Team Rocket TRio Problem?

[PokeDot517]

Notice how ever since the BW saga within the anime started Team Rocket isn't written like how they used to be? I understand how they became much more serious during that time even when they reverted back to their white uniforms. During the Decolora Adventures filler season they seem to just show up with a predictable plan then blast off sooner or later. It's just like the interactions they used to have between each other as well as Jessie, James & Meowth's personality's seem to not there as much like back in the AG or DP sagas. Even now in the XY saga even with Wobbufett (if I spelt it right) returning they still don't seem to be like they used to (in my opinion at least)

I wonder if the writers are trying something different with them or have they just forgotten how to write Team Rocket anymore.

 

[Lugia trainer]

The problem is that since they've been around so long and have appeared so often (nearly every episode) that they just aren't funny. Instead they're annoying because they're extremely predictable and appear so often. Maybe the writers have realized that and are trying to make them enjoyable again (never going to happen). Really I think it would be for the best if they were just removed from the show completely. Also they're pathetic. They gave up their Unova pokemon to Giovanni because they didn't have anything to show from their time there just so they could spare themselves from his wrath. More evidence that proves how pathetic they are lies in the fact that they follow Ash around like they have nothing better to do with their lives (which they are wasting) just so they can take his pikachu (never going to happen) who they're only after because he defeated them at a pokemon center. Rally they might as well have said "Pikachu defeated us that means it's powerful". Really you think those three would've learned by now that they're never going to win against Ash. Anyways it's possible that the writers are trying to cover up the trios faults by changing the characters themselves. If that's the case then they should give up because they aren't going to succeed.

 

[Magma Bomb]

The inconsistencies in their characterizations are easy to understand.
If you tell the same joke many times, even if it was a good one at first, it will cease to be funny in the hundreth time you repeat it. And the problem with Team Rocket is that people started to notice, especially in the DP era. Time made their antics so old and predictable most people couldn't stand their part in the show and considered them an annoyance. They had their good moments here and there, but even then the bad moments far outweighted the good ones. That was the general consensus, during that time only their most dedicated fans would say otherwise.
They had two options, give them the boot or rework the characters to make them enjoyable again. Since then they are trying something new with them once in a while and it looks like they got something right in XY, but time will tell if they will keep approval. I know the sudden changes of characterization doesn't make sense in-universe, but the anime doesn't care about long term consistency, the only thing that matters is the here and now and it is the current public opinion what always changes the direction of the show.

 

[ii kanji]

I wonder if the writers are trying something different with them or have they just forgotten how to write Team Rocket anymore.

This was my biggest worry after Episode N ended and it was clear that the intention was to bring them back to the TRio of old, despite which they were still completely lacklustre. However, that anxiety has now been alleviated after today's episode in which Junki Takegami proved that he does actually remember the personalities of Musashi, Kojiro and Nyasu and that no, they have not been lobotomised

 

[Lugia trainer]

The inconsistencies in their characterizations are easy to understand.
If you tell the same joke many times, even if it was a good one at first, it will cease to be funny in the hundreth time you repeat it. And the problem with Team Rocket is that people started to notice, especially in the DP era. Time made their antics so old and predictable most people couldn't stand their part in the show and considered them an annoyance. They had their good moments here and there, but even then the bad moments far outweighted the good ones. That was the general consensus, during that time only their most dedicated fans would say otherwise.
They had two options, give them the boot or rework the characters to make them enjoyable again. Since then they are trying something new with them once in a while and it looks like they got something right in XY, but time will tell if they will keep approval. I know the sudden changes of characterization doesn't make sense in-universe, but the anime doesn't care about long term consistency, the only thing that matters is the here and now and it is the current public opinion what always changes the direction of the show.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they're annoying and you can understand why I do. Personally I think it won't matter how they change the characters because I think that in long run they'll end up having to get rid of them sooner or later which would be for the best. But that's just me. What do you think?

 

[Magma Bomb]

The inconsistencies in their characterizations are easy to understand.
If you tell the same joke many times, even if it was a good one at first, it will cease to be funny in the hundreth time you repeat it. And the problem with Team Rocket is that people started to notice, especially in the DP era. Time made their antics so old and predictable most people couldn't stand their part in the show and considered them an annoyance. They had their good moments here and there, but even then the bad moments far outweighted the good ones. That was the general consensus, during that time only their most dedicated fans would say otherwise.
They had two options, give them the boot or rework the characters to make them enjoyable again. Since then they are trying something new with them once in a while and it looks like they got something right in XY, but time will tell if they will keep approval. I know the sudden changes of characterization doesn't make sense in-universe, but the anime doesn't care about long term consistency, the only thing that matters is the here and now and it is the current public opinion what always changes the direction of the show.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they're annoying and you can understand why I do. Personally I think it won't matter how they change the characters because I think that in long run they'll end up having to get rid of them sooner or later which would be for the best. But that's just me. What do you think?

You got to remember their primary objective is to steal Pikachu and since you can't get rid of the mascot the series they are basically in a pointless journey for as long as they insist in it. You can't do much with characters that can't succeed, every attempt of character development is pointless when you wish to keep the characters stuck in this kind of status quo. When you are working with static characters the options of change are very limited.
The choices are either make them more dangerous and change their primary objective, which was attempted in BW and heavily criticized because it comes with the cost of their characterizations and virtually transform them into other people, or make them have an epiphany and realize they will never succeed, but to give up on kidnap Pikachu recquires their removal from the show.
They already attempted the former and are unwilling to do the later, so they pulled a third option. Since Team Rocket can't go anywere for as long as they keep the Pikachu pursuit, they decided to at least tone them down a little to make them more bearable. They no longer appear in every episode and their appearences are more spread out, it is good because they don't get stale very fast and don't take time away from more important episodes, and although they are still not allowed to succeed they at least pull a fight before eventually blasting off, at least improving the atmosphere of their appearences.
It is still just stalling, of course, it only makes the time it takes for the characters to decay a little longer. But I think that's how they intend to work now, when a way to present the characters gets stale they just change it a little, fix some tings here and there to buy some time until people gett tired again, then repeat the cycle. Personally I'm not very fond of characters that cannot grow or go anywhere for this reason, in the end it is just stalling.

 

[Deleted member 72389]

I find TRtrio to be alright though. And they have actually improved a lot in XY and even whatever happened to their character in BW was good, almost a little refreshing in fact.

Besides, I don't get how TR could get stale? The only people who are going to find them stale are the old viewers (whom the writers don't give a damn about anyway). The new viewers would be probably watching the XY anime for the first time and they are most definitely going to find TR interesting.

I think if people continue to watch a 'kids show' for more than a decade, then almost everything in it would start appearing stale. But, keep in mind that writers only care about their 'target audience' who are going to find each and everything in this show new.

I guess, the only reason TRtrio was made serious during BW was because today's generation of kids find serious villains a lot more cooler and appealing than hilarious ones who do silly stuff in every single episode. The changes must have been made keeping in mind the changing tastes of the current kids.

 

[gritty stunfisk]

In terms of dubbing I only really enjoyed TR before the dubbing company change, because 4kids had a ball of a time with TR's dialogue and characterisation and would have probably kept that going well. But honestly, there's only so much a dubbing company can do (I watch subs now), I feel like the writers have kind of forgotten how to write TR as proper characters now. They literally have no interaction with each other like they used to, and I feel like that's down to the writers making them act like one unified entity rather than 3 separate personalities like they are, that seems to have been going on since DP; they also got pretty flanderised. The writers dunno what to do with them, so they just try to write them like they think they should be written - goofy and Pikachu-focused, which makes them extremely one dimensional.

Honestly, I'd love to see something like at the beginning of XY, where a few minutes of each episode was devoted to what Serena was doing before she ran into Ash's group - if the writers feel they HAVE to include TR in nearly every episode, then give them some dialogue or interaction that isn't a. a stupid plot and b. crammed into Ash etc's storyline. The whole Mega Mega Meowth thing didn't really do anything for Ash's group, Pikachu and Chespin were pretty useless (and Clemont could have grown closer to Chespin in a different way), Mega Blaziken was pretty blatantly a deus ex-machina kinda thing. IMO it would have worked way better with two separate plots, one in which TR try to track down Limone/Mega Blaziken and confront it with Mega Mega Meowth, and one in which Clemont meets Chespin and all that stuff. (Edit: remember the episode N plot where Pignite had something in its nose while TR bossed Team Plasma? That was great. Sure, their characterisation wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than most of their recent treatment. And the Pignite plot sucked but XY writing can do better.)

TR needs a break from Ash's group. Set up a noodle stand or some shit, whatever it is, just find smarter comedy that doesn't involve being perpetually goofy, synchronised and blasted off all the time, only when it's called for. They aren't stale characters, their writing is.

 

[Lugia trainer]

The inconsistencies in their characterizations are easy to understand.
If you tell the same joke many times, even if it was a good one at first, it will cease to be funny in the hundreth time you repeat it. And the problem with Team Rocket is that people started to notice, especially in the DP era. Time made their antics so old and predictable most people couldn't stand their part in the show and considered them an annoyance. They had their good moments here and there, but even then the bad moments far outweighted the good ones. That was the general consensus, during that time only their most dedicated fans would say otherwise.
They had two options, give them the boot or rework the characters to make them enjoyable again. Since then they are trying something new with them once in a while and it looks like they got something right in XY, but time will tell if they will keep approval. I know the sudden changes of characterization doesn't make sense in-universe, but the anime doesn't care about long term consistency, the only thing that matters is the here and now and it is the current public opinion what always changes the direction of the show.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks they're annoying and you can understand why I do. Personally I think it won't matter how they change the characters because I think that in long run they'll end up having to get rid of them sooner or later which would be for the best. But that's just me. What do you think?

You got to remember their primary objective is to steal Pikachu and since you can't get rid of the mascot the series they are basically in a pointless journey for as long as they insist in it. You can't do much with characters that can't succeed, every attempt of character development is pointless when you wish to keep the characters stuck in this kind of status quo. When you are working with static characters the options of change are very limited.
The choices are either make them more dangerous and change their primary objective, which was attempted in BW and heavily criticized because it comes with the cost of their characterizations and virtually transform them into other people, or make them have an epiphany and realize they will never succeed, but to give up on kidnap Pikachu recquires their removal from the show.
They already attempted the former and are unwilling to do the later, so they pulled a third option. Since Team Rocket can't go anywere for as long as they keep the Pikachu pursuit, they decided to at least tone them down a little to make them more bearable. They no longer appear in every episode and their appearences are more spread out, it is good because they don't get stale very fast and don't take time away from more important episodes, and although they are still not allowed to succeed they at least pull a fight before eventually blasting off, at least improving the atmosphere of their appearences.
It is still just stalling, of course, it only makes the time it takes for the characters to decay a little longer. But I think that's how they intend to work now, when a way to present the characters gets stale they just change it a little, fix some tings here and there to buy some time until people gett tired again, then repeat the cycle. Personally I'm not very fond of characters that cannot grow or go anywhere for this reason, in the end it is just stalling.

I'm willing to give them another shot but in the end they probably are just staling. Really I don't understand why the writers insist on keeping them in the show because in the end their role is almost pointless. I still think that it's only a matter of time until they're forced to remove them.

 

[Kecleon King]

I'm still waiting for the day when they approach Ash in one of their half-brained disguises, and he stares for a moment then walks away realizing it's Team Rocket.

If we're talking about stale writing, Ash's gullibility to their crappy costumes is waaaay up there.

 

[thumbs1]

I'm still waiting for the day when they approach Ash in one of their half-brained disguises, and he stares for a moment then walks away realizing it's Team Rocket.

If we're talking about stale writing, Ash's gullibility to their crappy costumes is waaaay up there.

Maybe it's because they have identical clones? (Jessible) Ash himself has one so imagine him attacking some random stranger, or someone in power? Locked up faster than Pikachu can say "Pika".

 

[Kecleon King]

so imagine him attacking some random stranger, or someone in power? Locked up faster than Pikachu can say "Pika".

I never said he would attack them.

I said he would turn around, and walk away. You know, instead of falling for the disguises.

 

[Supreme Leader Palpitoad]

I enjoy them in XY. In DP and BW I just wanted their scenes to end. So I think they are getting better.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

They were horrible for most of BW, but got better with XY.

 

[henrymidfields]

Yeah, the trio has become a bit too old. Ideally, the writers should have focused more on the other team villains, and semi-retired the trio as soon as Ash leaves Kanto for Hoenn. Just like in the games. Either that, or having fewer but better/more threatening encounters with Butch/Cassidy at key episodes.

They should start following the games a bit more and make Team Rocket a bit more region-specific. Either that or show some character development for Ash, and have him walk away, knowing that it's Team Rocket in disguise. Alternatively, bring back Butch/Cassidy committing a major villain act in a couple of moments per arc, either competing against, or collaborating with Team Flare, for whatever reason.

Of course, I'm more than happy for Jessie, James, and Meowth to pull a prank or two whenever Ash returns to Pallet Town, though.

A bit off-topic, but...

Spoiler

the status quo was the very reason I hate the Super Mario franchise now. Especially Peach, who I think is such a complete, unfunny dumbass for being constantly kidnapped.

 

[Lugia trainer]

Yeah, the trio has become a bit too old. Ideally, the writers should have focused more on the other team villains, and semi-retired the trio as soon as Ash leaves Kanto for Hoenn. Just like in the games. Either that, or having fewer but better/more threatening encounters with Butch/Cassidy at key episodes.

They should start following the games a bit more and make Team Rocket a bit more region-specific. Either that or show some character development for Ash, and have him walk away, knowing that it's Team Rocket in disguise. Alternatively, bring back Butch/Cassidy committing a major villain act in a couple of moments per arc, either competing against, or collaborating with Team Flare, for whatever reason.

Of course, I'm more than happy for Jessie, James, and Meowth to pull a prank or two whenever Ash returns to Pallet Town, though.

A bit off-topic, but...

Spoiler

the status quo was the very reason I hate the Super Mario franchise now. Especially Peach, who I think is such a complete, unfunny dumbass for being constantly kidnapped.

I have to agree with you about how the anime should follow the games more and keep the trio in Kanto because really I think that having them follow Ash everywhere he goes shows just how pathetic they are and that they probably have no life whatsoever. I mean Ash could probably have them arrested for stalking at this point. And as for the part about Princess Peach, it's not her fault she keeps getting kidnapped because she has no idea when Bowser is going to show up and when he does there really isn't much she can do. So in conclusion she is not a dumbass and has been shown to be able to handle herself when she is kidnapped. If you don't believe then just take a look at her segments in Paper Mario and Paper Mario: TTYD. I'm sorry that the last part of this post is off topic but I felt that it was something that needed to be said.