Thread: Does the anime give Pokemon a bad reputation?

I have nothing against the anime except for the fact that it is why people say Pokemon is ''childish''. The games are a lot less ''childish'' but, when I try to explain that to other people they say I'm too old for that stuff. Not trying to offend anyone, but, they have good reason to. The anime has rather predictable plots and characters/personalities that appeal to 7-year olds. However Pokemon has a large fan base that's 12+. So does the anime give Pokemon a bad reputation or do I need to finally admit that Pokemon is aimed for 7-year olds?

Always.

It's gotten worse post Johto though.

Most people who could call Pokemon childish won't have seen the anime in the last 13 years (it at all) anyway, so it wouldn't make any difference if the writing totally changed, because people would still make a judgement on what they think is how things are and should be.

Pokemon not being a first person shooter is more the problem than anything the anime can do.

The anime doesn't give Pokemon a bad reputation.
People who haven't watched since the Kanto days give the anime a bad reputation, and that in turn gives Pokemon as a whole a bad reputation.

Go to any board that isn't Pokemon specific and bring up the anime. Watch the uninformed masses crawl out of the woodwork whining about how Ash "never evolves his Pokemon" or "releases everything".
Most of them have no idea what they're talking about and are basing their opinions on that one time they happened to catch a rerun of Bye Bye Butterfree.

It doesn't matter how mature the anime can be. Because people know it from their childhood, and because the entire franchise's target audience is children, it'll always be seen as kiddish. Because obviously things aimed at kids can't be intelligent or mature, and it most certainly cannot be enjoyed by older people. :-P

Uh, yes.

It can also be blamed on:

Genwunners
People who say Ash never evolves his mons or releases everything.
People who only played Gen I-II.

Why can't all be based on PokéSpe?

The anime is quite obviously aimed at kids. But why should that mean we are "too old" to watch it?

There's always this negative stigma associated with kids' stuff because kids do not typically require a complex plot and character development to enjoy something because 1. They have shorter attention spans, 2. They don't obsess over small details, and 3. They haven't been exposed to enough media to be able to compare the way we can. But people just like to take it as a mark of maturity that they have "outgrown" something, that they know better now, that they can see how bad something is when before they couldn't. But to be honest, what you enjoy has nothing to do with how mature you are. There are plenty of things to love about Pokémon, and to say it's bad because it's aimed at kids is insulting all kids by basically saying they're too stupid to notice how bad it is.

In the end, yes, Pokémon is aimed at kids, but you don't need to explain everyone why you like it anyway.

Since the anime is always targeted at children, people naturally assume the games are targeted at children as well. I want to ask them if they're saying that after they had played any of the recent games - ESPECIALLY Black and White. Sure, the anime is based on the games - but they're failing to see that the anime reflects nothing from the games. Just stupid Ash going around with his stupid reboot and there's nothing like that in the games at all. I guess we can't force them to play the games, but I wish they won't assume the games are kiddy like the anime - BECAUSE THE GAMES ARE NOT KIDDY.

Speaking of which, there are more people in their 20s playing the games because the games had been out for more than 15 years, and the kids who played ever since Gen 1 can now choose to play Gen 5 and Gen 6 without having to ask their parents for presents. They consume more of GF's games and spinoffs, and can actively participate in distribute events more than young children, who can barely go anywhere or buy anything without their parents. Personally, the popularity of pokemon games selling a lot can be due to the fans who have bought GFs products for all those years - along with the new kids. A kid who just got to know pokemon wouldn't scream excitedly at the Gen 6 games. The fans who have played at least one or two games before are the ones who get hyped - and promise to buy.

So yeah - people fail to see what's exactly going on in the game consumer world and look down at us with their anime only eyes. That's the negative effects of the anime, I guess.

I don't think so. I think that people who haven't watched the series in years and make misinformed claims based on what they remember seeing from the first couple of seasons does more damage in the long run. There are still people who claim that Pokemon is at least fifty percent filler and that most episodes are fill in the blanks with Ash helping the character/Pokemon of the week and Team Rocket trying to steal said Pokemon of the week along with Pikachu. They haven't seen the show since the original series, but they firmly believe that every episode is the same, despite not seeing the show in years. Pokemon is aimed at children, but it can still be enjoyable and people outside of the target audience can watch it, just like with other shows primarily aimed at kids.

The anime doesn't give Pokemon a bad name. The reputation of the franchise is dependent on the games.

And as has been said, the anime is aimed at children. What people think of it doesn't matter because this will always be a video game franchise.

Players trying to hype up the franchise as "mature" and "edgy" by overplaying some of the darker elements of the games may not like that the existence of a family-friendly anime rather betrays their efforts. But that's hardly the same as the anime being bad for the franchise's image overall.

Even without the support of the anime, I'm sure that the games would still be hawking cute Pokemon plush toys by the shed-load.

I think YES, the Anime did give the Game a bad reputation, as the Game gives the Anime a bad reputation too.

Ash not improving his skill at all makes the grown up fans quit the Anime, and after sometimes, they will eventually quit the Games. This is bad for the Game's reputation. And also the parents may have a negative view on the Anime, thinking that its leading their kids to be a stupid, and also it may affect the parent's view on the Game, it will also affect the sales of the Game.

The Game also affects the Anime's reputation. The game's turn-by-turn basis is getting old, its getting Lame as I have played the games for 10 years, I can say that its LAME for sure. There should be a more advanced gameplay for Pokemon, a brand new one, like how Final fantasy changed their battle system from turn-by-turn to the Active Time Battle System in FF13, Its a big surprise for me.

(My point is not that Pokemon must use ATB system, I mean that FF learned to change, so must Pokemon.)

the Anime is comparable to the Chevrolet Vega, the Ford Pinto, the runaway Toyotas, the Yugo and other failures that have tarnished well respected brands. however i think that the bad reputation is among older fans who have seen about 8+ seasons. i dont think persay that the anime would ruin the entire game's rep to the point of cancellation but it's not a bonus. I dont think the game gives the show a bad rep because the game is the main story book while the anime will trail off from the main story point

Personally, I think the game does more to hurt the Anime then the Anime does to hurt the Game.

Most criticisms I pick up on is like "Why doesn't *insert random game detail* occur in/work like it does in the Anime like it does in the game?"
People tend to obsess with how the game works that they can't understand why the anime doesn't more closely follow the game,
Even though most details in the game are only present because of the Limitations of the game system.

The anime AND the games are targetted at children. The difference is the target audience of the anime is sightly lower than the games, but not like something like a 15 years difference. And the anime takes audience from the games and the other way around.

In other words:
Anime: 4-14 years old.
Games: 6-16 years old.
Pokemon Special: 8-16 years old.
Pikachu shorts: 4-9 years old.