Delayed Reaction

Japanese pop culture really seemed to become self aware and start rampaging the streets of America, devouring our young and destroying our cities when Pokemon emerged from the sesspools of life in April 1997.




It used to fill me with such identity as a child to have one single pokemon out of one hundred and fifty one that fit me with personality, element, and overall desired destruction. The tiny fox creature with six curly tails and combat advantages was a teeming bucket of wide eyes and staggeringly adorable fluffy features. There was a lovely moment in I and Vulpix's relationship when the little creamy ball of fox-fluff shot a nine feet wide spray of fire with a cannon blast and force to melt the face off of an unexpecting level 4 Bubasaur. There's just really nothing that can match the kind of joy that brings.




Nonetheless, the additional spawns that seemed to have just seeped from the evolutionary bio-septic poke-ooze of time, have unnerved me. I have urges to confront a 'Magby', and demand its papers, the fact that it just so happens to be a smaller version of the original series six-foot tall bipedal fire duck, 'Magmar', is just not convincing enough. Furthermore, the pokemon that once only had one stage of evolution have been purged their privacy by the masses, and under the 'Jynx's bed we find 'Smoochums', and in 'Electebuzz's closet we find a small crying 'Elekid'. the additional preceeding pokemon are tiny poofed versions of the bigger creative design of each character, and by passing it off as a new pokemon, it looks like animators were just trying to fill space. Overall it has caused me a very personal annoyance and distrust of the new faces, and once again triggered a very human, raging, fiery hatred of change.


Oh, but there was more! The next few released exposed a dark underbelly of ancient god-like abominations, and mutant spawn crawling through the sewer pits of the city, rampaging our young, and feasting on the broken dead carcasses of Grandma's christmas card money. Some creations I stood before, gargantuan in proportion and gastly in construction, like a great pile of scraps slapped together in a rush, and I was forced to ask the makers in profound devastation...

...Why?


Whereas the original monsters in my games and cards of childhood were clever contruct and witty puns, the new are a confusing surprise and I was reluctant to invite them into my household. Just as if I'd let a three-headed rat into my house with open arms as it grunts its own name...Some are based off of an acute Japanese culture and inside jokes among pop cultures of their origins and I understand, but some are just a bit farfetch'd. I mean what happen to craftmenship? They might as well have a giant blob of hard floating garbage with corkbottle glasses and traffic cones for arms!


Oh...oh its called Forrtress? Oh. Well now this is awkward.