*This video is much more ambitious than my usual videos! It was so much fun delving in real deep, in a video-essay style format, with more advanced editing and scripting. And I'd love to make more content like this if you guys enjoy* 😅 Come join our community Discord server to talk about Pokemon with me: discord.com/invite/Ftu9V5wrBN
There was said that in Pokémon Horizons, That Ash will ever come back, But... It is the question if it's true and I'm not sure about this. Sorry for telling you this, But I really wish that Ash will ever come back in Pokémon Horizons because I miss him too much. 😔
I actually am super cool with Ash’s story not being super tied to his family. Not that I’d be against it, but I was never craving the opportunity to learn more about his family; maybe cause I appreciated him and his friends’ perspective. As for Liko, I definitely see it as an evolution of the story. Ash and Liko being too similar would’ve probably hurt the series more than help. Also in the Secrets of the Jungle movie, Ash talks about his dad in a positive light. So I’d like to think they’re still close to an extent.
I completely agree! I think the best thing the writers could've done with a new protagonist is the polar OPPOSITE to what they did with Ash. If they made the new protag feel too similar to Ash then they would never stand on their own. Liko and her story being so different to Ash and his story is exactly what's making Horizons work well, in my eyes 😁
They are definitely close in movie ash world not in series ash world which could be why movie ash has a better grasp on aura then series ash because it comes from his dad being there to train him. In the series I just wanted a picture of him and quick backstory on how he met Delia and his starters which I would of wanted to be squirtle then they could of said he left and hasn’t been seen from since.
1:26 Also Delia: so there is a small group of terrorists chasing my son and trying to steal away his best friends, even setting up traps for him, yea I wont do shit about it.
And meanwhile once Lucca learned from Diana about the dangers Liko may face for having the pendant, she immediately contacts and hired Friede and the Rising Volt Tacklers to take care of her.
I can't help but think to that 15-second bit in the "Distant Blue Sky" special where Ash was crying to himself because he didn't get a chance to see his father. It didn't have to be much, it didn't have to be long. Five minutes could've been spared somewhere in 25 years to show the relationship between Ash and his father.
Distant Blue Sky is probably my favourite episode of the anime. Genuinely a masterpiece, with so much heart, soul, and emotion. It made me wish Ash could’ve seen his father so badly!
I think the difference in the exposure level of the characters' families also signifies the work culture of Japan, and even the globe in a broader sense. In the 1990s, families used to be tightly knit, even overwhelming in some aspects like pressure from relatives and the nudges to be more creative and unique. They promoted a new kind of independence, one that corporations would have wanted- someone far apart from family, low contact with friends who were away[no personal life, lack of work-life balance], always working to achieve his goals without the need for a community larger than a handful of people and always taking up challenges with a new perspective[an outstanding employee]. This is reflected in Ash with his nomadic commute, ever-changing groups of influence, strong rivals and undeterrable will. Today, the same corporations have to pay the employees to sleep. Every single person is so distant and so much lonelier that they fall into depression and have no one around, overwork beyond their capacity and tear everyone around them down to climb the social ladder. Here, Liko provides a narrative that pushes bio and found family to be integrated into people's lives while having the adventure of their lives. Liko is an empath who is considerate of everyone around her, and everyone is also considerate of her feelings. There is more community love because they do not want a mindless worker anymore, but are more concerned about people's mental health. Liko is doing everything Ash could and more, but she has more factors in her life rather than just a personal will. Ash's goal is his own, and Liko's goal is a branch from many lives colliding. This may be just me overthinking but this topic doubles as a commentary on how times have changed from trying to raise robot employees to actually building community with everyone around us. Sure, Ash isn't really a good metaphor for a corporate employee, but the comparison explains why the writers of that time handled his family the way they did.
It's sad to say that.. But Ash was never intended to be a complexe character with a lot of character developpement and complex backstory. He was just a "simple" protagonist for us the audience to recognize ourself easily in him
And even meant to be discarted after the first gen. It was only a miracle that made him last that long. Had they not done this, who knows how our Pokémon anime universe would look like? Anyway what matters is what we have now and not what was.
I love your perspective on this! Personally, in my humblest opinion, I think Ash's story was mainly focused on becoming the best version of himself and overcoming obstacles, whereas Liko's story is about carrying on a legacy paved by her family and living through and around that. While watching Ash on his journey's, he doesn't have a lot of character development, which makes his motivates distinct from other characters, where they actually have some character development. Ash's personality is much of a child, and his actions are based upon the mood of the situation (or where a circumstance begins, much seen in the anime). Ash's other friends have plenty of more family development, which makes them distinct from Ash. Ash's story is mainly of coming-to-age and growth, where he grows and matures through life, learning new perspectives from others. Liko's story is rooted through family, and her story is about paving a way for a good future, and carrying on her legacy. It's almost like Liko's story was fated, whereas Ash's story was like "learn as you go." Other than that, I personally agree with everything you said in this video! :)
Man ever since ash beat Leon they have really been doing him dirty in so many ways it's just unacceptable First they treat his monarch title like he never got it by making him lose his last ever battle, and NOT getting anymore wins to redeem himself for it. I do not care if it was meant to be a friendly match, or if Ash wasn't using his World Champion team, there is no way Misty should be able to beat someone masters eight level, when she's not even in the World Coronation Series herself. If you're ending ash's last ever fight with a loss after what he just achieved, that is a massive insult Then they screw him over with a legendary by making Ash bond with a Latias, for NOTHING. LITERALLY, NOTHING. We all thought he was going to catch her in Aim To Be Mid, and he failed. Nebby isn't enough since he never caught it and i don't care what the writers said. It does not count. Liko on the other hand, DOES manage to catch a legendary in a proper fashion after befriending Terapagos and traveling with it, proving THEIR bond was not for nothing Then they don't even give him a proper epilogue lile he deserved which was ruined in large part due to what i previously said, plus tons of filler, not finding out what a Pokemon master is until it's too late, and making team rocket go through another rehash of their previous arguments instead of making them just quit or even stay split up after their last fight with Ash. I don't care if they were no longer friends after this, they're nothing more than losers who are hopeless cases at being villains. If they were to reunite after their argument, they should have quit the team and moved on with their lives. A far better epilogue for Ash would be for him to reunite with older companions besides Misty, Brock and Cilan, defend his alola champion title, face Lance in a battle, bring down Team Rocket permanently, deal with Greninja's vine problem and settle the score with Alain, plus give him the Latias he deserved. But no, the writers were too stupid to do any of that. I may give Black and White grief where it's deserved but THIS was just as bad, if not worse than it Then they basically treat Ash like he doesn't exist with Horizons barely even referencing him. While i'm not complaining that Ash isn't the main character anymore, it wouldn't kill them to at least properly acknowledge his existence or that Horizons is in the same timeline as Ash so they're actually connected. At least Chronicles did that And now they make Liko's family more prevalent, AND present than Ashs ever was. We got his mom sure, but we never got to see who his dad was. Only subtle references to him. Plus the infamous bait they threw us in one of Ashs final specials was just extra salt to the wound. Like what the absolute heck? Meanwhile Liko's dad is actually seen and more of her ancestors are revealed in Horizons. That is far more than Ash ever got It's like the anime has begun to hate Ash with how badly they have been treating him as of late. As if they haven't insulted him enough
It's not just with Liko, Horizons has themes of family (both blood related and found) all over. It's just something they decided to explore with this series. I'd summarize what Horizons is about is that it's about adventure, self-discovery and family. While Ash's anime was more about competition, overcoming challenges. It's not always the case since it lasted for over 20 years and all that (Sun/Moon for example is very different and that's why it tends to stand out so much both with fans and haters) but I feel the driving force was always more "what's the next challenge Ash and gang will face down the road" while Horizons is more "What Liko and gang will discover next" (meaning both discovering as in uncovering plot stuff and in the development sense). So Ash is always running forward and there's no time to really stop and circle back to his family history. There's no need for it because Ash's story is his journey to be a Pokémon Master. While Liko's story starts with the mystery of her family heirloom, so it naturally leads to learning more about said family. There's also the fact Horizons likely had a general draft planned from the beginning while the Ash anime was something nobody expected would last so long and go through so many re-inventions while trying to keep continuity. Horizons being built from the ground up without being constrained by expectations set by previous seasons the planning phases for Ash's later more story-driven anime outings (DP, XY, SM) probably had, or by the fact it seems to be working towards a conclusion instead of being a road without an end in sight allows it to just dive deeper into the main characters' personal history and development in a way Ash's anime could only afford to do for companions who were already slated to leave.
That doesn’t mean they couldn’t of spent 5-10min shown ash dad in a picture and had Delia do a montage of there life and what his starter was squirtle is my choice and how he left and never came back because he didn’t like being tied down and that ash aura abilities comes from his dad. Also say he sends them money every month or give Delia a job and a Pokémon of her own I have always disliked adults without 1 Pokémon of there own.
@@shadowwizard2383 The second part of my commend is why I think they never did it. Since there's no clear path, they probably were stuck between "can we even reveal anything about Ash's dad when previous anime iterations didn't do it?" and "do we do something with his dad now or save it for later?" and they just ended up never resolving it (as the team that ultimately got to finish the anime probably didn't care for it).
The standalone episode "Distant Blue Sky" made me think that Ash is finally going see his father (which never happened) and has been hanging out with the spirit of Sunny (a young boy who passed away years ago), it was also very emotional seeing Ash cry while eating his croquettes
The thing is, when pokemon first started alot of the people who are wanting more depth for ash's character were at the time kids that didn't care about that sort of stuff.
Great vid! Love it as a depper dive. And yeah, they're both stories good in their own way. No two journeys are the same, even with the same components! ...I still hope we get to see Ash show up in Horizons though, even as a cameo. Also because Im curious what progression of time, if any, happened!
I’m starting to love the history of Ash’s ancestors and Liko’s ancestors. It’s clear to me now. It’s all coming to puzzle. Both Sir Arron of Lucario’s bloodline of Aura and previous Greninja’s bond phenomenon trainer who are bloodline of Greninja are Ash’s Ancestors. While Lucius and Lystal are Liko’s Ancestors.
I really enjoyed this type of video, I like the change in the story. ash knew what he wanted from the beginning but liko was In questions about what she wanted so the writer's gave her a path to follow. and along the plot she's developed a independents but also allowing others to support her. I have really enjoyed the horizon anime
I absolutely agree with you, both of the anime are polar opposites, one followed a standard plot of battling through the gyms to participate in the pokemon league and another is focusing more on world building and story telling so arguing which is better doesn't make any sense. But yeah that doesn't change the fact that at least the writers could've shown us a little glimpse of ash meeting his dad or at least knowing who his dad was in this 25 years, that's a little disappointing. Also I loved the way how horizons went for a different narrative of story telling which feels like a breath of fresh air and arguably horizons delve into a more mature setting which follows the theme of love, betrayal, anti-hero and also the villains feels like a real threat now. Pokemon journeys started this trend of exploration of the pokemon world which horizons made even better. I love both of the anime and I've been a watching pokemon since season 1 haha, but I really think that our ash deserved a better ending, it felt like a rush and I'm still salty about it that we didn't get a proper ending. Also, I genuinely believe that that concept of becoming a pokemon master should've been something solid which can be achievable rather than a vague concept of befriending every pokemon in the world which is practically impossible/ will take infinite time.
No offense, but you didn't get Ash's journey, that's not what it's about at all. And a pokemon master what has been built up to from the very start of the series, it couldn't possibly be anything else, that would be poor writing. Also, it is mature and Journeys ended fantastically, the only possible way it could end.
I was disappointed we didn’t get to see Ash’s father through out ash’s story and was only mentioned either by him or his mother and in the special episode Distant Blue Sky when it looked like Ash was finally going to see his father he met a boy who was a ghost and had passed away from illness and met his parents and sadly he missed meeting up with his own father and Delia told him he had already been and left but he left him a new hat as ash had given his old one to a wild Mankey it would have been a nice way to end Ash’s journey but it wasn’t to be thanks Pokeferlax for sharing this interesting video and looking forward to seeing more from you next time 👍❤️🦊❄️
So many years later, I still think it a sort of weird detail that the closest we got to an official "Ash's dad" was in a probably not official stage play that featured Giovanni in the role. Back in like, season 2-3.
Big agree with your points!! Ash was creating his own legacy with the help of his friends and Pokemon without needing help from his parents. While Liko's been following in the footsteps of her great grandparents, carrying forward their legacy while overcoming challenges of her own along the way!
In my school vr game there was a recent mission that revealed something big that is basically a game changer (The rising Volt Tacklers and Ultra Guardians were able to recover Goalius long thought dead father King Magnus alive but injured with a stab wound to the spine they did take him to the Ather foundation which he explained alot about what's going with both The Ultra Beast and Triadians near extinction born from fear and mediocrity which they did locate Goalius but he is in combat) just to note in the Trailer he had Ash voice actor but in the mission and onwards, Zestials/Vortex/Asmodeus voice actor took the raings (Ash voice actor chose to leave it to the next voice actor after seeing his roles)
Do I have a final tomorrow? Yes. Am I going to watch a deep comparative analysis between the family trees of two 10-year-olds who traverse the world with small colourful gremlins? Also Yes. (Who studies for English exams anyway??)
The original plan for Ash was to have him meet his father and his mother was meant to detest Ash for leaving her like her father did for Pokémon battling. But they scrapped that and decided after much consideration that his family didn't matter, because what matters is that he is Ash, and not someone with an impressive lineage. His family was pretty much unimportant and as the most powerful Pokémon once said: "It is not the circumstances in which you are born with that determine who you are, but what you do with the gift of life"! Liko is the same, she might have an impressive lineage, but what she does with it matters. The feelings you are entrusted with will express diffrently. So Liko likewise has to put it to good use and not let her pressure overtake her. Finally I think there is a better person to compare Liko to, someone from the same land where she recieved knowledge of her ancestry, someone, who even looks a lot like her and has some of her habits...that someone, you could guess.
ash is an arrow blindly shot from the beginning. he didn't need a proper backstory or a concrete goal to begin with. he's a trainer who likes pokemon and pokemon battles, that's it. if he produces a lot of money and be successful as he is and he did, there's no need for the writers to make him a complex character and that has been the case for two decades. liko on the other hand is an arrow waiting to be fired sitting in a properly drawn bow. it's the perk of having a new series, to start from scratch and learn from the pervious era. she still hasn't have a personal goal that does not include terapagos and her family but her character has been built up so well early already. whether she decides to become a battler, a traveler, a professor whatever, with an already solid foundation of her character, it'll be easier for the writers to let her explore different paths. that said, with how the old formula was presented, we never really need to know ash's dad not for the sake of just knowing him. ash is just a representative of the anime to promote the games. he's just a marketable character that's easy to the eyes.
You are right on the biological aspect, but during the sun and moon series ash kind of had an adoptive family and all the Pokémon he’s ever caught are his family as well AU Ash also has hints about his own dad
Absolutely amazing video bro!! i can see the work that was put into this and it paid off! Great topic and very nice discussion! i like the themes here and it really puts a positive outlook on the ways each character's story was told.
while at first i wanted to see where the serries goes from here but quickly Liko had a lot in commen with me when i was her age so i got invested pretty quickly and then they throw in insane amounts of lore which im all for it ^^
I really don't get how people think showing Liko's family is somehow an insult to Ash. To believe that Liko getting a plot tied to her family is somehow an insult to Ash treats storytelling of two different series a zero sum which certainly is not the case.
For me, the idea of not exploring Ash's family just became more weird as time went on. Many characters' stories were heavily tied to their family especially Lillie and Gladion , plus Misty, Brock, May, Hop and others. Hell, Mallow had a whole episode dedicated to exploring her deceased mother. One of the things that people love in Generation 3 is that we the player character finally have a known father.
i absolutly agree i dont think that people should hate one anime because theres not the same character and i am gratefull that they expanded on their world and their characters
Ash journey is just simply a kid going into journey to become the best pokemon trainer in the world, and alongside the road he forms really good bonds with pokemon. Liko tale on other hand is a tail that spans generations of her family, which is more difficult to craft in my opinion. Overoll Pokemon Horizons anime has more debt than the old one with Ash as main protagonist.
I think because they refused to acknowledge Ash’s progress or any continuity and rebooted him every series ever since the original series I just stopped caring about Ash or his family XD his only family didn’t even care when he was kidnapped by TR right in front of her
I can agree with the statement that Ash’s dad wasn’t important to his journey, mainly bc for many years the writers had no reason to write in ash’s father. The only time he did appear it was a one time gimmick and leaves after the episode ends anyways, throughout the series Ash’s dad’s relevancy to the story was non existent compared to Liko’s family as it started with Lucius and Rsytal and her family is important to her story mainly cause it involves them as the terapagos pendant was an heirloom from Liko’s grandma and it gives these anonymous family members relevancy to the story of Pokémon horizons
I believe Pokémon Horizons is a testament to how far the Pokémon anime has come. Also, I wish the Pokémon anime could explore Ash's family to clear up that mystery that a lot of others & I want to know.
I just wanted to say, i don't take Liko's family history as an insult to Ash's, but it's still really sad that we never got to see Ash's family, at least his father since he's a powerful Pokémon trainer. Also, just wanted to say, Kukui and Burnet are Ash's alternate parents.
I always had the impression that the writers presented Ash as a player avatar or a visitor from another dimension, and not a character born in the world of Pokemon 🙄
I guess in the beginning when Pokemon was being introduced to the world through the anime, as many kids experienced it back in the late 90s and early 2000s, the PKMN company wanted to push the idea of Pokemon to enter the zeitgeist and not so much the human characters. And it worked!
I would of been totally fine just spending 5-10min where Delia shows a picture of ash dad and does a montage of there life and his starter is squirtle and he couldn’t stand being tied down to 1 place so he left them and sends a check every month or give Delia a job and a Pokémon of her own. Also have ash aura abilities come from his dad. Like I really can’t see ash settling down in 1 place ether I think he will be like the RVT where his home travels and if he does have a lover and kids they will also live and travel with him.
The feel that im having and thinking about this since beginning was that Ash ketchum's father was Ash only it could be his backstory on his journey so yea the theory for me is that Ash was not part of this story but it is actually the father of unborn ash ketchum ...
A VIDEO ESSAY! Booooi I'm so excited! I can engage with this one, man. Okay some thoughts. No particular order. - I've been very behind the idea that Ash's story never needed to get super mature. They had shown us over the years that they could write these stories outside of Ash's anime for years, and what I really think they should have done was put the resources in to have the two run side-by-side. Had they done this, a lot of the conflict we're seeing would not be so strong, because there would not be this feeling that they gave up the potential in their long-standing face of the brand (more on this later) for this fresh new face that they could suddenly apparently write really well for. - Speaking on Ash's found family, I 100% agree. But found-family stories are stronger when we know why the character needs one. They always kind of... refused to dive fully into any potential reason for this. They hint at him being a loner but won't touch him being bullied as envisioned for him in the novelization. They express that his dad i is absent, but don't show that this has an effect on Ash. If they did either of these things, the need to meet him at all would be less. But meeting his dad doesn't undermine his story. It would have paralleled Brock's. It could have opened up the opportunity for Ash to think about how it felt to not have him there and to express appreciation for the family he built up over the years. We could have never seen his dad again and it probably would've been immensely satisfying. - Last thing I wanna touch on is that the fandom, including yourself, has had all of these amazing ideas for where Ash could go for decades. DECADES. As a writer I am HARDLY gonna sit here and claim that the writers needed to implement our ideas. What I AM saying is that it is extremely frustrating to watch a team seemingly not know what to do with THEIR character and you're sitting here like "hand him to me. I'll do it myself." And you're watching the ENTIRE fandom feel that way. It feels like they've given up on someone you've cared about your whole life and you're sitting here like how? Why? There was still so much story left to tell. And I'm not gonna bog this point down with where I think his story could've gone, that's not the point I'm here to make. Kay so with all these three things in mind. I don't think that fans wanting to see like the bare minimum of Ash's dad explored undermines the idea of Liko's story being a celebration of how their storytelling has grown. It would still be a simple story, and it would still be one with a totally different focus. And to be honest, if they did run alongside each other, you'd be able to appreciate that difference even more. And to be clear, I agree with your thesis Hopefully I successfully expanded upon why I think fans of Ash's story would find this upsetting but also why I think both his AND Liko's stories have strong enough identities that adding Ash's dad wouldn't fundamentally undermine the differences between the two. Really enjoyed your work here, Fer. Hope you enjoyed it! Hope we get to see more! ❤
Ahhhh thank you SO much for such a kind & lengthy & thoughtful & insightful comment! I genuinely really enjoyed reading your thoughts, and find myself agreeing with much of what you're saying. I agree that it's genuinely very frustrating seeing the writers not really do much with Ash's character for decades, and then retiring him JUST as they beginning to explore interesting topics (like Aura, and hinting towards his father, etc.!) - I hope that someday, if Ash returns, that the writers will no longer have the fears/limitations that they had exploring his character in the past. I always wished for more exploration of Ash's character, regardless of whether that includes his family or not. And I totally understand what you mean - wishing to see Ash's dad etc. doesn't undermine how the anime has evolved - even I would've loved to see Ash's dad haha. But in hindsight I do think that Liko's story being SO family-focused is a great change and distinction from Ash's, which helps her stand on her own even more 😁
I completely agree with your opinion. Ash's whole journey was about forging new bonds and a path completely his. Besides, I am just glad at how one detail led to so many fan theories and fan stories. I am myself creating my own story regarding Ash's father.
I have a theory about Ash's Father, in pokemon Chronicles Richie asks a Man named Sliver about Ash and he some how know him but Ash never met Sliver throughout his story he does however have a chikorita an Salamence that could reference Ash's Pikachu and Charizard?
Dude, from the beginning. This show never wanted ash as a family guy. It was all about POKEMON!!!!! So now the story of the original to this one is... Different? I blame the writers of the anime
I don't know to be honest. It would have been nice to know about what Ash's family really is like, but it seems like the writers and directors wanted to focus on Ash's companions, not his family while it seems like Horizons is the other way around where the mystery of Liko's family has an enormous influence on why things are the way they are in Horizons. That's how I see this situation at the moment. 😊
I would say it's not necessary to always have the absent parent play a major role in the story. Just give background info sooner in a narrative so as not to give the impression that details are kept for a planned reason.
I feel like if the initial anime was written by someone else instead of the man that played loose with the canon Ash's dad could have shown up, but it wouldnt have had much impact. I do feel like Horizons is doing more with character building though, but this anime isnt doing a retelling of any of the game stories, necessitating the extra detail. Though I feel Liko's story doesn't have the lasting power of Ash's cause there seems to already be and end goal.
Ash's dad never matter to the story. If he was a big important character we would have surely met him before Ash left the series. The writers clearly didn't care or want to tell a story about Ash's dad. As far as they are concerned, he is just Ash's dad, nothing more, nothing less, and that is something the fans will just have to deal with.
The only thing i know is Ash desceant is aura guardian, i mean think about it,theres bunch of trainer with lucario but only Ash,Aaron and Riley who can use aura, Riley is relatives with Aaron because of this exclusive power and so do Ash, not counting Ash throw small logs of tree viewed as huge tree, or Ash carrying cosmeom despite it use "anti gravity" aura is the only Canon super power Ash have While Lucius family line don't have super power at all
I hope that Ash and Delia will be able to reunite with Mr. Ketchum, even if it's off screen/ in another timeline/ parallel world/ alternate reality. Maybe someday! One can only hope! 🙏🤞😊
Clearly, there's some discord between the fans that you're trying to clear up lol But no all seriousness, this kind of content is well drafted. You should do stuff like this more along with review videos.
Nope.... Ash true dad is KAKAROT That's would explain why he can lift and throw Log to save Bagon and can lifted Cosmog Because he's half breed Saiyans 😂
One thing simple. Liko's family was a core to the Horizons storyline being Liko as a descendant of Lucius. Ash's don't matter at all, as it doesn't linked to its storyline, Ash aimed to be a Pokemon Master. Where does his dad go into the picture, eh?
I always found it weird that the Ash era hardly ever explored his family and their legacy. I get that Ash is meant to be a simple character, but even simple characters can have depth and lore to them. They do at times gave us hints that Ash was bullied as a kid, but even that’s hardly touched on While I wouldn’t consider Liko’s story to be this “done right”, since I do think it’s meant to drive home the idea that the person who did something great really could’ve been anyone, one of the major themes of the franchise… I do think it’s really neat that Liko’s family is being explored to such an extent and it’s a good representation of the new direction the anime is taking. It’s good that they’re making the anime more deep and complex in its storytelling if you ask me
Personally I prefer it as it was when it came to Ash’s story not doing with family what Horizons is doing with Liko’s as it feels more inspirational. In Ash’s case, he’s just a regular kid from a small town. Nothing special to his family, there was no following in another’s footsteps and wasn’t given anything beyond his mother’s unwavering support. He was just a kid with a dream who built himself up from zero from the people he met and the adventures he had, growing to become the world champion. Contrast that with Liko’s where the story basically has come to revolve around her family’s legacy as she now follows in the footsteps of her great great grandparents, even inheriting her great great grandmother’s partner from the start and tracking down her great great grandfather’s Pokémon to stop the same person who betrayed them long ago. While there’s not anything particularly negative about legacy, it feels less inspiring imo
,,In Ash’s case, he’s just a regular kid from a small town." Ash is no ordinary kid, he is the descendant of Sir Aaron, from whom he inherited the ability to use aura.
Honestly Horizon complaints really need to be taken with a grain of salt. They’re either genuine and honest critiques or people just throwing a tantrum over Ash being gone.
I'm pretty happy that Ash wasn't a father to Liko. Would've really made a messy transition. Personally never cared for finding out Ash's dad. Great video! I can tell you spent a lot of work on it!!
*This video is much more ambitious than my usual videos! It was so much fun delving in real deep, in a video-essay style format, with more advanced editing and scripting. And I'd love to make more content like this if you guys enjoy* 😅
Come join our community Discord server to talk about Pokemon with me: discord.com/invite/Ftu9V5wrBN
Still nice video
Do it. We love to get more of your insights into deep Pokemon subjects/lore.
There was said that in Pokémon Horizons, That Ash will ever come back, But... It is the question if it's true and I'm not sure about this. Sorry for telling you this, But I really wish that Ash will ever come back in Pokémon Horizons because I miss him too much. 😔
4th
I really enjoyed this video, Pokeferlax.
I actually am super cool with Ash’s story not being super tied to his family. Not that I’d be against it, but I was never craving the opportunity to learn more about his family; maybe cause I appreciated him and his friends’ perspective. As for Liko, I definitely see it as an evolution of the story. Ash and Liko being too similar would’ve probably hurt the series more than help.
Also in the Secrets of the Jungle movie, Ash talks about his dad in a positive light. So I’d like to think they’re still close to an extent.
I completely agree! I think the best thing the writers could've done with a new protagonist is the polar OPPOSITE to what they did with Ash. If they made the new protag feel too similar to Ash then they would never stand on their own. Liko and her story being so different to Ash and his story is exactly what's making Horizons work well, in my eyes 😁
They are definitely close in movie ash world not in series ash world which could be why movie ash has a better grasp on aura then series ash because it comes from his dad being there to train him. In the series I just wanted a picture of him and quick backstory on how he met Delia and his starters which I would of wanted to be squirtle then they could of said he left and hasn’t been seen from since.
1:26
Also Delia: so there is a small group of terrorists chasing my son and trying to steal away his best friends, even setting up traps for him, yea I wont do shit about it.
LOL I guess Delia had a lot of confidence in Ash, hoping he could handle it fine 🤣
And meanwhile once Lucca learned from Diana about the dangers Liko may face for having the pendant, she immediately contacts and hired Friede and the Rising Volt Tacklers to take care of her.
@@Pokeferlaxand, to her credit, he handled them practically flawlessly
@@theonlineninja7596 I mean, in Delia's defence, she probably ain't that rich to employ a security crew to follow Ash throughout the region.
I can't help but think to that 15-second bit in the "Distant Blue Sky" special where Ash was crying to himself because he didn't get a chance to see his father. It didn't have to be much, it didn't have to be long. Five minutes could've been spared somewhere in 25 years to show the relationship between Ash and his father.
Bro that episode ode made me cry 😢, it was so meaningful and had a deep message.🔥😭
Distant Blue Sky is probably my favourite episode of the anime. Genuinely a masterpiece, with so much heart, soul, and emotion. It made me wish Ash could’ve seen his father so badly!
One of the worst clickbaits in the anime
@@Pokeferlaxwe all should have seen his dad
ash was crying cz he could eat his mothers food and get her love and sunny couldn’t, it wasn’t for his father
I think the difference in the exposure level of the characters' families also signifies the work culture of Japan, and even the globe in a broader sense.
In the 1990s, families used to be tightly knit, even overwhelming in some aspects like pressure from relatives and the nudges to be more creative and unique. They promoted a new kind of independence, one that corporations would have wanted- someone far apart from family, low contact with friends who were away[no personal life, lack of work-life balance], always working to achieve his goals without the need for a community larger than a handful of people and always taking up challenges with a new perspective[an outstanding employee]. This is reflected in Ash with his nomadic commute, ever-changing groups of influence, strong rivals and undeterrable will.
Today, the same corporations have to pay the employees to sleep. Every single person is so distant and so much lonelier that they fall into depression and have no one around, overwork beyond their capacity and tear everyone around them down to climb the social ladder. Here, Liko provides a narrative that pushes bio and found family to be integrated into people's lives while having the adventure of their lives. Liko is an empath who is considerate of everyone around her, and everyone is also considerate of her feelings. There is more community love because they do not want a mindless worker anymore, but are more concerned about people's mental health. Liko is doing everything Ash could and more, but she has more factors in her life rather than just a personal will. Ash's goal is his own, and Liko's goal is a branch from many lives colliding.
This may be just me overthinking but this topic doubles as a commentary on how times have changed from trying to raise robot employees to actually building community with everyone around us. Sure, Ash isn't really a good metaphor for a corporate employee, but the comparison explains why the writers of that time handled his family the way they did.
Both ash and Liko are opposite main characters
It's sad to say that.. But Ash was never intended to be a complexe character with a lot of character developpement and complex backstory.
He was just a "simple" protagonist for us the audience to recognize ourself easily in him
And even meant to be discarted after the first gen. It was only a miracle that made him last that long. Had they not done this, who knows how our Pokémon anime universe would look like?
Anyway what matters is what we have now and not what was.
That's no excuse to screw over his family like that
He is a complex character with the most development in fiction. You didn't understand his character then.
🤷♂️
@natalimoina typical overused excuse by anyone who just takes any writing blindly
I love your perspective on this! Personally, in my humblest opinion, I think Ash's story was mainly focused on becoming the best version of himself and overcoming obstacles, whereas Liko's story is about carrying on a legacy paved by her family and living through and around that. While watching Ash on his journey's, he doesn't have a lot of character development, which makes his motivates distinct from other characters, where they actually have some character development. Ash's personality is much of a child, and his actions are based upon the mood of the situation (or where a circumstance begins, much seen in the anime). Ash's other friends have plenty of more family development, which makes them distinct from Ash. Ash's story is mainly of coming-to-age and growth, where he grows and matures through life, learning new perspectives from others. Liko's story is rooted through family, and her story is about paving a way for a good future, and carrying on her legacy. It's almost like Liko's story was fated, whereas Ash's story was like "learn as you go." Other than that, I personally agree with everything you said in this video! :)
Ash has some of the most character development in fiction, maybe the most lol
Fair points and opinions.
Although, i think Satoshi’s Journey took way too long and wasn’t handled the best either at times.
Man ever since ash beat Leon they have really been doing him dirty in so many ways it's just unacceptable
First they treat his monarch title like he never got it by making him lose his last ever battle, and NOT getting anymore wins to redeem himself for it. I do not care if it was meant to be a friendly match, or if Ash wasn't using his World Champion team, there is no way Misty should be able to beat someone masters eight level, when she's not even in the World Coronation Series herself. If you're ending ash's last ever fight with a loss after what he just achieved, that is a massive insult
Then they screw him over with a legendary by making Ash bond with a Latias, for NOTHING. LITERALLY, NOTHING. We all thought he was going to catch her in Aim To Be Mid, and he failed. Nebby isn't enough since he never caught it and i don't care what the writers said. It does not count. Liko on the other hand, DOES manage to catch a legendary in a proper fashion after befriending Terapagos and traveling with it, proving THEIR bond was not for nothing
Then they don't even give him a proper epilogue lile he deserved which was ruined in large part due to what i previously said, plus tons of filler, not finding out what a Pokemon master is until it's too late, and making team rocket go through another rehash of their previous arguments instead of making them just quit or even stay split up after their last fight with Ash. I don't care if they were no longer friends after this, they're nothing more than losers who are hopeless cases at being villains. If they were to reunite after their argument, they should have quit the team and moved on with their lives. A far better epilogue for Ash would be for him to reunite with older companions besides Misty, Brock and Cilan, defend his alola champion title, face Lance in a battle, bring down Team Rocket permanently, deal with Greninja's vine problem and settle the score with Alain, plus give him the Latias he deserved. But no, the writers were too stupid to do any of that. I may give Black and White grief where it's deserved but THIS was just as bad, if not worse than it
Then they basically treat Ash like he doesn't exist with Horizons barely even referencing him. While i'm not complaining that Ash isn't the main character anymore, it wouldn't kill them to at least properly acknowledge his existence or that Horizons is in the same timeline as Ash so they're actually connected. At least Chronicles did that
And now they make Liko's family more prevalent, AND present than Ashs ever was. We got his mom sure, but we never got to see who his dad was. Only subtle references to him. Plus the infamous bait they threw us in one of Ashs final specials was just extra salt to the wound. Like what the absolute heck? Meanwhile Liko's dad is actually seen and more of her ancestors are revealed in Horizons. That is far more than Ash ever got
It's like the anime has begun to hate Ash with how badly they have been treating him as of late. As if they haven't insulted him enough
If the Rising Volt Tacklers meet Ash’s dad, that would be wild 😂
If they meet him before Ash meets him I will lose my mind 😆
It's not just with Liko, Horizons has themes of family (both blood related and found) all over. It's just something they decided to explore with this series.
I'd summarize what Horizons is about is that it's about adventure, self-discovery and family.
While Ash's anime was more about competition, overcoming challenges. It's not always the case since it lasted for over 20 years and all that (Sun/Moon for example is very different and that's why it tends to stand out so much both with fans and haters) but I feel the driving force was always more "what's the next challenge Ash and gang will face down the road" while Horizons is more "What Liko and gang will discover next" (meaning both discovering as in uncovering plot stuff and in the development sense).
So Ash is always running forward and there's no time to really stop and circle back to his family history. There's no need for it because Ash's story is his journey to be a Pokémon Master. While Liko's story starts with the mystery of her family heirloom, so it naturally leads to learning more about said family.
There's also the fact Horizons likely had a general draft planned from the beginning while the Ash anime was something nobody expected would last so long and go through so many re-inventions while trying to keep continuity. Horizons being built from the ground up without being constrained by expectations set by previous seasons the planning phases for Ash's later more story-driven anime outings (DP, XY, SM) probably had, or by the fact it seems to be working towards a conclusion instead of being a road without an end in sight allows it to just dive deeper into the main characters' personal history and development in a way Ash's anime could only afford to do for companions who were already slated to leave.
That doesn’t mean they couldn’t of spent 5-10min shown ash dad in a picture and had Delia do a montage of there life and what his starter was squirtle is my choice and how he left and never came back because he didn’t like being tied down and that ash aura abilities comes from his dad. Also say he sends them money every month or give Delia a job and a Pokémon of her own I have always disliked adults without 1 Pokémon of there own.
@@shadowwizard2383 The second part of my commend is why I think they never did it. Since there's no clear path, they probably were stuck between "can we even reveal anything about Ash's dad when previous anime iterations didn't do it?" and "do we do something with his dad now or save it for later?" and they just ended up never resolving it (as the team that ultimately got to finish the anime probably didn't care for it).
@@42Caio I still would of liked just a photo and quick montage of his life like they did with Diana and just say ash aura powers came from him.
Ash's journey wasn't constrained, it had all the freedom it could ever want. Horizons is constrained by its format and story.
The standalone episode "Distant Blue Sky" made me think that Ash is finally going see his father (which never happened) and has been hanging out with the spirit of Sunny (a young boy who passed away years ago), it was also very emotional seeing Ash cry while eating his croquettes
And also insulting when we were baited into thinking we would see Ash's dad, only for it to not happen
Plot twist: Liko and gang meet ash's father in horizons 😅
Horizons might not be a the same universe so probably not.
The thing is, when pokemon first started alot of the people who are wanting more depth for ash's character were at the time kids that didn't care about that sort of stuff.
His character has enormous depth
Great vid! Love it as a depper dive. And yeah, they're both stories good in their own way. No two journeys are the same, even with the same components!
...I still hope we get to see Ash show up in Horizons though, even as a cameo. Also because Im curious what progression of time, if any, happened!
I’m starting to love the history of Ash’s ancestors and Liko’s ancestors. It’s clear to me now. It’s all coming to puzzle. Both Sir Arron of Lucario’s bloodline of Aura and previous Greninja’s bond phenomenon trainer who are bloodline of Greninja are Ash’s Ancestors. While Lucius and Lystal are Liko’s Ancestors.
I'm still glad Liko now has her family tree! 💙
This was such a great video about Ash's and Liko's families.
Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm really happy you enjoyed!
@@Pokeferlax You're very welcome, Pokeferlax!😊
@@jediclonekag13Agreed! It isn’t every day we get to explore some family lore, so this was nice!
I really enjoyed this type of video, I like the change in the story. ash knew what he wanted from the beginning but liko was In questions about what she wanted so the writer's gave her a path to follow. and along the plot she's developed a independents but also allowing others to support her. I have really enjoyed the horizon anime
I absolutely agree with you, both of the anime are polar opposites, one followed a standard plot of battling through the gyms to participate in the pokemon league and another is focusing more on world building and story telling so arguing which is better doesn't make any sense. But yeah that doesn't change the fact that at least the writers could've shown us a little glimpse of ash meeting his dad or at least knowing who his dad was in this 25 years, that's a little disappointing. Also I loved the way how horizons went for a different narrative of story telling which feels like a breath of fresh air and arguably horizons delve into a more mature setting which follows the theme of love, betrayal, anti-hero and also the villains feels like a real threat now. Pokemon journeys started this trend of exploration of the pokemon world which horizons made even better. I love both of the anime and I've been a watching pokemon since season 1 haha, but I really think that our ash deserved a better ending, it felt like a rush and I'm still salty about it that we didn't get a proper ending. Also, I genuinely believe that that concept of becoming a pokemon master should've been something solid which can be achievable rather than a vague concept of befriending every pokemon in the world which is practically impossible/ will take infinite time.
No offense, but you didn't get Ash's journey, that's not what it's about at all. And a pokemon master what has been built up to from the very start of the series, it couldn't possibly be anything else, that would be poor writing. Also, it is mature and Journeys ended fantastically, the only possible way it could end.
I was disappointed we didn’t get to see Ash’s father through out ash’s story and was only mentioned either by him or his mother and in the special episode Distant Blue Sky when it looked like Ash was finally going to see his father he met a boy who was a ghost and had passed away from illness and met his parents and sadly he missed meeting up with his own father and Delia told him he had already been and left but he left him a new hat as ash had given his old one to a wild Mankey it would have been a nice way to end Ash’s journey but it wasn’t to be thanks Pokeferlax for sharing this interesting video and looking forward to seeing more from you next time 👍❤️🦊❄️
Not ash though
So many years later, I still think it a sort of weird detail that the closest we got to an official "Ash's dad" was in a probably not official stage play that featured Giovanni in the role. Back in like, season 2-3.
And even then, the play stated that Ash's dad got her *away* from Giovanni, meaning Giovanni in the Pokémon Live universe isn't Ash's dad.
@@thanetastic5608 Ah. I'd only read about it. Still have the video in my history backlog.
Big agree with your points!! Ash was creating his own legacy with the help of his friends and Pokemon without needing help from his parents. While Liko's been following in the footsteps of her great grandparents, carrying forward their legacy while overcoming challenges of her own along the way!
In my school vr game there was a recent mission that revealed something big that is basically a game changer (The rising Volt Tacklers and Ultra Guardians were able to recover Goalius long thought dead father King Magnus alive but injured with a stab wound to the spine they did take him to the Ather foundation which he explained alot about what's going with both The Ultra Beast and Triadians near extinction born from fear and mediocrity which they did locate Goalius but he is in combat) just to note in the Trailer he had Ash voice actor but in the mission and onwards, Zestials/Vortex/Asmodeus voice actor took the raings (Ash voice actor chose to leave it to the next voice actor after seeing his roles)
Really well done! Hope to see more video essays from you soon!
Thanks a lot Alex! I really really appreciate it! 😁
Do I have a final tomorrow? Yes.
Am I going to watch a deep comparative analysis between the family trees of two 10-year-olds who traverse the world with small colourful gremlins? Also Yes. (Who studies for English exams anyway??)
Best of luck in your finals! Go out there and smash it! 🔥 (your comment made me laugh haha)
Yes i have an essay tomorrow and im still watching this😅
Same here. My semester exam is on 10am and I am watching this video at 6:14 am.
@@Pokeferlax O-O
Nice video. You did a great job on it!
The original plan for Ash was to have him meet his father and his mother was meant to detest Ash for leaving her like her father did for Pokémon battling. But they scrapped that and decided after much consideration that his family didn't matter, because what matters is that he is Ash, and not someone with an impressive lineage. His family was pretty much unimportant and as the most powerful Pokémon once said:
"It is not the circumstances in which you are born with that determine who you are, but what you do with the gift of life"!
Liko is the same, she might have an impressive lineage, but what she does with it matters. The feelings you are entrusted with will express diffrently. So Liko likewise has to put it to good use and not let her pressure overtake her. Finally I think there is a better person to compare Liko to, someone from the same land where she recieved knowledge of her ancestry, someone, who even looks a lot like her and has some of her habits...that someone, you could guess.
ash is an arrow blindly shot from the beginning. he didn't need a proper backstory or a concrete goal to begin with. he's a trainer who likes pokemon and pokemon battles, that's it. if he produces a lot of money and be successful as he is and he did, there's no need for the writers to make him a complex character and that has been the case for two decades.
liko on the other hand is an arrow waiting to be fired sitting in a properly drawn bow. it's the perk of having a new series, to start from scratch and learn from the pervious era. she still hasn't have a personal goal that does not include terapagos and her family but her character has been built up so well early already. whether she decides to become a battler, a traveler, a professor whatever, with an already solid foundation of her character, it'll be easier for the writers to let her explore different paths.
that said, with how the old formula was presented, we never really need to know ash's dad not for the sake of just knowing him. ash is just a representative of the anime to promote the games. he's just a marketable character that's easy to the eyes.
Wow this is so wrong it's crazy. How is Ash's writing and the writing of his journey so hard to understand tf?
@natalimoina it's not hard to understand because he and his story is not that complex, which is the point of of his character
You are right on the biological aspect, but during the sun and moon series ash kind of had an adoptive family and all the Pokémon he’s ever caught are his family as well AU Ash also has hints about his own dad
Absolutely amazing video bro!! i can see the work that was put into this and it paid off! Great topic and very nice discussion! i like the themes here and it really puts a positive outlook on the ways each character's story was told.
while at first i wanted to see where the serries goes from here but quickly Liko had a lot in commen with me when i was her age so i got invested pretty quickly and then they throw in insane amounts of lore which im all for it ^^
I really don't get how people think showing Liko's family is somehow an insult to Ash. To believe that Liko getting a plot tied to her family is somehow an insult to Ash treats storytelling of two different series a zero sum which certainly is not the case.
For me, the idea of not exploring Ash's family just became more weird as time went on. Many characters' stories were heavily tied to their family especially Lillie and Gladion , plus Misty, Brock, May, Hop and others. Hell, Mallow had a whole episode dedicated to exploring her deceased mother. One of the things that people love in Generation 3 is that we the player character finally have a known father.
i absolutly agree i dont think that people should hate one anime because theres not the same character and i am gratefull that they expanded on their world and their characters
Ash Ketchum's father still leaves theories and mysteries from the past until now
Ash journey is just simply a kid going into journey to become the best pokemon trainer in the world, and alongside the road he forms really good bonds with pokemon. Liko tale on other hand is a tail that spans generations of her family, which is more difficult to craft in my opinion. Overoll Pokemon Horizons anime has more debt than the old one with Ash as main protagonist.
Video essay was good you should do more like these 🙏
I think because they refused to acknowledge Ash’s progress or any continuity and rebooted him every series ever since the original series I just stopped caring about Ash or his family XD his only family didn’t even care when he was kidnapped by TR right in front of her
I can agree with the statement that Ash’s dad wasn’t important to his journey, mainly bc for many years the writers had no reason to write in ash’s father. The only time he did appear it was a one time gimmick and leaves after the episode ends anyways, throughout the series Ash’s dad’s relevancy to the story was non existent compared to Liko’s family as it started with Lucius and Rsytal and her family is important to her story mainly cause it involves them as the terapagos pendant was an heirloom from Liko’s grandma and it gives these anonymous family members relevancy to the story of Pokémon horizons
Lucius beat ash it was legendary pokemon
Ash's dad went to buy milk 😭🙏🙏🙏
And never returned 😢
Ay star
So did his grampa
@@TheNobody-VoltNOBODY!
@AnkDaAnk BHAIJAN?!!!
I believe Pokémon Horizons is a testament to how far the Pokémon anime has come. Also, I wish the Pokémon anime could explore Ash's family to clear up that mystery that a lot of others & I want to know.
@@leviristich5211No they aren’t and stop spreading misinformation!
I just wanted to say, i don't take Liko's family history as an insult to Ash's, but it's still really sad that we never got to see Ash's family, at least his father since he's a powerful Pokémon trainer. Also, just wanted to say, Kukui and Burnet are Ash's alternate parents.
Also how not like she gonna be a top trainer she cant even hold his jockstrap
I would’ve at least liked to see a fun filler episode with his grandparents, idk why that specifically but I feel like that would’ve been fun
I always had the impression that the writers presented Ash as a player avatar or a visitor from another dimension, and not a character born in the world of Pokemon 🙄
I feel like ash’s family not really bring in the story was made up by ash loving his Pokémon so much
Pokeferlax doing more kinds of videos this is so cool 🔥
I guess in the beginning when Pokemon was being introduced to the world through the anime, as many kids experienced it back in the late 90s and early 2000s, the PKMN company wanted to push the idea of Pokemon to enter the zeitgeist and not so much the human characters. And it worked!
Now I think about Ash never mention most of his family, and I doubt even Gary or Serena knows
I would of been totally fine just spending 5-10min where Delia shows a picture of ash dad and does a montage of there life and his starter is squirtle and he couldn’t stand being tied down to 1 place so he left them and sends a check every month or give Delia a job and a Pokémon of her own. Also have ash aura abilities come from his dad. Like I really can’t see ash settling down in 1 place ether I think he will be like the RVT where his home travels and if he does have a lover and kids they will also live and travel with him.
Ash's dad busy to prepare himself for next *The Tournament of Power* and don't want his first wife find out existence of his second wife and children
It’s honestly funny that Rystal’s genetics made her descendants hotheads like her until Liko (two bucks it’s her father’s genetics here)
And also funny how Lucius' genes are just VERY powerful as Diana, Lucca and Liko all share similar hairstyles to Lucius.
Nothing beats a story about *Family*
Dom toretto go back to your main
“But family.”
@@brickbanditstudios6037 You thought that you're were Lunar from the KREW (ItsFunneh) ?
We do need to heard more Stories of Ash Ketchum 's Family with their Legacy in the Pokemon Anime TV Series a lot more !!!!
Ashs dad is murder by serenas father aka Darth vader
@@leviristich5211 BRO DARTH VADER IS FROM STAR WARS!
The answer is yes and yes
@@leviristich5211 but darth vader doesn`t exist in pokemon
@@leviristich5211 my guy do you have some sort of weird fan fiction
I don't think Ash's dad never mattered its more like he never cared lol
No phone calls not even bother waiting for him to congratulate him personally
Ashs dad being killed off by serenas father
@@leviristich5211 and they say ash story is better than lico's when ash story lacked the most basic things lol
The feel that im having and thinking about this since beginning was that Ash ketchum's father was Ash only it could be his backstory on his journey so yea the theory for me is that Ash was not part of this story but it is actually the father of unborn ash ketchum ...
A VIDEO ESSAY! Booooi I'm so excited! I can engage with this one, man. Okay some thoughts. No particular order.
- I've been very behind the idea that Ash's story never needed to get super mature. They had shown us over the years that they could write these stories outside of Ash's anime for years, and what I really think they should have done was put the resources in to have the two run side-by-side. Had they done this, a lot of the conflict we're seeing would not be so strong, because there would not be this feeling that they gave up the potential in their long-standing face of the brand (more on this later) for this fresh new face that they could suddenly apparently write really well for.
- Speaking on Ash's found family, I 100% agree. But found-family stories are stronger when we know why the character needs one. They always kind of... refused to dive fully into any potential reason for this. They hint at him being a loner but won't touch him being bullied as envisioned for him in the novelization. They express that his dad i is absent, but don't show that this has an effect on Ash. If they did either of these things, the need to meet him at all would be less. But meeting his dad doesn't undermine his story. It would have paralleled Brock's. It could have opened up the opportunity for Ash to think about how it felt to not have him there and to express appreciation for the family he built up over the years. We could have never seen his dad again and it probably would've been immensely satisfying.
- Last thing I wanna touch on is that the fandom, including yourself, has had all of these amazing ideas for where Ash could go for decades. DECADES. As a writer I am HARDLY gonna sit here and claim that the writers needed to implement our ideas. What I AM saying is that it is extremely frustrating to watch a team seemingly not know what to do with THEIR character and you're sitting here like "hand him to me. I'll do it myself." And you're watching the ENTIRE fandom feel that way. It feels like they've given up on someone you've cared about your whole life and you're sitting here like how? Why? There was still so much story left to tell. And I'm not gonna bog this point down with where I think his story could've gone, that's not the point I'm here to make.
Kay so with all these three things in mind. I don't think that fans wanting to see like the bare minimum of Ash's dad explored undermines the idea of Liko's story being a celebration of how their storytelling has grown. It would still be a simple story, and it would still be one with a totally different focus. And to be honest, if they did run alongside each other, you'd be able to appreciate that difference even more. And to be clear, I agree with your thesis Hopefully I successfully expanded upon why I think fans of Ash's story would find this upsetting but also why I think both his AND Liko's stories have strong enough identities that adding Ash's dad wouldn't fundamentally undermine the differences between the two.
Really enjoyed your work here, Fer. Hope you enjoyed it! Hope we get to see more! ❤
Ahhhh thank you SO much for such a kind & lengthy & thoughtful & insightful comment! I genuinely really enjoyed reading your thoughts, and find myself agreeing with much of what you're saying. I agree that it's genuinely very frustrating seeing the writers not really do much with Ash's character for decades, and then retiring him JUST as they beginning to explore interesting topics (like Aura, and hinting towards his father, etc.!) - I hope that someday, if Ash returns, that the writers will no longer have the fears/limitations that they had exploring his character in the past. I always wished for more exploration of Ash's character, regardless of whether that includes his family or not. And I totally understand what you mean - wishing to see Ash's dad etc. doesn't undermine how the anime has evolved - even I would've loved to see Ash's dad haha. But in hindsight I do think that Liko's story being SO family-focused is a great change and distinction from Ash's, which helps her stand on her own even more 😁
Awesome as always thanks
Ash🤝 Dad absent with 🤝Houtarou
no explaination
Ashs dad was killed off by serenas father
@@leviristich5211 Since when?
I completely agree with your opinion. Ash's whole journey was about forging new bonds and a path completely his.
Besides, I am just glad at how one detail led to so many fan theories and fan stories.
I am myself creating my own story regarding Ash's father.
Excellent Video!
Thanks a lot Kuro! 😁
I have a theory about Ash's Father, in pokemon Chronicles Richie asks a Man named Sliver about Ash and he some how know him but Ash never met Sliver throughout his story he does however have a chikorita an Salamence that could reference Ash's Pikachu and Charizard?
I has been thinking that his dad will turn out to be one of the gen 10's legendary pokemon.
Curse Those Pokemon Writers
Dude, from the beginning. This show never wanted ash as a family guy. It was all about POKEMON!!!!! So now the story of the original to this one is... Different? I blame the writers of the anime
Dekus dad : finally a worthy opponent our battle will be Legendary
I don't know to be honest. It would have been nice to know about what Ash's family really is like, but it seems like the writers and directors wanted to focus on Ash's companions, not his family while it seems like Horizons is the other way around where the mystery of Liko's family has an enormous influence on why things are the way they are in Horizons. That's how I see this situation at the moment. 😊
Not to mention that the Rising Volt Tacklers have family themed stories and conflicts too, though on a lesser scale compared to Liko.
Not to mention Liko has a mother figure in Katy and a father figure in Friede.
Ash does have a fatherfigure Professor kukui..
Four more days till 77 episode
I would say it's not necessary to always have the absent parent play a major role in the story. Just give background info sooner in a narrative so as not to give the impression that details are kept for a planned reason.
I feel like if the initial anime was written by someone else instead of the man that played loose with the canon Ash's dad could have shown up, but it wouldnt have had much impact.
I do feel like Horizons is doing more with character building though, but this anime isnt doing a retelling of any of the game stories, necessitating the extra detail. Though I feel Liko's story doesn't have the lasting power of Ash's cause there seems to already be and end goal.
Wow this is mind boggling
Cute profile! All hail Champion Pachi! 😍😇🤩
Yep
@ I’m a huge Pachi fan lol
Delia is build differently though she is enough
Not to mention some of his companions also doesn't have a father/mother figure as well.
Ash's father is mr mime
The answer is yes and yes
Ash's dad never matter to the story. If he was a big important character we would have surely met him before Ash left the series. The writers clearly didn't care or want to tell a story about Ash's dad. As far as they are concerned, he is just Ash's dad, nothing more, nothing less, and that is something the fans will just have to deal with.
Im certain they intended for Silver to be his dad but when chronicles didn't do well in ratings the idea was just never brought up again
Does it matter that Ash only had his mom since the same thing happened with Dawn and Serena?
The only thing i know is Ash desceant is aura guardian, i mean think about it,theres bunch of trainer with lucario but only Ash,Aaron and Riley who can use aura, Riley is relatives with Aaron because of this exclusive power and so do Ash, not counting Ash throw small logs of tree viewed as huge tree, or Ash carrying cosmeom despite it use "anti gravity" aura is the only Canon super power Ash have
While Lucius family line don't have super power at all
Yes what you said I believe is correct because there are hints towards Ash being Related to Sir Aaron and that would be his Dad Aaron Adrian Ketchum!
Ash doesn’t even resemble Giovanni at all besides Giovanni doesn’t have any Powers either!
It is an insult that they dis not at least give us a picture of ash's dad in a closet or something. In the last episode.
Ash’s Dad could be… well, dead.
I hope he’s not! 😭 that’d be heartbreaking
I hope that Ash and Delia will be able to reunite with Mr. Ketchum, even if it's off screen/ in another timeline/ parallel world/ alternate reality. Maybe someday! One can only hope! 🙏🤞😊
@@leviristich5211Wrong! The Series hints at him being alive and enjoying his Journey too!
It's weird how TPC handled him. He wasn't really aged up either, in contrast to Red, who is in his late 20s during Sun/Moon according the Teraleak
Clearly, there's some discord between the fans that you're trying to clear up lol
But no all seriousness, this kind of content is well drafted. You should do stuff like this more along with review videos.
Thanks a lot for the kind words, I really appreciate it! 😁 I'd love to make more content like this! It's a lot of fun delving into the deeper topics!
@@Pokeferlax Go for it👍🏽
Awesome thanks
Nice
You're first
His dad is Delilah's Mr. Mime.
It not out of the question after that Pokémon Teraleak that happened almost two months ago.
Nope.... Ash true dad is KAKAROT
That's would explain why he can lift and throw Log to save Bagon and can lifted Cosmog
Because he's half breed Saiyans 😂
Good video
There is something that been bugging me like why TF was dark ash a thing I don't blame you for not bringing it up but still
Ash Ketchum is a great legacy, but the major flaw is his family roots or his ancestry. Liko has unbelievable depth since the beginning.
Ash and liko are same path
@@leviristich5211No they aren’t!
A Pokemon Trainer path. I like to see Liko grow her powers more and see how she does in tournaments.
One thing simple. Liko's family was a core to the Horizons storyline being Liko as a descendant of Lucius. Ash's don't matter at all, as it doesn't linked to its storyline, Ash aimed to be a Pokemon Master. Where does his dad go into the picture, eh?
Both ash and Lucius are most powerful characters of all time
@@leviristich5211 not with the likes of Rowlet tho 😂😂 if his mons were maxed out, now we're talking
Ash's dad is Prof. Oak.
No. Professor Oak is teacher of Delia ketchum. Also, Ash has the memories of his father. So prof. Didn't have a chance.
Will admit I was curious for years on who ash’s dad was and while I’m kinda bummed I don’t mind the reveal never happening
What if ash’s dad got lost while traveling to different regions
Ash’s dad is actually Pokeferlax and that’s why ShoPro tried to wipe him from the internet
Faaaacts!!
Shopro: “S#%t, they’re on to us.” 😳
I always found it weird that the Ash era hardly ever explored his family and their legacy. I get that Ash is meant to be a simple character, but even simple characters can have depth and lore to them. They do at times gave us hints that Ash was bullied as a kid, but even that’s hardly touched on
While I wouldn’t consider Liko’s story to be this “done right”, since I do think it’s meant to drive home the idea that the person who did something great really could’ve been anyone, one of the major themes of the franchise… I do think it’s really neat that Liko’s family is being explored to such an extent and it’s a good representation of the new direction the anime is taking. It’s good that they’re making the anime more deep and complex in its storytelling if you ask me
Personally I prefer it as it was when it came to Ash’s story not doing with family what Horizons is doing with Liko’s as it feels more inspirational. In Ash’s case, he’s just a regular kid from a small town. Nothing special to his family, there was no following in another’s footsteps and wasn’t given anything beyond his mother’s unwavering support. He was just a kid with a dream who built himself up from zero from the people he met and the adventures he had, growing to become the world champion.
Contrast that with Liko’s where the story basically has come to revolve around her family’s legacy as she now follows in the footsteps of her great great grandparents, even inheriting her great great grandmother’s partner from the start and tracking down her great great grandfather’s Pokémon to stop the same person who betrayed them long ago. While there’s not anything particularly negative about legacy, it feels less inspiring imo
,,In Ash’s case, he’s just a regular kid from a small town." Ash is no ordinary kid, he is the descendant of Sir Aaron, from whom he inherited the ability to use aura.
@@spinotikus1518 Ash isn’t related to Sir Aaron, he has similar aura. You might want to rewatch the movie
Honestly Horizon complaints really need to be taken with a grain of salt. They’re either genuine and honest critiques or people just throwing a tantrum over Ash being gone.
I'm pretty happy that Ash wasn't a father to Liko. Would've really made a messy transition. Personally never cared for finding out Ash's dad. Great video! I can tell you spent a lot of work on it!!
We never know who tf Ash's dad.
No it's not. Both Ash and Liko are Great in their own ways.