#not medi

[medititemountain]

I just realized something. 

The REAL reason Dragonair evolves into Dragonite and changes its design so drastically is because... their typing is Dragon. Stick with me. They were the original sole representatives of the type called “Dragon type”, not just in english but also in the original japanese (ドラゴンタイプ Doragon taipu). 

What we tend to call “eastern dragon” (more snake-like) is actually a very different creature to what we know as the “western dragon” or just “dragon” (big legs & body, bat-like wings). The former goes by ryu in Japan, loong in China, etc. The later tends to actually be called “dragon” everywhere in the world.

And notice that the type is NOT called the “Ryu type” or the “Loong type” in Japanese.

So! The line begins as infant ryu/loong in the form of Dratini and Dragonair, snake-like beings holding a pearl... but because they are dragon types they end up morphing into a “western dragon”, a “proper” dragon.

I imagine something like this gave Pokemon more “personality” in its native Japan. It may have been “exotic”. Granted, Dragonite’s japanese name is Kairyu, but that could be part of the irony (especially since it’s written in hiragana rather than the more formal kanji).

Rayquaza would be the first proper ryu/loong.

btw this is similar to how the kirin is not a unicorn and the fenghuang is not a phoenix

[medititemountain]

The casual reveal that the pokemon in Detective Pikachu are empaths rather than outright understanding of human language puts the Lickitung scene in a new light. It wasn’t just gross-out humor, that Lickitung sensed Tim’s feelings and tried to comfort him.

[medititemountain]

I absolutely love hercules beetles, so naturally I absolutely love Heracross.

It’s just too bad that it didn’t get a larva and pupa pre-evos. Just look at this baby:

We got so many moth and butterfly pokemon with larva and pupa stages, we even had a Godzilla-like thing with such, so it baffles me that we had to wait until gen 7 for beetles to get a line with their life cycle.

[medititemountain]

I can’t explain how happy I am that we just got a Pokemon cartoon starring Scraggy!!! I adore Scraggy and Scrafty. Unova pokemon are perfect for stuff like this, as they have this expressive “cartoony” feeling. I hope if they ever make more experimental stuff like this that they keep Gen 5 in mind, or pretty much any pokemon that isn’t the usual four or five. The more obscure the better in my book. Surprise us!

[medititemountain]

You know Detective Pikachu is brilliant when it isn’t content with just avoiding the dreaded “uncanny valley” effect with its pokemon designs, it also goes out of its way to use the uncanny valley to its advantage. You probably know wich sequences I’m talking about. One was used heavily in the trailers, while the other one from the climax was kept a secret.

It kind of reminds me of the original Toy Story, actually: the people behind it were aware of the limitations of cgi at the time and avoided the uncanny valley by making the protagonists toys; but they also went out of their way to use the uncanny valley to their advantage by making the antagonists a human kid and a dog, wich looked creepy and wrong and that drove the point home that they were the bad guys (notice how the “good” humans had their faces out of focus most of the time).

Toy Story proved that cgi could be used for feature-lenght animated movies in more ways than one. Detective Pikachu proved that a series like Pokemon can in fact be made in live action, and any creature can be used to their full potential even if not all of them are cute and traditionally appealing like Pikachu. They both knew when to avoid and when to use the uncanny valley effect.

[medititemountain]

Detective Pikachu Spoilers

Can we take a moment to appreciate how ingenuous the use of Ditto was? Taking its abilities to their logical extreme, as well as referencing the gag from the anime that it’s most known for, while also providing an explanation for it all that makes sense between the context of the movie and that allows it to not be in conflict with the pokemon from the games (and provided in passing, no less)?

Well played, people who worked on the movie. 

[medititemountain]

Detective Pikachu SPOILERS ahead

I’ve seen some articles and people explain the ending of the movie by claiming that the dad’s partner is actually “just a regular Pikachu”....

I’m sorry, but this just isn’t true. While this Pikachu may not actually have Ryan Reynolds’ voice, or his character’s personality (though I like to think he did like coffee), this is still a Pikachu that:

Traveled the world along its partner to find Mewtwo.

Helped his partner sabotage a shady facility to free Mewtwo.

Was so distressed by his partner’s safety that Mewtwo could merge them without Pikachu being infected by the toxins.

Was the one that taught Mewtwo that humans aren’t always bad

Befriended Mewtwo despite being the cause of its capture

Was extremely powerful, casually becoming a legend in the underground battle circles and capable of putting up a fight against Mewtwo himself and maybe even defeat him.

(Regarding the last point, some have pointed out that those machines probably did all the work of capturing Mewtwo after they found him, but it stands to reason that Mewtwo would be far more agressive and prone to fight Pikachu the first time, unlike in the movie where he’s expecting him.)

And sure, most Pokemon would probably do anything for their partner, but it does take an extraordinary pokemon to do all this kind of stuff for a living like it’s nothing.

In short, this Pikachu is actually formidable, and still has a lot to offer if it ever shows up in another movie.

[medititemountain]

...Omedetou?