Let's Talk About Pokemon - Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff

039 - Jigglypuff

And I suppose if we're going super hard to keep forcing the Clefairy = Pikachu angle, Jigglypuff here is almost like a Sandshrew-esque "rival" to it. Though in this case I feel like Jigglypuff is far more popular than Clefairy. Which feels odd given it's a Pokemon who feels a little redundant when next to Clefairy.

It's classed as a "balloon" Pokemon, and it indeed is just a little ball with a face that has big, oversized eyes, tiny nubby limbs, a pair of cat ears, and a swirly tuft of hair. Which, especially when I try to describe it, just makes Jigglypuff look a bit like someone poorly drew Clefairy from memory. I keep feeling like going on tangents here cause Jigglypuff just doesn't inspire much to talk about for me. Not that it's offensively bad or unmemorable or anything, but it is unremarkable and doesn't even have an unusual hook to it like Clefairy and Clefable do to make them at least a little interesting past the surface-level cutesy appeal.

Its "shtick" is that it's basically the mascot of the move "Sing", which puts the target to sleep. And for the anime in particular, it has a recurring Jigglypuff character that shows up with poor timing to sing and put everyone to sleep before getting angry everyone fell asleep during its performance and draw marks on everyone's face as "revenge." It was a cute thing for one episode, but I don't know why they kept bringing it back for so so long, because the gag has the same punchline almost every single time, so I don't know how one could be amused with it. Unless you were. Pokemon's target audience.

040 - Wigglytuff

Wigglytuff is at least a little more interesting, even if it is still stepping on Clefable's toes a bit. It becomes a little more pear-shaped, the cat ears become bunny ears, and, well. Yeah that's kinda it. But interesting how such a minuscule change can morph the vibe quite a bit. Wigglytuff just stands on its own a bit more. Not that its remarkable, but still.

Wigglytuff, funnily enough, would also become a lot more well known as one character who is a Pokemon in particular, in the form of Guildmaster Wigglytuff from the second Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. Wigglytuff's very image becoming so cemented as this one Wigglytuff in particular, the above card art for Pokemon TCG Pocket can come out decades after PMD Explorers has been relevant to the overall Pokemon brand, and many a Pokemon fan simply agree that this is just Guildmaster Wigglytuff. That's just a picture of him right there.

Personal Score: 6/10

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