>>58852627I'm in the rare camp of being just sort of "fine" with MStarmie. I've got issues with it, but I see positives as well.
>Easy Mode:-I like that it's a tokusatsu. I agree with the opposing sentiment that "just because its a reference, it doesn't mean it's good", but in this case, I find it comforting.
Pokemon's originally based extremely heavily on tokusatsu media, and with any franchise, age and changing of the guard means visions wax and wane. MStarmie being such a stupid, in-your-face reference to a semi obscure kaiju type reassures me that they're still drawing from the same origins. I like that.
-While hard shifting to a "haha funni" design on an otherwise cool and mysterious Pokemon, isn't something I agree with, I do appreciate that they're using its more humanoid proportions for expressiveness. I find that silly hands-on-hips superhero pose on a star shaped body, reminds me directly of Starman from Kirby, or Starman from Earthbound.
-Jumping off that last point, the fact that it's doing outright karate-like moves I think looks genuinely cool, in a whimsical sort of way. I'd like to see that expanded more, do full on flying jump kicks and whatnot.
>Hard Mode:-Sometimes simplicity can have its advantages.
In Starmie's case, it's SUCH a drastic shift in design style from your typical Mega, that it stands out, and reads as highly intentional. While it pisses people off, it SHOULD be something that makes you ask "why". Of course, most are too stubborn to do this but I digress.
The added lore of MStarmie purposely trying to mimic a human shape, with ominous intentions, does help to imbue it with a highly alien feel. Doing so in such a direct and unmessy way, not bothering to augment anything else about itself, gives a very calculated undertone that implies something foreign and inherently unlike us.
-That simplicity also works towards eliciting that "man-in-rubber-suit" aesthetic.
