Opinions on the first seasons

[Yamato-san]

OK, I've only recently started to make more frequent appearances around here, and I have to say: holy shit! CyberCubed (known around here as Scott85) was not kidding, this place really is brimming with fans of the anime's Kantou saga, Kasumi, the first 151, basically anything from "the good old days". I'm curious to know, though, are any of you at all familiar with the criticism stated against it on SPPF? After hearing some thoughts, would you at all say you genuinely like it, or is that just nostalgia getting to you?

In all honesty, while there were a few great things about it (namely the fact that Japanese culture's kept intact with the show not trying to cater to the rest of the world), I think it pales in comparison to later sagas myself (except Jouto... and even then, Jouto showed improvement in a few departments, namely the battles). And personally, I get pissed off seeing several people blindly praise it, especially when they make hypocritical observations of supposed flaws in later seasons while overlooking those same flaws in their own personal favorite (bad fillers=Eievui brothers, to state but one example. And ZOMG! DEUS EX PIKACHU THUNDER ARMOR!!! Like sprinklers in a seemingly incombustible gym made entirely of rock and metal's any better?). But I'll save it for Korobake Hajiro, as I think he'd do a much better job explaining just how flawed the first saga was than I ever could (though I'll still add in my two cents afterwards).

 

[Kasumi]

1. I don't go to SPPf anymore since it's filled with n00bs.

2. About the Kanto and Orange Islands sagas, they were great because the art style was more "stylish" than the animation we have now. They had character development and the show was new and fresh. Of course they had their flaws, but every saga has them and I certainly don't care about "lol aim for the hornz" or "ZOMG super saiyan thunder armor".

For me, Advance Generation was dull and boring until Battle Frontier (with the exception of some of May's contests and some funny fillers like Spinda one). Thankfully, Battle Frontier was great and Diamond and Pearl has been amazing so far, but still, my favourite sagas are and will be the originals.

Nostalgia? Maybe, but since when it's a crime to prefer the older seasons over the new ones?

 

[Pie]

First things first, the Eevee brothers were awesome. Don't you dare put that episode in with the likes of the Johto filler. >:O

Now, if there's a reason that the preference of Kanto shows up more here than at places like SPPf (*shudder*), I'd say it's because we tend to have the mature fandom gather here.

I'm talking literally. I am quite sure if you were to compare the average age here to the average age at, say, SPPf, we'd have the higher age.

Looking at Kanto in retrospect, it doesn't look impressive. Yes, it does tend to come off as dated. But a lot of us were around when that was all there was - and so for us, that set the standard of what was to come. And if you look at the timeline of events in the anime (still very much under construction admittedly), so much more was happening in the original series. Ash was learning a lot about being a trainer. More Pokémon were caught, and releasing happened more than once in a blue moon, meaning Ash's party changed a lot. Even the filler, in my opinion, had more going for it. Duplica, anyone?

So it's the standard many of us hold later generations to. And... really, DP comes the closest so far, but they aren't up to snuff.

By the way? Don't you dare diss the Pewter Gym episode. The whole point of that episode was that he was given a really cheap opening to win - and he turned it down, because there was no point in winning that way. He showed he had honor as a trainer and cared more about actually proving himself than just getting a little piece of metal. That was something Brock understood and thought was important, possibly more important than anything showed by the trainers who came in and blasted their way to a victory as quickly and brutally as possible.

It's my favorite episode, and it always will be. Not just because "OMG Brock *whee*" but because it showed the best sides of both Ash and Brock, showed why they're still among the closest friends in the whole series, and plain and simply because there's been no other Gym episode quite like it. Even if it's debatable whether a Rock-type Gym should have sprinklers or not.

 

[Kasumi]

Yeah, what the hell? The Eevee brothers episode was one of the cutest episodes ever and Ash's first Gym episode was amazing, despite the lol sprinklers thing (I think Pie pretty much explained the reason behind that). Brock's first appearance in the anime was so badass. When you look at him sitting on the rock, waiting for the next challenger, you can't help but say "Woah. This guy's going to kick some serious butt" and what's the best of it, that we later discover how much of a sweet and caring person Brock is towards his little brothers and sisters.

 

[Jo-Jo]

The Pewter gym ep ownzed. Pie is right, the whole point of that match is that Ash turned down the opportunity to win cheaply. I love that Ash's character development (and Brock's) was the priority there. It's really frustrating to me when fans criticise the Kanto saga who plainly don't get that a battle can be about anything but bringing teh smackdown.

As for BMGF being all about the Kanto, I haven't even seen any discussion of the old series around here lately. Everyone's been talking about the DP eps... for obvious reasons. Where's this coming from, Yamato-san?

 

[Cybersai]

Kanto/Orange still hold a place in my heart, but in retrospect its easy to see what the writers have improved since then.

Ash only won like three of his Kanto Gym badges, the rest of them were given to him. Ash also released way too many Pokemon in Kanto, c'mon, three Pokemon in a single 81 episode saga? Pokemon were also caught just to sent to Oak's immediately, (Kingler, Muk, Tauros), you NEVER see that happen anymore because the writers treat all new captures well nowadays.

Likewise, Gary, Ash's rival...never battled Ash until the end of Orange. Uh...why didn't they battle at all during Kanto even in just a filler? We had May/Drew battle tons of times, Ash/Paul battled twice, Dawn/Nozomi battled once already...and those all happened early on. I think the rivalries are also handled MUCH better nowadays than they used to. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Ash/Gary rivalry...but looking back, the lack of battles between them is very disappointing.

They're certainly good sagas and since the show was fresh back then, every episode felt like something new. However I have to prefer what the writers did during the AG era, (which the D/P series continues), with more focus on the group and the Pokemon personality wise.

Kanto and Orange are still great sagas, the real problem with the show came during the Johto era, where the writers apparently had no idea how to handle a three year saga and keep it interesting. Luckily AG and D/P avoid the excessive filler that Johto had because we have Contests and a female protagonist to develop. Misty was handled well in Kanto/Orange, its only when the writers ran out of ideas for her (see: all of Johto) that things started to turn sour. The same thing happened with Max in Battle Frontier...they simply ran out of things to do with him so he suffered.

 

[Pie]

Ash only won like three of his Kanto Gym badges, the rest of them were given to him. Ash also released way too many Pokemon in Kanto, c'mon, three Pokemon in a single 81 episode saga? Pokemon were also caught just to sent to Oak's immediately, (Kingler, Muk, Tauros), you NEVER see that happen anymore because the writers treat all new captures well nowadays.

Boulder was special and I don't think anything could beat it, as I already covered. Marsh was also a more character-driven win than most; it had a three-episode arc devoted to it, too. Thunder was major character development for both Ash and Pikachu and a legit win. Soul was legit. Volcano was legit, and two episodes. Earth was legit, though even that wasn't enough because of Team Rocket. Cascade and Rainbow were a little more disappointing than the rest, I'd say. Really, the only thing disappointing about the badges, I'd say, was the wait between Soul and Volcano.

He might release and change them less, but new captures are a lot less common. You compare Kanto with newer generations, and it feels like they're not even trying to catch new Pokémon anymore. Like I said, his party rotated a lot - meaning he could catch and use Butterfree a lot early, when it was most useful, but not have it in his party in later Gym battles when it would've gotten stale.

Likewise, Gary, Ash's rival...never battled Ash until the end of Orange. Uh...why didn't they battle at all during Kanto even in just a filler? We had May/Drew battle tons of times, Ash/Paul battled twice, Dawn/Nozomi battled once already...and those all happened early on. I think the rivalries are also handled MUCH better nowadays than they used to. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Ash/Gary rivalry...but looking back, the lack of battles between them is very disappointing.

Actually, I liked that. Gary's appearances were special and exciting, and the battles against him moreso. And they still are. I mean, the prospect of Ash battling Paul will never get me jumping out of my seat as much as when Ash and Gary finally had a battle. Especially since what was in between was a lot of other interesting stuff.

Sometimes the wait is the best part. Like having cheesecake once a month, rather than every night - you're allowed to enjoy it most when it's a rare treat.

They're certainly good sagas and since the show was fresh back then, every episode felt like something new. However I have to prefer what the writers did during the AG era, (which the D/P series continues), with more focus on the group and the Pokemon personality wise.

Uh, we did get a lot of character focus in Kanto. The only major improvement in that department would be that Pokémon in later generations tend to have more distinct personalities. And even that isn't as bad in Kanto as some claim, I'd say.

 

[Cybersai]

Really, the only thing disappointing about the badges, I'd say, was the wait between Soul and Volcano.

I didn't say those episodes weren't emotional, I said that not having full battles kind of made them look off. That was one of the major complaints about the 1st season too when it first came out, everyone complained how Ash released his Pokemon and got pity badges. This stopped as we got further into the series.

Honestly, if you look back at most of Kanto's battles, they're almost all short one-hit KO fests. The only exception I can think of was Charizard Vs. Magmar. Go re-watch Gary's battle against Giovanni in the Viridian Gym, he takes out Gio's Pokemon with a single attack. Most other Kanto battles are also very short, especially compared to AG and D/P's battle scenes.

You can't tell me that the writers haven't improved their battles tremendously since the early days.

You compare Kanto with newer generations, and it feels like they're not even trying to catch new Pokémon anymore. Like I said, his party rotated a lot - meaning he could catch and use Butterfree a lot early, when it was most useful, but not have it in his party in later Gym battles when it would've gotten stale.

And that's the best part! Ash only had 6 Pokemon in Hoenn, but all of them were highly developed with distinct personalities. The amount of time worked on Treecko/Grovyle/Sceptile, Swellow and Corphish especially was astounding. Its why Ash's AG team is one of my favorites teams, even if Torkoal kind of got shortchanged in the end and Snorunt/Glalie was only around for a short time.

All four of May's Pokemon also had their glory and focus over the course of Hoenn. Torchic was ignored at the beginning since Beautifly was the star, then we moved on to Skitty, then to Bulbasaur, and then back to Torchic when it evolved into Combusken. All of May's Hoenn Pokemon got two Contests to themselves, as well as their GF matches. All of them also had their focus in individual fillers, they really handled the focus of Ash/May's AG Pokes well.

The more captures Ash had, the less they were focused on. Kingler, Muk and Tauros never got to do anything until the league...hell Tauros wasn't even used until Orange! Primeape got a grand total of two episodes. Pidgeotto was reduced to a TR balloon pecker until it was released.

And...Misty and Brock's Pokemon weren't even used all that often. All we really saw from Misty was Psyduck. All we really saw from Brock was Onix. I remember forgetting Brock had a Zubat at points because we almost never saw it. Geodude and Vulpix went long gaps without even appearing. Even though Brock only had three Pokemon at a time in AG, we at least saw them all do something from time to time. Brock's D/P team is getting the best spotlight yet for that matter.

Sometimes the wait is the best part. Like having cheesecake once a month, rather than every night - you're allowed to enjoy it most when it's a rare treat.

True, it would have been nice to see Gary battle Ash more though. In all of Pocket Monsters, they had two battles, one at the end of Orange and one in the Johto league. That's it. A rivalry that lasted 276 episodes only had 2 battles total. Eh, I would have liked a bit more.

Uh, we did get a lot of character focus in Kanto. The only major improvement in that department would be that Pokémon in later generations tend to have more distinct personalities. And even that isn't as bad in Kanto as some claim, I'd say.

I've stated above how Ash caught too many Pokemon in Kanto that most were shafted or were Oak'd immediately. I can see why the writers limit Ash's captures nowadays, it much more focused on the growth of the Pokemon rather than the quanity.

 

[Ayu]

Although I would liked to have seen Ash capture more Pokemon in his Kanto/Orange adventure, I think it played out well showing the distinct character of deep friendship and bond between Ash and his Pokemon. The message, I think, was to show that even though he's out to be a great trainer, he's content to catch Pokemon that he loves and cares for.

True, it would have been nice to see Gary battle Ash more though. In all of Pocket Monsters, they had two battles, one at the end of Orange and one in the Johto league. That's it. A rivalry that lasted 276 episodes only had 2 battles total. Eh, I would have liked a bit more.

This reminds me, whatever did happen to Gary? I sorta lost track of the anime around the Johto time frame and never did quite find out where did Gary run off to.

 

[Habunake]

What? If anything, SPPF has all the blind Kanto Nostalgist...and I mean the REALLY, Ray Charles blind ones...like Maestro Kinetico, god I hate that user more then anyone I've ever met....online...

You and Scott seem to place the Misty and Blind Nostalgia Fanboys on here, when I say it's much worse on SPPF...

SPPf (*shudder*),

But seriously folks, bashing other messageboards and acting like BMG is the patron saint is just annoying.

But I'll save it for Korobake Hajiro, as I think he'd do a much better job explaining just how flawed the first saga was than I ever could (though I'll still add in my two cents afterwards).

Only when people state idiotic things like Kanto was THE BEST ANIME EVER AND FULL OF DRAMA AND DEEP MEANING!

Personally, I love AG and have the most fonder memories compared to Kanto, heck, I think I like Johto more...I mean, I haven't watched my Season 1 Boxset yet...

You compare Kanto with newer generations, and it feels like they're not even trying to catch new Pokémon anymore. Like I said, his party rotated a lot - meaning he could catch and use Butterfree a lot early, when it was most useful, but not have it in his party in later Gym battles when it would've gotten stale.

He used the Starters and Pikachu for like everything once Butterfree left, with the occasional Pidgeotto The only "rotations" was Primeape staying for 3 episodes and leaving when he could of kept it. So, I'm really confused what exactly you're talking about by a "rotating party". And Ash's team stayed the same once he got Charizard, despite him having a spot open...the gang has about the same number of Pokemon in DP already then they did all of Kanto....

The only major improvement in that department would be that Pokémon in later generations tend to have more distinct personalities. And even that isn't as bad in Kanto as some claim, I'd say.

The writers screwed over most of Brock and Misty's Pokemon...I mean, Staryu had no face...but seriously. He was the coolest member of Misty's team, yet he had no face...so, like, he was pretty dull. And Goldeen...well, we don't talk much about her. Atleast they gave Zubat some more into Johto...

Actually, I liked that. Gary's appearances were special and exciting, and the battles against him moreso. And they still are. I mean, the prospect of Ash battling Paul will never get me jumping out of my seat as much as when Ash and Gary finally had a battle. Especially since what was in between was a lot of other interesting stuff.

None of the cool Ash/Gary encounters happened until Johto...so, why talk about them in a thread about Kanto??

Even the filler, in my opinion, had more going for it.

I actually liked Kanto's fillers (which their is more then people realize) more then the plot episodes...really.


Now what bothers me...people don't judge episodes anymore, they judge seasons. I HATE when people declare everything post-Kanto to automatically suck, like you know every episode is the same or something. It bugs me. It's like "OMIGOD! It's not Kanto, therefore it sucks!". And IMO, anyone who hates the Claydol Episode is going to hell.

So yeah, I don't see any totally blind nostalgism in this thread...sure, their seems to be the majority liking Kanto but we have me and Scott to balance it out, which I don't see what's wrong with some balance. And Pie obviously would be biased towards a Brock episode, which is expected cuz everyone biased toward their favorite character...eh, Scotto?

 

[Cybersai]

This reminds me, whatever did happen to Gary? I sorta lost track of the anime around the Johto time frame and never did quite find out where did Gary run off to.

Ash beat Gary in the Johto league ending their rivalry. Afterward Gary goes off to be a Professor, but he recently returned in the last episode of AG and beat Ash again. Gary is apparently going to be in the D/P series, although he hasn't shown up yet.

 

[A Concerned Solomon]

Honestly, if you look back at most of Kanto's battles, they're almost all short one-hit KO fests. The only exception I can think of was Charizard Vs. Magmar.

Pikachu against Raichu comes to mind, although it wasn't quite as good. The former against Kadabra showed some guts on the little rat's part, although nobody really likes how that one ended.

 

[Rocketshipper]

I kind of have to agree with Yamato. Though the indigo season was the pioneer series, and will probably always have a bit of nostalgic magic to it (just how Movies 1-3 will always feel a little more *special* than the rest of them, just because I saw them first in theaters) it also had a lot of flaws that get on my nerves in retrospect, particularly some of the gym episodes ( I REALLY don't like the Sabrina Arc) and Ash's cop-out loss to Ritchie in the league. Though it wasn't a problem at the time, I also must say that it is a little bit painful to watch some of the old animation, in comparison to what we see today. Personally, I think the animation quality has grown steadly with each saga, and a lot of the old Indigo battles just pale in comparison to most post Johto battle. (compare almost anything pre-AG to something like Ash vs Kaede or Ash vs Tucker). I do think Indigo's probably the most over-rated of all the sagas. I've met some pokemon fans (not people here) who are such Indigo devotees that they refuse to admit ANYTHING about the show after Indigo is good in comparison.

Ash only won like three of his Kanto Gym badges

I'd actually argue that he only earned two (Thunder and Soul). I have my own reasoning for why he didn't really earn either Earth or Volcano.

That's it. A rivalry that lasted 276 episodes only had 2 battles total.

Shouldn't we count their most recent battle too? But I think I understand why they held off on the big battle for so long. Ash and Gary weren't just rivals, they were THE rivalry for a very long time. In the games, Gary is your final opponent before entering the hall of fame at the end of the game, the last and greatest challenge, and I think that idea translated into the show in a way. That's why I think they had Gary lose to someone else in Indigo, and only gave him and Ash a 1 on 1 match as their first battle; they wanted to save the BIG Gary battle as long as possible, since it was something so many of us anticipated, and would likely be the conclusion of their big subplot. I also think they probably did it that way so that the better trainer between them would be a mystery until the resolution of the rivalry. With the Drew/May rivalry we knew from the beginning that Drew was the stronger, since he was experienced and she was just starting out; with Ash and Gary it was left more up in the air until their battle in Johto.

 

[Yamato-san]

Pikachu against Raichu comes to mind, although it wasn't quite as good. The former against Kadabra showed some guts on the little rat's part, although nobody really likes how that one ended.

in any case, it NEEDS to be emphasized that Kantou had some pretty shitty writing for battles a majority of the time. I recall during Satoshi's battle with Kaoruko, Fushigidane takes down Strike with one Vine Whip... and I guess that combined with hitting the ground, but really, the way it was animated didn't make it look very devastating, and in the midst of it all, Fushigidane suffered SEVERAL direct blows from Strike as it flew by. It was like Satoshi just needed to find a way around Double Team and that was it (did I mention the whole "build shadows around in an enclosing circle that can be mowed down all at once" thing really pisses me off? Why can't Double Team work more like the Dirtengu in the Usohachi capture episode? I guess to a lesser extent, Oosubame used it pretty nicely against Ukon's Fushigibana). What's really annoying is that I've seen people using "he took down a Pokemon with a 4x resistance" as an excuse for Fushigidane being some kind of god that easily outclasses Satoshi's Juptor (at the time I saw this, he had yet to evolve into Jukain).

Honestly, I can get into a whole rant about how unbelievable the strength of the Pokemon were in those days, little unevolved plushies constantly getting one-hit KOs against giant brutes like that. And I don't care if Fushigidane had a previous trainer and guarded a hidden Pokemon reserve before joining Satoshi, I'm starting to question just what kind of people he fended off against in all that time (most likely juvenile bugcatchers and kids like Kasumi trying to get weakass Pokemon like Nazonokusa. Not like some big, buff hunter of rare, even legendary Pokemon would have interest in a supposed reserve that houses nothing but weak and injured Pokemon). Let's not forget how ridiculously quick it took Lizardon to evolve (and the whole "he won't listen to me" thing just seemed like a lame excuse to continue focusing on the plushies -_-).

Only when people state idiotic things like Kanto was THE BEST ANIME EVER AND FULL OF DRAMA AND DEEP MEANING!

really? Well... crap... but what you wrote's pretty good enough. I'll add more to it later.

First things first, the Eevee brothers were awesome. Don't you dare put that episode in with the likes of the Johto filler. >:O

I don't see what's so appealing about it, personally, and whether you like it or not, it's still one of many episodes that fit the basic dullass formula of Satoshi-tachi helping some random bum with problems. In this case, we get timid little boy who seems weak at first but suddenly pulls some deus ex of his ass when he "believes in himself" or some shit (my most hated one-shot archetype -_-). In this case, his brothers and their evolved Pokemon were getting the crap beaten out of them and he suddenly sends Rocket Dan flying over the horizon in like one or two hits (it's also worth mentioning that, after being trampled by a whole army of Digda/Dugtrio and Koduck's psychic powers activating for the first time, this is the first loss that the newly-evolved Arbok and Matadogas suffered that seemed truly ridiculous, and they'd only continue looking like a big joke from there).

Now, if there's a reason that the preference of Kanto shows up more here than at places like SPPf (*shudder*), I'd say it's because we tend to have the mature fandom gather here.

I'm talking literally. I am quite sure if you were to compare the average age here to the average age at, say, SPPf, we'd have the higher age.

I'm aware that SPPF is full of n00bs, and I don't give a fuck about what they think (I tend to ignore them half the time). I actually speak of what several of the more respectable members there... you know, people such as myself who actually manage to have a voice heard because of our methods of presenting intelligent opinions... think of the first series.

As for BMGF being all about the Kanto, I haven't even seen any discussion of the old series around here lately. Everyone's been talking about the DP eps... for obvious reasons. Where's this coming from, Yamato-san?

like I said, I've only recently started going here more frequently, and while I haven't lurked too much in the discussions, it's evident from sigs and usernames alone that a lot of people here (including the aforementioned "voiced" people) seem to be huge fans of the first series.

Pidgeotto was reduced to a TR balloon pecker until it was released.

as I keep saying, Pigeon was probably his most-used Pokemon (possibly even rivaling Pikachu) in the short time before the starters came along. That's another problem, really: they gave WAY too much limelight to the starters, trying to market them like the cheap market whores that they are.

 

[Lil Brother]

SPPF is full of n00bs

*raises hand* Yo.

If Kanto happened today, I'd reckon to say it would be a lot more hated than it is today. There was the pacing problems, the tons of issues involving the group's Pokémon themselves and battles, and all that mess. But... it was the beginning. The writers seemed to not do how to do things yet. I know I'm pretty much blinded by nostalgia here, but I give the writers a lot more slack for the screw-ups in early seasons than these days. Don't kill me. :x

But even with the leeway, Indigo League's most definetly not the best saga/season/whatever imo. Master Quest, the better portions of Advanced Battle, and Battle Frontier (even with all of its problems) are more enjoyable. Of course, there's stinker and great eps in all of them, but this is for the most part.

 

[Habunake]

The only thing I agree with about Kanto being better is the art, NOT the animation.

Animation is the fluidness of how everything moves, and you definately didn't get that (watch the scene where Ash's mom is shocked in episode 1, to see what I mean) but I do agree the art style had it's charm...of course, I do believe Iwane probably makes some of the newer episodes look better, hand-drawn or not.

 

[Kasumi]

Yes, when I was talking about Kanto being better I meant it in terms of the art, not exactly the animation.

If you see the characters from back then, they look more Sugimori-ish than they are now.

 

[Habunake]

And they didn't have the dreaded pink floortiles of doom...I still wake up, screaming if fright as I peer at my floor and see the dreaded pink of flowers slowly devouring my persona.

 

[Pie]

While everything's certainly brighter now, I do kind of miss some of the colors from the old palette. Remember when Jessie's hair was actually red instead of a dark magenta, and James's hair was blue instead of lavender?

There's definitely been a change in the art style, but I don't know if it's better or worse... it looks a lot cleaner, but it has lost a lot of its unique style. It's definitely possible to have both (just look at Sugimori's current art - way cleaner than it used to be, but still rings completely true to his style), so I'm kind of disappointed that we've always had it one way or the other.

Also, on a tangent note, the 3D is slowly getting less obnoxious in episodes. As far as art awards goes, DP deserves some sort of mention for blending 2D and 3D in a way that doesn't make me want to stab my eyes out. That was one thing that was not a welcome change on my part, and something that would make me award major art points to everything pre-3D-in-regular-episodes era - though I guess we're seeing now that practice makes perfect.

Now, I will confess that in some ways the battles are getting better - but also some ways where they're stretching to make it realistic, exciting, and have something resembling a plot... and that led to plenty of WTF moments. Like Pikachu's Super Saiyan mode thing, which will go down in history as the most bizarre deus ex machina victory ever. And don't get me started on May's "victory" against Brock. Yes, there's been improvement - but let's face it, the writers still are scripting plenty of weird victories and thinking more about their mini-dramas and the way they want the outcome to be than good battles.

And that's not really too much of a problem for me (except the May versus Brock contest, but eh, I'm a fangirl, sue me) because honestly? If I had to choose, I'd pick plot and character development over action action action, and I'd say it's gotten worse in plot while getting better in action, which is why I preferred Kanto.

(Though honestly, it's always been lacking in both. But eh. It's mostly just a fun series, and if anyone's in serious need of either they should go for something more serious than Pokémon.)

 

[Cybersai]

Yeah, the art style doesn't bother me, I enjoy the old style.

I kind of view Kanto and Orange as the same saga, just like I view Hoenn and Battle Frontier as the same saga. They're pretty much connected, although BF moreso than Orange since it kept the same cast and story arcs.

Its also nice to see how different Ash is now than he was back in Kanto. As much as I like how much Ash matured in Hoenn and started looking after May and Max, I still have fond memories of "moron" Ash when he was the newbie of the group. He always used to do something so incredibly stupid back then that you couldn't help but laugh. Nowadays Ash is more mature, leaving most of the comedy to either May or Dawn.