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Moments that were supposed to be emotional in the anime but you felt nothing

pokedigijedi

Saiyan Jedi
Has there every been a moment or moments in the anime that was supposed to be emotional for one reason or another but you felt nothing for, for whatever reason?
 

Ignition

We are so back Zygardebros
The split up of the BW trio. This sticks out in my mind because I watched the entire BW anime in one sitting and I was expecting some emotional departure. It seemed more like they were relieved to separate (No, I don't hate BW as there are people here who jump to that conclusion ever so frequently whenever it comes to criticizing BW.)

Also Lillie and Clefable's moment in Ultra Space. I just sat there like "Ok? Can I see an actual battle". You can just group all of Lillie's "emotional" moments except for her confronting Lusamine in US and her hugging the Pokemon in the episode where Faba stole Nebby
 

AznKei

Dawn & Chloe by ddangbi
In XY, when Ash released Goodra & Greninja, because they were rushed to be released. And James with Inkay during the 2nd Malamar episode, the writers made it sound like they had long history together, but we never heard of them anymore once SM started.
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
In XY, when Ash released Goodra & Greninja. And James with Inkay during the 2nd Malamar episode.

The FIRST TIME Ash released Goodra was pretty sad, but it felt redundant and awkward the second time round. I didn't feel much for Greninja leaving at all, it was just too abrupt.

I'm willing to say Inkay was retroactively fixed since they bothered to give him more bonding moments with James after that episode, making it more heartwarming after a rewatch. Lillie and Clefable could probably be rectified the same way.
 
D

Deleted member 384931

Guest
Ash and Iris and Cilan. Their relationship in general. The whole Lusamine and Lillie arc. Felt nothing at all. Stoutland and Littens relationship has more impact than those two combined!
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
Serena and Ash. The closeness was one sided, and Ash was just too robotic in that series, Serena seldom got a new reaction or spark from him. Even on Serena's part it felt too much like she saw Ash as someone to look up to than an actual person too often.

Ash and Iris and Cilan. Their relationship in general. The whole Lusamine and Lillie arc. Felt nothing at all. Stoutland and Littens relationship has more impact than those two combined!

The AF arc did feel pretty dumbed down (we get it, you don't want to depict an abusive relationship, but your alternative was VERY clunky), though Ash and Lillie's bonding did save it for me. The anime seems to work better with elements it does in a more subtle way.
 
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D

Deleted member 384931

Guest
Serena and Ash. The closeness was one sided, and Ash was just too robotic in that series, Serena seldom got a new reaction or spark from him. Even on Serena's part it felt too much like she saw Ash as someone to look up to than an actual person too often.



The AF arc did feel pretty dumbed down, though Ash and Lillie's bonding did save it for me. The anime seems to work better with elements it does in a more subtle way.
I understand that Ash and Serena felt one sided and I am an Amourshipper. The AF arc felt just rushed and the relationship between Clefable and Lillie felt rushed and not nessicairy.
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
As said I think the anime actually does a better job with the more subtle bits of emotion and heart that they seep in naturally rather than the ones it tries to enforce as the centre piece.

For example, trying to enforce Ash as the 'chosen one' with his 'special' Pokemon and role with the Tapus as a major plot point, but that doesn't really give him much appeal compared to times he's in a supporting role helping one of the other companions in a fun way, or being Lillie's adorable guardian angel. It's his more understated roles that actually tend to give him more substance and feel less forced.
 

Jangobadass

Surprise!
Was the BW group split even supposed to be emotional? o_O

It wasn't like the other times Ash-tachii disbanded at the end of a saga. At all. All the the other times they made a big deal out of it (heck, AG did it twice). Here was just random. Even casual. As if the screenwriters forgot to make or didn't have time for a better break up. They just went "Well, gotta go! Bye Ash!".

So I question anyone who says they didn't feel anything for that scene when there wasn't anything there to feel in the first place.

That said, to answer the topic I'm going with any release when a Pokemon wasn't around long and/or didn't do much. Examples include Meloetta, Nebby, and soon Poipole. Goodra's 2nd release also springs to mind.

Oh, and Serena losing a poor man's Contest Performance. Or even any problems she had with them, because those were mountains made out of molehills.
 

satopi

Life doesn’t end, …it changes.
-The first time watching Serena cry (I felt it the second time watching it though)

-something something Hidoide's past love something something fight with James

-Almost everytime the Snowbelle City theme played in XY(&Z) like Ash being depressed

-Ash almost dying in XY(&Z)

-Probably when Clembot died

-Hari san being in a coma

-Lillie and Clefable's backstory. Would've worked if they said/hinted it before the arc started.

-The BW Trio leaving, straight up BS

-Alan's sexy arse beating Ash in the Kalos League Nah I'm lying

-Greninja getting owned by Pokémon

-Pachirisu/Goodra/Greninja's release
 

U.N. Owen

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night ...
Really, I have a hard time taking any group split up post-DP seriously because I expect it.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
BW trio splitting up definitely. I felt nothing.

And all the Post-DP releases. Goodra was rushed and just a dumb excuse to keep Ash from using it in his next gyms, two of which had an obvious type advantage I might add! And Greninja..... was just complete and utter bull.

Oh, and Lillie/Clefable! They really should have shown that relationship.....
Nebby's farewell too, he should have been a Cosmog for 50 episodes not 8 and then leave shortly after..... 10 episodes is hardly enough time to get a connection. The fact that he didn't do anything other than be transportation sure didn't help.

Oh, and let's not get started on Soph's 'farewell' not even 20 episodes into the series lol
 

lolipiece

Pictured: what browsing Serebii does to a person
Staff member
Moderator
I don't really get emotional at fictional media, even for things I really like.

Serena's reaction to losing her first Performance.

The entire concept of "cutting my hair and changing my outfit as a way to change and improve myself" doesn't work when you only just started the thing you want to be better at. I wish it was more like Dawn's losing streak story where she had already been doing it before changing herself, then it would feel justified. But I guess they didn't want to repeat that.

Also, Butterfree leaving. In both the main anime and I Choose You.

Butterfree had next to no personality after evolving, and only gained one in the episode in which it was released. The movie tried to bank on nostalgia except they still forgot the important part of making Butterfree an actual character instead lazily recreating its release for a cheap "feels" scene that banks entirely on the audiences' nostalgia.
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
Is it wrong I actually think some of the 'fake out' leaving scenes are more powerful than the genuine ones?

I mean, sure Inkay didn't have a ton of development before his, but he was still a kinda cute goofball, and one detail I liked was his flashback more or less consisting of standard TR abuse and silly antics. He didn't care if being stuck with James made him a loser forever because he loved James. That just added way more substance and sweetness to it.

Meanwhile a fair few of the twerps Pokemon are so bland and plot armoured I struggle to think of a real personality or pathos display that made me connect to them and miss them. I might have missed Froakie, but by the time he was a Greninja his personality had dried up completely and the way he was bowed out felt like it was meant to be sad but was so abrupt and obviously done because the plot demanded he was too powerful.
 

Victorian Rush

Weather Manipulator
For me, it was when Serena lost her first showcase. The whole storyline, to me, was just plain stupid. It was her first showcase, you can’t expect to win it all on the first try. Also, the whole her cutting her hair was supposed to be emotional but to me, it wasn’t.

I felt like it would have been better if Serena went through a phase like Dawn did in DP where she would win one showcase and lose at least two or three or the following showcases. Then after the third one she could of cut her hair and I would have been fine with that but the fact that it was her first showcase just makes it ridiculous to md, I didn’t even feel bad for her.
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
Well looks I'm the opposite, since I didn't find Dawn's whole depressed phase to be emotional at all. She was already an up and coming coordinator, so a little slump in the middle is sometimes expected. So I didn't really see why she was moping around. I also didn't find memories are made of bliss that emotional since Piplup was frankly annoying and I didn't care much about his whole emotional outburst.

Regarding Serena's issue, this is my reasoning, and of course I don't expect anyone to agree with it, but the reason I found it pretty powerful was due to all the events that culminated as of that point. Her crying wasn't simply because she lost her first showcase, but rather she felt like a failure overall. She started off as someone with no goal or ambition, before finally finding something she could enjoy (Showcases). She even raced her mother to prove that she was serious about something for once. And after all that, to be humiliated on stage really broke her (not to mention it didn't help that she was listening to Ash and Clemont in the Pokémon Centre, who were so ambitious and pumped up for their upcoming battle, which made her feel even more like a failure).

Anyway, other moments that weren't that emotional to me were:

- The BW trio farewell. Iris and Cilan just stepped foot in Kanto, and poof, they're off in a train.

- Pidgeot's farewell.

- Ambipom's farewell.

- Clembot's death. I wasn't totally unmoved by it since I did feel for Clemont, but Clembot being a robot didn't make me feel that upset.
 
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Ignition

We are so back Zygardebros
Well looks I'm the opposite, since I didn't find Dawn's whole depressed phase to be emotional at all. She was already an up and coming coordinator, so a little slump in the middle is sometimes expected. So I didn't really see why she was moping around. I also didn't find memories are made of bliss that emotional since Piplup was frankly annoying and I didn't care much about his whole emotional outburst.

Regarding Serena's issue, this is my reasoning, and of course I don't expect anyone to agree with it, but the reason I found it pretty powerful was due to all the events that culminated as of that point. Her crying wasn't simply because she lost her first showcase, but rather she felt like a failure overall. She started off as someone with no goal or ambition, before finally finding something she could enjoy (Showcases). She even raced her mother to prove that she was serious about something for once. And after all that, to be humiliated on stage really broke her (not to mention it didn't help that she was listening to Ash and Clemont in the Pokémon Centre, who were so ambitious and pumped up for their upcoming battle, which made her feel even more like a failure).

Anyway, other moments that weren't that emotional to me were:

- The BW trio farewell. Iris and Cilan just stepped foot in Kanto, and poof, they're off in a train.

- Pidgeot's farewell.

- Ambipom's farewell.

- Clembot's death. I wasn't totally unmoved by it since I did feel for Clemont, but Clembot being a robot didn't make me feel that upset.

I agree with your stance on Serena's issue. While you could argue that, yes, it's almost expected of a beginner to fail, it's more so the build up to which she finds her goal. She's been motivated by her friends (including Shauna), her mother, and Aria. All of these were people she wanted to prove her worth to. Serena finally felt like she was going somwhere. The embarrassment and harsh reality was too much for her to handle. She also felt like she did her Pokémon injustice. I wouldn't blame anyone who felt discouraged after such a humiliating defeat. It's worse when it feels like everyone around you is succeeding (I.e Shauna was the one to win). Realizing she needed to get her act together and starting a "new" Serena made sense.
 

DatsRight

Well-Known Member
It sort of built up on why I feel the writers wouldn't let Serena lose next to anything in XY, they treated her not succeeding in her first turn as some sort of heart wrenching end of the world. Compared to SM Ash who is allowed to fail miserably at tons of things and have it played as a joke or simply how natural progression works.

"Nooo, not her. She's the cute girl. Cute girls shouldn't have roadblocks and lose things they're not experienced at. Screw reality and trial and error."
 
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