>>22927735>Ships have a huge impact on the popularity of a character, just look what it did for Serena. Contestshipping is huge, May and her rivals Drew and Harley were the most popular coordinator set of the series.Except it didn't do as much for Serena as you'd think. Serena wasn't very well-liked at first because of her character's shipping-only focus early in the series. Count me as one of those people who initially liked the shipping, but didn't care for the character. Now I think Serena's great but it's because of her whole character and her personality, not because she has a crush on Ash.
The Dawn, Zoey, Kenny dynamic wasn't as strong, but Dawn was/is really popular among girls in Japan because she was more independent and stronger-minded than May.
May's viewer base was huge, but not necessarily her fanbase. I grew up watching AG, and even though I liked May she's not my favorite (I ended up liking Dawn more, and now Serena). Also a lot of May's biggest fans have moved on from the anime and don't pay attention anymore. The same is true for Dawn but to a far lesser extent since DP was more recent. In general, you talk to the Japanese and they'll tell you that Dawn edges out May, even though May's character is definitely well-liked.
