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Why is Ash not "allowed" to win?
- Thread starter Dancing Charmander
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Red and Blue
Well-Known Member
I doubt it. Given the nature of the anime, he probably won't win until the franchise ends and there will be no more regions to promote.
Um, says who? As far as I know we're never told what one has to do in order to be considered a Pokemon master but I'd think it would take more than winning one regional league. If Ash actually won every once in a while it would make things less predictable than the usual "Ash makes it to the semifinals, then loses to some character of the day he met a few episodes previously, then travels to next region and repeats the process ad infinitum" shtick.
Nightmareisalive
Well-Known Member
I really doubt it though. It seems that if Ash ever did make it into the finals he would either have to win that league because I don't think fans could handle getting trolled like that. If he was to lose in a final then in the next league he would have to make the finals again. He just couldn't lose in the top 16 again. I don't think fans could handle it.
I would be really curious if Ash did win a league. Kanto showed that the top 3 challenged the elite 4 but other leagues have really been vague over how many people can challenge the Elite 4. I wonder if he would have to go through Victory road (Since the league just seems to be a replacement for victory road in the anime) and if he would actually get very fair through the Elite 4 until losing or actually become a champion.
SerenaForTheWin
Yusarin >_<
and that would also mean he achieve his goal/dream which probably has a tendency to end his story once and for all
Han Solo Fan
Banned
Like I said before, the answer can be summed up with one word: money.
There's nothing wrong with a franchise making money; that's what they're for after all. But being a cash cow franchise doesn't excuse lazy and extremely repetitive writing, dumbing down characters that were never particularly complex in the first place, and ditching what little character development there is when a new region rolls around.
In all fairness, Shudo wanted the series to be something people of all ages can enjoy while his replacements seem to shoot squarely for the 10 and under demographic. I don't think he succeeded in making a show that has a wide appeal for teenagers and adults but I certainly appluade him trying. Though lots of people I know consider Kanto and the Orange Islands to be the best seasons of the entire series and Johto one of the worst and those regions coincide with Shudo helming the series and jumping ship respectively.
How is this "season" any different from others? The whole point of the anime is marketing.
Blood Red
【推しの子】
I'm just trying to be hopeful. After all, Ash is doing a better job this time around and it looks like he can win this league if he actually tries. After that, someone else could continue his legacy of perpetual failure.
Red and Blue
Well-Known Member
He was arguably at his peak in Sinnoh and he still didn't win the league. I really don't see how this time will be any different.
Blood Red
【推しの子】
At this stage, Ash is honestly better than he was in Sinnoh. I can't say any more without potential spoilers, but Ash is definitely doing a better job this time around. Also, he was beaten by two Legendaries and didn't even have his best team when he lost in Sinnoh, so I doubt he'll fail this time.
They could have him win the league and still use it as marketing, just because he won doesn't make him any different to what he is now, he is still a novice compared to the champions. It's just easier for the writers to hit the reset button every year than give him some real progress.
So, tell me, if this anime exists to sell products, then...
•Why isn't the star of the games the star of the show?
•Why write a "bad-ending" contrary to the values drilled into people by the series?
•Why are the villains so dumbed down from the games?
Face it; some bits of this anime can't even be justified from even the most amoral, capitalistic perspective. The plots of the video games aren't good themselves, and unlike some here, I'm willing to blame them for many of the anime's problems, but still the anime just diverges from them in ways that at best make no difference in their goal of promoting them.
Some have asked why they should change when the current formula is working just fine for them. The answer is that it's not; the anime is just being floated by brand association; not it's own (lack of) merit.
Saying the whole thing is marketed to ten-year-olds is actually pretty reductive as a business mindset, because who here can honestly say their first Pokemon game was also their last? If you're like me, and everyone I ever asked, you beat a region's league, became the champion, and still bought another game afterward to start fresh in a new region with new monsters. You best believe they value the income of return customers. If Ash is supposed to be a stand-in for us, the players, at whatever age, why not realize he can win a league with a powerful team, and still start fresh next time?
Let's be real, though: I want Ash to win, I want him to age, and I want him to find some sort of more permanent happiness like finally meeting his father, hooking up with one of the girls, etc, but above all else, I just want him gone. I've constantly ground my axe that Ash really contributes nothing of value by always being the star of the Pokemon anime--he's always less-relatable to people in the long run, he's not the actual male protagonist in the games, and constantly giving attention to his glory-hounding quest lessens the ability of the female protagonists to come into their own as characters. Perhaps worst of all, though, is that Ash constantly moving on to new regions has undermined one of the few things that was ever remotely wholesome about this mostly-cynical cash-Miltank; the sense of camaraderie. This is why, although as stated above, it's entirely possible for Ash to win a league and still move on, "moving on" at all makes it seem like he cares more about his own rep than he does about his friends. Really, can any amount of "it's for kids" justify that? I think if anything, exposing them to such a sociopathic outlook is all the more rancid because they don't know they're being conditioned. All this could be solved completely if they just gave us a (the) new protagonist with every region.
So far as I can recall, the only sendible rationale I've heard for keeping Ash around is his association with Pikachu. Because that's his main, and not necessarily anyone else's, by having Ash in the anime they can keep their arbitrary mascot mon in as well. Admittedly valid reasoning, but here's a possible counter: Pikachu himself is so widely marketed these days that he probably doesn't need Ash. When this series first debuted, nothing in the games themselves presented Pikachu as the star, but since then, he's the star of almost every spin-off game. That, plus some tie-ins in the main series--Cosplay Pikachu, for example--is enough to make him popular.
•Why isn't the star of the games the star of the show?
•Why write a "bad-ending" contrary to the values drilled into people by the series?
•Why are the villains so dumbed down from the games?
Face it; some bits of this anime can't even be justified from even the most amoral, capitalistic perspective. The plots of the video games aren't good themselves, and unlike some here, I'm willing to blame them for many of the anime's problems, but still the anime just diverges from them in ways that at best make no difference in their goal of promoting them.
Some have asked why they should change when the current formula is working just fine for them. The answer is that it's not; the anime is just being floated by brand association; not it's own (lack of) merit.
Saying the whole thing is marketed to ten-year-olds is actually pretty reductive as a business mindset, because who here can honestly say their first Pokemon game was also their last? If you're like me, and everyone I ever asked, you beat a region's league, became the champion, and still bought another game afterward to start fresh in a new region with new monsters. You best believe they value the income of return customers. If Ash is supposed to be a stand-in for us, the players, at whatever age, why not realize he can win a league with a powerful team, and still start fresh next time?
Let's be real, though: I want Ash to win, I want him to age, and I want him to find some sort of more permanent happiness like finally meeting his father, hooking up with one of the girls, etc, but above all else, I just want him gone. I've constantly ground my axe that Ash really contributes nothing of value by always being the star of the Pokemon anime--he's always less-relatable to people in the long run, he's not the actual male protagonist in the games, and constantly giving attention to his glory-hounding quest lessens the ability of the female protagonists to come into their own as characters. Perhaps worst of all, though, is that Ash constantly moving on to new regions has undermined one of the few things that was ever remotely wholesome about this mostly-cynical cash-Miltank; the sense of camaraderie. This is why, although as stated above, it's entirely possible for Ash to win a league and still move on, "moving on" at all makes it seem like he cares more about his own rep than he does about his friends. Really, can any amount of "it's for kids" justify that? I think if anything, exposing them to such a sociopathic outlook is all the more rancid because they don't know they're being conditioned. All this could be solved completely if they just gave us a (the) new protagonist with every region.
So far as I can recall, the only sendible rationale I've heard for keeping Ash around is his association with Pikachu. Because that's his main, and not necessarily anyone else's, by having Ash in the anime they can keep their arbitrary mascot mon in as well. Admittedly valid reasoning, but here's a possible counter: Pikachu himself is so widely marketed these days that he probably doesn't need Ash. When this series first debuted, nothing in the games themselves presented Pikachu as the star, but since then, he's the star of almost every spin-off game. That, plus some tie-ins in the main series--Cosplay Pikachu, for example--is enough to make him popular.
I'd be amazed if Ash won this or any other league. The "lose at the League, hit the reset button on the next region, lather, rinse, repeat" formula has worked for 17 years so change it now? I'd like to see Ash actually succeed for once but the Tobias BS in Sinnoh league pretty much killed whatever slim hope I had of Ash ever wining a region championship.
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TheDragonKing
King of dragons
Ash can't win because we need to teach the kiddies that it's okay to lose.
Red and Blue
Well-Known Member
His strength means absolutely nothing in regards to the league. If the writers want him to lose and to continue to promote the games, then he will. He will most likely lose this league like all the others regardless of how well he is doing.
CyberCubed
Yeah, ok!
The XY anime's ending will conincide with the 20th anniversary of the anime. Perfect time to wrap up Ash's story.
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