Why do game rivals never get any love?

[Sham]

I seriously am lost about this one. The exception to this obviously being Gary. Every game rival has gotten shafted or introduced too late to even be relevant (the worst examples being Hau and the XY rivals). Gary was okay, Walley never existed, Barry was.... kind of relevant? Bianca was not even a real threat, Cheren took on his BW2 role despite Lenora existing, Hugh didn’t exist, Shauna was...anyways, Tierno and Trevor barely served as threats and Hau was introduced 100 episodes in.

 

[AznKei]

I seriously am lost about this one. The exception to this obviously being Gary. Every game rival has gotten shafted or introduced too late to even be relevant (the worst examples being Hau and the XY rivals). Gary was okay, Walley never existed, Barry was.... kind of relevant? Bianca was not even a real threat, Cheren took on his BW2 role despite Lenora existing, Hugh didn’t exist, Shauna was...anyways, Tierno and Trevor barely served as threats and Hau was introduced 100 episodes in.

I don't remember most of them as threats in the games, except Gary especially when he was a Champion. He was also memorable for being a jerk that gets in your skin, unlike others who are just doing friendly sparings.

 

[Xuxuba]

To be fair Bianca, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor were never real threats in the games either. They would frequently say they are not on the same level as you, especially Bianca. Their teams were really laughable too...

Actually, i believe the anime made Shauna and Tierno look more threatening than they actually were in the games. That is before the main rivals (Aria, Sawyer and Alain) appeared and took the spotlight. Then after that Shauna and Tierno became supporting characters who are there more to assist and be friends with the main cast than act as proper rivals per say, much like their in-game personas.

I do believe they did dirt to Cheren, Barry and Hau tho. Even if they were also friendly in the games, they could at least put up a fight. Hau even managed to beat E4 too. And now i am not even sure whether he has a personality or not...

 

[Leonhart]

I did loathe the way that Jun and Bel turned out, but I don't necessarily mind that the writers created a few memorable anime-exclusive rivals for Satoshi like Shinji and Alain. The only game rivals that I really liked were Silver and Hyu, but ironically they never appeared in the main anime for whatever reasons even though Shinji was like a watered-down Silver in some ways.

 

[shoz999]

I seriously am lost about this one. The exception to this obviously being Gary. Every game rival has gotten shafted or introduced too late to even be relevant (the worst examples being Hau and the XY rivals). Gary was okay, Walley never existed, Barry was.... kind of relevant? Bianca was not even a real threat, Cheren took on his BW2 role despite Lenora existing, Hugh didn’t exist, Shauna was...anyways, Tierno and Trevor barely served as threats and Hau was introduced 100 episodes in.

Outside of their first and only battle, with the exception of Eevee, Gary sucks as a rival. Silver doesn't exist. May is turned into a companion, not a rival. Wally doesn't exist. Barry is introduced late. Bianca was alright actually but Cheren was reduced to a Character of the Day role. Serena is turned into a companion completely different from her personality in XY. Trevor, Shauna & Tiernor are honestly better than their game counterparts. Hugh has never appeared. Gladion felt underwhelming but I didn't see the recent episodes which I heard brought much-needed character development to Gladion. Hau was introduced late.

The anime really does suck when adapting most game rivals doesn't it? The odd part about this is that this is a reoccurring trend, makes you wonder why this happens as it doesn't seem like a coincidence.

 

[Redstar45]

Outside of their first and only battle, with the exception of Eevee, Gary sucks as a rival. Silver doesn't exist. May is turned into a companion, not a rival. Wally doesn't exist. Barry is introduced late. Bianca was alright actually but Cheren was reduced to a Character of the Day role. Serena is turned into a companion completely different from her personality in XY. Trevor, Shauna & Tiernor are honestly better than their game counterparts. Hugh has never appeared. Gladion felt underwhelming but I didn't see the recent episodes which I heard brought much-needed character development to Gladion. Hau was introduced late.

The anime really does suck when adapting most game rivals doesn't it? The odd part about this is that this is a reoccurring trend, makes you wonder why this happens as it doesn't seem like a coincidence.

Geez i get Pokemon special manga is so much awesome....dude can you for once say something bad about Pokemon special manga!?

 

[shoz999]

Geez i get Pokemon special manga is so much awesome....dude can you for once say something bad about Pokemon special manga!?

Good grief.

 

[Redstar45]

Good grief.

Sorry but you can say anything nice about Pokemon anime show ? or you don't criticize kusaka himself when he fell off rock ? I do critique him myself

 

[shoz999]

Sorry but you can say anything nice about Pokemon anime show ? or you don't criticize kusaka himself when he fell off rock ? I do

That's funny. I've never seen you once actually legitimately constructively criticize Kusaka's work. I do however see you bash his work a lot with little to no explanation like a pouty child, not out of seeing his work improved but to step on it, belittle it.

 

[Redstar45]

I do critique his story....and it feel like he does same thing as anime show do use same stories elements over and over again and he doesn't really do anything new or interesting and i criticized anime writers more then i could count and shudõ himself don't get any way as i do have issues with his choice

 

[shoz999]

I do critique his story....and it feel like he does same thing as anime show do use same stories elements over and over again and he doesn't really do anything new or interesting and i criticized anime writers more then i could count and shudõ himself don't get any way as i do have issues with his choice

This is getting off-topic. Let's get back to the subject at hand, game rivals adapted to the anime.

 

[Redstar45]

Fine .....i think anime in lose -lose situation with the rivaly

 

[Jeal]

Sorry but you can say anything nice about Pokemon anime show ? or you don't criticize kusaka himself when he fell off rock ? I do critique him myself

He says something nice sometimes.

That's funny. I've never seen you once actually legitimately constructively criticize Kusaka's work. I do however see you bash his work a lot with little to no explanation like a pouty child, not out of seeing his work improved but to step on it, belittle it.

Well, the main problem is: you praise the manga so much. When over 90% of your posts are about the manga(rather than the anime,which is what we supposedly should discuss in this part of the forum), it's repetitive.

We know the manga is better written. You do not say anything new when you say that. You also talk as if the manga was perfect, when in fact it is nothing special(no pun intended). It just seems incredible to be better written than the anime (which is not difficult, I could write better than the writers themselves, and I'm not that creative), but it's a simple story, full of Deus ex machina and nonsense.

About the rivals in the anime, it's not just the game rivals. Paul is the only good rival in the whole anime(Zoey too, I think. I don't really remember her enough to say).

 

[shoz999]

He says something nice sometimes.

Well, the main problem is: you praise the manga so much. When over 90% of your posts are about the manga(rather than the anime,which is what we supposedly should discuss in this part of the forum), it's repetitive.

We know the manga is better written. You do not say anything new when you say that. You also talk as if the manga was perfect, when in fact it is nothing special(no pun intended). It just seems incredible to be better written than the anime (which is not difficult, I could write better than the writers themselves, and I'm not that creative), but it's a simple story, full of Deus ex machina and nonsense.

About the rivals in the anime, it's not just the game rivals. Paul is the only good rival in the whole anime(Zoey too, I think. I don't really remember her enough to say).

You know. You should've just continue boasting how you don't like how the manga is talked a lot as you usually do whenever I bring it up, speak your mind about the same thing over and over again like always but here's a piece of advice. Don't be a condescending jackass.

 

[Jeal]

You know. You should've just continue boasting how you don't like how the manga is talked a lot as you usually do whenever I bring it up, speak your mind about the same thing over and over again like always but here's a piece of advice. Don't be a condescending jackass.

You need to calm down. It's just a manga. No need to get so mad just because someone said it's not perfect.

 

[Redstar45]

The manga is fine at all


Like i said the whole thing about rivals is fine in the game but it seem even Pokemon special manga doesn't know what do with that aspect too

 

[U.N. Owen]

Silver doesn't exist.

Actually, he does exist as a cameo back when the Legend of Thunder aired. So he barely exists rather than doesn't exist. I guess Wally kind of existed in Drew, but the similarities end with the green hair and being May's rival.

Although some have theorized that Wally wasn't adapted as a rival since it would make Ash slightly unsympathetic when it came to constantly beating a sick kid around, but hey, I should stop looking at fan theories.

 

[Leonhart]

In hindsight, I do wish that Mitsuru had appeared in AG as Haruka's rival in place of Shuu. Shuu was a decent character on his own, but the fact that he owned a Roselia and had green hair made me wonder if he was meant to be some kind of reworked version of Mitsuru.

 

[Emelie]

In hindsight, I do wish that Mitsuru had appeared in AG as Haruka's rival in place of Shuu. Shuu was a decent character on his own, but the fact that he owned a Roselia and had green hair made me wonder if he was meant to be some kind of reworked version of Mitsuru.

Wally/Mitsuru actually had a lot of cute Pokémon in gen 3 like Delcatty, Gardevoir and Roselia. I think it would have probably suited him better to be a coordinator instead of a battler. He even moves to Verdanturf town which is where contests are introduced in the games.

I guess him becoming stronger and in a way more masculine when obtaining mega Gallade in ORAS was supposed to be seen as character development but I liked how he was just this soft and sweet guy. Why portray this as a character flaw instead of embracing it?

 

[shoz999]

Actually, he does exist as a cameo back when the Legend of Thunder aired. So he barely exists rather than doesn't exist. I guess Wally kind of existed in Drew, but the similarities end with the green hair and being May's rival.

Although some have theorized that Wally wasn't adapted as a rival since it would make Ash slightly unsympathetic when it came to constantly beating a sick kid around, but hey, I should stop looking at fan theories.

Oh yeah. I forgot about the Legend of Thunder. Still remember Silver & his Nidoking back when the Legend of Thunder was listed as a movie and not a TV special on Serebii if memory recalls right however that's what I don't get. Remember how I said it seems like it's not a coincidence that some game rivals turn out poorly adapted or missing, it seems like a trend with a reason behind it? Look at Silver's case. They had a chance to adapt Silver as the third member of the GSC trio, wielding probably Meganium instead of whoever that other guy is who I don't remember and help the other two stop Team Rocket but they didn't. They left him with a cameo and in a way, they kind of replaced him with a more friendlier dude. If Meganium's friendliness is the problem, they could've easily gave Silver the fearsome Feraligatr and gave Marina Meganium. Don't you think that's just strange. It's like the Pokemon Company intentionally wants to avoid adapting most of the game rivals that GameFreak makes.