>>58644291This is true, and likely the reason the anime has been on a steady decline.
In the 90s, every character in the games was a static sprite with like four sentences of dialogue. The anime expanded on the stories of the games and gave NPCs and Pokemon personalities. This is why the anime became popular. It made the Pokemon world feel alive.
Putting personal opinions aside, modern Pokemon games have fleshed out stories and characters. The graphics are good enough so you actually know what everything is supposed to look like. There's not much room for the anime to expand on anything, so it's been trying to do its own thing. OLM has clearly struggled making this new approach work. JN and HZ have interesting premises that should be entertaining in theory, but they're not executed well enough to justify their own existence.
I'm sure there is a way for the Pokemon anime to exist going forward. A good first step would be to go seasonal - cut the yearly output of episodes in half. Then axe most or all of the current staff. Find someone with a vision who can make a Pokemon show that can stand independently of previous iterations and the games.
Take Concierge, for instance. Obviously a very different type of show compared to the main anime, but it managed to be a success without being based on any particular story or setting from the games. Take a similar approach but with an appealing 2-D anime art style and an action-oriented plot.
