Yamask Pokemon

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There is a Pokemon called “Yamask”. While the general Pokemon world is nothing I particularly object to, any more than any other fantasy game, this one strikes me as maladaptive, inhuman, and simply wrong.

Basically, it’s the ghost of a dead human that still retains the memories it had when alive. IOW, a human soul. And here are people using these human souls to fight battles with lesser creatures.

To be able to degrade a human into an animal… with less dignity than a man…

Pokemon fans/ parents who let their kids play Pokemon, I ask you: what do you make of this? If you are a fan of Pokemon, how does this affect your view of it?

Again, I don’t generally find Pokemon objectionable. (I don’t own any cards or Pokemon video games. I’ve never been a fan.) But… does anyone else feel this crosses the boundaries of acceptable fantasy? And if so, what can be done about it?
 
Yikes. Thanks for letting us know. My sister is letting my 6-year-old nephew collect the cards but I think he just got into it.
 
I’m fine with it or at least willing to ignore it. Why? NEVER does the origin of any pokémon come up in the games. The only exceptions are Mewtwo and Kyurem. Any other pokémon and what it actually is has no influence whatsoever. Something tells me they even hardly included this in the anime at all. Maybe the manga, where a few pokémon have died, but most certainly not in the anime or games.

I’d know. I’ve played Blue, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Emerald, Diamond, White and Mystery Dungeon Blue. I’ve read the original series of the manga and serebii’s novelizations of everything through the Emerald series. I knows my pokémon
 
My son wasn’t interested in Pokemon, but another mom was concerned about the subliminal messages that were possible from the game. She warned me and wouldn’t let her son collect the cards. We both steered our kids toward Club Penguin.
 
TarkanAttila said:
There is a Pokemon called “Yamask”. While the general Pokemon world is nothing I particularly object to, any more than any other fantasy game, this one strikes me as maladaptive, inhuman, and simply wrong.

Basically, it’s the ghost of a dead human that still retains the memories it had when alive. IOW, a human soul. And here are people using these human souls to fight battles with lesser creatures.

To be able to degrade a human into an animal… with less dignity than a man…

Pokemon fans/ parents who let their kids play Pokemon, I ask you: what do you make of this? If you are a fan of Pokemon, how does this affect your view of it?

Again, I don’t generally find Pokemon objectionable. (I don’t own any cards or Pokemon video games. I’ve never been a fan.) But… does anyone else feel this crosses the boundaries of acceptable fantasy? And if so, what can be done about it?
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Is that the Japanese name or the English name? Most of the time they’re different. I couldn’t even find the name in a search.
 
I play video games in which I reanimate the corpses of dead enemies to fight their living counterparts, and said zombies will collapse with a relieved “thank…you…” when the spell expires, so I’m probably a bit biased in my answer:

It’s a freaking kid’s game.

🤷

I think there are other, better things to worry about.
 
A lot of pokemon are inspired by various folklore/ancient culture. This one comes from an Egyptian idea of someone’s spirit after they die. To be honest I love the pokemon games partly because of the fact that many of the creatures have their inspiration in traditional folklore and so it is fun to research the various types of mythologies, much of it Japanese, from where they came. I have played pokemon my whole life and have never had any sort of bad experience from it so I think its fine as long as their isn’t any sort of obsession with it. It is kind of weird that this particular pokemon is considered human though as there has never been anything like that in pokemon that I know of. Anyway there are a lot of better pokemon to catch then yamask as he isn’t very great in battles in my opinion 🙂
 
Doeco said:
A lot of pokemon are inspired by various folklore/ancient culture. This one comes from an Egyptian idea of someone’s spirit after they die. To be honest I love the pokemon games partly because of the fact that many of the creatures have their inspiration in traditional folklore and so it is fun to research the various types of mythologies, much of it Japanese, from where they came. I have played pokemon my whole life and have never had any sort of bad experience from it so I think its fine as long as their isn’t any sort of obsession with it. It is kind of weird that this particular pokemon is considered human though as there has never been anything like that in pokemon that I know of. Anyway there are a lot of better pokemon to catch then yamask as he isn’t very great in battles in my opinion 🙂
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Ghost-types aren’t that great in general. My Alakazam at Lv. 50 can beat a team of 6 Lv. 70-some ghosts. (For you non-pokénerds, Alakazam is psychic-type and weak to ghosts) :rolleyes:
 
Lochias said:
I play video games in which I reanimate the corpses of dead enemies to fight their living counterparts, and said zombies will collapse with a relieved “thank…you…” when the spell expires, so I’m probably a bit biased in my answer:

It’s a freaking kid’s game.

🤷

I think there are other, better things to worry about.
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I agree. It just piqued my curiosity. Besides, kids’ games - or any entertainment - are somewhat important, because they tend to be formative. Some things are harmless, while some things can be life-changing.

I’m not saying “MOTHER OF JAM TARTS AND PASTIES, KILL POKEMON WITH FIRE!!!1!!111!!”, I’m just asking… what effect do you think it would have, and what would you do about it? I think a reasonably confident Catholic could use a Yamask, if he so chose. I personally wouldn’t be comfortable with the idea, and I think it a bad idea to allow children to use it if they could find out. But I’m just asking what you dudes think.
 
TarkanAttila said:
There is a Pokemon called “Yamask”. While the general Pokemon world is nothing I particularly object to, any more than any other fantasy game, this one strikes me as maladaptive, inhuman, and simply wrong.

Basically, it’s the ghost of a dead human that still retains the memories it had when alive. IOW, a human soul. And here are people using these human souls to fight battles with lesser creatures.

To be able to degrade a human into an animal… with less dignity than a man…

Pokemon fans/ parents who let their kids play Pokemon, I ask you: what do you make of this? If you are a fan of Pokemon, how does this affect your view of it?

Again, I don’t generally find Pokemon objectionable. (I don’t own any cards or Pokemon video games. I’ve never been a fan.) But… does anyone else feel this crosses the boundaries of acceptable fantasy? And if so, what can be done about it?
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Boy #2 grew out of Pokemon awhile back, Boy #3 is really into them, but his friends aren’t - so his main interest is the artwork and sorting them into “types” (resulting in endless practice in eye-hand co-ordination which he definitely needs) so I’m currently not worried.

My rules are the same with everything they do from video games, to music, to TV shows, to books, to other hobbies -

A) if I just happen to catch something truly offensive (language, image, depravity, racism, etc.) when I observe them interacting with it, it’s gone. From the 7yr old to the 15yr old they know what is and is not tolerated in our home.

B) if I find in generally objectionable on questionable ethics, situations, or even just my personal taste (I hate anime for example), I tolerate it as long as it doesn’t cross the line into category A OR it doesn’t become a “permanent” obsession.

So in regards to the Pokemon - if I was playing with him, found the card, decided it was truly vile, I’d confiscate the card pointing out how it is truly offensive, then continue to play. If he begins to focus on Pokemon to the exclusion of most other interests for prolonged time, then I’d work on transferring his interest to something else.

Anyway - that’s my point of view 🤷 as a mom of six spread over 19 yrs.
 
TarkanAttila said:
I agree. It just piqued my curiosity. Besides, kids’ games - or any entertainment - are somewhat important, because they tend to be formative. Some things are harmless, while some things can be life-changing.

I’m not saying “MOTHER OF JAM TARTS AND PASTIES, KILL POKEMON WITH FIRE!!!1!!111!!”, I’m just asking… what effect do you think it would have, and what would you do about it? I think a reasonably confident Catholic could use a Yamask, if he so chose. I personally wouldn’t be comfortable with the idea, and I think it a bad idea to allow children to use it if they could find out. But I’m just asking what you dudes think.
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I really agree with your first paragraph- kids games are important. In fact, I generally think kids media is more important to filter than media for adults, who hopefully will have many other influences and a somewhat solid woldveiw by now.

I haven’t followed pokemon since 4th gen (meaning I’m several years behind), but I do consider myself a fan. And while I would consider yamask a potential problem, I would still allow kids to play the games unless there were other problems with it. I just think the positive messages in Pokemon of teamwork and working for a reward are very nice, and it can be a great way of connecting with other kids. I wouldn’t deny someone that just because of a single, probably not very powerful, pokemon. 🤷
 
Kamaduck said:
I really agree with your first paragraph- kids games are important. In fact, I generally think kids media is more important to filter than media for adults, who hopefully will have many other influences and a somewhat solid woldveiw by now.

I haven’t followed pokemon since 4th gen (meaning I’m several years behind), but I do consider myself a fan. And while I would consider yamask a potential problem, I would still allow kids to play the games unless there were other problems with it. I just think the positive messages in Pokemon of teamwork and working for a reward are very nice, and it can be a great way of connecting with other kids. I wouldn’t deny someone that just because of a single, probably not very powerful, pokemon. 🤷
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The first movie’s actually insanely deep for a kid’s show. “We do have a lot in common. The same Earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what’s the same instead of what’s different… well, who knows.” “The human sacrificed himself, to save the Pokemon. I pitted them against each other, but not until they set aside their differences did I see the true power they all share deep inside. I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”
 
Razanir said:
The first movie’s actually insanely deep for a kid’s show. “We do have a lot in common. The same Earth, the same air, the same sky. Maybe if we started looking at what’s the same instead of what’s different… well, who knows.” “The human sacrificed himself, to save the Pokemon. I pitted them against each other, but not until they set aside their differences did I see the true power they all share deep inside. I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”
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Ohhh, the nostalgia! 😃

Although the part where Ash turns to stone and is awakened by the pokemons’ tears is pretty ridiculous. 😊 Still, not bad for kids’ fair. (And I loved Mewtwo’s revelation at the end, he was such an awesome character. :D)

Overall I think pokemon is a good thing for kids to be involved in, provided it isn’t obsessive. It’s certainly much better than most of its rivals.
 
In that first movie, Pikachu literally ‘turns the other cheek.’ Where is that in today’s entertainment?

There is no cursing, no shacking up, and no toilet humor (that I’ve noticed). Can you say that about current American programming, even cartoons?

Besides, Pikachu is the world’s cutest action hero.
 
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