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toonstarterz · 8 years ago

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What the Pokéani does better than any other media in the franchise.

This doesn’t really have anything to do with the upcoming movie, but all the discourse over this past week has prompted me to write something positive about the Pokéani.

Now it’s well known that the anime is far from perfect, and have made some decisions that have, rightly so, pissed off a lot of fans. Lack of continuity, Best Wishes, too much filler, etc. But if there’s one thing the Pokéani has been consistently pretty good at, it’s this:

Making the pokémon themselves actual characters.

I know this is something a lot of fans tend to overlook, especially when the human characters are as great as they are, but I just want to say how much I appreciate the show writing the pokémon as solid characters.

Let’s take the two most well-known pokémon in the series: Pikachu and Meowth. Pikachu, being the franchise’s mascot, is iconic. Its face is pretty much on every piece of merchandise in existence. But if you were to describe Pikachu’s character, you’re likely to get the following responses: adorable, powerful, loyal, and just a bit mischievous. And where did that personality originate? The anime. It’s voice even worked itself into the video games. The more specific parts of Ani!Pikachu’s character are also easy to see. Originally rude and distrustful of humans, eventually become compassionate after meeting Ash. It looks out for the younger mons, shocks people when distressed, and of course, loves ketchup.

Meowth may even have more character than Pikachu does. He has a tragic backstory that ends up with him being spurned by love. He is overwhelming persistent, crafty, and fiercely loyal to Team Rocket. He’s physically weak, but is surprisingly strong when motivated. Though he is a chronic backstabber, he is also a romantic and a philosopher who often questions the value of happiness. His anime impression is so influential that his two-legged stance has become the staple of all his media appearances.

And then there are the other pokémon. Let’s go with Ash’s team for instance, since they get the most screen time. The OG gang of the leader Pikachu, mature ambassador Bulbasaur, jokester firefighter Squirtle, and badass Charizard are the seniors of his team, with fleshed out personalities in their own right. The reserves like the helpful Kingler and smothering Muk are pretty one-note, but do have recognizable personalities. The consistency of the pokémon characters has been apparent throughout the years. Compared to their Kanto counterparts, the Johto trio of the flirty Bayleef, childlike Quilava, and dancing Totodile were considered the “juniors” of the team. The Hoenn region gave us such beauties as the loner Sceptile and over-emotional Torkoal. Sinnoh introduced the determined Infernape and crybaby Gliscor. Unova brought forth the sassy-take-no-shit Snivy (my personal favorite) and goofball Oshawott. Kalos offered up the manly Hawlucha and lovable Goodra. And most recently, we have a laid back Rowlet, excitable pup Rockruff, and a heroic Litten. The list goes on.

And it’s not just Ash’s pokémon that get all the attention. A lot of the supporting character’s mons were given a lot of focus as well. Probably the earliest example would be Misty’s Psyduck, whose dimwitted-yet-powerful mind appealed to lot of the fanbase. Jessie’s Wobbuffet is in the same vein, having the most appearances on the show after Pikachu and Meowth. Dawn’s Piplup also proved to be highly popular with it’s proud and hotheaded personality. Indeed, a lot of the “comic-relief” pokémon get fleshed out a lot, arguably too much one could argue. But then there are pokémon that are given actual character arcs. Lavitar in Johto was probably the first instance of a troubled pokémon getting serious development. This paved the way for personal growth arcs seen in the likes of Ash’s Infernape and Greninja. The anime proved that pokémon could have personalities just as serious as their human masters.

Of course, the anime hasn’t always developed the pokémon characters as well as they could have. This can be seen way back in the beginning, where mons like Misty’s Goldeen and Brock’s Geodude were just there to fill up space. Team Rocket’s early pokémon got this really bad, with Lickitung and Victreebel pretty much getting screwed over. Thankfully, the anime has gotten better at this, Pokémon like Clemont’s Bunnelby look like they’d fall into this trap, but they end up becoming true characters in the long run. And the Team Rocket mons have gotten much better at this, especially with the inclusion of Jessie’s Mimikyu, who’s set itself up for a lot of future development.

Recurring pokémon even get this. There’s the infamous prima-donna Jigglypuff, the runaway Snubbull, the Spoink from Hoenn, the evil Malamar team, and of course, Bewear. You didn’t have to be a part of a main character’s team. You could be given solid characterization with our own goals and desires, even if you were only in one episode.

This anime is driven in equal parts by its human and pokémon characters. As the show likes to constantly remind you every five seconds, the two live together in harmony. There are numerous pokémon that I didn’t think I would like when first introduced via the games, but the anime has more than once made me fall in love with them. The anime is probably the best, even more so than the games or manga, at making the pokémon species something more than just monsters with special powers. And I hope it’s something the Pokéani fans can appreciate as much as I do.

#pokeani #anipoke #pikachu #meowth #ash ketchum #pokemon 20th anniversary #the anime needs some positivity right now

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recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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Who's That Pokémon? We Rate 9 of Detective Pikachu's Monster Makeovers!

At last, Detective Pikachu is out in the US! Now we can see our favorite fluffy ball of electricity test his deductive powers in the first-ever live-action Pokémon film. But, as we've seen, he's not the only video game critter in this film.

Ryme City is full of Pokémon from all across the generations, from Snorlaxes to Snubbulls. Spotting them all in the trailers and ads alone has been an adventure—so much so that when we decided to take a closer look at the Pokémon featured in the film, we knew there was no way we were going to catch them all! So we picked nine prominent 'mons who show up in the movie and pitted them against their earlier versions.

How close did the film iterations get? We think they're pretty good as a whole, but we're rating them one by one below. How do our insights fare against yours? Any others you think nailed it? Let us know in the comments!

So, without further ado, let's get this Poké-party started!

Charizard

The final form of Gen I starter Charmander (at least until the Mega X and Y versions rolled around), Charizard has always been a force to be reckoned with. Various Pokédex entries tell us all the things that make its searing fire even hotter: its bond with its trainer, its mood, and whether or not it's been through especially difficult battles.

It looks like Detective Pikachu's Charizard is just as much of a beast as its predecessors, with the added detail of reptilian scales and many more tiny teeth than its usually visible four. The progression seems like a natural one design-wise, and there was never any question who this brute was when he first appeared in the trailers.

Verdict: A mighty lizard indeed.

Psyduck

When we were kids, Psyduck was hilarious. As adults, Psyduck is a mood. Seriously, if I were confused all the time and had a constant headache, I wouldn't want to clear a path for a bunch of ten-year-olds, either.

Movie Psyduck has gotten a bit of attention in the trailers as Pikachu's sidekick, requiring smooth elevator music on car trips so its head doesn't explode and generally being in the way. So we've gotten to see a bit of this particular critter in action. And... yep. Psyduck definitelly looks like a duck with a migraine, from the ruffled anxiety feathers to the beady, exhausted eyes. Psy-ai-ai.

Verdict: Get this poor kid some Excedrin, I can feel the migraine from here.

Flareon

Eevees and their eeveelutions have one major job in the Pokémon world: be cute. Well, and have specific skill sets that work wonders in battle, but "be cute" is the primary one. Jolteon? Cute zappy boy. Leafeon? Cute leafy boy.

So all we need from Flareon is a cute fiery boy. Not sure about they eyes yet—maybe they'll chill out once its eeveelution is over—but the rest of the critter looks extremely fluffy and huggable. Which, again, is pretty much all we ask of an Eevee.

Verdict: Not sure about the eyes, but would still pet.

Jigglypuff

Speaking of a Mood, here's this little karaoke star.

If you've watched the Pokémon anime, you know all too well that this weird little creampuff's temper is heavily reliant on whether or not you stay awake through its performance. But considering one of its skills is singing opponents to sleep, your odds aren't good... and it looks like the movie's Jigglypuff has that same microphone/marker from the anime, so that dude napping nearby can probably expect to wake up to a scribbled-on face.

Jigglypuff is our first reminder on this list that Pokémon are weird. Some of them are just downright unsettling. Jigglypuff may be a pink fluffy sphere, but it inflates. Like, inflates. And gets super passive-aggressive. So the Ryme City version may look a little creepier than the anime one, but we're calling that completely understandable.

Verdict: A good round weird child.

Mewtwo

Whoa. This Legendary turned out looking super cool.

Mewtwo's almost alien look brought a dose of sci-fi to the Pokémon world. Where most of its creatures can be realted to something of this world, this big guy is unmatched... well, almost. There's those Mega-Evolutions to reckon with, after all.

He loooks awesome in Detective Pikachu, sporting those familiar determined eyes and almost amphibian-looking hands. Plus, in the midst of the Pro-Fluffy/Anti-Fluffy Pokémon Discourse, the choice to make him alien smooth was a no-brainer. We can't wait to see what kind of trouble he causes.

Verdict: He's back and as cool as ever!

Lickitung

Oh, yikes. Oh, big yikes.

Usually when a CG creature looks uncanny and slightly terrifying in a film, it's not on purpose. But this interpretation of Lickitung is pretty much exactly what it's supposed to be, and that just happens to be uncanny and slightly terrifying. From its massive human-looking tongue to its beady little eyes to that bald pink turtle... thing... face.

Congratulations, movie. You nailed it. And it's horrifying.

Verdict: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Mr. Mime

Can we all just agree on one thing going forward? Mr. Mime is, like, a guy. That's an actual small dude sitting there. Look at him. He's just a small, weird-looking dude. And to the movie's credit, it looks like they just went along with that briefing.

His Pokédex entry has two major points about him. The first is that he's really good at mime, which we can guess from the name. The second is that, if you interrupt him in the middle of a bit, he'll slap you. Guys, this is just a small, angry mime pretending to be a Pokémon so he can beat people up. Why is no one bringing this up?

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, right. He looks spot on in the movie.

Verdict: Tiny angry man.

Ludicolo

To behind-the-times Pokémon fans, this little dude probably looked like Psyduck in deep cover when it first showed up in the trailer. But that's Gen III's Ludicolo, a sort of duck/pineapple thing that loves to dance. Known as the "Carefree Pokémon," it's also been known to appear when laughing children are near.

Its Grass/Water origins are evident in the way the film has chosen to interpret the brim of its hat, making it look especially leafy. The choice to render the pineapple-shaped beard as—well—a beard is pretty interesting, too. The top of the hat also goes with full pineapple leaves, driving the look home.

Verdict: Creative and a little crazy. We hope Ludicolo is having a nice day.

Pikachu

We can't close out this list without addressing the movie's star, Detective Pikachu himself! Since Detective Pikachu is a specific member of his species, we went ahead and made comparison images for both hat and no-hat iterations.

Then again, reference pictues almost aren't necessary; Pikachu has become one of the world's most recognizable anime and video game characters. The zappy rodent is a mascot for the brand, and one of Nintendo's most popular characters. There's been a bit of Pro-Fluffy/Anti-Fluffy debate online since the reveal, though—for the record, the author is definitely Pro-Fluffy, since it mimics that look a lot of pudgy real-world rodents have of wearing puffy pantaloons over their tiny legs.

Whether or not you like the fluff, the little star is undeniably Pikachu through and through. He's got the zigzaggy tail, the emotive ears, and those teeny-tiny little paws. Even having the voice of actual Deadpool doesn't compromise the cuteness. As an added bonus, our little detective looks extra adorable when attempting to navigate a giant coffee mug.

Verdict: We love him. But that's a given.

How do you feel about the various Pokémon designs in the film? Any you think deserve a shout-out? Let us know in the comments! And don't forget to check out Detective Pikachu in theaters!

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Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

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