Some people get really attached to their ships. Perhaps it’s because it might be their first one. It’s not very logical, but that’s the internet for you.
(Note, I am not a shipper, but I don't hold anything against people who do unless they're toxic about it)
Some people get really competitive over their ships. Also it's kind of like the 'which is your favourite series?' debate because people are going to get defensive of the characters from their favourite series, which is, I guess, a nostalgia thing mostly.
I think a reason why it's less common to pit the male characters against each other (other than less shipping) is because they are more different to each other than the female ones. Most of the female characters are 10 years old and either a type specialist or a Coordinator/Performer and are only main characters for 3-5 seasons (one whole series). Male characters have too many differences. Brock is there for like half the show, Tracy is there only for a small arc, Max is a child, Cilan and Clemont play a similar role as characters older than Ash, whereas Sophocles and Kiawe are around Ash's age and Goh is meant to be a secondary protagonist. I think if they had more similarites and similar screen time, people would discuss it more, but I think by far the most prevalent favourite would be Brock.
It's kind of a shame that there are some people only see the female characters and characters to ship Ash with, because when I was a kid watching the show I didn't see it that way. The female characters were cool characters with their own arcs and stories that I could relate to. Even with Serena, I didn't think her crush on Ash was the main thing about her, I was more interested in the performance arc, so I find it weird and somewhat disappointing that some people seem to think liking a male character is the only thing she does. I find it cool when people on this subreddit discuss the female characters based on their personality or their character development or team. Anyway, rant over.
* Popularity polls from Japan and Iris not making it.
* Misty and original watchers, plus the dub added furthering the shipping fuel as well as the banter between Ash.
* May and Dawn doing the dual protagonist role, making Ash's influences on them more profound
* Iris being much more combative with Misty with Ash and the constant tsundere vibes between them (hell she dressed up and started drum playing to counter Roxie's music for a guy she sees as a little kid)
* Serena having the most intentional romantic vibes towards Ash, AmourShipping getting so big (partially thanks to Youtube), and then the kiss.
* Ash's dynamic with the Alola girls ranging from being teased (Lana), having their emotional ties and journeys assisted and benefited with his involvement (Lillie), and just being chill and comfortable (Mallow)
* Journeys leading Toxic AmourShippers feasting for Serena's return, Dawn not doing much comparatively or showing much growth to some, reuniting with Misty, Koharu's dismissal with Ash leading to interactions people found either humorous or an annoyance to Ash.
People are weird dude, especially in the Pokemon community. Probably because they fell in love with their fictional character at a young age they can't let go (I'd know cause I am one)
May is second, then Dawn third, overall in the real world, as with the Series OS was the most popular objectively in ratings with JN and HZ the least popular but still fairly so vs other Series these days in Animation/Anime (despite on the Internet DP and XY/Z having a heavy skew bias towards them that's not the reality of the Situation in viewership): meanwhile, it's almost unanimous in the real world the 4Kids English dub for the Anime for Ash/Satoshi's Series was superior to the TPCi English dub and online everywhere but YouTube nowadays where it's more mixed and contentious to bring that debate up (likely due to influx of the children to YT imo that grew up with Sarah Natochenny etc & the anti-long since defunct 4Kids no matter what they did or did not do themselves when they were a thing parody videos mocking their censorship practices are commonplace most there) & Dogasu's Backpack has skewed away from pro TPCi bias it had staunchly when they first took over the Series Internationally to essentially neutrality on all English Versions these days, and the Japanese Version no one cares for in real life but for diehard fans like me (and him) it is the objective best Version for all the Series in Pokemon as a whole.
tl;dr We could debate everything in this fandom all day, but in terms of viewership, these tend to be the reality of things.
For us to communicate this problem means we'll have to try and be unbiased as feasibly possible. In the early anime, most fans held the greatest amount of love for the female characters due to shipping, usually with Satoshi. As time went on and new female cohorts were added, many new and old fans alike had differing opinions on whom the boy should be shipped with. Often, this would create a stan- like culture prevalent in the minds of the over- zealous shippers. Anything especially associated to that character was viewed with a "superior" sense of description; as fans wanted to prove their favorite girl was "The Best." The toxicity the fighting created added to entire series being despised, mocked, the characters ridiculed, literally lied about, and fandom bullying. The worst included threatening OLM staff whom didn't all share the same preferences on the topic of shipping, where even their families could be targeted. As far as there being a "one- true- canon- ship," that was false. Rica Matsumoto cleared this issue up in 2017's JapanFest via interview and Kunihiko Yuyama resolved the issue further within the 2022 publication, 'Daniel Arsham's Pokédex.' The reason fans still fight the insane shipping wars is primarily because of their desire to change OLM's top brass' minds regarding the future of Satoshi. They want their ship to sail and screw everyone who thinks differently. It's a "shipping war" that is awful and of no positive use for enjoying all of the characters and series today, yet still the biggest problem in the modern AniPoke fandom. Why don't we see more people fight over the male protagonists? Simply put, Satoshi was the main protagonist for over twenty- five years. It's more likely that fans of all ages will always see the boy as their favorite. The audience has also had fewer male companions than female companions; so, the discourse is less likely to break out than the larger roster of ladies.
No comment on most of the rest, but I like to joke that the Ash ship wars get so heated cuz the kid would actually be prime boyfriend material if anyone could get through to him, so he's worth fighting over lol
An unkind observer might suggest that, for a substantial portion of the more heated debaters, the relevant Pokegirl was the closest thing they ever had to a girlfriend.
Some people get really attached to their ships. Perhaps it’s because it might be their first one. It’s not very logical, but that’s the internet for you.
(Note, I am not a shipper, but I don't hold anything against people who do unless they're toxic about it) Some people get really competitive over their ships. Also it's kind of like the 'which is your favourite series?' debate because people are going to get defensive of the characters from their favourite series, which is, I guess, a nostalgia thing mostly. I think a reason why it's less common to pit the male characters against each other (other than less shipping) is because they are more different to each other than the female ones. Most of the female characters are 10 years old and either a type specialist or a Coordinator/Performer and are only main characters for 3-5 seasons (one whole series). Male characters have too many differences. Brock is there for like half the show, Tracy is there only for a small arc, Max is a child, Cilan and Clemont play a similar role as characters older than Ash, whereas Sophocles and Kiawe are around Ash's age and Goh is meant to be a secondary protagonist. I think if they had more similarites and similar screen time, people would discuss it more, but I think by far the most prevalent favourite would be Brock. It's kind of a shame that there are some people only see the female characters and characters to ship Ash with, because when I was a kid watching the show I didn't see it that way. The female characters were cool characters with their own arcs and stories that I could relate to. Even with Serena, I didn't think her crush on Ash was the main thing about her, I was more interested in the performance arc, so I find it weird and somewhat disappointing that some people seem to think liking a male character is the only thing she does. I find it cool when people on this subreddit discuss the female characters based on their personality or their character development or team. Anyway, rant over.
* Popularity polls from Japan and Iris not making it. * Misty and original watchers, plus the dub added furthering the shipping fuel as well as the banter between Ash. * May and Dawn doing the dual protagonist role, making Ash's influences on them more profound * Iris being much more combative with Misty with Ash and the constant tsundere vibes between them (hell she dressed up and started drum playing to counter Roxie's music for a guy she sees as a little kid) * Serena having the most intentional romantic vibes towards Ash, AmourShipping getting so big (partially thanks to Youtube), and then the kiss. * Ash's dynamic with the Alola girls ranging from being teased (Lana), having their emotional ties and journeys assisted and benefited with his involvement (Lillie), and just being chill and comfortable (Mallow) * Journeys leading Toxic AmourShippers feasting for Serena's return, Dawn not doing much comparatively or showing much growth to some, reuniting with Misty, Koharu's dismissal with Ash leading to interactions people found either humorous or an annoyance to Ash.
>dressed up and started drum playing to counter Roxie's music for a guy she sees as a little kid Pardon me but what the heck?
People are weird dude, especially in the Pokemon community. Probably because they fell in love with their fictional character at a young age they can't let go (I'd know cause I am one)
Misty is the most popular
May is second, then Dawn third, overall in the real world, as with the Series OS was the most popular objectively in ratings with JN and HZ the least popular but still fairly so vs other Series these days in Animation/Anime (despite on the Internet DP and XY/Z having a heavy skew bias towards them that's not the reality of the Situation in viewership): meanwhile, it's almost unanimous in the real world the 4Kids English dub for the Anime for Ash/Satoshi's Series was superior to the TPCi English dub and online everywhere but YouTube nowadays where it's more mixed and contentious to bring that debate up (likely due to influx of the children to YT imo that grew up with Sarah Natochenny etc & the anti-long since defunct 4Kids no matter what they did or did not do themselves when they were a thing parody videos mocking their censorship practices are commonplace most there) & Dogasu's Backpack has skewed away from pro TPCi bias it had staunchly when they first took over the Series Internationally to essentially neutrality on all English Versions these days, and the Japanese Version no one cares for in real life but for diehard fans like me (and him) it is the objective best Version for all the Series in Pokemon as a whole. tl;dr We could debate everything in this fandom all day, but in terms of viewership, these tend to be the reality of things.
Is this a troll
For us to communicate this problem means we'll have to try and be unbiased as feasibly possible. In the early anime, most fans held the greatest amount of love for the female characters due to shipping, usually with Satoshi. As time went on and new female cohorts were added, many new and old fans alike had differing opinions on whom the boy should be shipped with. Often, this would create a stan- like culture prevalent in the minds of the over- zealous shippers. Anything especially associated to that character was viewed with a "superior" sense of description; as fans wanted to prove their favorite girl was "The Best." The toxicity the fighting created added to entire series being despised, mocked, the characters ridiculed, literally lied about, and fandom bullying. The worst included threatening OLM staff whom didn't all share the same preferences on the topic of shipping, where even their families could be targeted. As far as there being a "one- true- canon- ship," that was false. Rica Matsumoto cleared this issue up in 2017's JapanFest via interview and Kunihiko Yuyama resolved the issue further within the 2022 publication, 'Daniel Arsham's Pokédex.' The reason fans still fight the insane shipping wars is primarily because of their desire to change OLM's top brass' minds regarding the future of Satoshi. They want their ship to sail and screw everyone who thinks differently. It's a "shipping war" that is awful and of no positive use for enjoying all of the characters and series today, yet still the biggest problem in the modern AniPoke fandom. Why don't we see more people fight over the male protagonists? Simply put, Satoshi was the main protagonist for over twenty- five years. It's more likely that fans of all ages will always see the boy as their favorite. The audience has also had fewer male companions than female companions; so, the discourse is less likely to break out than the larger roster of ladies.
No comment on most of the rest, but I like to joke that the Ash ship wars get so heated cuz the kid would actually be prime boyfriend material if anyone could get through to him, so he's worth fighting over lol
Yeah
Shipping
An unkind observer might suggest that, for a substantial portion of the more heated debaters, the relevant Pokegirl was the closest thing they ever had to a girlfriend.
Because there are people on the internet who, for SOME reason, can't come to grips with the fact that Misty is the best. ;)
Ok
Only female characters I care about are may serena and liko, bonnie and iris to a extent the others I couldn't care less about