Color me intrigued. This was a thought-provoking read about a topic that, as much as I love it, doesn't usually inspire very deep thoughts for me. I'm definitely excited to read more Necessary Monsters posts.
fascinating read, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!
if I may, might I suggest Dr Marc Steinberg’s book Anime Media Mix? its discussion of the anime industry and its configurations through an analysis of the mobility of animated characters between different media - the media mix - could be interesting to your project; it specifically talks about Pokémon as well, offering a political economy and media studies perspective
Highlighting how creatures of mythology seem to represent human experiences was very interesting. As someone who loves mythology and writing my own mythologies, I'm surprised I hadn't drawn that conclusion myself.
Humans love to write and draw our own experiences, and stories–mythologies–are often the easiest way to deal with our greatest fears in the safest way.
These stories can also, easily, end up sticking with the fans and becoming a part of the culture. It was probably different back when these things were considered religious rather than mostly mythological, where these stories ended up filling the knowledge gaps for people who needed explanations for things like natural disasters or just bad luck. I think there's something to be said about how humans have always wanted explanations for these things. We're such a curious species.
I particularly like the point of how more contemporary examples of mythology can be shown with how humans have made stories about even our potential for compassion over machines. I feel like there's definitely a point of inspiration for a story there for me, haha.
A thing of note to me is that, bestiaries sound a lot like worldbuilding bibles. I love that.
This made sense when you talked about how bestiaries made a new cultural home in fantasy media, and then, I knew why they remind me of worldbuilding bibles. Bestiaries are, essentially–from what I gather–the ancestors to worldbuilding bibles.
I also like the idea of Pokémon being seen as a “electronic Noah’s ark” for mythical creatures. I can't say I ever got into Pokémon, but I can appreciate that sentiment.
Overall, this was a very interesting article and I look forward to reading more!
I just read the introduction and it is incredibly well written! The text flows very naturally and my eyes slid over the letters at such a speed, before I noticed I reached the end of the Intro.
There is something fascinating and captivating about the link between mythology and Pokémon; as someone not much into literature, this series makes me excited to read more!
Not entirely Pokémon by Pokémon... sticking to the original 151 and not covering every single one. Not sure what I'd say about Krabby, for instance -- it's a crab.
But going to try to cover the most interesting first generation creatures.
This looks promising. I am excited to read anything that hunts for the missing link between The Classic of Mountains and Seas (a very ancient Chinese monster collecting text) and the original Pokémon.
Saved to read soon! A detailed anthropological deep dive into tropes from a children's cartoon is honestly the exact kind of academic work I want (and need!) to read, super excited to dig into this.
I never got into Pokemon (but my kids did)...but I did grow up with tales of Yokai (and Kitaro as the tamer of Yokai) so I'm super stoked to see all of the connections between the two!
There's also something to be said about the drawings from history...there's a recently released game called Inkulinati that was inspired by drawings of beasts in medieval books (like the dragon, though sadly, I don't think there is a dragon in that game...yet). Wouldn't it be fun if there was a Yokai version of that game?
I cannot even begin to stress how excited I am for this reboot. (Particularly as someone who spent far too much of her childhood doodling cartoon bestiaries!)
The way that myth, history, popular culture, and even personal memories are all skillfully woven together makes this work incredibly rich and captivating!
Color me intrigued. This was a thought-provoking read about a topic that, as much as I love it, doesn't usually inspire very deep thoughts for me. I'm definitely excited to read more Necessary Monsters posts.
Thanks so much. If you click on the Table of Contents at the top of this page, you'll see all the individual entries in this series so far.
fascinating read, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!
if I may, might I suggest Dr Marc Steinberg’s book Anime Media Mix? its discussion of the anime industry and its configurations through an analysis of the mobility of animated characters between different media - the media mix - could be interesting to your project; it specifically talks about Pokémon as well, offering a political economy and media studies perspective
I am sorry if you already know all this!
Thanks so much for the suggestion.
Highlighting how creatures of mythology seem to represent human experiences was very interesting. As someone who loves mythology and writing my own mythologies, I'm surprised I hadn't drawn that conclusion myself.
Humans love to write and draw our own experiences, and stories–mythologies–are often the easiest way to deal with our greatest fears in the safest way.
These stories can also, easily, end up sticking with the fans and becoming a part of the culture. It was probably different back when these things were considered religious rather than mostly mythological, where these stories ended up filling the knowledge gaps for people who needed explanations for things like natural disasters or just bad luck. I think there's something to be said about how humans have always wanted explanations for these things. We're such a curious species.
I particularly like the point of how more contemporary examples of mythology can be shown with how humans have made stories about even our potential for compassion over machines. I feel like there's definitely a point of inspiration for a story there for me, haha.
A thing of note to me is that, bestiaries sound a lot like worldbuilding bibles. I love that.
This made sense when you talked about how bestiaries made a new cultural home in fantasy media, and then, I knew why they remind me of worldbuilding bibles. Bestiaries are, essentially–from what I gather–the ancestors to worldbuilding bibles.
I also like the idea of Pokémon being seen as a “electronic Noah’s ark” for mythical creatures. I can't say I ever got into Pokémon, but I can appreciate that sentiment.
Overall, this was a very interesting article and I look forward to reading more!
Yes, bestiaries are the clear ancestor of something like the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, for instance.
I just read the introduction and it is incredibly well written! The text flows very naturally and my eyes slid over the letters at such a speed, before I noticed I reached the end of the Intro.
There is something fascinating and captivating about the link between mythology and Pokémon; as someone not much into literature, this series makes me excited to read more!
Thanks so much.
The whole premise is a gem. I did some works on Kirin for my ghostwriting gig. Wonder if any Kirin reference going to come up anytime soon...
I’d love to see a Pokémon by pokemon analysis of the mythos!!
Not entirely Pokémon by Pokémon... sticking to the original 151 and not covering every single one. Not sure what I'd say about Krabby, for instance -- it's a crab.
But going to try to cover the most interesting first generation creatures.
This looks promising. I am excited to read anything that hunts for the missing link between The Classic of Mountains and Seas (a very ancient Chinese monster collecting text) and the original Pokémon.
In that case, you're definitely in the right place.
Greaaat sir, excited for the next part
I am very excited to read this series!
Saved to read soon! A detailed anthropological deep dive into tropes from a children's cartoon is honestly the exact kind of academic work I want (and need!) to read, super excited to dig into this.
Hope you enjoy reading it!
I love this idea!
I never got into Pokemon (but my kids did)...but I did grow up with tales of Yokai (and Kitaro as the tamer of Yokai) so I'm super stoked to see all of the connections between the two!
There's also something to be said about the drawings from history...there's a recently released game called Inkulinati that was inspired by drawings of beasts in medieval books (like the dragon, though sadly, I don't think there is a dragon in that game...yet). Wouldn't it be fun if there was a Yokai version of that game?
I know there's a Pokémon competitor called Yokai Watch.
I cannot even begin to stress how excited I am for this reboot. (Particularly as someone who spent far too much of her childhood doodling cartoon bestiaries!)
Thanks so much. Grateful for your support.
The way that myth, history, popular culture, and even personal memories are all skillfully woven together makes this work incredibly rich and captivating!
Great intro! Looking forward to reading and learning more about Pokemon!
Thank you. Were you into it, back in the day, or were you too old by the time it came out in the US?
I should have gotten into it, but I didn’t have a Game Boy or a Super Game Boy for my SNES, so it passed me by.
I tried one of the GBA iterations years later, but I didn’t see the appeal.
Nevertheless, I love history, and I think exploring each individual Pokemon’s “origin story,” if you will, is a fantastic idea.
I see.
I hope this post has gone some way towards explaining what that appeal is.
This is really fun— I’m excited to see what you come up with!
Thanks so much.
I can tell you that Bulbasaur, Pokemon #001, is up next!
Do you have a favorite from Gen 1?
This is brilliant stuff! I never even played Pokemon, but I can hardly wait to hear more. And of COURSE it’s the makings of a terrific book.
Turning this into a book one day is definitely the dream.