Anonymous
10/20/2025, 7:21:54 PM
No.723728906
>>723727438
While I support the idea that being based on or taking creative inspiration from something doesn't excuse a bad design and Pokémon fans have used "it's a reference!" as a defense far too often, I just know there's going to be the other end of the spectrum as a reaction where ANY creative inspiration is automatically seen as bad.
To bring up that other thread, Pyroar and Mega Pyroar aren't that appealing as designs. But having a 火 visual motif that becomes 炎 is fine and a very natural progression. Similarly, Fire Blast being called だいもんじ (Daimonji; literally "大 character"), resembling a 大, and having a cultural association to the giant flaming 大 they put on a mountainside near Kyoto every summer really fleshes out the move and makes it feel thought-out. It's a lot more interesting than a move with the name Fire Blast that's just a larger amount of fire. And even if the idea of shooting a giant 大 made of fire seems somewhat impractical from a visual perspective and is something you won't immediately understand without context, moves aren't scrutinized as much for their visuals, and Pokémon is a Japanese game and shouldn't be forced to be as generic and universal as possible just so everyone understands it.
While I support the idea that being based on or taking creative inspiration from something doesn't excuse a bad design and Pokémon fans have used "it's a reference!" as a defense far too often, I just know there's going to be the other end of the spectrum as a reaction where ANY creative inspiration is automatically seen as bad.
To bring up that other thread, Pyroar and Mega Pyroar aren't that appealing as designs. But having a 火 visual motif that becomes 炎 is fine and a very natural progression. Similarly, Fire Blast being called だいもんじ (Daimonji; literally "大 character"), resembling a 大, and having a cultural association to the giant flaming 大 they put on a mountainside near Kyoto every summer really fleshes out the move and makes it feel thought-out. It's a lot more interesting than a move with the name Fire Blast that's just a larger amount of fire. And even if the idea of shooting a giant 大 made of fire seems somewhat impractical from a visual perspective and is something you won't immediately understand without context, moves aren't scrutinized as much for their visuals, and Pokémon is a Japanese game and shouldn't be forced to be as generic and universal as possible just so everyone understands it.