Crappy Ramblings
The Pokemon anime has been a masterclass in disappointing me, especially as of recent. What could have been one of the greatest coming-of-age stories in animation history instead became a soulless merchandising treadmill that actively disrespected me, as all long-running series do. Ash isn't even a character at times. He was a corporate mascot locked in a cage, eternally ten years old, eternally forgetting everything he learned, eternally losing leagues so the cycle could start over. Every new region promised some sort of change, some sort of twist on how it acts. And even then? That's not the end-all be-all for me. For me, it's the show's humor. It's a children's show that doesn't rely on over the top, low brow humor which is fine in moderation, but not for something I think tackles fairly mature topics. But Pokémon kills that, especially during the middle point. Sinnoh showed some of Ash's promise to return. Some pokemon with an actual quirk. But Unova ended up regressing him in ways I can't begin to describe, and while Kalos wasn't nearly as bad, it didn't save him until Alola.
I think the chord they really struggled to hit was the idea of just letting Ash win? They didn't quite ever let him win some serious competition or beat some prestigious trainer. Ash was always some one-off that was used to prop other side characters. This hate-boner got so bad that Pokémon MADE UP a Gary Stue with two legendries in hopes they could somehow convince the audience that Ash's loss in the Sinnoh cup was ‘worthy’. Shocker, it wasn't.
And I think part of it was just creative cowardice. The production committee strangled every spark of ambition out of the show because, honestly, they didn’t want to take a risk that might alienate seven-year-olds or disrupt the merchandise pipeline. And I get that. Overworked animators grinding away on a show that refused to evolve, writers forbidden from building actual continuity, ideas treated like dangerous experiments rather than opportunities? Seriously, I do get that. When the show did try something different– Sun & Moon's style shift, Journeys' structure, or literally anything in the latter half of the story– It felt like a hostage blinking morse code, not a confident creative choice. But I think that's something I can concede on. The anime, even with Kalos, finally felt a bit more… Secure? As secure as a multi-billion dollar company can be, of course. But it was enough to have me tuning in after Ash's blunder in Sinnoh.
I think all that is to say, Pokémon didn't fail me because it ran too long, or something like that. It left a great deal of growth in me, and still impacts my hobbies in ways it shouldn't. VGC, internationals, ect. These things only happened because I saw Ash tell his Charizard to body press a Magmar through molten rock. It's just the coolest shit ever! But instead, it chose to regurgitate the formula. I can only be content that they finally let Ash out of the coop and, well, mature. That final stretch was hard fought but it came strong. He was finally winning championships, finally getting the teams you'd expect from a trainer like Ash.
Pokemon’s end for me was… Cathartic. And despite my criticisms, I hope it only gets bigger.
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