I feel like Celesteela is also a secondary play on the “friendly alien” trope, but this time from a more tragic angle, similar to stories of raising orphaned wild animals, and having to release them when you realize this isn’t a pet or a safe member of society. Actually, that could tie into the “invasive species” idea from another angle, too, where the invader itself realizes it does not belong, so it’s about trying to get them home before anyone gets hurt. Thus it being based on an “invasive” species that is significantly less invasive than most. It doesn’t really conquer ecosystems like most: it spreads, yeah, but it doesn’t have the same level of destruction to it. As for Kartana, I think there might be a secondary alien trope of “honorable but dangerous warrior”, like Klingons: absolutely a problem, but they’ve got standards.
Reminding me a bit of E.T. with that first description. Which could tie into the original myth. Where it’s all about helping the alien go back to its home world. Feel like we could have a move all about Celesteela and making a friend on earth, but eventually will have to give a heartfelt goodbye as it returns home.
Ultra Beasts are my favorite things from this series, full-stop. I LOVE their weird reinterpretations of classic Types (Grass being paper, Rock being glass, for example), and their bizarre designs are still so dang fascinating! I haven't had the best first impression of S/V, part of which being due to concepts that I feel have already been tackled far more than necessary (how many birds and dogs do we need???), but the Ultra Beasts will ALWAYS stand out. Ironically enough, their attempt to make an intentionally unsettling batch of Pokemon secured them as one of the most endearing groups in the franchise. Kinda like Mimikyu!
I feel like A LOT of the UB should have a preevo. Even as a "society", they should have kids. Maybe not kartana, but like guzzlord, nihilego, pheromosa, buzzwole ect.
Or what if THEY are the pre evolutions? I don't even want to imagine that... Some maybe have pre evolutions but given how Pokédex says they're common in their respective Ultra Dimensions, it makes me feel like these ultra Beasts may be the equivalent to Pidgey, Skwovet and other route 1 Pokémon. But they might be as "common" as idk Toxicroak, Graveler? (Something not too weak and not overly common but not rare Pokémon either)
I feel like all of them are thier final evos of that line in thier world, its just we never find thier pre-evos, except for kartana, who I think evolves in their own worlds, but can't in the "main" universe, maybe due to needing an item that only exsist in its world
Kartana being a Grass-type samurai could also be a reference Japan's most famous sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, since its' name literally means "grass-cutting sword".
Also a reference to the legendary bladesmith test where a leaf floating in a stream bounced off Masamune's blade stuck in the stream, but was cut by his rival's. When asked why, he said it was because his blades were for protecting life, not taking it.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Ah, that name is so funny. It got the name because he tried to cut tall grass with it but, when he swung it it released wind. It's such a dumb name. It's like if I called a flamethrower can opener because I tried to use it to open a can.
Curtana isn't a type of sword but the name of a sword once owned by Charlemagne now on display in the tower of London, it is also called the Sword of Mercy. Now for some legends about it, it is said to have been forged by Wayland the Smith as a set of three swords, Curtana, Joyeuse, and the legendary Durandul. Curtana was said to be gifted to one of Charlemagne's paladins, Ogier the Dane, by Charlemagne himself while Durandul was gifted to Roland. Two of the swords are known to remain, Curtana being displayed in the Tower of London and Joyeuse in the Louvre, Durandul, however, has no known whereabouts, it's Last record being at Roland's Breach where the paladin attempted to destroy the Sword by swinging it at a rock, instead making a huge gash in them while the Sword had not a scratch on it. Folklore claims that Roland threw the sword at a cliff wall in Rocamadour, where it created a crevice and embedded in it. Perhaps Kartana's cutting capability came from the legendary Durandul while its name came from another sword closely related to it.
Omg how am i just hearing about this stuff. As soon as you said curtana and durandul, it made me think of the bungie games Halo and Marthon! In Halo, the main A.I.’s name is Cortana, and in Marathon the main A.I. is Durandal! Both 1 letter off of the swords. AND in Destiny, there was potentially going to be an A.I. called Charlemagne :D and once 343 took over for halo, the next ‘big’ A.I. was named Roland so potentially it’s a reference too! Honestly there could be a whole channel like lockstin that explains all of the cool mythology references that bungie puts in their games. Heck, i even thought about making a fake pokemon region based off of destiny things lol.
@@Glucenaphene HA! YES! I hoped someone would draw a connection to the Bungie stuff, unfortunately, there is no Charlemagne AI as far as I see, but there are still allusions to this stuff that we can't ignore. I love the halo games and destiny was another favorite, games in general, combine that with my love for mythology and that's just an average Tuesday, or should I say Tyr's day. The legend of Durandul is one of my favorites and I hold the Sword in high regard for its legendary status, perhaps more so than other well known weapons of myth, I mean, I designed a few space ship classes and named a few of them after the names I've mentioned in this comment, I love this sort of thing and I'm glad plenty others do as well. One question remains though: Where does the real Durandul lie if it exists?
@@Epsilon-01 In the earlier days of destiny (before they went more in-depth about warminds and rasputin) there was supposedly another warmind named charlemagne that was on mars, but eventually it was ‘revealed’ (/retconned) that charlemagne was actually a sub-mind to rasputin. Before the whole destiny story got reworked before the game came out, it was actually going to be a bigger part to the story and we would’ve actually gotten Thorn from ‘Charlemagne’s Vault’ on mars. (And i think the warmind stuff we see on mars in the d2 warmind expansion was Charlemagne’s, but rasputin took over control of the whole place after he detected the hive incoming or something)
@@Glucenaphene Very interesting, a shame it wasn't used, then we would have had the trifecta of Franks, as in the Frankish peoples, oh well, but who knows, they might use the King of the Franks' name later or his sword, Joyeuse, I hope it happens. You should read The Song of Roland if you want to know more about the paladin and his sword according to legend.
I do love the idea that these ultra beasts, though mystical and one of a kind to us…are just normal creatures where their from. Like imagine a planet where celesteela is just the geodude of where it’s from, it would be stunning and terrifying
Just another thing, one of the things kartana is heavily based on/imo is it’s main inspiration is the practice of folding steel to increase its quality for swords (from what I know usually Japanese swords such as katanas) hence why it’s origami, it’s FOLDED steel
One of the things why Celesteela is not grass type and many people confuse it with the grass type is because the Anglo-Saxons have a word that is bamboozle. And Celes has that very Japanese Hime cut on her head like Japanese women apart from her Kimono. I just wanted to add that curiosity, I liked the video.
5:40 wait, is that a Lupin III reference there? “Again, I have cut a worthless object” is kind of a catchphrase for Goemon Ishikawa; a samurai who’s one of the main members of Lupin’s crew.
You're right about bamboo being "invasive, but not really" In my neighborhood like 60 years ago someone went "hey, let's plant some bamboo" while it did grow extremely quickly and established itself in the area permanently, it has never been detrimental to the local ecosystem. Other plants continue to thrive in the area, and the bamboo almost never spreads past its established territory. It also provides food and shelter to the local wildlife. Overall, the bamboo looks very out of place where I live, but has made itself a home where it coexists with everything else. Of all the "invasive species" to have in my area 10/10 recommend bamboo
Will you be able to cover Paradox Pokemon after looking through Scarlet and Violet? It would be interesting how they are a new gimmick like Ultra Beasts, Fossils, and Regionals, etc and also Convergent species in separate videos.
i want the paradox pokemonand an explanation of what that dark-type chinese themed quartet of legends. like what are they doing in the region based on spain and portugal?
@@mayayamato7351 it's stated in-game the treasures the four pokemon were born from were brought to Paldea long ago by a merchant from the East, to the king ruling at the time.
TBH. And this is just an opinion. Isn't the Paradox Pokémon if boiled down to the basics are just Future/Past iterations of a Present Day Pokémon? Like how Iron Thorns is basically a Mecha Tyranitar, and Gen 5 and has done it WAY earlier via Pokestar Studios. And while also Duraladon is essentially a huge Kaiju Reference for it's rivalry with Tyranitar, ala Godzilla & Mechagodzilla. And how Scream Tail is basically a primal Jigglypuff. The examples could go on, but this is just the TL;DR part of the comment.
In the anime Ash and his friends went out of their way to shield the bamboo forest and it's mentioned in that very episode that Celesteela's liftoff would have obliterated the whole bamboo forest if they did nothing about it
These ultra beast analysis videos have really made me appreciate them more than I already did- there’s so much more behind them than I thought, and even the UBs I didnt care as much for like Celesteela and Nihiligo are way more interesting that I gave them credit for. I really like the both of them, now
Kartana's name has an interesting meaning to me. Kertas means paper in malay, and malay words usually have their origins in other languages like Portuguese and English.
Kartana's backward speech at 5:40 ("I cut a worthless object") May be a reference to Goemon from Lupin the 3rd. On numerous occassions in the anime, he says, "I have once again cut a worthless object."
The Kartenvoys in Kartana's part of Ultra Space also alludes to the humanoid alien trope. It's exactly what it sounds like: aliens are able to blend in with humans because they look exactly like humans. It could also be the trope of how humans get integrated into alien society, voluntary or otherwise. Also, this could be a stretch, but Celesteela being an alien rocket ship based on Kaguya-hime could also be a nod to Okami, which involves some sci-fi with its Japanese mythology inspirations.
Another alien trope for each of the pokemon mentioned: Kartana is the tiny, dinky weapon that deals an insane amount of damage, like the noisy cricket in MIB. Celesteela is not only a spaceship, she is a sentient ship that is also a living being. Think Jean Jacket from Nope, or Trypticon and Omega Supreme from Transformers.
Love Celesteela. They’re one of my favourite steel Pokémon and my favourite ultra beast. Considering how Kartana is known as the grass cutter, I was surprised that no connection was made to Susanoo’s sword in Shinto dubbed Grasscutter. It would go into another aspect of the alien infiltrator; the idea that they were the inspiration for gods.
To be honest, I always thought of Kartana and Celesteela as representations of "invasive" cultures, in this case, the Japanese culture in Hawaii. Especially since the region has a large amount of people with Japanese descent... I would imagine it would have been quite a shock, the first time these two cultures collided. Also, isn't that an alien trope too? A different society, unkwown to us.
It's worth noting that Kartana may also pull from kirigami, which is similar to origimi except it uses multiple pieces of paper or just one paper cut/ripped
I remember my grandpa planting bamboo in his yard when I was a kid. By the time he realized how far it spread, shoots popping up in our years next door and pocking through the side wall, it took him a solid year of salt, and weee killers to finally kill it. Which was unfortunate, made me love bamboo.
Thanks for doing this vid! Celesteela is hands down my favorite pokemon. I wish it had more merch... I didn't realize it also had elements of Selene in it. Another detail I like is how the cut glowing ends of its bamboo thrusters are supposed to look like the glowing bamboo stalk Kaguya was found in.
Magnolias, not sure about the trees themselves but the seeds, leaves, and petals absolutely get everywhere. Sorta like cherry blossoms. So there might be something like that in Kartana's design, not so much "invasive" but in a pretty/graceful and everywhere sort of way.
Could be like how Dandelions are also considered invasive when it’s not really. Or the same with bamboo. They are more like invasive in the sense of taking over an area.
Kartana can also relate to grass, which becomes pretty invasive with some people's addiction to the lawn. Also, how about a video explaining all abilities :D? You explained every type, pokemon, Berries, moves... Abilities sounds logical!
I think Kartana's invasive theme is less a single species and more the idea of humans spreading invasive species because of gardening culture. The part of Ultra Forest that you go to resembles a zen garden, and the old men seem like they are the gardeners who help create the Kartana, maybe both growing the 'plant' and then creating the pokemon itself by folding them. The fact that Kartana is explicitly not in a pokeball could represent that the gardeners can't fully control it and it could escape outside of its intended space easily.
I find it interesting hearing about USUM's Ultra Space, cause I never got that far in UM, so I haven't really had much opportunity to see much of it. A nice bonus to these videos. :)
I absolutely adore how this Ultra Beast is literally a nod to Princess Kaguya or as it's rightfully known as the tale of the bamboo cutter! If anyone says that my rocket bamboo beauty has no right to be in pokemon I will defend her honor as Kartana would.
I'll confirm this once and for all, viking didn't have horns on their helmets 99.9% of the time. The remaining 0.01% are most likely ceremonial helmets never used in battle.
I've seen a good number of comments similar to this. I've only ever seen screenshots of the show, is there something problematic with the show/character or is she just not well liked?
@@FineappleRyan I can't think of anything particularly problematic about it beyond the protagonists being morally grey and as violent and brutal as the villains; grungy, dirty, dystopian style, and a niche series, and the Netflix adaptation (anime) got next to no advertising and was not released until it was all done for binge culture. My statement of "not the example I would have used" was because it's a deep cut that I would have thought of someone else first (for example, the titular Komi from "Komi can't communicate") Definitely recommend Dorohedoro. Great action, and a lot of dark humor
*munching on popcorn in the background* Oh, don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the puppet show! *continues to stare in amazement at the great craftsmanship and care put into the re-enactment of the tales*
Calling out Kartana's way of speaking but not stating which specific samurai it's a reference to made me sad. For those unaware, that line is the catchphrase of Ishikawa Goemon XIII from the Lupin III manga series.
I understand that the antennae are just because of its Kabuto (not the Pokemon) helmet, but I kind of wonder if there might be some insect going into Kartana's design inspirations.
Edit: 8:20 the video explains it Maybe it's a bit of a stretch but paper is technically invasive if you consider trash made out of paper that people throw away everywhere. Sure, there's more metal, plastic and other materials thrown away than paper but one of the frst thing you think about when you picture trash in your mind is propably a ball of paper ...yeah, i tried to make some sense out of it at the end so that's why it's a stretch.
Oh and he was so talking about pretenders near the end right? Also, "I've been waiting a long time for this, you poor excuse for a sound system." "All talk, no shock."
@@gabrielchee8470 Speaking of "all talk, no shock", In one of the G1 comics, Soundwave comments on how Blaster uses acoustics "as a hammer" while Soundwave is more cunning with how he uses them. This kind is of funny because in Animated, Cyberverse and now Earthspark, those versions of Soundwave do in fact use them as a hammer (although the Cyberverse version occasionally uses sounds and music for other things, mostly sassing other bots because he's a Soundwave). Heck in Earthspark, all the cassettebots (Ravage, Laserbeak and purple female punk rocker Frenzy) also use sonic blast attacks while in Animated, Laserbeak and Ratbat turned into instruments which fired sonic blasts. (Also in Earthspark, the generation alpha kids don't know what a cassette is, RIP making my millennial ASCII feel old here)
I wonder if the word Kirigami has anything to do with Kartana’s name. Physically I suppose they only share the K at the front, but it would have been a super appropriate word to use since it basically just means origami that has been cut, which are like Kartana’s things
A couple things: Celesteela might also be so big because Kaguya grew really fast for a person, and it's just the logical conclusion Also kinda funny how "alien mixed with invasive species" only held for like 3 of them without stretching
Another way you can look at celesteela sci-fi trope is that in some alien movies it is revealed that the U.F.O's are not carry alien life forms, but the U.F.O is the living breathing alien itself, like in Nope for example.
i live in the country in australia and if you drive around here, passing paddocks etc, you will see heaps of bamboo clumps, usually with cows underneath to get away from the sun. also we have an area in town thats a walkway by the river thats all bamboo.
I have been thinking alot about the newly introduced Ruined Four: Wo-Chein, Chein-Pao, Ting-Lu, and Chi-Yu. And since I have caught them in game, I have noticed something very interesting things: They are reminding me of the tapus of Alola. While the tapus protect people and Pokemon from disaster, the Ruined Four causes such disasters against people. Not only do they can counter some of the tapus moves, but their signature move (Ruination) works just like Nature's Madness only being a Dark type move instead of Fairy. So they could something like a polar opposite to the tapus, or guardians that have fallen to darkness. Like the comparison you made between Guzzlord and Zygarde. And it could be possible that they could foreshadow the region of the 10th generation, being inspired by Eastern Asia regions. Their names, their design, and even how they got here. The merchant that brought them (as relics at this time) came from the East of Paldea. It is possible that this merchant can from this Asian like region along Pokemon's version of the Silk Road, the famous trade route in Europe and Asia. And if this merchant passed through Kalos during the time of AZ, that negative energy and emotion from the war only added fuel to their creation, only reaching the climax when the Paldean king bought the relics from the merchant.
Paper can be actually considered an invasive especies if you think about from what plant it is made of: eucalyptus. Some recent researches discovered that this tree can reduce biodiversity, I couldn't read the article because of paywalls. But yea it is an invasive especies
IMO kartana also represents what is done to make paper, cut down trees, which destroys entire ecosystems and is part of why humans are so invasive. Perhaps it'd also explain why its ultra space has humans
I have an idea for a video for you Why Galarian Yamask has primary type Ground and secondary Ghost while Palossand has primary Ghost and secondary Ground, when it's lierally made from sand while Yamask only has a stone plate on it's tail. I would love to hear your thoughts about it
I do like Bamboo but I don't think it would ever thrive here in KS. Now Kudzu on the other hand that's another story. In fact, the running joke for that plant back in my home state of TN is drop and run.
I just got an idea for a video. I’m not sure if you’ve already done a topic on this, but you should do a video on moon Pokémon. Like what is the ecosystem like there? Are clefairys the only Pokémon from the moon? And what’s up with moon stones? If being exposed to one causes a Clefairy to evolve, then are there any clefairys on the moon. Or do they evolve instantly when they hatch on the moon? Do clefairys only exist on earth where they don’t have enough moon energy, and clefables are their true form? So many questions!
Nearly all of Kartana's lines in the anime are a reference (or shout-out) to Goemon Ishikawa from the Lupin the 3rd series. I've also heard one theory that Eternatus is and Ultra Beast that came to Earth millennia ago. Maybe examine that?
Celesteela has always brought to mind the concept of Von Neumann probes to me. Basically, a self replicating space probe that uses local resources to replicate itself and expand through space faster. It's a good way to explore something like the galaxy in a relatively short time when you're limited by the speed of light. Of course, it's also easy to see how a poorly programmed Von Neumann probe could lead to Bad Things. A weaponized Von Neumann probe is basically a self-building robot army, and even if it's not specifically tasked with fighting other species, it's not hard to imagine a situation where such a probe consumes all the resources it can find without consideration for anything else. The world taken over by them in Ultra Space seems to reinforce that; just about everything on it that we can see seems dedicated to either growing or launching more Celesteela.
Being familiar with the tale of the Bamboo Cutter, I laughed my ass off when I first saw Celesteela because she's the pokemon equivalent of Kaguya's Bamboo Shoot Rocket in Ōkami. I love Celesteela. Always name it The Bamboozler(when I can fit it) If Kartana is named and treated like a god, it makes since it has its own Trainer Class of celestial envoys following it around.
lol I think the end part is a bit of a stretch, reading a bit too far into a card effect that's just a support effect for ultra beasts making them unaffected plus the tcg kinda has it's own canon going on, I like to think the ultra dimensions as like pocket dimensions, kinda like mini alternate universes where they have their own peoples, history, pokemon, etc
And with the Ultra Beasts explained, we'll begin a BUNCH of Scarlet and Violet content. What new Pokemon do you think deserve a deep dive first?
The 4 legends of Ruin?
the 4 legends of WHAT?
IDK maybe Orthworm like I know it's a worm but it has those arm things
Paradox Pokemon
Tinkatink line. There's something strange about them...
I feel like Celesteela is also a secondary play on the “friendly alien” trope, but this time from a more tragic angle, similar to stories of raising orphaned wild animals, and having to release them when you realize this isn’t a pet or a safe member of society.
Actually, that could tie into the “invasive species” idea from another angle, too, where the invader itself realizes it does not belong, so it’s about trying to get them home before anyone gets hurt. Thus it being based on an “invasive” species that is significantly less invasive than most. It doesn’t really conquer ecosystems like most: it spreads, yeah, but it doesn’t have the same level of destruction to it.
As for Kartana, I think there might be a secondary alien trope of “honorable but dangerous warrior”, like Klingons: absolutely a problem, but they’ve got standards.
Reminding me a bit of E.T. with that first description. Which could tie into the original myth. Where it’s all about helping the alien go back to its home world. Feel like we could have a move all about Celesteela and making a friend on earth, but eventually will have to give a heartfelt goodbye as it returns home.
Bro is not cooking
Ultra Beasts are my favorite things from this series, full-stop. I LOVE their weird reinterpretations of classic Types (Grass being paper, Rock being glass, for example), and their bizarre designs are still so dang fascinating!
I haven't had the best first impression of S/V, part of which being due to concepts that I feel have already been tackled far more than necessary (how many birds and dogs do we need???), but the Ultra Beasts will ALWAYS stand out. Ironically enough, their attempt to make an intentionally unsettling batch of Pokemon secured them as one of the most endearing groups in the franchise.
Kinda like Mimikyu!
Gen 9 played it safe
Thank arkeus someone else who likes ub
You're gonna have a blast looking at pokemon go's shorts, they had specials for UBs coming to the game
Ultra Beasts are another great idea abandoned by Gamefreak.
I loved the UB and that same sentiment really carried over to SV. Just the idea of “this thing shouldn’t be here” really gets the serotonin pumping
I feel like celasteela could of had a pre-evolution like the seed in the anime
I feel like A LOT of the UB should have a preevo. Even as a "society", they should have kids. Maybe not kartana, but like guzzlord, nihilego, pheromosa, buzzwole ect.
Or what if THEY are the pre evolutions? I don't even want to imagine that...
Some maybe have pre evolutions but given how Pokédex says they're common in their respective Ultra Dimensions, it makes me feel like these ultra Beasts may be the equivalent to Pidgey, Skwovet and other route 1 Pokémon. But they might be as "common" as idk Toxicroak, Graveler? (Something not too weak and not overly common but not rare Pokémon either)
Given their high stats, they could be pseudo legendary-esques of their worlds (not Garchomp or Salamence, more like Aggron or Volcarona)
I feel like all of them are thier final evos of that line in thier world, its just we never find thier pre-evos, except for kartana, who I think evolves in their own worlds, but can't in the "main" universe, maybe due to needing an item that only exsist in its world
But they are not breedable in our word.
Kartana being a Grass-type samurai could also be a reference Japan's most famous sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, since its' name literally means "grass-cutting sword".
Also a reference to the legendary bladesmith test where a leaf floating in a stream bounced off Masamune's blade stuck in the stream, but was cut by his rival's. When asked why, he said it was because his blades were for protecting life, not taking it.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ah, that name is so funny. It got the name because he tried to cut tall grass with it but, when he swung it it released wind. It's such a dumb name. It's like if I called a flamethrower can opener because I tried to use it to open a can.
So funny 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Curtana isn't a type of sword but the name of a sword once owned by Charlemagne now on display in the tower of London, it is also called the Sword of Mercy.
Now for some legends about it, it is said to have been forged by Wayland the Smith as a set of three swords, Curtana, Joyeuse, and the legendary Durandul. Curtana was said to be gifted to one of Charlemagne's paladins, Ogier the Dane, by Charlemagne himself while Durandul was gifted to Roland. Two of the swords are known to remain, Curtana being displayed in the Tower of London and Joyeuse in the Louvre, Durandul, however, has no known whereabouts, it's Last record being at Roland's Breach where the paladin attempted to destroy the Sword by swinging it at a rock, instead making a huge gash in them while the Sword had not a scratch on it. Folklore claims that Roland threw the sword at a cliff wall in Rocamadour, where it created a crevice and embedded in it.
Perhaps Kartana's cutting capability came from the legendary Durandul while its name came from another sword closely related to it.
Omg how am i just hearing about this stuff. As soon as you said curtana and durandul, it made me think of the bungie games Halo and Marthon! In Halo, the main A.I.’s name is Cortana, and in Marathon the main A.I. is Durandal! Both 1 letter off of the swords. AND in Destiny, there was potentially going to be an A.I. called Charlemagne :D and once 343 took over for halo, the next ‘big’ A.I. was named Roland so potentially it’s a reference too!
Honestly there could be a whole channel like lockstin that explains all of the cool mythology references that bungie puts in their games. Heck, i even thought about making a fake pokemon region based off of destiny things lol.
@@Glucenaphene HA! YES! I hoped someone would draw a connection to the Bungie stuff, unfortunately, there is no Charlemagne AI as far as I see, but there are still allusions to this stuff that we can't ignore. I love the halo games and destiny was another favorite, games in general, combine that with my love for mythology and that's just an average Tuesday, or should I say Tyr's day. The legend of Durandul is one of my favorites and I hold the Sword in high regard for its legendary status, perhaps more so than other well known weapons of myth, I mean, I designed a few space ship classes and named a few of them after the names I've mentioned in this comment, I love this sort of thing and I'm glad plenty others do as well. One question remains though: Where does the real Durandul lie if it exists?
@@Epsilon-01 In the earlier days of destiny (before they went more in-depth about warminds and rasputin) there was supposedly another warmind named charlemagne that was on mars, but eventually it was ‘revealed’ (/retconned) that charlemagne was actually a sub-mind to rasputin. Before the whole destiny story got reworked before the game came out, it was actually going to be a bigger part to the story and we would’ve actually gotten Thorn from ‘Charlemagne’s Vault’ on mars. (And i think the warmind stuff we see on mars in the d2 warmind expansion was Charlemagne’s, but rasputin took over control of the whole place after he detected the hive incoming or something)
@@Glucenaphene Very interesting, a shame it wasn't used, then we would have had the trifecta of Franks, as in the Frankish peoples, oh well, but who knows, they might use the King of the Franks' name later or his sword, Joyeuse, I hope it happens. You should read The Song of Roland if you want to know more about the paladin and his sword according to legend.
jeje durandul... Duraludon... jeje
I do love the idea that these ultra beasts, though mystical and one of a kind to us…are just normal creatures where their from. Like imagine a planet where celesteela is just the geodude of where it’s from, it would be stunning and terrifying
If that's true, then a lot Pokemon on earth are weaker statistically than what exists in the wider Pokemon universe.
I think the scale only goes up to 999.9, they could be way heavier but it doesn't show up since the scale breaks.
"Kartana is the only Ultra-Beast with humans in it's own world."
Mr.Glutton : Wut ?
Just another thing, one of the things kartana is heavily based on/imo is it’s main inspiration is the practice of folding steel to increase its quality for swords (from what I know usually Japanese swords such as katanas) hence why it’s origami, it’s FOLDED steel
One of the things why Celesteela is not grass type and many people confuse it with the grass type is because the Anglo-Saxons have a word that is bamboozle. And Celes has that very Japanese Hime cut on her head like Japanese women apart from her Kimono.
I just wanted to add that curiosity, I liked the video.
5:40 wait, is that a Lupin III reference there? “Again, I have cut a worthless object” is kind of a catchphrase for Goemon Ishikawa; a samurai who’s one of the main members of Lupin’s crew.
Its katana's cry reversed. Or rather, Katana's cry is Once again, i have cut a worthless object.
@@pokemaster21 yes; my question if if its cry is a Lupin III reference in that way
I just made a comment about this too! Glad to see somebody else caught the reference 😁
Goemon and Kartana share their VA in japanese
Once again I cut a worthless object
You're right about bamboo being "invasive, but not really" In my neighborhood like 60 years ago someone went "hey, let's plant some bamboo" while it did grow extremely quickly and established itself in the area permanently, it has never been detrimental to the local ecosystem. Other plants continue to thrive in the area, and the bamboo almost never spreads past its established territory. It also provides food and shelter to the local wildlife.
Overall, the bamboo looks very out of place where I live, but has made itself a home where it coexists with everything else. Of all the "invasive species" to have in my area 10/10 recommend bamboo
That paper puppet story was beautiful....
Will you be able to cover Paradox Pokemon after looking through Scarlet and Violet? It would be interesting how they are a new gimmick like Ultra Beasts, Fossils, and Regionals, etc and also Convergent species in separate videos.
And the sealed pokemon might get a video
i want the paradox pokemonand an explanation of what that dark-type chinese themed quartet of legends. like what are they doing in the region based on spain and portugal?
Preferably at least 2 weeks after launch, since paradox mons are CLEAR SPOILERS WHICH YOU SHOULDN'T BE TALKING ABOUT IN AN UNRELATED VIDEO.
@@mayayamato7351 it's stated in-game the treasures the four pokemon were born from were brought to Paldea long ago by a merchant from the East, to the king ruling at the time.
TBH. And this is just an opinion. Isn't the Paradox Pokémon if boiled down to the basics are just Future/Past iterations of a Present Day Pokémon? Like how Iron Thorns is basically a Mecha Tyranitar, and Gen 5 and has done it WAY earlier via Pokestar Studios. And while also Duraladon is essentially a huge Kaiju Reference for it's rivalry with Tyranitar, ala Godzilla & Mechagodzilla. And how Scream Tail is basically a primal Jigglypuff. The examples could go on, but this is just the TL;DR part of the comment.
3:21 none of the forest was damaged because everyone spent the whole episode building a barricade around it before it launched!
Her baby form in the anime could’ve been an actual pre-evolution in the game
In the anime Ash and his friends went out of their way to shield the bamboo forest and it's mentioned in that very episode that Celesteela's liftoff would have obliterated the whole bamboo forest if they did nothing about it
Literally
Fr
I was about to type that too
They created a wall of rock and ice to shield the forest from Celesteela blasting off
These ultra beast analysis videos have really made me appreciate them more than I already did- there’s so much more behind them than I thought, and even the UBs I didnt care as much for like Celesteela and Nihiligo are way more interesting that I gave them credit for. I really like the both of them, now
Kartana's name has an interesting meaning to me. Kertas means paper in malay, and malay words usually have their origins in other languages like Portuguese and English.
Carta is straight up the Italian word for paper, just replace the c for a k and that’s that
@@renderedusless That and Carte in french, maybe they used a root for card/paper ?
Kartana's backward speech at 5:40 ("I cut a worthless object") May be a reference to Goemon from Lupin the 3rd. On numerous occassions in the anime, he says, "I have once again cut a worthless object."
The Kartenvoys in Kartana's part of Ultra Space also alludes to the humanoid alien trope. It's exactly what it sounds like: aliens are able to blend in with humans because they look exactly like humans. It could also be the trope of how humans get integrated into alien society, voluntary or otherwise.
Also, this could be a stretch, but Celesteela being an alien rocket ship based on Kaguya-hime could also be a nod to Okami, which involves some sci-fi with its Japanese mythology inspirations.
If you are referring to the game, the game itself has a reference to Kagura-hime, so that doesn't really count.
Whoever came up with that thumbnail needs a raise this channel really goes out of their way to make the best pokémon content out there
👀
Another alien trope for each of the pokemon mentioned:
Kartana is the tiny, dinky weapon that deals an insane amount of damage, like the noisy cricket in MIB.
Celesteela is not only a spaceship, she is a sentient ship that is also a living being. Think Jean Jacket from Nope, or Trypticon and Omega Supreme from Transformers.
Kartana is "Rock, Paper, Scissors" personified. It is paper, it cuts things (scissors), and is steel/Grass type (rock)
"Paper has evolved to the point where it can cut metal. The game is meaningless now."
Love Celesteela. They’re one of my favourite steel Pokémon and my favourite ultra beast.
Considering how Kartana is known as the grass cutter, I was surprised that no connection was made to Susanoo’s sword in Shinto dubbed Grasscutter.
It would go into another aspect of the alien infiltrator; the idea that they were the inspiration for gods.
5:31 It's specifically a reference to to the more modern Samurai, Goemon XIII from Lupin III as Karana shares a Japanese VA with him.
To be honest, I always thought of Kartana and Celesteela as representations of "invasive" cultures, in this case, the Japanese culture in Hawaii. Especially since the region has a large amount of people with Japanese descent... I would imagine it would have been quite a shock, the first time these two cultures collided. Also, isn't that an alien trope too? A different society, unkwown to us.
Like Stargate?
That sounds weirdly racist...
Those paper depictions of Kartana, Celesteela, and even Pheromosa look great and literally works on paper.
I love the Kaguya inspiration there. I fell in love with that story through the game ōkami and a film made by studio ghibli
Celesteela is my absolute favorite of the Ultra Beasts. A friend of mine was Shiny hunting Ultra Beasts, found a Celesteela and gave it to me.
It's worth noting that Kartana may also pull from kirigami, which is similar to origimi except it uses multiple pieces of paper or just one paper cut/ripped
I remember my grandpa planting bamboo in his yard when I was a kid. By the time he realized how far it spread, shoots popping up in our years next door and pocking through the side wall, it took him a solid year of salt, and weee killers to finally kill it. Which was unfortunate, made me love bamboo.
Thanks for doing this vid! Celesteela is hands down my favorite pokemon. I wish it had more merch... I didn't realize it also had elements of Selene in it. Another detail I like is how the cut glowing ends of its bamboo thrusters are supposed to look like the glowing bamboo stalk Kaguya was found in.
Your videos are on another level. Compared to anything else on UA-cam. So creative, so informative. I do adore.
Kartana reminds me of those helicopters leaf/seed things. No idea if that’s an invasive species but maybe that’s another interpretation of the design
like with bamboo, even if is no scientifically considered one, i've heard quite a few people call those that.
Magnolias, not sure about the trees themselves but the seeds, leaves, and petals absolutely get everywhere. Sorta like cherry blossoms.
So there might be something like that in Kartana's design, not so much "invasive" but in a pretty/graceful and everywhere sort of way.
Could be like how Dandelions are also considered invasive when it’s not really. Or the same with bamboo. They are more like invasive in the sense of taking over an area.
Kartana can also relate to grass, which becomes pretty invasive with some people's addiction to the lawn.
Also, how about a video explaining all abilities :D? You explained every type, pokemon, Berries, moves... Abilities sounds logical!
3:32 for clarification, Ash and friends had to wall off the rocket blasts from celesteela or it would destroy everything when its ignition began.
Looking forward to the long ultra beast video! They're definitely my favorite series of pokemon
I think Kartana's invasive theme is less a single species and more the idea of humans spreading invasive species because of gardening culture. The part of Ultra Forest that you go to resembles a zen garden, and the old men seem like they are the gardeners who help create the Kartana, maybe both growing the 'plant' and then creating the pokemon itself by folding them.
The fact that Kartana is explicitly not in a pokeball could represent that the gardeners can't fully control it and it could escape outside of its intended space easily.
The stuff with the paper "puppets" was a great to the video, *and* thematically appropriate to boot.
Really a cut above...
I really liked the papercraft intro for the video :)
I find it interesting hearing about USUM's Ultra Space, cause I never got that far in UM, so I haven't really had much opportunity to see much of it. A nice bonus to these videos. :)
5:47 YAAASSS SOMEONE KNOWS ABOUT ECHO OMFG!!!
I absolutely adore how this Ultra Beast is literally a nod to Princess Kaguya or as it's rightfully known as the tale of the bamboo cutter! If anyone says that my rocket bamboo beauty has no right to be in pokemon I will defend her honor as Kartana would.
I'll confirm this once and for all, viking didn't have horns on their helmets 99.9% of the time. The remaining 0.01% are most likely ceremonial helmets never used in battle.
"you can be tall and still be super pretty"
>Shows Noi from Dorohedoro
Not the example I would have used, but is also OBJECTIVELY correct
I've seen a good number of comments similar to this. I've only ever seen screenshots of the show, is there something problematic with the show/character or is she just not well liked?
@@FineappleRyan I can't think of anything particularly problematic about it beyond the protagonists being morally grey and as violent and brutal as the villains; grungy, dirty, dystopian style, and a niche series, and the Netflix adaptation (anime) got next to no advertising and was not released until it was all done for binge culture.
My statement of "not the example I would have used" was because it's a deep cut that I would have thought of someone else first (for example, the titular Komi from "Komi can't communicate")
Definitely recommend Dorohedoro. Great action, and a lot of dark humor
*munching on popcorn in the background*
Oh, don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the puppet show!
*continues to stare in amazement at the great craftsmanship and care put into the re-enactment of the tales*
Calling out Kartana's way of speaking but not stating which specific samurai it's a reference to made me sad. For those unaware, that line is the catchphrase of Ishikawa Goemon XIII from the Lupin III manga series.
8:14 ORIGAMI VAPOREON
I understand that the antennae are just because of its Kabuto (not the Pokemon) helmet, but I kind of wonder if there might be some insect going into Kartana's design inspirations.
Edit: 8:20 the video explains it
Maybe it's a bit of a stretch but paper is technically invasive if you consider trash made out of paper that people throw away everywhere.
Sure, there's more metal, plastic and other materials thrown away than paper but one of the frst thing you think about when you picture trash in your mind is propably a ball of paper
...yeah, i tried to make some sense out of it at the end so that's why it's a stretch.
i love celesteela! glad youre finally explaining its origins
5:49 Or in the case of Transformers, a communications officer.
Specifically Blaster unscrambling Soundwave's schemes.
Oh and he was so talking about pretenders near the end right?
Also,
"I've been waiting a long time for this, you poor excuse for a sound system."
"All talk, no shock."
@@gabrielchee8470 Speaking of "all talk, no shock", In one of the G1 comics, Soundwave comments on how Blaster uses acoustics "as a hammer" while Soundwave is more cunning with how he uses them.
This kind is of funny because in Animated, Cyberverse and now Earthspark, those versions of Soundwave do in fact use them as a hammer (although the Cyberverse version occasionally uses sounds and music for other things, mostly sassing other bots because he's a Soundwave).
Heck in Earthspark, all the cassettebots (Ravage, Laserbeak and purple female punk rocker Frenzy) also use sonic blast attacks while in Animated, Laserbeak and Ratbat turned into instruments which fired sonic blasts. (Also in Earthspark, the generation alpha kids don't know what a cassette is, RIP making my millennial ASCII feel old here)
I wonder if the word Kirigami has anything to do with Kartana’s name. Physically I suppose they only share the K at the front, but it would have been a super appropriate word to use since it basically just means origami that has been cut, which are like Kartana’s things
I usually don't care for baby pokemon, but baby celesteela is hella cute
The "TEK" in Tekkaguya literally meant "iron/metal", basically calling it iron- kaguya.
A couple things:
Celesteela might also be so big because Kaguya grew really fast for a person, and it's just the logical conclusion
Also kinda funny how "alien mixed with invasive species" only held for like 3 of them without stretching
In terms of oragami, Vaporeon
is not something I figured you could pull off, kuddos to whoever made that
Been waiting to see the rest of the ultra beasts inspirations
The “once again I cut a worthless object” is a lupin reference haha, Goemon says it a lot
Another way you can look at celesteela sci-fi trope is that in some alien movies it is revealed that the U.F.O's are not carry alien life forms, but the U.F.O is the living breathing alien itself, like in Nope for example.
been waiting for this; Celesteela is my favorite Ultra Beast
i live in the country in australia and if you drive around here, passing paddocks etc, you will see heaps of bamboo clumps, usually with cows underneath to get away from the sun. also we have an area in town thats a walkway by the river thats all bamboo.
Fun Fact the typical Origami Paper Stock which is called Kami paper is made from Wood Pulp of the Kozo Bark Tree which is itself an Invasive Species!
I love all ultra beasts so this series is auto magically UA-cam hall of fame
The sad spongebob pheramosa puppet is the best thing ever
For some unexplainable reason, I keep hearing a voice sing "Love is War" over and over in my head...Welp, back to therapy then.
3:32 In the anime they built a wall to make shure that Celasteela would not burn down the plants
I have been thinking alot about the newly introduced Ruined Four: Wo-Chein, Chein-Pao, Ting-Lu, and Chi-Yu. And since I have caught them in game, I have noticed something very interesting things:
They are reminding me of the tapus of Alola. While the tapus protect people and Pokemon from disaster, the Ruined Four causes such disasters against people. Not only do they can counter some of the tapus moves, but their signature move (Ruination) works just like Nature's Madness only being a Dark type move instead of Fairy. So they could something like a polar opposite to the tapus, or guardians that have fallen to darkness. Like the comparison you made between Guzzlord and Zygarde.
And it could be possible that they could foreshadow the region of the 10th generation, being inspired by Eastern Asia regions. Their names, their design, and even how they got here. The merchant that brought them (as relics at this time) came from the East of Paldea. It is possible that this merchant can from this Asian like region along Pokemon's version of the Silk Road, the famous trade route in Europe and Asia. And if this merchant passed through Kalos during the time of AZ, that negative energy and emotion from the war only added fuel to their creation, only reaching the climax when the Paldean king bought the relics from the merchant.
0:41… I see… good taste XD
Paper can be actually considered an invasive especies if you think about from what plant it is made of: eucalyptus. Some recent researches discovered that this tree can reduce biodiversity, I couldn't read the article because of paywalls. But yea it is an invasive especies
whenever i hear about the bamboo cutter story and hearing the name Kaguya, i will always think about Touhou’s Kaguya
Wait.. they had baby celesteela?! Why didn't they give us a prevo? IT SO CUTE!
IMO kartana also represents what is done to make paper, cut down trees, which destroys entire ecosystems and is part of why humans are so invasive. Perhaps it'd also explain why its ultra space has humans
I never realized celesteela has a lil mouth and eyeballs. Thats kind of adorable
I have Kaguya Houraisan, Touhou's version of Princess Kaguya, to thank for my innate knowledge on Celesteela's origins.
I wasn't expecting a Babylon 5 reference, but it earned my subscription.
I have an idea for a video for you
Why Galarian Yamask has primary type Ground and secondary Ghost while Palossand has primary Ghost and secondary Ground, when it's lierally made from sand while Yamask only has a stone plate on it's tail. I would love to hear your thoughts about it
0:45 recognizing this artist was certainly a real kick in the balls
I do like Bamboo but I don't think it would ever thrive here in KS. Now Kudzu on the other hand that's another story. In fact, the running joke for that plant back in my home state of TN is drop and run.
Really loved the origami and paper parts!!!
1:25 you're forgetting the part where she forgets the crackers and has to race against the countdown before the rocket takes off!
*wait*
Obligatory comment about Kartana’s cry in the anime being a Lupin III reference
9:55 LOckstein is a tiny Allian this whole time.
I just got an idea for a video. I’m not sure if you’ve already done a topic on this, but you should do a video on moon Pokémon. Like what is the ecosystem like there? Are clefairys the only Pokémon from the moon? And what’s up with moon stones? If being exposed to one causes a Clefairy to evolve, then are there any clefairys on the moon. Or do they evolve instantly when they hatch on the moon? Do clefairys only exist on earth where they don’t have enough moon energy, and clefables are their true form? So many questions!
he knows.
0:40 Dorohedoro Noi, yeees. big waifu!
I’m wondering how you get tied in weight with a literal ghost.
Celesteela is the coolest UB. Geat design, its baby form is adorable and the inspiration is interesting.
If you believe in yourself and with a tiny pinch of magic, all your dreams can come true
This Ultra Beast series has been awesome!
I hope some day we got more Ultra Beasts added. I love these non-Pokémon so much, they are all some of my favorite designs throughout the franchise.
honestly suprised the s+v stuff hasn't started yet, but either way keep up the good work!
Nearly all of Kartana's lines in the anime are a reference (or shout-out) to Goemon Ishikawa from the Lupin the 3rd series.
I've also heard one theory that Eternatus is and Ultra Beast that came to Earth millennia ago. Maybe examine that?
Celesteela has always brought to mind the concept of Von Neumann probes to me. Basically, a self replicating space probe that uses local resources to replicate itself and expand through space faster. It's a good way to explore something like the galaxy in a relatively short time when you're limited by the speed of light. Of course, it's also easy to see how a poorly programmed Von Neumann probe could lead to Bad Things. A weaponized Von Neumann probe is basically a self-building robot army, and even if it's not specifically tasked with fighting other species, it's not hard to imagine a situation where such a probe consumes all the resources it can find without consideration for anything else. The world taken over by them in Ultra Space seems to reinforce that; just about everything on it that we can see seems dedicated to either growing or launching more Celesteela.
Kartana is definitely my favourite Ultra Beast. (Certainly helps that I have it’s Rainbow GX Card ;)
Remember. That Bamboo spaceship is someone's waifu.
Being familiar with the tale of the Bamboo Cutter, I laughed my ass off when I first saw Celesteela because she's the pokemon equivalent of Kaguya's Bamboo Shoot Rocket in Ōkami. I love Celesteela. Always name it The Bamboozler(when I can fit it)
If Kartana is named and treated like a god, it makes since it has its own Trainer Class of celestial envoys following it around.
Kartanas Ultradimension isn't the only one eith humans.
Guzzlord has them too. Most likely because it's the same place as Alola, just destroyed.
lol I think the end part is a bit of a stretch, reading a bit too far into a card effect that's just a support effect for ultra beasts making them unaffected plus the tcg kinda has it's own canon going on, I like to think the ultra dimensions as like pocket dimensions, kinda like mini alternate universes where they have their own peoples, history, pokemon, etc