Has Pokemon always sucked?

[Shadowstar38]

Not the games, the anime. I was watching Black and White for lack of anything better to do and my gosh is it awful. The dialog is goofy and useless most of the time. And they seem to have abandoned character development because Ash makes rookie mistakes.

Were the older seasons better or am I getting to the point where I can recognize bad writing?

 

[ZeroMachine]

Looking back, yes. BUT, it wasn't NEARLY as terrible as it is now.

 

[LilithSlave]

Pokemon has always been AWESOME in my opinion. Along with Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and everything else by Nintendo.

I do think that they focus too much on adding new Pokemon instead of new game mechanics. Still, they're continuously pretty solid jRPGs. Certainly more solid than the direction Final Fantasy has gone, Pokemon is giving you more options(slowly but surely), while Final Fantasy is giving you less.

Edit: Oh, you're talking about the anime. Eh, the humor is still much the same. Though it's pretty stupid that Satoshi/Ash is still considered the same age as when he started. They can keep him young looking or whatever, but when you're 10 years old for over 10 years, it's ridiculous. It's not like the creators have to shrink his eyes, make him super tall, and give him a beard. Just stop calling him 10 years old. And let him actually mature a little bit mentally.

 

[smearyllama]

The original show still holds up to some extent, due to a mix of nostalgia and some genuine quality, but as they've gone on, the seasons have gotten progressively worse.
That said, I've not really watched the show since I was a kid, but what I've seen of the newer seasons has been disappointing, especially with the changing of the voice actors.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I have kid nostalgia for season one. Stopped watching the show as a kid. The games have always been gold for me

 

[smearyllama]

Pokemon has always been AWESOME in my opinion. Along with Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and everything else by Nintendo.

I do think that they focus too much on adding new Pokemon instead of new game mechanics. Still, they're continuously pretty solid jRPGs.

I think he's referring to the show, not the games.

 

[artanis_neravar]

Pokemon has always been AWESOME in my opinion. Along with Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and everything else by Nintendo.

I do think that they focus too much on adding new Pokemon instead of new game mechanics. Still, they're continuously pretty solid jRPGs.

Not the games, the show.

No the originals were better because Ash had a reason to make rookie mistake, he was a rookie.

 

[jawakiller]

Yes. Always. That bad. What'dya expect? It was made for little kids.

 

[Bobic]

How could a show featuring this line be considered bad?

Pokemon has always been AWESOME in my opinion. Along with Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and everything else by Nintendo.

I do think that they focus too much on adding new Pokemon instead of new game mechanics. Still, they're continuously pretty solid jRPGs.

Also, YAY, I love it when people don't even bother to read the OP.

 

[scorptatious]

I've looked back at some of the first season episodes and kind of had mixed feelings.

On one hand, I did feel nostalgic considering I used to watch the show a lot. On the other hand, I noticed how corny it can be and how obnoxious Ash Ketchum was. Seriously, there were quite a few episodes where he just behaved like a spoiled brat.

Overall though, I still found it to be pretty decent. And I still cried after watching the episode in which Ash bids his Butterfree farewell as it goes to mate with the pink Butterfree. More than ten years since I first watched that episode and it still got to me.

 

[Hazy992]

What annoys me about the anime is that Ash always gets rid of his most powerful Pokemon and just gets shitty starter ones again. I mean I know its so Nintendo can show off the new Pokemon, but come on! He's had a Charizard, a Sceptile, a Pidgeot and a Torterra to name but a few. Why would you get rid of those and just start again? It makes him look stupid and he always gets his arse kicked because of it.

Also, the voice acting is just... just terrible.

 

[Patrick Buck]

We got a troll methinks....But you do realise its for kids right? Its supposed to teach them stuffs isn't it? (This may be wrong haven't watched it since i was young....Moral of the story and all that jazz, so the main character has to keep making mistakes so they can learn.

 

[FamoFunk]

The old Pokemon ('90's era) was and still is, to me, awesome. The new stuff I Think is utter shit.
The games though, they're still fantastic I find. I still buy them.

 

[Ouroboros0977]

It was good in the past, not great but time and stagnation of the franchise has really brought the general quality of the series as a whole down.

 

[DarkRyter]

The show?

Yes, it was always that bad.

It was cheesy, childish, and cheaply animated. Still is. But then again, it's made for eight year olds to sell a video game, and that's really all there is to it.

Edit: Nostalgia is of questionable sexuality.

 

[sabercrusader]

After about Hoenn, it really sucked, and even before, everything past Jhoto was just a progressive downward spiral. The original still holds up, even without the nostalgia (though the nostalgia is amazing).

 

[TheScientificIssole]

NO FU... Wait, yes the anime did suck. But look at that, yet again I comment on a thread were I don't belong.(I've hated every anime I've ever watched, except for Cowboy Bebop.)

 

[scw55]

You can't complain about continuity in the Pokemon Anime. Ash has had Pikachu since the first episode and has collected gym badges from all previous regions and competed in various leagues with Pikachu. Yet, Pikachu constantly is in danger of being defeated by rookie trainers. Also, Ash has had many powerful teams of Pokemon, yet every new region he enters he appears to 'reset' his team (bar Pikachu). I probably would do the same, but not to that extreme. Sort of cycle Pokemon.
It just stinks of shallow plot writing.

It's a children's anime. It ofc will be shallow and badly written. If you're watching the dubbed then probably bad translations or the differences in language. Ultimately kids don't care. They just want to watch monsters beat the shit out of each other and see Ash inevitably lose in the Pokemon League. You only become aware of narrative structure when you're an older child.

I prefer the Team Rocket story arc in Black and White. They're less Villain-of-the-week and more... there's a conspiracy running deeply and something massive will take place. There's a constant build up. Also

Spoiler

Meowth got fired from Team Rocket and was neglected so he was found by the Twerps unconscious and nursed back to awakeyness. He's now following the Twerps. But for how long? and is he sincere?

. Pokemon is Pokemon. It's like discussing Hollyoaks.

 

[LilithSlave]

I prefer the Team Rocket story arc in Black and White. They're less Villain-of-the-week and more... there's a conspiracy running deeply and something massive will take place.

Ah, yes, I had this right in mind right as I was reading the topic. I wasn't sure how exactly to say it without coming across to someone as silly, but that's pretty much my thoughts right there.

There's a clear upgrade to villainry that starts in "Best Wishes".