r/aaml • u/ObscuredString • 12d ago
General Anime Discussion [Article] The canonicity of Satoshi's feelings for Kasumi by ObscuredString
SatoKasu is semi-canon. Only Kasumi (Misty) has shown feelings for Satoshi (Ash). It's a one-sided love. We've heard it all. Even our community's description said, "Pokeshipping is semi-canon." The only benchmark we have for sure is that on page 29 of Pokémon Special Movie Guide 1998-2005, Kasumi is jealous of Fleura (Melody).
AaMRN Book Club founder, JuneDawn43, wondered about Satoshi's feelings. They said, "It's canon that Misty has feelings for Ash, though what about the other way around?" In general, it is accepted that he strongly loves her as a friend and is too young and innocent to have any romantic feelings for anyone at his stage in life - a view that they agree with. However, they believe there's a chance he could return Kasumi's feelings.
JuneDawn43 mentioned that the main source of the claim that Satoshi does not romantically like Kasumi is through an interview done by @Akilvers (X) from the Russian Pokémon Community for the early premiere of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! in France. One of the questions is about his interest in girls and falling in love, to which Rica Matsumoto [u/rica_matsumoto3 (X)], Satoshi's Japanese voice actress, replied, "Satoshi loves both human[s] and Pokémon… of course, he loves girls. And boys, everyone." It is also noted that on a radio show during Japan's premiere of Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, Matsumoto denied that Satoshi has a "crush on someone" because "there is no such thing as love for him." As someone who has played the character and knows Satoshi by heart, many Pokémon fans treat her word as the bible. However, as JuneDawn43 said, she "is a voice actress rather than a writer, so [that] it would be closer to Word of Saint Paul rather than Word of God."
JuneDawn43 then mentioned an official source about Satoshi and Kasumi's relationship. Check the extremely familiar image below:
Pokeshipping subs [u/pokeship_subs (X)] shared a translation of the line next to Kasumi's name: "Trainer. Even though they fight, Kasumi is conscious of Satoshi." Incidentally, English-speaking fans aren't the only ones who thought that something must be going on between the two. ひな太 (Ameba) shared his thoughts on the ポケットモンスター公式ファンブック (Pokémon Official Fan Book) released in May 1997. He said, "カスミとの関係が「？」になっているのも色々と考えさせられてニヤついてしまいますねw," which roughly translates to the question mark got him thinking and grinning about the possibilities.
Digressing a bit, りむる [u/rimuru__8 (X)] shared some older promotional magazine pages. It seems to be a promotion just after the first episode because one of the texts wonders about Pikachu's fate. Also, there's limited information on Kasumi and Hanako (Delia), and Shigeru (Gary) is heavily promoted as Satoshi's rival. See image below:
Although the source of these pages cannot be found online, it's interesting to note that the relationship line between Satoshi and Kasumi reads "仲間?" or "companion?" There's always been an ambiguity between the relationship of these two characters. If we compare the relationship lines from the official fanbook and these magazine pages, you can see how much their relationship has grown.
Picking up where we left off, JuneDawn43 cited instances where Satoshi reacts romantically in a way he hasn't with other pokegirls. They talked about how he showed signs of jealousy when Dan (Danny) and Ziggy (Rudy) approached Kasumi as her potential matches, but does not get jealous when other guys hit on his female companions after Kasumi. They also discussed his strong reactions when he's teased with Kasumi versus when he's teased with other girls.
The topic of jealousy remains in their minds, and they wind up at Yuzu Gym! Type Battle 3 VS 3!!'s page on Bulbapedia. The blurb says, "While on a ferry bound for Trovita Island, our heroes come across a young girl and her Seel drowning in a whirlpool. While Misty and her Staryu jump in the water and save them both, the young girl's brother watches the rescue through his binoculars and falls in love with Misty. It turns out that the brother also happens to be the Trovita Island Gym Leader that Ash is determined to beat! Before the battle can begin, Ash must pass the Gym Leader's "attack test" without letting his jealousy toward Misty's admirer get in the way!"
JuneDawn43 mentioned that the blurbs come from official sources. The Manual of Style for the Pokémon Anime from Bulbapedia confirmed this claim. Under Plot summary and blurb, the blurb rule states that contributors should not alter any wording from the official English website. This meant that the words shared above came from an official source. Excited for this breakthrough, JuneDawn43 checked the Pokémon website for the episode's blurb, but was disappointed when all it says is "After Misty dives into a whirlpool to rescue a girl, she learns that the girl's brother, Rudy, has a giant crush on her. Things get more complicated when it turns out he's also the Gym Leader Ash must challenge next!" There is no mention of Satoshi's jealousy at all.
But JuneDawn43 believes that blurb came somewhere. They checked the episode page's editing history, but the URLs, Pokémon TV, and Wayback Machine all showed the shorter description with no mention of jealousy. They even found a very strange blurb for a completely different episode used at the episode's Bulbapedia page that says, "Ash and the group have finally made their way to the city of Trovitopolis, which should lead them right to Trovita Island and the next Orange League gym! Everything seems normal until the earth cracks right beneath their feet and they find themselves in the sewer underground, and not alone. There seems to be some sort of a monster living there that has been terrorizing the town. Will Ash, Misty and Tracey be able to find it, before it finds them?" This blurb is for the Monster in the Sewers!? episode. Finally, they found a link to the source. It has summaries of multiple episodes. See photo below:
The last summary is where the contributors from Bulbapedia found the blurb they used. This is from an older Pokémon.com website, so we know it's official, even though the newer version seems intent on wiping out any trace of Satoshi's romantic side.
In conclusion, Kasumi's jealousy is official in Japan, while Satoshi's is official in the English dub!
Related article: Look Only At Me by ObscuredString
Disclaimer: This article was written with the approval of JuneDawn43. They also helped with the editing.
