Why Do Most People Hate Ash?

[Shedinjareese]

I don't hate Ash. In fact, his constant Sameness comes off as endearing sometimes. In the grand scheme of things, he's actually a rather excellent protagonist, especially considering there is no end in sight for the series. He has rarely, if ever, acted outside of his character. He has blinders on that kind of prevent this, and for a show that has a million other characters, that's OK. He's not cardboard (like Dawn, in my opinion) or trite (like Brock, again in my opinion). It's a rather brilliant construction-- they writers have managed to make someone up who can be in practically any situation and still come out looking like a morally-sound example.

Maybe this is because often trouble finds him, he doesn't go looking for it.

 

[Lickeh Lickeh]

I don't think people hate Ash, I think people hate the animé in general. It's inaccurate, silly and repetitive. It's giving Pokemon a bad name sadly, for example how many people do you know that think Pokemon is for kids; they probably relate somewhat to Pikachu and Ash to think it's for children.

 

[Vernikova]

for example how many people do you know that think Pokemon is for kids;

Everyone I know, including me, knows Pokémon is for kids. The fact that they relate it to Ash and Pikachu is because they grew up with it while they were kids.

 

[Lickeh Lickeh]

I suppose it depends on what way you like Pokémon I guess, at first Pokémon TCG was made for more older children. The Video Game is highly strategic as well as the TCG and I don't think kids know this. People think that the whole franchise is for kids because of the animé, it's giving Pokémon a bad name if you know what I mean.

 

[TrainerShane]

I don't dislike him at all, but he is rather...typical.

 

[biancafanboy]

I think Ash is one of the best anime charactors of all times!! Although a relationship or something would be a nice change of pace. And it kind of bothers me when they promise to meet up with someone again but they never do.

 

[Axєl]

I think Ash is one of the best anime charactors of all times!! Although a relationship or something would be a nice change of pace. And it kind of bothers me when they promise to meet up with someone again but they never do.

Those seem more like flaws in the series, rather than flaws with Ash himself.

IMO, he's a neat character, but they just.. need to make him more interesting again if they're gonna keep him around. D; If they changed his character a bit in some way, it would make him more likable, I'd think.

 

[Kirbychu]

To me, Ash is one of the people you love to hate; or not. He's just a complete dumbass, but that's what makes Ash, Ash. How many times has he randomly charged into things, hoping it would solve the problem?

 

[prateek203]

I hate Brock the most, not Ash :P

 

[Hantsuki]

I can see why people hate him (I mean, there's always going to be people out there who love and hate anyone, it's just the way it is). As for Ash, he has some redeeming qualities such as being utmost determined to be the best. He may be overconfident at times and have a huge ego and make really stupid mistakes like never being able to identify Team Rocket when it's obviously them, but hey, the show needs a subplot every episode, so what?

But yes, I do like his personality. He might be a tad overconfident, but he always tries his best and he does what he has to do even if people think he doesn't make the right choices, I admire him because he decides on the choices he wants to make. But as for people hating him, logically, he should have a really strong team by now of evolved Pokemon, but he doesn't (at least I don't think so, I haven't been keeping track of the latest episodes). To some people, it looks like he's making excuses to get new Pokemon like "Oh, so my Charizard wants to be the best Charizard of all so I'm going to leave him at the Charicific Valley so he can become stronger" or "I'll just let you stay here Pidgeot because that Fearow that has this grudge against me might hurt your friends if you leave." Otherwise, as the original poster stated, he does want what is best for his Pokemon. Heck, he even thought of leaving Pikachu that one time because he thought his best friend would be happier with his own kind.

Overall, Ash has his faults just like any other character (which makes him more likable in my opinion, who likes a person who's perfect?), but it doesn't mean he has no redeeming qualities about him. Besides, the anime has been running for some time and it would be troublesome for the Pokemon creators if Ash was developed too fast because they want to milk as much money as they can. They don't really care about the older fans hating Ash as long as the young kids watch his show.

 

[Sniperise]

I don't think it's a case of "most people" hating Ash, just that the people who do ar emore vocal, whilst the people who like him don't make their opinions heard as much, because if you don't like something, you want it changed, and the best way to change something is to get it heard.

 

[kasaibouF29]

So since Ash's journey is over, have people gotten over their hate for him?

 

[Lysander]

Not really. Far too much potential wasted across the anime by dragging Ash's story out for so long. Should have had new protagonists starting from the Ruby and Sapphire series imo.

 

[CoolKid575]

He's fine enough as a character. The main problem people have with him is that he WAAAAAAAY overstayed his welcome while "resetting" mentally at various times, destroying all his character growth. I understand they had to do this for all the people starting with the new series; but as Lysander stated. He really should've been retired after the Gen 2 anime and replaced with new protags every gen or so.

 

[giradialkia]

Well you're kinda setting up a biased question with the words "so many", but I'll bite.

I don't "hate" the character, but I moreso dislike the direction the anime took on the whole. I would've much preferred if a storyline like Origins was our main anime, where they followed the storyline of the games more closely and gave us some exciting embellishments. I think the progression of time is important in a good story; and while Ash experiences moments of growth and learning, the fact that he's 10-11 years old across 8 regions and 1000+ episodes, is honestly detrimental to the story. The torch probably should've been passed, directly or otherwise. The Pokémon manga always found interesting ways to reintroduce past protagonists and that would make for a much cooler anime story.

I enjoyed the ending arc and Ash's final scene, but it would've been even more impactful if he'd actually grown, physically, and we got to see him off into adulthood, rather than… age 12.

I dislike that they'd so frequently have Ash use some kinda gimmick to win important battles. "You couldn't overpower me, but that clever trick shows you're a talented trainer - here's the Gym Badge".

Moreover, if I had a nickel for every time Ash's first command in a battle is just "Dodge it!", then… I dunno, I'm not gonna do the math, but it is just the dumbest thing. Obviously his Pokémon will dodge it if they can; for Ash to be shouting it like it's a legitimate instruction is plain unnecessary and pulls the series too far from the game's mechanics for my liking.

These aren't so much reasons to hate/dislike Ash, moreso the decisions made in the creation of the show.

But I much, much preferred Ash's voice actor in the 4Kids days, and once she changed… I couldn't really unhear it. The cadence to the way he says "I choose you!" changed, and it was all wrong for me.
Honestly I feel the same about the rest of the voice cast changing, but for Ash's iconic phrase to feel so different, and for the silly "dodge it!" and excessive contest/filler episodes, there wasn't much to hold my interest.

 

[ZyeThrowin]

honestly, I enjoyed some of the filler episodes like in the Alolan series the filler episodes were actually interesting for me.