The original anime under Takeshi Shudo is still the lens I use to view this entire series 20 years on. Nothing in the entire multimedia franchise has come close to this fully realized vision for the series. Pretty much every other piece of media is too far removed from Satoshi Tajiri's original intent of the series, getting too caught up in the critters and their marketability and battling, forgetting that this is a series about catching bugs, discovery, the wonders of nature, and the joys of travel.

The original run is Pokemon at it's best. And I will never take you seriously if you look at this post and can only think "reeee kanto muh genwun".

With the release of Legends Arceus, the winds of change are upon the Pokemon series, and it's the perfect time for the fanbase to start giving the Shudo anime the credit it deserves. Maybe by some miracle this masterpiece can become the framework of the series moving forward it always should have been.