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Japanese Poll for Ash's Favourite Companion

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Psychotic

NotLikeThis
I've seen enough Iris comments to able to form a legitimate theory on why people dislike her.

Fact: most people dislike her because of the way she treats Ash. Those same people then decide to find ways to crap on Iris because they dislike that, so they come up with BS arguments for why she's the worst character ever, when she's one of the better written characters in this series.

Haters gonna hate, I guess.

I was nodding my head at your theory until it fell off a cliff here...


The poll was conducted by the Japanese site AnimeAnime, also I have doubts that the reason every gave is the reason she was last because she was a Japanese site and the reasons you gave are the Western audiences reasons.

So why does Japan dislike Iris?
 
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Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
1000 respondents is small but not terrible in so far as you don't draw the wrong conclusion.

One thing to note is the question "Who would you like to see Ash travel with again?" is not "Who was your favorite traveling companion?", I could see some people liking Dawn/Iris/Misty more than Serena but not necessarily want them to come back.

Who conducted this poll?

Well its probably a mix of both reasons, such as favourites and who do people want to see travel with Ash again. Because if going by just who people want to see traveling again with Ash, Brock and Misty being 1 and 3 makes sense since either havent appeared in a long time, yet Serena is number 2, and she just left 6 months ago. So for her to appear so high on the list shows that both factors were at play.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
Jeez...I expected Dawn to rank higher. (I remember her ranking number 1 on another Japanese poll made a few years back).

Also, why is Iris ranking so low? I mean, I didn't expect her to make the top 3 or anything, but I did expect her to at least beat out Tracey. Is she really that unpopular?

You know a character is awful when a character who was only around for ONE season and like 30-40 episodes beats them. lol
Being dead last is the only reward she deserves.

I know opinions are a thing, but I can't genuinely respect anybody who thinks she is better than Dawn/May. Serena I can understand.
 

Janovy

Banned
I know opinions are a thing, but I can't genuinely respect anybody who thinks she is better than Dawn/May. Serena I can understand.
It's so nice to hear that you can't respect people based on their opinions about fictional ten-year old girls.

Truly wonderful. I hope you don't judge people like this in real life based on them having different preferences to yours.

So what if someone likes Iris better than Dawn or May? So WHAT? It's not the end of the world. People like different things. Some people may not be fans of Dawn's behavior or overly girlish style. Maybe some people prefer Iris' design? Maybe they dislike Contests?

Why do haters feel the need to act like characters are objectively bad? Does it make your life better? More fulfilled?

God, this section is swarming with children who are incapable of grasping a simple fact: whether a character is good or bad is solely your opinion, not some fact that you imagined in your head.

No honey, you don't get to decide if a character is good or bad, and popularity of all things is not an indicator of whether something is good or bad.
 
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It's so nice to hear that you can't respect people based on their opinions about fictional ten-year old girls.

Truly wonderful. I hope you don't judge people like this in real life based on them having different preferences to yours.

So what if someone likes Iris better than Dawn or May? So WHAT? It's not the end of the world. People like different things. Some people may not be fans of Dawn's behavior or overly girlish style. Maybe some people prefer Iris' design? Maybe they dislike Contests?

Why do haters feel the need to act like characters are objectively bad? Does it make your life better? More fulfilled?

God, this section is swarming with children who are incapable of grasping a simple fact: whether a character is good or bad is solely your opinion, not some fact that you imagined in your head.

No honey, you don't get to decide if a character is good or bad, and popularity of all things is not an indicator of whether something is good or bad.

Preach it! I agree so much!

When it comes to my personal opinions, I'm rather happy that Brock got first. Out of all of Ash's companions, he's the one who I find myself to like the most. Dawn is also rather cool so her being high is nice, and personally enjoyed Clemont, but respect that others weren't a big fan of him, and I'm glad that he at least got a decent position on the list. I couldn't really care less for the other characters.
 

Darthlord7

The Smug Pikachu
Well, this poll doesn't say much to me. Anyone is entitled to their own opinions. It just happened that these particular people who participated in this poll liked more some characters than others thus the final result. This ranking means nothing to me because if you ask other people this list is going to change anyway.

I know opinions are a thing, but I can't genuinely respect anybody who thinks she is better than Dawn/May. Serena I can understand.

I really doubt that someone would like to be respected by people who share this kind of mindset regardless if their opinions fit your own criteria or not.
 
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345ash-greninja

Auto-Memories Doll
It's so nice to hear that you can't respect people based on their opinions about fictional ten-year old girls.

Truly wonderful. I hope you don't judge people like this in real life based on them having different preferences to yours.

So what if someone likes Iris better than Dawn or May? So WHAT? It's not the end of the world. People like different things. Some people may not be fans of Dawn's behavior or overly girlish style. Maybe some people prefer Iris' design? Maybe they dislike Contests?

Why do haters feel the need to act like characters are objectively bad? Does it make your life better? More fulfilled?

God, this section is swarming with children who are incapable of grasping a simple fact: whether a character is good or bad is solely your opinion, not some fact that you imagined in your head.

No honey, you don't get to decide if a character is good or bad, and popularity of all things is not an indicator of whether something is good or bad.

There is a thing called majority and minority y'know. There's a reason that Iris is ranked last in this this poll. It's a majority opinion that Iris is Ash's worst companion.
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
It's so nice to hear that you can't respect people based on their opinions about fictional ten-year old girls.

Truly wonderful. I hope you don't judge people like this in real life based on them having different preferences to yours.

So what if someone likes Iris better than Dawn or May? So WHAT? It's not the end of the world. People like different things. Some people may not be fans of Dawn's behavior or overly girlish style. Maybe some people prefer Iris' design? Maybe they dislike Contests?

Why do haters feel the need to act like characters are objectively bad? Does it make your life better? More fulfilled?

God, this section is swarming with children who are incapable of grasping a simple fact: whether a character is good or bad is solely your opinion, not some fact that you imagined in your head.

No honey, you don't get to decide if a character is good or bad, and popularity of all things is not an indicator of whether something is good or bad.

Agreed with this. For the record I believe Iris is a better character than May because of how she was handled. I feel May is overrated and I felt like everything was handed to her on a silver platter; she honestly felt like she hardly experienced any real struggles and stuff and got away with things without dealing with any failures in her contests.
 

UltimateNinja

Praying for the holy relics
I think Iris was the worst female lead together with Misty and that the Dragonite capture was a proof of that rushed and minimal goal progression she got.

Can't wait until some here start to critize me but remember its my opinion.
 
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Blaze Master X

The Fallen Hero
I bet Serena and Misty got voted by Japanese Amourshippers and Pokeshippers.
Dawn should be the most popular female lead in Japan.

Remember, this poll doesn't mean anything.
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
To those people who discredit the poll, of course it doesn't mean anything to ya'll since some of your favourites didn't get the top. If they did, I'm sure you all would be saying something else. At the end of the day, some people's favourites didn't rank as highly as hoped, but just accept it and move on (to everyone here), and surely if you like a character, they're ranking shouldn't affect your perception of said character.
 
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Janovy

Banned
I think Iris was the worst female lead together with Misty and that the Dragonite capture was a proof of that rushed and minimal goal progression she got.

Can't wait until some here start to critize me but remember its my opinion.
As long as you don't claim your opinion as a fact that everyone should respect (like some users), it's all okay.
 

Frozocrone

Miraculous!
Think what might contribute to Brock being first is that people were allowed three votes.

So if everyone voted for their favourite girl first, then they had two more votes so could have voted Brock as well - and unlike whether X girl is best girl arguments that spew up everywhere, Brock seems to be the most liked guy and Cilan/Clemont were never going to replace the original gym leader companion (he's also not competition for your best girl so to speak...)

Blergh, I type that out but it makes no sense when I read it back. Basically Brock isn't competition for your favourite girl therefore you like him. I don't know. Something like that.
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
I think Iris was the worst female lead together with Misty and that the Dragonite capture was a proof of that rushed and minimal goal progression she got.

Can't wait until some here start to critize me but remember its my opinion.
I think this is actually a more legit criticism of Iris' character over some certain other reasons that has to do with her design and catchphrase and i do agree with it that she could have been handled better with her goal, though she at least did struggle with trying to get Dragonite to obey her.
Think what might contribute to Brock being first is that people were allowed three votes.

So if everyone voted for their favourite girl first, then they had two more votes so could have voted Brock as well - and unlike whether X girl is best girl arguments that spew up everywhere, Brock seems to be the most liked guy and Cilan/Clemont were never going to replace the original gym leader companion (he's also not competition for your best girl so to speak...)

Blergh, I type that out but it makes no sense when I read it back. Basically Brock isn't competition for your favourite girl therefore you like him. I don't know. Something like that.

Bingo
 

Blah1

Member
I will say since it is a website, there may be slight bias there. Maybe only certain people visit that site, like shippers or nostalgics? That's why I'd take the results with a grain of salt, because the people that voted may not be the best representation. Then again, I could be wrong.
 

Mia Blaze

I'mma gonna Deku in the face, Kacchan
This is the JAPANESE opinion, not the western, and the Japanese are known for liking cutsey girls like Serena or nostalgia trips like Misty. Also, characters sometimes vary between Japanese and English releases. Misty was a bit more calmer and supportive of Ash in the Japanese whilst Iris was more of a brat, which is why they wouldn't like her as much.

Brock and Serena at the top were no coincidence, Brock's been the longest running companion and Serena... Amourshipping, need I say more. Misty's there probably because we haven't seen her in ages and the fact that the fans want a love rivalry. The poll doesn't mean much anyways as it wasn't run by the magazine CoroCoro or Pokemon itself but a Anime site in tie to the movie basically saying "We'll ask for your opinion, but it won't be granted" Remember one of the staff said that Misty wasn't coming back as a main companion outside cameos and references?

I'm surprised Bonnie was at the bottom near Iris, I guess some people prefer the shove in Brock replacement over the Sassy ruler of Zygarde.
 
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Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
This is the JAPANESE opinion, not the western, and the Japanese are known for liking cutsey girls like Serena or nostalgia trips like Misty. Also, characters sometimes vary between Japanese and English releases. Misty was a bit more calmer and supportive of Ash in the Japanese whilst Iris was more of a brat, which is why they wouldn't like her as much.

Brock and Serena at the top were no coincidence, Brock's been the longest running companion and Serena... Amourshipping, need I say more. Misty's there probably because we haven't seen her in ages and the fact that the fans want a love rivalry. The poll doesn't mean much anyways as it wasn't run by the magazine CoroCoro or Pokemon itself but a Anime site in tie to the movie basically saying "We'll ask for your opinion, but it won't be granted" Remember one of the staff said that Misty wasn't coming back as a main companion outside cameos and references?

I'm surprised Bonnie was at the bottom near Iris, I guess some people prefer the nerdy Max over the Sassy ruler of Zygarde.

Nope no one preferred Max over Bonnie since Max didn't even make the top 10.
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
Oh, well still, I thought Bonnie would be near the top, especially with XYZ.

I thought she'll be above Tracy at no. 8, but honestly not above that. She may have had some important parts in the story in the TF arc, but still she wasn't the pokegirl of the region nor the usual male travelling companion either so I'm not too surprised. I am quite happy for Clemont though at no. 6. Seems to be quite respectable and places him above Cilan, Iris and Tracy.
 

Satomine Night

The Power of Z!
I think some people here are forgetting a few crucial facts about this poll:

Firstly, this was a poll asking fans which companions they wanted Ash to travel with again. While it's true most people will vote for their favorite characters, it's also true that some people may not vote for characters they really like if they don't want to see those characters travel with Ash again, and that could be for a variety of reasons.

Secondly, this was a poll of Japanese fans, who are not going to have the exact same opinions of the characters as Western fans do. I've seen a few people attribute Iris's unpopularity to her being a person of color, but that is assuming Japanese fans perceive her that way. Yes, she has a Western name, and yes, she is from a region based off the United States, but this is anime, people. Look at characters who are from regions based off Japan. Does Misty, with her orange hair, look Japanese? Does May, with her medium brown hair and blue eyes, look Japanese? Brock has darker skin, and that didn't affect his popularity.

Thirdly, look at the gender ratio of respondents--60% male and 40% female. Males and females are going to have different views on the characters, which is probably reflected in the poll results. Is it a coincidence that the female character with the most votes is the one who is arguably the most feminine?

There is a thing called majority and minority y'know. There's a reason that Iris is ranked last in this this poll. It's a majority opinion that Iris is Ash's worst companion.
No, this just means that the majority of poll respondents don't want to see Iris travel with Ash again. That is not necessarily the same thing, as I explained above.

I will say since it is a website, there may be slight bias there. Maybe only certain people visit that site, like shippers or nostalgics? That's why I'd take the results with a grain of salt, because the people that voted may not be the best representation. Then again, I could be wrong.
The fact that his poll was run by a website may explain the disproportionate number of older fans compared to younger fans. However, that does not necessarily mean these poll results should be discredited. It depends entirely on the polling methods and how the poll designers recruited respondents.
 
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