- 1,775
- Posts
- 15
- Years
- Age 30
- Ireland
- Seen today
I watched the anime pretty religiously as a kid, from the very beginning right through Johto Journeys/Master Quest. My parents probably still have the yellow VHS of "I Choose You, Pikachu!" that we got over 20 years ago.
I must've been 9 or 10 when the Hoenn series started airing, and as it was a turning point for Ash's journey, it was a turning point for me too. It hadn't been "cool" to like Pokémon
for a few years by then, and my school life started changing (in that I'd spend more of my afternoon away from home).
The odd Saturday morning I'd catch an episode, but the vibes I got, I kinda started to see that they weren't too worried about progressing Ash's character. Johto was its own thing but still felt like a continuation of Ash's journey, which was cool. But for Hoenn, he'd hit a reset button, and that felt like it came at too high a price.
Brock was back, using random Pokémon like Lotad. May seemed cool, but I didn't care for the contests at all, and most episodes I caught were focused on her. Max felt like a wasted character to me - "too young" to own a Pokémon didn't seem to matter before, when we'd seen characters-of-the-day with Pokémon of their own.
This feeling persisted across the DP and BW series'. They all could've been achieved without Ash being the primary focus, really. XY, he had an interesting dynamic with Greninja, at least.
Anyway, I turned 30 this year, and I honestly can't believe that they actually put an end to Ash's story. It was nice to dip into SM and Journeys from time to time, as it seems that the character development was finally sticking. I'm certain Ash's presence throughout the various seasons helped maintain a consistent audience... but I have to wonder what it would've been like if each region had its own protagonist.
I must've been 9 or 10 when the Hoenn series started airing, and as it was a turning point for Ash's journey, it was a turning point for me too. It hadn't been "cool" to like Pokémon
for a few years by then, and my school life started changing (in that I'd spend more of my afternoon away from home).
The odd Saturday morning I'd catch an episode, but the vibes I got, I kinda started to see that they weren't too worried about progressing Ash's character. Johto was its own thing but still felt like a continuation of Ash's journey, which was cool. But for Hoenn, he'd hit a reset button, and that felt like it came at too high a price.
Brock was back, using random Pokémon like Lotad. May seemed cool, but I didn't care for the contests at all, and most episodes I caught were focused on her. Max felt like a wasted character to me - "too young" to own a Pokémon didn't seem to matter before, when we'd seen characters-of-the-day with Pokémon of their own.
This feeling persisted across the DP and BW series'. They all could've been achieved without Ash being the primary focus, really. XY, he had an interesting dynamic with Greninja, at least.
Anyway, I turned 30 this year, and I honestly can't believe that they actually put an end to Ash's story. It was nice to dip into SM and Journeys from time to time, as it seems that the character development was finally sticking. I'm certain Ash's presence throughout the various seasons helped maintain a consistent audience... but I have to wonder what it would've been like if each region had its own protagonist.
