An action game is by its nature pretty shallow compared to other media. As the hero, you have to undertake such and such tasks, never mind the reason, for the purpose of scoring points. (I'm just waiting for Ash to take the word highscore into his mouth).
A TV series has at least the potential to be more. In this series the potential is largely unfulfilled - all it adds is a few inches of depth, a smidgeon of plot, a couple of characters and *no* background. I started watching it to see if it would answer some questions such as where these strange critters come from and why they are so important. Two seasons later I'm still waiting, even slightly more confused that at the start. The pokemon are just there, and they are at the same time 1) important enough for people like prof. Oak to devote their lives to studying them, and for almost every city to construct buildings devoted to their care and training, and 2) unimportant enough for the task of catching them to be handled by ten-year-olds.
Still, it's a charming little yarn, though I am not yet (and probably never will be) hooked enough to despair at missing an episode. Who knows, it may actually get around to answering a question one day. For example: If, as frequently suggested, there are no animals on this strange world except for humans and pokemon, does that mean all the humans are vegetarians, or do they hunt/breed pokemon for food?
A TV series has at least the potential to be more. In this series the potential is largely unfulfilled - all it adds is a few inches of depth, a smidgeon of plot, a couple of characters and *no* background. I started watching it to see if it would answer some questions such as where these strange critters come from and why they are so important. Two seasons later I'm still waiting, even slightly more confused that at the start. The pokemon are just there, and they are at the same time 1) important enough for people like prof. Oak to devote their lives to studying them, and for almost every city to construct buildings devoted to their care and training, and 2) unimportant enough for the task of catching them to be handled by ten-year-olds.
Still, it's a charming little yarn, though I am not yet (and probably never will be) hooked enough to despair at missing an episode. Who knows, it may actually get around to answering a question one day. For example: If, as frequently suggested, there are no animals on this strange world except for humans and pokemon, does that mean all the humans are vegetarians, or do they hunt/breed pokemon for food?