Do the writers actually listen to the fanbase?

[Haunter ゴースト]

So, this question is a big one.

Hell it's what the majority of the serebii population is on here for.

Do you think they ever listen?

Because of all the years seeing what people say, what they recommend etc. nothing ever seems to change in the anime.

Browsing through forums it's clear that people are still annoyed alot of the time with the decisions and choices that they make for each character and so on.

Probably the most recent 'big' problems being Tobias, and Pikachu's power downgrade, it was non-stop complaints.

I only get annoyed at certain things in the anime, I don't hate the writers, but I won't deny that they do a lot of stupid moves.

Anyway, has there been a time that the writers listened to the fanbase?

Will they ever?

 

[DuquÊ?]

Well, for sure they don't listen the non japanese fanbase.

I assume they have in mind they need to promote all the current generations pokemon by Nintendo's agenda (since pokemon anime is the BIG N's main advertisement) and keep focus on pre-scolar childs. So, they barely need to listend the older fans (because, of course, even between the japanese, for sure there are older pokemon fans). Or fans of any age, whatever.

I think they have semi-full powers to do better stories, but, the japanese idea for better is diferent from the ocidental idea. My guess.

 

[ShinyVaati]

I don't really think they do, and even if they do, it would only be the Japanese fans. The anime is basically a 20 minute advertisement for the games aimed towards children. Yeah, this doesn't mean it can't have depth, and they do throw the older fans a bone sometimes, but that's about all it will ever be.

 

[Sushi]

Aside from the things that DuquÊ? mentioned (most of us are older than the target audience, we're not Japanese, yadda yadda)... What does the fanbase say that they could possibly listen to? There might be one or two things almost every one of us agrees on, but for the majority of 'issues', many people want something different.

There are people who want character X back and ditch character Y and Z, making the cast consist of no people who'd advertise the new games. There are people who want Ash to have legendaries or other "favorites" of theirs which, of course, differ from person to person. There are people who want moar blood, moar shipping, moar humor, moar drama. There are people who basically demand a 1:1 adaption from the games.

I'd say that about 80% of the people here who're confident that they'd revolutionize the show and make it all better have absolutely no grasp of what it means to make an enjoyable, long-running TV series for children; 15% are capable of creating well thought-out and entertaining stories, but completely disregard the marketing aspects which are crucial when it comes to the anime of a multi-billion dollar franchise. The remaining 5% (and I'm being very generous here) might be able to balance both. I, for one, wouldn't make it to the 5%, that's for sure ^^"

To be honest, if I were a writer and able to read these forums, with the intention of drawing inspiration from them, I'd be horrified and kill my internet connection forever.

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Not sure what to do with this thread. The question whether they listen to us has already been answered with an undisputable and absolute "no"; though it might be interesting to know whether the writers use popularity polls for the games as reference, for example. I doubt it (there are very few anime/game polls to begin with, IIRC), but maybe someone else knows more about that.

 

[Haunter ゴースト]

I would say leave it open for a while longer, not many people are online now so there haven't really been many opinions.

But your point is very valid, however some of the problems are more on character development, wins and losses etc.

I kind of meant in terms of plotlines, not on marketing/who thinks who should stay and go.

It's difficult to explain actually.

 

[Takeo]

No .

 

[Dephender]

One thing that generally always ends up being true in all franchises like this is that fans don't really know what they want. I mean, we can all agree that Pokemon battles in Kanto for the most part were terribly written, with horrible choreography and one-hit-KOs all over the line, and that the change to the well-written ones we have nowadays was for the better, right?
Yet, back in the Kanto days, did anyone in the fandom complain about how poor the battles in this monster battling show was? I never saw anyone do so - instead, they listed episodes like the first Pokemon league episode as their favorite because of the "awesome" battle in it. Compare that to an episode generally considered to have a good battle today, and it's absolute garbage in comparison.

Likewise, we saw people value nostalgia over things that should definitely be seen as improvements. Personality-less Pokemon like Zenigame got shafted for Pokemon like Waninoko, who had a well-defined personality... and fans complained because something old and nostalgic got replaced.
Kasumi, who the writers had an incredibly hard time writing interesting stories for due to her limitations caused by how they had established her character, got replaced with Haruka, whom they had clear plans for from the beginning and could develop properly... and fans again complained because something old and nostalgic got replaced.
Not that nostalgia is a bad thing in itself, but a lot of the things the non-target-audience fanbase complains about is mostly "they replaced something old with something new". If the writers wanted to listen to these people, how could they improve the show?

 

[Haunter ゴースト]

Hmm, you show some good points, but I disagree with you on Kanto completely.

I enjoyed everything about that series apart from Ash giving Haunter away to Sabrina.

It's not nostalgia talking it's just my own personal preference.

 

[Sushi]

I would say leave it open for a while longer, not many people are online now so there haven't really been many opinions.

But your point is very valid, however some of the problems are more on character development, wins and losses etc.

I kind of meant in terms of plotlines, not on marketing/who thinks who should stay and go.

It's difficult to explain actually.

I do see what you mean - I hope - but I think those finer details of the show are things that divide the fanbase (let's just pretend we're THE fanbase ;]) even more.

Some people had little understanding of the significance of Dawn's long losing streak in mid-DP, for example. It was an unusual twist from what we saw before - a character who always made it through the Appeal round. While for most, it was obvious that it was the beginning of a long period of self-esteem issues that were to be overcome with the help of friends and rivals, for others, it was a sign that Dawn clearly 'sucked' at what she was doing.

Another example would be the [spoil]current Meowth 'arc'. I haven't seen too many complaints about that, but there are some who don't want to waste precious time on a non-Unova Pokémon which 'will return to its original group eventually anyway', despite the fact that Meowth has been neglected development-wise in recent years. [/spoil]

Things are perceived in different ways - some people are satisfied as long as the result is as imagined and don't care much about the "how", while others are much more focused on the way things develop and are content with any result, as long as it's well-explained.

I won't judge either of these groups, especially because I can also belong to both depending on the plotline in question, but it just shows that there's a myriad of ways the writers could handle the show and it would still displease a great deal of people (or just a very vocal minority). I agree with you that, for example, Pikachu's power resets are a popular topic here and the source of many complaints, but if it wasn't present, many other issues would just arise. Pikachu would become increasingly stronger, making it more and more difficult to justify any losses, which, in turn, would divide the fanbase into those who'd stomp on Ash for losing when he could've won if he had used Pikachu, and those who cry for Pikachu to finally be dropped because it creates such a great imbalance in Ash's team.

That was just one example, but it works that way with almost every issue the fandom has with the anime. There might be a huge group of people who demand more-or-less the same thing, but every single person among them has very specific ideas on how said thing should happen. Pokémon has a humongous fanbase and trying to discern what everyone wants is literally impossible.

That's why I think the writers are better off not confusing themselves with the irritable mystery that is fandom and just go with their instinct. Yes, that means a lot of hit-and-miss situations with the internet fanbase (which is generally older), but if the popularity of the anime is anything to go by, they've done a decent enough job with the children so far.

 

[Zweihander Nemesis]

snip

Well said, and I agree.

Because Pokemon is such a gigantic phenomon with a maybe even bigger fanbase; it's hard for everyone to be happy and satisfied. If for example: A large portion of fans wanted Ash and Misty truly canon pokeshipping and if they made it happen they would be happy. But then the show would either stop because of Pokeship, or Misty would forever have to be stuck in the trio forever. Not to mention all of the kids who won't understand Romance and or the non Pokeshipping fans who will not be satisfied.

It's difficult to make everyone happy and it rarely happens so the writers are doing the best they can and making it neutral. There are things that annoy us yes; but it could be worse if they tried to make everyone's desires for the show come true.

I too have my desires and wants with the current Pokemon series (Like i'd make him GROW UP) But I know this wouldn't be best for the series, and probably have an uncertain outcome. We wish they took our ideas but maybe it's best if we just let them do what they want. They haven't screwed up royally.....yet.

 

[CyberCubed]

About the only thing I can think of is how the fillers decreased after Johto. Honestly, the show right now could have been exactly the same as it was back then. Kids don't know what fillers are, its only older fans who recognized them.

I strongly believe the original idea behind the first major revamp of the series, which was AG, was because of what went on during the 3 years of Johto.

People tend to forget that AG was almost treated like a new series when it first came out, bringing things back to square one (almost like BW is doing now), but with new characters.

And then from there they just continued doing it.

 

[Haunter ゴースト]

@Sushi

Well that answer is brilliant actually.

It goes to show just how different everyone's opinions and ideas are, which ultimately may be why the writers don't listen to the fanbase.

And fact is, the writers probably don't think as indepth as half of the people do on the forums, they probably never imagined anybody would go so imaginative and think of all the outcomes of a certain character.

Take Brock for example, who people think was well overused, even in Hoenn for some reason, they say he had extreme lack of development in DP,(He wasn't so bad but I do know what they mean, although I just wish he had caught more Pokemon).

It may be that the writers just consider him 'another character to tag along'.

Same for every other character, they may have a goal or idea for them at the end of the saga with them, but that's it nothing more.

The writers minds really are something, and unless they actually spoke to the fans properly, we'll never know.

I just wish they would make good decisions in the series, I personally feel that the series has taken a lot of turns for the worst over the years, It just feels like a show with so much potential and popularity could have been so much better.

I don't like how the series has never seemed to get that step furthur, obviously we witness the Gyms, and progress in the League, even meeting Legendary Pokemon, the show never reaches any bigger feats, it feels like the same thing over and over.

Yes it is Pokemon and we have to expect that, the show is based on the games after all, but like I said, it feels like it could be so much better especially after 700+ Episodes.

 

[Venomfang]

Hell no they don't listen to us. The writers don't care about us fans, only about the merchandise.

 

[Yeul]

They aren't listening to us, but they ARE watching us. Why, right now they've got Nob Ogasawara and the Shadow Triad lurking these forums and taking in everything we say!

 

[Demonsead]

Only the japanese fans, that's why Brock came back and Tracy left.

Otherwise I'm damn glad the fanbase is ignored for obvious reasons.

 

[Glover]

Just an observation from someone who's recently started speaking up on his Pokemon fandom, but the blunt of what I see Fans complain about come to one fact that the fans forget.

The Pokemon episodes exist SOLEY to sell toys, and video games. THAT'S IT.

It's true for nearly every cartoon/toyline, and cohesiveness doesn't matter as long as some ten year old kid says "Oh Cool, I want one of those". That's why Ash got knocked down a peg, taking Pikachu along with him, to look like a new trainer, in the age bracket they want to sell to. Wes was older because the general Gamecube demographic was older.

And as much as I love the take on Team Rocket, that was done to get in on the action shows. Nothing more. I'd love to find out though that J&J are up to more in Unova, and if not accelerating, are catching enough for Giovonni to stay in the kind of good graces that wopuld support jetpacks. Doubt that will happen though.

Oh, and I may be the only one, but I lLOVED Chronicles. because it was the world of Pokemon. not Pokemon hosted by Ash.

 

[Gelatini Jejunator]

No.

10charlimit.

To expand on that, the anime is aimed at little kids. Their needs come first, not the 'fanbase'.

 

[JennaJayfeather]

I doubt they listen to this fanbase, but I wouldn't be surprised if some fanbase in Japan has complaints like ours ^^; they probably mostly aim at little kids, BUT I'd guess the writers want to make the show amusing for themselves as well.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Answer is no and there is no reason for them to waste their time searching forums and pay attention to people complaints.If they listened some of people suggestions and complaining would be already taken in consideration by now but as it can be noticed that clearly wasnt the case.

We can see with various demands(if i may add most common ones too) like:
-request that Misty is brought back to main cast
-character replacing being toned down
-Ash and other starting to age
-show receiving more "darker"and "mature"vibe to it
-guns,blood and violence being included
-that anime follow games 100%
etc,etc
How most of fan complaints fall deaf on writers ears.

And frankly most of fan suggestions(Barring few which has some potential to bring benefit)are flat out terrible with with writing staff having smarter things to do than wandering around internet and reading people complaining.

And to clear out something, reason why Brock returned(according to ex director Masamitsu Hidaka) wasnt because of fans but because writers realized how their fearing from possible viewing of character as racial stereotype because of his eyes was ungrounded.Seeing how his character was already popular with noone having issues with it along with Tracey not being received well they decided to give him another chance.

Kasumi, who the writers had an incredibly hard time writing interesting stories for due to her limitations caused by how they had established her character, got replaced with Haruka, whom they had clear plans for from the beginning and could develop properly... and fans again complained because something old and nostalgic got replaced.

That was not much of issue in first place with main reason behind Misty story not being developed enough coming from lack of care from ex head writer mr.Shudo and writers inexperience to handle some things properly at that time.There were several directions through which Misty character could have been taken with there existing ample of possibilities to properly develop her story.
For instance they could have given her some rivals,give more focus and development to her pokemon team,expand more on water master goal(for course of original series only Whirl Cup touched on whole thing more closely),focus on character flaws and obstacles exploiting more of its backstory,etc.

She may have used mostly on type,but that was hardly limitation considering how it was at same time most widespread and abdunant type out there.

From what i noticed main reason behind people complaints wanting Misty back is because they miss her personality and humor,because her character didnt received closure and because lot of potential was left unused with many things being left unexplored.Frankly cant say i blame them seeing how their disappointment is justified.

Not that nostalgia is a bad thing in itself, but a lot of the things the non-target-audience fanbase complains about is mostly "they replaced something old with something new". If the writers wanted to listen to these people, how could they improve the show?

To be perfectly honest to have successful and interesting show you dont need to constantly replace characters so i can see a point behind complaints of excessive replacement of characters .We can see with several other anime which dont replace their cast still going successful for all this years.

 

[Glover]

Answer is no and there is no reason for them to waste their time searching forums and pay attention to people complaints.

I do have to disagree with that sentiment, kind of. My other other interest is Transformers. Hasbro has done a marvelous job of diversifying their market. Read that: They went back, found their old audience still there, and brough figures of the odl characters back up, and did homages in the current lines. It's a moneymaker. Granteed, Pokemon is in a different sector of the toy market, they are doing plushies and action figures over action figure/puzzles, as well as a younger market than Hasbro, but there si proof of diversifying. I wish Chronicles had caught on, it really could have done for Pokemon what the Generations toyline has done for Transformers. (It's a free-for all. No continuity, just figures. Much liekChronicles hopped around and did revisits).