I could write an entire 8 page essay on everything wrong in this post, but it wouldn't matter because I'm just an "Ashlieber" and fanboy who likes watching this perfect and flawless character just win constantly for over 800 episodes
I understand if you dont want to take on this post because I got slight migrane from reading it also, maybe it is my Ash fanboyism or maybe it's because a lot of these complaints dont make sense or are way overblown to the point of ridiculousness, so lets gets started.
He did seemed to have a hard-on for Paul with trying to win his approval like a child pining for a parent, you do have a strong point of how that's so un-tasty since it makes Ash seem a bit too Christian/Guddy2shoz/America Boy-like.
Uhh no. Ash wanted Paul to take him seriously as a trainer as stop seeing him as some chump who doesnt know anything about battling. The exact opposite of shilling him. He's not Barry for christ sakes. In fact that was a point of CONTRAST between him and Ash, in that Barry saw Paul as this great trainer and Ash did dont agree or understand with Barry's line of thinking at all, so yeah.....And I thought that was what a rivalry was all about, proving yourself as their equal and eventually overcoming them? If that's the case where are all the complaints of Ash being near obsessed with beating Gary whenever he's mentioned in any capacity? Does that not count? Not even touching the christian thing since I dont know where the that came from.
Though I do disagree, he didn't care about his Pokemon more. Though the fact he circled-jerked for Paul's attention like Serena does felt so pathetic(ha) at times and synthetic. His almost-fist-fight with Darien made much more sense, like Ash would actively chase Darien down at times if his Pokemon has clipped one of his in combat.
Again, it sounds like you're literally talking about Barry's character not Ash's at all. He and Paul always got into an argument whenever they met, how that is circle jerking I HAVE NO IDEA and comparing to Serena is so hilariously off the mark, it's not like he follows Paul around like some lost puppy constantly looking for his approval, they got into SEVERAL HEATED ARGUMENTS ON MANY OCCASIONS. No idea who Darien is though, I searched and nothing came up
And on the point of
"he didnt care about his Pokemon more" I refer you to my last post
Your list follows mine to a tee, though I think I might switch Johto and Kanto. Ash still felt great right in those places either way, but in AG he had a spike in maturity and competence in combat which puts him in the header but still he was still interesting/funny/engaging outside of battle gags or jokes run-into-the-ground. I don't know, it's just when I compare the three on three match against Nando, Stephan and Jackson/Vincent and just look at the way Ash carries himself in personality and the way he acts and talks, it's clear the Johto rendition takes the cake while the BW/DP versions hit the ground.
Yet there were plenty of standalone episodes and even an arc in DP that showed he can be his goofy self. I can think of no better example then the Summer Camp Arc where all the characters just get the chance to chill in a more laid back setting, there IS more to his character then just battling in DP and I really wish people would see that
XY Ash is way too overglorified for my sake, he's a competent battler with a still-artificial personality. At this point he just feels an audience surrogate - a self-insert meant to identify(avatar) themselves as him. XY is really trying to hype him up regularly, so I guess that's the intention. BW could have been for more beginning players and XY is meant for those 20-something fanboy/girls who want to identify with him in the way many of the Sword Art Online fanbase identify with Asuna/Kirito or this could be My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic imagining/avatar-ing/identifying, that fanbase seems more fit.
“A sports hero everyone can be proud of and gush over. He needs to be badass from the beginning: the perfect trainer for fans to project themselves onto. That’s what makes following his quest worthwhile to many people. And it explains why Ash has so little real personality anymore besides these idiot hero battle-centric traits. He’s the male Bella Swan of this franchise."
Are you being serious right now? Like legitmate? Are we watching the same series at this point? Ash has lost MORE then his fair share of battles in XY so far, so the fact that you think he's being
"perfect" makes no sense at all. He's shown as being able to mess up just like everyone else, on top of being "saved" on several occasions like when he jumped of Lumiose Tower, or when he was tied up by TR in the Ryhorn episode or even in the recent episode where he and the rest of the gang were saved by Flabebe. It feels like you're blatantly ignoring certain events at this point. And dont even compare him to Bella Swan who's character could not function without relying on her man slaves to bend to her whim. How is this some direct comparison? it's near insulting (about on the same level as comparing him to Kirito, seriously wtf?).
Im sorry if I sound disgruntled but I hate the "surrogate" argument tremendously especially when you related all 20 something viewers to that of just fanobys who want to be in Ash's shoes, that's incredibly insulting dude.
I need to lie down