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No, One Piece was in Shonen Jump which is aimed at young boys who crave bloody bouts and the like. Japan's censorship is just a lot more... lax compared to America.
Japanese Ash has more emotion and says lines that would come out of a 10-year old (strange plot structure and character development aside), but dubbed Ash is almost a robot or a very genki kid with lines that should belong to an adult (which you can clearly compare when he was stuck with Lysandre and Alain on a tower for 3 episodes).
With 4kids, they actually were able to be relatively faithful to the original while adapting for English viewers. Though in some cases, they'd go a tad to far, I'd say Ash back then could sound like a kid more.
Let's see....
Ash not living up to his promise to Totodile. "You'll be that(Feraligatr) someday" Guess whose the only non-evolved Johto Pokemon? Totodile should have fully evolved and been the powerhouse for the Johto team.
Not bringing in Brendan or Wally as AG rivals, Morrison was alright but he was introduced way too late.
Ash should have gotten further than just TWO of Tobias' Pokemon. He should have had Lucario and Entei with him, the two Pokemon from the Opening who weren't at the League......
BW should have starred Hilbert instead of Ash if they wanted to make the Protagonist an idiotic noob with a poorly developed team
Should have won Kalos League
Again, Sun/Moon should have starred an entirely new character. Sun..... not Moon.
Let's see....
Ash not living up to his promise to Totodile. "You'll be that(Feraligatr) someday" Guess whose the only non-evolved Johto Pokemon? Totodile should have fully evolved and been the powerhouse for the Johto team.
Not bringing in Brendan or Wally as AG rivals, Morrison was alright but he was introduced way too late.
One thing about the PokeAni is how the world-building feels too heavy-handed sometimes. There's a time for exposition but Brock/Cilan/Clemont constantly interrupt the flow of battles with their play-by-plays. Cut most of them out and you'd lose very little. It's a little thing called "Show, Don't Tell." Maybe have the commentary after the dust has settled.
This goes for episodes that are nothing but world-building. We could focus on the characters themselves but instead they're often the third wheel to a Character Of The Day.
I feel that they might have benefited if Ash's father actually has a role. He doesn't have to appear that often, but some background detail and mention would've been nice and given us more of an idea of Ash's life and reason for why he is
As I said in another place Pokémon anime is one of best examples where missed chances and potential for great storylines are common thing. Over course of 2o years many characters, pokemon, storylines etc ended up with less than enviable fate. Too many to list them all in one day.
So ill narrow down choices only to select few, but very outstanding in my opinion plots or subplots which unfortunately due to wrong priorities or lack of insight coming from this series staff were wasted and abandoned:
1.) Ash connection to Aura Guardians never being handled with any care or serious attention. Whole beginning coming from 8th movie followed by episodes with Riley in DP presenting Ash in light of one of descendants. Holding in himself special gift and power to sense aura and even manipulate it to certain degree gave us interesting snippet of what could have grown in profound and creative storyline.
Introducing in Ash life burden, sense of responsibility and dilemma of having to choose between his love of traveling, training and continuously battling with pokemon. Or follow tradition and allow his innate abilities to develop in something bigger over time.
If anything it was chance to deliver more depth to Ash characterization and possibly learn more about his past. Like maybe Ash father has such sparks of this hidden ability too. Perhaps Ash is reincarnation of famous Aura Guardian from past times giving explanation behind having this special power in first place etc.
But in end writers dropped it never to be heard from again. Talking about bad writing.
2.)Serena becoming pokemon performer. It was imo most boring goal any of Ash traveling companions ever had. Very generic, limiting in what you can do with such type of occupation and sexist in a way as well.
Especially with whole rule of only girls being allowed to compete or being centered around traditional activities expected from every good housewife to possess.
Instead Serena should have became either professional pokemon racer. But in using all kind of pokemon. Not just Ryhorn. Effectively removing danger of this activities becoming monotonous, but also still going in line of subplot over Serena becoming rebellious in not wanting to stick with family tradition.
Based on all kind of races we had in past in pokemon series i think this kind of goal had potential to be very engaging to follow. Like water based race using water pokemon, air race using flying type, race on ground implemented with obstacles using two leg or four leg pokemon like Tropius, Rhyhorn or Lairon)giving Serena flexible and filled with options team marketing new games successfully through it. All done with purpose of mastering balance, strength and skill in riding pokemon building on character and storyline being something original and definitely more interesting to follow than showcases.
Or they could just spare both Serena and us this wasted time lost on pokemon performing and made Serena pokemon coordinator in first place. Considering she basically in end decided to become that dropping whole goal of pokemon performer and development coming from it away.
3.)Misty not staying for longer. Now to some being around for 5 seasons and 2 full sagas may have seemed like "more than enough". But was it really?
Explanation:
Spoiler
Because Misty was also in pokemon anime during time writers experimented and directors themselves who were in charge weren't even sure for how long pokemon series will air.
There existed lot of disagreements, inconsistencies and lack of communication between directors and writers as Takeshi Shudo in his blogs pointed out. Regarding in what direction to take pokemon anime and characters themselves.
It also didn't helped that during OS formula of this show was entirely different being much more about Ash journey and his loyal friends(Misty and Brock)helping him to catch ropes and grow in stronger and wiser both person and trainer.
Accompanied with fact of anime being much, much more about adventure, development of personalities and relationships between characters. Humor or mysteries waiting to be discovered in pokemon world.
Rather than goals, battling etc being given equal amount of care as well.
Which did resulted in great dynamic and unique , somewhat eclectic atmosphere show had going for it in older days. But it also negatively reflected on way Ash companions individual storylines were handled.
And Misty storyline, her own motives, desires and secrets dwelling in past left a lot more to be desired. Never staying long enough to explore her and her pokemon to reasonable degree and eventually provide some proper closure to her plots and place in pokemon universe.
Like whole shrouded with enigma goal of water pokemon master with Whirl Cup revealing how winning big water tournaments making name for yourself among others is precondition to achieve this with Alola or Hoenn seeing how water rich they are/were being perfect for that. Misty high ambitions of reaching E4 level living up to E4 Lorelei her idol offering path to become elite trainer apprentice after passing tests.
Many unanswered things about Misty history like bugs, what happened with parents spending childhood without them, having lot more challenges to overcome learning to use pokemon to full potential(like Psyduck).
Mega evolve her Gyarados reaching new level of power, meet first E4 trainer using pure water pokemon Siebold from Kalos. Who is water master in games and could train Misty to develop innovative battle techniques and better understand flaws and strength of water pokemon.
All around many of later down the line water plots and themes games introduced could have been utilized or displayed in more productive manner (especially current Alola islands giving resources to create all kind of special competitions such as underwater battling supporting aquatic types, races etc) .
If said character was allowed to stay for longer or at least remained existent through recurring type of role.
4.)Tracey as character was one big wasted opportunity. We have no idea from where he came, what are his roots, family. How he got any of pokemon, nothing. Tracey ended up introduced as one big mystery and sadly remained that way. His path of liking to observe and photograph wild pokemon in their natural habitat being watcher while not especially attractive did offered some additional and welcomed breathe of fresh air among other main characters who were focused more around more traditional sways in exploring and utilizing pokemon.
Feeling there existed some potential to create some path line of progression and development for Tracey himself. Especially after becoming professor Oak assistant. Providing credible possibility to be sent on various journeys and missions by delivering Oak errands to other professors and researchers. While getting to know more about unknown pokemon species and undiscovered regions that way himself.
Tracey is classic example of character who was completely screwed over only because of failing to become popular among audience. Which to make irony greater never really even gave him chance being hated from day one.
As I said in another place Pokémon anime is one of best examples where missed chances and potential for great storylines are common thing. Over course of 2o years many characters, pokemon, storylines etc ended up with less than enviable fate. Too many to list them all in one day.
So ill narrow down choices only to select few, but very outstanding in my opinion plots or subplots which unfortunately due to wrong priorities or lack of insight coming from this series staff were wasted and abandoned:
1.) Ash connection to Aura Guardians never being handled with any care or serious attention. Whole beginning coming from 8th movie followed by episodes with Riley in DP presenting Ash in light of one of descendants. Holding in himself special gift and power to sense aura and even manipulate it to certain degree gave us interesting snippet of what could have grown in profound and creative storyline.
Introducing in Ash life burden, sense of responsibility and dilemma of having to choose between his love of traveling, training and continuously battling with pokemon. Or follow tradition and allow his innate abilities to develop in something bigger over time.
If anything it was chance to deliver more depth to Ash characterization and possibly learn more about his past. Like maybe Ash father has such sparks of this hidden ability too. Perhaps Ash is reincarnation of famous Aura Guardian from past times giving explanation behind having this special power in first place etc.
But in end writers dropped it never to be heard from again. Talking about bad writing.
2.)Serena becoming pokemon performer. It was imo most boring goal any of Ash traveling companions ever had. Very generic, limiting in what you can do with such type of occupation and sexist in a way as well.
Especially with whole rule of only girls being allowed to compete or being centered around traditional activities expected from every good housewife to possess.
Instead Serena should have became either professional pokemon racer. But in using all kind of pokemon. Not just Ryhorn. Effectively removing danger of this activities becoming monotonous, but also still going in line of subplot over Serena becoming rebellious in not wanting to stick with family tradition.
Based on all kind of races we had in past in pokemon series i think this kind of goal had potential to be very engaging to follow. Like water based race using water pokemon, air race using flying type, race on ground implemented with obstacles using two leg or four leg pokemon like Tropius, Rhyhorn or Lairon)giving Serena flexible and filled with options team marketing new games successfully through it. All done with purpose of mastering balance, strength and skill in riding pokemon building on character and storyline being something original and definitely more interesting to follow than showcases.
Or they could just spare both Serena and us this wasted time lost on pokemon performing and made Serena pokemon coordinator in first place. Considering she basically in end decided to become that dropping whole goal of pokemon performer and development coming from it away.
3.)Misty not staying for longer. Now to some being around for 5 seasons and 2 full sagas may have seemed like "more than enough". But was it really?
Explanation:
Spoiler
Because Misty was also in pokemon anime during time writers experimented and directors themselves who were in charge weren't even sure for how long pokemon series will air.
There existed lot of disagreements, inconsistencies and lack of communication between directors and writers as Takeshi Shudo in his blogs pointed out. Regarding in what direction to take pokemon anime and characters themselves.
It also didn't helped that during OS formula of this show was entirely different being much more about Ash journey and his loyal friends(Misty and Brock)helping him to catch ropes and grow in stronger and wiser both person and trainer.
Accompanied with fact of anime being much, much more about adventure, development of personalities and relationships between characters. Humor or mysteries waiting to be discovered in pokemon world.
Rather than goals, battling etc being given equal amount of care as well.
Which did resulted in great dynamic and unique , somewhat eclectic atmosphere show had going for it in older days. But it also negatively reflected on way Ash companions individual storylines were handled.
And Misty storyline, her own motives, desires and secrets dwelling in past left a lot more to be desired. Never staying long enough to explore her and her pokemon to reasonable degree and eventually provide some proper closure to her plots and place in pokemon universe.
Like whole shrouded with enigma goal of water pokemon master with Whirl Cup revealing how winning big water tournaments making name for yourself among others is precondition to achieve this with Alola or Hoenn seeing how water rich they are/were being perfect for that. Misty high ambitions of reaching E4 level living up to E4 Lorelei her idol offering path to become elite trainer apprentice after passing tests.
Many unanswered things about Misty history like bugs, what happened with parents spending childhood without them, having lot more challenges to overcome learning to use pokemon to full potential(like Psyduck).
Mega evolve her Gyarados reaching new level of power, meet first E4 trainer using pure water pokemon Siebold from Kalos. Who is water master in games and could train Misty to develop innovative battle techniques and better understand flaws and strength of water pokemon.
All around many of later down the line water plots and themes games introduced could have been utilized or displayed in more productive manner (especially current Alola islands giving resources to create all kind of special competitions such as underwater battling supporting aquatic types, races etc) .
If said character was allowed to stay for longer or at least remained existent through recurring type of role.
4.)Tracey as character was one big wasted opportunity. We have no idea from where he came, what are his roots, family. How he got any of pokemon, nothing. Tracey ended up introduced as one big mystery and sadly remained that way. His path of liking to observe and photograph wild pokemon in their natural habitat being watcher while not especially attractive did offered some additional and welcomed breathe of fresh air among other main characters who were focused more around more traditional sways in exploring and utilizing pokemon.
Feeling there existed some potential to create some path line of progression and development for Tracey himself. Especially after becoming professor Oak assistant. Providing credible possibility to be sent on various journeys and missions by delivering Oak errands to other professors and researchers. While getting to know more about unknown pokemon species and undiscovered regions that way himself.
Tracey is classic example of character who was completely screwed over only because of failing to become popular among audience. Which to make irony greater never really even gave him chance being hated from day one.
For the first one, I felt like Ash was only really given aura because he was the main protagonist, considering it was never really explored much beyond the Lucario movie. We got the odd character mentioning it, but that was about it. Thinking about it, Ash's aura abilities could've helped in future circumstances multiple times - being able to see other people's and pokemon's auras could help him if a team member got lost and those aura shield thing could help protect him and his friends if need be (Team Flare Arc anyone?). Also, after DP, Ash literally forgets it exists - never bringing it up again at all. The only way I can see Ash remembering aura is if the anime brings back a character like Riley to promote Sinnoh remakes. Back to what I said earlier, it felt like aura was forced onto Ash simply because he was a main protagonist. It felt like a wasted plot point. Either they should explore Ash's aura much more or they should've dropped it from the start.
Serena's performances also bugged me. It was annoying because there had been so many other interesting things going on in Gen 6 - PR Videos, Rhyhorn races, Super Training, Pokemon Amie, the return of contests, Poke Radar and DexNav. They could've made Serena interested in racing to hark back to her mother, or they could've made her interested in catching Pokemon to promote Poke Radar and DexNav, or they could've made her similar to her actual version and made her interested in PR videos and contests to advertise PR videos and ORAS. But instead we got performances, which are basically contests without the categories. And then they got dropped anyway. There was so much potential to advertise various parts of the games but they went with something that doesn't even exist them. If they had done contests then they even had an interesting rival from the games that they could use - Lisia. Just make her a bit more full of herself and dismissive of others and you've got a perfect rival. But not even that happened. If she had been interested in catching Pokemon, then her and Ash could've had a dynamic where they had a small friendly rivalry where they saw who could catch the most Pokemon, and each of them used a different device to help them - Ash with Poke Radar, Serena with DexNav. If she had been a battler who used super training, she could've acted as a mentor to Ash, helping him through his journey and teaching him the basics of super training. If she was a racer, we could've seen more between her and her mother. But none of that happened. And even when Serena did performances she rarely lost.
Serena should have been a trainer challenging gyms while Ash shouldn't have even been in XY. That Rhyhorn racing thing would have been even worse than Performing since it limits her team and she wouldn't have been able to use her starter at all
Serena should have been a trainer challenging gyms while Ash shouldn't have even been in XY. That Rhyhorn racing thing would have been even worse than Performing since it limits her team and she wouldn't have been able to use her starter at all
I definitely can't agree on Serena being a gym challenger. It doesn't suit her or her character imo. While I still believe Showcases aren't really an appropriate goal for a main Poke-girl, and the arc was rushed a bit, they were at least perfect for someone like Serena imo.
Serena should have been a trainer challenging gyms while Ash shouldn't have even been in XY. That Rhyhorn racing thing would have been even worse than Performing since it limits her team and she wouldn't have been able to use her starter at all
Nah, I think Ash should've had Serena as a rival just like how the games has her as Calem's rival. I mean, if they didn't have much planned for Serena at first, they could've utilized the female PC another way.
If they went with Racing, one thing that could've worked is have it be Pokemon racing with various tracks.
Also... was Pierce suppose to die in the Team Plasma vs. Team Rocket two parter? Because there's suddenly absolutely no sign of him during Ash's third gym battle episode.
I definitely can't agree on Serena being a gym challenger. It doesn't suit her or her character imo. While I still believe Showcases aren't really an appropriate goal for a main Poke-girl, and the arc was rushed a bit, they were at least perfect for someone like Serena imo.
I personally like the idea of a Gym-Challenging Serena who does contests as a hobby, similar to May in ORAS - I don't see why she can't do it, plus it'd promote ORAS and maybe give a chance for Lisia to appear as a rival in contests and maybe Ash as a rival in Gym-Challenging.
Going down another thought string here, but maybe they could've not had Serena as Ash's companion at all and instead made her one of his rivals in battle, as well as maybe Ash's female companion in this universe could have her as a contest rival. It'd be interesting to see a character who is a rival in two ways to two main characters - especially a female one.
Do I even need to get into how Team Magma and Team Aqua's finale was wasted? How did they get the Legendary Pokemon? Did they get the orbs from Mt. Pyre? Couldn't they show us that in a lead up to the two parter? Why was Lance there and not Steven? Why not both at the very least?
Do I even need to get into how Team Magma and Team Aqua's finale was wasted? How did they get the Legendary Pokemon? Did they get the orbs from Mt. Pyre? Couldn't they show us that in a lead up to the two parter? Why was Lance there and not Steven? Why not both at the very least?
The anime has never been the best at handling villainous teams. The Team Flare arc was a step in the right direction though in terms of ambition/scope.
I felt Mega Evolution Special Act III was sort of a way to make up for that finale (also ORAS promotion).
The anime has never been the best at handling villainous teams. The Team Flare arc was a step in the right direction though in terms of ambition/scope.
Except for the part about completely discarding Lysandre's ancestry story, which also effectively destroyed AZ, which also effectively destroyed the Ultimate Weapon, which also effectively creamed Eternal Floette, which also creamed any focus on Xerneas/Yveltal, which also made Geosenge Town not have any real focus.
Guess it was too dark to adapt like with OG Team Plasma.
It's weird how the games can somehow get away with the darkest crud only for the Anime to barely touch any of it or worse. Aren't the games suppose to be advertised by the Anime itself?
Do I even need to get into how Team Magma and Team Aqua's finale was wasted? How did they get the Legendary Pokemon? Did they get the orbs from Mt. Pyre? Couldn't they show us that in a lead up to the two parter? Why was Lance there and not Steven? Why not both at the very least?
At least they put Steven into the Team Flare Arc... I remember at the time being like "he is totally thinking "B***hes I am finally getting my Karma for being reduced to CotD in AG! Come at me!"" But it still disappointed me that it took 13 years before he actually appeared in the main anime again. Not to mention how they completely screwed over Wallace too...
Even the spoiled title hinted at him winning... Soooo mad
