>>57035255>Could he have redeemed himself?Depends on whoever was at the helm of the anime at the time. Thanks to the Teraleak we understand now that Ash's losses were a fault of Yuyama wanting to preserve his autistic vision for the anime.
Really and truly Ash as a character should have been retired in Johto. He beat Gary, winning a league would have been the perfect send-off, especially if they added a rematch with Ritchie into the mix. But Yuyama wanted to preserve his eternal status quo after Shudo departed and Ash became the castrated jobber he will forever be known as.
It's a shame, really. An anime where Ash was competently written and allowed to pass the torch, maybe even return slightly older and wiser and periodically interact with newer MCs as a rite of passage would have been neat, but god forbid Yuyama's vision isn't preserved.
Thank fuck the people under him said enough was enough with the SM anime, if it wasn't for that it's entirely possible Ash would STILL be the MC now.
