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Dawns character journey and her mom Johanna

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JohnLogan

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This is my first thread ever, please forgive any clumsiness or mistakes.

I know this was discussed sometimes in the past, but what do you guys think of Johanna in the anime and her connection with Dawn?
As a kid I mainly grew up with gen 1. I was nearly 14 when DP started and only watched some episodes, but I saw the first 3. At first Dawn seemed like a new May to me and her mom seemed nice and encouraging and I liked Dawn trying to immitate her.

Then SUDDENLY after Dawns first loss in Arrival of a Rival when she called her mom upset, I was really surprised with how she reacted. I did not expect the 'tough love' response which up till that point was unheard of from a mom in Pokémon I think.

I was specifically surprised how she layed it on in 3 steps. First telling Dawn she didn't need to apologise to her, that she should apologise to her Pokémon if she needed to be sorry.

Then as Dawn half-crying said okay sternly telling her to stop crying, and saying that she'd be smarter trying to figure out what went wrong in preparation for her next contest.

Finally, she added to that that Dawn didn't need to call her every time she won or lost, that she had good friends and her Pokémon as well and she should talk to he friends from now on, rather than her mom.

She then suddenly did seem to light up and tell Dawn she knew she'd watch all of the contests anyways.

I was surprised that she seemed to suddenly throw Dawn into the deep water, the fully grown up world after her first defeat, where up till that point she seemed so sweet and encouraging even when she sometimes gave practical advice.

Fans seemed polarised on this back in the day. What are your guys' thoughts on Johanna now? And I mean as a character not like her appearance or stuff like that.

Also the English openings for seasons 11 and 12, are the lyrics of those specifically from Dawns point of view you think? Seeing how Ash is an increasingly seasoned veteran during this gen?
 
I was also super surprised by that moment. It felt kinda harsh...? I guess I can understand where Johanna is coming from, trying to teach Dawn a life lesson and all, but if I were in Dawn's shoes, I would get the impression that my own mom is annoyed that I keep calling her. I guess it was to show how cut-throat the contest scene is supposed to be.

Overall though I like Johanna. I think it's nice when they make the mother characters into actual characters, like Grace in X and Y as well.
 
Finnematics said:
I was also super surprised by that moment. It felt kinda harsh...? I guess I can understand where Johanna is coming from, trying to teach Dawn a life lesson and all, but if I were in Dawn's shoes, I would get the impression that my own mom is annoyed that I keep calling her. I guess it was to show how cut-throat the contest scene is supposed to be.

Overall though I like Johanna. I think it's nice when they make the mother characters into actual characters, like Grace in X and Y as well.
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Interesting thing is her mother seemed nice whenever she called her before that.

She called her after the first round that very episode too.

Maybe Dawn thinking she needed to apologise to her mom for losing suggested she was thinking too much that she was doing this for her?

But, I am glad we both like Johanna.
 
Johanna is interesting as she's the opposite of Grace. She never pushed Dawn to become a coordinator, and while she was probably delighted with the news it also meant she had to become a role model for her and amp up the exigence. This apparently worked well, as Dawn began showing more confidence in her Pokemon and herself and relied less and less on the advice of others as time went by. By the end of the series, Johanna is clearly proud of Dawn and of what she accomplished.
 
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