What do you think of the way the Pokemon anime handled Gary?

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I remember how much emphasis was put on Gary to start off the series, showing us over and over how farther ahead he was when compared to Ash and the gang... and then he went AWOL for like 40 episodes, not even getting a mention (I think) after Ash gets his Krabby, then making a mini return in a couple of later episodes.

Even as a kid I thought that he was a bit hard to take seriously because we had never seen him battle (or even throwing a PokeBall). We had a ton of context indicating that he was doing very well, but nothing was ever shown... and the anime really liked teasing us about that, making it so his Pokemon wouldn't come out to fight during the Digglet episode and then showing him doing absolutely nothing else the other few times he did appear. Between the fact that he wasn't in the story nearly enough to make an impact, and that he was a constant tease more than anything, it all felt like a missed opportunity...

... But then we actually got to see him fight Giovanni of all people, showing off a fully evolved team and making quick work of everything thrown at him (until Mewtwo showed up, that is) and it was suddenly super interesting again.

It is just too bad that the show kept neglecting him after that, only showing us the final battle of his 3 vs 3 match on the Pokemon League, and then sidelining him again for several seasons afterwards, even if that full 6 vs 6 battle with Ash at the end of Master's Quest more than made up for it, but it also left me thinking just how much of an underused asset he really was.

I think the first season of Pokemon would have been a lot better if they just ran into him more, but I still enjoyed it tremendously, so maybe not.

Anyway... thoughts? XD

 

[Aziamuth]

I mean, he did what he had to do and then dipped, it's the natural course of action with an antagonist. As for the execution: pretty good from what I remember

 

[Insomnia_ig]

I thought he'd be a bigger character like Gary is a strange character because he's Ash's rival but he doesn't feel like one he's not important to Ash or his growth and it's really weird cause that's what Blue/Green is in the game and even in the Pokemon Adventure's manga

 

[Vetusomaru]

Shigeru (the Japanese name of Gary) at the tv series is pretty much the same with the games: An asshole rival that later matured and started respecting the protagonist.

Post automatically merged: Feb 23, 2025

I think the first season of Pokemon would have been a lot better if they just ran into him more, but I still enjoyed it tremendously, so maybe not.

Pokemon anime producers: "Nope: We need more episodes of Team Rocket trio trying to steal Ash's Pikachu."

Seriously though, while I love Pokemon anime I hated how much obsessed they were with that kind of episodes. Sure, Team Rocket trio is funny and enjoyable but showing them too much was tiring and repetitive.

 

[Deleted member 884]

I mean, he did what he had to do and then dipped, it's the natural course of action with an antagonist. As for the execution: pretty good from what I remember

From my point of view it's him the real main character, a real PKMN trainer, not that stupid loser who never win a @#€%.