What is your opinion on the Horizons anime so far?
There's certainly things its doing right. Liko and Roy have been decent follow ups to Ash so far. I do enjoy the extended cast mostly, though I'd really prefer if they just let Liko, Roy, and Dot run free traveling. I do like how there's more connectivity between episodes compared to the more self-contained feeling. I really think it should have only been set in Paldea, but they've handled a world traveling based series better than Journeys has. They spend multiple episodes in a region and they tell us where they're going, so we're not spending 2 episodes in Kanto, one in Galar, one in Unova, then 3 more in Kanto with no idea where we're going. Despite this, Paldea has gotten a fair amount of focus, with its Pokemon popping up regularly and the characters getting some attention. They've even kinda been making up for the poor treatment Galar got in Journeys. The starters especially have been handled significantly better than Journeys, with them being split and each getting some attention. Even Pokemon in general considering we often get to see them out of their Pokeballs interacting, something else they're doing better than Journeys.
On the other hand, the series currently has a big problem with stakes and character growth. First off, what are the stakes? Why should we take the Explorers so seriously? Spinel I can get, but the group as a whole? What do they want with Terapagos? What should compell Liko and Roy to get stronger, but this isn't just the stakes. Its Friede. Friede is another big problem with Horizons. He's the character they need to shove down our throats to go look at how cool he is. Its almost like he has no flaws. It was cool at first, but now its getting old. Not to mention the constant Friede vs. Amethio battles that never have a winner. Friede frequently comes in to save Liko and Roy and its kinda preventing character growth cause what need do they have when he's always there to bail them out? Plus they also have the Legendary Hero's Pokemon to bail them out. So how can they grow if they keep having others bail them out? Plus at times, despite having a clear direction, it feels like I don't know where we're headed? And also, what IS Roy's real purpose if Liko is a descendant of the hero?
So far, there's certainly things Horizons is doing right and its an improvement over Journeys, but it needs to give its characters some actual growth and show us why. Its not BW or Journeys bad, but its not XY or DP good yet. Its still early and there's plenty of time to change course though. But so far, its been decent.
