with previews , promotion and stuffs. Japanese knew that Misty and Brock were about to be in this episode and they still didn't watch while for the kiss between Ash and Serena nobody expected this so that's not the same thing.

Now , I definitely agree that Brock is the more popular , I will probably trigger you Weedle but I'm pretty sure the ratings would be better if they brought Serena and Brock instead of Misty and Brock because Serena is more popular (these days not overall) and more relatable to the audience of Sun&Moon. Now it's just my opinion and it's pointless to talk about this because it will never happen especially when the fanservice they did failed to bring more ratings, I'm pretty sure no others characters will come back and this "trip to another regions" will be cancelled by the writers (unless they are already working on it but it's hard to believe it).

I do not deny this and do not misunderstand me. What I really wanted to say is the TV ratings do not really say how popular an anime is and since Yajima confirmed that the last episode was popular although it has only a rating of 3.0, TV ratings are not the majority of the rating but the internet. In the Japanese poll you can see the XYZ was better rated by Japan although the TV ratings were not high. Naruto Shippuuden had worse TV ratings and was rated better than XYZ. TV ratings say nothing at all, so I would not rely on TV ratings but what the internet says. So this is nothing negative for XYZ / Serena.

If it is really about TV ratings instead of the overall rating then they have to make Pokemon even more childish than SM so more children the anime look at TV but I doubt then the TV ratings Pokemon more popular because the children are only the minority of the rating but it is the teenagers / adults who are the majority of the evaluation. The best example is the confirmation of Yajima about the last episode of XYZ.