People need to calm down on the pokemon card prices, we need to keep it low. Affordable for all.
Those that act on speculation, are ‘mizzin’ da pt’
Its tough times
@jaco7671 its not pokemon standing on two legs, its the increased anthropomorphizing of pokemon which has undeniably become more and more common over the years, particularly in starters.
I mean, just look at gen 1st starters vs the gen 8s.
@wooltchi I do see your point, but I still have to disagree on Pokemon becoming more anthropomorphizing. Like I previously pointed out, there were a lot of human-like pokemon in gen 1, like jinx, hitmanchan, Golduck and so on.
And about the point that it’s more common now in starters, I do agree with, but does it really matter if it is the starters that are human-like or just some other Pokemon? Doesn’t really matter imo. There’s still the same (maybe even less actually) amount of human-like pokemon now than before.
And also what determinds a pokemon being like a human, is it there personality, or design? Cuz charizard had a lot of human features in his personality in the anime, A LOT.
I do see that when you take a look at cinderace and inteleon, that they look human-like, but again, it doesn’t matter if it’s the starters that look like that, or if it’s som other pokemon. Pokemon has always been that way.
I personally think people are starting to hate on it more now beacuse of furries and the cringe cultur surrounding it.
Or maybe it’s just because a lot of people are now adults, and can’t stop themselves from overthinking everything. A kid wouldn’t care in the slightest. There is a reason why it is and was very popular for there to be talking animals in cartoons, that all acted like humans, and walked on to legs. Nearly every child loved it, and kids nowadays do too.
Except gen 2. I remember seeing Pikablu for the first time, it blew my mind. It seemed like everyone was excited for Gen 2, neo sets and gold & silver. There was no sense of genwunners back in the day, it was all Pokemon.
I think back then people couldn’t get enough, whereas today people have had enough. They’re up to almost 1000 Pokémon now I think? Also the reason why so many people like the first two gens are the memories and nostalgia associated with them. Nostalgia is the reason I collect Pokémon, not because I like everything Pokemon.
These new gens will never create or have the same type of nostalgia and memories for the people who were around in 1999, which is why a lot of people dislike them.
Made an account here just because I’ve been interested in debating this line of thinking for a bit.
I’ll be clear, I don’t like Cinderace either. Like you said, it’s very anthropomorphic, and doesn’t really look like a Pokemon. But these arguments always make it seem like Cinderace and Inteleon somehow exemplify how anthropomorphic Gen 8 mons are when in reality most other Gen 8 mons just aren’t anthropomorphic despite how they’ve “undeniably become more and more common”.
What’s so anthro about Corviknight, Dragapult, or Frosmoth? How about Dubwool, Centiskorch, Greedent, or Falinks? How about Sandaconda, Cramorant, and Barraskewda? How about the box legends, which should at least hold some weight relative to the starters? Even Rillaboom (the grass starter), who is somewhat anthro, still looks like a gorilla, especially in that art you posted.
I went through all Gen 8 mons and outside of the starters, almost none of them count as anthro, and even the ones that do simply don’t match Cinderace. Out of the latter group, Toxtricity has the Gen 1 “can’t quite tell what it is by looking at it” vibe, and has a GMax where it loses the anthro feel. Urshifu is a bipedal bear, sure, but we’ve had those since Gen 2 with Ursaring, who, ironically enough, got an evo in PLA where he gets down on all fours. Obstagoon, maybe, I’ll concede on that. Including the starters, that’s around 5 final evos out of, what, 50+ final evos? If you want to push, you might be able to up that number a bit, but even if you nitpick as hard as possible it won’t get any higher than 8 and will still be a strong minority.
It’s like the starters are the only relevant mons in the gen and the other ones just don’t exist.
Gen 7 is also mostly free of this. The only mons (again, excluding the starters, which also aren’t at Cinderace’s level) that stood out to me as anthro there were Tsareena and Pheromosa. That’s just 4-5 final evos again, whereas the starter argument makes it seem like half of these gens is like that.
The same line of thinking applies to objectmons. Everyone loves to rap on Gen 5 for the ice cream or trash bag mons, even though it has loads and loads of mons that are neither objects nor anthropomorphic.
I find this nostalgia-driven explanation much more believable:
If you think that way, it’s fine. Pokemon is constantly pushing nostalgia after all, since Zard and Eeveelution merchandise is what makes them money, much more so than the games themselves. You don’t have to care, like, or even really look into the newer mons if you just have no interest in them.
It just feels disingenuous when people don’t look into them but then pretend that the reason they don’t really like the new gens is because they have “too many objectmons” or “too many anthro mons” when those are decidedly false (unless a small handful is really enough to just make you dismiss the entire gen). Just admit you don’t have nostalgia for them and move on.
Like @sidelinewatcher pointed out. Comparing gen 1 to gen 8. Gen 1 has more human-like pokemon (look at the pokedex), which means it is normal for pokemon to be like that. Pokemon can be everything from human-like to animals, myths, folklore, plants, objects and so on. People are blinded by nostaliga, and are overthinking what a pokemon is “supossed” to be.
If fx a Pokemon like electabuzz were made today, people with hate on it so much, just like people hate on toxtricity (arguably the most human-like gen 8 mon) for being human-like. When in reality they are very simular.
Even a very very popular legendary pokemon from gen 1, Mewtwo, is very human-like, and no one is hating on hm for that
Starters have undeniably gotten more anthropomorphic and they get the most attention from people because they should. The thing that makes them so much more anthropomorphic is that they literally have human professions baked in to their evolutions. I think the success of Greninja is to blame for the newer combos like cat wrestler, rabbit footballer, and chameleon sniper. It’s odd. I’m not saying I don’t like some of them as I like the frog ninja and owl archer, but I still think they are odd.
I don’t agree with them needing to get the most attention, since it makes it seem like the starters are the only important Pokemon, and the other ones all take a backseat despite catching them being what the game has been about from the beginning.
It also seems like the starter argument carries the implication (without any disclaimer) that the starters are what the average new Pokemon looks like, which is factually incorrect. If I tell someone who hasn’t looked at the gen that Pokemon are becoming highly anthropomorphic and present the Gen 8 starters as an example, they might believe that the rest of Gen 8 is like that and do the same thing with other people who don’t keep up with newer gens. There are quite a few Gen 8 designs I don’t really like, but that’s for other reasons.
You’re probably right about Greninja being behind all of the anthro starters. Giving Cinderace a carbon copy of Greninja’s ability spoke volumes about their intentions.
There is a difference between Cinderace and the Gen 1 examples mentioned. Its more about the humanoid aspect than being bipedal. Cinderace just looks like a person with a rabbit head. Even Mr. Mime, who is based on a literal human mime, looks less human than Cinderace:
@smpratte, what about golduck (duck), electabuzz (feline of some sort), mewtwo (cat)? They too look like people in a animal suit. Fact is, pokemon can be everthing
Maybe the basic ken sugimori pictures I choose were bad. Cuz when you see those specific pokemon in the anime, and how they move. They act very human, and look like humans in suits.
I see your point, but if it is the starters or some other pokemon, it shouldn’t matter, since pokemon is pokemon. Fx Pokemon like Hypno and Alakazam, are a mix of animals and human, with human professions baked into them. A guy that hypnotize people, and a magic spoon bender.
Yeah they are not starters, but fact is, pokemon has always had human traits, but now when they do it to some of the starters, it starts to become a problem?
As long as there is a balance between human-like and animals and so on, and not just one thing takes over.
I think it is perfectly balanced atm, since soooo many of the new pokemon are original, and dosn’t have human traits at all. But only a few have, just like it has always been
Yeah pokemon are pokemon. And I do see the points some of the other people here make. I just see so many other people on diffrent platforms, shitting on the newer pokemon for being humanoid and those people take it way too far. This was the reasoning for making the post, since I don’t agree with people getting so mad over and shaming others for liking those specific pokemon.