Greetings, Pokemon Trainers! Taikamodo here, with my first top...well...anything, on Fanpop! I got bored sitting in my room, and rather than doing something productive, i sat down and watched all the Episodes of the Anime, from Kanto to now. And while i Liebe the Pokemon Anime, it's basically half my childhood(The other half being DBZ), there are a few things about it that i would change if i had my way with it. So, here's 5 of them!
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Number 5:Replace The Protagonist
Now don't get me wrong, i Liebe Ash(Not sexually, of course). He's an Icon after so many years of being the main character, nearly 20 Years, in fact. Entire generations of people have grown up watching Ash's adventures, and as a result, he's become nearly irreplacible. Seeing Pikachu without Ash would be like having a PB&J without the J, and we all Liebe the J. J is love, J is life. However, if Du had 20 Jahr old J in your PB&J, Du wouldn't Liebe it anymore, would you? No! That's the problem Ash faces; He's 20 Jahr old J and nobody wants him near their PB anymore.
...Is this analogy getting weird for anyone else?
Anyway, i'd have completed Ash's journey in Johto, because the original trio of Ash, Misty, and Brock was broken up afterwards, Ash's original VA left, and after two league losses in a row, Ash seemed doomed to eternally-not-good-enough status, which he was and still is. Nobody cares about Ash at this point, which is sad, but it's The Anime's fault. I'd take a Yu-Gi-Oh! oder Digimon route and replace the main crew every two regions, giving each protagonist time to connect with the audience without overstaying their welcome.
If replacing Pikachu is too hard, then don't! New protagonist, new Pikachu! Boom, problem solved!
_________________
Number 4: Change The Target Audience
Okay okay, i know that Pokemon games are targeted towards children, so it only makes sense that the Anime, which is there to promote the games, targets that audience too. Back in 1997 when the Anime first aired, that made a lot of sense. Games were actually still for kids at that time and most kids didn't even know what Pokemon was, so targeting kids, the majority of people who would buy oder play Pokemon back then was a smart move. But that was1997, and this is nearly two decades later.
The world of gaming and it's place in the world have completely changed since the 90's. Games are now made mainly for teens and adults, standards for what makes a good game have drastically improved, and gaming has an undeniable place in society. Kids these days don't even play kids games, they tend to gravitate towards the First Person Shooters and Sports Games. Things like Pokemon are viewed as kid games, and when you're a kid, being reminded of your child status in the world is one of your oben, nach oben pet peeves.
The fact is, Kid Games as a whole are a dying breed, and while Pokemon Games likely won't suffer from that, the Anime will. The kids that grew up with Pokemon are teens and adults, and those teens and adults are now the bulk of people playing Pokémon. Kids don't play Pokemon because Pokemon still packages itself as a Kid's game, whuch only pushes kids away from it because the "cool kids" play Call of Duty and NBA 2K. Am i saying suddenly make your games full of gore and death? No!
But i am saying to embrace your real audience a bit more, Bewegen into the Naruto and Dragon Ball levels of maturity. In case you're unaware, Pokémon's genre in Shonen, a genre targeted at teenage to young adult boys, a genre including most Main Stream Anime. Think Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Fairy Tail, Bleach even. All Shonen, just like Pokémon, but still able to add some maturity to their stories. Well, Fairy Tail's not the best example, but....it's got bewbs. So there.
C'mon Pokémon, i believe in you.
_________________
Number 3: Take Inspiration From The Manga
The Pokemon Manga. There are a lot of different Pokemon Manga, one of which even starred Ash, although that one didn't last too long after Kanto and didn't follow the Anime's plot too closely. However, the specific one i'm talking about is the Pokemon Adventures Manga, the most beliebt one of the bunch. It's usage of the game characters, crazy awesome plot and the fact that it continues every generation have made it stand out among the other Pokemon Manga, and most importantly, Red's in it! Red!
IT'S GOT MOTHERFU-
*Gets tranquilized*
Ahem....But fanboyism aside, the Manga's really good, and the Anime could easily draw some inspiration from it. Du know, like a somewhat darker story, Mehr interesting characters, crueler villians, stuff to put Pokemon on the map again as an Anime worth watching.
_________________
Number 2: Change The Formula
One of the biggest reasons why the Pokemon Anime receives so much flak is that it's been the exact same for nearly 20 years. Filler, Gym, Filler, Gym, Filler Gym, Filler, Gym, League Loss, Rinse, Repeat. While Sun&Moon sorta makes this point invalid, assuming Gyms return in Gen 8 and Ash is still there, Du can bet your bottom dollar he'll be right back to losing the first gym battle, coming in the oben, nach oben 8/4/2, and doing it all again Weiter time. Heck, Du can bet your oben, nach oben and middle dollars too.
Gimmie dem dolla dolla billz BOI!
Ahem.
Anyway, i'm not saying abandon Gyms entirely, but throw something refreshing into the mix! Have Ash actually win and challenge the Elite 4, have Evil Team #979 attack during the League, have Ash win via disqualification, making him determine to get a legit win Weiter region, something! Having him get wrecked Von legendaries, F**king Cameron, and BSburn from Alan's Charizard wasn't exciting. It was like watching Ash get kicked in plums for the sixth time in a row, while eating stale popcorn off the floor of a Movie Theater.
Bad, bad all around!
_________________
Number 1: Explain What A Pokemon Master Actually Is
Seriously. No, i'm not joking, i'm not trolling, i'm serious guys. Think about it, we've watched Ash chase this seeming unattainable dream for nearly two decades, and after all that time, we still have no clue what exactly a Pokemon Master is. All we know is that for Ash to reach this goal he has to at least become a regional champion, and that doesn't tell us much. At least with othe Anime there's a clear goal. Naruto? Hokage, leader of the village. One Piece, Gol D. Roger's treasure. Fairy Tail? Find Igneel, and....uh....
Bewbs.
Anyway, it's hard to get truly invested in someone's goal when Du have no clue what it is. Plus, it gives each new saga a stronger connection to the others if he's working towards a goal we actually know. If Du were in School and had to write a paper on your goals in life, Du couldn't write, "I wanna be a Hghfdrgvcrtologist" and then not explain. You'd have to tell your teacher, in the paper, what a Hghfdrgvcrtologist is!
Explain yourself, Pokémon.
________________
And that's my list! Did Du agree with it, did Du hate it? What would Du change about the Pokemon Anime?
'Till Weiter time, i've been your host Taikamodo, and i hope Du liked the Article!
Peace!
_________________
Number 5:Replace The Protagonist
Now don't get me wrong, i Liebe Ash(Not sexually, of course). He's an Icon after so many years of being the main character, nearly 20 Years, in fact. Entire generations of people have grown up watching Ash's adventures, and as a result, he's become nearly irreplacible. Seeing Pikachu without Ash would be like having a PB&J without the J, and we all Liebe the J. J is love, J is life. However, if Du had 20 Jahr old J in your PB&J, Du wouldn't Liebe it anymore, would you? No! That's the problem Ash faces; He's 20 Jahr old J and nobody wants him near their PB anymore.
...Is this analogy getting weird for anyone else?
Anyway, i'd have completed Ash's journey in Johto, because the original trio of Ash, Misty, and Brock was broken up afterwards, Ash's original VA left, and after two league losses in a row, Ash seemed doomed to eternally-not-good-enough status, which he was and still is. Nobody cares about Ash at this point, which is sad, but it's The Anime's fault. I'd take a Yu-Gi-Oh! oder Digimon route and replace the main crew every two regions, giving each protagonist time to connect with the audience without overstaying their welcome.
If replacing Pikachu is too hard, then don't! New protagonist, new Pikachu! Boom, problem solved!
_________________
Number 4: Change The Target Audience
Okay okay, i know that Pokemon games are targeted towards children, so it only makes sense that the Anime, which is there to promote the games, targets that audience too. Back in 1997 when the Anime first aired, that made a lot of sense. Games were actually still for kids at that time and most kids didn't even know what Pokemon was, so targeting kids, the majority of people who would buy oder play Pokemon back then was a smart move. But that was1997, and this is nearly two decades later.
The world of gaming and it's place in the world have completely changed since the 90's. Games are now made mainly for teens and adults, standards for what makes a good game have drastically improved, and gaming has an undeniable place in society. Kids these days don't even play kids games, they tend to gravitate towards the First Person Shooters and Sports Games. Things like Pokemon are viewed as kid games, and when you're a kid, being reminded of your child status in the world is one of your oben, nach oben pet peeves.
The fact is, Kid Games as a whole are a dying breed, and while Pokemon Games likely won't suffer from that, the Anime will. The kids that grew up with Pokemon are teens and adults, and those teens and adults are now the bulk of people playing Pokémon. Kids don't play Pokemon because Pokemon still packages itself as a Kid's game, whuch only pushes kids away from it because the "cool kids" play Call of Duty and NBA 2K. Am i saying suddenly make your games full of gore and death? No!
But i am saying to embrace your real audience a bit more, Bewegen into the Naruto and Dragon Ball levels of maturity. In case you're unaware, Pokémon's genre in Shonen, a genre targeted at teenage to young adult boys, a genre including most Main Stream Anime. Think Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Fairy Tail, Bleach even. All Shonen, just like Pokémon, but still able to add some maturity to their stories. Well, Fairy Tail's not the best example, but....it's got bewbs. So there.
C'mon Pokémon, i believe in you.
_________________
Number 3: Take Inspiration From The Manga
The Pokemon Manga. There are a lot of different Pokemon Manga, one of which even starred Ash, although that one didn't last too long after Kanto and didn't follow the Anime's plot too closely. However, the specific one i'm talking about is the Pokemon Adventures Manga, the most beliebt one of the bunch. It's usage of the game characters, crazy awesome plot and the fact that it continues every generation have made it stand out among the other Pokemon Manga, and most importantly, Red's in it! Red!
IT'S GOT MOTHERFU-
*Gets tranquilized*
Ahem....But fanboyism aside, the Manga's really good, and the Anime could easily draw some inspiration from it. Du know, like a somewhat darker story, Mehr interesting characters, crueler villians, stuff to put Pokemon on the map again as an Anime worth watching.
_________________
Number 2: Change The Formula
One of the biggest reasons why the Pokemon Anime receives so much flak is that it's been the exact same for nearly 20 years. Filler, Gym, Filler, Gym, Filler Gym, Filler, Gym, League Loss, Rinse, Repeat. While Sun&Moon sorta makes this point invalid, assuming Gyms return in Gen 8 and Ash is still there, Du can bet your bottom dollar he'll be right back to losing the first gym battle, coming in the oben, nach oben 8/4/2, and doing it all again Weiter time. Heck, Du can bet your oben, nach oben and middle dollars too.
Gimmie dem dolla dolla billz BOI!
Ahem.
Anyway, i'm not saying abandon Gyms entirely, but throw something refreshing into the mix! Have Ash actually win and challenge the Elite 4, have Evil Team #979 attack during the League, have Ash win via disqualification, making him determine to get a legit win Weiter region, something! Having him get wrecked Von legendaries, F**king Cameron, and BSburn from Alan's Charizard wasn't exciting. It was like watching Ash get kicked in plums for the sixth time in a row, while eating stale popcorn off the floor of a Movie Theater.
Bad, bad all around!
_________________
Number 1: Explain What A Pokemon Master Actually Is
Seriously. No, i'm not joking, i'm not trolling, i'm serious guys. Think about it, we've watched Ash chase this seeming unattainable dream for nearly two decades, and after all that time, we still have no clue what exactly a Pokemon Master is. All we know is that for Ash to reach this goal he has to at least become a regional champion, and that doesn't tell us much. At least with othe Anime there's a clear goal. Naruto? Hokage, leader of the village. One Piece, Gol D. Roger's treasure. Fairy Tail? Find Igneel, and....uh....
Bewbs.
Anyway, it's hard to get truly invested in someone's goal when Du have no clue what it is. Plus, it gives each new saga a stronger connection to the others if he's working towards a goal we actually know. If Du were in School and had to write a paper on your goals in life, Du couldn't write, "I wanna be a Hghfdrgvcrtologist" and then not explain. You'd have to tell your teacher, in the paper, what a Hghfdrgvcrtologist is!
Explain yourself, Pokémon.
________________
And that's my list! Did Du agree with it, did Du hate it? What would Du change about the Pokemon Anime?
'Till Weiter time, i've been your host Taikamodo, and i hope Du liked the Article!
Peace!
