No more old companion cameos?

Shoutmon

Shoutmon

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It seems Iris or Cilan aren't making a cameo this season. Does this mean Serena,Clemont or Bonnie will not appear i the SM anime? or maybe the writers didn't figure a way to make Iris come back without feeling forced?
 
That's assuming the anime is going to maintain the same status quo for Sun and Moon (as of now, no one knows what the region even is officially). Even that is the case, just because Iris and Cilan didn't appear doesn't mean that Serena and others won't appear in Sun and Moon. Serena especially. That girl is quite popular based on what I've seen, and there is no reason why she wouldn't want to meet Ash again. Iris was likely skipped for the cameo because the writers couldn't think of a situation where it would feel a bit natural to bring her back (and I think her relative unpopularity in regards to her relationship with Ash may have also played a part, as BW just rushed the whole goodbye aspect like it was nothing).
 
I suspect that they've switched exclusively to side episodes featuring that character after their departure from the main group. That's my guess.
 
I don't mind if we don't get any more cameos from old companions. They can have special episodes.
 
It's hard to say for sure whether or not Iris and Cilan not appearing means that they won't have any other returning arcs for previous characters. With Iris, I don't think that she has a good reason to show up in Kalos, she might be one of the least popular female leads and I don't think Axew was nearly as popular or as marketable as Piplup was during BW. They could still have Serena appear in the Sun/Moon series, especially when I could buy that she'd go out of her way on her journey to meet up with Ash again for a little while, but it's hard to say for sure right now. With Iris, I'm pretty positive that she won't show up in XY at this point. There is still time for them to do that, but it looks less and less likely over time.

I wouldn't mind it too much if they just saved their returns for their own specials instead of appearing in the series proper. It would give them more attention than they could possibly get in the show, even though it would miss out on the character interaction aspect of the series. We'll just have to see how things play out.
 
The trick is having them appear naturally without it feeling forced or awkward. Which is pretty unlikely at this point. The fact that Iris and Cilan aren't very popular doesn't help :(

Misty's first guest stint in AG was a little awkward (but cool), while her second one was better handled. May's stint in DP made sense, and went rather well. Dawn in BW was forced and pointless. If Iris or Cilan were to appear in XY, the creative team has to think it through.
I could see Iris appearing wanting to meet Drasna (who should get an animated appearance since the other 3 Kalos E4 have gotten some to be fair) while Cilan could challenge Sibald to an epic cook off!

Though let's see...after May (the month), we should have, oh...a little over 20 episodes left in this saga, with 6-8 of those being for the League, which leaves about a dozen or so for other stuff to happen (chiefly the Team Flare arc). One could say there's enough time for a 2-3 episode guest stint in there somewhere, but I'm having trouble seeing it this late in the game...

Alexander said:
I don't mind if we don't get any more cameos from old companions. They can have special episodes.
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The only problem is that those specials never get dubbed...:cautious:
 
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Yeah, the specials never being dubbed is the other major downside of using them in place of appearing in the series proper. It still surprises me that TPCI is so uninterested in the specials, but since they aren't promoting the newest games/Pokemon, they don't see much value in them.
 
Sadly as of this point XY is the series with the least references to past series, let's hope that it gets redeemed in the league.

I guess Serena could come back in SM to show that she has more confidence in herself and that she is far from being a rookie, yet the same could be said for Iris...
 
Has xy had any references to the past? Even Pokemon Sunday seemed to show only previous episodes of xy :-/
 
ii kanji said:
Has xy had any references to the past? Even Pokemon Sunday seemed to show only previous episodes of xy :-/
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Young Kojiro and his mansion. His mom also made a (vocal) cameo. They've played some old footage on PokeTV. That's about it, iirc.
 
Flynn said:
Young Kojiro and his mansion. His mom also made a (vocal) cameo. They've played some old footage on PokeTV. That's about it, iirc.
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There was also a reference to Dawn's Piplup as well in the Golden Magikarp episode.
 
Awks that I forgot the Kojiro one...

What was the Pocchama reference?
 
ii kanji said:
Awks that I forgot the Kojiro one...

What was the Pocchama reference?
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At the aquarium when the group saw a group of piplup, Ash commented that he knows a piplup that's "something else", or something to that effect.


I was hopeful we would see Iris, Cilan or anyone would show up in XY, but not so much anymore. Just personally, I'm always hopeful for returning characters or callbacks. When you've watched a show all the way through over the course of almost 20 years, any nod to the fact that the characters you love actually exist in the mind of our protagonist is a nice bone to throw to the long time fans. I understand that the target audience is perpetually in the 10 year old range, but I don't think acknowledging that Ash existed before whatever region he happens to be in at the time would be enough to throw the show off the rails for the new fans. Heck, most shonen anime have episodes that are nothing but flashbacks.
 
With way things are going for Iris getting absolutely nothing so far in Kalos series. This really does impose question of its own. What if writers decide to distance pokemon anime from past more than ever before, so that even replaced characters don't even get one follow up appearance before forever fading in oblivion?

Continuity in this anime is bad as it is never being pay much attention to actual storyline and sense of progression, but still if writers break this tradition too. Than we are dealing with product which defeated whole point of its own existence and message it tried to convey on screen to begin with. Being anime with no continuity and sense of progression at all.

Not like it has ever done good job in that department with all soft resets, stagnation of Ash character and treating past friends as good as dead. But to not give replaced major character from past series not even one follow up is a whole new way of taking things to extreme in disrespecting past.

But I guess that's something we could expect to happen eventually when you replace so many main characters like Pokemon does. In show with already weak continuity and shallow plot which don't have long lasting impact the more new characters you add. Chances of older ones getting update, sequel to their unfinished dreams and stories decrease to zero(hence why i do not support never ending cast replacing).

Seriously undermining quality and thrill of viewing this anime even more.

I would love personally to see Iris and later Serena, Clemont etc in case of being replaced getting cameo in next generation. Just like I would appreciate return of other faces from past such as Misty, May, Brock, Tracey etc. In nutshell receiving sequels taking him/her in new directions like other long running anime did/do(such as Digimon, Dragon ball, Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail etc, etc)enriching on their depth of personality, interests and significance to plot.

Having more than enough potential, unsolved intricancies and material to make more out of them in anime like pokemon. Instead of having endless train of new characters(like "we even need more"), while forgetting previous ones and let them end up ,marginalized to the point that their impact gets lost in translation. And no traces of legacy left to point of not even getting follow ups, cameos anymore, Let alone something more concrete.

As far as Iris potential return goes, I seriously doubt how reason behind her not coming back from looks of it has anything to do with"there not existing good reasons to bring her back.
Seriously with all this plots which are heavily tied to career Iris pursue and her essence of character in being heavily oriented toward nature and spiritual side of things. Such as dragon guardian of eco system(Zygarde)with villains trying to manipulate its powers for evil deeds. Presence of E4 member who is dragon master in games and one of most powerful dragon type users in world(Drasna), discovery of new specie of pokemon(fairies)which are living bane of every dragon., All this things form more than natural and plausible ingredient to fit Iris in flow of XY saga.

Because you wont find better reasons to bring someone like Iris back than through events and features which are revolved around dragon pokemon, understanding of their nature and elements which could push her career of becoming dragon pokemon master forward. With Kalos/XY series fulfilling that need 100%. More than any other region would.

Any past major character can return in any generation and region without feeling contrived and weird. As long there exists plots through which you can generate sensible investment in his/her career or characterization on more concrete level or establish groundwork to have them learn more. For example in current series just idea of mega evolution alone offers potential to justify return of several past characters having them reach higher grounds as trainers/researchers(Gary, Misty, May, Paul etc).

Even simple decision to pay visit to old friend Ash and at same time catching some new pokemon, helping to stop criminals and discover new worlds can feel fluid and natural as long there is present good background behind it.

Remember people; just because to us it may seem hard to imagine someone return being played out in unforced and logical way does not mean how that is indeed undoable. Perception can fool us.

As old saying goes:
"Don't be too quick to judge!"

Because clearly reason behind Iris chances of getting cameo in XY hanging in air is not because "writers cannot find reason". But because of either Iris character being so unpopular among Japan audience, that anime staff is purposely avoiding her. Which I very much doubt so, because in past much less recognized and appreciated characters like Tracey out of main characters or even less popular ones like Ritchie, Casey etc was still appeared later on in Johto and chronicles despite not being loved.

Or more likely reason being that directors developed new policy where continuity and connections to past generations gets cut of even further. With only Ash and TR remaining in series as reminders of pokemon series even being still set in same universe and continuity. Aside from random and minimalistic way of showcasing past friends through flashbacks and minor references requiring next to none effort and planning ahead.
And if that's the case than im afraid whoever gets replaced from Ash Kalos friends likely wont pass any better either.
 
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pokemon fan 132 said:
Because clearly reason behind Iris chances of getting cameo in XY hanging in air is not because "writers cannot find reason". But because of either Iris character being so unpopular among Japan audience, that anime staff is purposely avoiding her. Which I very much doubt so, because in past much less recognized and appreciated characters like Tracey out of main characters or even less popular ones like Ritchie, Casey etc was still appeared later on in Johto and chronicles despite not being loved.

Or more likely reason being that directors developed new policy where continuity and connections to past generations gets cut of even further. With only Ash and TR remaining in series as reminders of pokemon series even being still set in same universe and continuity. Aside from random and minimalistic way of showcasing past friends through flashbacks and minor references requiring next to none effort and planning ahead.
And if that's the case than im afraid whoever gets replaced from Ash Kalos friends likely wont pass any better either.
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I wouldn't say it's Iris herself that is unpopular as much as its rather the whole series of BW, given how the ending went in the end. A rushed goodbye between Ash and his companions, which was overshadowed by Alexa being Ash's new temporary companion. A reversion of Team Rocket's serious attitude to their more comedic roots and their relative lack of goodbyes to their Unova companions (and overshadowed by the return of Wobbuffet). And a sudden 180 degree turn of Ash's competence from the Kanto-retread to being the dominant trainer (he rarely loses now). Heck, they even delayed Iris's special episode in favor of an XY preview feature where the new footage is Ash sleeping on the plane. It would seem there was some kind of backlash that occurred if that had happen, though I cannot say for sure except for Team Rocket (which from what I've heard from Japan, the serious attitudes were unpopular).

I still say it's a bit premature to say that the Kalos gang would not make a guest star return in a hypothetical Sun and Moon anime just because the Unova gang did not for XY. Especially when Serena has that big of a crush on Ash. And quite frankly, I kinda enjoy the relatively lack of continuity references in XY. It makes Ash feel truly independent as a character, especially when he's treated like one of the best there is.
 
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