What are your unpopular opinions about the anime?

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

the idea of everyone simultaneously pursuing their goals alongside Ash, not after him

They still should have been there to support him.
Unpopular opinion: Serena should have never gone to Hoenn. She should have sticked by Ash’s side and went with him to Alola and so on and so forth

 

[ShuckFam]

They still should have been there to support him.
Unpopular opinion: Serena should have never gone to Hoenn. She should have sticked by Ash’s side and went with him to Alola and so on and so forth

What if, after her assault on Ash, Ash spoke openly about how it made him feel uncomfortable? Then, all of a sudden, two officer Jenny's came out of nowhere and handcuffed her. Then they said in unison, 'you're going away for a loooong time' and that's where Serena's story ends. Behind bars where she belongs.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

One I forgot:

The Decolora Island arc wasn't bad. In many ways, I felt it handled this whole journey around exploring the world better than Journeys.

 

[Sonic Boom]

They still should have been there to support him.

If the story of Journeys hadn't made it a point to show the friends doing their own things as Ash does his, and hadn't had Goh face this same trial just before the battle, I'd be for that literal crowd-pleaser. But there was an overarching theme to Journeys, and I appreciate that they followed through with that for everyone. The only thing missing, apart from Dawn not being there, was Sophocles being shown at Mossdeep instead of with the Alola Gang.

 

[DatsRight]

One I forgot:

The Decolora Island arc wasn't bad. In many ways, I felt it handled this whole journey around exploring the world better than Journeys.

I rate it similar to the Ultra Adventures season of SM, in that they wasted a lot of time with filler, but they were at least trying to do filler PROPERLY, as in entertaining and actually showing off the vibrancy of the core premise on its own rather than just loads of generic padding plots.

I feel like BW kinda got slept on for trying to breathe some new life into the show after a lot of its main components just slowly got more and more automated and repetitive. Sure, it definitely didn't execute them all well, but it was the first time in a long while they were TRYING. Stuff like more ongoing plots besides just the standard protagonist tornament and region villain showdown, giving the male companion more to do, having episodes that don't need Team Rocket as a crutch while simultaneously giving the TRio more ongoing stuff to do, focusing on the protagonists' personalities and dynamics as a driving force of the story over just their progression.

I actually thought it was a real downgrade that XY just sorta trashed a lot of those things just because the trial and error didn't work out perfect. SM brought them back and tried to refine on them, which I did enjoy a lot, though even then I think there's a lot of potential BW offered that hasn't yet been seized on properly.

 

[VoltTacklingPika]

I suspect the real reason for not having every companion show up at once was more production related than creative. However, I should point out Ash has never really cared if his friends are in the crowd watching him, and would probably rather they do their own thing rather than drop everything to come cheer for him. His reaction to Dawn and Chloe being there was basically "oh, cool, thanks".

Same for the post-win party. Yeah, it'd be nice to have everyone there, but by the time Ash gets home and passes on the trophy, he's already thought about his next adventure. He's not one to linger on successes anymore.

I feel like BW kinda got slept on for trying to breathe some new life into the show after a lot of its main components just slowly got more and more automated and repetitive. Sure, it definitely didn't execute them all well, but it was the first time in a long while they were TRYING. Stuff like more ongoing plots besides just the standard protagonist tornament and region villain showdown, giving the male companion more to do, having episodes that don't need Team Rocket as a crutch while simultaneously giving the TRio more ongoing stuff to do, focusing on the protagonists' personalities and dynamics as a driving force of the story over just their progression.

I actually thought it was a real downgrade that XY just sorta trashed a lot of those things just because the trial and error didn't work out perfect. SM brought them back and tried to refine on them, which I did enjoy a lot, though even then I think there's a lot of potential BW offered that hasn't yet been seized on properly.

Whatever potential BW had was tarnished by utterly bizarre creative decisions that unfortunately established the show's poor legacy. For example, laying solid foundations for Ash's rivalry with Trip, only to ignore the rivalry for large chunks of the show, have Trip care more about Alder than Ash, and then wrap up the whole thing in a one vs one battle at the start of the Unova League. Only to then have Ash lose in a 6v5 against someone stupider than him, thanks to an ass-pull evolution. Apart from the strain on the audience's credulity, none of it contributed to the show's themes or characters.

I have more time for BW than most, but there's a reason it's received so harshly. Whatever criticism I can have for other seasons, BW stands out as the one with the most inconsistent direction, from the way it's structured (having a filler arc AFTER the league and Episode N), to how it handled its cast and story.

 

[Mythical-Moonlight]

I dislike or am Meh towards almost all of the Main Cast Journeys Mons. There's not a single one I can say that I truly appreciate as a character

But especially Grookey and Eevee can piss right off
(Please note the distinction. I like Grookey and Eevee as Pokemon in general but Goh's Grookey and Chloe's Eevee are just plain Annoying and I want them gone)

 

[DatsRight]

Whatever potential BW had was tarnished by utterly bizarre creative decisions that unfortunately established the show's poor legacy. For example, laying solid foundations for Ash's rivalry with Trip, only to ignore the rivalry for large chunks of the show, have Trip care more about Alder than Ash, and then wrap up the whole thing in a one vs one battle at the start of the Unova League. Only to then have Ash lose in a 6v5 against someone stupider than him, thanks to an ass-pull evolution. Apart from the strain on the audience's credulity, none of it contributed to the show's themes or characters.

I have more time for BW than most, but there's a reason it's received so harshly. Whatever criticism I can have for other seasons, BW stands out as the one with the most inconsistent direction, from the way it's structured (having a filler arc AFTER the league and Episode N), to how it handled its cast and story.

I definitely agree that BW was slapdash, it's more a "down throw the baby out with the bathwater" type critique. XY going right back to the old formula at its most lethargic felt really deconstructive, while SM shown a lot of BW's ideas were good moves if they were actually tweaked and capitalised on (though really the anime neglecting a lot of really good ideas to just continue doing the same thing is pretty standard for the show all around, even the more experimental ones have trouble really focusing on many of their best ideas as much as they should).

Also I feel like a lot of the areas you state might have been down to said lethargy and wanting to focus more on different aspects, especially after DP peaked with a lot of them anyway. I feel like battle/action sequences in particular are something the show can only do in good quality for limited doses per series, something nearly always has to take the fall (Kanto and BW had more creative Team Rocket showdowns for example, but their rival and gym fights aren't much to speak of and are outright farces in some cases, while usually its the other way round, really repetitive TR fights every episode while waiting for the REAL official battles to deliver, SM and Journeys probably had the right idea of just ditching action altogether for new ideas sometimes, which again BW at least opened the floodgates for).

 

[Sham]

BW ate heck out out of XY and the only reason why y’all dismiss it’s lack of direction and writing is because of Ash but y’all ain’t ready for that conversation

 

[Sham]

Another one. Saying X person had the best development is so dumb and subjective. There is no official qualifications or rules about that. I can think Dawn had the best development all I want but some might disagree

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Another one. Saying X person had the best development is so dumb and subjective. There is no official qualifications or rules about that. I can think Dawn had the best development all I want but some might disagree

Dawn objectively has the best development

 

[Sham]

Dawn objectively has the best development

And that’s on period the other girls could never

 

[Sham]

Okay third in a row

These trailers:

Were more hype than the tournament itself.

 

[mehmeh1]

BW ate heck out out of XY and the only reason why y’all dismiss it’s lack of direction and writing is because of Ash but y’all ain’t ready for that conversation

Tbh if anything I'd say XY probably had the most consistent/tight direction (and pacing) out of all the series.

 

[Sham]

Tbh if anything I'd say XY probably had the most consistent/tight direction (and pacing) out of all the series.

• Pokegirl that did absolutely nothing for 40+
• Sends Pokegirl on her way to do something almost completely unrelated to her goal (before Contest lives happened).
• Barely explained a gimmick meant to mirror Mega Evolution where they aren't consecutive on if Ash got injured or not.
• Trying to introduce Alain in the ME specials to get a feel of him only to have him appear towards the very end collect 8 badges in 11 episodes and just randomly decide to to challenge the league. Friends stopping him or not, Alain swept the Gym Leaders quicker than Ash and just made it seem easy especially when Ash lost to two Gym Leaders this series.
• The Greninja arc was rushed and almost had no real impact on the overall story.
• Rushed most of the battles that weren't Ash and we barely got a full Sawyer battle because they fit that into one episode
• Showcases reused a bunch of moves and barely had anything changed about it.
• Did they just drop the Malamar plot or?

And that's just the surface level stuff. "Most consistent and good pacing series"? Absolutely not in my opinion.

 

[RafaSceptile]

Tbh if anything I'd say XY probably had the most consistent/tight direction (and pacing) out of all the series.

XY has good pacing, XYZ does not

 

[mehmeh1]

• Pokegirl that did absolutely nothing for 40+
• Sends Pokegirl on her way to do something almost completely unrelated to her goal (before Contest lives happened).
• Barely explained a gimmick meant to mirror Mega Evolution where they aren't consecutive on if Ash got injured or not.
• Trying to introduce Alain in the ME specials to get a feel of him only to have him appear towards the very end collect 8 badges in 11 episodes and just randomly decide to to challenge the league. Friends stopping him or not, Alain swept the Gym Leaders quicker than Ash and just made it seem easy especially when Ash lost to two Gym Leaders this series.
• The Greninja arc was rushed and almost had no real impact on the overall story.
• Rushed most of the battles that weren't Ash and we barely got a full Sawyer battle because they fit that into one episode
• Showcases reused a bunch of moves and barely had anything changed about it.
• Did they just drop the Malamar plot or?

And that's just the surface level stuff. "Most consistent and good pacing series"? Absolutely not in my opinion.

I'll give you Malamar, which still irks me to this day, and Ash Greninja's whole legend thing being underutilized, but Serena was trying out different things before settling in showcases, and contests are similar enough that it's not too hard to make a connection on how that'd help.

As for Alain, the whole thing was with him being too single-minded on his goal, so of course he'd get badges quickly, and showing the other Kalos League battles would've been basically filler, even if I do wish we had seen Hawlucha vs Absol in full.

 

[Sham]

I'll give you Malamar, which still irks me to this day, and Ash Greninja's whole legend thing being underutilized, but Serena was trying out different things before settling in showcases, and contests are similar enough that it's not too hard to make a connection on how that'd help.

As for Alain, the whole thing was with him being too single-minded on his goal, so of course he'd get badges quickly, and showing the other Kalos League battles would've been basically filler, even if I do wish we had seen Hawlucha vs Absol in full.

My only issue with the Contests thing (again pre Journeys) was that there were two problems with it. I don’t see Serena trying new things any different than any girl trying new things. She never made it clear she wanted to be a baker or influencer and just tried those out for a day and not see if she wanted to do that. That’s like me saying Dawn might question being a Coordinator because competed in a Fashion show and wants to be a stylist or Iris competing in Luke’s film so she wants to be an actresses now instead of Dragon Master, insert what ever actives May and Misty did.

These are the issues:

• Serena doesn’t battle which is half of Contests.
• Contests removes the aspect of have a double performance or multiple Pokémon (minus GF) or the performer being involved in it.

They’re wholly different because the anime (did) takes it own liberties with it.

While I understand your Alain point I still feel like him meeting Ash and suddenly traveling around the Kalos in 11 episodes (which would be like what a week in anime time?) just seems weird. Not questioning his strength to do it but the timing.

It’s less about his determination but instead traveling. I know it’s weird talking about time and travel in the anime but I feel like he should’ve been introduced earlier to Ash.

I mean as one sided as it was, we did get a Paul vs Barry and Bianca vs Cameron. It’s little things like that makes it feel more lively but this was just Charizard sweeping everyone.

I guess you’re serious about this since this the first time I’ve seen you debate about something. Also I don’t think the pacing is terrible but it definitely has some wholes in it imo

 

[DatsRight]

I think the issue is that while XY was more consistent and linear in its focus, it was so to a fault, as in it barely bothered AT ALL with anything else. The actual individual arcs were okay, but everything else was dull fluff. The main formula, the character dynamics, Pokemon training and even their personalities by the end of it. It was all back to the old ways but at its dullest imaginable.

I think it's why I can't hate BW and SM since while they screwed up a lot of arc focus, the stuff that strung it together was often more fresh and entertaining, and really a lot of that stuff is still just as much the core of the show, as in what is meant to make its universe likeable. Going through tons of interchangable COTD/TR plots, protagonists getting unearned plot armour boosts and dull stock phrase-laden interactions just to reach a decent four-five episode arc where they actually put in real effort doesn't really vindicate a series, and that's really how I felt when watching a lot of XYZ.

 

[Gingertail24]

I think the issue is that while XY was more consistent and linear in its focus, it was so to a fault, as in it barely bothered AT ALL with anything else. The actual individual arcs were okay, but everything else was dull fluff. The main formula, the character dynamics, Pokemon training and even their personalities by the end of it. It was all back to the old ways but at its dullest imaginable.

I think it's why I can't hate BW and SM since while they screwed up a lot of arc focus, the stuff that strung it together was often more fresh and entertaining, and really a lot of that stuff is still just as much the core of the show, as in what is meant to make its universe likeable. Going through tons of interchangable COTD/TR plots, protagonists getting unearned plot armour boosts and dull stock phrase-laden interactions just to reach a decent four-five episode arc where they actually put in real effort doesn't really vindicate a series, and that's really how I felt when watching a lot of XYZ.

So did you believe the XY group dynamic was boring?