From a late-90s adult perspective, it's all downhill to crass-market for appeal to the most cloying of the consumers. The 1999s Poke-Mania that has outwarded all the North America have leave me with a very bittersweet feeling that the world is not exactly just with fun and joy. I've become at the middle of my adolescent time. While by be close of the Y2K hysteria, Pokemon was on everyone's media mouth, but not in the right side. People in interviews blamed the show to "alienated" the kids audience when others complained that exposed children to such of Toyetic animated property deprive them to known their own creators. As if known artists that comes only from our land was that important...
By be launched in April 1997, Pokemon (or its original name Pocket Monsters like says in Japan) have all beginning not only the Anime fad in the America, along with the Dragon Ball franchise, but also levitate the obnoxious trend that all Anime series need to have monsters in their titles like a sort of Tamagotchi creature comes to life. Twenty-seven years later, it's the only survivor of the batch of mediocre, dull and also murky Monsters shows that existed only for beat them to their feet. In particular one, that was often the Toei's answer to the Anime's popularity, by be a fan-favorite for a very obscure fandom but is largely famous for make lots of executive meddlings, plot-holes that become more jerky for the modern-day youth audience and that have delayed lots of times for the project of a movie trilogy by results fans to goes with lots of confusion and outrage: Digimon Digital Monsters.
The biggest flaw with Digimon, at least according to me, is the difficult task to introduce the audience with too many kids characters and monsters than we can do ever accepted ourselves, and when most of them felt like a Paint-by-Numbers show than anything seen in the worse Pokémon plots. When season 1 of it ended, a new set of human characters arrived by let most of the first season's cast out of the picture. And that had happened the following season... and the next one... and the next one... Phew! Considering the bulk of hardcore fans who insist that Digimon still have a fanbase remains an anomaly. The Digimon Tri movies released years ago were muchly criticized for have make the Season 1's kids characters at grating and rude teenagers and by their out-of-nowhere plot-holes. It make like a very mundane experience to reunite old friends (albeit fictional) onto uncomfortable settings, mostly because fans wanted the original cast to get back. One lesson we could earned from this is never expected that revivals such as this would be close to be faithful and respectful of their original incarnations. These characters existed almost occasionnally, where the producers and writers crews could thrown them in the trash bin one day if they may.
Back to Pokemon, the original series faced with small controversry: A few episodes have not pass the American censor like the infamous Team Rocket's "James-with-breasts' sequence in Holiday at Acapulco. (that was maybe seen just one time in North America, albeit the sexual scenes omitted: in 2000!) Another one is about a scene which an antagonist who threatened our heroes with a gun to their visual field seen the whole episode completely cut. And more infamously, the one 1997s episode in which a Pikachu's electric shock has caused 2 million of Japanese kids to go in emergency. Also, by respecting the 4Kids's policies, some scenes were been cut or edited to their original Japanese airings, but they're far less noticeable.
But what the Anime works best about is Ash Ketchum. Period.
Earlier in the series, you seen a 10-years old intrepid boy who just have a dream in mind: Becoming the Pokemon Master! But there was a big problem though; He just known the Pokemons conventions by watching tournaments games in his TV set. By be waking up late for finally earn his own monster in the name of Pikachu, and then, started to become bossy with his newer friend. The character itself was also very incompetent in the earlier episodes, by catching his firsts Pokemons in the ease, without ever study or known them. But one start to giving empathy to Ash nowadays, where the original show's crews actually depicted him like a real-life kid of his age. Someone which you need some mentors (Like Misty and Brock) for growth him, not only at a best Pokemon trainer as possible, but a better human being. The appearence of regular characters in the cast like Professor Oak, the nurses and police-officers womens Brock always have a crush to them or the Team Rocket Jesse and James (along with Meowth) hold up better and with much sense and consistencies than anything seen on Digimon. And of course, you have Pikachu, like the emblematic mascot of the property and reason why the Anime is still airing on. Finally, it's by the Ash/Pikachu bond that may be was the heart and appeal of the series. Thought their universe could be absurd, (Which parent would says "Yes!" for leave their kids away of their home forever at 10 years old? That smell in 2024 like a case of bad Parenting) it expose kids to the world of Pokemons by also shows respect to animals, nature and environment without to be too preachy and seen any kind of evolution to the creatures. It's also one of, if not, the final animated series that goes with slapstick humor without such gratutious violence. Anytime Ash gets thuds, it's mostly due to his ineptness or by lack of judgment. You can feel sorry for him as long you want, but also one have to anticipate to the hero's ego and immaturity that make him like a real person that others pretended Anime characters' heroes never does. Ash behaved exactly like any real-life 10-years child and it's reason why we getting attached to him. We seen him win a tournament, defeated, too hard on itself, ironic, compassionnate, mischievious, lose a friend, well, you can guess why the character stays active through twenty-five long seasons with such iterations! Do I says TWENTY-FIVE??
Alas, the Pokémon property have to deal as earlier to some problematic issues that become obvious over twenty years later. The supposed Ash-Misty couple was never revealed in the actual body of the show, but their bond have make it at probably the reason why the earlier seasons stays a phenomenon, by considering it like real friends as opposed to generic team partners for "fit" to the cast. The orange-haired and short-tempered girl character always be a favorite spot on mine, by be seen by her three sisters like the family's underdog. One which she have to working hard for gains their skills, but instead, become stuck with a very awkward Psyduck or be a mother-like by have Togepi in her hands. These traits made it the most believable as possible by avoid it to be another edgy Anime-girl clone. One of the main criticism towards this fantastic girl character is she share the same hair dye and almost identical outfits than a certain boy-kid character from Europe that was released from both editors Dupuis and Dargaud in their respective countries. Such an amazement that Dargaud never sued the show for plagiarism to a character that was become from one of the biggest 1990s Best-sellers comics series from Europe, but that is in and all a coincidence. Could they'll be possibly siblings in another life?
Many years of fanfiction, fanart and the likes have put this pseudo-romantic pair like official, but let me tell a thing: Pokémon is not about romance, okay? And such revelations that two friends falls in love each other only would compromise the videogames and toys sales and the reputation of the franchise. The same thing start to outward with much awkward reception by the Misty-Brock romantic bond. (Why them?) Many iterations later, only Ash and Pikachu, along with Brock occassionnaly, been featured in the journey along with newer characters like Serena, May or later in the series, Goh. Misty was nowhere to be found, but a 2016s episode that was set almost like a reunion that stars the Ash's companions of the Indigo saga existed solely for fanservice. There was no reason Misty and Brock gets back in the show, except for nostalgia. Finally, Misty returned in the show for some occasional times, but this is clear that the emblematic Ash-Misty romantic pairing will be a mirage by never be happening...
...Because shippings don't paid them the bills. Only views and merchandising can do that. In worry to be seen as The Ash and Misty Show like by its very excessive set of AI-fanarts I've seen from the pair for months. Now that Ash is definitely the Pokemon Master after over a quarter-century of an inescapable journey, what do you think it happened?
Launch a newer season of course-- or rather a series of these!
Obligatory-wise, lots of fans don't enjoyed the newer Pokemon Horizons: The Series because it didn't feature the original characters that were part of why it was made in first place. But over the years and different crews, Ash's personality have deteriorated, by also in its design. The Pre-2000s episodes of the series seems to have aged a lot to today's viewers, (But still pretty good for 1998s Television!) but they were better drawn than the Pokemon clones we got nowadays. Technology supposed to evolved and matured the primitive earlier season's art style but the drawback is that lots of people using Digital program tools at shortcuts for make the characters designs more streamlined than it ever needed. Nowadays, we start to think that the best parts of the franchise are those in which the characters feels to us like people in the real-life than the stock characters that were often populated. We never would have an official, licenced Ash & Misty stand-alone spin-off in any capability and to be honest, I think it's for the best. Because even for a very well-made romantic duo, (Considering that too many non-binary pairings looks more generic caricatures than the people they supposed to be) such revelation from any Hallmark movie will be rather nondescript and silly if the same thing does happen in the real life. It's perhaps the biggest payoff the show's have done, to take control of the fans' pressures. Something that the Digimon franchise have never learned for...
For people under their twenty-five, Pokemon stays back then their reference and the show they have evolved with. We going to have more adults owning fancy merchandising of Pikachu in them. It's time now to get used to it, even if your opinion towards the property from its debuts remains the same.
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