LogFAQs > #971328788

Michael_Booth posted...

https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Capsule_Kaiju

"Capsule Kaiju ( Kapuseru Kaij) are monsters, aliens or Ultras that exist in a capsule most of the time, only to materialize when used by someone. They can understand commands of the user. They first appeared in Ultraseven and was used frequently by Dan to fight Kaiju when he could not transform into Ultraseven."

The battles are based on Kaiju fights, from Ultraseven (1967).

I still fail to see what point you're trying to make. I never denied other inspirations for the concept of Pokemon. My main point was that the series creator admitted in his biography that he was inspired by imaging Pokemon battles as dog fights when trying to figure which angles to draw them and second that the way Pokemon portrays Pokemon plays into it. Never did I say anything else, bringing up bug fighting culture in Japan is irrelevant because it's never mentioned in any of our sources, in fact Tajiri chose the worst thing to say by admitting he was inspired by dog fighting, he has the balls to be honest about it when I'm sure he knows the accusations that are levied towards the Pokemon franchise. He could've said nothing but chose honesty instead.

I think I may need to elaborate a bit more in the points I'm trying to make so this might be a little long, but I believe I need to clear up what I'm saying. Ok so fair warning I may ramble on a bit.

https://i.imgur.com/NIQEzep.jpeg

Ok first into context. The panels here are when the Capsule Monster concept was shaping up into Pokemon. The first panels show Ken Sugimori drawing concept art of the Pokemon world to which Sathoshi Tajiri responds negatively towards them because to him Pokemon and humans are friends. We don't see these scenes but based off Sugimori's dialogue and Tajiri's reaction it's likely that Sugimori was drawing Pokemon as creatures closer to traditional monsters you see in RPGs, that it aggressive, violent creatures. Sugimori responds to this by asking Tajiri since they're monsters shouldn't they look scary and be intimidating to which Tajiri starts thinking about that before reaching the conclusion that Pokemon are more like pets as in like cats and dogs.

In the following three panels Tajiri imagines Pokemon fights as two dog owners allowing their dogs to fight, he tells the graphic designers to imagine this when asked which angle Pokemon battles should be drawn in.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/9/5/AARO5TAAEJxT.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/9/6/AARO5TAAEJxU.png
Like you're walking your dog, or your Pokemon in this case, and you come another pet owner, or Pokemon trainer, and you allow your pets to duke it out. This is what I meant, this is what Tajiri himself explains in his own biography. Not once does he talk about bug fighting as a source of inspiration. Capsule Monsters already had fighting in it, and it's not until he re-wrote the script of Red and Blue that his childhood inspiration comes to the forefront, prior to that he sprinkles inspiration from it here and there according to his biography. So, while bug catching, games he played as a teenager and Ultraman were also big inspirations there's no denying that he also thinks of Pokemon as pets that are closer to cats and dogs. This distinction is important because he binds Pokemon to familiar creatures in the real world, for example Digimon also has its roots in v-pets like Tamagotchi, it originally was convieved as Tamagotchi for boys, but Digimon are digitial, otherworldly and aren't tied to being like cats and dogs hence why people don't leverage the dog fighting insult towards Digimon.

It's really important to note, as I did in previous post, how Pokemon tries to construct Pokemon to be like cats and dogs. This isn't just something Tajiri threw out, it's something the series actively tries to keep true to. Like pretty much every Pokemon shown eating dog food in the anime with exceptions to some like Magnemite and Melmatal, and in this case it still eats out of a doggy bowl, according to Takeshi Shudo, the original headwriter of the anime, it was decided among the anime staff that Pokemon would eat berries and Pokemon food, which is identical to dry dog food in the real world, before production. I would also point out examples within the games with real world examples. I mentioned HeartGold and SoulSilver and how Pokemon did cat and dog things, and I should stress again that this were universal Pokemon behaviors:
-(______) looked off into the distance and barked!
-(______) is playfully nibbling at the ground.
-(______) is gnawing at the ice
-(______) is sniffing at the floor
-(______) chewed on your feet, Scold it? (YES) your pokemon seems to be a bit dispondant...
--------------------------------------------(NO) (-_-) Your pokemon ate something that tasted bad and is trying to spit it out!
-(______) is chewing on your shoes! Scold it? Yes/No YES = Your pokemon is grinding it's teeth in remorse!
----------------------------------------------------NO = Your pokemon started chewing on the other shoe!
-(______) is staring at the persian statue and howling
-Oh! (______) has a scrap of paper in its mouth! Get angry?/ Oh! (______) has the cord in its mouth! Get angry? (Bills old house) (YES) (!) Your pokemon opened its mouth and the scrap of paper fell out
-------------------------------------------------------------------(NO) (!) Ack! It seems to have something caught in its throat... It keeps spitting.

There's probably some that I missed but all these behaviors parallel that of cats and dogs in the real world, this are behaviors every Pokemon performed when it follows you in HGSS. When GameFreak started to develop more player and pokemon interactions in the games it's clear they're making a parallel to owners and pets in the real world, the above displays the ways Pokemon parallel real dogs and cats in the way they act and it's something they're still building up on.

In Scarlet and Violet this is still very much the case. Every Pokemon gets "zoomies" in that game.
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=pokemon%20zoomies&src=typed_query&f=video
Which a real behavior displayed by cats and dogs, here's a YouTube video showcasing it for comparsion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYPJZawVbvM&ab_channel=WaggleTV
On top of that Pokemon "bark" at you with their cries and they also randomly fall asleep on the floor much like a real pet would. Not only that but you bathe your Pokemon the same way people in the real world bathe their pets and Pokemon even dry themselves just like real cats and dogs do.

Pokemon amie was pretty much that too. Petting, feeding and taking care of your Pokemon as a pet. Sword and Shield had you playing fetch with your Pokemon, again I will show video parallels to really drive this point home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDOFtrTpy0c&ab_channel=RielPlaysGames
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yxRs-7ffz0&t=6s&ab_channel=HafwennaDalmatians
To add to this it should be added that Pokemon toys in that game are modeled after real pet toys, the toy you use to get the attention of Pokemon is modeled after a real cat toy for example that serves the same function.

These are just some examples on how Pokemon constructs Pokemon to be like cats and dogs. This construction binds Pokemon with the concept of what a pet is in the real world and since the game is about capturing these living creatures that are innocent and cute, that are like cats and dogs in the real world, creatures that are basically magical pets, I feel like it plays a very big factor in the perception of Pokemon as a game seres about dog fighting. I'm running out of room so I might expand more in part 2. Maybe.