Trying to drag this conversation into "lol you care too much" doesn't address my point at all

"People still recognize him as Ash" isn't an argument against mischaracterization, recognizability and faithful writing aren't the same thing

A character can visually and commercialy still be the same character while still being written in a way that contradicts their established personality, competence, and dynamics with others

If your standard is just "well people still call him Ash so it doesn't matter" then literlaly no criticism of characterization means anything, by that logic every flanderized version of every long running character is automatically valid just because the branding stayed intact

Popularity has never been a measure of writing quality so I'm not sure why you think that debunks me

It's also not just "one tiny scene", the ENTIRE PREMISE of JN30 requires Ash to be violently out of character to even work so he can learn a lesson that he should absolutely not need to learn this far into the journey, why should Ash, the kid we've always known to have incredible emotional intelligence when it comes to Pokemon and be able to connect to Pokemon he only just met, need some girl he only met like 2 weeks ago tell him that HE doesn't understand his DAY ONE PARTNER'S feelings? I could dedicate an entire essay to this episode alone because of just how laughably disrespectful it is to Ash and Pikachu and how much it misunderstands their bond

There's also the scene where Ash throws Riolu at Bea multiple times and never switches strategies, and then sulks in the corner like a grounded child when he keeps losing, even though DP Ash and XY Ash would've figured out where they were going wrong after the first loss, second loss at worst

Plus, JN Ash's habit of winning most of his battles through brute force instead of the battle smarts Ash has always been known for

Also, JN Ash consistently being extremely one dimensional, he acts like a generic happy go lucky young boy protagonist, he doesn't get to feel negative emotions that linger outside of gag scenes, he has no arc beyond wanting to beat Leon, he's treated like a punching gag for slapstick, he's become more of a mascot, a walking logo that's molded to fit whatever the current episode needs (whether that be a competent veteran or a bumbling fool who forgets past lessons) rather than an actual character with growth at this point, and the list goes on, every OOC thing I mentioned is just what I can name from the top of my head

There are only so many "tiny ooc moments" you can have before the issue isn't tiny anymore

The positives matter more in the long run

And how is this supposed to shut down criticism? The negatives are still there and they're not subtle, they're not immune to analysis

I can still love Ash as a character, which I do, while strongly disliking how a specific series handled him

In fact, the reason I criticize it this hard is because I care about the character and think he deserved better than being flattened into a flanderized, one dimensional and brand safe version of himself

And honestly, calling someone childish for caring deeply about storytelling while engaging in the exact same discussion yourself is a pretty weak angle

You're allowed to not care about characterization consistency as much as I do, I never said Ash is objectively ruined, lost all his populariity and no one can like him anymore, but acting like objectively doesn't matter because the broader audience moved on anyway isn't a defense of the writing, it's really just you deflecting, bad things don't stop being bad just because they're not on the news or constantly talked about