Edward Elric said:
Let's look up rival.
"One who attempts to equal or surpass another, or who pursues the same object as another; a competitor."
'or who pursues the same object as another; a competitor'.
Gary and Ash had the same goal in the series: to be Pokemon Masters. They also had the same short-terms goals: to win the Indigo League, and later, the Silver Conference. That makes them rivals. Characters in the show talked about them being rivals. Ash thought of Gary as a rival. Guides written for the show refer to Gary as "Ash's rival".
In Kanto and some of Johto, Gary had no interest in defeating Ash because in his mind, his superiority was already apparent. Towards the end of Johto, he began to recognise Ash as a worthy rival. Ash had to work hard over a long period of time to earn Gary's respect (this is one big way in which May and Drew differ). This doesn't make Gary an inferior rival to Masamune; it means that his relationship to Ash was different to Masamune's relationship to Ash. Nothing else.
I don't know what you're trying to prove. If you only consider a rival character acceptable once he meets a quota of scenes pitting him in competition with Ash, that's your opinion and not one any of the rest of us should have to stick to.
I liked that Gary was completely unlikable to begin with and then got his ego crushed and then matured into a decent person. It was an interesting character arc. It is totally untrue to say that he did nothing but brag. I think it hilarious that you accuse us of stereotyping, and then go and flatten characters you don't like into a single stock characteristic that tells us nothing about what they were actually like. Your insistance that Gary was a lousy rival because he and Ash only battled twice only demonstrates that you've missed the point.
Now, what on EARTH does this discussion have to do with the topic?
Please read the definition of rival before you start making claims that my statements are not valid and based merely on opinion.
Your statements are not facts and therefore shouldn't be stated as statements in the first place. Please read the definition of fact and opinion before you start ordering me to look words up.
You read too much into things.
Yes, silly me. Clearly I was reading too much into things when I presumed "SPPF does not encourage character bashing" meant that "SPPF does not encourage character bashing".
Bashing involves insulting with no justified reasoning and usually involves nonsensical explanations such as "lolz he sux cuz hes not cool!!"
Right, because stating "His name is Shuu. He acts exactly like Shigeru, only he has an issue with looking good as well as making his Pokémon look good. This is the definition of a boring, cliché rival" is the epitome of justified reasoning. Hence the many explanations and canon citations you provided to show why Drew acts "exactly" like Gary, where in the show he is demonstrated as being vain, and how this makes him "the definition of a boring, cliché rival".
And if you learned how to read I said "This is the definition of a boring, cliché rival." This means the type of character is boring. Not the character themself.
*looks up dictionary definition of boring, cliché rival* *is puzzled to see that Drew's picture is not featured*
It would seem, then, that I actually didn't read
enough into things earlier. I shouldn't have taken your remark about Drew being boring and cliché at face-value, but rather ought to have examined the subtext and realised that you were only talking about the type of character he is. Which, errrrrr, is totally different from calling the character himself boring and cliché. I'm sure. Somehow.
Although this itself is not bashing since I gave a legit reasoning behind it.
Which was...?
Seems all you're trying to do is make yourself look smart by trying to one-up my statements.
What can I say, I have this irrational desire to try to show up people who think they have the right to lay down the law and tell everyone else how to interpret a TV show. Especially when they seem determined to ignore crystal-clear authorial intent.
True, they do act differently in a few ways. Shigeru's the egotist and Shuu has a slight ego problem but plays the role of lone wolf. Either way, it's still cliché and not very interesting.
You're doing it again. Three little letters: IMO. They'll serve you in good stead.
How about going through EVERYTHING in this forum? Look at all the mindless dribble said here. Not all of it is bad. Some thought is put into a lot of things. But a majority of statements made in this forum are mind-boggling.
Yeah, I find statements like "Anyone who thinks Harley's gay is an idiot" fairly mind-boggling.
Such as the topic at hand. Apparently you people believe that when one moves and speaks feminine-like, they just HAVE to be gay. All because of stereotype info.
Uhh, yeah. You know what show we're talking about, right?
Because we all know it's perfectly fine to ignore what Yamato-san said because girl speech with males =/= male speech with girls. Again, this is proof that you're all going by stereotype views.
And I suppose it's also perfectly fine of you to ignore completely the facts taitofan posted about 'atashi', as well as her explanation on how the language works differently for men using female pronouns than for girls using male pronouns. As she already pointed out, it's not our fault that the double-standard exists. We didn't invent Japanese. It is a fact that tomboyish girls can use male pronouns without it necessarily reflecting on their sexualities, whereas 'atashi' is solely used by women and gay men. Find me an example of a non-gay male character in fiction who uses atashi, and then you might have an argument. Though you'll still be massively outnumbered by the army of flamboyant atashi-using gay male characters.
The fact that you folks are writing off females using male speech while claiming males using female speech means they're gay shows a rather stereotypical and close-minded view. Sexism, anyone? ;\
*SNORT* In case you didn't know, I'm a girl. And as I just said, I didn't invent Japanese. Start a campaign to introduce 'atashi' into the non-gay male population if it means that much to you, but don't cry sexism to any of us for reporting the facts.
EW! Not the icky DUB!
