>>36424397This. People would make the filler comment and then someone would come in and inform us that the "year break" between gyms in DP was filled with important developmental episodes and not that much filler. I would know because I got told off by one of those anons in thread.
For most of XY, people were wary of the quality coming off of BW, but people were reluctant to say it was better than DP because the series hadn't ended yet and DP had the best rival arc of all time. At most, people would say that it was on track to be as good as DP or better, but people weren't wanking it off. Plenty of people were critical of Serena lacking a goal, and people were complaining until she cut her hair around the 50th episode or so. People were excited about the anime because there was always something going on, someone was always being developed or growing, or things were interesting and fun.
People were getting excited about things happening, especially with Ash, because he was breaking multiple roadblocks that had previously held him back in past seasons. Coming off the back of the absolute garbage he displayed in BW, this was incredibly well-received; Ash won because he had over a decade of experience, and when he lost it was for good reason, i.e. ice terrain (which has historically given Ash problems in the past). It was exciting and people were hyped about it because it was so exciting.
>>36424454This. People may have put DP on a pedestal to a degree, but XY was usually considered as good as DP out of fear of sounding arrogant.
