franchise
-
todo:
- trading cards
- games
- ultra sun
- silver
- uranium
- insurgence
- diamond
- sage
- brown
- prism
franchise
games
each of these will be a page
...i'm well aware how ambitious this is
franchise
franchise
it's been a long time coming but i've finally braved starting my pokemon shrine
pokemon is such a massive media juggernaut and is a core part of the current cultural zeitgeist - i've come across so many other pokemon shrines whilst browsing other websites and there's so much content official and fanmade which would be impossible to sift through in entirety. suffice it to say it has a massive reach and appeal which has touched a large proportion of the world.
i came fairly late to the party (this seems to be a trend lol) with my first real exposure being some pokemon trading cards from a promotional pack included with a magazine. if i recall correctly i got a drifloon, murkrow and a swirlix - i thought the designs were really neat and they're honestly still up there for me. although this didn't really get me into the tcg by any means. unfortunately i traded them for a bunch of energy and supporter cards because it sounded like a good trade (since i've never actually played it wasn't). however i did end up getting some more later from packs handed out at the detective pikachu screenings.
i think i really started to get exposed to it when pokemon go launched and literally all my peers started playing. honestly i never was and still aren't that enamored by pokemon go - it's a neat idea but mobile games in general are a whole other can of worms. however it did end up getting me to watch the pokemon anime because my aunt had just let us on her netflix account and xyz was being promoted on there.
well that's where my personal pokemania really started i suppose. it's widely agreed that xyz is where the anime peaked and it holds up ridiculously well. i watched it twice during that period and have rewatched my favourite episodes many times since. i'll probably rave about it in another section because holy crap is it good. i followed the anime all the way until horizons since later gens have been losing me a bit (i'll go over that too)
once i had a 3ds i was finally able to play ultra sun and get really stuck into the games. following that came silver on my dad's gameboy, diamond also on the 3ds (both from ebay) and the world of fangames and romhacks.
i have watched a ridiculous amount of pokemon youtube videos since. some channels like the aura guardian, bird keeper toby and dobbs i believe have stopped posting but gnoggin and mandjtv have continued to churn stuff out. recently i also started watching some competitive poketubers like wolfeyvgc, freezai and xbell which has definitely opened my eyes far more to how involved the metagame is.
and this table from cajunavenger
which is honestly pretty accurate :p
the pokemon anime has always had so much potential
primarily it serves to introduce the new cast of creatures which came in the newest generation and showcase what makes them unique, be it their personality, ecology, traits or lore. somebody can then get attached to them and buy their merch. the show absolutely excels at this intended purpose and has really made many pokemon far more endearing to me which otherwise would not have been if i were to only seen them in the games. however it does have to be said that these tend to be episodes which don't serve the story i.e filler.
the story tends to be a retelling of the story of the associated games, however the newer series have deviated from this. it did seem a bit limiting and formulaic to just structure around gym badge collection and a big finale at the end however it let the story have a lot more cohesion whilst still allowing for side adventures. newer seasons are increasingly episodic in nature, with fewer multi-episode arcs which seems to be a trend for kids shows these days. not to say the stories are bad by any means - many characters are very beloved and the writers and animators can really pull out the stops when it counts.
but i think the coolest part of the anime is the battling. since the series takes place in the pokemon world there's no reason to follow the restrictions of battling in the games so some really creative strategies, interactions and maneuvers can be done. when done well this can really make a battle memorable and will have you rewatching many more times, although many will unfortunately play out in a standard way.
with that said though, the only series that i have watched are half of indigo league, xyz, sun and moon and journeys. to be honest i think i spoiled myself for the others by watching xyz first (it had just finished airing) because xyz is unanimously peak pokemon anime. the strategies in each major battle combined with a fun cast, really well executed zygarde and greninja plot and phenomenal animation blows everything else completely out the water. from what i've heard they were able to make the last seasons so good because of the extra time used in the development of omega ruby and alpha sapphire. see what happens when you spend time on projects gamefreak?
