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Amourshipping General Discussion - V.2 *Spoiler Warning*

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Citronic Gear On

やれやれだぜ…
Are we absolutely sure that a gift given at the end of a date is particularly meaningful in Japan? Has this actually been confirmed, or is it just another rumor? I really want to believe it, but it seems a bit too good to be true...

Multiple people who are familiar with Japanese culture say it's true; the fact these people have said it independently from one another on different social media platforms makes me think there's at least an element of truth to it. And apparently a lot of Japanese fans went crazy on social media after Ash gave Serena the gift; for example, #satosere was trending on Twitter for quite a while in Japan.

But I'm still maintaining some skepticism, and I want to know more to see just how true it is. I'd love to see some of these comments that Japanese viewers have made (preferably translated into English haha). that way I can understand where exactly the significance of a gift at the end of a date comes from and what people there think it means for AmourShipping. One thing I want to know in particular: Why does the timing of the gift matter that much? A gift is a gift, isn't it (at least that's how I'm used to viewing it)? What were the writers hoping to convey to viewers by saving that moment for the end of the episode, besides having it end on a happy/upbeat note?
 
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Tourist Juan

Well-Known Member
Multiple people who are familiar with Japanese culture say it's true; the fact that multiple people familiar with Japanese culture on different social media platforms have all said this makes me think there's at least an element of truth to it. And apparently a lot of Japanese fans went crazy on social media after Ash gave Serena the gift.

But I'm still maintaining some skepticism, and I want to know more to see just how true it is. I'd love to see some of these comments that Japanese viewers have made (preferably translated into English haha). that way I can understand where exactly the significance of a gift at the end of a date comes from and what people there think it means for AmourShipping. One thing I want to know in particular: Why does the timing of the gift matter that much? A gift is a gift, isn't it (at least that's how I'm used to viewing it)? What were the writers hoping to convey to viewers by saving that moment for the end of the episode, besides having it end on a happy/upbeat note?

Well, i have been reading about this a bit, and yes giving gifts seems to be a big deal in Japan.
There are several reasons to give gifts and their are rules to it too.
Unfortunately i havent found anything about giving gifts at the end of a date. At least not yet.

If anyone is interested ill just leave the link right here for you to read if you want.
http://www.giftypedia.com/Japan_Gift_Giving_Customs
 
Multiple people who are familiar with Japanese culture say it's true; the fact that multiple people familiar with Japanese culture on different social media platforms have all said this makes me think there's at least an element of truth to it. And apparently a lot of Japanese fans went crazy on social media after Ash gave Serena the gift.

But I'm still maintaining some skepticism, and I want to know more to see just how true it is. I'd love to see some of these comments that Japanese viewers have made (preferably translated into English haha). that way I can understand where exactly the significance of a gift at the end of a date comes from and what people there think it means for AmourShipping. One thing I want to know in particular: Why does the timing of the gift matter that much? A gift is a gift, isn't it (at least that's how I'm used to viewing it)? What were the writers hoping to convey to viewers by saving that moment for the end of the episode, besides having it end on a happy/upbeat note?

I agree. There is at least an element of truth to all of this. Unfortunately, we don't have much of a way to confirm. As it happens, I did crawl on the web on multiple Japanese dating advice websites (don't laugh at me) looking for information. But as you know, vague things like this aren't exactly easy to find. But what I do realize is that holding hands on the first date is a huge deal there. It certainly doesn't function like the dates we would think of.

Now as to the gift itself, I feel that it is a hint irrespective of whether that thing about Japanese customs is true or not. The knowledge of whether the custom exists or not does help in determining the magnitude of the hint, but I feel that this is a hint nevertheless. About the timing of the gift, the answer lies in build-up. You see, it increases the significance of the gift if they did it this way. And by keeping it at the very end of the episode, the last thing we remember about the episode is Ash's gift to her; not even her mother's.

Another thing is symbolism with the use of the background scene (with the fireworks and lights). Now I think one thing that we can mostly agree upon was that at least the setting of the scene had some romantic undertones in it. Remember that if gratitude and appreciation was what they wanted to show, in addition to ending the episode in a happy, upbeat note, they could've easily had Ash say, "Thanks for helping me out today Serena! I really appreciate it" and that's it! Alright I get it that Ash won that gift and didn't really buy her one. But he couldn't even get something good for his Pokemon. What would he get for her? And it would be too big a hint if he went out of his way to buy her a gift.

Third thing is, the gift itself. Come on. Doesn't it strike any one of you as odd that Ash won a damn ribbon for being the 100,000th or millionth passenger of the monorail? I mean you would expect that the gift is something bigger, more valuable and less gender-specific right? I myself won around $300 cash over here for being the 250,000th licensee of Kaspersky Internet Security in malaysia. You get my point? The very purpose and design of the gift seemed tailored for Serena. And bottom line is, he gave it to her, and made it rather significant. Had it been me, I would've just passed it on to her in the monorail. I'd be like, "Oh its a ribbon. here, you keep it. I have no use for it"
 

XYMewtwo

Rising Star
Are we absolutely sure that a gift given at the end of a date is particularly meaningful in Japan? Has this actually been confirmed, or is it just another rumor? I really want to believe it, but it seems a bit too good to be true...

Yeah, the gift being meaningful for the Japanese is definitely not a rumor. They saw it as a huge hint from Ash, and they also think that he's beginning to develop feelings for Serena. It's all about the different customs we're used to.
 

Citronic Gear On

やれやれだぜ…
I agree. There is at least an element of truth to all of this. Unfortunately, we don't have much of a way to confirm. As it happens, I did crawl on the web on multiple Japanese dating advice websites (don't laugh at me) looking for information. But as you know, vague things like this aren't exactly easy to find. But what I do realize is that holding hands on the first date is a huge deal there. It certainly doesn't function like the dates we would think of.

Now as to the gift itself, I feel that it is a hint irrespective of whether that thing about Japanese customs is true or not. The knowledge of whether the custom exists or not does help in determining the magnitude of the hint, but I feel that this is a hint nevertheless. About the timing of the gift, the answer lies in build-up. You see, it increases the significance of the gift if they did it this way. And by keeping it at the very end of the episode, the last thing we remember about the episode is Ash's gift to her; not even her mother's.

Another thing is symbolism with the use of the background scene (with the fireworks and lights). Now I think one thing that we can mostly agree upon was that at least the setting of the scene had some romantic undertones in it. Remember that if gratitude and appreciation was what they wanted to show, in addition to ending the episode in a happy, upbeat note, they could've easily had Ash say, "Thanks for helping me out today Serena! I really appreciate it" and that's it! Alright I get it that Ash won that gift and didn't really buy her one. But he couldn't even get something good for his Pokemon. What would he get for her? And it would be too big a hint if he went out of his way to buy her a gift.

Third thing is, the gift itself. Come on. Doesn't it strike any one of you as odd that Ash won a damn ribbon for being the 100,000th or millionth passenger of the monorail? I mean you would expect that the gift is something bigger, more valuable and less gender-specific right? I myself won around $300 cash over here for being the 250,000th licensee of Kaspersky Internet Security in malaysia. You get my point? The very purpose and design of the gift seemed tailored for Serena. And bottom line is, he gave it to her, and made it rather significant. Had it been me, I would've just passed it on to her in the monorail. I'd be like, "Oh its a ribbon. here, you keep it. I have no use for it"

In general, dating in the Japanese world is more conservative than in the Western world. However, up until now I didn't know about that whole issue of giving gifts, in particular the timing issue. From a storytelling standpoint, yes, saving it for the end of the episode helps. But independent of what giving the gift at the end of the episode does from a pure storytelling standpoint, is it significant from a romantic standpoint because the guy is building up to it as a surprise, OR because of some other, distinct, cultural reason that none of us here really even know about?

I agree on the whole thing with the blue painters' tape blue roll of ribbon. At first I had no idea what that thing was, and it struck me as a really underwhelming gift to give to the n-th rider on the monorail. Normally you'd expect to get a gift certificate of some sort. But clearly the writers couldn't simply have Ash buy a gift for her (because he also hadn't bought anything for his Pokemon), as pokesrini notes. So they had to invent an excuse for him to get something that he could later give to her. I still think it was kind of a weird way to do it, but it is what it is.
 
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In general, dating in the Japanese world is more conservative than in the Western world. However, up until now I didn't know about that whole issue of giving gifts, in particular the timing issue. From a storytelling standpoint, yes, saving it for the end of the episode helps. But independent of what giving the gift at the end of the episode does from a pure storytelling standpoint, is it significant from a romantic standpoint because the guy is building up to it as a surprise, OR because of some other, distinct, cultural reason that none of us here really even know about?

I agree on the whole thing with the blue painters' tape blue roll of ribbon. At first I had no idea what that thing was, and it struck me as a really underwhelming gift to give to the n-th rider on the monorail. Normally you'd expect to get a gift certificate of some sort. But clearly the writers couldn't simply have Ash buy a gift for her (because he also hadn't bought anything for his Pokemon), as pokesrini notes. So they had to invent an excuse for him to get something that he could later give to her. I still think it was kind of a weird way to do it, but it is what it is.

I think the timing can be explained simply by considering that if you appreciate something, you would show your appreciation at the end of it. I guess in some ways, it could be considered like a sports game. It would be foolish to start celebrating when your favourite team is leading 1-0 at half-time. Heck, it is foolish to celebrate even if they are leading 4-0 at half time! Simply because anything could happen in the other half. Similarly in a date, buying a gift in the middle of it isn't prudent. Moreover if you look at what it symbolizes: "You are quite special to me, and I would love to do this more with you", then it makes sense. Imagine you were saying that. Would you say it in the middle of a date/outing?

It certainly was a weird way to make him procure something that he could give. But if you think about it, what other route was available for that? Unless you expect him to pick some berries for Serena too xD I really can't think of any other way he could've gotten something for her.
 

Zack_in_Black

Truly Electrifying
I agree that it was quite a weird roundabout way of Ash obtaining and then giving the gift to Serena, especially after the first time watching it. But eventually one does realize that it is really the only imaginable way of having Ash give Serena a gift without giving to much away early on in the series, in terms of Ash's feelings towards Serena's feelings that is. I mean the kid couldn't even get gifts for his pokemon, so I really don;t think that it was in the writers best interest to have Ash go out of his way to buy Serena a gift. That ribbon was honestly the best possible way they could do it. Have Ash win a prize that is completely useless to him and honestly it isn't even that good of a prize in the first place, who wins a ribbon for being the millionth customer or whatever. Yet, it just so happens that he wins something that could eventually be of use to Serena in some fashion, and then instead of him just giving it to her on the monorail where it would sorta be a meaningless exchange, they hold off on him giving the gift until the end of the episode as a way of showing thanks while standing in front of the most romantic scene possible with the fireworks and what not in the background.

There were just a few to many "coincidences" involving that gift for me to really believe that it wasn't all planned out to give it the most romantic possible feel, without it actually giving to much from Ash's side. They can't just have Ash's character pull a 180 in how he interprets romance now can they. They did a really smart thing with this gift and it was well put together. That is my two cents on the matter at least.
 

XYMewtwo

Rising Star
Imo, this is the most romantic thing you can get out of a ship with the ship not actually being canon or on it's way to becoming canon in the near future. The writers definitely did the best they could in trying to make Ash be romantic by giving a gift, his prize, to Serena, and still also be an innocent oblivious child :b

Anything of a stronger hint would have probably been too much at this point in the XY series. So if like Serena had actually succeeded in holding Ash's hand, then he would have most likely knew what was going on. Oblivious or not, this would have probably gave it away for sure. They also couldn't make him go out of his way to buy a gift for Serena, because, as we all know, he's still completely unaware. The fact that he gave his prize to Serena at the best moment possible, with the tree in the background and fireworks in the background as well, and the fact that he scratched his nose or his lip or whatever in that precise moment, made it one big if not the biggest hint coming from Ash.
 
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Sheepy Lamby

Well-Known Member
Imo, this is the most romantic thing you can get out of a ship with the ship not actually being canon or on it's way to becoming canon in the near future. The writers definitely did the best they could in trying to make Ash be romantic by giving a gift, his prize, to Serena, and still also be an innocent oblivious child :b

Anything of a stronger hint would have probably been too much at this point in the XY series. So if like Serena had actually succeeded in holding Ash's hand, then he would have most likely knew what was going on. Oblivious or not, this would have probably gave it away for sure. They also couldn't make him go out of his way to buy a gift for Serena, because, as we all know, he's still completely unaware. The fact that he gave his prize to Serena at the best moment possible, with the tree in the background and fireworks in the background as well, and the fact that he scratched his nose or his lip or whatever in that precise moment, made it one big if not the biggest hint coming from Ash.

Those are wise words dude, the writers know they can't push the ship more (at least for now) :)
Playing with Ash's unawareness towards love was a great plus for that episode. Ash (probably and unconsciously) is starting to develop stronger feelings for her, which means (according to him) Serena is his "good good friend", scratching his nose definitively made that moment very special!
 

SickboyRawrs

Well-Known Member
Giving gifts is a big deal in Japan. So the fact that Ash gave Serena a gift under those lights is pretty amazing (usually Japanese people waits for the end of the date to give a gift when the atmosphere is soft and comfortable). Ash never did that before. The reason why people got dissapointed is because their expectations were too high, like they wanted holding hands, kissu and stuff, instead of focusing on what the director was giving to us.
 

Johtohfiller

Well-Known Member
I agree that it was quite a weird roundabout way of Ash obtaining and then giving the gift to Serena, especially after the first time watching it. But eventually one does realize that it is really the only imaginable way of having Ash give Serena a gift without giving to much away early on in the series, in terms of Ash's feelings towards Serena's feelings that is. I mean the kid couldn't even get gifts for his pokemon, so I really don;t think that it was in the writers best interest to have Ash go out of his way to buy Serena a gift. That ribbon was honestly the best possible way they could do it. Have Ash win a prize that is completely useless to him and honestly it isn't even that good of a prize in the first place, who wins a ribbon for being the millionth customer or whatever. Yet, it just so happens that he wins something that could eventually be of use to Serena in some fashion, and then instead of him just giving it to her on the monorail where it would sorta be a meaningless exchange, they hold off on him giving the gift until the end of the episode as a way of showing thanks while standing in front of the most romantic scene possible with the fireworks and what not in the background.

There were just a few to many "coincidences" involving that gift for me to really believe that it wasn't all planned out to give it the most romantic possible feel, without it actually giving to much from Ash's side. They can't just have Ash's character pull a 180 in how he interprets romance now can they. They did a really smart thing with this gift and it was well put together. That is my two cents on the matter at least.

I agree on this. Ash just so happening to be in the right place at the right time to win the ribbon gives it something of a destiny or divine intervention feel. That makes it seem more shippy IMO.
 

tomyno

Well-Known Member
Giving gifts is a big deal in Japan. So the fact that Ash gave Serena a gift under those lights is pretty amazing (usually Japanese people waits for the end of the date to give a gift when the atmosphere is soft and comfortable). Ash never did that before. The reason why people got dissapointed is because their expectations were too high, like they wanted holding hands, kissu and stuff, instead of focusing on what the director was giving to us.

There is something I don't get. You are talking about gift being a big deal in Japan. But have you been thinking about French culture? I know it is the japanese anime but Kalos is situated in France so we should consider if there are any hints typical for French culture, aren't we?
 

SickboyRawrs

Well-Known Member
There is something I don't get. You are talking about gift being a big deal in Japan. But have you been thinking about French culture? I know it is the japanese anime but Kalos is situated in France so we should consider if there are any hints typical for French culture, aren't we?

Satoshi is from Nihon. So it's a big deal for him. Besides, no matter where would be this located, Pokemon will be always have Japanese culture in their episodes. Take Yveltal as example, it's the Kalos legendary pokemon but it's based in Japanese mithology (search for Yatagaratsu, it's related to Amaterasu).
 

_Dog

Well-Known Member
WHY didn't Ash hold Serena's hand at the end when they were watching the fireworks. This episode was one gigantic face palm. Per the course. We already know Serena loves Ash but geez Ash could do a little more effort on his part. He is still largely one-dimensional as ever (great job writers) but the gift was at least something....

If anything this shipping might have even regressed LOL.

If we can all agree on something, it's that the ship has definitely not regressed in any way. It takes a heavy amount of bias or pessimism to believe this.

ScienceIsSoAmazing was kind enough to get information from non-English sources about the fact that Japanese people consider a gift at the end of a "date" a sign that one person like the other one...what I mean is -in Japanese culture- Ash likes Serena oh my Arceus!!!! :D
Thanks again dude, I expect your post any time soon!
Can someone else confirm this? I didn't know that a gift at the end of a "date" means that the guy likes a girl!?

I think we're looking too much into this. For sometime Pokemon (and Nintendo in general) have strived to take an international approach when it comes to displaying their works. I've read somewhere that they avoid adding material that's too Japanese for outsiders (unless it's something like samurais, ninjas, etc.) For example, Bulbapedia has its own article on rice balls and how they were frequently shown in OS and AG (and the editing of 4kids). Rice balls were less shown on DP, and were rarely shown or not shown at all on BW and XY, as those regions aren't based on Japan. Another example is the fact that the show creators made their own alphabet inspired by the Roman alphabet instead of using Kanji, Katakana, or Hiragana.

Kalos is based on France, which is known for being a popular place for romance (the French kiss did get its name from there). Thus expectations should be a little different there. It's probably why Serena looked at the whole situation as a possible date. Zack mentioned that hand-holding was shown in Avatar but not in Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, but Serena tried to hold Ash's hand in the episode. A lot of shojos also have had hugging and kissing which are very comparable to Western works. So I wouldn't fault or correct someone who was viewing the episode from a Western perspective. Romance comes in many degrees, no matter where it is.

One could argue that because of Ash's Kantoese origin, the gift he gave to Serena could really indeed be a sign of Ash liking her, but as Science mentioned, Ash didn't really view this as a date.

But in the end, I believe we're overthinking this (IMO, Pokemon is a poorly-written universe, after all). We can however, view Ash's gift to Serena as a possible hint for other reasons already mentioned. The question is not whether or not that is truly a hint, but if something more will come out of it.

Fun question that is irrelevant to anything at hand: What if everything was the same about the entire XY anime series, except instead of Ash being dense he was a total player?

I wouldn't be an Amourshipper, that's for sure. taeuknam's response scares me...
 
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If we can all agree on something, it's that the ship has definitely not regressed in any way. It takes a heavy amount of bias or pessimism to believe this.

I think we're looking too much into this. For sometime Pokemon (and Nintendo in general) have strived to take an international approach when it comes to displaying their works. I've read somewhere that they avoid adding material that's too Japanese for outsiders (unless it's something like samurais, ninjas, etc.) Bulbapedia has its own article on rice balls and how they were frequently shown in OS and AG (and the editing of 4kids). Rice balls were less shown on DP, and were rarely shown or not shown at all on BW and XY, as those regions aren't based on Japan. They've also made their own alphabet inspired by the Roman alphabet instead of using Kanji, Katakana, or Hiragana.

Oh that is confirmed for sure. Nobody thinks this has regressed.

I certainly believe that the gift is a hint by its own merits. But I would like to point out to some flaws in your explanation. First off, while the strong references to Japanese culture like rice balls and all have been removed, there is still a lot of Japanese etiquette ingrained in it. For example, Serena bows a little when she thanked the cafe owner in XY005 or so. Clemont always bows down when he apologizes. And all the gifts are given and received with two hands. They are all examples of Japanese etiquette which I don't think necessarily apply in most places of the world.

While the number of things that strongly point to Japanese culture are less, they are not eliminated, and nor will they ever be. The core cultural aspect of Pokemon will forever remain Japanese. So this also answers the question raised by one of the posters above when he asked if we should be reading into French culture instead of Japanese because Kalos is based on France.

Now another thing I find some of you doing is that you say that Ash didn't think of this as a date. I agree with you. Nowhere is it stated, or implied that Ash thinks of this as a date. But the whole point of this is symbolism. A first date (literally a first date) may not mean much for us in real life (I am speaking about those who have had a much more successful love life than I xD) but in this anime, it is massive! If Ash thinks of this as a date, there's really no more "hint-giving" needed. That makes AmourShipping two way traffic already! So that definitely wouldn't happen in XY059. Which is why they had to go through the symbolism route. But this doesn't take away the fact that the gift giving was a hint. You need to be quite strongly against AmourShipping to think so.
 
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--VIRGO--

Well-Known Member
d
If we can all agree on something, it's that the ship has definitely not regressed in any way. It takes a heavy amount of bias or pessimism to believe this.



I think we're looking too much into this. For sometime Pokemon (and Nintendo in general) have strived to take an international approach when it comes to displaying their works. I've read somewhere that they avoid adding material that's too Japanese for outsiders (unless it's something like samurais, ninjas, etc.) For example, Bulbapedia has its own article on rice balls and how they were frequently shown in OS and AG (and the editing of 4kids). Rice balls were less shown on DP, and were rarely shown or not shown at all on BW and XY, as those regions aren't based on Japan. Another example is the fact that the show creators made their own alphabet inspired by the Roman alphabet instead of using Kanji, Katakana, or Hiragana.

Kalos is based on France, which is known for being a popular place for romance (the French kiss did get its name from there). Thus expectations should be a little different there. It's probably why Serena looked at the whole situation as a possible date. Zack mentioned that hand-holding was shown in Avatar but not in Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, but Serena tried to hold Ash's hand in the episode. A lot of shojos also have had hugging and kissing which are very comparable to Western works. So I wouldn't fault or correct someone who was viewing the episode from a Western perspective. Romance comes in many degrees, no matter where it is.

One could argue that because of Ash's Kantoese origin, the gift he gave to Serena could really indeed be a sign of Ash liking her, but as Science mentioned, Ash didn't really view this as a date.

But in the end, I believe we're overthinking this (IMO, Pokemon is a poorly-written universe, after all). We can however, view Ash's gift to Serena as a possible hint for other reasons already mentioned. The question is not whether or not that is truly a hint, but if something more will come out of it
.

Ash, as you noticed, is from Japan (Kanto) and Serena is from France (Kalos). It is impossible for him to drop his japanese way of act all of sudden. He was raised this way, that is why this gift is significant.
Second. Maybe Kalos is based of France. But it's still japanese anime. If it is targeted toward young audience, anime is shown to them in the way understandable for them. I guess therefore anime was understood by japanese audience, like it shoud. That's another plus for significance of this ship.
Finally. Contradicting argument that ribbon was useless to him anyway. Maybe so. But if he suppose to give her that ribbon just like that, he wouldn't wait until all Pokemon gets their gifts.

PS. You guys complaining, that ribbon hasn't been bought by him. Then look what he get for his Pokemon. He went to forrest and picked some berries.
 

Dephender

Gizakawayusu
Staff member
Moderator
I certainly believe that the gift is a hint by its own merits. But I would like to point out to some flaws in your explanation. First off, while the strong references to Japanese culture like rice balls and all have been removed, there is still a lot of Japanese etiquette ingrained in it. For example, Serena bows a little when she thanked the cafe owner in XY005 or so. Clemont always bows down when he apologizes. And all the gifts are given and received with two hands. They are all examples of Japanese etiquette which I don't think necessarily apply in most places of the world.

While the number of things that strongly point to Japanese culture are less, they are not eliminated, and nor will they ever be. The core cultural aspect of Pokemon will forever remain Japanese. So this also answers the question raised by one of the posters above when he asked if we should be reading into French culture instead of Japanese because Kalos is based on France.

One thing that's important to keep in mind is that this is a Japanese series written purely by Japanese writers. No matter how consciously they attempt to avoid filling the series with things that aren't going to resonate with an international audience, they're still human. No one who hasn't spent a significant amount of time living in other countries are completely aware of exactly what constitutes "normal standard human behavior and etiquette" and what constitutes "cultural-specific behavior and etiquette some random person halfway across the globe isn't familiar with". That's just how it is. A Japanese TV series is always going to have characters act in "Japanese ways" because the writers are Japanese and are going to write what they know as "normal behavior" because that's what they know.

I'm not super familiar with Japanese dating culture and social rules, but I think it's pretty safe to say that if Japanese fans saw this episode as a very major deal and you non-Japanese fans were disappointed by it, the episode was meant to be seen as a very major deal and you just misinterpreted it due to cultural differences.


(also, as Virgo says, the series being set in pseudo-France doesn't change the fact that it's written by Japanese people with a passing familiarity with France, not by native French people writing French characters acting like average French kids. French custom and social cues aren't going to be relevant here)

--

Random semi-relevant tidbit:

I spent my first year in college going to a Norwegian school with a pretty even split between Norwegian and American students. As part of a school project, some of the American students were examining dating culture and they polled everyone in class about a couple things related to it, including "how old were you when you went on your first date?" Can you guess how the Norwegian students answered that particular question?

Every single one answered that they had never been on one at all, because in Norway, a "date" is a romantic candlelight dinner-type thing and the kind of "date" the poll was asking about just plain doesn't exist in our culture. Hands up those of you who knew that and would've managed to avoid making that error if you were writing a story set in Norway.
 
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Tourist Juan

Well-Known Member
I just had a random thought.
What if Serena had to participate in a showcase were she needed a partner.
Do you think she would ask Ash or Shauna?
 

Marmist

Dark Type Trainer
I just had a random thought.
What if Serena had to participate in a showcase were she needed a partner.
Do you think she would ask Ash or Shauna?

In my opinion, I feel like if something like that were to come up, Ash would not be the partner. Either Serena asks Ash to, and Ash refuses because he doesn't know much about performing and doesn't want to end up ruining it for her. Or, Serena knows that Ash doesn't know a lot about it and his dancing skills (As seen in XY044, I think) don't really help, and just doesn't ask him. I think Shauna would be the candidate, or someone else who knows a little more about performing.

Ash is focused purely on Battling, and Performing is far from his forte. So if Serena was smart, she would choose someone else as her partner.

But that said, if such an episode was to come out, there could be an episode with Serena training Ash in performing so he could be her partner. Nothing is set in stone, especially in this series. But as usual, that's just my opinion.
 
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