Anonymous Coward · 5mo
Do you think the backlash over Misty leaving the anime after Johto was overblown? Only 30 year olds will remember this, but Misty leaving was once considered the most controversial thing that ever happened in the anime. I think the younger gen of fans part of the fandom now who started watching pokemon in the mid-2000's or later probably have no idea what a big deal Misty leaving the anime was back then. I remember so many people rage quitting and bashing May unfairly during AG too. It was a weird time
I would say it's easy to label it as overblown in hindsight, but it was kind of inevitable at the time given Misty was seen as 'the' Ash companion and there was no context of how later Pokégirls and series would be written yet for the audience. Any big change like that tends to bring that kind of backlash, as we're seeing right now with Ash being retired from the show and how some people have sworn off Horizons solely because of his absence.
It was ultimately an emotional reaction that was always bound to fade over time.
