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A new main character?

S

Shiny Suicune

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Does anybody think Ash is falling behind in any way? It also seems really weird how he met up with Dawn. It's almost like a billionaire going with a completely poor person, but maybe even weirder. I just can't keep straight about that fact. Besides, I like May better. The point is, does anybody almost think Ash should be replaced sometime? Not like in Pokemon Chronicles, maybe a new guy to replace him. I know, there are Ash/Satoshi fangirls out there, but think about it.
 
Ash and Pikachu are the icons of the anime, they will be here for a long time to come.
 
To be honest, as much as I like Ash, objectively it is really hard to dispute that he drags down the show. He is pretty much the focal point of the series, no matter how much attention Dawn gets - and because of his extremely worn-out character, that really hurts the show from an objective basis. Consider how much better Indigo and Orange were because Ash, Misty, Brock, and Team Rocket were all new characters with interesting characterizations. Now we consider all of their characters old hat; while Misty has been subsequently replaced (which is a shame since her character is probably the most interesting of Team Twerp), the others continue to stick around and produce the same routines that we've all become a bit sick of. Team Rocket is interesting enough that I think they still could be part of a revamped show, but the replacement of Ash and Brock would, IMO, go a long, long way towards creating an actually enjoyable program.
 
I'm pretty much fine with Ash/Pikachu and TR sticking around till the end of the series. Ash generally has a different type of dynamic with each girl he travels with, so his character does seem different since he's interacting with a different type of female dynamic in each major series.

The problem is that Brock generally doesn't have as good a dynamic with the new female characters, which is why he seems stale. He looks after May and Dawn, but there's really nothing special about his interactions with them. Generally, I don't even notice a difference with the way he talks to Dawn than he did with May, he just makes sure they're ok and well-fed, but that's it.

The sad thing is since Tracey wasn't well-received its probably the only reason why they never tried replacing Brock a second time. I think now they could make a better sidekick character if they put some effort into one so it doesn't end up another Tracey or Max, and Brock is given a break for Gen 5.
 
Ash, Pikachu, and Team Rocket are the foundation of the anime, take one or all of them out, and the building collaspes. Simple as that
 
Keep in mind that my position has no real place for "popularity", only the actual quality of programming. Even if the show were improved tenfold by a significant character replacement, I'm sure the resulting popularity drop would be staggering and ultimately a terrible business decision. I know how things work.

There is a third solution, between a complete revamp and continuing to let the show rot - to change the characters that are already there. With Ash, this would be easily done through having him "actually" grow up. Brock's personality is pretty much cemented, though.
 
What would it involve to have Ash grow up, though?

At least his dub voice would be a little more accurate, but that wouldn't account for the fact that he remained 10 for ten seasons then suddenly began aging.
 
Since Brock's actions are mostly the same since the first time he appeared, it starts to become boring since you get a general idea of what he's gonna do next. He pretty much IMO calls out replace me, though some fans will disagree with this. But I would like to see how everyone works without a "big brother" or with someone who his around the same or younger.

On the other hand the writers can just give Ash a character redesign so he would look as mature as Gary (I think his fashion sense make me think that) as well as a height change. Personality-wise he should change more maturely to that of a guy who is going through puberty.
 
Kasumi said:
I think what Misty means is something like what happened with Naruto: a time skip.
Click to expand...

What would that be like? Like, say, stopping the series temporarily between Gen 4 and Gen 5 and then introducing Gen 5 with "xx years have passed since Ash Ketchum challenged the Sinnoh League..."?
 
Shiny Suicune said:
The point is, does anybody almost think Ash should be replaced sometime? Not like in Pokemon Chronicles, maybe a new guy to replace him. I know, there are Ash/Satoshi fangirls out there, but think about it.
Click to expand...
No, he shouldn't be replaced.

Personally, I think the show is fine the way it is now and the way it's always been, with Ash as the main character of the show....


I mean, we've watched him "grow" into a better trainer throughout the entire series so far. Sure, he's made a lot of mistakes in the early seasons (Kanto, Orange Islands, and early Johto), but throughout his journey, he has indeed learned from these mistakes. He tries his best not to mess up or make the same mistakes he did previously, although sometimes, he can get carried away with his own confidence ("Vanity Affair" comes to mind). And at times, he can be dense as well, because he isn't as smart as some other characters like Brock. So yeah, Ash does have his character flaws (as do other characters on the show). But in my opinion, he makes a great main character because he is so unique. He's more than just your typical, "hero" archetype character. For example, most of the time, Ash may be brave, heroic, and determined. However, he also has a very kind heart. And because he cares about both Pokemon and humans so much, this enables him to do amazing things.

Even though we know this much about him though, there are still things we don't know about him. In a way, he's a mysterious character, because most of his past (before he started his journey) is still uknown in the series currently. Of course, this might not be important to us, which could be why the writers haven't told us much about Ash's past. But even so, we don't know what lies ahead in his future either, so there is still a lot to learn about Ash's character.



But overall, like Scott85 mentioned, the point is that Ash and Pikachu are basically mascots of the Pokemon anime. So by getting rid of them, the writers would be taking a huge risk and could therefore (in theory) cause the show to lose viewers, ratings, and may even get it canceled.

Also, there's the fact that Ash's journey is far from being over, and his goal of becoming a Pokemon Master hasn't been achieved yet. Not to mention, there's other storylines that need clearing up, such as Ash's connection with legendary Pokemon in general (like Suicune), and his apparently, very close connection with Ho-oh.


Scott85 said:
I'm pretty much fine with Ash/Pikachu and TR sticking around till the end of the series. Ash generally has a different type of dynamic with each girl he travels with, so his character does seem different since he's interacting with a different type of female dynamic in each major series.
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Yeah, I agree! ^^
 
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The Great Butler said:
What would that be like? Like, say, stopping the series temporarily between Gen 4 and Gen 5 and then introducing Gen 5 with "xx years have passed since Ash Ketchum challenged the Sinnoh League..."?
Click to expand...


Not stopping the series. More like one episode Ash comes back home from the Sinnoh league. The next one we see him x years after that, heading to a new region.
 
The Great Butler said:
What would it involve to have Ash grow up, though?
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I know what quite a few people would say to that: an extended romance arc. *eyeroll* Nothing says growing up like discovering your crotch does more than....ye~ah. *has clearly been tainted*


I personally would not mind a new male character replacing Ash (major sympathy for Brendan and Lucas), but as much as Ash does nothing new and contributes little, you can imagine the uproar from the fans if it ever happened. They'd whine, complain, scream obscenities, et cetra.

They made a mistake using Ash from region to region; there is literally only so far you can take one person with a very monotonous and linear plot that Pokémon has. Granted there was nothing to save for the Orange Islands, and if they change casts after that, that also would have been a mistake, so including the Archipelago was really the killer. They're stuck, and it won't grow from here. Ash's female friends will grow, because they'll leave someday. Ash? He's gone as far as he can. And Brock's just staple to their survival, and his growth is still possible, but ultimately ignored.
 
Technically, I really wonder what fan reaction would be if Ash's story was wrapped up at the end of Orange. Wasn't there a Japanese interview indicating that the Orange Islands were planned to be the end of the anime at one point? I guess that's why Johto was so oddly paced, the writers had no idea they would have to extend the series after that.

But imagine if Johto starred Kenta and Ash and co. were dropped after Orange? Then in Hoenn it would star Brendan and May, and then in D/P it would be Lucas and Dawn.

Sometimes I wonder what the anime would be like if it really was restarted with the new characters each gen, but since Ash has become so important it pretty much screwed over all the new male characters and only the girls get to star in their respective gens.
 
Since there's no way to get rid of Ash, a three-year time jump reintroducing him with a little more mature personality and two new sidekicks would be a very nice way to try to make the show more dynamic, since Ash would be a bit more interesting since they could do lots of different things with his personality and fill in the blanks between the three years with flashbacks.
 
A time skip, yeah...but what would happen to the younger viewers? Networks usually want the younger viewers. But if they started a seperate series with the time skip and the original would have what happens in between, that might work. I just don't like it that Ash is almost the all-time best guy around; I mean, he never makes mistakes anymore, and the closest to that was losing to Roarke's Rampardos once. That's one reason why I like the first season best.
 
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