Anime and Female Pokémon

[WatcherMark]

Has anyone else noticed that the anime seems to now be getting increasingly more biased towards male Pokémon than female ones.

For one thing, Satoshi has always had far more male Pokémon than female ones. Throughout his run on the show, he's only owned four confirmed female Pokémon while he's had at least 15 (or 44, if you count all his Kentauros). But recently, it does seem the anime is starting to neglect the females more and more.

First of all, Satoshi's Tsutarja (despite being a starter Pokémon) hasn't been getting as much focus as Satoshi's other grass-types had at this point in their series which some people I've spoke to have chalked up to being female. Also, Satoshi seems to automatically assume his Pokémon until proven otherwise (look at Mamepato... he'd fully assumed that she was male until Tsutarja's Attract didn't work). Iris's Emonga is also getting very little focus at the moment.

But also, it seems so far that Tsutarja and Emonga are being left out of the next ANA short. At the very least, they're not being advertised while the male/unknown Pokémon are.

Thoughts?

 

[TPrower]

From what you describe, that WOULD sound like something close to sexism, but I wouldn't really know how to counter that. Think, also, of Ash's Tranquill. She's gotten less and less focus as well. Perhaps it's the fact that, as a male trainer, Ash would have more interaction with the "bros" of his team. That's my hypothesis, anyway.

As for Iris' Emolga, I can't really say that either. She seems to only be needed when a joke concerning her laziness, gluttony, or rivalry with Snivy seems in order. Hopefully, that's not what she'll stay reduced to.

Sometimes I wonder if/wish that actual writers of the show knew about this forum and could see our opinions.

 

[Necrozma]

I don't think so because we have actually seen an increase in number of female Pokémon in BW so far. :/

Sometimes I wonder if/wish that actual writers of the show knew about this forum and could see our opinions.

They better not, for the sake of their sanity.

 

[투 애니원]

I doubt the writers are intentionally doing that just because their female. It makes no sense.

 

[Purim]

First of all, Satoshi's Tsutarja (despite being a starter Pokémon) hasn't been getting as much focus as Satoshi's other grass-types had at this point in their series

Turtwig got focus?

I mean, I realize BW052 doesn't debut for another few weeks, but starting from DP052, it became the Chimchar Show as far as development of Ash's team was concerned.

But I guess my point is that even though Chimchar slowly became the non-Pikachu star of Ash's team, Turtwig/Grotle still got some episodes later down the line that developed it. Sure, it was pretty well thrust into the background, but if you expected Snivy to take the limelight from Oshawott at this point, I think you'd need to watch BW again.

I guess my answer is, as far as Snivy goes, that the series is still to young to really say anything yet.

Who are Ash's other female Pokémon?

Bayleef: Most developed of the Johto Start Pokémon, as well as the most used.

Aipom: Traded to Dawn for Buizel (who had a bunch more female Pokémon), and was eventually sent to Ping-Pong school. During her time as an Aipom, though, I recall her getting quite a bit of attention, especially from Ash.

Tranquil: If any of Ash's girls are in danger of getting ignored, it's probably her. But still, BW might surprise us. Maybe.

 

[Jukain]

This seems to be a case of reading too much into something. The current female pokes are no more gimped than any other shafted pokemon in history, regardless of gender.

 

[SSJ_Jup81]

Maybe it's just automatically natural to just assume that a Pokemon is male. It's like with dogs. For some reason, I personally always assume male unless shown or told otherwise. I'm the same way with Pokemon. I do usually automatically assume that the Pokemon is male until it's confirmed. Like I said I feel that with most animals, it's just a natural assumption.

The reason why most of Satoshi's Pokemon are male is probably because Satoshi is male himself. Maybe that's what the writers were going for. Someoen earlier mentioned how most of Hikari's Pokemon were coincidentally female.

 

[YamiiDenryuu]

That's basically it. The Smurfette Principal means a Pokemon is likely to be male by default, and only female if the writers decide to go out of their way to make it female.

 

[H.M]

I'm also guessing that since mostly young boys watch the show, they want to see more male characters than female? Which is pretty weak imo.

 

[Adamant]

I'm also guessing that since mostly young boys watch the show, they want to see more male characters than female? Which is pretty weak imo.

Yes. It's a proven fact that males in general prefer reading about/watching males when it comes to fiction, while females have no real preference, so general-audience fiction typically star male characters. It's not "weak", it's the most profitable decision.

 

[Catilena1890]

When I see a pokemon on the show, unless it is of a female-only species like latias or kangaskhan, or a species that LOOKS really feminine, like Kirlia/Gardevoir and the Gothita line, I automatically assume it is male. I don't really mind it in the anime, because the show IS written for a general audience. Young boys are more interested in watching male pokemon than female pokemon, while girls just wanna see the pokemon. I'd be far more concerned if Ash, a male "budding" trainer even though Ash should be 13 or 14 at least by now, hurr., DID have a team of mostly female pokemon. Oh the controversy and jokes that would ensue.

I am fine with Ash's team as it is. I approve Snivy's gender, and I actually would have preferred it if his Tranquil were male. Assuming he will evolve it all the way like his other bird pokemon, a male Unfezant would be much more impressive for Ash to have aesthetically. This is coming from a gal who prefers all-female teams in the games XD