Japanese Poll for Ash's Favourite Companion

[AuraChannelerChris]

Iris was the word tease being given human form. Teasing others for their shortcomings and the universe itself constantly teasing her from owning all these wonderful dragons she bonded with so well. Besides, it didn't help the fact her character development didn't lead anywhere. She was already at the top of her game (except for the battles).

It got old real fast.

 

[Akkipeddi]

Funny thing is I recall seeing some comments on these forums suggested that the hate for Iris was mostly amongst Western fans and that the English dub voice actress made her sound much more arrogant and bi***y than her Japanese voice actress, where her teasing was apparently more playful in the Japanese raw. Yet, the results of these polls say otherwise.

 

[Heekful]

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.

Yeah I wonder how this forum would have reacted if Dawn was placed first... People need to remember that it was a JAPANESE poll , Japanese have different cultures and don't really think like we think.

Funny thing is I recall seeing some comments on these forums suggested that the hate for Iris was mostly amongst Western fans and that the English dub voice actress made her sound much more arrogant and bi***y than her Japanese voice actress, where her teasing was apparently more playful in the Japanese raw. Yet, the results of these polls say otherwise.

I don't think they hate her , it's just not their favorite character nothing more , if I prefer a character over another character it doesn't mean I hate the other, do you know what I mean? They probably like Iris but not as much as Serena Misty or May.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Yeah I wonder how this forum would have reacted if Dawn was placed first... People need to remember that it was a JAPANESE poll , Japanese have different cultures and don't really think like we think.



I don't think they hate her , it's just not their favorite character nothing more , if I prefer a character over another character it doesn't mean I hate the other, do you know what I mean? They probably like Iris but not as much as Serena Misty or May.

Yeah plus choosing a character to travel with Ash doesn't always equal choosing their favorite character either and they had the option of choosing up to 3 companions, so that probably was a factor in the poll as well.

 

[Akkipeddi]

Iris was the word tease being given human form. Teasing others for their shortcomings and the universe itself constantly teasing her from owning all these wonderful dragons she bonded with so well. Besides, it didn't help the fact her character development didn't lead anywhere. She was already at the top of her game (except for the battles).

It got old real fast.

G̶u̶z̶m̶a̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶t̶r̶u̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶m̶

But seriously though, I think most of the dislike of her "you're such a kid'' catchphrase was also due to the fact that Ash was indeed a really moronic kid in Best Wishes (sorry to anyone who likes BW Ash), so it kind of made it all the more annoying and repetitive. Coming off beating two legendaries in DP to what he became in BW was really shocking.

 

[UltimateNinja]

Problem here is that the japanese have a weird taste for those characters. Well and it's a poll, so popularity comes first. While there are a few candidats being on the top for some reasons (Serena playing an idol was the thing why she is popular in Japan), there are others suprisingly placing worse or better than they should be based on their popularity. Dawn should be higher, since she was mostly loved by the anime fans,also Cilan since he hits the japanese taste for comedic situations pretty well. Kasumi was extremly hated back in OS, so that was a big suprise)

But at the end, it is a popularity poll, so a subjectiv rating by the japanese audience. These opinions can't be criticized or agued, since they are a subjectiv impression by someone watching the anime. That's why that whole "Iris is crap while Dawn/May are mucb better" discussion doesn't really fit in here, since without any objectiv facts and background information it's rather an opinion than a objective rating (my rather unfitting post earlier here was also ment to be more of a joke btw and to trigger some people to think of what exactly poll results mean).

 

[Janovy]

In any case, it would be lovely if people stopped trying to turn this thread into an Iris bash fest.

As if we don't get enough of that in every second thread.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

If this poll was exclusively online, there's no guarantee it was only Japanese viewers voting.

 

[Satomine Night]

If this poll was exclusively online, there's no guarantee it was only Japanese viewers voting.

While that is true, there are ways to program online polls and surveys such that only people from certain regions of the world (in this case, from a certain country) are allowed to respond, and people from other regions of the world are blocked or terminated.

 

[Nebbygetinthebag]

In any case, it would be lovely if people stopped trying to turn this thread into an Iris bash fest.

As if we don't get enough of that in every second thread.

Agreed this is becoming a Iris bash fest tread and I like Iris IMO.

 

[TheWanderingMist]

While that is true, there are ways to program online polls and surveys such that only people from certain regions of the world (in this case, from a certain country) are allowed to respond, and people from other regions of the world are blocked or terminated.

Yeah, but it wouldn't stop Westerners who are living in Japan at the moment from voting. I'm sure they snagged at least a few of those.

 

[Genaller]

She is a person of color and she is "mean" and "disrespects" Ash. Also she's not the stereotypically cute female character this anime tends to go for.

I mean, there's a reason why Serena is right next to the top and Iris is at the bottom.

Yeah no. Brock is a person of color and he's first so that has nothing to do with this. Also Misty isn't a "stereotypically cute girl" and she's 3rd. Serena placing 2nd shows that this isn't only about nostalgia so you can't use that as a defense for Iris being last. The female companions overall placed better than the male companions so you can't even say that sexism was the reason why Iris was last.

Just face it; the (vast) majority of older Japenease fans don't consider Iris to be amongst Ash's TOP 3 traveling companions because from both an entertainment standpoint and a technical standpoint Iris is just not a good character plain and simple. You can still like her if you want to, but it won't change the fact that the majority don't.

FYI: not all opinions are considered equal. When faced with 2 contrary opinions, the opinion that can be better justified (for any given individual) is the superior opinion and the 1 that should be adopted into one's views (assuming that the given individual is rational) until another contrary opinion comes along that has an even better justification.

EDIT: I red your previous response to my earlier post. Give me an example of the writers completely ignoring a character's initial PRIMARY GOAL for the ENTIRE SERIES in which that character was prominent and even after said series. The character "Anime Iris" is entirely the result of the writers, so the writers messing up with her plot lines does equate to her being a bad character. You may be able to show how other characters might be bad for a similar reason, but that would still be completely irrelevant to the claim that Iris is a bad character.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Okay, we get it. There's plenty of negative stuff and veeeeeeeeery little good things that can be said about Iris.

Now let's talk about why you can't spell Brock without writing bro-.

 

[Genaller]

Okay, we get it. There's plenty of negative stuff and veeeeeeeeery little good things that can be said about Iris.

Now let's talk about why you can't spell Brock without writing bro-.

You can. Just write "Takeshi" (his Japenease name). I do agree though that Brock is totally a bro.

 

[Janovy]

Give me an example of the writers completely ignoring a character's initial PRIMARY GOAL for the ENTIRE SERIES in which that character was prominent and even after said series.

See, this is the biggest problem. :/

I am not able to take Iris haters seriously when they spout ridiculous BS like this. I mean sure, we COULD acknowledge all the times Iris bonded with different dragons, struggled with Dragonite as well as became able to tame wild, rampaging dragons along with making Kibago stronger than it was at the start of Best Wishes, but where would that bring the haters?

Fact: Iris got legit development in her goal.
Also fact: Haters don't give a fuck. They ignore it, and keep repeating their old, tired shitty arguments.

Have a nice day. I hope you manage to be slightly less negative today.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Problem is Iris was already a Dragon expert from the start and the only thing that developed for her was meeting all these Dragon-types that calmed down whenever she touched them (even then she had already become acquainted with all the Unova dragons because her village was saturated with them when she lived there...off-screen). And when she did meet someone better than her, it would be when her keen senses would be dumbed down all of a sudden. She didn't even manage to evolve Axew even when she was told this in her face 7 episodes into the series. Oh, and she caught an Emolga. Doesn't really help that she was almost a Misty clone in regards to her gift, but she got the short end of the stick by not having an extra region for her to learn about her trade outside her domain.

Even Cilan was an expert at what he did and didn't really meet a person who could outmatch him. S rank people don't exist in his field. He was practically perfect.

These are probably the most legitimate reasons people have about these two scoring so low (or outright rock bottom) over the rest.

 

[Janovy]

Problem is Iris was already a Dragon expert from the start

No, she wasn't lmao. Knowing stuff about dragons doesn't make you a Dragon expert, otherwise Brock is a f-ing Pokemon Master since he knows so much about Pokemon in general.

and the only thing that developed for her was meeting all these Dragon-types that calmed down whenever she touched them (even then she had already become acquainted with all the Unova dragons because her village was saturated with them when she lived there...off-screen).

Along with the whole Excadrill storyline, making Axew stronger (somehow people are unable to grasp the idea that a Pokemon can get stronger without evolving), being forced to struggle with an overbearing Dragonite that refused to obey her and overall using her abilities to bond and help various dragon Pokemon.

BUT HEY, let's ignore it? F*ck Iris. None of this ever happened, I tell you!

And when she did meet someone better than her, it would be when her keen senses would be dumbed down all of a sudden.

What are you even talking about lmao?

She didn't even manage to evolve Axew even when she was told this in her face 7 episodes into the series.

A plot point dropped in a Pokemon anime? That is just unheard of!!

And of course, when Iris is in question, her not achieving the Axew evolution goal is terrible, but whenever any other character is in question, them not achieving their goal is perfectly acceptable in this series. Dawn didn't win Grand Festival? Of course she didn't, it's her first series, she won't do everything right right away! Serena didn't win Master Class? Well that's okay, she has a long way to go. May didn't win the Grand Festival? So what, she's young, she has a long way to go.

Iris did not evolve Axew in Haxorus? Burn the witch! Worst character ever!!!!! How dare she not fulfill her goal within this one limited series?

 

[Mr. Guy]

Serena being that high should be a crime, most overrated character (and I use that term loosely) in the anime, possibly the whole franchise.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

I...appreciate the strong defensive opinions, but really, why would Iris rank so low, then? Were the rest just better than her or was she really that bad? I lean to the first.

Serena being that high should be a crime.

She most likely ranked that high because she has a (sort of) backstory with Ash and she was teased endlessly to be in love with him.

(I honestly don't believe the showcase plot was the main reason. More like a secondary reason that helped the above flourish.)

 

[Janovy]

I...appreciate the strong defensive opinions, but really, why would Iris rank so low, then? Were the rest just better than her or was she really that bad? I lean to the first.

Great argument btw.

Because she called Ash a kid. It's as simple as that.

This fandom is petty as fuck. Ash being childish annoyed them enough as it is and Iris calling that out only added salt to the wound.

So yeah, this fandom is basically made up of little kids who can't handle it when a girl "insults" their favorite boy. Or to be more accurate, when a girl calls out the bitter truth that they're trying so hard to deny.