burn book | character rants

Serena (ii)

I honestly thought that Serena was just plain creepy. A fanservice to the shippers. Her character arc was established around her crush on Ash and her relationship with him wasn't built up well, and was kinda forced, which made it unhealthy for younger Pokemon viewers to watch. Remember that Pokemon is catered towards children anyways. But for real, and for many, a forced relationship is just cringey to watch.

Serena and Ash first met briefly at camp, so there is no damn way that she would have a crush on him after all those years, yet even remember him. A little reminder that crush on the same person doesn't last for years, only love does. And don't give me that 'It was true love" bullshit because Serena was so little she probably couldn't even spell love.

Before she saw Ash on TV, she never even considered GOING ON A JOURNEY YET and take up performing and just kept on doing her Rhyhorn racing (A profession which she despised since she was young)

And then she sees Ash on TV and just immediately decides to go on a journey with him? That clearly symbolizes that she didn't have any real interest in going on a journey and just went because of Ash. What. A. Stalker. Besides, if she despised Rhyhorn racing so much then she should've just left it.

It also isn't greatly explained why Serena is so passionate about Pokemon performing (the Pokemon equivalent of beauty contests) out of all the other professions. Because it's beautiful? It's impossible for someone to be passionate enough to pursue a profession with that one small reason alone. And it's not even a thing in generation 6 so it's pretty much just there.

Well anyways, it's pretty much explained that she chose performing just to impress Ash. Here's one big proof. Notice that at times Serena sometimes blushes unnecessarily even when the situation isn't about love? It's pretty obvious that she's thinking about Ash at those times. Take note that there is no way that a person could blush outside a crush, love, or a sexually embarrassing situation. And take note that Serena isn't even a overall shy person. She only gets shy when it come to Ash.

When she kissed Ash (A 10 YEAR OLD KID) before departing, she tells him (AGAIN, A 10 YEAR OLD KID) that she'll be a more attractive woman when they meet again. Now that's just plain creepy. Another reason why she might have chosen her career based around her liking Ash.

Also why tf did Serena wear Ash's clothes to disguise herself as him to a challenger when Ash was sick? Is she stupid enough to not know that she'll get infected too? And why did she change clothes inside Ash's tent right in front of him? CREE-PY. I get that it was for comedy, but for real, it was handled so poorly and seemed so forced. Yup, Serena is definitely a fanservice.

And those are only some of the reasons why Serena comes off as my least favorite character in the show. She honestly had so much potential to be a more compelling character if it weren't for fanservice writing and her relationship with Ash. Although she is decently written, she could've been a lot better and more fleshed out as a character than coming up as a love interest for Ash.

And don't even at me about the hair. Cutting hair ≠ development. Her manga counterpart Yvonne is waaay better written. The writers should have taken some notes from the manga instead.

I also kinda think that majority of the reasons why fans love her is because of the shipping. Let's face it, if Serena didn't have a big fat crush on Ash then nobody would a fuck about her.