animation Regarding Ash from the Pokemon anime

[heavens-champion 1,905]

Does anyone think Ash is overused as a protagonist in the Pokemon anime?

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

By "overused", do you mean they should replace him with somebody else?

 

I've seen a lotta people saying Ash should be replaced because he never progresses or wins the league or gets with the girl of their choice. While those are (kinda) reasonable complaints, I do wonder why people think the problem is Ash and not the writers of the series deciding not to have him do any of those things. A new character wouldn't necessarily be any more successful than Ash in any regard, especially if the series is handled by the same people.

 

That said, a little fresh blood wouldn't necessarily be such a bad thing either.

 

Idon'tevenwatchPokemonlol

[Yoshi89 5,293]

You want to root for the protagonist, no matter how much he wins and loses. Ash is realistic in that regard. Not all heroes can succeed in everything.

[BrawnyCharger 513]

I feel that a new protagonist would be necessary. But not until Ash reaches his goal as Pokemon Master along with the much needed character development that he has been short of. Ash needs to shake himself of his really bad flaws, start growing up, being a badass, acting mature and intelligent, date one of his female friends such as Misty, catch more pokemon, reclaim ones he had previously let go, evolve some of his own, start feuding with Giovanni and the Team Rocket organization as a whole instead of just Jessie, James and Meowth, and come full circle as a character with him on his throne as Pokemon Master.

 

Afterwords, they can introduce a new protagonist with different flaws and have him begin his journey. At the same time they can have several Ash moments as well before slowly but surely retiring Ash and focusing on the new hero. Ash and his friends will appear from time to time, but keep the focus on the new protagonist.

 

That's what I feel they should do.

[Anneal 2,197]

By "overused", do you mean they should replace him with somebody else?

 

I've seen a lotta people saying Ash should be replaced because he never progresses or wins the league or gets with the girl of their choice. While those are (kinda) reasonable complaints, I do wonder why people think the problem is Ash and not the writers of the series deciding not to have him do any of those things. A new character wouldn't necessarily be any more successful than Ash in any regard, especially if the series is handled by the same people.

 

That said, a little fresh blood wouldn't necessarily be such a bad thing either.

 

Idon'tevenwatchPokemonlol

The reason why Ash "never progresses" is because the directors usually have set schedules and budget they need to follow and a demographic to appeal to. They can't expect new viewers to know what happened in previous arcs and with the anime so long, it's inevitable that there would be some retcons and inconcistencies. Cases where scheduling affects the anime is most blatant in the Diamond/Pearl arc, where Ash gets defeated by some random person who had a legendary Pokemon team of all things (this caused a lot of anger in the fanbase since legendary Pokemon in a team is always a no-no).

 

The XY arc is a large improvement, though, since Ash got into the finals this time and made a lot more progress than he ever did in the previous arcs. Also, fans are pressuring to keep Serena in the Sun/Moon arc.

[Megas 27,742]

Ash needs to GTFO

 

You can only have a character try and fail when it ultimately matters most sooo much before you get sick of it

[cmarston1 5,959]

You want to root for the protagonist, no matter how much he wins and loses. Ash is realistic in that regard. Not all heroes can succeed in everything.

But it isn't realistic when your protagonist literally loses all the time.

You would think that after almost 20 years of trying to become a Pokemon Master, he would win at least one single league tournament.

But the writers wouldn't even give him that.

[Anneal 2,197]

But it isn't realistic when your protagonist literally loses all the time.

You would think that after almost 20 years of trying to become a Pokemon Master, he would win at least one single league tournament.

But the writers wouldn't even give him that.

 

He has been rather close in the Kalos League though. Ash in the XY arc have made much more progress than any other arc he ever had before, got a legitimately epic battle instead of a rushed arc ending, and he almost won Alain and pulled him down to his last Pokemon. We're getting a badass battle with Lysandre too. The directors have really fleshed out Ash this time, and this is one of the best arcs I've ever watched. 

 

Also, again, part of it has to do that in the previous arcs they heavily focused on the child demographic. Pokemon only got an adult fanbase majority when B2W2 released. The average age when DPP and HGSS came out was 12-15 (as of ORAS it's 22-25), and the directors started to balance out both demographics in the XY arc just like MLP does. 

[Shanks 10,816]

He has been rather close in the Kalos League though. Ash in the XY arc have made much more progress than any other arc he ever had before, got a legitimately epic battle instead of a rushed arc ending, and he almost won Alain and pulled him down to his last Pokemon. We're getting a badass battle with Lysandre too. The directors have really fleshed out Ash this time, and this is one of the best arcs I've ever watched. 

Really? It has been many years since I have watched the Pokemon anime because I grew bored with how stale and repetitive it got. If it really is that good, than perhaps that arc is at least worth a shot. It does seem though that at some point Ash has to meet his goal, Red did in the manga and was succeeded by Gold and then other main characters came along. 

 

 

Also, again, part of it has to do that in the previous arcs they heavily focused on the child demographic. Pokemon only got an adult fanbase majority when B2W2 released. The average age when DPP and HGSS came out was 12-15 (as of ORAS it's 22-25), and the directors started to balance out both demographics in the XY arc just like MLP does. 

I suppose that makes since, the recent Pokemon Origins anime is pretty much a love letter to older fans in general and G1 fans in particular. It is short, but is worth a watch. 

[cmarston1 5,959]

He has been rather close in the Kalos League though. Ash in the XY arc have made much more progress than any other arc he ever had before, got a legitimately epic battle instead of a rushed arc ending, and he almost won Alain and pulled him down to his last Pokemon. We're getting a badass battle with Lysandre too. The directors have really fleshed out Ash this time, and this is one of the best arcs I've ever watched.

 

Also, again, part of it has to do that in the previous arcs they heavily focused on the child demographic. Pokemon only got an adult fanbase majority when B2W2 released. The average age when DPP and HGSS came out was 12-15 (as of ORAS it's 22-25), and the directors started to balance out both demographics in the XY arc just like MLP does.

 

. With how things are looking radically different with the Sun and Moon anime right now, they really should have had Ash win the Kalos league and finally be replaced. Edited September 12, 2016 by cmarston1

[Anneal 2,197]

Really? It has been many years since I have watched the Pokemon anime because I grew bored with how stale and repetitive it got. If it really is that good, than perhaps that arc is at least worth a shot. It does seem though that at some point Ash has to meet his goal, Red did in the manga and was succeeded by Gold and then other main characters came along. 

 

Yeah, the BW arc was a major disappointment and was a low point of the Pokemon anime, but the XY arc (along with the XY&Z arc) was considered one of the best in the anime yet. Like all Pokemon anime episodes it still has some structure (funny companion scene and Team Rocket scenes) but the characters are likable, Ash battles with more concistent strength (and smarter as a trainer), and compared to BW the animation is much better.

 

Serena is probably a prime example to how good this anime is. In the start of the anime, you're introduced to her and initially she comes out as picky, goal-lacking, and mostly just dead weight to Ash (her mom points this out, too) and his other two companions, but some time into the arc she significantly develops as a character. She becomes more confident, determined, and is much more of a helping hand to her friends. Fans disliked her as first for being flat "shipping material", and now, shipping or not, Serena is one of most liked female companions in the anime (and Amourshipping, Ash x Serena shipping, is one of the most popular Pokemon ships as well). Some fans have gone as far as to petition to the Pokemon Company to renew Serena for the Sun and Moon arc.

 

And again, this is the closest he's ever got to beating a regional League (excluding the Orange Islands arc). He barely lost in the finals. But he gets a badass fight against someone who almost (and likely does) has the skill of an Elite Four member, compared to what we got in DPP. I watched the XY arc after staying away from the anime for nearly two years and it was definitely not stale.

[Shanks 10,816]

I watched the XY arc after staying away from the anime for nearly two years and it was definitely not stale.

That is not too long, I dropped off sometime after generation 2.

[Anneal 2,197]

That is not too long, I dropped off sometime after generation 2.

Yeah, BW just shut me off for some time from the anime. The whole anime was just disappointing. Though by the way you say it, you kind of missed the Advanced Generation arc, which is where the anime quality jumps up somewhat. May and Max are fairly developed and likable companions, but don't necessarily top off Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena. AG is also subject to some glaring editing done by yours truly, 4Kids Entertainment, and it's been the spawn of many game to anime inconsistencies ("Arbok evolves into Seviper", Pikachu attacks a Ground-type Rhyhorn with an electric-attack on its rod, and Ash also shocks its own Swellow for a double attack against Tate and Liza...and some random veteran failed catching a Whiscash with a Master Ball). 

 

Thankfully AG dies that down later on in the anime. DPP is much better, but its reputation has mostly been tainted by Ash's fight against Tobias in the Sinnoh League (who had legendaries for no apparent reason and was made specifically to beat Ash). XY really is the first time where the anime is consistent with game mechanics and doesn't pull out BS when the plot needs it. Some of the trainers are also shown to be generally smarter as they constantly try to use moves with type advantage, set up certain move combos, or take advantage of abilities. 

[SquipyCheetah 449]

I still continually watch the Pokemon anime but I cannot stand the main characters anymore. All of them just lost all meaning for me. Satoshi can go rot in hell, as well as most of his friends. Pikachuu is easily the worst thing ever as well. The only reason I continue to watch it is because of the Roketto-Dan trio.

 

Besides that, I wouldn't call Satoshi 'overused', just kinda bland and undeveloped.

[BrawnyCharger 513]

One has to wonder what goes on inside the minds of the Pokemon anime creative staff when it comes to why they don't give Ash all the development he needs so he can reach the top of the mountain and retire in a blaze of glory.

[FlutteringDweamz 2,086]

I like ash...i think his confidence is awesome. Even if he's over used, i still like him. And i'm sure he'll win a league one day. Sadly, Pokemon is a kids show rooted on being repetitive. But I don't hold anything against it for that. Its still one of my favorite anime

 

I hope no one feels angry at me for this post. Just speaking how i feel. I don't think ash's new friends are all that 'bad' either. Its just my opinion, though, no one else has to follow it.

[Anneal 2,197]

I like ash...i think his confidence is awesome. Even if he's over used, i still like him. And i'm sure he'll win a league one day. Sadly, Pokemon is a kids show rooted on being repetitive. But I don't hold anything against it for that. Its still one of my favorite anime

 

I hope no one feels angry at me for this post. Just speaking how i feel. I don't think ash's new friends are all that 'bad' either. Its just my opinion, though, no one else has to follow it.

 

Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena are great companions to Ash, especially since they're not treating him as some inferior little kid and more like an actual trainer. Serena may not be very likable at first but her character development later on makes up more than enough for it. Also, the newer anime episodes are still a bit structured, though they've mostly moved away from that. They space out certain gags better so it doesn't become too repetitive (XY's running gag is Clemont's inventions, but they usually divide it up well instead of turning it into an "once an episode" gimmick). 

 

I like Ash this arc as well, since he's a lot cooler and while he gets his childish moments you can really tell he's become much more experienced as a trainer, like he's supposed to be. 

[KatonRyu 1,033]

Ash is one of those characters I root for despite him regressing into a colossal moron every time he visits a new region. What I wish is that they'd finally let him win an actual League tournament. They seem to think that as soon as Ash wins, his journey will be over, but why should that be the case? If he wants to be a true master then beating one tournament won't make it so, because if it did he could just hang around until the next iteration of whatever League he's in and try again. His journey is as important to him as winning the League is. If he'd win, he'd challenge the Elite Four, and even if he would beat them and the Champion as well, he wouldn't stop traveling simply because he likes it too much.

 

If he'd just keep his accumulated skills and would actually win large tournaments every now and then, it would make the series more interesting. He doesn't need to win everything, but he could've won some of the Leagues, like Sinnoh and Kalos, and I think he should have. Not knowing what will happen makes things interesting. It's not like Ash would ever be invincible even with all his skills intact, simply because there's no such thing as an unbeatable team. Ash himself proved that many times over, and I hardly doubt he's unique in that regard.

 

TL;DR Ash is awesome, I just wish they'd let him win for once.