You are what you watch?
[Check out the My Little Ponyta art by Sarah Thomas!]
Last week’s Teenage Pokemon left some fans of Lets Plays feeling pretty insulted. It’s no surprise that much of that insult came from Marshtomp, the profanity prone, thorny, gruff, tough guy of the group. It seems that Marshtomp has been making people feel insulted since the very first episode of Teenage Pokemon. He’s generally the most “love ’em or hate ’em” character in the Teenage Pokeverse (which is saying a lot given how much love and hate this show tends to inspire).
Some see Marshtomp as a crass racial stereotype of Water-type Pokemon. Others see him as a damning indictment of the teenage male’s tendency to try hard to sound “tough and hardened” to the point of ridiculousness. Still others just think its sounds funny when a Pokemon gets passionate/belligerent about things of such relative lack of importance as the Wii U, Grand Theft Pokeball V, and the previously mentioned Lets Play situation. How you react to the character probably has a lot to do with what you bring to the table.
Regardless of how you feel about Marshtomp, chances are you didn’t see this episode coming. I for one couldn’t be happy for him. He seems to be pretty pleased with his new-found identity. Pikachu (as played by the lovely Max Scoville) also does his share of psychological discovery here. It’s a real time of ego restructuring and self acceptance you guys. I hope you enjoy it.