Should Greninja or Rockruff or whatever replace Pikachu as Ash's

>>27748625
Yeh

>>27748625
Why not just replace Ash?

>>27748625
>wanting to replace pikachu
>not just having pikachu evolve

>>27748625
The only thing that needs replacing is Pikachu's voice actress. she's become so obnoxious. I miss when Pikachu sounded cute and didn't squeal so much.

>mfw ash boxes greninja
>smugpepe.jpg

>>27748692
>ash

>>27748701

Alolan Raichu would be pretty sweet, though dated when Generation VIII starts.

>>27750796
Why not just regular Raichu? :(

>>27748625
Absolutely

>>27748625
No, pikachu will always be his clutch pokemon that randomly takes on overpowered shit

>>27748625
A marketing stand point says no

>Pikachu is a mouse mascot for Pokemon
>Yo-Kai Watch's mascot ,Jinbanyan, is a cat
>To counter Yo-Kai Watch, Gamefreak switches to a dog for their mascot

>>27748625
If that one manga or whatever with that kid and his rockruff are successful enough he and pikachu might both be replaced, with pikachu remaining he series mascot

>>27748625
Should Disney replace Mickey? Should DC replace Superman? Should Nintendo replace Mario?

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>>27751224
What if Yo-kai Watch predicts the switch and sends out a chink?

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>>27748625
Pikachu's mass appeal will never be replaced unless it and/or Ash dies.

Here's why Pikachu is such a successful mascot: Every single part of it is iconic. The tail, the ears, the cheeks, the face, even the stripes to a lesser extent. You can slap any of those onto a piece of merchandise and it's suddenly Pikachu-related. On top of that, it's bright yellow, a color that sticks out and isn't often used for animals, while still being very gender-neutral. Plus, his abilitys are strongly communicated by his design.

On top of all of that, the animal that Pikachu is based on isn't immediately obvious. People don't think of Pikachu as "that mouse from Pokemon", but "that yellow thing from Pokemon". That alone gives him a very strong identity as something unique. He can be either a badass shooting lightning at his enemies, a cute walking plush, or neither if the situation calls for it.


This is why Pikachu is never going to be replaced. EVERYTHING about him is perfect for being a mascot.

lub dat pikalchu

>>27751591
>gender-neutral
>strong identity of uniqueness

I'll let it slide this time only because you are probably someone who studies marketing (I really hope) and not just some guy who used that since the Target incidents.

>>27751333

Yokai Watch's last game is in a few months.

Yokai mania was a fad and Pokemon endured it.

>>27751746
well, the gender neutral part and the uniqueness part are not related in his argument.

Pikachu evolves into Alolan Raichu.

>>27751775

They are related to it though. At least gender-neutral is.

You can slap Pikachu on a pink shirt, or a blue shirt and you're golden.

But Clefiary? Can you market Clefairy effectively to 8 year old boys?

Pikachu rides the middle line perfectly. You can market to both genders with the greatest of ease. Or you know. Gender-neutral. It was a term that existed before Target you know?

>>27751815
I udnerstand why it's a marketing concept you dummy. Of course it is related. But the fact that he is immediatelly recognizeable as Pikachu and not "that thing from pokémon" is an achievement from Nintendo, that has a correlation with the gender neutrality, but not necesarily. Charizard is a good example.

>>27751591
I'll say this much: the anime has made Pikachu into among the most exciting pokemon to watch in battle.

A large tail to use physical attacks, electric type to use fast long range attacks, can stand on two legs or four, small, speedy and nimble to do all types of acrobatics. And just the perfect cockfight size so people irl can relate to commanding the little monster in battle.

>>27751850
People who don't know what Charizard is would just assume it was a generic dragon. When you see Pikachu for the first time, your reaction is "what the heck is that thing?", so you're more prone to remembering it.

That why something like Eevee, for example, wouldn't work as well for a mascot. Even though it has unique features, it looks enough like a dog that people can see it, think "oh, it's a dog", and not give it a second thought.

>>27751769

The Yo-kai Watch anime is literally the lowest-rated show on Disney XD in the U.S. right now. Drew a fucking 0.2 and <200,000 viewers for a brand new episode this week. Can't see it lasting for a third season (which Disney XD did not give even Gravity Falls or Wander Over Yonder).

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>>27751918
>oh, it's a dog

>>27751919

Gravity Falls ended on his terms as stupid as that is to believe.

Wander was cancelled though.

I was talking about Japan though. Yokai Watch was a pretty massive success.

I liked the game but honestly it was something that was never going to work here. They tried to make the Japanese Mythology stuff work but they just couldn't do it.

>>27751275
>forgetting Luigi

>>27751746
Having the mascot being gender-neutral was always a a concern of Nintendo and Game Freak. There original choice was Clefairy but was changed to Pikachu for this reason. This is well documented.

>>27748625
>Ash replacing Pikachu after the events of XY&Z37
Absolutely fucking not. He anally devestated 2 pseudos without even using Z moves.

>>27751275
>Should DC replace Superman?

That is not the right character and you know it.

>>27748625
No, that'd be stupid. Pikachu is beloved and had worked for so long. There's absolutely no need to change their mascot.

Pikachu is literally one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the entire world, you could probably ask anyone in America who the little yellow cutie was and 99 times out of 100 they'd know it's Pikachu.

>>27752010

Its important for a brand like Pokemon.

Pokemon is a brand that targets both genders. The mascot needs to appeal to both.

>>27752052
It's the right one in my heart.

>>27751997
Who?

>>27752073

Pretty much.

I think they'd have already written Ash out if not for the desire to keep his specific Pikachu in the cartoon.

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>>27751919
Yeah, this honestly makes xy and z anime look even MORE better. Yokai was OK I enjoyed the yokais and all, but MAN the voice acting is horrendous!

>>27752082

And the right answer in my heart is Hawkman but we all know that the Bat is king.

>>27748625
http://kotaku.com/the-enduring-legacy-of-pikachus-butt-1780732789

Here's a link to that article. I disn't click it, and neither should you. I simply wanted to get proof that it exists.

>>27748625
No

>>27751591
Are there any other Pokemon that hit all those notes?

>Bright irregular color
>More or less gender neutral
>not too obviously based on an animal
>Iconic, easy to slap on to anything features

I think Bulbasaur sort of works.

>>27752631
The Gen 1 starters, Lucario maybe

>>27752753
Charmander and and Squirtle are too obviously a lizard and a turtle, and Lucario (arguably Charmander too) are too masculine to market to girls.

>>27752753

Lucario leans more towards boy-centric Pokemon.

I would honestly say Piplup might fail on a lot of that critera but it was pretty damn popular during it's reign of terror.

There was a period where Pikachu was sharing spotlight with it on logos and brandings. I think now it's fallen a bit back into obscurity but at the time it had potential to be a brand mascot like Pikachu and Charizard.

>>27752631
Buizel maybe?
>Orange
>Gender Neutral
>Iffy on this one, it's not super obvious though
>Inflatable neck thing is pretty easy to slap on things

>>27752631
Marill is pika2
Buizel
Minccino isn't exactly colourful but it's fairly close to what you're after.
Rockruff suffers not-brightitis as well, but damn if they aren't pushing the pupper as if they wanted it to be the face of gen 7.

>>27752631
Lucario and rioulu aren't very colourful, they're for lack of a better word edgy.

>>27753292
Buizel was that for a while, only a few months but it happened. Don't know why they dropped it.

>>27748625
Imaginr the tragedy it would be if ash had to give up pikachu because of a spinal injury, ect (an injury that only a very specific surgeon can perform [the only one in the pokeworld])
Mini series about pikachu going on a journey with other pokemon who also suffer from the same injury to find the specific surgeon who can heal them.
> New pokemon until he starts to hurt ratings.
> Bring back pikachu.
> Boom! Crazy amounts of people buying into pokemon.

>Only 00's can tell me this wont happen.

>>27752631
i love bulba but lesbe honest them colours be dull

pikachu is yellow andcan go fast and is cute, too

bulbasor stick to the ground fat lizard cute maybe but wide head and cant on hind legs a reptile

suremaybe youd pat a bulbasaurs head but ur gf will grab a pikacu and hug it to the checkout isle

>>27753419
>but damn if they aren't pushing the pupper as if they wanted it to be the face of gen 7.
They're gonna make him the new Lucario/Zoroark/Greninja
His evolution will probably be playable in Smash 5.

>>27751919
Well Gravity Falls was ended by Alex himself. Could've been a cash cow honestly.

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>wanting to replace the company's mascot that's been there for 20 years