The best part of each anime saga

KrspaceT

KrspaceT

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I am currently doing some work on a fanfic, and wish to have a good idea of what the average viewer sees as the best, and worst, parts of each saga.

Saga's being Orig, Orange Island, Johto, Hoenn, Battle Frontier, Sinnoh, Unova (Yes, Best and Worst here) and as of now, in Kalos.

What are your thoughts?

(Oh, and how do you make signatures?)
 
Kanto: Best; Ash winning gym battles through creativity and exploiting his opponent's overconfidence. Worst; Being beaten by Ritchie through a cheap and convoluted way.
Orange: Best; Ash beating Drake at the end of the season. Worst; most of the season that wasn't an important battle, it was a pretty boring season overall imo.
Johto: Best; Ash vs Gary. Worst; all the filler we had to endure before the end.
Hoenn: Best; Ash's character development, he's imo in his prime here as a trainer. Worst; despite that he still doesn't win a major league.
Battle Frontier: Best; Charizard vs Articuno is probably one of the best battles in the anime. Worst; Ash never getting to beat or battle Brandon at his best (using all 3 regis).
Sinnoh: Best; Cynthia and Hunter J appearances. Worst; Tobias, Ash's general incompetence against Paul.
Unova: Best; It ended. Worst; It happened, Ash loosing to Trip, Ash loosing to Cameron, character derailment/flanderization for Bianca and Skyla.
Kalos; Best; We have mega evolution specials. Worst; Serena, Bonnie, Team Rocket, Ash still loses half his battles.

You edit signatures by going into settings at the top of the screen and edit signature on the left side of the screen.
 
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Kanto:

Best: Started with an energy, edginess, and insanity to it we haven't seen since; several interesting and unique concepts.

Worst: Worst Badge Quest; 2nd Worst League; Characters getting Pokémon they barely did anything with; too much focus on Pikachu early on.

Orange Islands:

Best: Development for the Ash-Charizard relationship; Ash vs. Drake; Misty getting the spotlight a few times; the TV Show at its all time most boobalicious

Worst: Tracey; most of the Saga was just time killing busy work

Johto:

Best: The last year (and maybe a few months before)

Worst: The middle part after the GS Herring messed things up

Hoenn:

Best: Ash's growth; May's storyline

Worst: Groudon vs. Kyogre; Tate & Liza battle

Battle Frontier:

Best: Ash calling in his old Pokémon to help

Worst: May's arc; Pikachu vs. Regice; a string of crappy fillers between Nolan and Saffron City; Does precious little with Kanto callbacks.

Sinnoh:

Best: Paul; the Villians; best used Gym Leaders and Elite 4; cool battles; Ash at his best; Dawn's contest arc; Pokémon with a good bit of depth & personality; the most dire moments since the OS

Worst: Team Rocket; Brock; a fairly dull Ash-tachii; most of Dawn's rivals were stiffs

Isshu (and Decalore Archipelago ):

Best: The first few episodes; several episodes between Nimbasa and the Homika battle; Operation Tempest; Episode N

Worst: Everything else :dead:

Kalos:

Too soon for me to really say yet... :-/
 
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Just saying, if you count Orange Islands and Battle Frontier separately from Kanto and Hoenn, you should also count the Decolore Islands separately from Unova. (I'd say N's arc can still count as part of the Unova story, but Decolore Islands is its own thing)
 
The best arc in Sinnoh hands down for me was the Hearthome Tag Tournament Arc. Great animation, nice character interaction and growth, cool battles...yeah, that was a high-point for the show.

I also enjoyed the Kanto Arc where Ash and co. hung around his house training for the Indigo League, it was a nice change from the usual hustle and bustle where the characters are always on the move. That's something I always wanted to see more of, little arcs taking place in one location and the gang sort of just chilling.
 
In my opinion - everything is in spoilers because it mentions events of recent episodes).

Kanto
Best: Ash's Pikachu vs. Lt. Surge's Raichu
Worst: Ash's Krabby-Kingler singlehandedly winning the battle against Mandi.

Orange Island
Best: Brock turning stone cold whenever some character mentions Professor Ivy. Oh, the speculation.
Worst: The mayor who abandoned his Bulbasaur in the sewers and tried to exterminate it when things were inconvenient. That's one COTD I didn't like.

Johto
Best: Jessie trading her Lickitung for Wobbuffet.
Worst: James trading his Victreebel for a Weepinbell w/ Sweet Scent when TRio could have easily taught Victreebel that move.

Hoenn
Best: Ash's Pikachu being a part of TRio for a while
Worst: Max being a spoiled brat and denying Ash a hard-fought and well deserved victory just because his father lost a gym battle in front of him.

Battle Frontier
Best: May's contest battle against Drew in the Grand Festival
Worst: May's contest battle against Brock

Diamond and Pearl
Best: Paul battling Ash at Lake Verity
Worst: The episode where Pikachu and Piplup are hugging one another

Best Wishes (Unova)
Best: Ash's Tepig evolves into Pignite
Worst: Ash's battle against Cameron. Everything about it.

Best Wishes (Episode N)
Best: The episode where Iris's Dragonite teaches a COTD's Ampharos how to use Thunder Punch
Worst: The episode where N criticizes a Pokémon rescue team

Best Wishes (Decolore Islands)
Best: The Beeheyem telling Ash and TRio that they are stupid
Worst: Ash failing to capture Dunsparce

X&Y
Best: Hawlucha vs Dark Hawlucha
Worst: Seeing Pikachu miserably fail to navigate his way on Viola's Surskit's ice field during their first battle.
 
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Piplup said:
Just saying, if you count Orange Islands and Battle Frontier separately from Kanto and Hoenn, you should also count the Decolore Islands separately from Unova. (I'd say N's arc can still count as part of the Unova story, but Decolore Islands is its own thing)
Click to expand...

The thing is that OI and BF were far more distinct and had more impact than DA.

OI had Brock leave, Tracey, its own League, and some captures.

BF had the Frontier Brains, May's second contest arc (even if it sucked), and characters acquiring new Pokémon.

DA was pretty much the creative team killing time and going "Let's just get this over with". Even the significant events didn't leave much of an impression...
 
SammyW27 said:
Piplup said:
Just saying, if you count Orange Islands and Battle Frontier separately from Kanto and Hoenn, you should also count the Decolore Islands separately from Unova. (I'd say N's arc can still count as part of the Unova story, but Decolore Islands is its own thing)
Click to expand...

The thing is that OI and BF were far more distinct and had more impact than DA.

OI had Brock leave, Tracey, its own League, and some captures.

BF had the Frontier Brains, May's second contest arc (even if it sucked), and characters acquiring new Pokémon.

DA was pretty much the creative team killing time and going "Let's just get this over with". Even the significant events didn't leave much of an impression...
Click to expand...

I'd still count it regardless of quality, or lack thereof, since that in itself is really just subjective.
 
Here are my fav and least fav moments/elements of each series.

Original: Best: Lt. Surge battle. Worst: Charizard costing Ash the league.
Orange Island: IDK, don't remember much of it.
Johto: Best-Ash vs. Gary. Worst-Ash taking his Kanto Pokemon to Johto.
Hoenn: Best-1st instance of Ash not catching all starters. Worst-Harley and Drew as characters.
Battle Frontier: Best-May and Ash's final battle. Worst-Max's voice change.
Sinnoh: Best-Zoey winning the Grand Festival. Worst-Dawn beating May in the Wallace cup.
Unova: Best-Meowth and Oshawott falling in love with a dude Purrloin. Worst-Everything else, especially the Elesa battle.
Kalos Best-Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena joining the main cast. Worst-Chespin joining the main cast as a rehash of Oshawott.
 
Kanto:
Best: The humor and group dynamics.
Worst: The battles were pretty bad, with the exception of a small few.

Orange Islands:
Best: Lapras.
Worst: Lapras leaving.

Johto:
Best: The fillers were pretty good, even if excessive. Ash's team was also great, imo. The league was also pretty great.
Worst: The majority of Ash's team not evolving and having Pikachu in all of the gym battles.

Hoenn:
Best: Ash's team and the league were both spectacular, even if Ash came in 8th again.
Worst: Team Magma and Team Aqua were horribly handled and for virtually the entire saga Ash had no rival.

Battle Frontier:
Best: The battles were pretty good and we got to see some of Ash's old Pokemon.
Worst: The voice changes. :\\

Sinnoh:
Best: Hunter J, Team Galactic, great writing all around, and great battles.
Worst: Boring fillers, kinda depressing, and AshXPaul taking up a lot of episodes.

Unova:
Best: Scraggy, Leavanny, Snivy, Boldore, Palpitoad, and Krookodile.
Worst: Everything/everyone else.

Decolore Islands:
Best:
Worst: Pansage and Axew still didn't evolve, + everything/everyone else.

Kalos:
Best: Ash's team is again great here, and the battles are decent. The group dynamics are also pretty good.
Worst: A general lack of direction in the show's plot (starting to change so I say this with some hesitance), as well as no antagonist or rival for Ash yet.
 
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original: best: the relationship between the entire group unlike most Brock actually had some interaction and good at that with Misty while with for example Dawn it wasn't great. worst: was that pikachu got too much focus
orange islands: best: a lot of the episodes like charizard and Ash growing close or the one where Ash cathes snorlax. worst: personally didn't feel Ash was that challenged
johto: best: the league was the best ash vs gary one of the top battles in the shows hisory worst: filler epsidoes, the group got a little boring
hoenn: Best: felt fresh, liked May. worst: team aqua and magma, and the fact ash didnt get a main rival
battle frontier: Best: Ash recalling the original three for the battle against brandon. worst: would have liked to see some old characters from the original series
sinoh: best: Ash, Paul, J,team galactic. worst: how they handled Brock leaving, Dawn's rivals
Unova: Best: Ash caught more than six pokemon. worst: Cilan and Iris and basically everything else except Ash catching more than six pokemon
Kalos: can't say to much so far but i like the groups chemistry
 
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I cannot speak in everyone name, since each of us has different view on quality, what is entertaining or bland, exciting and well executed.

However as long time viewer i can give list of what i personally considered to be high and low points of each saga:

Kanto:
Good:
-great dynamic between main characters full of life and energy. Adventurous and kinky style to it. Unique portrayal of characters having maturity and depth behind them such as Sabrina personality disorder, Mewtwo questioning purpose of life etc.

Bad:
-battles weren't detailed and filled with particular strategy in most cases. Storyline between Ash and his companions was scattered all over the place with show not finding its right tune to follow.

Orange Islands:
Good:
-high level of creativity. Featured through tropic like adenture filled with haunted ships, real pirates harassing others on sea, unique gyms which introduced various tests to overcome being different and refreshing compared to expected battles.
Misty being in her element using often even more neglected pokemon like Goldeen, flirting with gym leaders and starting to focus more on her story and dreams through Marina, revealing Lorelei of E4 is her idol etc.
Ash winning Orange league championship.

Bad:
-Tracey was forgettable for most part and didnt provided same level of humor and cohesive atmosphere like Brock did.

Johto:
Good:
-Silver conference with Ash finally settling score with Gary.
Original trio matured as companions becoming more attached to each lother and still had great as ever chemistry.
Lot of cool arcs like Red Gyarados, Lugia and its child imprisoned by dr. Namba, Whirl Cup and whole Whirl Island archipelago giving lot of great development for Misty water master career but personality evolution too through encounters with Sakura and bad experiences with family.
Brock entering breeder convention with his friend Suzie sharing first place.

Bad:
-GS ball was dropped out of blue depriving series of important plot through which main characers could thrive and feel more important. Killing suspense and element of mystery.
Too many pointless filers which didnt helped move show forward and could be used to develop more main characters.
Ash Johto team being neglected and underused.

Misty being replaced while having lot of potential to do more about her water master dream, desire to reach E4 status, pokemon, feelings and insecurities about Ash, bugs, past such as parents neglecting her and sisters etc. Taking away with itself lot of charm and identity this redhead brought imo.

Hoenn:
Good:-May contest storyline exuding with lot of spark, entertainment and well structured growth.
May rivals like Harley or Drew being downright fantastic delivering lot of clash and peculiar interactions.

Ash maturing more as character and starting to change perspective on his work and training with okemon, tendency to underestimate opponents etc.

Bad:
Team Aqua and Team Magma was complete fiasco delivering anticlimactic and rushed conclusion.
Ash lack of rivals taking away from substance of his journey. Someone who could represent dificulty to overcome and grow stronger, motivation and healthy dose of clash.

Battle Frontier:
Good:
-Ash defeating Frontier Brains being offered place to become one. Starting to make name for himself as trainer garnering popularity as seen with his own fanbase when facing Tucker.
Brock had several memorable moments there(battle against May, pairing with Ash as team to defend Pewter, receiving Bonsly, evolving Mudkip, taking care of sick nurse Joy and Bagon).

Bad:
-it was return to Kanto only on paper. In everything else it felt like they were still traveling in Hoenn. No revisit of older gym leaders like Sabrina, Lt, Surge or Blaine,. No references to original towns, locations, older pokemon like Primeape or Butterfree Ash left behind(yet in Unova it was). No meeting with trainers like AJ or Gisselle Ash promised to see again.

Misty who originates from Ash home region and could have promoted Kanto very well getting just 2 episodes. Not joining on Kanto travels and entering some tests to advance water master careeer and possibly becoming her idol E4 Lorelei apprentice. Not to mention had colorful, full of flair dynamic with AG cast(especially Max and Ash).

Sinnoh:
Good:
-so far most consistent and very well structured development of plots and main character careers.,
Rivalry between Ash and Paul was true masterpiece to watch. Hunter J threatening to kill Ash,.
Ash forming so far arguably most powerful and balanced pokemon team in one region(like Torterra, Infernape, Buizel or Staraptor).
Memorable and original arcs like Hearthome tag battle tournament.

Bad:
-Brock was too much neglected with his moments to shine and character development he received regarding receiving egg and raising it to Happiny exploring on his breeder skills or whole selfdoubts in whether to become doctor or not being scarce and very incongruous.

Chemistry between main cast feeling disharmonious, vapid and devoid of emotions, strong sense of commradeship and depth of interactions. Only Ash and Dawn had some dynamic which still felt too happy go lucky for my taste, but group as whole didnt had very strong bond for me.

Writers not experimenting that much with their own ideas and spending way too much time on training for appeal rounds of Dawn taking away from originality and suspense of journesy. Especially during Snowpoint/Sunnyshore gap which could be shortened leaving time for revisit of Johto after league.

Unova:
Good: Don George tournaments,
Cilan flamboyant personality and evaluation of battles through use of food puns and sophisticated vocabulary hacing prety unique dream of determining compatibility between pokemon and trainers(drawing paralell to vine sommeliers in real life).

N arc and whole touching on subject about humans using pokemon for battles and as means to achieve personal dreams. Bringing in question morality behind such acts and where its place to draw line between genuine human, pokemon partnership and slavery. Which games explored much better, but still his arc and attempt to stop Ghetsis were one of highlights imo.

Charizard return and nice trip down the memory lane through all those flashbacks and explanation of origins.

Bad:
-any sense of continuity and established storyline was flushed down the toilet.
Ash was dumbed down and reduced to embarassing levels in behavior and trainer skills.

Team Rocket while becoming more competent in return stopped shopwing much of their emotions, defining personality traits and daffy behaior. With change happening literally over night with no bild up and any explanation which would justify such overhaul in viewers eyes coming of as natural and believable.

Iris storyline about becoming dragon master, her main vector behind going on joirney in first place(Axew)and development being poorly planned oiut, inconsistent and full of shortcast.

Waste of most prestiguous and truly epic competition in games called World tournament. Which could had cover whole Decolora adventure filling with with various cups where older gym leaders, E4 members, Ash older friends and rivals could comeback participating in it. Giving more significance, storyline and unexpected twists to BW series.

NOTE:
I excluded Kalos/XY series so far because they didn't ended yet. So its stil too early to give full and fair view from my side.
 
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