YET ANOTHER MEME. Part ?/?
Comment to this post saying you want to do the meme, and I will list five things I associate with you. They might make sense or they might be random. Then post that list, with your commentary, to your LJ (or just add a reply back to this post if you'd prefer).
From somniumweb: Pokemon, Legend of Korra, make-believe partners in crime, New York/Portland, and bluebirds. Oh wow, this is going to be fun. :D
POKEMON
~Once upon a time~, I was eight years old. I had only recently been allowed to start watching cartoons whose primary purpose was NOT teaching kids things like colors and counting and how to be a good friend, and the first show I got into purely for the entertainment value was Pokemon.
Every morning at around six-thirty, I would wake up early enough to catch an episode before going to school. It just captivated me. The art style was unlike anything I had ever seen before, the wacky nonsensical humor was utterly hilarious to my elementary school mind, and the little elemental-powered critters helped develop my fascination with fantasy.
Nowadays, I can't see much in the show besides half-hour toy commercials and flat characters. I've grown up enough to the point where the Pokemon anime just isn't enjoyable anymore, because I can predict almost every storyline and the characters never grow. That does make me a little sad... but Pokemon was the gateway drug to my cartoon/anime addiction. Without Pokemon, there's a decent chance I might never have been interested in watching A:TLA, and without A:TLA, not only would I have been a completely different person - in several extremely convoluted and roundabout ways, A:TLA actually helped me towards becoming a feminist, combating white privilege, and discovering my bisexuality, in addition to being the ultimate reason why I want to be an animator - but I never would have seen any epic, emotional or mature anime; like Miyazaki's work or Cowboy Bebop. (Actually, I only just finished the latter last night, after marathoning it all last week. Oh God, that ending. SOMEONE HOLD ME. ;_;)
tl;dr: The Pokemon anime is boring to me now, but it played a surprisingly important role in how my tastes developed! And for that reason alone, I'm always going to be fond of it.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. The franchise isn't based around the show!
I might have moved on from the anime, but I love the games. Like, a LOT.
When I was ten, my brother got a shiny new Gameboy and a copy of Ruby for Christmas. I got an Easy Bake Oven I never used. Almost every night after, I would sneak into my brother's room WHILE HE WAS ASLEEP and filch it, spending a good few hours happily blasting away at opponents before returning it to his desk unsaved. (So, you see, I've been stealing other people's electronics for use late at night for years. CHAT DID NOT CORRUPT ME, GUYS. 8D) That was the first time I ever played a Pokemon game. From then on, it was true love.
What appealed to me about the Pokemon games was the way it married fantasy with thought. On the one hand, you have all these ~magical~ cute little animals that can shoot fireballs and lighting and ice rays. On the OTHER, to be good at the game you have to really ponder type matchups, moves, and a whole host of other battle factors. There's a reason why so many people take it ridiculously seriously - it offers an incredibly interesting and unique system of tactics and strategy, completely unlike anything else out there. None of the so-called "Pokemon Killers" (Yu-gi-oh, Digimon, Bakugan, Smittywerbenmanjensenmon, it'sgettingreallysillymon) out there have ever really been able to match up.
But on top of all of that, I swear: Nothing makes you feel quite as badass as when you finally take down that damn Champion for the first time. NOTHING.
And, of course, we can't forget the EPIC MUSIC.
There's a hell of a lot more where that came from.
GOOD NIGHT, ALL OF YOU. I'll do the rest some other time, when I'm not distracted by Pokemon music~
From somniumweb: Pokemon, Legend of Korra, make-believe partners in crime, New York/Portland, and bluebirds. Oh wow, this is going to be fun. :D
POKEMON
~Once upon a time~, I was eight years old. I had only recently been allowed to start watching cartoons whose primary purpose was NOT teaching kids things like colors and counting and how to be a good friend, and the first show I got into purely for the entertainment value was Pokemon.
Every morning at around six-thirty, I would wake up early enough to catch an episode before going to school. It just captivated me. The art style was unlike anything I had ever seen before, the wacky nonsensical humor was utterly hilarious to my elementary school mind, and the little elemental-powered critters helped develop my fascination with fantasy.
Nowadays, I can't see much in the show besides half-hour toy commercials and flat characters. I've grown up enough to the point where the Pokemon anime just isn't enjoyable anymore, because I can predict almost every storyline and the characters never grow. That does make me a little sad... but Pokemon was the gateway drug to my cartoon/anime addiction. Without Pokemon, there's a decent chance I might never have been interested in watching A:TLA, and without A:TLA, not only would I have been a completely different person - in several extremely convoluted and roundabout ways, A:TLA actually helped me towards becoming a feminist, combating white privilege, and discovering my bisexuality, in addition to being the ultimate reason why I want to be an animator - but I never would have seen any epic, emotional or mature anime; like Miyazaki's work or Cowboy Bebop. (Actually, I only just finished the latter last night, after marathoning it all last week. Oh God, that ending. SOMEONE HOLD ME. ;_;)
tl;dr: The Pokemon anime is boring to me now, but it played a surprisingly important role in how my tastes developed! And for that reason alone, I'm always going to be fond of it.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. The franchise isn't based around the show!
I might have moved on from the anime, but I love the games. Like, a LOT.
When I was ten, my brother got a shiny new Gameboy and a copy of Ruby for Christmas. I got an Easy Bake Oven I never used. Almost every night after, I would sneak into my brother's room WHILE HE WAS ASLEEP and filch it, spending a good few hours happily blasting away at opponents before returning it to his desk unsaved. (So, you see, I've been stealing other people's electronics for use late at night for years. CHAT DID NOT CORRUPT ME, GUYS. 8D) That was the first time I ever played a Pokemon game. From then on, it was true love.
What appealed to me about the Pokemon games was the way it married fantasy with thought. On the one hand, you have all these ~magical~ cute little animals that can shoot fireballs and lighting and ice rays. On the OTHER, to be good at the game you have to really ponder type matchups, moves, and a whole host of other battle factors. There's a reason why so many people take it ridiculously seriously - it offers an incredibly interesting and unique system of tactics and strategy, completely unlike anything else out there. None of the so-called "Pokemon Killers" (Yu-gi-oh, Digimon, Bakugan, Smittywerbenmanjensenmon, it'sgettingreallysillymon) out there have ever really been able to match up.
But on top of all of that, I swear: Nothing makes you feel quite as badass as when you finally take down that damn Champion for the first time. NOTHING.
And, of course, we can't forget the EPIC MUSIC.
Click to viewThere's a hell of a lot more where that came from.
GOOD NIGHT, ALL OF YOU. I'll do the rest some other time, when I'm not distracted by Pokemon music~