Yes, here I am talking about XY anime. I have been seeing a lot of comments as to how XY is a mature show, whereas the rest of Pokemon is just a kids show, which led me to this post.
XY is undoubtedly a great Pokemon anime, it has cool Ash, good characters, and amazing battles with the best power-up in anime — Mega Evolution. It's a perfect recipe for a good show. And it is good. But people often misunderstand the word serious with maturity. XY is serious compared to the anime series that came before and came after, the stakes are higher, but that doesn't automatically make it a mature show.
Whereas SM takes a nuance approach. On face value it's the most "kiddish" show ever, with goofy looking characters making over the top expressions which are sometimes funny but often fall flat. It has a lower stake compared to XY, and it is quite laid back, a "slice of life" as everyone says.
But upon a closer and a deeper look, SM deals with one thing better than every other series i.e. exploration of human experiences. It dealt with death, grief, regret with the character of Litten and Mallow in a profound manner. Lillie is probably the 2nd best written character in the series with her exploration of a deep rooted phobia which came because of her messed up and traumatic childhood with Lusamine. She went from running away (escape) to over-comming her fear (reconcile and heal).
And lastly the Pokemon League, which was about more than just winning, all because of Guzma, the jealous guy who was never a prodigy. The league was weak compared to others like XY or DP, the level of trainers aside from the Top 4 were quite bad, but it was more about the characters than the battles. Almost each of the characters got some sort of closure, especially Guzma. The big bad this time was just a failed prodigy who was like a hollow shell from the inside, he just couldn't accept defeat, and only took fights which he could win, maintaining which "undefeated" name. His pokemon Golisopod mirrors this persona of his exceptionally well with the move Emergency Exit. It shows Guzma is a character who has built a defence mechanism around him, a way of coping. Which was shattered when Guzma accepted his defeat and decided to improve. And my goodness, it doesn't get better than this.
XY is a great show for those who want an intense show with higher stakes led by a serious protagonist. And SM is a great show for those who prefer emotional depth and exploration of complex humans in a nuanced manner.
Hope you liked my take on these two series. Thanks for reading all this.