Amourshipping General Discussion - V.2 *Spoiler Warning*

[Omegaz]

You know I was actually watching some old compilations of amourshipping moments. It really gave me an even greater appreciation for the road that will hopefully lead to the ship going canon. Especially rewatching the childhood flashback. That moment is still one of the most powerful moments in the anime for me.

 

[lane]

You know I was actually watching some old compilations of amourshipping moments. It really gave me an even greater appreciation for the road that will hopefully lead to the ship going canon. Especially rewatching the childhood flashback. That moment is still one of the most powerful moments in the anime for me.

I enjoyed that scene, but not simply for its Amour-ness, but also for how it portrayed Ash as this genuinely nice stranger guy who bandaged up Serena, the "damsel-in-distress/girl next door who just had a bad day". So cute.

 

[Manqoba]

Would you expect the thread to explode by about 500 pages before the final episode is aired? c:

To reach 500 pages before the last episode? Easily. To add another 500 pages? Probably not.

 

[lane]

To reach 500 pages before the last episode? Easily. To add another 500 pages? Probably not.

Haha, you're right. It took about 3 years to get to 1000+? (where'd everyone gooooooo?)

 

[Omegaz]

I enjoyed that scene, but not simply for its Amour-ness, but also for how it portrayed Ash as this genuinely nice stranger guy who bandaged up Serena, the "damsel-in-distress/girl next door who just had a bad day". So cute.

Agreed. It was just a beautiful scene. But it also began the change of an anime.

 

[Red Pheonix]

Ok then, how do you see it playing out? Be honest. Are you expecting some sort of confession at the end of Sun and Moon or in the middle of the season....? What are you thinking? Because right now, I'd feel a little worried if Serena and Ash's relationship doesn't feel a little different before Sun and Moon. I'm confident for the future of amour, but still I worry that the writers could keep this as a never ending trend. I'm not saying I think that'll happen because you know my views, but it is worth a thought.

Confession + Confused Ash

If this scenario happens and they go to Alola, whenever Serena acts googly eyed at him, he'll remember when she confessed to him and act accordingly. This will change their relationship quite a bit.

This is indeed the fear, and it is the reality in all other cases. That is the part of the Pokemon tradition that really makes me wonder how they will handle the ending.

High hopes, low expectations.

If I think there was one bit of missing potential, it was in the forest episode after they argue. Sure Serena snaps out of it, but his first instinct expectedly was to rediscover what being a trainer was all about. It never sprung to mind to apologise to Serena after she ran away on the verge of crying (while it took her about ten seconds to frantically try to do so for him). Imagine the tearjerking scenario they could have gotten out of that, and even worse if Serena hadn't fought back or reconsidered her opinion of Ash. That sweet, ever loyal person who thinks the world of you and then you realise you just berated them to tears:

[IMGSIZE=400]https://weminoredinfilm.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/pinky_crying.jpg[/IMGSIZE]

Look at this way. In that episode, Ash wasn't "Ash". Serena loved the "real Ash" but not the Ash that was in that episode. In fact, she snowball'ed precisely because he wasn't himself. So the most important thing he needed to was to become himself again. That's also the only way he could make up for Serena's frustation. An apology would have been good but Ash regaining his original personality is even more important, both for Serena and for himself.

Would you expect the thread to explode by about 500 pages before the final episode is aired? c:

Haha, you're right. It took about 3 years to get to 1000+? (where'd everyone gooooooo?)

We get 5 pages a day without any hints or any new info. EVERYDAY. If this thread gets a hold of nice hints...........

And it took us 12 days from page 370 to page 439. That's about 70 pages. In 12 days. We used to get 70 pages in 3-4 months. So I wouldn't use past stats.

Also we lost quite a number of good members. But somehow the community was rebuilt. We have quite a number of people joining the conversation now.

 

[Omegaz]

Confession + Confused Ash

If this scenario happens and they go to Alola, whenever Serena acts googly eyed at him, he'll remember when she confessed to him and act accordingly. This will change their relationship quite a bit.

Ok, this something I'd agree with. She should confess now. Ash just doesn't have to fully reciprocate.

 

[lane]

Confession + Confused Ash

If this scenario happens and they go to Alola, whenever Serena acts googly eyed at him, he'll remember when she confessed to him and act accordingly. This will change their relationship quite a bit.

We get 5 pages a day without any hints or any new info. EVERYDAY. If this thread gets a hold of nice hints........... And it took us 12 days from page 370 to page 439. That's about 70 pages. In 12 days. We used to get 70 pages in 3-4 months. So I wouldn't use past stats. Also we lost quite a number of good members. But somehow the community was rebuilt. We have quite a number of people joining the conversation now.

But we're still missing a crucial part of Amour: where's his side? It'd be a forced act of love from Ash's side if he has to fake it. I can't imagine a scenario where Serena has confesses, but Ash, who doesn't really understand what's going on, "acts accordingly". It's just awkward, yknow? That's the only way I can put it, because it's just so... off. But it'll definitely change up the relationship, because now Ash has to realise that whenever he gets hurt, she feels it in her heart; etc etc.

I should try counting the pages, to be honest. I'm not buying the 5 pages a day thing. (just sayin')
Based on some simple math, if this current trend of "5 pages a day" continues, in about a month, we'll have about 150 pages, and that's not including the days when major hints are dropped. I would expect more if Ash drops a hint, serious or minor, because it'll change the relationship dynamic between those two as well as shock us that his figurative skull has finally been cracked (or literally, who knows?). It'll be a good day when that happens.

 

[Johtohfiller]

To me, that is not the message XY is trying to tell us. From what I saw, it's seems the recurring message is the true strength does not come from a vow to become the strongest or a winner, but rather from one's ability to give and understand what is worth fighting for. And the strength may not come from where you expect.

For Alain, he thought he could find the strength to protect others under the guidance of Lysandre. Instead he only found destruction and shame at the very end. For Ash, he thought he could find the strength to master Ash-Greninja by deliberately invoking it rather than let it happen. It brought him the worst defeat in his Kalos journey.

The question for Serena is whether or not she would find her true strength under the tutor of Palermo. Will she get what she wants out of this offer? Or would she try to forge a different path separate from her rival Aria? That's why she initially turns down the offer as her friends, especially Ash, were the reason how she ends up as a Performer that she is. But when the series comes to a close, she will have to decide who would be better to help her find her true strength.

This is very close to my own thoughts, I agree pretty much 100% with it.

Eventually, even Ash will run his course on the show. Especially if there is virtually nothing left for the writers to develop Ash as a character. Which is why I am curious as to what route are they going to take Ash after XY&Z. Now there is the romance with Serena, but what about him solely? It's hard for me to conceptualize because I feel Ash has already become a Pokémon Master in the XY&Z series.

Solution: timeskip with an older Ash as mentor to a new character. That way they can keep him in the show while giving him a new role. That's what I'd like to eventually see anyway. But not until Gen 8 or 9, he needs at least one more series as the main character so they could do a proper buildup to it.

First off, I don't think Serena would be in her own series without Ash, but she could certainly have an upgraded role and get even more spotlight. However, I do agree that in an ideal world, this should be the end. It's probably not, but does that make Sun and Moon the end? In theory, it probably should, but who knows what the writers and execs are thinking.

Now, I see a lot of people talking about the message of XY. For me, it seems that the message is to be yourself. Ash let strength and power get to his head. He had to go back to his roots to return to his ways. For Alain, he always resorted to what Lysandre told him, but ultimately he should forge his own path and let those he loves (Mairin) impact him positively. Now for Serena, I see it as pushing Palermo aside to keep on her path (a lot like Ash rejecting the opportunity to be a frontier brain). Pokemon encourages independence and forging your own path. Serena's path models Ash and thus she benefits the most from staying with him.

IMO it's more forging a path with your loved ones than just forging your own path.

 

[Red Pheonix]

But we're still missing a crucial part of Amour: where's his side? It'd be a forced act of love from Ash's side if he has to fake it. I can't imagine a scenario where Serena has confesses, but Ash, who doesn't really understand what's going on, "acts accordingly". It's just awkward, yknow? That's the only way I can put it, because it's just so... off. But it'll definitely change up the relationship, because now Ash has to realise that whenever he gets hurt, she feels it in her heart; etc etc.

I should try counting the pages, to be honest. I'm not buying the 5 pages a day thing. (just sayin')
Based on some simple math, if this current trend of "5 pages a day" continues, in about a month, we'll have about 150 pages, and that's not including the days when major hints are dropped. I would expect more if Ash drops a hint, serious or minor, because it'll change the relationship dynamic between those two as well as shock us that his figurative skull has finally been cracked (or literally, who knows?). It'll be a good day when that happens.

Ash doesn't have to "fake" anything. He just has a (slightly)better understanding of what Serena's doing. Regardless of how, we can agree that a confession can work as a relationship upgrade.

My proof is simple. I wake up from bed and see new 2-3 pages. I talk about 2 pages. 5 pages a day. Also I started to skip posts because of this.

 

[lane]

Ash doesn't have to "fake" anything. He just has a (slightly)better understanding of what Serena's doing. Regardless of how, we can agree that a confession can work as a relationship upgrade.

My proof is simple. I wake up from bed and see new 2-3 pages. I talk about 2 pages. 5 pages a day. Also I started to skip posts because of this.

And just like that, an influx of about 10 posts.

He needs a heartfelt talk from his mum or something regarding love. It would be priceless to have an episode where everyone goes to Pallet Town, Delia sees that Serena is in love with Ash, and then Delia pulls aside Ash to talk about love, and basically describe what Serena does towards him, so he can realise that one of his best friends is in love with him.

 

[Epicocity]

And now I know how we accrue so many pages in a day...When you disappear for a few hours and realize a page or two is made entirely of 2-3 people chatting it out...with the same topics...oh dear...

 

[lane]

And now I know how we accrue so many pages in a day...When you disappear for a few hours and realize a page or two is made entirely of 2-3 people chatting it out...with the same topics...oh dear...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ don't you think that it's usually the same topics nearly every day, until a new episode comes? I think that after the final League episode, I had to talk about how Amour and the League had no correlation for about 859348504 different times in about 1 day.

 

[Omegaz]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ don't you think that it's usually the same topics nearly every day, until a new episode comes? I think that after the final League episode, I had to talk about how Amour and the League had no correlation for about 859348504 different times in about 1 day.

Well, the thing is that there are a few of us who just enjoy our casual conversations. And then you have people coming by and bringing these topics back up. This isn't a bad thing because it's good to be active. However, we don't want to get too active.

 

[Ririka]

Whenever my friend ask me about Ash' side of hints, i always brought the "common shonen protagonist troupe" which fits perfectly with Ash.

- Naruto never shows any hints towards Hinata until he knows how deep her feelings for him is, and that's when he realize there's someone who always care for him.

- Ichigo never really shows blatant hints for Orihime, yet in the end they ends up together.

- Insert similar shonen protagonist with oblivious troupe

It's similar with Ash. This is a common used troupe in japanese anime. The protagonist doesn't have to show a lot of hints for a ship to be canon, and no it won't be forced either. So if Ash were to reciprocate Serena's feeling in the future, or whatever similar things happened, the writers doesn't really have the obligation to shows how Ash develop his feeling over several episodes.

Of course it's nice if we can have it shown, but even without it, having a canon ending is not in the slightest way forced, cause in the end it's anime about Pokemon journey, not a romance, so the story how both side of love comes to fruition is not the focus.

This is why i started shipping Amour ever since they teased that Serena confirmed to have backstory with Ash, since usually a canon one-side love is enough to bring the ship into full-fledged canon.

 

[lane]

Whenever my friend ask me about Ash' side of hints, i always brought the "common shonen protagonist troupe" which fits perfectly with Ash.

- Naruto never shows any hints towards Hinata until he knows how deep her feelings for him is, and that's when he realize there's someone who always care for him.

- Ichigo never really shows blatant hints for Orihime, yet in the end they ends up together.

- Insert similar shonen protagonist with oblivious troupe

It's similar with Ash. This is a common used troupe in japanese anime. The protagonist doesn't have to show a lot of hints for a ship to be canon, and no it won't be forced either. So if Ash were to reciprocate Serena's feeling in the future, or whatever similar things happened, the writers doesn't really have the obligation to shows how Ash develop his feeling over several episodes.

Of course it's nice if we can have it shown, but even without it, having a canon ending is not in the slightest way forced, cause in the end it's anime about Pokemon journey, not a romance, so the story how both side of love comes to fruition is not the focus.

This is why i started shipping Amour ever since they teased that Serena confirmed to have backstory with Ash, since usually a canon one-side love is enough to bring the ship into full-fledged canon.

Let's hope that the writers have taken good lessons from other anime series that made a good, canonised shipping happen? They already took the Mega Rasenshuriken + Shadow Clones from Naruto. I just never understood Hinata and Naruto ended up together. So strange. ._.

 

[Epicocity]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ don't you think that it's usually the same topics nearly every day, until a new episode comes? I think that after the final League episode, I had to talk about how Amour and the League had no correlation for about 859348504 different times in about 1 day.

Well, that's part of the problem: any time a new user comes in, they inevitably bring up the same subjects we've discussed to death and that sends the ball rolling for everyone. I think we must have talked about Serena4Alola about 10 times since the League finale aired...

 

[Red Pheonix]

And now I know how we accrue so many pages in a day...When you disappear for a few hours and realize a page or two is made entirely of 2-3 people chatting it out...with the same topics...oh dear...

That's why I asked you guys about the discussion quality. Quality over quintity I say.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ don't you think that it's usually the same topics nearly every day, until a new episode comes? I think that after the final League episode, I had to talk about how Amour and the League had no correlation for about 859348504 different times in about 1 day.

My god. Don't bring that up again. I changed my sig for 3 days just to deal with the pessimism.

Well, the thing is that there are a few of us who just enjoy our casual conversations. And then you have people coming by and bringing these topics back up. This isn't a bad thing because it's good to be active. However, we don't want to get too active.

We're not active for being active. We're active cause we come here to chill everyday.

Let's hope that the writers have taken good lessons from other anime series that made a good, canonised shipping happen? They already took the Mega Rasenshuriken + Shadow Clones from Naruto. I just never understood Hinata and Naruto ended up together. So strange. ._.

Yeah, the shonen thing was mentioned a lot.

I had thought that crossed my mind. Remember the date episode? I wonder how Serena remembers that event? I mean it was her very first experience of "love". Of course, since it's her first, it was wierd and awkward. She tried to hold Ash's hand, Ash being a complete dork, even running off from her, certainly the most "unique" date indeed. Despite that, it still holds a fond memory. This is where Serena got the blue ribbon from Ash. She wears that blue ribbon in her chest. All the time. I find it amusing that even when her very first "date" of her life is so odd and akward yet it had left a deep impression in her mind.

 

[Psychotic]

Well, that's part of the problem: any time a new user comes in, they inevitably bring up the same subjects we've discussed to death and that sends the ball rolling for everyone. I think we must have talked about Serena4Alola about 10 times since the League finale aired...

This particular breed of message board lends itself to that, I don't think the problem is with the users.

 

[MegaScyther]

Serious question tho, if greninja was left at oak's lab during sun and moon would that break the ash-greninja bond?