>>54232305Add to it, Shudo'd. Another quote from the infamous "Misty doesn't like Ash" blogpost:
>That scene, in which Kasumi's anger cannot be seen, could have been seen as an expression of affection by Kasumi desperately trying to save Satoshi's life. But then she's just a normal stereotype girl. In "Lugia Explosion," which I tried to fill with her unique characters, Kasumi became an ordinary girl. Emphasizing this part:
>After that, "Pokemon" became a new series, and Kasumi was replaced by another girl. However, I don't know if the girls who came out instead are more attractive than Kasumi. One of the things that I regret about Pokemon, which I was involved in as part of the series composition, is that I couldn't bring out Kasumi's charm.Shudo's main argument throughout the post is that romance isn't suited to Pokemon because it's not a shoujo manga or a light novel, and it complicates and detracts from the main vision: People's relationship with Pokemon (exemplified with Ash and Pikachu) and the hardship of growing up. He regretted that he couldn't make Misty "attractive" in the Birth of Lugia movie, and in doing so, created scenes where there was a romantic underpinning, because it made Misty "ordinary." Romance, especially written by male writers, makes female characters not "attractive," and Shudo extends this to the girls that came after Misty. Though he was writing from 2011, he undoubtedly would've said the same about Serena, Lillie, Mallow, Lana and Koharu.
At the end of the day, all ships are equally invalid in the Pokemon world, according to Shudo. Say what you will about the MPM ending, but TPC kept to Shudo's vision on that regard to the end.