I’m not a Pokemon fan by any stretch of the term, but reading this (start at the second post) gave me some respect for how much the franchise means to kids. Even though there are some fat cats making mad cash off the merchandising, it is true that the show has a positive message and isn’t something to worry about letting your kid see.

The other point is the distressing attitude of fanboys, or in this case I suppose it would be more accurate to say ‘fanmen.’ You all know the type, they buy the entire line of new Star Wars toys or whatever and shove them into airtight storage containers in climate controlled closets never to be seen again, while some kid cries himself to sleep over a pack of new underwear. It was the major theme of Toy Story even. Have they forgotten what it was like to be a child? Or did they actually become basement virgins at 5?

Hopefully this sort of thing will continue until it fractures the gaming consumer mass into separate pieces labeled ‘Children’, ‘Casual’, and ‘Trashtalkers who beat up Little Kids for Fun.’

Also, it was worth seeing in print how the smarmy, friendly, and nauseatingly nice Pokemon shows translated into some major positive real-world behavior. Hopefully these kids don’t grow up to be basement virgins.

Full Disclosure: I own models of all the Eva’s packed away in boxes waiting for suitable display. In my defense, I did it cuz I love the series, it isn’t a series you should show your kids, and if there was a tournament for it (somehow) at Gamestop and a bunch of kids showed up I would also bow out after obliterating the jerk.