He's got a special lure, too?: An analysis of Cilan and Iris

[BulbaBot]

He's got a special lure, too?: An analysis of Cilan and Iris

Nimbasa City is close at hand in the Japanese run of the anime, at roughly the fortieth episode. Where has this brought Ash's new friends in comparison to his previous companions?

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[Sweet Veil]

The lack of none Cilan pictures is an annoyance.

 

[Cybersai]

Thank god this was actually a well done and non-bias piece.

From the title, I thought this was going to be a Misty/original trio/1998/nostalgia love fanboy article. Much to my surprise, it actually analyzed the characters nicely.

 

[Tye Taylors]

I find the lure thing to be one of those things purposely used to "link" characters backstories without any reason...it's called writers being lazy. I mean really, make up new unique things. Obviously there are new unique things about these characters...so use them, don't use old stuff with a new name attached to it.

 

[Kenji-girl]

I liked this piece. Nice informative comparisons I never thought of before. Though I have to disagree about Cilan getting more spotlight than Iris. While yes, he is definitely a more lively character with tons of hobbies and other skills, the anime has yet to give him that much development. We have no idea how he obtained Pansage while we know how Iris obtained all over her Pokemon. We also got to see what she did as a child while nothing has been shown of Cilan's childhood. Multiple episodes have been given to Iris bonding with her Pokemon, developing their relationship. BW009, 024-025, 027, and 033. And we can expect that Emolga will learn to trust Iris more in BW041. How many episodes showed Cilan bonding with his Pokemon? Zip. Well... if you count BW011, one.

Main point: I guess it could be said that his personality is shown more. But the story behind it is absent. He may have more skills and hobbies than Iris, but it doesn't mean he's more focused on. That's just my opinion.

Edit: Just so you know, I love Cilan <3 I want him to have more development and to be seen bonding with his Pokemon. I deeply wish that I could agree with what was said in this article and am disappointed that I can't. If he was the new Dawn, I would be VERY pleased. But he's not and he isn't getting the attention he so greatly deserves.

 

[Adil]

A really great opinion piece. Well analyzed and... Good job :-D

 

[Froakie]

I won't go into the huge things I find wrong with this article, however where the author continuously says how Cilan is getting more focus than Iris, and how he has had more character development or whatever in his 40 episodes is in my opinion a load of rubbish. Maybe the author forgot about, actually, all those times Brock DID receive episodes about himself, and then compare them with the number Cilan has had. Also, I don't see any difference in the screen time of Iris and Cilan -I'm thinking of two options of why this may be. 1) Cilan is a more extravagant and in-your-face character, so people notice him more. Or 2) people are so blinded by love for Cilan and hatred for Iris that they only notice the things Cilan does, even if they are so insignificant. Cilan smiles? Screen time!

 

[Winterdaze]

I commend the author for taking fairly neutral stance and informative approach to analysing these characters when so many outrageous and unrepentently biased extreme opinions of them seem to be shooting around the forums. It's a very refreshing read ^^

 

[Necrozma]

Iris got more development than Cilan, and that's a fact. Cilan got no development at all, just screentime for entertaining people with his antics.

 

[Grave-E]

Iris got more development than Cilan, and that's a fact. Cilan got no development at all, just screentime for entertaining people with his antics.

I...kind of agree with this, but I feel he has developed in the sense that he's come out of his shell over time. He's become a lot more flamboyant as of late, where previously he much more subdued. There was a point where him being 'fabulous' was a bit of an exageration, but now it's a lot closer to truth.
For the record, that's a change I personally welcome.

 

[Necrozma]

I...kind of agree with this, but I feel he has developed in the sense that he's come out of his shell over time. He's become a lot more flamboyant as of late, where previously he much more subdued. There was a point where him being 'fabulous' was a bit of an exageration, but now it's a lot closer to truth.
For the record, that's a change I personally welcome.

Well, that could kind of count. When he first started traveling with Ash and Iris he seemed like a calm and polite boy, but when specific people pushed his buttons (e.g. Cabernet) he showed a totally different side of him. I guess as he got more comfortable (such as Iris), he started showing his true self and revealing his interests and hobbies. (kinda like how Iris didn't reveal her past until later when she got really used to Ash and Dento) Yeah, that kind of development could count.

 

[DrumBeats]

It was good, and it was pretty neutral for the most part. But, I honestly don't get why they're saying Cilian's more developed than Brock. I've seen a couple episodes of this series and I hate him. Then again, I don't like most of the 5th gen stuff, but replacing brock with him definately bothered me. I actually think Iris is fine, she's better than Dawn in my opinion. Not quite to May or Misty level though.

 

[Deadly Drake]

I think that both have had pretty much the same screen time just that Cilan's Personality is more appealing to the fans. I believe will get to see more of Iris development when she catches another Dragon or Axew actualy becomes stronger. If any of that happens at least.

 

[Cybersai]

I won't go into the huge things I find wrong with this article, however where the author continuously says how Cilan is getting more focus than Iris, and how he has had more character development or whatever in his 40 episodes is in my opinion a load of rubbish. Maybe the author forgot about, actually, all those times Brock DID receive episodes about himself, and then compare them with the number Cilan has had.

Well if we strictly compare the first 40 eps of Kanto to the first 40 eps of Unova, it does seem like Cilan has more episodes.

In Kanto at this time, Brock had the Pewter Gym ep, the Vulpix/Suzie ep, and I think that was it by that point. I'm looking through the Kanto episode list right now and none of those eps were Brock-centered eps otherwise.

 

[The Outrage]

Perhaps the writers have changed their game plan and returned the focus back into the purely shounen genre, where the boys are first and the girls not so much. Perhaps they are simply cashing in on Cilan's not unexpected popularity,

I don't know, I feel like Cilan was plucked from some Shoujo anime. Shojo doesn't mean the main character has to be girls you know, just their target audience (example). Iris seems more like a Shonen protagonist from what I've seen.

I...kind of agree with this, but I feel he has developed in the sense that he's come out of his shell over time. He's become a lot more flamboyant as of late, where previously he much more subdued. There was a point where him being 'fabulous' was a bit of an exageration, but now it's a lot closer to truth.
For the record, that's a change I personally welcome.

Isn't that what people would call flanderization?

 

[/Zer0]

This was a very interesting read and a unique way of looking at BW's cast.. I would've never thought to notice these things. I think it's mainly these 'reversed' roles that makes the new Saga seem so fresh.

Having said that, though, I think the article spoiled some of Cilan's future catches for me >.< ..
../Zer0 used Amnesia! /Zer0 forgot the MEMORY completely!

 

[Cybersai]

Cilan is important simply because he was always the predicted Brock replacement since AG. We didn't know of Cilan of course, but everyone always talked about what would happen if Brock was replaced a second time, and new guy isn't just Tracey 2.0.

Almost brings back memories when Misty was removed, huh? Oddly enough they waited two gens to create a new female with similarish traits to her. I guess they wanted to make sure May stood out on her own as a new female protagonist rather than a Misty expie.

If Iris and Cilan were introduced earlier I doubt they would have flew as well. It's just now after sooooo many years since the original trio met it's end, it's interesting to see a similar dynamic with alternate characters.

 

[The Outrage]

Don't know why you keep saying Cilan is Brock2.0 when he seems to be filling in the role of the Shoujo counterpart.

 

[Eeveeanne]

I really liked this piece. I enjoyed it. In my opinion, he's right and I think Iris is the underdeveloped character and I'm not saying that because I seriously despise it when she says "Your such a little kid." >_< EEEEE! YOU ARE A KID IRIS! Annoyance! It's like Naurto's "Believe it!" all over again!

 

[Cybersai]

Don't know why you keep saying Cilan is Brock2.0 when he seems to be filling in the role of the Shoujo counterpart.

He fills the obvious niche Brock does, caretaker of the group, cooks food, generally acts as the voice of reason. However other than that its pretty obvious he's his own character.

You got to give the writers credit. They are actually putting effort into a Brock replacement this time, unlike what they did with Tracey around 12 years ago. Granted they probably knew Tracey would be short-lived, but still, they could have done more. Its also probably because this time Brock's departure is likely permanent, so they don't want Cilan to bomb totally.

Who knew, right? First they successfully replaced Misty, and then Brock! Maybe if we're *really* lucky we can get rid of Ash by the end of this gen too!

Fingers crossed, everyone!