Summary

• Jessie and James' relationship on the Pokémon anime has always been unclear, with no hint of romance between them.
• The Japanese voice actors for Team Rocket find the idea of romance between Jessie and James laughable.
• According to the voice actors, Jessie, James, and Meowth form a strong team because of their differences, not because of romantic feelings.

In the Pokémon anime fandom, it's common for fans to have strong opinions on whether Team Rocket's Jessie and James have romantic feelings for each other or not. While there's evidence to both arguments in the colossally large series, it seems that the Team Rocket Trio's Japanese voice actors have strong feelings on the matter, too.

Jessie and James' relationship has been pretty unclear since the moment the two appeared on-screen. They've been revealed to have backstory with each other even predating Team Rocket, and have used disguises where they appear married or as a couple on countless occasions. On the other hand, while the crew occasionally have tender moments together, these have never once led to any kind of confession or even a hint that there might be hidden feelings at work.

Even at the series' ending, Team Rocket are just as they always were--a trio of no-gooders after Ash's Pikachu.

Team Rocket's Voice Actors Find the Idea of Romance Laughable

In an interview with Buzzfeed Japan, translated by fansite Dogasu's Backpack, the Japanese voice actors for Team Rocket, Megumi Hayashibara (Jessie), Shinichiro Miki (James), and Inuko Inuyama (Meowth) were asked about their thoughts on romance between Jessie and James, and all three couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion. Inuyama goes on to say that if there were romantic feelings there, then Jessie and James likely wouldn't have been able to work together in Team Rocket like they do.

When asked later how men and women can be friends, Miki weighed in, saying that their genders didn't play much of a role in Jessie and James' relationship--after all, Meowth is there too, and he's a Pokémon. All three are different, and together they for each other's weaknesses. The idea that comes across from the three voice actors throughout the discussion is that they've never really considered a romance between Jessie and James in their performances, and find the idea to be laughable at best. They did it, however, that they understand why adult fans might expect something between them.

With the series now over and Team Rocket gone with it, it's extremely unlikely that fans hoping for a Jessie and James romance would ever get to see their dreams canonized. Those who like the idea of Jessie and James together do at least have the manga adaptation's ending to fall back on, which does show Jessie and James married with a child. Still, Team Rocket is likely better off staying as they are--a trio unfettered by romance, working together as friends for as long as it takes for their Pokémon anime goal to be accomplished.

Source: Dogasu's Backpack

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