On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:42:30 +0000 (UTC), ljuan@
ces.clemson.edu (Juan F.
Lara) wrote:
>In article <46D53F85.3B98864C@mones.4.ever>,
>Timmy Ramone wrote:
>>
>>Two sure signs of the End of Civilization as We Know It:
>>
>>1) A Spice Girls reunion tour
>
> I'm not worried; no way are they going to catch on again. I doubt that
>any of their old fans feel any nostalgia towards them. They're guaranteed to
>bomb.
>
>>2) A Pokemon revival
>
> I like this news actually. I never stopped being a fan of the cartoons,
>even though the franchise fell out of favor in the U.S. That's why I'm
>interested in the possibility that the show may get high profile again here in
>the States.
I actually like the games. I haven't seen many of the cartoons, though.
(Why do they always say their names over and over? I guess it's easier for
the actors than trying to imitate the sounds Pokémon make in the games, but
what sort of critter would actually say something like "Teddiursa!
Teddiursa!"?)
>>> The "movies" seem to be a higher grade of story line ("Lucario"
>>> was a bit of a tear jerker... I LIKED him...)
>
> I still need to watch my recorded copy. I've heard that the 8th movie has
>a dark tone for a "Pokemon" movie. And Lucario may be the pokemon who looks
>most like a character you'd see in a furry fandom comic. Very nice looking
>muzzle and ears. The fifth movie is my current favorite. That featured a
>human-pokemon romance sure to please furry fans, and the first death of a
>pokemon in the franchise's history.
Lucario does have the classic furry profile with digitigrade feet and a
tail. There are other bipedal Pokémon that have somewhat of a furry-ish
apparance, e.g. Abra / Kadabra / Alakazam, Teddiursa / Ursaring, Buneary /
Lopunny, or even something like Croagunk / Toxicroak for a more amphibian
sort of look.
>> At the same time, the film is a little troubling. Like other
>> Pokemon, Lucario can be forced into gladiatorial combat at the
>> capricious whim of his master. Unlike other Pokemon, Lucario
>> is a sentient being; essentially, he's a slave. Not sure if
>> I'm entirely comfortable with that...
Well, you could take into account the fact that Pokémon gain happiness
through combat (as it gives them experience which ultimately allows them to
gain levels). There are people who can read your Pokémon's happiness, or
tell you what kinds of berries they prefer, so there are at least some
rudimentary ways that humans can communicate with Pokémon. If you consider
the Mystery Dungeon games as part of the series, that's evidence at least
that the Pokémon can communicate with each other.
But ultimately there are elements of the Pokémon world that exist mainly to
make an interesting game. Can you imagine spending most of your life inside
a little ball in a mailbox somewhere (even if it's dimensionally
transcendental as it must be, considering the size of most of the
monsters), to be brought out occasionally for battles or to clear some
rocks from a path? Or how about being an Electrode stuck in a power plant
generating electricity all day?
> I remember someone noting that the pokemon possibly are equivalent to
>Shinto kamis. There might be ways in Shintoism to make kamis favor you,
>similar to how pokemon trainers take in new pokemon. Lucario comes off more
>like a Samurai warrior serving a lord. For most of this movie, doesn't he
>spend it vilifying his old trainer because he thought the trainer had betrayed
>him? He has the liberty to complain.
>
> - Juan F. Lara
Wasn't there a shrine to Celebi in one of the games? (similar to the sort
of shrines built for Shinto kamis)
Pokémon can (so I've read) disobey orders if they don't respect the
trainer. In practice this means you need a certain number of badges. But
taking all these things into consideration, you could make a case that
Pokémon training is less like slavery and more like a coach training an
athlete to win competitions. Still, it's not as if they have much of a
choice in the matter, if a trainer manages to catch you (or raises you from
an egg).
--
Teamouse "If all Printers were determin'd not to print any
(Herman Miller) thing till they were sure it would offend no body,
www.io.com/~hmiller/ there would be very little printed." -Ben Franklin
