Friday, November 12, 2010

Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur...Weird Seeds, Balance, and Feminizing gender roles?

Ah, so finally I have time to put up my first post. I decided I wanted the starter three at least in one post with their evolutions, considering there is a reason one evolves into the next, right? I may or may not do that with future Pokemon in this blog, but for the starter 3 it seemed necessary.

Today the focus is on Bulbasaur and its evolutions Ivysaur and Venusaur. There's quite a bit going on with this grass-type Pokemon as far as visual rhetoric goes, which makes it a prime choice to start this blog with. For those that have not worn their thumbs raw on Gameboy colors, had pages of their Pokemon manga slowly decayed from constant turning, or lost vision from watching multiple episodes of the anime, then here is a visual representation of Bulbasaur and its evolutions:



This image is the newest piece of artwork of Bulbasaur, or フシギダネ (Fushigidane) in Japanese, done by artist Ken Sugimori for the games Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen.

While I could go into heavy detail about the game statistics of Bulbasaur, that is not my goal with this blog. However, the first link on my Works Cited below details about anything you would need to know on Bulbasaur's attacks and statistics in the game. However, a few things about the Game and Bulbasaur need to be noted:

1. Bulbasaur converted from simply Grass type in the original Game Boy games of Green, Red, and Blue to a Grass/Poison type later on. The complexities of this change could come with the type of new attacks it was given.

2. Bulbasaur represents the "balancer" of the starter three, as I will discuss later. This means that it evolves at an equal rate; into Ivysaur at level 16 and into Venusaur at level 32.

3. According to Bulbapedia, the pokemon wiki, Bulbasaurs in the game are primarily male, with your chance at "catching" a female of the species only at 12.5 percent. An interesting notion I will expand upon momentarily.

As far as its name goes, Bulbasaur according to Bulbapedia has this origin in body and name:

Origin
Bulbasaur appears to be based on some form of Dicynodont, mammal-like reptiles from the Permian period, though it also has features from toads and frogs as well as other reptiles. Its also has visible ears, which are not seen in reptiles but are in mammals. Its bulb resembles that of a lily or onion.

Name origin
Bulbasaur's name is a combination of the words bulb and saur, which is Greek for lizard. Its Japanese name literally means "it's strange, isn't it?", and is a pun on, 不思議種 fushigidane, "strange seed".

Other country languages:
Chinese (Taiwan and mainland China): 妙蛙種子/妙蛙种子 Miào Wā Zhǒng Zǐ - "Weird frog seed".
Chinese (Hong Kong): 奇異種子 Qí Yì Zhǒng Zǐ - "Unusual seed".
French: Bulbizarre - A combination of bulb and bizarre, reflected by the Japanese name, a pun on "Isn't it strange?".
German: Bisasam - Derived from Bisamratte (muskrat) and Samen (seed).
Korean: 이상해씨 Isanghaessi - Translates to Strange Seed.
Portuguese (Brazilian, anime only): Bulbassauro - Adaptation of Bulbasaur.
Russian: Бульбазавр - Adaptation of Bulbasaur.
Serbian (anime only): Булбасаурус - Adaptation of Bulbasaur. Caypyc means "dinosaur" in Serbian.


While I do not wish to expand on its name beyond what I've posted, I do hope to visually develop an understanding of its design.

Bulbasaur does indeed carry a strange bulb on its back that for attacks and growth absorbs sunlight. As you find with its later evolutions, the sunlight absorbed is used in attacks such as Solar Beam, highly effective amongst its arsenal. As Bulbasaur evolves, the bulb grows, causing it to start to bloom when it transforms at level 16 into Ivysaur (フシギソウ Fushigisou):


Note the leaves become more tropical and fern-like in design, a throwback to the stereotypical "dinosaur" environment on which its based(the Bulbapedia states " Its bulb has now become a bud that resembles the Rafflesia").Additionally, it foreshadows what Venusaur will look like.

Interesting facts about Ivysaur before showing the final evolution and then returning to Bulbasaur are as follows:

1. Its Red and Blue Pokédex entry states that it loses the ability to walk on its hind legs as its bulb gets bigger. Despite this, Ivysaur is always depicted as walking on its hind legs in said games.

2. Ivysaur is the only second stage Grass/Poison Pokémon that does not require an evolution stone to reach its final form.

3. Ivysaur is the only second stage form of the Kanto starters to not be directly seen under the ownership of a main character in the anime. May owns a Venusaur that she evolved from a Bulbasaur but it was never seen onscreen as an Ivysaur.




4.Ivysaur is currently the only second stage Grass type starter that's dual-typed.

5.Ivysaur is the only Generation I Pokémon that's name begins with I.

Several jokes are made within the Pokemon community about Ivysaur, specifically tying the visual idea of its vine as a whip, as seen below with a Grass-type using gym leader:


Clearly, being used in sexual connotation is not on Ivysaur's agenda.

The final evolution of Bulbasaur is Venusaur (フシギバナ Fushigibana):



There are a few interesting notations about Venusaur I want to present before looking at Bulbasaur and its evolutions as a whole:

1. Venusaur is the first Pokémon by National Dex order to feature a gender difference. It is the only Kanto starter Pokémon to feature one, if one is not to count Pikachu. The name itself is a reference to Venus as well, not only the second planet from the son, which people parody as seen below, but also the name given to the goddess of love in Greek/Roman constructs (because Aphroditesaur just didn't fit...):


A male Venusaur. Notice the crown in the center of the flower is empty.


Notice with the female there is a seed at the top of the flower, symobolizing fertilization perhaps?

Humorous:


2. Venusaur is probably based on a toad, given that its unevolved forms resemble frogs, but Venusaur displays warts instead of a smooth skin. The plant on its back vaguely resembles the giant flower Rafflesia. It also resembles the mammal-like reptile from the Triassic Period, Kannemeyeria in shape and size.

So returning to Bulbasaur (and its evolutions as a whole) what visual rhetoric can we grasp about this Pokemon other than what I've stated?

I offer that first, Bulbasaur was chosen as the first Pokemon in the Pokedex for several reasons. One could be because of its color. When Pokemon developers were first creating the game, they designed a Pokemon Red and Green version, the Green version game container seen below:



Why was this not released in the US? There are several reasons. One pertained to the game's graphics, which became more developed when Japan re-vamped the games and released a newly revised Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. In this process of exportation to the United States and abroad, Pokemon Green was abandoned, and labeled a "test experiment" due to graphic and game glitch problematics.

Visual rhetoricians who examine the use of color will note that Green constantly represents Progression, Experimentation, life, Vitality; all terms that could be used in the development of Pokemon Green. Connected to Green is also the connotation of nature, which definitely presents itself when examining how Bulbasaur evolves.

Bulbasaur also functions to demonstrate a dual purpose of linear rules in Pokemon game. Gamers, especially children, come to discover that Bulbasaur mimics the photosynthesis process of converting sunlight into energy it can use, and can as a result grow and evolve into its latter forms. In addition, Bulbasaur is the a great representation of how the game works: The more you use your Pokemon, the stronger they get, and thus, they evolve and become stronger. Older gamers have complicated this process by even going to lengths of designing "x-rays" to show their physical makeup in a very "real world" display.



Interestingly enough, Bulbasaur also represents a "balancer" amongst the other Starter Pokemon. Despite being the first in the Pokedex, Bulbasaur is not the logical "first" choice a trainer could make when concerned with the first gym leader. While Bulbasaur is ideally the best starter for handling Misty, the second gym leader who specializes in water types, it is weak as a candidate for the third, Lt. Surge (electric type trainer), but the middle "man" when it comes to the first gym leader Brock who trains Rock types (NOTE: It's fascinating when you think about it, because each type represents a different advantage and disadvantage ratio for the 1st three gym leaders. i.e. Charmander is the worst choice of the three technically; not very effective against Brock, at a huge disadvantage against Misty, and decent against Lt. Surge, while Squirtle is great against Brock, decent against Misty, and a terrible decision for battling Lt. Surge). In the anime, the main character Ash wanted to choose Bulbasaur second, after Squirtle, a possible hint for trainers in the game as far as which route to choose when selecting a starter pokemon. What in my opinion makes Bulbasaur a true "balancer" besides this is the fact that it evolves evenly. While Squirtle and Charmander reach their final evolutions at level 36, Venusaur is evolved at level 32, exactly 16 levels after its first evolution at level 16.

Finally, I want to examine the visual representation of Bulbasaur and its evolutions. While, it appears in the first two stages as gender neutral,



we must question the binary of its actual gender ratio in the game to how it is portrayed outside the games. I want to look at fans' personifications of Bulbasaur and its evolutions, since this is a constantly used artistic tool with fans and non-human entities (that is, to transform them into humanoid figures).

In the game, there is only a 12.5% chance of a female Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, or Venusaur being present, yet, examine these examples of (Venusaur specifically) personifications of this Pokemon:













What are the same about all these images? Other than them being the most popular on google search for "Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur/Human/Personification," notice something else? They are all feminine representations.

This is something to ponder, as the game itself limits the amount of females in the game available severly, yet we associate Bulbasaur and its evolutions with feminine constructs. One could argue that Venusaur's name and the flower on its back begs for female representation, but juxtaposed with a masculine dinosaur body, our questions of what is "beauty" and if beauty = power are thrown into play. The counter to the Venusaur = female argument is that Bulbasaur does not have feminine features, yet is almost exclusively portrayed as a woman when personified. Look at the second to last image. According to the game, that Venusaur is male, yet it is personified as a woman. And yes, while there are exceptions,


Even when Bulbasaur (or rather Ivysaur here) is given a male personification, there is underlying affemination contributed to that construct. Here, James, a member of the antagonist group Team Rocket, is shown in an Ivysaur costume. Numerous critics and readers alike though, attribute homosexuality to the character of James, feminizing Ivysaur in this case. One could argue though that while the depiction of James as Ivysaur being entranced by a flower could be Demasculinizing, we could also wonder if he's actively participating in a masculine role, seeking a mate in the form of said flower. Here the artist gives us no context clues as to the answer, only leaving us to our interpretations.

I only mention this section because visually, the representation of bulbasaur compared to the gaming statistics doesn't match up. Or, perhaps since the female Bulbasaur is so rare, as is its evolutions, it is overly displayed by fans as feminine.

So, today we examined Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur. I hope I brought some interesting notions visually about this Pokemon. If you have anything to add, please comment and let me know! I hope to have a new installment up as soon as possible. Until then, Get out your Gameboy, catch as many Pokemon as you can, and don't forget to think about the visual rhetoric at play!

-Rushelle

Works Cited:

Website: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Bulbasaur_(Pok%C3%A9mon)

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Time Machine to 5th Grade: A Pocket Monster Refresher

Hello, friend.
If you don't know who this is, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Rachel, also known as Rushelle (a nickname I inherited in grade school that's become an able pseudonym for me), and I'm a graduate student, studying in Rhetoric and Composition as well as focusing in Visual Rhetoric. While collegiate academia is my calling career-wise, I still take great value in examining Secondary Education (high school) and how our students are being rhetorically inclined into the college atmosphere and job force. It was my nostalgia for grade and high school that sparked inspiration for this blog you're currently reading.

I've wanted to blog about something for a couple of months now, but I couldn't place my finger on what, since I created a blog for my Visual Rhetoric English 350 course last year. It wasn't until I started thinking about more recreative activities (such as what my Halloween costume would be this year) that I realized perhaps focusing on something nostalgic would give me motivation. And this is where Pokemon comes onto the scene.

For those that did not spend hours in on the playground pretending to battle with imaginary dinosaur-like pets, sat on rainy days in the gymnasium tapping away on their Gameboy Colors', or secretly bartered holographic trading cards in the lunch line, then consider this first post a refresher on what Pokemon are, their significance then and now, and what this blog is doing.

Pokémon (ポケモン, English pronunciation: /ˈpoʊkeɪmɑːn/, POH-kay-mahn (Sora Ltd. 2008) began its revolution in the gaming industry in 1996, when the video game company Nintendo coordinated with creator Satoshi Tajiri the dispersement of a role playing game, or RPG, involving travel with, collecting of, and battling against creatures known as Pocket Monsters or Pokémon. The objective of the game is to defeat the leaders of areas within the game, often battling in gymnasiums located within that areas village or city in order to collect "gym badges" or proof of your success. The game reaches a climax when all the gym leaders are conquered, but can continue until you have battled all the residents within the game and collected all the Pokémon present as well.

The name Pokémon is the romanized contraction of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā) and refers to the creatures you collect and battle with as a collective, though each has its own individual name. (Swider 2007)In the first four games released in Japan (three in the United States),
Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow, there were 151 different Pokémon that could be collected and used in battle.

The versatility of Pokémon and the "collecting" aspects intrigued a young pack-rat audience and became instantly popular in both Japan and the United states, becoming Nintendo's highest grossing video game franchise, second only to the Mario Brothers (Boyes 2007). As of May 2010, nearly fifteen years after its first realization, the Pokémon franchise has sold more than 200 Million title copies of its video games, not including the sale of Manga, Anime, Clothing and other Accessory Merchandise (Nintendo 2010). This year, Nintendo is releasing a new set of games in the Pokémon collective: Black and White (usually games are released in pairs, allowing gamers to "choose" which they want to play or collect both. Each game has some Pokémon the other does not.).

Clearly, the role Pokémon play in the economy of the video game industry has become exponential, but what of its role in the culture of Japan and the United States?
While Pokémon have created controversy over religious groups for claims against zionism, evolution, and even materialism in children; other groups have claimed contrary. For instance, The Vatican, however, has countered that the Pokémon trading card game and video games are "full of inventive imagination" and have no "harmful moral side effects" (Silverman).

Arguably though, as a child I wasn't so much affected by the materialistic aspects, nor was the fact that evolution was involved (Pokémon start as a base creature and then "evolve" into two or three different forms as they are trained with) really a concern or motivation for play. I played because it was fun to find these mythical creatures and compare with other friends who had the "better" or more developed "pet". It was a fantasy world where you were on your own, adventuring and being self-relient, and more than one time my friends and I wished Pokémon were real in the world, so we'd have that opportunity for self-reliance and travel.

Regardless of world views of the game and merchandise surrounding it, as a visual scholar I want to explore Pokémon: specifically what makes them fascinating, cultural and symbolic ties for each one, and how that has shaped me and possibly other children into the visual rhetoricians we are today. There are a significant number of rhetorical tropes tied in with Pokémon that I want to uncover through this blog.

So, after that long refresher on Pokémon:

What is this blog?
An analysis of Pokémon and the entrails of the Franchise's use of Visual Rhetoric.

What am I examining?
The original 150 Pokémon, one by one, and their symbolic visual representation, and tropes surrounding them.

How long is this going to take me?
However long it takes!

Thank you for reading this. Any input is welcome of course, but I'll have my first entry coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

Cheers,
Rachel


Works Cited:

Sora Ltd.. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. (Nintendo). Wii. (March 9, 2008) "(Announcer's dialog after the character Pokémon Trainer is selected (voice acted))"

Swider, Matt. "The Pokemon Series Pokedex @ Gaming Target". Gaming Target. Gaming Target. http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=6531. Retrieved February 28, 2007.

Boyes, Emma (January 10, 2007). "UK paper names top game franchises". GameSpot. GameSpot UK. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6164012.html. Retrieved February 26, 2007.

Nintendo (May 29, 2010). "Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version for Nintendo DS coming to Europe in Spring 2011". Press release.

Silverman, Stephen M. Pokemon Gets Religion, People Magazine