On Pokémon Black & White and Living/Revisiting the Past

If you were a child of the 90s, more likely than not, you are into Pokémon. You had Red, Blue, or Yellow (or like my little brother and me - all three), and you continued to buy each sequel that came thereafter, whether you really were interested in it or not.

With the new versions - Black and White (because apparently they ran out of colors/metals/gems to name them after) - a lot of people have expressed a lot of skepticism towards the new titles. Whether it was the new starters (Snivy? Really?), changing the name of the region when all it's predecessors only underwent a slight spelling change, to the new look of the trainers you play as, I think it's safe to say that not everyone is as excited about the new Pokémon games as they used to be.

But my friend and fellow Pokémon fan Esteban expressed what I feel is actually a quite on mark point (even if my opinions differ a bit from his):

"[It's] easy: the world doesn't revolve around you. Not YOU [i.e. me], but in general. Like, whenever a new Pokémon game comes out, EVERYONE who grew up with Red & Blue kick into self-entitlement mode and think that the game is supposed to impress THEM. But almost always fail to realize that it's for the new generation of kids who never had the opportunity to grow up with the Red & Blue generation, and instead would start their own path."

This got me thinking, would the new generations of Pokémon fans be satisfied with Red and Blue just as much as my generation was? Or do they just play the titles because they are "retro" games like one would play Dig-Dug and Centipede? I honestly feel that it is for the latter reasons, especially since it's so "hip" to be into older things. Am I exempt from this? Of course not! I've been planning on re-purchasing all of my old consoles just to play the games I grew up with, and other titles that came before those ones.

Some of the Pokémon from the new series that are pretty awesome.

It's an odd segue, but what is the fascination with living with the past? Is our present that bad where we revert to our childhood? It's an enigma of human existence; we spend our childhood hoping for the future, just waiting till we become "grown-ups" and we can do whatever we want. Once that day comes, (whenever that is), we constantly keep referring to our past, and how much better it was. But why?

Is it because we are faced with the responsibilities we never knew existed as a child? Or because we can't in fact "do whatever we want?" Did we enjoy living in ignorance and bliss, not knowing that the world was going to tie us down when we became of age?

It's a topic that I could throw questions at endlessly and never get an answer, let alone one I want to hear. But perhaps that is what causes so many of the earlier Pokémon fans to criticize the newer titles so much. Instead of transporting them back to their childhood, the newer titles are echoing the fact that just like them, their favorite games have grown up. This is a message that none of us have been able to hear with open hearts, at least not yet.

...

But let me just say that I for one, welcome our Pokémon overlords.

An Introduction of Sorts

It's sad to say that I've had this blog for about three years and have yet to post more than 3 entries in total here. As the years pass by, I noticed my blogging skills starting to wane - from maintaing a personal blog that was almost daily, to posting one or two entries on a series of blogs across the internet.

While I haven't really felt the urge to maintain a personal blog again (except to perhaps vent when the feelings start to pile up), I have wanted to contribute something literary and intelligent to the internet. That is where Love, Thrila comes into play.

Love, Thrila is a blog I've had many different hopes for. From being a private blog for myself to document my ups and downs with love, to being an editorial site where I would discuss various topics I felt that weren't given as much attention as it deserved, to being a site filled with reviews of medias that were either only gaining attention in a particular field of focus or almost falling on the wayside, it's had many makeovers to fit these roles. But just like people, why should this little blog be forced to only serve one purpose? We as people are capable of so much, and are often talented in so many different areas. So why should I limit this blog to only articles or reviews?

Love, Thrila has big plans. I've got a few reviews of some media I've engrossed myself with recently that I've felt the need to review, some as text and others as videos. I have a few editorial pieces I am writing right now on some interesting topics, to some personal things that perhaps can apply to others out there. The blog is open to anything. I want it to be personal in that it is something of my creation, but also something that people can take something from when they visit it.

I wasn't sure if I should make this an introduction of the blog or myself, or both. I'm never really good at talking about myself, all I can ever say is that I am an artist, half Filipina, and tend to present myself better in writing than verbally.

Perhaps I should address one question though: Why call yourself "Thrila"?

My real name is Rachelle (read "ruh-shell"), but is often mistaken for "Rachel." Since my name is constantly mispronounced, I had taken a liking to nicknames. I've gone through many growing up - Rei, Shell, Rachellian (that one has a rather long story for another time) - and these names work just fine in real life. But I wanted a sort of "stage name," something where, if I were to become rich and famous (IF being the biggest factor) I wouldn't have to keep telling people how to say my name. The people would just refer to me by this awesome name that was either an enigma, or would have a deep story behind it. In short, I wanted to call myself Lady Gaga before she even thought of the name.

Just kidding.

Being half Filipina, I've always enjoyed learning about my background and the history of the Philippines. But I am also of Scottish decent, add to that having grown up American. It was back in high school that I learned about the Mohammed Ali match in Manila called "The Thriller in Manila." I loved the title and the history behind it. I felt like it was a sort of representation of who I was, a mix of Western and Eastern aspects, but was also capable of socking you in the face. It was in high school that I adopted the title of "The Thrila in Manila" (spelling changed only because I thought it looked like it flowed better). But of course, with any title that includes a location, people would assume that I was from Manila. I grew weary of having to explain my life story and just chopped it down to "Thrila." People mainly just accept the name, or know it from the Mohammed Ali match and assume I'm Filipina (which is half right). It's a name I plan on holding onto as long as I possibly can.

That is all for now, expect some entries very soon in the week.

Love,

Thrila

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