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This question can be applied to 90% of Nintendo games. The short answer is yes, the long answer is no.
No because if these games were first released in the 80s, adults would have played them more than kids. Yes because these days graphics are MUCH MUCH more sophisticated, and adults tend to like games that are more realistic and violent.
I'll always play Pokemon games for the simple fact that they are great RPGs.
This thread is a tad monotonous[sp?]... Anyway, I don't think Pokemon is childish. The people who do probably just look at the anime and never give the games a chance. Can't say I really blame them, even though I still enjoy the anime. :D
In some ways, Pokémon can be considered childish. The anime teaches lessons and has goody-goody characters and the episodes are often repetitive. The games are also repetitive and can be very easy. The card game can just go as deep as grabbing random cards and staring at them.
However... in many other ways, it can be enjoyed by teenagers and adults. The anime is often entertaining, sometimes deep (just look at the Japanese first movie), can contain mature elements, and has some good, well developed characters. The games have Effort Values, stats, natures... tons of complicated things that I haven't even been able to fully grasp. Not to mention you can make the game hard by doing certain challenges. Also, it can take a lot of planning in strategy to make a card deck and battle it against other people with decks and skills matching or better than yours.
Then there are the other, more often overlooked aspects of the series. The manga, for example, has some very dark moments. In Pokémon Adventures, animals are shown been killed, Pokémon zombies are showed, and main characters are almost murdered... and this can be all found in the first saga. Which has indeed been translated into English. Also, the Japanese manga has even more... suggestive images in one of them, I think The Electric Tale of Pikachu (I'm not entirely sure, however). There is one Japan-only manga called Pocket Monsters in which we see the... you don't want to know... by the end of chapter two. And this is just the beginning.
There's also the banned episodes, once again the Japanese first movie, the fact that Pokémon like Scyther exist... there's so much evidence toward Pokémon not being a child-only series that it's amazing. Not to mention the whole series is about monsters with super powers fighting each other... and with brutal attacks like Flamethrowers and Hydro Pumps.
Also, compare Pokémon's childish level with other series that are considered childish. Hamtaro, for example. Hamtaro is waaaay more childish and repetitive than Pokémon. As is Sanrio. Neopets is about equal to Pokémon in that respect, although the monsters are far more cutesy.
Not to say Pokémon isn't for children, not at all. It's for all ages, as there are aspects taht all ages can enjoy. Teenagers and adults can indeed enjoy the childish aspects as well if they're open enough and young at heart. I myself like not only Pokémon but Hamtaro, Neopets, Sanrio and Littlest Pet Shop, all "childish things", especially Sanrio. It depends on the person.
Also, the anime's as childish now as it's always been. The older episodes were NOT "more mature". It just seems that way because you watched them as a kid, and now seeing the newer episodes as a teen/adult makes them seem childish. I bet if you were a teen/adult in 1998 you'd have thought the older episodes were childish too.
I'm going to agree with what has been said over 9000 times already.
Pokemon is aimed at a younger audience D: *Gasp*
BUT thats not going to keep me from loving it as much as I do! And i dont think it should stop anyone from loving it. The games are amazing and the show is fun to watch. Im 18 about to go into colledge, but i LOVE IT.
one of the comments made about 40 year olds who arnt creepy pedophiles loving the game is completely true.
At work ( Gamestop) I met this dude who was trading in some older games. I made comments about how awesome some of the games he was trading in were and in a few moments we got into the topic of pokemon. He told me that back in the day with the TGC was HUGE he would host neighborhood wide tourneys and competitions! he now battles online in pokemon platinum. The rest of the day i was on this pokemon headrush because of all the nostalgia! lolz anywayz i lovez me teh pokemanz :3 <3
I don't agree that Sanrio is fully 'childish', though...it's amazingly poplular with 'preppy' and 'girly' people and the charictors are actually styalish-looking enouth to be placed on adult clothing. They even got goth/punk styals! And HK clothes with skull and cross
bone (maybe you'll think pirates, but whateba..) and even BLOOD desions on them (mainly halloween-ish stuff, but...STILL). Oh, and, not to mension...Hello Kitty PLAYBOY BUNNIES. Hello Kitty/Sanrio, much like Pokemon is, are universal in appel and can be good for any age...although, they still have yet to open up the minds of the GUYS. >_>; But i'm NOT going to get into THAT...lol
Although, it CAN be hard to see Hello Kitty a non-kid thing if your not at all knolagable about fasion, I guess...lol To be honist I don't know a lot about fasion, either...But I still wouldn't say Hello Kitty is all that 'childish'...lol
Pokemon, above all, as with Hello Kitty, Hamtaro, Kirby (*birds chirping* anyone...anyone...remember him? xD *shot*), and anything else that could be called 'childish' (what a STUPID label...peh), has it's overall appel in ENTERTAINMENT. WHich, in the end...is always nice^^
i'm kinda drowzy right now, but i know i'll got a lot more to say later :P
It really all depends on how you look at it; the Games are for everyone and the same goes for the Anime, it just all depends if you're into that sort of thing. But I think the games and the Anime have something in common and always have; The Will to never give up no matter what. Both meanings are handed out in similar ways; the games show that if you train, work out how to go about battles then its possible to beat all the gyms and the Elite Four as well as all the random trainers you come across on your journey.
The Anime brings out that meaning as well, if you trust, love, believe in yourself, Your friends then anything is possible no matter how difficult something may seem, I've never believed that anything is impossible unless its proven right to my face.
Some people probably believe that Pokemon is childish because they're growing up, and with growing up unfortunately comes the automatic change of leaving things you once loved and enjoyed behind. This isn't the case for everyone but it happens to a lot of people as they grow up. But even when most of us have moved on away from Pokemon and gotten into other things and are more involved in life responsebilities that come to us all. The message; whatever that may be that Pokemon gave us all, will always be there. Well its what I believe anyway xD. But that message may be different with different people, or they receive it in a different way. =3
Another message that I believe that Pokemon gives; no matter what, no matter where, no matter how different something may be from something else, there is a place in this world for every living creature, human or animal it doesn't matter. Everything deserves to have a place in the ever growing world we're in. In spite of Pokemon being just a cartoon, most of those Pokemon are based off real life animals in our world, minus the special powers and things.
In a way, yes, Pokemon is childish, but yet, it isn't.
The anime is most definitly for little kids. That goes without saying.
The manga, however, is more for teenagers. I started reading it at the begining of Christmas vacation (2 weeks ago) and I'm into the G/S/C saga and yeah, a lot of it is more for teens than little kids (Especially the swearing in the begining of the G/S/C saga on Manga Fox, lol).
The games are timeless. It has the charm the little kids love and beg their parents to get when they see a new commercial, but it has the deeper side of it, mechanics-wise, where older gamers can enjoy themselves with Nature-hunting and EV training.
The TCG, I believe, is for kids. I dropped Pokemon Cards when I was 10, 15 now. I do still find certain appeal to them, but I believe the actual 'playing' of the game is childish.
Pokemon is not a secret to me or my friends. I play it extensively, and I have never received any lip about it. When I was little, I would bring the cards to school. The bullies would make fun of me, but I don't think they will try to say anything if I brought the old deck to school now.
I need to find that thing anyway. Too many rare Pokemon cards were in that deck.
As most other people have stated, pokemon is in fact aimed towards children. The anime especially, it seems. However, I don't think that should stop anyone from enjoying it. Although older audiences may not the main demographic targeted, pokemon definitely relies on elder audiences for their profit, although slightly less so than children. For instance, why would Hot topic sell like... eight pokemon shirts, slippers, and other accessories meant for adults if the only demographic was children?
A suprising amount of my classmates enjoy pokemon, whether because it's a new "trend", a wave of nostalgia, or just because it's a creative game with many cute characters and lessons to enjoy. However, prying out of them that they enjoy pokemon seems to be the challenge.
So, my conclusion is yes, the main demographic is children. The anime seems blantantly obviously so (though in a nostalgic way, enjoyable in my oppinion). However, the pokemon franchise would most likely fail if it targeted ONLY children. There's no reason not to enjoy it for yourself. :D
There's actually a good amount of depth behind most aspects of the franchise (with the anime being the notable exception) that makes it suitable for all ages. There's that stigma of it being for kids but if you take time to look deeper into the games, manga, etc., there's something for most anyone to enjoy.
The problem for many is, of course, getting them to look past the "kiddie" outer layer in the first place.
I think it just depends on what you're doing. I think the anime is for kids, the games are for all ages because it's a little more realistic, seeing as the Cubone's mother was killed by Team Rocket, when in the anime nothing like that would ever happen.
But I think the manga is more for the teenage audience because children probably wouldn't grasp all the messages in the manga. It is also a little darker than the anime, so I would say that the manga is the least childish.
Long rant in spoiler that may or may not be good. Putting it in spoilers in case you don't want to read it.
Spoiler:
The games themselves are designed to target all audiences. The anime targets younger audiences, while the manga targets older ones, like teenagers. Problem is, not much is out in the US... at least, not yet. The games go through different target audiences, let's take a look at two of them.
Pokepark Wii: Pikachu's Great Adventure: Nothing too dark as far as we know. To me, it isn't really the most... mature game. A bunch of mini-games, it seems. To me, it seems targeted towards a younger audience, but it can attract older people to it.
And the second game.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky: Hoo boy, where do we begin? Can you honestly tell me that this was aimed mostly at kids? This game can get dark, and it does so fairly quickly. Dusknoir, especially in Sky, is unusual to be in a game soley aimed for kids, as his alternate plan involves destroying Grovyle's soul to go back in time in said pokemon's body and kill off the Hero and his Partner.
Tvtropes actually has an extensive section about some things that are put into 'High Octane Nightmare Fuel' for this game. This is copied from the section, and it is both about Darkrai, and the game.
There you go, you're all in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Time/Darkness mood. These are just a few highlights of the trauma fest Nintendo damned on children and gamers. The entire story mode is a project of Nightmare Fuel containment, even the lighter parts, and Wigglytuff isn't a good enough comic relief. Who can forget Darkrai. While usually he's portrayed as loathed, misunderstood, sympathetic, kind hearted, and maybe even heroic with the most unplesent self-defence mechanism, this version isn't. He's a cunning, pure evil, powerful, heartless, tramuatic, diabolical, sadistic, ruthless, nightmare master that give Freddy Krooger a run for his money. He's behind all of the above and admits it. He also sent poor Azril into an infinite nightmare (it gets cured) for the fun of it. The pokemon was scary originally but this is crazy. His plan is to send the world into an infinite nightmare so he may rule! His first attempt was the above future. Remember he corrupted a GOD and SENT ANOTHER AFTER YOU!!! He lures you into a final battle and waits if you loose because he's that sadistic. I can't believe he wasn't at number one, or even on the list of Game Informer's top ten villains of 2008. Then there's the fact that for an E-rated game it plays to Primal Fear and Adult Fear. Oh, one of the morals is that you can't trust anyone and saints will send you to Hell. Like what Dusknoir did or how Drowzee kidnapped Azril while pretending to be a KIND MAN! OR how even the Sherif wants "Carnage". This game is what Nightmare Fuel dreams of becoming and is seriously messed up.
That may be somewhat off, but I think it proves my point, if someone sees it that way. This one seems to be for older audiences, but still light enough to keep the 'E' Rating. The younger people will still be attracted to this game, but it appeals to older people.
With these games, spinoffs they may be, but still carry the name Pokemon. The audience for these games is quite a bit larger then just the little kids. Look at this forum, there's plenty of older teens and adults here.
Now the main games? Both ways. With the more hidden factors, like IVs and EVs, that allows people to make the best possible statistics for said pokemon. That plays to both kids and adults. Not to mention Cyrus' plan in turning everyone (Including himself) into emotionless drones in his new world.
To make a long story short (Too late), no. Only the anime is truly childish, and even that can bring in older people.
As much as I'd love for this thread to go on (and it can if someone starts a new thread).... it's passed it's 1 month revival time. I don't mind the topic, but there's no reason to go back 5 and a half months to post in a thread.
