‘Pokémon’ Fans Are Giving The 30th Anniversary’s “Ugly” Cards A Second Chance
Mew and Mewtwo's art have a specific artistic context that Pokémon fans may not realize
Pokémon just got TCG fans to give the 30th anniversary's 'ugly' new rarity a second chance
When The Pokémon Company first revealed the new Future Rare variant cards, fans of the trading card game were skeptical. Sure, everyone wanted the 30th anniversary trading card game collection — but the new chromatic finish on the set's rarest cards flattened the grandeur of fan-favorite monsters like Mew and Mewtwo.
Even after leaks showed that Future Rare cards looked better in motion, some Pokémon fans still weren't totally convinced. Sometimes, though, all it takes to get people to appreciate something is to give them some context.
By virtue of its name and coloring, fans could surmise that The Pokémon Company wanted to celebrate both the past and future of the trading card game with the new art style. What most people may not know is that the artist behind the new cards, Yoshirotten, isn't just any illustrator. He's a capital-A artist, the kind whose works are typically found in a museum.
One of Yoshirotten's previous exhibitions was called Future Nature, and it was full of gorgeous metallic pieces that look both mechanical and organic at once. The chromatic sculptures in the collection are brought to life with high-contrast lighting that would never exist in nature. Many of these are set pieces that the viewer must physically navigate in order to see the full extent of the color expressions — just like Future Rares look better in person.
"In space, there are countless beams of light, and I think that there is a world of invisible to the eye unfolding there," the artist said in a new video breaking down the inspiration behind the TCG's new Future Rare category. If the colors on the cards look unsettling and unnatural, that's on purpose. The idea was to depict classic monsters in a totally new light. Sure enough, Yoshirotten's cards look nothing like Pokémon cards we've seen in the past.
Now that I know all of this, it's changed how I look at the cards. Even the rumored RGB cards, which are especially unusual in their coloring, seem better to me now. Based on the YouTube video's comments, many people are beginning to feel this way.
"Really love the new style, brings another alternative to the collection and game," reads one top-voted comment.
"Nobody truly takes the time to appreciate things like these," another Pokémon fan said. "There is artistic value to cards, a process each artist had to go through behind them, but many people only consider their monetary value."
The Pokémon Trading Card Game's 30th Celebration set will be available at participating retailers around the world beginning Sept. 16.