why do people hate Pokémon?

[PowerZord]

And I'm talking about the whole series. not just After Indigo.


I have a lot of poke haters in my anime board that's why i'm askin.

[Speedy Boris]

The one thing that bugs me about this and Digimon is how every non-human character's name ends in -mon. I find it gets annoying quickly. That, and it kind of got a bad reputation simply because 8-yr olds were obsessed with trading cards with each other (not to mention "Mommy! Buy me Pokemon Chartreuse for Gameboy!"). Otherwise, if you take the show at face value, it's OK. Not my cup of tea, and not really for my age group, but I don't DESPISE it or anything. EDIT: I guess you could also argue that the numerous Pokemon airings on Cartoon Network take away from classic toons, but then again, so do the Cartoon Cartoons like Dexter & Powerpuff.

[Kouji Tamino]

Actually, it's only Digimon that the monsters names end in 'mon'...

[RockItShipper]

Originally Posted by Azurill

And I'm talking about the whole series. not just After Indigo.


I have a lot of poke haters in my anime board that's why i'm asking.

I think the primary reason is that's one of the known anime series overall. And first glances might indicate that kids are so hooked into shows like it that more otaku-friendly anime might look like it's being left out. But the truth is that a generation is taking in more and more anime, and more will be released.

[MrBananagrabber]

Because it's a show aimed at young children. Most of the people on this board do not fall into this category. Therefore, they don't like it.

[Parallax]

Eh, probaly lack of an overall plot. Plus, most of the series is filler. Also, it kinda ruins the reputation of other Monster shows. Unlike Pokemon, Digimon and Monster Rancher actually had a plot.

[StrangerAtaru]

Personally, speaking from a fan's POV, Pokemon was and will always be with me a "cute little show based off a video game that actually is a bit of fun" with me. When the show started in the US back in 1998, it wasn't really trying to be anything more than it was and it did a good job for being a "30-minute commercial". And considering how little money I had from allowance, it gave me something to watch for free on TV that was decent. But then several things happened:

-First the whole "Pokemon" fad expoded, mostly after WB took over the airing. Crap started appearing everywhere and it got sickening. (even if I bought a little of it myself...but not too much)
-Then comes the sad part: the anime actually started going down in quality not too long after the fad died down...even if things were finally quiet again, the show was a shadow of its former self. (mostly due to the same plot being used over and over ad nauseum...) Of course, there were some good things still in the show.

Hopefully with Advance Generation, some of the old magic will return to the show...and without all the fad stuff flying around (since it is "over" and kids have moved on to other stuff), it could just be a "cute little show based off a video game that actually is a bit of fun" again. (this coming from a guy who once did a college report on Pokemon...don't ask)

[GWOtaku]

I resent the show because it became such a commercialized deal. Its right up there with the grotesque "Flint the Time Detective" as the worst possible standard to judge anime by, and with its massive public exposure there are likely many who do just that.

As far as the show itself goes, every episode is filler. Nothing EVER changes. And no, a random shuffle in the Pokemon lineup doesn't count. Every episode is just an excuse to show off the latest Pokemon in some marketing ploy, and the pattern of Ash (or Satoshi, or whatever) always getting to the finals only to be dealt defeat is repetitive and an obvious excuse to repeat the same tired material season after season so they can continue the cash cow. Brock's obsession over girls, Team Rocket being stupid, Pikachu shocking Ash...*yawn*. Its been done a few hundred times. When was the last time they used a new plot device?

Pokemon isn't a great show or even a good show, its a repeating farce that will continue until the product its advertising stops being profitable. Pokemon has no point outside of promoting its industry, which is why it never evolves.

[Jave]

Originally Posted by Kenshin X

Eh, probaly lack of an overall plot. Plus, most of the series is filler. Also, it kinda ruins the reputation of other Monster shows. Unlike Pokemon, Digimon and Monster Rancher actually had a plot.

That is probably the main problem with Pokemon, the series has gotten just flat-out repetitive. I've lost all hope on it by now, although, I'm definitely giving Pokemon Advance a fair chance.

[Cyber E.]

Pokèmon IS literally the same plotline worked over and over again in each episode. Some of the plotholes can get annoying after a while [When is Ash gonna get Butterfly back, for instance] and the overall feel and look of it doesn't appeal to most audiences.

The begining episodes were good because it wasn't the same exact workings every episode. Now its just

1. Ash & Co. walk
2. Ash & Co. meet Pokèmon
3. Ash & Co. meet Person
4. TEAM ROCKET BAD >:O
5. Ash & Co. talk with Person and/or Pokèmon
6. TEAM ROCKET STRIKE >:O
7. Ash & Co. defeat TEAM ROCKET ONCE AGAIN!
8. TEAM ROCKET GO AWAY BUT COME BACK NEXT EPISODE >:O
9. Ash & Co. walk into the sunset after saying goodbye to Person and/or Pokèmon.
[/fin]

God I'm good.

[Animation Otaku]

But they fixed that by being even more original than the early episodes with Advance Generation.

[Cyber E.]

It doesn't make up for over 200 episodes of

1. Ash & Co. walk
2. Ash & Co. meet Pokèmon
3. Ash & Co. meet Person
4. TEAM ROCKET BAD >:O
5. Ash & Co. talk with Person and/or Pokèmon
6. TEAM ROCKET STRIKE >:O
7. Ash & Co. defeat TEAM ROCKET ONCE AGAIN!
8. TEAM ROCKET GO AWAY BUT COME BACK NEXT EPISODE >:O
9. Ash & Co. walk into the sunset after saying goodbye to Person and/or Pokèmon.
[/fin]

But at least its a start.

[undomel]

its too kiddy for me. i just dont find it exciting. and i get bored quickly when i watch it. i dont think of it as anime either. its just a regular saterday mornig cartoon. only it was made in japan.

[True Noir]

The same thing always happens for every episode. Ash asnd his Pikachu and other pokemons fight and at the end they win. no big surprise! Plus it's way to kiddy for me too.

[ClockStomper]

I thought it lost steam and started following a boring and redundant formula. Before there was variety in plot (The cursed Ghastly, the Sabrina saga, the adventure on the cruise ship, etc.) Then it became bland. But it was fun while the good times lasted.

Some kept watching through the bad times because they became loyal to the characters during the "good times" but I just think it's painful to watch bastardizations of beloved characters (spider-man comics from 1998-2001 are an example of this.)

In comparison to the other "mon" show, it was always inferior. It was had elements of .Hack and "The Matrix" before either came out (but both did it better.) But Digimon did fall victim to Pokemon's problems, because 95% of Frontier consisted of useless "help random digimons" episodes and they one plotline people could get interested had it's resolution regulated to the last 20 seconds of the series (no joke.)

[UberMonkey]

Originally Posted by GWOtaku

I resent the show because it became such a commercialized deal. Its right up there with the grotesque "Flint the Time Detective" as the worst possible standard to judge anime by, and with its massive public exposure there are likely many who do just that.

Heh, I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I actually liked watching Flint the time Detective when it was on FoxKids. Not something I went out of my way to watch, but it was amusing fluff. It may not have been very deep or very clever (This was an educational anime meant for little kids translated by Saban, after all), but... Man. The theme song/intro. With the dancing? You can't tell me that couldn't at least put a smile on your face.

As for the topic.. I think what everyone else has pretty much covered it. It was enjoyable at the beginning (I'll even admit I did purchase a tape of the show), especially while playing the games. I really enjoyed the Gym battle episodes. but once the show got repetitive, and the mega-fad died down, I think a lot of people viewed it more as an eyesore than anything else. I remember I had gotten a friend of mine into the games and show, and after awhile he mentioned to me "I wish they'd get to another Gym. It's more fun then." Basically, the show just got too filler-tastic. And the competition (Digimon) proved to be far more interesting, with ongoing story-arcs and the like.

I haven't had a chance to catch the new Advanced episodes which sound like are supposed to be enjoyable again. I think it'll be worth a chance.

[Dogasu]

Everyone, watch Advanced Generation. It's basically the show's apology for the horrible 3-year ordeal known as "Jouto."

In my opinion, Pokemon is THE best video game to anime conversion out there. Most anime based on video games are complete crap, but Pocket Monsters manages to have great characters, interesting storylines, and some really nice music. Sure, there are a few (dozen) terrible episodes, but as a whole, it's a lot better than "Street Fighter" or that Final Fantasy OVA.

As far as the show itself goes, every episode is filler. Nothing EVER changes. And no, a random shuffle in the Pokemon lineup doesn't count. Every episode is just an excuse to show off the latest Pokemon in some marketing ploy, and the pattern of Ash (or Satoshi, or whatever) always getting to the finals only to be dealt defeat is repetitive and an obvious excuse to repeat the same tired material season after season so they can continue the cash cow. Brock's obsession over girls, Team Rocket being stupid, Pikachu shocking Ash...*yawn*. Its been done a few hundred times. When was the last time they used a new plot device?

Yeah, every episode is filler...except all those non-filler episodes -_-

And the characters have grown. Satoshi (Ash) has become a much better trainer as time has gone on--he's a much better trainer now than he was in the beginning of the series. We actually see him training

Spoiler:

like trying to teach Pikachu to use Iron Tail against the first Houen gym leader, or teaching his pokemon to be more in tune with the environment for the second gym leader

.

Takeshi (Brock) has decided to stop training exclusively rock-types and has decided to train other types of pokemon. The common thought is that his hormones went into overdrive during Jouto because of what happened between him and Professor Ivy.

Kasumi (Misty) has gone from a rather b*tchy young girl to a

Spoiler:

serious gym leader and good pokemon trainer. Watch the episode when her Togepi evolves and leaves and tell me that she hasn't grown

.

Some of the plotholes can get annoying after a while [When is Ash gonna get Butterfly back, for instance] and the overall feel and look of it doesn't appeal to most audiences.

In the Japanese verison of "Bye Bye Butterfree," Takeshi makes the comment that after Butterfrii mate, they die. Of course, this was changed in the dub, but basically Satoshi's Butterfrii either couldn't get any and is living alone somewhere or has been dead for quite a while now.

And apparently, the show still appeals to a huge audience.

[Ajax]

Originally Posted by UberMonkey

Basically, the show just got too filler-tastic. And the competition (Digimon) proved to be far more interesting, with ongoing story-arcs and the like.

Yet for some unknow reason, Digimon has cease to exist after the horrible showing of Frontier and Pokemon is going strong with its new season (so I hear). After three sorry ass years of Johto it still on the air, how I don't know. Its managed to outlive most of the shows aired on WB. So it seems only us anime fans seem to hate pokemon.
Look this show isn't the greatest, but its fun to watch. I was smart enough to skip 200 ep. of filler and only caught gym battles and any ep. that didn't follow this formula:
1. Ash & Co. walk
2. Ash & Co. meet Pokèmon
3. Ash & Co. meet Person
4. TEAM ROCKET BAD >:O
5. Ash & Co. talk with Person and/or Pokèmon
6. TEAM ROCKET STRIKE >:O
7. Ash & Co. defeat TEAM ROCKET ONCE AGAIN!
8. TEAM ROCKET GO AWAY BUT COME BACK NEXT EPISODE >:O
9. Ash & Co. walk into the sunset after saying goodbye to Person and/or Pokèmon.
So pokemon has a repetitive plot, **** how many anime's aren't guilty of that. (Sure pokemon takes it to the extreme) I know this series sucks, but as long as its on TV, I might as well watch it.

[EscaflownePilot]

As a huge Pokemon fan, I've never hd a problem with the series - I've loved it to death, even during some of the worst parts.

But, I can understand why someone wouldn't like it.

In fact, the things that I love most about Pokemon are the things I think many people don't like about it. For starters, the tone rarely elevates above being "light-hearted". There is no major huge conspiracy or evil or whatever you'd call that sense of purpose driving the main character in series such as Trigun or Evangelion. It is, at it's core, the adventure of a boy participating in a sport - a boy who wants to explore the world, and be the best at this sport of training Pokemon while being friends with his Pokemon.

Yet this is the biggest thing that attracts me to it. Unlike Trigun or Evangelion, there is no clear end or goal, much how it is in real life. Ash/Satoshi's friendship with both his Pokemon and the others (like Misty) is touching, his drive to succeed at what he does is something to identify with or admire, and the overall tone of wanting to be the best in a never-ending line of dreams is something I can relate to with all the sports I play. I love the colorful world and enviroment that Ash lives in, and the way he interacts with others. I love the way the creators are able to recreate the same feelings through Ash that I have in certain events in life.

Pokemon as a whole seems like a never-ending, ongoing story without any clear or definite goal as opposed to more linear shows like Blue Gender.

But, at the same time, all those things I just said (as demonstrated by posters above) can just as well be used against the show.

[purplehairedwonder]

Originally Posted by EscaflownePilot

But, at the same time, all those things I just said (as demonstrated by posters above) can just as well be used against the show.

And those are some of the main reasons that I don't like Pokemon. When it first came out I watched it a bit and thought, this is alright, but I kept watching and didn't really enjoy it that much. I just seemed to kiddy (and I was probably 10 or 11 at this time.) to me. Plus the plot didn't really interest me. I thought Pikachu was kinda cute, but that was really it. The plot just didn't interest me and neither did the characters.