Sonic Boom

As a member of a non-Pokemon forum, I made an off-handed, sarcastic comment in a status update that there should probably be a thread devoted to the Pokemon anime. I log back into the site 20 minutes later, and boom, a saw that a thread for the show was made at my suggestion, and had already gathered 15 replies.

Judging by prior experience, I expected the thread to be filled with "ORIGINAL SERIES THE BEST, BRING BACK MISTY AND BROCK" type posts; the tags for the thread implied such, seeing as how I saw an "Ash," "Misty," and Brock" tag there, but no characters from Hoenn and beyond, and the first post even had a huge picture of the original trio. I even expected some "Who the hell watches this show, this is for little kids" type posts.

What I saw instead was unexpected. Two of the first few posts certainly expressed adherence to the Orange Islands and Kanto saga, and there was one post that said the tried and true statement of how Misty's departure ruined the show for him. But surprisingly, these three posts were all that covered the matter. The majority of the comments state how the members got back into the show once Black and White aired, claiming that this season is the best they've seen, even beyond the original series, and that Oshawott, Iris, Cilan, and the tweaked Team Rocket are breaths of fresh air for the plot and personalities of the episodes. There were also a few comments that expressed opinions not seen often: one post was a huge "Team Rocket rocks!" post, and one person even expressed indifference on Misty's departure, but the absence of Brock was when it crossed the line for him!

Then we all just started posting some of the Pokemon songs we've grown to love over the years, but there were some comments here and there which said that the show defined their childhoods, and that it's a show that they have no shame in watching to this day. It was very cool.


Based on what there is in these (admittedly few) posts, its nice to see that the reaction and the trip down memory lane doesn't encompass the stereotype current fans often think of about people whose experience with the anime is mostly from the series between 1998-2002. It's relieving, in a way.