Not a bar, but plays one on TV

10:09 AM

... from TV Tropes:

> Teen Titans: Come because your little brother has it on the television, stay because... oh my god, they can't really be doing the Terra storyline in a kids show?!

..... do they even realize that the Teen Titan cartoon Terra basically is a separate character from the comic version one?

Similar plot, "dies" in the same way.... completely different motives.

doppelgreener

1:11 PM

@Derpy if you saw a totally new fullmetal alchemist spinoff aimed at kids featuring familiar characters in another (similar) setting, and Shou Tucker and Nina and Alexander showed up, it'd be fair to ask "oh my god, they can't really be doing the Nina storyline in a kids show?!"

it's fair for tvtropes to ask that, even if they are separate characters

Derpy

1:28 PM

@doppelgreener yep, I know that. It is the context that makes it look like they DID do the same version of the story.

Not that THIS version is any happier...

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy Might be intended for a humorous effect deliberately.

Derpy

Possibly, yet wouldn't be the first time I see imprecise info in there.

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

I would expect that a site like TVTropes would not be averse to placing entertainment value above precision. It's not the fun-hating Stack. ^_^

doppelgreener

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica whaaat? tvtropes choosing humorous effect over strict accuracy?? never

Derpy

@doppelgreener No, this is just a Pokemon clone, it can't bring Cthulhu in the mix.....

But that is another, unrelated, problem - people thinking thing are aimed at kids based on the artstyle. :P

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

1:42 PM

@Derpy Ah, the animation ghetto.

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica once upon a time, a previous me started in this very room an argument about "American cartoon for some reasons getting uglier over the years". Didn't had a clear idea myself about that back then, now I realize that is probably something that doesn't relate to "American/USA animation" but more specifically to some cartoon producers....

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy Hey, right now I'm reading a story that is simultaneously one half We're All From Bullerbyn (book) and one half Skeleton Key (film), and it's a great read so far. I'm sure Pokemon and Cthulhu can produce something worthwhile together too!

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica The Pokemon GAMES already have pretty dark themes at times, and some 'mons are actually quite creepy if you read their description.

but since the game is mostly played by kids, those element aren't very explored

It is SLOWLY getting better, probably because the user base is slowly getting older.

but remember some pokedex entries...

> "Although Gorebyss is the very picture of elegance and beauty while swimming, it is also cruel. When it spots prey, this Pokémon inserts its thin mouth into the prey’s body and drains the prey of its body fluids."

> Gourgeist: "It enwraps its prey in its hairlike arms. It sings joyfully as it observes the suffering of its prey."

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy Is this supposed to be shocking? It doesn't seem all that different from the stuff we've seen in third-grade nature-lore lessons or mid-school biology lessons.

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica yep, but it is not a description you would expect to read in a game that is about "catch them all! become the best trainer! fight with no fear because no one is really getting hurt, they just faint"

Take Litwick.

Anime: actually helps the main character by guiding him outside some danger.

Actual in game description: "While shining a light and pretending to be a guide, it leeches off the life force of any who follow it."

Did the anime follow the game, Ash would be dead now ^_^

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

1:53 PM

@Derpy Huh, why would anyone even make that slogan?! Even small kid stuff under the boot of MoralGuardians like ThunderCats had people getting hurt.

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica because the second you say that pokemon risk getting badly injuries from the fights their trainers put them into... it becomes glorified Roster Fights.

And then you get thousands of moral associations on your tail.

So, while some would just think "it is a game, no different from games about war", the more realistic it becomes, the more problematic it becomes.

You are hunting animals in the wild, catching them and have them battle for your own glory.

So they need to make the thing like the mons are strong enough to not get any serious injury, like competition in the first place and spend their lives wanting some strong trainer to capture them and become their best friend.

Compare with Digimon, where they fight just because something is trying to destroy the world....

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

2:12 PM

@Derpy So literally the plot of the Dragon's Blood cartoon.

Dragon's Blood (1985 Cartoon)

►

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

2:34 PM

Huh, the commercial break of that video might have a blast-from-the-past bonus point for you.

Derpy

2:51 PM

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica don't know why, but this video brought back old memories from Pandamonium.

Pandamonium: The Begining

►

A carton that in my youth I actually assumed to be related to ZELDA....

Because they were looking for some triangles too...

(also, bonus points for ORKO being the big bad....)

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy This makes me think of various conceptually or visually adjacent things: Gummy Bears, Dream Stone, Ghost Busters (the original, less famous ones) . . .

Derpy

3:13 PM

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica had this one once.

until [redacted for relative privacy] broke it.

and obviously now it would sell for quite a bit...

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy It's funny, until a year or two ago, I have only seen one episode of that cartoon (the one that ended the first arc), and yet it was etched into memory as being about hunting ghosts and being not what the later-seen (more famous, same-named) franchise was like. Only somehow ended up getting a closer look at it recently, IIRC through one of those 'do you remember these 50 cartoons of old' compilations.

@Derpy As for why, probably some stylistic similarities in animations of the time.

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica I fear you miss a bit of info there....

The Ghost Busters - 1975

►

The thing started as a TV show with real actors in costume.

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy I know this was a thing, but I haven't watched it.

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica well, watching it now.... Do you too think that the best part of the old Godzilla movies is how fake they look?

That "homemade" cardboard palaces and buildings feel?

in that case, go ahead :P

but if fake bats with clearly visible strings to hang them are a bit too retro for you, skip...

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

Never watched the old Godzilla. I *might've* seen some fragments in the Muppet cartoons, but I don't remember if so. There's a degree of cardboardness I can tolerate or even be amused by in films, but this one doesn't look good.

(In case my media familiarity seems severely lacking, I have to chalk that up to a combination of being born in the socialist republics, and the years spent aboard being spent in the middle of nowhere with relatively little in the way of TV or rentable cassettes.)

Derpy

3:28 PM

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica Quick test: Power Rangers / Super Sentai. Awesome or horrible?

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@Derpy Never watched, but from the memetic short clips, seems on the very meh side. If going for wacky live action, Condorman was great though.

Derpy

@vicky_molokh-unsilenceMonica yep.. but if I recall correctly having heard about that movie before that was purposely comedy.

vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

Oh it was.

But then again, West Batman was supposedly deliberately comic too, and it's meh from what I've seen.

Derpy

Rangers are "supposed" to be partially serious, yet have monsters that look like a mix of Teletubbies and Barney the Dinosaur. And giant fighting robot that look like toys

and that is what some are attracted too.

in a way, it is a precursor of "so bad it is good" or "watch it for the meme"

That said, some of the actual martial art fighting scenes in some Super Sentai series CAN be decent.

not exactly Jackie Chan.... but still above average Hollywood movie

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Not a bar, but plays one on TV