>>33378920>Pokemon based on waste in an extremely urban region >Somehow reflecting actual trash is badPokemon is based on Icicles and Stalactites with a cute nod to a tasty snack
You see this would be a valid criticism if they were "a cute nod" to their inspiration as you say but they're not.
The Trubbish line is just trash with a face and the Vanillite line is just ice-cream with a face. The "cute nod" in this scenario is just drawing a face on the source material and calling it a day.
>Forgetting the amount of pokemon that are literally rocksYes and the Pokemon who are just rocks with faces are just as lazy and uninspired as rubbish, ice cream, gears etc.
>Where does this ever happen? What 'point' do these designs miss?Okay I'll spell it out for you.
Look at Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.
Both are clear nods to two very distinct fighting styles, both are humanoid shape but are at the same time visibly non-human and creature-like.
At a glance you can tell lee kicks and chan punches right away.
Their bodies are distinctly alien but there's enough information in their designs that you can tell what they're all about, even when boiled down to it Hitmonlee is just a brown blob with springy limbs from a design standpoint.
Now compare these two to Throh and Sawk.
Just like Trubbish was just a few features drawn onto trash, Throh and Sawk are just a few features drawn onto a Judo and a Karate practitioner. Right down to the fucking organic Judogi / Karate Gi that's somehow supposed to make sense.
The parallel in Gen 1 would be if they dressed Hitmonlee up in a Bruce Lee yellow and black enter-the-dragon jumpsuit or gave Hitmonchan a championship belt and boxing shorts.
If chan and lee are the "cute nod" to their source material then Throh and Sawk by comparison have butchered their source material and are wearing its rotting corpse as a skin. All while holding neon signs saying "WE'RE JUDO AND KARATE YOU FUCKING RETARDS".
