"After 25 years and over 1,200 episodes, the anime has retired its long-time protagonist and is moving on to new main characters Liko and Roy as they embark on a journey throughout the world. Depending on who you ask, this is either a bittersweet end of an era, or a necessity for the TV show to move in new, exciting directions."
"For me, Ash was, and largely still is the quintessential anime protagonist from my childhood, beating out characters like Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh! or Goku from Dragon Ball as the most formative character of my early years. His relationship with his partner Pikachu has embodied friendship and informed my internalized role-playing with my own Pokémon in every single game."
"Even those of us who've fallen off the show often still view Ash as central to our own Pokémon journeys, and for a long time, it felt like he would be a fixture for every Pokémon fan, no matter when they started watching the anime."
Ash Ketchum's final Pokémon episodes premiere on Netflix on September 8, concluding a 25-year run spanning over 1,200 episodes. The anime is transitioning to new main characters Liko and Roy for future adventures. Ash's departure represents a significant shift for the franchise, with opinions divided on whether this change is bittersweet or necessary for the show's evolution. For many fans, Ash served as a defining childhood protagonist whose friendship with Pikachu shaped their understanding of the Pokémon universe. His recent achievement as a Pokémon world champion provided a fitting conclusion, though his retirement marks the end of a fixture that seemed permanent for generations of viewers.
Read at Kotaku
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]