Indigo League
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Official Pokemon season one cover.
I’ve been watching Pokémon ever since it began. Even with my eyes clouded by the nostalgic aspects of the anime I’m still aware that the overall plot of the anime wasn’t very well done. Each episode consists of Ash and friends completing a minor goal while still traveling working to become the Pokémon Master by the end. Nothing changes, other than who travels with Ash through each region.
Pokémon started in Japan in April of 1997 and didn’t come to America until October 25, 2003. It started out fairly slow but as time went on and with the help of marketing teams and the video games the anime grew in popularity.
In the beginning, Ash was a new trainer and didn’t really know what he was doing. He would make, making mistakes and learning from them. Which was good because I don’t think anyone could wake up and know all there was to know about being a Pokémon Master (unless you’re Ash’s rival Gary). But now we it is season 16 and Ash still makes mistakes almost as if he’s never gone on a Pokémon journey before, which makes him seem as if he's not a very competent trainer.
All is not horrible, there are some moments of the Anime anime that really pulled on my heartstrings and some that made me laugh, causing me to keep watching. Such as the first episode where Ash shows that he does care about his Pokémon. That he is willing to sacrifice anything to stay with them, even if he only just met them. All of that added to Ash’s overall character. They have some good heavy-handed episodes and some just plain silly episodes, which is a nice balance, in a perfect world it would be nice if they fleshed out the overall plot and caught Ash up to the skill level he should be, or even changed the protagonist each season. As with everything, I have my gripes about the franchise, but even without the changes I will continue watching.
Useful Links: TamashiiHiroka, Bulbapedia Anime Article
Sabrina Willis
Sabrina is a quiet and introverted person. She likes to read and write, watch anime and play video games. She recently moved to Ottawa, and now lives with two roommates and her cat Izzy. One of her favourite anime is Pokémon.
Sites I use a lot: Serebii, Official Pokémon Website (US), The JWittz
