what are the reasons you feel dp is the best pokemon series

[danh19]

their are various reasons why I feel dp is the best series

the writing is the most consistent it's been in terms of story telling as well as the handling of it's characters

they finely made a co star character someone who seems almost as important to the series as ash

while their wasn't many brock focus episodes their was some great one's about his closeness to Pokémon and how much dawn and ash need him

the rivals

Paul I feel that he was the only rival that could top Gary fleshing out his character to explain why he is like he is by the end the way Paul and ash come to respect each other is well done

Zoe I knew a lot of people dislike her but for the most part I think she's a good unique rival where they not in each other's faces all the time almost taking on a mentor role

Barry I wasn't that keen on him at first but he slowly grow on me some what giving a few moments to shine like his battle with Paul

villains

hunter J
she is the best villain In the show's history she is basically full grown sadist who will kill anyone who get's in her way directly aiming to kill ash , betraying her own henchman to her untimely death she was completely unpredictable

galactic

they were far better handled than magma and aqua it was intense and surprising storytelling at times even with they could have done with having their earlier appearances closer together

rocket trio

truthfully at times I feel they were to irritating with their dialogue in the dub and their intrusions into the plot but they had some great moments to shine like when Jessie and James released their Pokémon showing their more caring side with some great references to James past with his ex and his relationship with his parents

recurring characters

Gary I feel like they could have incorporated him into the galactic plot more but his appearances were generally enjoyable from facing hunter J to helping a reluctant ash with his Pokémon problem

Cynthia she is the best champion I have seen on the show skill shown wise and In terms of personality

the league
overall I feel like it was the best league they done only area really lacking was the little shown of the ash and Nando fight the Paul and ash battle was my favourite battle of the entire series

the tone

I think it was by far the best tone set in the entire series with the comedic and dramatic incorporated well

I would love to hear what you think

 

[TyphoonStrom]

I thought DP was very well done as well, though despite Js ruthlessness, she wasnt very memorable, I just dont recall her doing much, and her end at the time felt anit climatic to me.
me. I also felt they took her evilness a bit over the top to the point that her presence doesn't didnt feel right in the show. Not helped that she was just way to damn strong, which made her end seem more plot convenient then anything.

Cynthia was a great champ, although her and the elite 4 prior to XY were written far to powerfully. Hell In my opinion, most things involving the elite 4 were poorly written. Garchomp able to shrug off a 4x effective blizzard, and OHKO most of pauls team, and flints infernape that did the same, despite ash having 7 badges at that point, yet for some reason pikcaihu was able to tank multiple hits of his because plot. I also find it somewhat contrived that ash never personally challenged Cynthia despite how many times they've met.

I also disliked buizel choosing not to evolve, and being turned into a semi jobber most of the time.

But otherwise everything was great, pauls was awesome, barry was a Cameron done right, the group great great chemistry, and the pacing well done. Though I feel many of ashs pokemon got left under the bus in terms due ability because of infernape. Seriously that thing almost single handily carried ash to the league.

 

[danh19]

I personally felt that all of ash's dp Pokémon got pretty decent focus overall but by the end you right it became the infernape show and torrterra took the blunt of it which did irritate me some what but even then you could argue that he had some of the toughest opponents plus infernape was my favourite dp Pokémon and one of my favourite overall with the depth he had with the almost ptsd like effect that Paul had on him with his abuse

 

[ii kanji]

Ditto, ditto, ditto, DP was amazing in almost every facet.

Two stars (and Hikari actually felt like a co-lead and not a sidekick), great teams all round, the badge and ribbon quests were great, Shinji & Jun, compelling character arcs, amazing villains, pitched just right, the list goes on...

For me probably the only thing that stands out as sub-par was Hikari's rivals situation. I liked Nozomi and Musalina (obvs). Urara was necessary but introduced too late and never posed a significant threat in terms of skill. Kengo was pathetic and could have been culled altogether. Naoshi I liked the idea of but somehow never quite made a mark.
But the contest arc was amazing despite this so I really don't hold it against them.

truthfully at times I feel they were to irritating with their dialogue in the dub

Ah my friend, if only you had seen it in its original form - they were perfect!

 

[danh19]

I feel that dawn's contest arc was handled really well unlike hoenn they felt different enough from a ordinary Pokémon battle
with that the well emotional arc that came from it I felt that it was near perfectly the best someone's goals been handled outside of ash's the only real issue being Kenny and Ursula who found pathetic and irritating with no redeeming qualities not helped in Ursula's case by her late arrival were as Nando is a mixed bag he had some ok moments but didn't appear enough and could be bland Zoe easily being the best rival with the idea of making her a almost mentor

 

[Ryu Taylor]

I can't give reasons why I feel DP is the best saga, as I think AG was the best saga. But I can still give these kudos to this season (and bear in mind that these compliments are going to the dub, as I've never seen it in Japanese, and nor will I ever):

Ash knew what he was doing.

Team Rocket were hilarious whenever they weren't constantly rhyming (some of their rhymes were funny, but they ought to have cut back on that), and were most especially hilarious when they were insulting each other. I'm rather fond of insult comedy, to be honest.

Team Galactic, though they went down too easily, were a legit threat.

Dawn was a great co-star.

Piplup was adorable.

 

[Galactic_V]

I'll say something against this topic's aiming first: DP had the worst fillers of all series in my opinion! (Saying this as I'm rewatching it now)

Anyway I like it because Satoshi's team was the best until that time (and maybe now?), the battles were amazing and full of thriller, Satoshi and Hikari coupled a lot better than past companions (either willing to help the other, both inspiring each other, etc...), Trio had some of the best Pokemon departing episodes of all, Ginga-dan was well paced and had good roles (even if they appeared too late), awesome rivals, Hunter J, do I have to say more?

Now when will OLM bring back Fukamaru and develop the little bastard more? xD

 

[Flynn]

I liked how each member of the Elite 4 was given their own episode. Why haven't they done that again? It's a shame since the E4 usually have great designs.

I'll say something against this topic's aiming first: DP had the worst fillers of all series in my opinion! (Saying this as I'm rewatching it now)

How far are you into it? Early DP does have a ton of duds, both filler and non-filler.

 

[Poke Trey]

I really enjoyed DP and that's due to how diffrent/similar it was to AG and that it wasn't handled by 4Kids for the Dub thank Christ! I loved it because Dawn was interesting, Ash gotten smarter and had his arguably best team here and Brock for just being him. The rivals were good, Paul really mad things great because of how much he couldn't give a FU to anyone, Team Galatic was theratening and had a better conclusion than Team Magma/Aqua IMO. The league was my favorite in the series, hopefully Kalos can take it more, Hunter J was a nice one to see to really make things more dark for this already dark-ass series and when we had to say good-bye... the feels were everywhere

 

[Galactic_V]

I liked how each member of the Elite 4 was given their own episode. Why haven't they done that again? It's a shame since the E4 usually have great designs.



How far are you into it? Early DP does have a ton of duds, both filler and non-filler.

Right NOW by episode 70 mark, I watched the entire series a few years ago though.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Right NOW by episode 70 mark, I watched the entire series a few years ago though.

Silly question, but which language? Japanese, English, both, or other?

 

[~ Blazing White Yang]

Oh there's quite a few for me :3

For starters, it felt like the show's past adventures actually meant something. Much of Ash's arrogance and more childish traits had either dwindled or faded out completely, making him feel somewhat more grown up. Through a Rival character of equal yet opposite experience, they gave Ash a challenge like never before with this great ideological feud, while recognizing that he's been around the world. He once again gets to play sort of an inspirational role for the series newcomer instead of being reduced to one himself. For the first time he meets every member of the Elite 4 in addition to the Champion, formally learning more about what it'll take for him to actually achieve his goals. And of course it doesn't hurt that we got to see things like Gary's various appearances as a budding researcher, May competing in the Wallace Cup, or several old Pokemon being brought back for the Sinnoh League. It all makes the show feel just a bit more holistic and progressive.

The other big thing that I enjoyed was Dawn, because she was treated as a heroine of equal importance to Ash. On top of being incredibly charming in her own right (at least to me), what with her enthusiasm and positivity. I found myself liking all of her rivalries and dynamics, especially the 'Girlfriends!'/Student-Mentor thing she had going on with Zoey.

I loved the Pokemon group, and the way they felt like a little family during episodes like 'A-Maze-ing Race', or 'Steamboat Willies', or 'Tears for Fears'. It had this really warm atmosphere to it.

The Battles were a-lot of fun too for the large part, as they started to incorporate more in-game Battle strategies while playing with some unique ideas of their own [like the counter-shields, Contest combinations, and other improvised moves].

Then there's the villains. I like the way that Team Galactic's plot was paced compared to other villain arcs, and Hunter J is that hardcore witch that we all love to hate. They consistently kept me interested in where their plans were going to go, with early establishment and various operations leading up to the finale.

If I have any complaints...It'd be that 1) TR had become really dull and repetitive. Moreso here than perhaps any other series in my opinion. And 2) The Champion's League should've been an actual thing.

 

[Galactic_V]

Silly question, but which language? Japanese, English, both, or other?

Early episodes in Portuguese, a few episodes in English and the whole series in Japanese with subs.

Right now unsubbed Japanese.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Reason number one: Landing top 4 of the league. Reason number two: owning strong team especially having two fully evolved starter pokemon. Reason number three: Ash catches a Dragon type pokemon for the first time.

 

[SammyW27]

- More plot and story than ever before
- Ash at his best, both as a character and trainer
- Pokémon with a lot of depth and personality
- A large cast of recurring characters (and nary a COTD in sight)
- Gyms Leaders with depth, personality and even roles beyond battling Ash
- All of the Sinnoh Elite 4 got appear
- Paul
- The Villains
- Lots of references to the past, along with special guest appearances and cameos
- Best. League. EVER!

Oh, it wasn't as perfect as many like to make it out to be, but they did things they should've been doing the entire time (and should've done afterwards) that make it as close as the Show will probably ever get.

 

[pokemon fan 132]

Sinnoh series were groundbreaking in several aspects changing structure of anime, dynamic between characters and size of someone role. Now did this changes made pokemon series better or worse is up to viewer and his own perspective of what can be considered well written or not to decide.

But there is no denying how in comparison to previous sagas and those which came afterwards DP introduced entirely different standards around which story was build.

For positive side it had one of most fleshed out and well made treatment of antagonists itself(not counting TR of course whose role was largely comprised of blasting offs and comedy role in trying to pose obstacle not meant to be took seriously).

But to not go of tangent, it introduced mentally deviated Hunter J which had no ounce of remorse, caring and respect for human/pokemon life., Being driven solely by her egoistic greed and immoral interests for money and dominance imposed on others. Leading to her downfall and possibly one of rare times when character in pokemon actually died(which given nature and values this show promotes is rare sight). Only low point is lack of backstory to better understand mindset behind this character and what events in past cause her to develop in messed up person she was portrayed as from debut to end.

And Team Galactic arc while regardless of anticlimactic ending and lot of undefined segments was still big step up compared to random operations lead by Team Rocket comprised of aloof incidents formed in one episode usually(noble exceptions being Lugia or Red Gyarados arc). Or catastrophe and poorly constructed story we were given with Team Aqua and Team Magma.


With Team Galactic pokemon series changing their gears dedicating more time to somewhat proper introduction, dive in leader and its subjects ambitions and on going conflict between them and main protagonist Ash dragged over course of series. Until final scrimmage happened in finale. It was pretty enjoyable arc dealing with egocentric obsessed with power leader which wanted to subject lake trio and Sinnoh legendary pokemon to its own selfish plans, through means of wealth and servants as method to come across achievement of his own plans of creating completely different world and universe to its own according. Regardless of harm and negative impact this would reflect on all living creatures and balance of power equilibrium.

Next on the list of better things Diamond and Pearl series handled was Ash and Dawn quests. At least in first half of series until they started to get dragged out taking away from initial thrill and entertainment they were abundantly imbued originally. Something ill get more in detail later on.

Dawn was alright as character enjoying in her attitude, energetic and girly nature with slight dose of moody, ardent side being sensitive over appearance, when others underestimated her or took things lightly. Combined with contest arc which had several ups and downs, depression arc which slightly changed her outlook on things and emerged on surface as respected coordinator proving her worth to mother, rivals and society.

Although in personality, character aspect she barely changed with May and Misty evolving much more as persons when facing struggles and issues they were supposed to overcome. With start of region they got introduced and its end followed with cameos revealing significant change and growth in social, emotional aspect making them more substantial imo.

But still in career aspect writers out much more effort in Dawn growth as coordinator than other girls could hope for. So that partially alleviate underwhelming results toward scarce growth in characterization.


There is also Paul with list of memorable moments from DP saga not being complete if i omitted him.
Paul was to put it short most game changing rival Ash ever faced.
Whole storyline of abandoned Chimchar which under Ash care manage to grow in strong Infernape proving Paul wrong about being worthless was one of more mature plots pokemon had (and since its kids show, that says a lot with such level of darkness rarely happening since OS, even more Kanto like self questioning of your own existence with Mewtwo, people with dark past and mental disorder like Sabrina, messed up childhood and parental, sister neglect to lesser extent with Misty developing rough front an need to be self reliant).

What i liked about Paul was that he wasn't typical "goody too shoo" you see in pokemon on daily basis having unique personality. He always seemed mysterious with his cool and callous attitude feeling at times closed up in himself not being character which will cry or whine over lost battle taking defeats with dignity. It was nice for a change to have someone who has different training style using his own methods which while might have seemed cruel showed how there is more than one way to train your pokemon and build strong team out of it. He proved Ash how his bonding with pokemon " developing friendship and similar things" wasn't only right way to grow in strong trainer.

His arrogance, sneer and collected personality unlike its case with most characters actually brought best out of Ash only enriching their rivalry making it more interesting and he showed how under that cold shell there is much more, having feelings and personal issues. He carried burden of feeling obligation to prove himself to others and become better than his brother Reggie was not wanting to end up like him. Someone who played important role in Paul development as person defining what kind of trainer he would become, with his character not being simple. But as its often the case writers didn't spent enough time to focus on character motives and events in past which preceded toward forming such mindset. Taking away some of points from this subject.


Another positive thing is whole setting towns and gym leaders being more fleshed out as characters. Receiving proper introduction, insight in their stories and build up toward eventual confrontation against Ash, instead of being largely ignored like it used to be case before. I especially enjoyed in Candice debut showing to have close bond with one of Dawn main rivals Zoey, appearing quite a few times. Whole background of Volkner who was growing up with future E4 member Flint being childhood friends. Eventually losing his own essence and inspiration to battle due to lack of strong challengers and real thrill competing with others can bring(until Ash helped him to rediscover that). Or Roark which had disputes with his father Byron which happened to be one of gym leaders too.

However to long time viewer like i am Sinnoh also came of as disappointing failing to live up to standards previous sagas established about certain fields.


On negative side Sinnoh was one of series which had weakest chemistry among main characters and group as whole. Dawn and Brock barely interacted feeling more like acquaintance rather than actual friends with everything being too much dedicated to Dawn and Ash focus that third member of main group felt left out like he doesn't even exist at times.

Brock himself was neglected and pushed down in background barely developing, battling or being part of action of any sort..

Now Brock case shouldn't be mixed with derailment or destruction of what certain character really is and represents to us in emotional, symbolic and human aspect- Brock never got "killed" as character, simply underutilized.

He still burst with lot of personality, had several memorable characteristics and skills inherent to him, coming of as very enjoyable character when given screen time to interact with others, battle, focus on his interests or push other trainers and story to go forward playing role in it.

Something which was present to much lesser extent in DP than it was case in OS and AG where Brock imo never felt left out. At least not that much.
Reason?

Incredible discrepancy in amount of focus between Brock and other two characters from main cast(Ash and Dawn) pushed him in background feeling like he was irrelevant. Brock had diverse interaction and strong friendship with Misty and May filled with lot of comedy, moments of irritation and clash, express of care and moral support etc.
And in case anyone noticed when screen time got more balanced between companions in following Unova series Cilan never had issue in properly portraying personality, passion for various hobbies, to help resolve clues or battle on several occasions.
Same applies to lesser extent for Kalos traveling companions in way too..

Leading to reasonable conclusion how bad repartition of focus between main characters and poor pacing, resulted in Brock being pushed in background and having little to no chemistry with main girl, limited time to engage in adventure, side stories, battles and experience much of progression himself.

And for what it was Dawn interactions with Ash weren't all that amazing like many say either as far as im concerned. Friendship lacked that depth, variety of feelings, charm, humor and tension Ash had with May, and especially Misty. Making their friendship feel much more innate, realistic and endearing to follow.

Showing how friends can have disagreements, joke with each other, tease, support and get themselves in al kind of embarassing situation
s. Slowly building on their relationship and discovering each their positive and negative sides learning how to accept them. Deepening thus on their dynamic.

But with Dawn? While it was nice to see them working as team, brother and sister in supporting and admiring each other coming of as close friends. I felt nature of their friendship at times was too happy go lucky, cheerful and sappy taking away from diversity and middle ground within their interactions.
Inherently there was nothing wrong with it, but for my taste more spice and variety to such dynamic wouldn't hurt.

Humor was another weakness of DP series because it was either bland or non existent. Aside from few and far between gems like random episode about Rotom, Psyduck trio with Brock ironically enough being major component behind it coming of as so hilarious imo or „evil“ Togepi.
Overwhelming majority of Sinnoh episodes had no clever comedy, embarrassing or silly situations which would out main or side characters in uncomfortable role invoking misunderstanding or playful taunts.
With tone usually being on serious side which while good in living up to suspension and clash writer tries to achieve in anime poluted opposite effect.

Because atmosphere itself was either too stiff or formal to properly address that lacking that lighthearted factor desirable to see from time to time in between action scenes or danger. In lulling viewer in false sense of relaxation and how heroes your rooting for got themselves out of danger increasing in suspense and drama you tried to originally address within story.

Not to mention limiting yourself on variety in how much entertainment value you can deliver in storyline and group chemistry if there is no much humor involved.

Perhaps biggest offender was in dragging on with Dawn and Ash quest of qualifying for Grand Festival and Lily of Valley conference through that dreadful basically one year long gap between Snowpoint and Sunnyshore city. Filling up too many episodes with pointless and unneeded abuse of training sections which didn't add much to overall adventure to begin with aside from giving overused members of Ash/Dawn team even more focus than needed.

When that extra focus could had been utilized in more engaging and productive way such as being done with Sinnoh league and GF earlier dedicating last year to post league saga such as Sinnoh Battle Frontier. However by revisiting Johto BF or any older region for that matter Ash and co could also visit new towns and places through which Ash hasn't traveled first time around due to Frontier Brains being set in different locations, we could see new characters pokemon etc.

Buta t same time by revisiting older region we could also see return of older pokemon and characters bringing breeze of fresh air and twists into plot. Like Dawn meeting May and getting update on her Johto quest, Misty returning with Whirl Islands being revisit, gym leaders like Pryce, Clair etc appearing, Charicific Valley where Charizard is training being visited etc. Something which would allow for creative arcs aside from Ash challenging Frontier Brains serving as nice throwbacks to past, imbuing anime with more continuity.

Something which i would find ultimately more intriguing, than watching ton of episodes where group helps random cotd, where we see group pokemon training and practicing techniques for appeal rounds or battles over and over again. I had nothing against such episodes, but writers definitely exaggerated with them due to not having alternative on their disposal which Johto BF could have brought.


All in all DP wasn't bad saga. In fact it was pretty good in plot structure and build of storyline(possibly best for now). But it lacked emotion, humor, depth of character interactions and unpredictability in never knowing what to expect next.

Being in my honest opinion given more credit at times than deserved. With writers sticking too much to game promotion and following their plot for my taste taking away from suspense and originality due to in advance being able to get rough draft of how and in what way things will pan out if you played games and met yourself with its plots before.

So no I do NOT feel DP is best series. One of better ones? Yes, but not good enough to warrant 1st place for me(same goes to XY/XYZ series).

 

[jnsharley13]

Um, well now. I like the Indigo Series, and then the Battle Frontier, then the Advanced, the Orange Islands, and then the Diamond and Pearl Series. And then X &Y, then Black and White (sorry Cilan, I love you as much as I do any male flamboyant Pokémon trainer, but the series had too many rivals and writers didn't know what to do for a while), and then the Johto (90% filler). I still love all the freaking seasons though!

I did really like the characters though. Nando, Riley, and Tobias were awesome. I like some or the Pokémon designs, some, not all. I like the Starter evolutions. I liked Riley's Lucario. I liked the plot. Some of the episodes were just fantastic. I think the Galactic arc was the best Pokémon Gang/Team arc we have seen yet! Though the ending had its problems (could have given Tobias a bit more foreshadowing than showing Tobias a few more minutes of screen time and showed his face; and giving Harley Daniels the false hope that Harley had returned, that really hurt you know) it was still fantastic to see Ash battle against a DARKRAI AND A LATIOS, and to see him fight so FEARCELY in battle HE COULDN'T WIN (something we see rarely)!

There were things I hated about it though. I hated a lot of the Pokémon designs. The art felt weird to me and it ticked me off. Dawn is just basically a May clone in a short skirt (my opinion). I hated most of Dawn's friends (liked Zoey, even if I didn't like her Pokémon). And at the time it came out, I got into a "new Pokémon sucks, the new designs look terrible, I hate this art style, they should either replace Ash or end the show entirely," attitude.

One thing I should mention though, I REALlY liked this moment:

Brock: Ash, me and this girl are traveling and -blah, blah, blah
The girl has a boyfriend or husband, or something.
Brock: GAHHHH!!!! Well THESE TWO MEN ARE GONNA DO WHAT MEN NEED TO DO, THESE TWO MEN ARE GONNA DO IT, WITH OR WITHOUT A WOMAN AT THEIR SIDE!!!
Ash: Yeah! Now that's what I LIKE TO HEAR!!!
Pikachu: Pika-pika!

That is my favorite moment of Pokémon since the time Harley cross-dressed as May, blew a kiss at Drew WHILE dressed as May, all of the James episodes that show James's past, any Jesse back story, the time Harley asked Brock if he was gay (you know the one), and etc.

So in sum, it's not my favorite series, but I LOVE POKÉMON!!! I FEEL LIKE I'M ADDICTED TO IT!!! (Not literally)

 

[Gengarzilla]

I'm gonna say this right here, recent events in the XY saga have led to DP once more assuming the position of my favorite series. In my honest opinion, the Ash/Paul rivalry exposed the original series's Ash/Gary rivalry as the dick waving contest it truly was and I'm honestly amazed that they haven't tried repeating this model in Unova and Kalos. Throughout their many encounters and battles it was easy to see that Ash's views and training methods were being tested like never before, culminating in a 4-0 landslide loss that far exceeded any defeat handed to him. That's how Ash's rivals should be in this day and age.

Even aside from Paul, the series was great. Ash had a solid team (aside from Torterra in its fully evolved stage), Dawn's Contest arc was handled very well and gave her good character development following two back to back Performance Stage losses, May's return was awesome, Brock got an equal role to Ash and Dawn during that lake trio and Team Galactic business, J was a legitimate threat, and Ash beat a Darkrai that singlehandedly swept through 8 gym leaders and 5 other league opponents.

 

[ii kanji]

(aside from Torterra in its fully evolved stage)

Even this I didn't feel was a bad thing. It's not like Dodaitose didn't have potential - Satoshi just didn't know how to best use a tank Pokemon and it was a legitimate chink in his armour during a series where he was otherwise very strong. (I'd have liked (read: expected) to have seen this weakness explicitly addressed during a subsequent saga but I don't believe it has been yet...)

 

[jnsharley13]

In my honest opinion, the Ash/Paul rivalry exposed the original series's Ash/Gary rivalry as the dick waving contest it truly was and I'm honestly amazed that they haven't tried repeating this model in Unova and Kalos.

Excuse the language, and I don't normally talk like this, but what's wrong with having a 'dick waving contest'? I think everyone who watched the show when they were little knew that's what it was. Still, there is that extra "Ash is a loser," "I need to beat Gary" element point. But I still stand on what's wrong with having a dick waving contest.