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For those of you too young to know what this is, a ship manifesto: http://ship-manifesto.livejournal.com/205665.html. For being written by someone else, this is a great long form essay on why these two are still one of my core OTPs, and I still ship them so hard all these years later.
Shorter: I love these two. Not only do we get to see them both grow into confident, capable, even badass trainers (and occasional heroes), but their relationship, both the platonic/ship tease in canon and the well done romantic (AAMRN,AAML,AAMR...we loved our acronyms back in the 1990s) fanworks present what I think is still one of the most real relationships I've seen in children's animated fiction. These two are the kind of best friends that can be completely comfortable in each other's presence one minute, and teasing to the point of starting a screaming match the next, and then fully and sincerely supportive a few minutes after that if they need to be. And if anyone or anything crosses either of them the other doesn't hesitate to come to their aid, with as much emotional support and or physical force and explosions as is necessary, even if they were at each others' throats just before.
Further, they're not sex symbols or glamorous in the least. Misty's a tomboy and Ash has all the romantic self-awareness and skills of a drunk vole. Ash is graceless unless there's danger or a pokemon battle, and sometimes he teases Misty and calls her scrawny. Which she hates to a point that when you watch the series as an adult you start to think she has body image issues. Not to the narm levels of the awful Eating Disorder Misty trope, but they're definitely there in canon. The two of them make mistakes and hurt each other sometimes, and often their most intense personal relationship moments come with a backdrop of recently escaped danger or disaster or hardship, and one or both of them is filthy and wearing newly torn clothes.
Their relationship is the most un-romanticized friendship in the show: they've seen each other at their very best and very worst and accept all of each other, and neither would ever think the other one needed to be "fixed" in any way on some fundamental level. One's strengths compliment the other's weaknesses, and they always stand shoulder to shoulder in a fight, never one behind the other.
They're best friends and partners and a constant source of support and affection for each other. Their friendship is the kind of bedrock I think all good romances should be built on.
Their relationship dynamic was the core of the show for me. Without it--when she left he show I just didn't care about Pokemon anymore. Ash is compelling enough for the kind of show he's in, but Ash and Misty and their dynamic was what kept me coming back. They brought out the best in each other and gave Pokemon something unique.
I've seen a lot of Ash/Misty videos and not cared for a great many of them. Ash and Misty aren't romantic, cutesy, or the traditional hero-and-love pair. (They're both heroes: he the Determinator Idiot Hero who gradually loses the idiot tag as he gains experience, and she the Determinator Guile Hero who learns to control her anger issues over time.) They love each other deeply, yes, but that love is often covered in sweat and dust and ripped clothing and tears from the life they lead, and they're far more likely to happily share their date-time crashed out and cuddled up in pajamas at a Pokemon Center watching a Pokemon Contest or Battle or some cheesy B movie or whatever than to dress to the nines and hit a fancy restaurant where neither of them will ever really feel like they belong. Misty, I think, is a romantic in the sense she loves the idea of the fairy tale romance. But given her entire character, and her desire to be nothing like her fairy-tale inspired sisters, she has to know that's not really the life for her. She's miserable every time she gets put in their shoes on the show.
This video, with the editing that makes it look old and vintage an reminds the viewer how long these two have been a thing, and it's perfectly chosen song, captures all of that effortlessly.
Shorter: I love these two. Not only do we get to see them both grow into confident, capable, even badass trainers (and occasional heroes), but their relationship, both the platonic/ship tease in canon and the well done romantic (AAMRN,AAML,AAMR...we loved our acronyms back in the 1990s) fanworks present what I think is still one of the most real relationships I've seen in children's animated fiction. These two are the kind of best friends that can be completely comfortable in each other's presence one minute, and teasing to the point of starting a screaming match the next, and then fully and sincerely supportive a few minutes after that if they need to be. And if anyone or anything crosses either of them the other doesn't hesitate to come to their aid, with as much emotional support and or physical force and explosions as is necessary, even if they were at each others' throats just before.
Further, they're not sex symbols or glamorous in the least. Misty's a tomboy and Ash has all the romantic self-awareness and skills of a drunk vole. Ash is graceless unless there's danger or a pokemon battle, and sometimes he teases Misty and calls her scrawny. Which she hates to a point that when you watch the series as an adult you start to think she has body image issues. Not to the narm levels of the awful Eating Disorder Misty trope, but they're definitely there in canon. The two of them make mistakes and hurt each other sometimes, and often their most intense personal relationship moments come with a backdrop of recently escaped danger or disaster or hardship, and one or both of them is filthy and wearing newly torn clothes.
Their relationship is the most un-romanticized friendship in the show: they've seen each other at their very best and very worst and accept all of each other, and neither would ever think the other one needed to be "fixed" in any way on some fundamental level. One's strengths compliment the other's weaknesses, and they always stand shoulder to shoulder in a fight, never one behind the other.
They're best friends and partners and a constant source of support and affection for each other. Their friendship is the kind of bedrock I think all good romances should be built on.
Their relationship dynamic was the core of the show for me. Without it--when she left he show I just didn't care about Pokemon anymore. Ash is compelling enough for the kind of show he's in, but Ash and Misty and their dynamic was what kept me coming back. They brought out the best in each other and gave Pokemon something unique.
I've seen a lot of Ash/Misty videos and not cared for a great many of them. Ash and Misty aren't romantic, cutesy, or the traditional hero-and-love pair. (They're both heroes: he the Determinator Idiot Hero who gradually loses the idiot tag as he gains experience, and she the Determinator Guile Hero who learns to control her anger issues over time.) They love each other deeply, yes, but that love is often covered in sweat and dust and ripped clothing and tears from the life they lead, and they're far more likely to happily share their date-time crashed out and cuddled up in pajamas at a Pokemon Center watching a Pokemon Contest or Battle or some cheesy B movie or whatever than to dress to the nines and hit a fancy restaurant where neither of them will ever really feel like they belong. Misty, I think, is a romantic in the sense she loves the idea of the fairy tale romance. But given her entire character, and her desire to be nothing like her fairy-tale inspired sisters, she has to know that's not really the life for her. She's miserable every time she gets put in their shoes on the show.
This video, with the editing that makes it look old and vintage an reminds the viewer how long these two have been a thing, and it's perfectly chosen song, captures all of that effortlessly.
