6 Comments
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Luke Smith's avatar

Very rich analysis

Robert Walrod's avatar

Thanks so much.

Thomas Love Seagull's avatar

Another great post. I'd never thought of Umbreon and Espeon as cats and you've caused me to see them in a new light.

I used to live very close to Gotokuji and would frequently go there to see the cats. It's gotten so popular in the last couple of years. At least I have my manekineko at home...

Joseph Mangano's avatar

I'm sure a lot of these connections are obvious to Japanese players/anime viewers, but this dum-dum American can certainly use the extended analysis. The elevation of Meowth to a level of prominence rivaling the game's mascot does seem strange without realizing that cat-mouse connection, so I appreciate you elucidating the thematic relationship. I also dig Meowth's moody depiction in the card game series. It's just a feline on the prowl, doing its thing. Terrific post.

The Infinity of Lists's avatar

Great insight and research, I particularly like the maneki-neko connection.

I've done a Dogs list and clearly need to do a Cat one too before long!

Robert Walrod's avatar

Thanks so much.

That's one of the joys of Pokémon, really. That, at its core, it's a list of (originally 151) strange mythical creatures.