Ranking the PokéMon anime-series

[Fantastische Hure]

How'd you rank?

Original >/~ Diamond & Pearl > Advanced Generation > Johto > XY(Z) > Best Wishes

I'm mostly going-off memory so I might be way off. And I haven't even watched some series fully.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Original > XY/Z >> D/P >> Advanced >> B/W

Original (Kanto, Orange Islands and Johto) ranks the highest due to having enough changes and original content, as well as being the first, to justify it as it's own story and not just a pure cashgrab for the video games, something all the series afterwards are guilty of. XY/Z comes next due to Ash acting a bit more mature than in other series and there being more character development until his loss against Alain reset everything. D/P comes next for similar reasons but had too much filler compared to XY/Z, as well as Team Galactic's final role being very anti-climactic compared to Flare. Advanced comes next due to resetting a lot and starting such a perpetual trend to milk the series, but at least wasn't as intolerable as B/W, which comes last due to reducing Ass's intelligence and experience to a level even Super Galu would find dumb.

Haven't seen the Sun/Moon anime due to the artstyle, though given it's school based setting, it's even worse than B/W by default.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Yeah. The original series hadn't yet rehashed ideas and had more heart to it, in my opinion.

Advanced Generation also had a new idea that became a staple from that point on-ward (at-least for the next gen. ). Pokémon Contests.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Hell, you could even say the original series would have some solid character development had Ash's journey ended with the Orange Islands. Kanto showed Ash primarily getting by through either dumb luck or just having his badges handed to him (only one that was genuinely earned was when he defeated Koga), with the reality of his inexperience coming to light with his loss against Ritchie, thus making his progression in the Orange Islands and victory against Drake worthwhile. Too bad we got a neverending series of events afterwards and the only character to develop in the original series was Charizard.

I've got to admit Pokemon Contests were a decent addition with Advanced even if it became the default route for half of the main female characters, it at least allowed May to stand out at the time after Misty's only real difference from Ash's goals was being a Water elitist. I think Dawn pulled off the contest girl character better though.

 

[Papasmurf]

Didn't consistently watch anything post-AG

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Hell, you could even say the original series would have some solid character development had Ash's journey ended with the Orange Islands. Kanto showed Ash primarily getting by through either dumb luck or just having his badges handed to him (only one that was genuinely earned was when he defeated Koga), with the reality of his inexperience coming to light with his loss against Ritchie, thus making his progression in the Orange Islands and victory against Drake worthwhile. Too bad we got a neverending series of events afterwards and the only character to develop in the original series was Charizard.

I've got to admit Pokemon Contests were a decent addition with Advanced even if it became the default route for half of the main female characters, it at least allowed May to stand out at the time after Misty's only real difference from Ash's goals was being a Water elitist. I think Dawn pulled off the contest girl character better though.

Yeah. True. I also thought that early-on. In the original series (for whatever reason, not sure whether he did or didn't, but came-off to me that way) Ash had more of an edge to him. He didn't feel as wishy-washy clean as he is now. I also thought that Ash getting his badges in non-conventional ways in the original series made them stand-out, even-though I understand many people have a problem with that.

I never got Charizard's rebelling against Ash though. He just kind-of did once Charmander evolved for what-ever reason. I heard a teenager theory about that. That did give us one of the best and most memorable episodes though. Charizard Chills.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Charmeleon/Charizard's rebellion makes sense via game mechanics, given Ash didn't necessarily earn enough badges legitimately and even within the logic of the anime, it could be seen as Charizard wanting to teach Ash that lesson, given he would only take on opponents worth his time (eg. Aerodactyl, Blaine's Magmar, Zippo, etc.). Still not as well written as it could've been, given it makes Charizard come off as a dick for forgetting Ash saved his life until it happens a second time, but still a more compelling character arc than any character post-Johto at least.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Charmeleon/Charizard's rebellion makes sense via game mechanics, given Ash didn't necessarily earn enough badges legitimately and even within the logic of the anime, it could be seen as Charizard wanting to teach Ash that lesson, given he would only take on opponents worth his time (eg. Aerodactyl, Blaine's Magmar, Zippo, etc.). Still not as well written as it could've been, given it makes Charizard come off as a dick for forgetting Ash saved his life until it happens a second time, but still a more compelling character arc than any character post-Johto at least.

Yeah. That's why I thought it was weird. Like he just forgot all that Ash did for him, even-though Ash did kind-of deserve it too.

 

[Super Saiyan Overlord1007]

XY(Z) > DP > AG > SM (So Far) >= OG = BW

Original Series
Plot: 6 (TR as a whole could've done more, and there could've been less filler, especially in Johto. Kanto is fine but Johto & OI...Johto League was cool, as was the Team Rocket/Lugia storyline, Ash/Gary's rivalry with hindsight wasn't that great since it was mostly Gary doing a lot trash talking without giving Ash a chance to prove him wrong and them only battling TWICE is 270+ episode series)

Characters: 7 (Brock and Misty were fine in Kanto, but in Johto they were staler than a year old bag of potato chips. Tracey was always cardboard).
Group Chemistry: 8 (Ash/Brock/Misty still have some of the best chemistry, however I can't say the same for Ash/TRACEY/Misty)
Ash Himself: 6 (I'm not too fond of pity badges, but I do like that he improved come Johto)

Overall: 6.5

Advanced Series
Plot: 7 (Team Aqua/Magma could've been more involved, but the adventure in Hoenn & Battle Frontier and May's Contest were fun)
Characters: 7.5 (May is my 2nd favorite girl and a big step up from Misty, I don't care for Max, and Brock is still a piece of furniture)
Group Chemistry: 7.5 (A step down from the OG group. Brock felt like he was friends with May and Max because they were friends with Ash at times).
Ash Himself: 7.5 (He's taking the initiative to train more, caught a good team, mature enough to mentor May, uses his head more, and retains some childishness)

Overall: 7.5

Diamond & Pearl
Plot: 8.5 (Team Galactic is probably the best organization, J is my favorite villain, a darker plot with Ash's best rival to date. Dawn's contest were fun as well)
Characters: 7 (I can see why Dawn's a fan-favorite, but she's in 3rd place for me. Brock is practically wallpaper at this point...)
Group Chemistry: 6 (Ash/Brock = Brothers, Ash/Dawn = Twin Siblings, Brock/Dawn = Associates through Ash)
Ash Himself: 8.5 (Mature/Competent/No longer a kid Brock is babysitting, learns from his mistakes and dwells on them to improve, had the tuition to use his older pokemon even if the most blatant case of Dues Ex Machina the anime has ever conceived stopped him from winning the Leauge, and had some childishness in him)

Overall: 8

Best Wishes
Plot: 6.5 (Team Plasma and Rocket were fine, pacing reminds me of Kanto a bit, although the 4-6 months of filler to stall for time for XY really hurt this series. I don't think it's as bad as some say it is.)

Characters: 6 (I like Iris and Cilan to an extent, they have personality but not much else. I like them better than Post-Kanto Brock & Misty)
Group Chemistry: 7 (A diet version of Ash/Brock/Misty if you will)
Ash Himself: 6 (How do you downgrade from Mature/Competent to immature/idiot? In Kanto you had the beginner excuse but now?)

Overall: 6.5

XY(Z)

Plot: 9 (Most fun I've ever had watching Pokémon, Badge Quest was great, I enjoyed Serena's TriPokalons, Sawyer and Alain are two of my favorite rivals of Ash, Team Flare is equally as good as Team Galactic and the climax is the best yet, I really enjoyed the Ash/Serena romance subplot. Out of 140 episodes, only TWELVE I thought were bad and that doesn't even equate to 10% of this series).

Characters: 9 (Imo Serena is the most human/developed female lead to date. Clemont is the most developed male companion of Ash, and Bonnie was Max done well and in my Top 5 of our 9 female leads. I thought everyone had a nice share of development, I enjoyed their episodes, and think collectively these are Ash's best companions.

Group Chemistry: 9 (Imo they closest knit group of the series whether it was a heavily focused pair: Ash/Serena, Clemont/Bonnie or a least focused one Ash/Bonnie, Serena/Clemont I enjoyed seeing these four interact. I felt like even though Ash/Serena were the stars, they all did feel like equals with everyone being important to the group/plot, and everyone having their time to reflect on how much they've grown instead of just Ash).

Ash Himself: 9 (Ash is again mature/competent, learns/dwells on his mistakes to improve, he's a leader this time around and gave SOME clarification on what a "Pokémon Master" is and felt the closest he's ever gotten to achieving that goal. Caught the best regional team yet, and got the farthest he's ever gotten in the league, and acts like he has five regions of experience on the battlefield and off of it despite still having a little childlike naivety in him).

Overall: 9

Sun & Moon Series

Plot: 6.5 (I'm not feeling the slice of life approach this series is taking. The school is practically a setting rather than something important like it was advertised, the adventure aspect isn't really present since Ash is stationed on Melemele Island 85-90% of the time and whenever he does leave said island he comes back after a few episodes, and while I enjoyed some of the Aether Arc. it felt really rushed).
Characters: 6.5 (I'll get to them)
Group Chemistry: 6.5-7 (Aside from Lillie/Mallow, Ash/Kiawe, Ash/Kukui, and MAYBE Ash/Lillie, I'm not feeling this group)
Ash Himself: 6.5 (He has his DP/XY Competence on the battlefield and SOMETIMES off of it, but it's like BW Ash all over again at times. WTF happened to you?)

Overall: 6.7
Characters: They have potential, but due to the LARGE AND INCREASING cast, it's obvious that passable growth/development will be SPARSE amongst this group and so far it really shows.

Lillie: While I enjoy her episodes, they're as formulaic as the anime itself and the recent Aether Arc. really hyper focused on her and just gave her a lot of development on a silver patter aiding to the rushed feeling of the Aether Arc. and felt unearned almost. One minute she's afraid to touch pokemon, she's slowly overcoming this, gets reset and has a relaspse, remembers what happened and now she's glomping on EVERYONE'S Pokémon.....that kind came pretty fast...

Kiawe: I like him, he's the least amount of development episodes (or ties with Mallow), but I've enjoyed them. He has a hot blooded personality which is fun to watch, but he suffers from lack of focus due to SM's large cast

Lana: She has potential thanks to the Akala Island Arc. giving her a Z-Ring, before this I thought she was the least interesting female lead, but like Kiawe, a lack of focus due to the large cast of SM...and she has the largest number of focus episodes behind Lillie...

Sophocles: Essentially a fatter version of Clemont, but nowhere near as cool, developed, or focused and Clemont by this point in XY had a good number of focus episodes and development. What makes this worse for Sophocles is that he has equally as many focus episodes of Lana (or just one less).

Mallow: Eye candy with equally as many episodes as Kiawe, but hers are substantially less interesting. Next to Sophocles she's been shafted the most. All she has is a likeable personality and the role of being "Team Mom" that tries to keep everyone together that's it.