Before Pokemon, it was pogs. There just hasn't been a widespread fast and heavy hitting trend on the scale of pokemon ever since. If Pokemon hadn't come around, Roo's mom would have said "what's that, every pog?". It left a mark on a lot of people because of the way it descended upon the youth like a plague of locusts, just as any plague would leave it's mark upon those who had to witness it first hand. But, like any plague, outside of that influence, it has no real impact on the world, and outside of those few (million) witnesses, and will be forgotten in time. Yes, people remember it right now, but in terms of actual influence on pop culture, Pokemon is about one millionth of say, Nirvana, the Matrix, Friends, Power Rangers, Sonic the Hedgehog, the Ninja Turtles and any number of things that were big in the nineties.
You could argue any influence that it has had was relatively minor in the context of being part of a larger trend of exported japanese kids shows and anime finding audiences across seas. Infact, the only people I see talking about Pokemon these days are nerds on the internet who fondly remember it from the previous decade, and young adults who listen to Wilco and wear pokemon t-shirts for reasons that I can't fathom. These people are not widespread. They're not a good indication of cultural impact. They're few in number, but highly concentrated in communities a lot like this one, and not really a big part of any larger picture.
Pokemon still has continued exposure due to the steady release of games and the TV show, constant reminders to people the right age to remember the explosion. But if we ask everybody over 25 about Pokemon or Super Mario, I'm sure that people would be more familiar with the latter. Pokemon happened under their noses, behind the backs. You genuinely had to be there. There are people who escaped the wrath of Pokemon. There are a lot of things bigger than Pokemon. You didn't even have to be there for Super Mario. Everybody remembers Super Mario.
People are now born and they instinctively known the mario theme song. But babies continue to be born all the time and their first words are usually "what the fuck is a pikachu?"
Pokemon, your cultural impact is small! Vote red team!
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Topic: I was reading a thread here when my mom peers over at my screen and says to me, (Read 33198 times)