>>11942718this is prolly a better example, actually.
i always saw pikachu as a rabbit with a long tail when i was a kid and it confused the crap out of me that they called it a mouse pokemon. the old design really didn't help. it took the revamp and actually owning rats before i saw the resemblance.
on topic, i'm totally cool with pikachu being the mascot. you don't really see it as a mascot for the games (minus the obvious yellow version lol), only the anime and various fan paraphernalia, and those are what attract most of the younger audience.
