Let's Talk About Pokemon - Pikachu and Raichu

025 - Pikachu

Welp, there he is. The big cheese. The would-be Mickey Mouse of gaming if it wasn't for one Super Mario. In retrospect it maybe doesn't feel like that much of a surprise that Pikachu sort of incidentally wound up as the series mascot. It was a rare Pokemon that had that small air of exclusivity, plus it's cute and extremely easy to make merch of. It's decently known that Clefairy was almost Ashe's companion Pokemon for the anime before it was switched to Pikachu, and while that doesn't necessarily meant Clefairy would've become series mascot just on its own, Pikachu really does just have animal-protagonist vibes, doesn't it? Something about the color yellow is just such a good, classic kid-appeal character color. Anyone else notice that?

As a design, you could certainly do worse. I personally am not that impressed by cute-appeal Pokemon other than some specific, very selfish cases, but Pikachu fairs better than most in that regard. It's a yellow rat with its main eye-catching feature being the lightning bolt tail, which is striking enough as a symbol on its own. To a point where there's plenty of merch and logos that get away with JUST Pikachu's tail alone. But it's also small, slightly chubby (it being chubbier back in the day notwithstanding), as well as having decently distinct facial features.

The ears are another part of Pikachu's whole visage that really give it its symbolhood. Basically in the same way the aforementioned Michael Mouse has a logo that's just three circles in the most abstract mouse head shape possible. But the addition of the red cheeks also add to that iconography.

Pikachu's shtick is that it stores electricity in its cheeks, a bit like how many rodents will store food in their oversized cheek sacks. Though shockingly enough, none of the Pikaclones from future generations actually directly take advantage of that feature. Strange. Either way, a decent idea. Pikachu is overall decent, to me. Very conventional, not that exciting, but it's also easy to see WHY it is what it is.

Personal Score: 7/10

026 - Raichu

Poor Raichu. You'd think it'd at least be a Luigi to Pikachu's Mario; a secondary mascot to pose alongside it in all the marketing, but most of the time Pikachu's just hanging out with its buddies, Eevee, Charizard, or Mewtwo. Not like Raichu gets completely ignored, but compared to its little sibling? Pshh.

And I think that's a shame, cause Raichu is cooler than most seem to give it credit for. It's maybe still slimmed down compared to how it used to look, but it's still at least notably pudgier than Pikachu. But I also quite enjoy its resemblance to a jerboa, a desert mouse with its long, tip-tufted tail and extended, kangaroo-like legs. While it still doesn't shoot Raichu up into super-exceptional territory for me, it is at least enough to make it a little more interesting than its younger sibling. Its ears a little more distinct, and its color scheme and demeaner just gives a better vague, nabulous vibe that I appreciate more than Pikachu's very "was destined to have its face plastered on everything" kind of affect to itself. Raichu just looks a little more humble and respectable.

Personal Score: 8/10

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