Why do you think switching protagonists will not make the show better?

[Captain Jigglypuff]

I think it is a bad idea because viewers are so used to Ash being a protagonist for so long that taking him out of the anime would drastically change it for the bad. Pikachu is beyond iconic now and is the central face of the entire franchise. Remember how upset players were during Gen V that Pikachu could not be obtained in any way other than the Transfer Park and a couple of events? Cut it out of the anime would really upset fans. Most shows that change protagonists tend to fall in terms of quality and story telling. The only way that changing main protagonists could work is if it is done in a natural way. Goh could be a replacement but a lot of people dislike him as a protagonist and he would need to either get a Pikachu himself or some other Pokémon of equal recognizability and nearly as strong.

 

[U.N. Owen]

You need to give both finality to the old protagonist and justify the existence of a new protagonist. The former is easy. The latter is not.

You can easily bookend an old protagonist, but you will need to sell us why a new one should exist and why we should care. It's hard to get people to care when you wave the "main protagonist card."

I'm generally against the idea of a new protagonist if you do not explore the possibilities of the new one. You're starting on a blank slate. Make the most of it.

 

[Morax]

You need to give both finality to the old protagonist and justify the existence of a new protagonist. The former is easy. The latter is not.

You can easily bookend an old protagonist, but you will need to sell us why a new one should exist and why we should care. It's hard to get people to care when you wave the "main protagonist card."

I'm generally against the idea of a new protagonist if you do not explore the possibilities of the new one. You're starting on a blank slate. Make the most of it.

Or maybe they should just bookend ash and stop the anime production. It's not like this franchise needs an anime to advertise itself, they can easily survive without one.

 

[SerGoldenhandtheJust]

Because the amount of plot armor he had was ridiculous
>1 vs 1 battles until the semi-finals
>melmetal
>naganadel
>rowlet
>guzma defeating himself
>counter the counter with counter
>Absorb the blast burn with your magically bell!
>pikamehameha
This makes him look privileged and special, like the league was tailor made for him. It doesn't capture that same feeling.


Ash from OS to XY was never the "strongest" character in the region. Now when it's time for him to win, writers gave him all sorts of ridiculous power-ups. I don't know about you but that made me root for him even less, that "underdog" i loved was now the tobias. All in all it wasn't a satisfactory victory because nobody was actually a threat to ash in alola.

Journeys ain't over yet so i shouldn't judging him so soon, apologies.

Jesus Christ you're on this tirade still lmao. People really throw the term Mary Sue anywhere. SM ash and Journeys Ash aren't Mary Sue lmao, they worked for what they got trained, lost, won and in the end emerged victorious. Give it a rest

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

XY Ash only felt like a Mary Sue because everyone praised him way more than before (not to mention he immediately takes off as a bestie for assumed anti-villain Alain) and his companions were less than stellar that no one was insane enough to say they were rooting for Serena. We all know he sucked just as much as before, so yeah.

SM Ash had it differently. He wasn't one, but his major battles were so incredibly compacted that someone was bound to have a deathly allergic reaction if more than 2 Pokemon on each side was used. Oh, and the Island Kahunas have to be the worst battlers I've seen him fight because of low Pokemon used and they went down easily without issues (Olivia and Nanu were spared of a greater humiliation if it hadn't been for Sunny D-roc acting up). Anime!Viola would murder them all.

 

[Sceptile Leaf Blade]

1. How difficult Ash had it in his battles is hardly relevant for the question on whether or not switching to another protagonist would make the show better or not. Difficulty in battle is a writers decision that can be made irrespective of the protagonist, and generally comes down to being "difficult enough to create tension and make it seem like a hurdle to overcome, but not so impossible to make the hero overcoming said difficulty seem too much like bs". Most of the good battles in the show are around there, whether they are league battles or contest battles, or they have some amazing choreography and original ideas to keep things interesting.
2. The number of pokémon used by either side, as long as they both use the same amount, isn't relevant in judging said difficulty. Sure the opponent has more pokémon to beat in a larger battle, but the hero can also use more pokémon to do so.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

Switching up protagonists freshen up the story and premise, but that would also mean losing the audience that grew up with the original protagonist. After all, it's not their generation's Pokémon, but rather the next generation's. There's nothing wrong with that but keeping the old protagonist, in the same vein you keep Goku or Luffy around for decades, does ensure that the old generation doesn't fully drop out from the anime series and will still keep an eye on the show.

To add to that, as we've seen, keeping Ash around doesn't seem to affect getting new kids to tune into the show so... They have much more to gain keeping good'n'old Ash around than just risking with replacing him with someone else.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Screw the kids.

 

[KukuiFanatic501]

Or maybe they should just bookend ash and stop the anime production. It's not like this franchise needs an anime to advertise itself, they can easily survive without one.

I have to disagree. Aside from the fact that many fans (including myself) do have genuine care in the anime's, the anime is practically the number 1 advertising tool under the games that does it's job in advertising the franchise.

I doubt the franchise would be given much focus if all you had to advertise the games with, aside from the games, is simple plushies, TCG and what not.

Not to mention the anime has been here to stay for quite a long time, and is still very popular, so cutting it off all together would be rather drastic in the overall long run.

 

[nickdt]

I think Ash would have never been replaced anyways, since he is the core main character. His travel companions are simply just main characters, not core characters.

Jessie, James and Meowth are other core main characters. Having them without Ash makes no sense and having Ash without them also makes no sense. Their journeys are bascially intertwhined.

There is also another case that has to be considered.

Every new Protagonist needs to have a Pikachu as its main Pokemon, since its the mascot. However, Pikachu is not the only one. Every popular mon caught by Ash prior to its replacement, is most likely also gonna be caught by the new protag, especially in the case of the popular starters like Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Greninja and Rowlet, but also mons like Talonflame, Hawlucha, Noivern, Goodra, Krookodile are amongst them.

 

[Spider-Phoenix]

Screw the kids.

Nah, they are fine.

My biggest worry is the grown up kids

 

[Morax]

Jesus Christ you're on this tirade still lmao. People really throw the term Mary Sue anywhere. SM ash and Journeys Ash aren't Mary Sue lmao, they worked for what they got trained, lost, won and in the end emerged victorious. Give it a rest

When you win every battle with little to no difficulty with plot armor on your side that is mary sue behaviour. It's not the be-all-end-all definition but it's definitely one of the many things that counts.

One of the reasons Rey from star wars is considered a mary sue, becaue she has it easy. Now she's not a paragon and isn't worshipped by those around her but she's unnaturaly gifted and required almost zero effort to use her powers ( just like pikashunium Z ).

Since i derailed the thread (yay!) i guess i'll stop here.

 

[RafaSceptile]

When you win every battle with little to no difficulty with plot armor on your side that is mary sue behaviour. It's not the be-all-end-all definition but it's definitely one of the many things that counts.

One of the reasons Rey from star wars is considered a mary sue, becaue she has it easy. Now she's not a paragon and isn't worshipped by those around her but she's unnaturaly gifted and required almost zero effort to use her powers ( just like pikashunium Z ).

Since i derailed the thread (yay!) i guess i'll stop here.

Pikashinium Z is the only thing about Ash "uniqueness", and it wasn't even relevant for the tournament, just for the exhibition match, unlike Ash-Greninja who used "plot-armor" more than Pikachu during the league.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

unlike Ash-Greninja who used "plot-armor" more than Pikachu during the league.

Then we found out the plot-armor was highly flammable.

 

[Morax]

unlike Ash-Greninja who used "plot-armor" more than Pikachu during the league

How is it plot armor when he literally jobbed?

 

[RafaSceptile]

How is it plot armor when he literally jobbed?

Ask to Sawyer's Mega-Sceptile

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Actually, AG didn't have plot armor if we take into account the many times it won and lost.

Let's see.

Won: Sawyer, Wulfric, Sawyer again

Lost: Alain, Alain, Sawyer, Wulfric, Alain

When Ash Got a Lethal Brain Fart so Kind of a Tie: Diantha

Eh, that armor looked very rusty in places to be called a plot armor.

 

[RafaSceptile]

Actually, AG didn't have plot armor if we take into account the many times it won and lost.

Let's see.

Won: Sawyer, Wulfric, Sawyer again

Lost: Alain, Alain, Sawyer, Wulfric, Alain

When Ash Got a Lethal Brain Fart so Kind of a Tie: Diantha

Eh, that armor looked very rusty in places to be called a plot armor.

I think the Sawyer again falls into plot armor territory, not only survived like twice Leaf Storm in its face and moving inmediately like if nothing happened, he also used the Giant Water Shuriken merging all its Double Team clones. Wulfric is probably a fair win.

EDIT: For a moment I thought you mean Advanced Generation and almost say Thunder Armor

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

I think the Sawyer again falls into plot armor territory, not only survived like twice Leaf Storm in its face and moving inmediately like if nothing happened, he also used the Giant Water Shuriken merging all its Double Team clones. Wulfric is probably a fair win.

EDIT: For a moment I thought you mean Advanced Generation and almost say Thunder Armor

Oh.

Well, yeah, in that case, Greninja was really going ham on Sawyer's League battle.

 

[Morax]

Ask to Sawyer's Mega-Sceptile

Not a big deal. Even paul would have defeated him without a mega.