How have your opinions on each series shifted over time?

[blizzardblaze]

OS: This was an alright start to Ash's journey, since it managed to convey that he still has a long way to go, and it's also really funny. Definitely appreciate it a lot more than I did all those years ago. Johto's still really slow

AG: It's ok. Could be better. Had some good gym battles and character development, but in other aspects it's just...meh.
DP: Paul and Ash's rivalry is still the best rivalry we've gotten out of the anime so far, but both Ash and Brock started to feel kind of stagnant from how long they've been in the anime. Brock's goal change near the end makes sense but feels out of place for me for some reason.

BW: It's not as bad as people make it out to be, but in terms of how they handled Ash in this series..yeah, still think it's probably the worst saga we've gotten so far
XY: I thought this was a really great series at first, but although I really liked the battles and the Ash-Greninja arc, it's not as great as I thought it was initially. They built up so much hype for things, failed to give equal focus to all of the characters, pandered too much to the Amourshippers with Serena's character, and never really delivered on anything. I still like it though, it's just that I don't put it on the pedestal I used to.

S&M: Before I hated this series with all my being because I was stupid and not really open to the change in artstyle, or the tone it gave off in early episodes. The early episodes were a rocky start for the series, and not something I should have judged it on - since it still DID have time to adjust to the new environment and the changes it brought for the show. Eventually, though this series grew on me a lot since they got used to the cast size and really did have some really fun episodes and interesting plots that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise if we stuck to the formula like we did before. It's still got some bad pacing problems and I'm still disappointed in how they wasted the potential of Team Rainbow Rocket in the Necrozma arc

 

[Sham]

This is no particular order

I jumped on the sad bandwagon of BW being “awful and unwatchable” but after watching it as an adult I enjoyed the group chemistry and humor.

I remember when XY came out and I was excited to see the blonde squad and thought they’d be interesting characters along with seeing a more “sharper” looking Ash.... oh the irony.

As far as SM goes...the league saved that series. Fillers were great tho

DP was always and will continue to always be the best.

AG....?

OS to me as an adult is slightly more weirder than I remember... funny but weird.

 

[EmeraldArcanine]

Gonna stick to the ones I know, because I've never watched the whole late-OS/Johto arc.

OS: Didn't think much of it back then, but it was still on (Likely rerunning) when I was a toddler, which was my first time watching Pokemon and my first time seeing it was the very first episode. Was just another cartoon to me. Now that I actually watched it rather recently and got through almost every episode for Kanto I grew to really like its humor, filler, and episode ideas. Though when you go back to Gen 1 after looking at Gen 6's battles it can be very underwhelming in comparison lol. Haven't seen all of Orange Islands yet to judge it. I don't intend on touching Johto tbh, maybe until fansubs for it are out, because after a point in the anime for Johto I personally rather go Japanese dub than English.... especially when the cast voices switch for English...

DP: I liked it for what it was, though I haven't watched it in a looooong time. Opinions for it are more or less the same for some cases. Loved the contests, hated Paul like hell, loved some of the battle strategies shown (Like Countershield, I think that was my favorite out of them and I was sad to see it not appear again for a loooooooong time), Chimchar was fun to watch develop. I barely knew what filler was when I watched the series so I honestly didn't complain about that. Looking back on it now, yeah it's way too long.

XY: Adored it when I first watched it because of the art style and how badass Ash was and also the battles were at their best for Pokemon this series (When they bothered to make them good that is). But looking back on it now, I don't idolize it as much as I did before. Some of the fillers are pretty boring, the TRio as much as I love them like hell were overused even to the point they had no point of being there and it got to a meta case even ("I WANT MORE SCREENTIME!"), lines were repetitive and so were the gags given they happen every damn episode with the same result, Greninja and Ash Greninja hogging the spotlight at times, the EXTREMELY controversial League... in XYZ it was Bonnie and Zygarde's relationship that kept it up for me tbh. It may look awesome and have good battles and style but that's basically where it ends.

SM: Hated it at first because everyone else did and frankly I do NOT like Ash in the SM art style, everyone in the style looks way better. But after watching it myself, I don't really mind it and I even enjoyed some of it. The style allowed for some really fluid bits, I liked the Slice-of-Life thing they went with and it was such a nice change of pace after the battle-heavy XY series. The TRio are at their best in this series as well and I enjoy them every time they popped up even for a few seconds. That Litten arc hurt my soul. It's really nice to see the show go more casual and light-hearted and it can have good character moments and the removal of the formula was really nice. The problem with it is that its battles are super weak for the most part, especially when you look at it compared to XY which has the whole 3D camera and everything. I wonder why they ditched that? Was it budget? Idk. The first island trial was rushed it's frustrating tbh, Mallow was neglected to high hell as a character and tbh outside Lillie they don't have much going for them compared to the boys. The Necrozma arc sucked, the league sucked (Oh my GOD did it!), the JoJo faces are hit or miss, the gags missed with me a lot of times (Especially the one where Ash made horrid food and ate it and then he... yeah no I'm emetophobic thanks, I was lucky to have seen the edited dub version instead x.x) Nebby was SO UNDERUSED AFTER EVOLUTION IT HURTS. I don't hate it anymore but I do like where it IS strong and dislike where it isn't. I could probably love it as a whole if they did better with the things it flopped on, but as it stands I could only love bits of it.

Journeys: Meeeeeeeh it's not as good as I hoped it'd be. The episodic formula they went with really hurts the battles, Gous obsession with getting everything can be annoying, not fond of the Gacha for the TRio because it seems to be keeping them from getting their own Pokemon which sucks because them bonding with them are the best part of their characters, the saturation of Popular 'mons on Ash's team like Gengar, Riolu (Lucario) and not to mention being primarily Gen 1 makes me fear Ash won't get a Galar starter or something. Chloe however got a nice development episode recently so I do like her. But tbh, the series hasn't kept my attention. I was hyped for it but now I'm not feeling it.

 

[Evstike]

OS: I used to think Kanto was completely ridiculous and annoying, but now I enjoy the humour and entertainment. I still have plenty of problems with how certain things were handled, but there's still plenty of enjoyment. Johto still feels slow and a chore to watch regardless of how many good episodes and stuffed in-between.

AG: I haven't watched much of this but I doubt my opinion of it will change. I'm neutral on it since it improved some things from OS and maintained more focus, but many parts of AG were outdone by following series.

DP: I've barely watched DP but from what I've seen, it's not as special as I thought it would be. Dawn, contests, and rivalries seem fine to me, but there's a lot that drags it down. It's not a bad series by any means, but not my favourite. Brock and Team Rocket felt stale and the length of the series resulted in some boring stretches. Even Ash wasn't too interesting when he wasn't being challenged. Many episode plots and the artstyle definitely feel stale and dated.

BW: I initially hated BW, but I'm not too harsh on it anymore. Knowing how the series ended up got me over the disappointing lack of results in this series since I can judge it after accepted what happened. Execution may not have been great, but the first stretch in particular freshened up the series with a replacement for Brock and a new role for TR. I remember TR's mission in particular keeping me intrigued. The new more colourful artstyle made it much easier for me to watch after the dull colours and outdated style from DP. The rest of the series didn't have bad episodes by themselves, but the direction as a whole was confusing and didn't feel satisfying.

XY: I used to love this as it was airing but then grew to hate it. I couldn't find myself to be interested in any of the characters. Currently, I've warmed up to this series much more and it's now my second favourite. I still have major issues with the characters and I'm not a fan of making the goals more interesting than the characters themselves. Don't even get me started on what I think of Serena. I still have plenty of problems with certain things such as the use of TR, cheap cop-outs to avoid resolving the original episodic stories, sharpness of the character designs and the overuse of 3D. I love how dynamic the battles were and how focused they could keep certain plots (until TR showed up). I will admit that I think the execution of whatever they attempted went well regardless of what I thought of it. Everything felt well put together including the visuals.

SM: I started watching this after years of staying away from the show and immediately became hooked. Ash was finally interesting to me as a character and TR weren't used as villains more times than I could count. They finally bothered to treat characters like characters, even the Pokemon. I loved most of the concepts and themes introduced. The looser approach to character designs and animation made me much more interested. Now recently, I've been starting to lose interest in SM. Certain things feel executed poorly, and the second season started to feel really dull. Episodes felt messier than usual and lacked proper direction even if I enjoyed the concepts that they tried to convey. I wasn't a fan of Jessie and James's designs and the artstyle felt too flat to me at certain times. My biggest problem was that they couldn't handle serious intense episodes and threw out the tone after certain points.

Journeys: I enjoyed it and the start and I enjoy it now but for different reasons. I liked the slice-of-life moments at the lab during the first few episodes but the episodic stories felt lacking to me. The recent episodes have had much more interesting stories but lack the atmosphere and setup in exchange for having more plot time. As the series is progressing, I'm beginning to get disappointed in the general direction. The only things that feel like they're going somewhere are the PWC and Riolu. I'm missing the fun and atmosphere from Alola, and the focus and hype from XY. The visuals have also been disappointing since they aren't taking advantage of the loose designs like SM nor making everything look good and well drawn like XY. The use of stock backgrounds feels excessive and overdone. I'm still enjoying it but I'm losing interest in the lack of clear direction.

 

[Storm the Lycanroc]

My feelings towards the anime usually follow a formula. I'm excited for the new series since it's set in a new region, by the mid point my interest is starting to waver, and near the end I am become disinterested since Ash will catch a Pokemon I loathe. (Examples: Corphish, Aipom, Chimchar, Goomy, Meltan)

Will admit I dont have much nostalgia for OS, AG, or DP since I sporadically watched episodes. Strangely the only thing I am nostalgic for is the movie Rise of Darkrai since it had so much emotion.

BW was the first series I actually watched from beginning to end. I enjoyed the Unova region and that Ash was rotating Pokemon on his team. It actually inspired me to use more than six Pokemon on my ingame teams. I dont think the series has aged well since it took a drastic turn after the Team Plasma episodes were cancelled. So the story feels unfinished in certain regards. Plus some scenes with Iris are cringeworthy and annoying.

XY is the second series I actively watched on a weekly basis. Despite the constant change in time slots by Cartoon Network I watched the whole series. I enjoyed the chemistry the group had and all of Ash's Pokemon (except Goomy... the ugly thing.) I'd consider this the best series finale since it has an epic buildup to the battle with Team Flare.

SM was a series I didnt watch at first due to it getting a new broadcaster. I only recently watched the whole series within a couple of days and will admit I enjoyed it. Ash has a great relationship with schoolmates and his Pokemon. At first I didnt like the idea of staying in one place the whole time but came to appreciate it as the series went on. Melemele Island started to feel like an actual home since Ash was living with Prof. Kukui and Burnett is the closest thing he's had to an actual family dynamic. I enjoyed the episodes featuring Masked Royal and the finale for the league was great. It's hard to explain but Generation 7 as a whole will be fondly remembered for many years to come.

When it comes to Journeys I feel it doesn't know what it wants to be. It cant decide if it wants to be like the old series by telling a cohesive story or just be an advertisement for Pokemon Go by capturing as many critters as possible. I'm not a fan of all the Kanto based episodes and find enjoyment in the few episodes set in Galar.

At this point I'd rather have an adventure set exclusively in Galar... I say that because by neglecting the newest region for revisiting older ones means that Galar or this series wont be as memorable. Granted we're only in year one of this series so things could change by the time its over.

 

[LilligantLewis]

Ready? Ok!

Kanto- Loved it growing up. I still think it's really good. The battles are pure trash and the pity badges are plain embarassing. I liked in SM043 when Misty literally used the word pity badges lol. Jeanette Fisher is the only good battle of this series.

OI- honestly incredible and very underrated. Easily the most rewatchable part of OS. Whether it was just 4kids or not, it was still extremely shippy which added to a lot of humor. It had some wacky fillers making things entertaining, and the first-ever full 6on6 in the show.

Johto- Liked it the least out of the 3 regions so far, as a kid. Looking back now, like it even less, if possible. MQ is good, but the first two seasons drag Johto as a whole down too much.

Hoenn- Thought it was the best so far, growing up. Loved the fact that the girl had a main goal now. Looking back, it's not gotten that much worse. I think it's really good still, and since Ash had no rivals, May's rivals got to shine maybe more than any future companion's rivals have. I really like that.

BF- When it first aired, I was a bit sour on it, I think mainly due to the new voices. Now, I love it, it might be one of the best seasons in Pokémon history.

DP- Best. Still the best.

Best Wishes!
Hated it at first but like it a lot more looking back. At the time, after Ash had just taken down a Darkrai and Latios, and with my main goal in life being to watch Ash win one day, the nonsense in BW really hurt me. But that was the only reason I hated it, so, now that I already know he would lose in BW and I was able to pay more attention to the actual episodes, there are a lot of good ones. I liked the Don Battle tournaments. I liked the fact that all 3 main characters now had rivals. I liked that each time Bianca knocked Ash into the water he would take off a different piece of clothing. I like the fact that the best change in the history of the anime originated in BW, that being TR stopped appearing in every episode.

Best Wishes! Season 2
Liked it at first. Was obsessed with the fact that Dawn and Cynthia returned due to being worried about lack of continuity in Best Wishes! Season 1. Also got excited about Ash vs. Giovanni for the first time in the main series. Looking back, too much stuff here doesn't make sense. Iris catching Dragonite, her only victory ever over her rival being because she can't control it, her only victory over the last Pokégirl being because she couldn't control it, the battle against Cynthia being stupid, Ash getting his ass handed to him by Giovanni instead of like some epic battle, and of course Cameron's Hydreigon and lack of bringing a sixth. Just a garbage season tbh. After I had just gotten used to BW's style of making mistakes during Season 1, BWS2 really compounded the nonsense.

Episode N
When I first heard about it, was excited that Team Plasma would finally be coming to the anime. Didn't like the execution. I like it better now than I did then, but still not the best. However, I think it's due to my having too high of expectations at the time, due to Team Galactic. TP is still def better than TM+TA, and I'm just thankful they even eventually did an arc, after the original TP plan had to be scrapped.

Da!
I liked it when it aired because I liked Alexa being a lead-in to the XY arc, we hadn't had any kind of a lead-in from one region to the next since AG-DP. I also thought BWS2Da!20 hinted at Ash winning XY league. Since he didn't win, I've really soured on Da! The origin of the Dunsparce meme is one good thing about Da!

XY
I liked it a lot and still mostly do. I think just XY, not including Z, might be the second-best series behind DP. Its conclusion, XY93, is the best gym battle in the history of the show.

XY&Z
I liked it when it was airing up until Ash lost, and still pretty much hate it. Too many things don't make sense when I look back, that I just accepted the first time. The Ninja Village 2-parter doesn't make sense in the larger context of the show if the Ninjas never show up again in the final arc against Lysandre. why is Ash the guy? Why did that Greninja 1000 years ago look like Ash? None of it is explained. Serena vs. Amelia makes no sense for her to get more votes than her in her own hometown. They don't even show Aria's performance. the whole 'smile" thing doesn't make sense. Serena switching to contests doesn't make sense. Palermo was shoved in at the end. They rushed through Serena's arc for some reason, finishing the 3rd key and Master class loss within just a couple episodes, before even the 8th gym. Depression arc resolution becomes plot-irrelevant when Ash loses to Alain at league. What did Greninja even do at the end? What was his supposed destiny hinted at by the ninjas? They didn't resolve evil Malamar

SM
I didn't like it too much at the beginning, but basically went on a solidly consistent upward trajectory in terms of liking it throughout the 3 years. I think it's pretty close to XY, if you exclude XY&Z (with Z added, XY goes severely down for me)

PJ
I loved it when I found out episode 1 would be Pikachu backstory. I hated it when I watched episode 1. I loved it when I found out Ash is no longer doing gym battles and is just traveling the world as a Champion should. I hated it when I saw the concept in action. When Goh caught all those bugs, I wondered if I should give up on the entire show of Pokémon after 22 years. After watching 10-12 (which is all I've watched since I watch the dub), I changed my mind again to keep watching.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

OS and AG haven't really changed. Even when I rewatched them, OS still captivated me and AG was stilll just fine.

DP took a rocketship to the bottom when I rewatched it a few years back for the exact reason other people praise it: Ash's rival and how the rivalry was handled.

BW stayed the same, but I still dislike serious TRio.

XY has gone down. Loved it the first time, then the second time through was a lot less fun because it became obvious how reliant the series was on flashiness.

SM hasn't been gone long enough.

PJ started out promising, and then Ash's captures started happening and they've been a mess.

 

[Ragnarok4]

I started to appreciate the AG era more, I used to underestimate this series but now it is my favorite

BW: didn't like the chemistry of the group, but the random tournaments were some of the best fillers

XY is overrated by some people, it is also disappointing because it generated a lot of Hype but in the end it was false. If Ash had won the league right now everyone would be cheering this season. Greninja has been the coolest pokemon that Ash has ever had and I still think the strongest, If Ash recovers it in Journeys, automatically no one will care about XYZ, because Greninja as such is "XYZ" and that speaks very badly about the season. (+ Bonnie)

SM, never liked that childish tone and the league still seems to me to be one of the worst, it has moments that will be very remembered and will evolve well,however it's still Meh to me... the only terrible thing are the fanboys and Rowlet


AG > XY > OS > DP > BW > XYZ= SM

 

[LilligantLewis]

It's nice to see someone in this forum who, like me, separates XY from XY&Z because XY had so much potential that XY&Z then squandered.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

It's nice to see someone in this forum who, like me, separates XY from XY&Z because XY had so much potential that XY&Z then squandered.

I don't really see the point of separating them as they still took place in the same region, unlike the Battle Frontier, which should have been its own season imo.

 

[RafaSceptile]

I don't really see the point of separating them as they still took place in the same region, unlike the Battle Frontier, which should have been its own season imo.

Same, XY and XY&Z are literally the same story, unlike the totally unrelated Hoenn League Arc and Battle Frontier Arc

 

[Leonhart]

I count XY and XY&Z as the same saga since they were just two halves of the same story. I don't typically separate sagas based on story arcs or regions, which is why I personally put the Houen series and the Battle Frontier series under the AG label.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

I don't see the point in separating XY and XYZ, it's the same story, that's just dumb. Battle Frontier being different from AG tho I agree on simply because it doesn't feel like a continuation of the AG story, but instead a culmination of Ash from his OS and AG journeys by having him take on this powerful challenge as he uses all his mons. So I usually differentiate those two because AG for me was like an average series at best, but BF was amazing

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

For the record, I count both XY and XYZ as one thing. Same for AG and BF as well.

 

[CMButch]

My opinions of series changed when it comes to Johto, BW and SM and I would say Kanto( but this one not that much).
OS Kanto section didn't change much (it all comes down from nostalgia), I found it one of the best series ever it still holds some of the values like amazing comedy in dub. But as I grow older this series is good and all but not the best.
Johto section changed drastically despite comedy being there, fillers killed it for me. Lack of evolution of Ash's team. His team was meh IMO. Battles weren't that good it all made me think that this series as of now is the worst series ever.

BW: When it aired I thought highly of it but when I rewatched it, it wasn't that great at all, it's still good but my opinion on BW decreased especially because it came after DP.

SM: I was one of the few people who didn't hate artstyle of SM and I was excited for it. But after 20 episodes of it I gave up on it(because of comedy( except for Bewar), change of genre( all series except SM( yes even PJ) are action/adventure while SM is slice of life/comedy) but SM did have some genre changes when it turned into action/comedy( and those episodes I liked, like: Alola league,and Necrozma/Aether arcs, Zeraora arc,Nanu arc) and lack of battles but I still secretly watched episodes sporadically. Eventually I watched 90% of series and I totally missed on episodes that were super bad like those sport episodes that I didn't like. My opinion kinda varied into good series( in the beginning) then into the worst series or bad series( middle) and in the end it finally went on OK series being better than Johto.I didn't rewatch it except some battles but maybe my opinion might change again ( into better maybe) if I rewatch the series.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Let's just say the ride was enjoyable all the way to DP until BW reared its head and I felt like Zekrom decided to be a jerk to me for even stepping foot on Unova. Things...have not settled well ever since as Ash went through several phases of mental prowess that have left me with more disappointment than amusement.

BW: Stupid Ash.

XY: Ash the HERO everyone looks up to.

SM: Tom & Jerry Ash (who...actually wins a (strangely-formatted) league).

J: Work-in-Progress Ash, so I can't really comment. So far, he's been...polarizing in ways I cannot explain outside the Anime Spoilers section.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Let's just say the ride was enjoyable all the way to DP until BW reared its head and I felt like Zekrom decided to be a jerk to me for even stepping foot on Unova. Things...have not settled well ever since.

Pretty much this. It doesn't even feel like its the same series to me ever since DP ended and BW began.

 

[AznKei]

If the successive series go incrementally worse than the previous ones as the show goes on and that there's consistent continuities, I might be more forgiving about the previous series that I gave the bad impression on. But since BW, it's not the case. It seems that every series since then had their own unique themes and you either like or dislike each of them.

 

[RafaSceptile]

Wait a second...CAN WE REACT WITH MORE THAN A LIKE?!?!

Ok, I should update my thoughts:

OS: First impression was good because Nostalgia, but after rewatch it, Kanto was OK with amazing fillers, OI was very good and Johto was better than Kanto but with way more Generic fillers

AG: I never liked the Hoenn League Arc, May made this one a bit better. The Battle Frontier Arc is the most consistently one, it was great.

DP: Not as consistent as the Battle Frontier Arc, Ash VS Paul was great but the rest of the series feels not so amazing or original, however, it is still very good.

BW: From the worst one to still the worse but not as bad as my first impression. It had some decent filler episodes and the tournaments were a good addition.

XY: From the best one to a middle one. Outside of the Battle departament, the series lack of a lot of things, individually some episodes like the Serena's new style EP are good but a lot of parts are ridiculously bad in writing. Also post-hype, the Ash-Greninja Arc feels totally unnecesary because in the end the Special thing was used until the penultimate episode only by release it.

SM: From the new worst one to my second favorite. I love the character chemistry between Ash and the rest of the group, and also Kukui and Burnet. The average filler episodes were a bit better than previous season, but the average battle is not as good as in XY. However, they finally did a proper good Pokémon League after 10 years without a good one (last one was the Sinnoh League).

JN: Mostly the same, I like it in general, but I hope we can get better episodes in other regions because only Kanto, Alola and Galar have at least one amazing episode in those regions.

 

[Lacuna]

I'm not gonna list EVERY series here because then we'd be here all day, but here's what I got:

Spoiler: long

OS: Even now, beyond just nostalgia goggles, I still think it's really good. It's definitely different from the rest so it's kind of hard to compare it to anything else, but man I could still watch this a billion times and not get bored of it. Johto, of course, was slower than I remembered it being and mostly kinda "meh", but Master Quest makes up for all of that IMO. It's just fun. Still the Best Ash.

(Side note: For some unknown reason I used to HATE Orange Islands. I refused to watch it. I have absolutely no idea why in retrospect LOL. I had some kind of grudge against Tracey or the GS Ball or something I guess. Now I really take no issue with it, it's consistently pretty entertaining and serves its purpose as a good break between seasons.)​

AG: I thought it was awesome at the time, but now it really just doesn't grab me, and I can't put my finger on why exactly. It definitely hasn't aged well, and I can't bring myself to like it as much as I once did because of that. I didn't watch much of Battle Frontier, though, so maybe giving that another chance would change my mind.

DP: I loved it, then I went through a phase of totally hating it, and now I kinda-sorta love it again. Going back to DP is like putting on a warm sweater that's kind of itchy - it's got flaws that can really bother me sometimes, but looking past that, it's a really good experience. Easily my second favorite now.

PM19/JN: I was so incredibly excited for this series when the first trailer came out that I feel like I lost sleep over it a few times. For the first few months I was going NUTS over it. Now, just under 40 episodes in? It's... fine.
I've gone through phases of enjoying it way more than any other series, to getting mad at it and not wanting to watch it anymore, and then coming right back a week later. Lowering my expectations after the initial hype certainly helped, and it's recently getting much better, though I still feel like it could be doing so much more than it currently is. In a couple years I'll for sure have to update this. Still the Best Gou.