>>47395864Branding and globalism. Possibly the Japanese PTA as they can oppose anime with slapstick and mean-spirited behavior.
A lot of anime in the 80s and 90s had crass standards of slapstick and humor regardless of the characters' ages and early Pokémon was a product of that time. As the brand became more than just a Japanese product and as the Pokémon Company emerged as a sovereign entity, worldwide tastes started being taken into consideration. Ash went from daft trainer representing the foolhardy spirit of young Japanese boys to adept trainer plugging more brand and to be fair, the former couldn't last forever but at least there were other areas to define him back then but I think a lot of the old Ash wouldn't fly with the brand mandate stuff any more since Pokémon's current worldbuilding and the image they're trying to sell on their product is trying to shy away from Japanese sensibilities aside from settings.
