Reviews Anime / Pokemon The Series

The Pokémon anime

Like many children did in the late 90s and early 2000s, I loved Pokémon. However, unlike many other Pokémon fans, I actually didn't start with the games. In fact, I've never played Red/Blue - my first Pokémon game was Diamond. But, I still had the anime to enjoy as a child, and I adored it. The cards? Meh, they were okay, even though the actual trading card game confused me.

The anime of the late 90s/early 2000s (the first two generations) was pretty good. It wasn't TV gold and was never meant to be. It was just a colourful, kid-friendly anime cartoon with oodles of action, adventure, jokes, heartwarming moments and cuteness, and its characters were actually pretty interesting and memorable. I still fondly remember the old anime, and occasionally watch it if I find it on YouTube, and listen to the soundtrack if I feel nostalgic. But of course, as time went by, the anime went downhill. This was expected, but I cannot deny that the animes of Generation 3 and 4 do have some pretty good episodes. Do they touch the Generation 1 and 2 animes? Oh, no. But they weren't bad, especially thanks to the improved animation which made it look fresh. Ash's new voice actor starting from Gen 4 was a bit of a shock, and I prefer his old voice by a long way, but they could have done worse.

But now, let's face it. The Pokémon anime is absolutely awful nowadays. I don't actually watch the modern anime, but I have seen various clips/trailers, and I've read reviews about new episodes too. Firstly, Ash has devolved into an intolerable weirdo who cannot seem to understand that his Pokémon journey has become so mind-numbingly pointless that it would actually be better for him if he were to stop and just get a job. Episodes are so recycled nowadays that finding a modern episode that isn't recycled is like trying to find Atlantis. His partners are never interesting anymore, just the same old side characters who are nowhere near as funny as hothead Misty or hopeless romantic Brock, and Team Rocket is now the blandest villainous team ever, destined to always fail because the writers refuse to let them actually win. Why don't they just quit after over 500 failed attempts?

It's all been done before, and better, but because new kids arrive, they just have to keep making episodes. And it will always be the same. The same characters, episodes and situations.