How Pokémon Tapped Into Japanese Folklore
The mega-franchise incorporated facets of ancient creatures
Life in a post-modern society consists of moving in anonymous spaces where there is a yearning for attachment. Multimedia franchises, such as Pokémon, recognize the gaps, providing fans an avenue of expression via co-opting cultural strands, such as folklore. The audience is able to have a close, personal relationship with the Pokémon franchise because of its nature as a supersystem, a social network. Supplementing this is a process of “borrowing and reinvention of a Japanese cultural past (gift exchange, supernatural spirits, otherworldly aestheticism)”.
Borders Disappear
In Shintoism, spiritual beings called kami inhabit the world, rewarding human beings with success when they are treated well, which also links with the overall premise of Pokémon. The Pokémon experience blurs the boundaries between electronic, human, and imaginary, to create a distinct form of companionship. This is not a passive experience though — it encourages the consumer to trade, discuss, and catalog.
