Hi, ahem, long time reader, first time poster.
Im hoping to get my kid to start watching something more palatable than Cinderella and tangled on endless repeat. Ive never seen or played Pokemon myself, but i'm not averse to giving it the 'ole College try.
She is only three so i might be jumping the gun here but i thought id ask the PA community rather than a more dedicated Pokemon forum. is three too young? What is the right age t start a kid on Pokemon?
Whats the best series to start with and which series is the most kiddy friendly?
Also while were at it i already have an old DS, which would be the best Pokemon to start out on for myself?
Thanks in advance.
Posts
If you want to introduce your child to anime, how about some Studio Ghibli movies for younger viewers? Many of them can be watched by age 3 and up, though some may be too scary for a three year old (watch yourself first). Perhaps "My neighbor Totoro" or "Kiki's delivery service"?
Also, have you tried Pocoyo? It's very kid-appropriate and educational, but with Stephen Fry narrating it's also very palatable for adults. Some of the jokes even seem to be aimed directly at the parents, and I find my laughing at plenty of things that my 2 year old doesn't even know are jokes.
I'd start with fire red/leaf green and go from there.
Also what Celestial Badger said.
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The Movies might be something to save till they get older, though. They tend to be a few degrees darker to appeal to a wider audience, which is good as a parent for entertainment purposes, but might scare younger kids.
Regardless, I think 7 or 8 is the best age to start. Its easy to play the games at that age and understand the universe
CelestialBadger knows whats up though, try some of the really kid friendly studio ghibli films, they're really just magical
My neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Kiki's delivery service are all perfect for young kids since they feature young children. Arrietty might be good as well but I haven't seen it. Also the main characters are all girls, which is something I personally really loved as a kid. Sometimes it can be a struggle to find well rounded female characters for kids but I think studio ghibli often nails it
But in all seriousness, I'm not sure if Pokemon is the greatest show to show to little kids. It's very ADD, there's not much of a focus on story or cohesive writing or anything like that. Not to say kids MUST have these things to be entertained (they don't) but there's a lot more high quality stuff out there.
I'd say go for stuff that does follow that archetypal hero's journey, because that's what many of us started with when we were kids - they just took the forms of fairy tales and books read to us.
If your child is watching stuff on the DVD player, Ghibli is a fantastic suggestion (avoid Mononoke until she's older but go for Totoro as quick as you can), as well as anything Pixar made before the last few years or so. Not to mention the wealth of great kids stuff that was available even earlier. Fun to note that the younger kids ratings didn't really come into play until fairly recently so you could even try some tamer older films as well. Yeah, they're not made "for kids", but "kid's entertainment" is a weird thing to define (I wrote my thesis on kid's films, so trust me when I say that - I tried).
I wouldn't worry or get hung up necessarily on what is "appropriate" or "not appropriate", every child is different so if you're involved in what she's watching you'll figure that out. Go for quality more than anything.
That said, by ALL means get your kid into the games (when she's a bit older though).
That said, there are much better shows outside of Pokemon for standard broadcasting and I would suggest peppering in non-Anime shows as well. For girls, the new My Little Pony is a good show that expands traditional boundaries for gender roles. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends was also a great and unorthodox show I would reccomend.
One last note on Ghibli, watch all of them first to see if you think it would scare your child. Kiki's Delivery Service, Arriety/The Borrowers, and My Neighbor Torotoro are safe for most audiences but most of the others have dark themes wrapped in there along with some serious nightmare fuel for a child not ready for that sort of thing.
Also: avoid Grave of the Fireflies.
I have heard that they are a great way of encouraging children to learn to read so they can play the game on their own.
In all fairness, I think that gunfight episode was banned in America :P
I didn't start on Pokemon until I was 7 and I think that was just about perfect. I could read plenty enough to be able to play the game and follow the story, and the show was plenty entertaining for me. I don't really know much about the cultural differences and whatnot because I haven't really gone back and watched it, but I grew up just fine having seen it it so that's something? That said I'd suggest having her watch whatever anime series matches up with the games you start her out on, because watching the characters do what I was doing in the game was always fun for me.
e: Oh, and if you want to start playing the games yourself first, I'd say FireRed/LeafGreen if your DS has a GBA slot or Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. HeartGold/SoulSilver are both great but they have a really awkward leveling curve that makes it difficult for me to want to get through them, and I love Pokemon games. FR/LG are remakes of the original games that updated them to work a lot better, and are a good intro to the series.
As for the studio Ghibli stuff it doesnt really appeal to me so im just as happy leaving her to keep watching Tinkerbell and Disney/Pixar since she already loves those.
Im not really trying to push her towards "anime" in general. I dont really understand people who are really into anime for the sake of it being anime, for me i decide on a show by show basis if i like something rather than by the format/animation style etc.
Anyhow thanks for the advice. I will get a single episode of Diamond/Pearl when i can find it to try it out. Ive also just ebay bid on a GBA copy of Leafgreen just to see that myself.
Note: I first saw Pokemon when I was 18. And it was the REAL Pokemon, none of this crazy metal/gem stuff you kids have today. And there were 150 pokemon, and that's the way we liked it. You could remember all their names.
Young people today have no appreciation for the classics. It's just a shame, really.
Sorry had to fix that.
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DON'T YOU SASS ME
NOW GET OUTSIDE AND CUT ME A SWITCH
I started around that same time with the Yellow/Game Boy Color Pikachu edition combo. Good stuff. Haven't played it since.
I don't think Pokemon is a show which can really deliver on that count. I watched the show when it was fresh and new but already at that time I did so because I was a fan of the games and not because of its own appeal.
I adored the animated Asterix movies when I was a kid, but she might be a little too young for those. You'd also need to be comfortable with cartoon violence (of which there is also a lot in Pokemon) and a few scenes with sexual undertones.
I've seen an episode of the new MLP show and it seemed like a well-made and well-written show. For young girls, that is.
I actually legitimately said to a Japanese child a few months ago "When I was your age, there were only 150 pokemon." and I immediately felt very old...
Since you said you like things based on the show itself and they make wonderful films with well rounded characters and interesting plots
Well to be honest i dont really know enough to be able to fairly judge them. For my purposes though its not really suitable since what im after is something that i already think i would enjoy that could also be enjoyable for a 3 year old girl. its basically in the same category for me as the Pixar movies, theyre probably good and i wont mind watching them but i am not predisposed to wanting to see them.