LogFAQs > #976175580

PraetorXyn posted...

Ive never understood the appeal of Pokmon. Shin Megami Tensei came way earlier, and you recruit demons, evolve some of them, and fuse them together to make bigger badder demons, then you make them fight for you.

Pokmon is the same thing but with dorky baby monsters instead of cool demons.

I recommend reading Satoshi Tajiri's biography on the conception of Pokemon. But that's the thing about Pokemon, it's a friendly series, and it also feels familiar. As the concept of Pokemon grew from the concept of Capsule Monsters, basically a more standard RPG experience, Sathoshi Tajiri drew more from his childhood. Pokemon at it's core is a fantastical version of Tajiri's childhood which he spent at a nearby forest capturing and studying bugs, and other animals, which has mass appeal. It's about exploring nature and interacting with nature with your cool, magical pet. Tajiri also became obsessed with the idea of Pokemon as friendly creatures that are like cats and dogs, both in the 2019 biography and in works he published in the 1990s he was comparing Pokemon as creatures that are friends to humans like cats and dogs in the real world, on top of that Pokemon designs aim to be approachable and friendly which is another aspect he became obsessed with and it payed off seeing as the lion's share of Pokemon's profit come from kids buying plushies and other merchandise.

Another big push came with the original anime with Takeshi Shudo at it's helm. The anime was instrumental in pushing the Pokemon franchise, so much that GameFreak made Pokemon Yellow to more closely follow the anime. To this I also recommend reading the blog of the late Takeshi Shudo if you want a break down on the mechanizations of the original anime.