Now that Dawn's contest arc is over...

[Necrozma]

Are you satisfied with how Dawn's contests and character development turned out? I actually wasn't in the fandom at the beginning of DP when she was first introduced. I think she was handled pretty well, slightly better than May due her character development but poorly looking at her set of rivals.

I loved Zoey and Ursula, Kenny was rather bland with his silly crush and everything and Nando was just...Nando.

 

[Kojiro]

From the character development - Yes.

From the rivalry and the GF - No.

she had never beaten Zoey. This is the problem here.

 

[Muku.Bird]

I was very, very happy with Dawn's character development and how most of her contest arc turned out. The only thing I wished were changed were Ambipom's fate as a ping pong master and Kenny as Dawn's rival. He was so horribly boring and didn't have much use in the end. Conway would have been more interesting as her rival instead of him being one of Ash's league rivals. I'd also would have preferred it if Ursula was introduced earlier and had more battles.

I loved Zoey and I like how she took on more of a teacher role to Dawn - Paul is antagonistic enough to Ash so Zoey's mentor status gave us a bit of a nice breather from that. I didn't even mind Dawn never beat Zoey because it symbolised that Dawn still had much more to learn and much more to grow before she surpassed her senior(senpai, whatever you wish to call it).

 

[Piplup]

I think they gave Dawn the best possible ending she could get... during this GF Dawn proved how she totally got over her confidence problems and that she's no longer relying on her mother for everything, but realizes that she has her Pokémon and friends

The only things I'm disappointed with Dawn's character/story and think should've happened and hope that some still happen somehow:
- Dawn VS Fantina
- Piplup & Pachirisu doing a successful double performance
- Mamoswine doing a performance
- Togekiss doing a performance as Dawn's Pokémon
- Dawn losing to Ursula
- Dawn doing a tag battle together with Zoey

I still hope for some unofficial Contest at the end of DP that make some of this happen... but sadly I can't see the time for this
Maybe some of this can happen in Dawn's BW appearance... if she returns for a special Contest similar to Wallace Cup, they should do 2 double performance rounds: Pip/Pachi and Mamo/Toge... also, I'd like to see Pip/Pachi win a battle together too (they lost against Johanna and then the GF skipped their battle together)

 

[Cybersai]

I liked her development and Contests.

Her rivals though ruined her arc by making it slightly dull. I know someone (most likely Piplup) is going to reply to this post and pick it apart piece by piece, but let's go:

- Zoey. She was a good idea that wasn't properly executed. I understand she was intended to be Dawn's mentor, but the whole character seemed too thin to stretch out over 200 eps. Her anger over Nando/Ash doing Gyms was a dull plot, and Dawn never caught up to her or beat her. I liked Zoey's lesbian tendencies, but overall she was also rather unneeded in lots of her appearances. Sometimes she'd appear in an ep just to sit in the background with Brock and make comments! LOL! At least she contributed to the debut of lesbians in the anime, and Candice/Zoey is practically a canon ship. Never thought the writers would alter a Gym leader's sexual orientation for an anime-only character.

- Kenny. LOL, what needs to be said here? Generic design, uninteresting Pokemon, personality barely above the level of Richie. It seemed like he was only on the show to give a tiny bit extra backstory of Dawn's childhood. The fact that he barely appeared and bombed the Grand Festival shows how much the writers, "care" for Kenny.

- Nando. This guy was hardly in the Contest arc. He was barely focused on and he felt more like Zoey's rival than Dawn's. I admit I like him slightly more due to the awesome GF battle he gave us, but overall he was also underused to the point where he went like a 150 ep gap without appearing.

- Ursula, my favorite of Dawn's rivals. But once again, she was wasted potential. I would have loved to see her at the beginning of DP. We would have been able to see her beat Dawn once, instead of Dawn beating her three times in a row, and the Dawn/Ursula rivalry could have bloomed into something even more amazing given the time. Ursula was a great character introduced way too late, and with only 5 appearances its a shame we didn't see more of her.

Jessie's subplot was also nice, but the fact that most of her ribbon wins were off-screen and her GF match is literally 1 minute long didn't help much overall.

 

[Buizelfan!]

I thought that they did a pretty good job with Dawn. I would have liked to see her getting Togekiss a bit earlier and won a few contests eariler, but I'm very happy with her character.

Dawn not beating Zoey? I think she will in a future generation, and postponing her victory will add to her character development in the future.

 

[Ino-Chan]

Mostly. I liked it more than May's run.

 

[Hestia]

On the whole, yes, although I still prefer May's arc a little bit more. The overall story and character development was very good, it was nice to see all the continuity and the developping of combinations. I also enjoyed the fact that Dawn's overall arc and story was given a lot of focus and that Ash played a part in it too.
The rivals, I agree were not very interesting, (apart from Ursula who I adore). Zoey was a good idea, but her personality was a bit bland. Having said that, I like her a it more after the GF. Kenny on the otherhand, bleah.
Other things I didn't like was the whole pingpong storyline and the contest that went with it (I do not thinking it was at all necessary, and the battles were uninteresting), the fact that the GF was rushed, Togekiss, and the use of Pokeball seals (but there I'm being very nit-picky).
Otherthings I enjoyed: Jessie's development and storyline in the contest arc, and the awesome battles we got (Wallace cup, Ursula battles, and Zoey vs Nando.)

 

[Jukain]

I am satisfied how it played out. She didn't have as compelling rivals, but the storyline was more well thought out. We saw a much tougher journey than May went through, and I would even say Dawn ended up more mature because of it. Buneary and Pachi could've used more battle presence. Piplup hogged most of the spotlight. For those still hung up on Ambipom, I was satisfied when it's replacement, Cyndaquil, and Mamoswine, the only poke she had not used in a contest at that point, both won her a ribbon. I know it makes the entire set up since the end of AG all purposeless, but it is plain they were put on the spot. Zoey is plainly a rival and a mentor wrapped up in one. It's more understandable that Dawn wasn't able to beat her yet, but she got closer than anyone has gotten to winning a major tournament than anyone on the show so far. Dawn has emerged from May's shadow as her own being, a lesson to be learned about how even similar concepts can turn out different in their own way.

 

[CrackFox]

Her contest battles were good, but the rivals really spoilt it. You just can't get much better than Drew and Harley.

 

[#Daisuke#]

Yep. I liked it very much.

Dawn's character developement was amazing. A lot different from May's and more interesting, IMO. Dawn ended up going through long-term depression. And after that, made it to the finals of the GF. A spot that she truly deserved and showed how much she's improved over the span of DP.

Her rivals were okay for the most part. Ursula is my favorite of her rivals. Only 2nd to Harley. Zoey was a nice change of pace with an interesting personality, IMO. Kenny was a bit bland and Nando wasn't showcased enough.

Her contests were fun to watch. They were more realistic compared to May's. The fact that the contests were more flashy and less like regular battling was more appealing to me. And Dawn's contest combos were really cool to watch.

So I, for one, loved Dawn's contests,character developement, and such.

 

[Kairyu]

In my opinion!

+ Dawn's good personality/char development

- Uninteresting rivals I couldn't care less about (exception: Ursula)
- Uninteresting Pokemon team
- Ugly pink contest dress

 

[Ashfangirl22]

Lets see...

Dawn's character developement was fantastic.
I loved every moment of it, from watching her to get depressed to getting better at her skills.

Now her rivals, well very boring.
Zoey was ok but well the only contest match I liked between her and Dawn was in the Grand Festival. I liked about Zoey that she gave advice to Dawn when she needed, but she never gave her motivation to fight really.

Kenny, yah had no personality gotta agree there.
Had I guess horrible skills in contests or he'd have gotten far in the Grand Festival LOL.

Jessie, I liked her storyline a lot but yah its true they barley showed her contests and she was barley shown in the Grand Festival. That disapointed me a lot, she was what I was looking forward to the most.

 

[V Faction]

It was really cool. It's clear that the writers have hit their groove in regards to design contest battles.

 

[Grave-E]

I reckon it could've used more Harley.

I mean, that's what the kids are into, right? Monster fights on motorcycles?

 

[PlatinumDude]

As for the contest part: I found it okay (it took Dawn longer to win her 5 ribbons than May did).

Character development: so-so (no idea why here).

 

[Hellion]

I am satisfied how it played out. She didn't have as compelling rivals, but the storyline was more well thought out. We saw a much tougher journey than May went through, and I would even say Dawn ended up more mature because of it.

I agree with this, what made Dawn so compelling for me was that it actually was a struggle for her instead of seeing her get everything handed to her on a silver platter.

Buneary and Pachi could've used more battle presence. Piplup hogged most of the spotlight.

As far as contests, I think the the writers actually balanced the team right (except Togekiss and I'll get back to the fat bird in an instant) since all of her pokemon, except Mamoswine, got to do a successful performance and all of them were shown to have won a ribbon in battle for her. I think the Piplup spammage in contests is exaggerated a bit, since it only really starred in the Floaroma, Hearthome and the Wallace Cup. Otherwise, he was doing appeals that were barely shown...

I'm really not upset they released Ambipom as I felt there was nowhere for the character to go, but I do wish they hadn't introduced Togekiss. It took too much screentime and pretty much any other member of Dawn's roster deserved to be in that GF final over it. I would have loved to see a Piplup/Cyndaquil combo at some point.

As far as rivals went, to me, Zoey wasn't one. She basically served the role that Ash/Solidad served in May's Hoenn and BF contest arc, which is the mentor and the more experienced character that's just there to beat the main character.

Kenny, if we must compare to Drew, pales in comparaison. Ursula, if we must compare to Harley, was way more interesting, so I feel it's balanced.

Beyond the characters, what I like the most is that the writers finally took the time to establish contest as something different than regular battles. That it was its own different style and reuired different skills and techniques. Plus, Dawn's arc has given us some of the greatest battles, regular or contest alike, in the anime.

 

[CrackFox]

I agree with this, what made Dawn so compelling for me was that it actually was a struggle for her instead of seeing her get everything handed to her on a silver platter.

I think that's being very unfair to May. If anything Dawn has been handed most things (like the Wallace Cup victory and the runner up position in her first ever GF)

I'm tired of people belittling May. She had great combination, great rivals and double the GF. She also had a very different approach to Dawn, which I preferred, of dazzling in the appeals round and straight fighting in the battles.

Stop mentioning the frisbee and balls. She used those things occasionally and there's nothing wrong with that approach anyway. It's cute to see a Pokemon juggle or catch a Frisbee. It's appealing, hence the APPEALS round >.>

She also had emotional imbalances during her early attempts just like Dawn.

Dawn was and Isn't god's gift to Pokemon, which I admit a certain other female Isn't either (before you start)

In my opinion Dawn's contests were at very best 'nearly' as good as May's.

Answer me this. How can you say that May has been handed victory after victory, when she hasn't come nearly as close to a position in the GF that Dawn has, and considering that May's been in more than twice the amount of contest battles?

Fanboyism at its highest.

 

[#Daisuke#]

I agree with this, what made Dawn so compelling for me was that it actually was a struggle for her instead of seeing her get everything handed to her on a silver platter.

I have to agree with you there, too. Dawn's contests were more realistic than May's.

Beyond the characters, what I like the most is that the writers finally took the time to establish contest as something different than regular battles. That it was its own different style and reuired different skills and techniques. Plus, Dawn's arc has given us some of the greatest battles, regular or contest alike, in the anime.

QFT.

I think that's being very unfair to May. If anything Dawn has been handed most things (like the Wallace Cup victory and the runner up position in her first ever GF)

Dawn beat May fair and square. Their battle could've gone either way, though.

Stop mentioning the frisbee and balls. She used those things occasionally and there's nothing wrong with that approach anyway. It's cute to see a Pokemon juggle or catch a Frisbee. It's appealing, hence the APPEALS round >.>

Except that was my problem with May's tactics. In a few contests she relied on props instead of her actual Pokemon's skills. Anyone and any Pokemon could've done what she did using them.

Dawn was and Isn't god's gift to Pokemon, which I admit a certain other female Isn't either (before you start)

She was and now isn't? I think you're trying to say wasn't and isn't?

Answer me this. How can you say that May has been handed victory after victory, when she hasn't come nearly as close to a position in the GF that Dawn has, and considering that May's been in more than twice the amount of contest battles?

You have to consider a couple of things on Dawn's part. She wasn't a complete newbie when she started out like May was. Dawn had a lot of knowledge about contests and coordinating because of Johanna.
The other thing was probably because most of her rivals didn't pose as much as a threat as May's did.

And at least May's been given the priviledge of defeating her primary rival unlike Dawn... >.>

 

[CrackFox]

She was and now isn't? I think you're trying to say wasn't and isn't?

I did. I got pwned!

>.>

Dawn beat May fair and square. Their battle could've gone either way, though.

Yes it was a fair battle, but in theory she shouldn't have been close to beating May, because of the lack of experience. Yet she beat her fair and square because the writers favored her and her development (overcoming depression storyline)more than they cared about May enough to give her a much more deserving victory.