We all know the story of Pokemon. We all know the general premise and formula that happens EVERY season for the last 20 years. I am writing this review largely to posit a thesis: That Ash Ketchum is the biggest fucking LOSER in the history of anime! ever! period!
So what makes Ash such a loser? Is it simply the fact that he hasn't won a championship yet? Nope. The frustration and disappointment that fans have felt about Ash for 20 years is actually somewhat complex and multifaceted. I will be counting the ways that Ash is the greatest loser in anime history and defending my thesis point by point.
1.
Let's start with the most obvious point. He is 0-6 in the major regional championships. Pokemon battling is the main sport of the Pokemon world, so lets compare it to sports in our world. In the last 20 years while Pokemon has been airing, we have seen many improbable victories. They just NEVER happen with Ash Ketchum. Lets look at the last 365 days in sports!
The Cavs had never won in 40 years and were down 3-1 against the team with the greatest record in NBA history. Despite what all the sports analysts predicted, Cleveland won.
Leicester had sucked for 40+ years and were given 15,000 to 1 odds by British statisticians to win the English Football Cup last year. They won.
Serena Williams, who is basically the Saitama of Tennis, lost to an Italian player that 99 times out of a hundred even her distant rival Sharapova could beat blindfolded.
Portugal underwhelms at every World Cup and every Euro Cup. Everyone knew they were a 1 man team and when that 1 guy got injured, they stood ZERO chance against a vastly superior French team. It didn't matter. On that one day, someway, somehow, they pulled a victory out of their asses.
All of these losers found a way to win, but NEVER Ash Ketchum.
2.
Ash is supposed to be great because he is friends with his Pokemon. BULLSHIT! What kind of friends would choose to backstab their best friend at a critical moment and lie down in order to foil their friend's life ambition?! Ash is the ONLY trainer whose Pokemon constantly disobey him and screw him over. This doesn't even happen to Team Rocket because they clearly have stronger bonds with their Pokemon (with the exception of James' Victreebel). It would be different if Cynthia, Lance, and the other champions gained their ranks through cruelty and ruthless training while Ash won a moral victory, but there is no evidence that Ash treats his Pokemon better than the strong trainers treat theirs.
3.
Simply losing doesn't always make a character a "loser" in the eyes of the fans. It depends on HOW the character loses and what odds they were against. Let's look at fan favorite character Guts from Berserk. Guts is all time 1-4 against Griffith and hasn't managed to get anywhere close to getting revenge on that asshole in 25 years. Yet we STILL cheer Guts because he has grit and determination. Guts will keep fighting with every fiber in his being and if he ever loses a fight, it was because his opponent sold their soul and cheated to make the odds impossibly stacked against Guts. Ash loses because he's an incompetent moron who makes stupid mistakes that after 6 regions he shouldn't be making. He never learns from his mistakes and he never gets better. He finished final 4 in the 4th region and went right back to 8th place in the 5th region. Keep in mind these are tournaments just to challenge the Elite 4 and only after beating the Elite 4 of a region could Ash challenge the Champion. Ash in 6 regions hasn't even reached the Elite 4 because he does incomprehensibly stupid shit like releasing his best Pokemon, not focusing on his strongest Pokemon, using Pokemon that won't listen to him, and ignoring type advantages he should have learned on week 1.
4.
The final reason that Ash is a loser is that battling is his life's dream and yet he sucks at it and doesn't take meaningful steps to get better. Let's look at another character in the Pokemon anime to contrast. Cynthia is an archaeologist first, a scientific researcher second, and a Pokemon battler a distant third. She is still champion of her region and is infinitely better than Ash will ever be. Were Cynthia to ever lose a battle and lose her position, she wouldn't care because she contributes to society in far more important ways. Watching Ash devote his entire life to something he sucks at makes for REALLY frustrating viewing.
5.
Ash isn't even a lovable loser type of character. A lovable loser is the kind of person or team that KNOWS they suck and simply have fun without worrying about being the very best. To revisit the real life world of sports again, FIFA is hosting the next World Cup in Russia. The Russian soccer team is bad. I mean they are just SHIT. They will get knocked out in the group stage and possibly never score a single goal. They don't give a fuck! They will go out afterwards and party hard like they always do. Their fans don't expect them to win, so there is never any heartbreak when they lose. Their fans show up at games solely to get drunk, start brawls, set off fireworks, and throw fresh fruit at people. Their fans don't give a fuck if the team loses because they already KNOW they're going to lose! Ash actually thinks he's the best and is going to climb to the top. Longtime fans of the series think every year that THIS year is going to FINALLY be the year that Ash wins! Nope!
In conclusion:
If you are one of the many Pokemon fans that has been watching from the beginning and hoping that one day your childhood hero would win the big one...just stop. Stop watching right now! Ash Ketchum will win a Pokemon League only when the sun rises in the West and the mountains blow in the wind.
