I know there's huge potential for backlash here, but here goes...
On any given speculation thread about Isshu's real-world counterpart, on any given forum under any given site, the arguments always seem to become incredibly one-sided. That is, everyone immediately takes the side that doesn't compare Isshu to New York City.
More or less, the minute the NYC points are brought up, every person online, accompanied by any or all family members near the computer, pets, or neighbors walking by who happened to see the computer through the window, will simultaneously cup their ears and start shouting "SHANGHAI SHANGHAI SHANGHAI!!!"
In general, New York City, for whatever reason, barely ever scraps the top three candidates. Lately it seems to be Shanghai on top, followed by another Japan-based region, and then either Hong Kong or Korea.
Why should NYC be any less credible than the other areas?
Here's some counter-arguments to stances that often come-up.
"You can't say it's New York just because it has skyscrapers and a bridge!"
---Very true, it could be any given city. But then why was this one city the first advertising point? Was it because this one city was supposed to represent something more? I think we all know what Hiun City called to mind when we first saw it, but so few admit to it.
"Hoenn was also described as 'far away', you can't define Isshu by that."
---At one point it prbly was described like that, but the Advance Generation in general was a major "step in a new direction." To me, it seems like this was retconned in HGSS, where the PokeGear Radio calls Hoenn "The Warm land to the south" or something like that, in a very similar context to Sinnoh.(being the cold northern land.) If anything, Hoenn and Sinnoh are now cast as opposites to each other, not far away locations.
"It has to be an Asian location with themes that match"
---No not really, it's a Japanese game first and foremost. No matter what mythology it draws from, it will always be a Japanese game that reflects Japanese culture. It could be set in a place based off of Egypt, but it would still feel like a Pokemon game bc of those themes.
"The Yin/Yang principles seal the deal for China/Shanghai."
---The concept of light vs dark, of nature vs industrialization, of peace vs corruption, could easily fit New York City.
All of this is backed up by FlyScorpion's findings. (Namely the ??? River part of his labeled pictures.)
Just saying, I don't think that the NYC Theory should be swept under the rug so easily....
July 20th: I feel the need to add some stuff I've forgotten.
- We have Mamepato, a pigeon Pokemon. Of all the available small birds with interesting feature still unused, a pigeon was selected. Think about that for a second.
- I'm aware of how much of an obvious argument this is, but we have Wargle. The Valor Pokemon should've been a major argument for the NY side...but it wasn't. Perhaps as a testament to my point about this debate, instead of accepting the fact that we were given a red,white, and blue eagle Pokemon, most internet folks seemed to immediately, and desperately, pull up Chinese eagle drawings, and things like "Well according to this one article an eagle was once featured in a Shanghai parade!" etc etc. C'mon folks...are we serious?
-Take a look at the Movie 14 teaser, if you can find it. For a split second, we can see a huge, familiar, peninsula literally covered in skyscrapers While I'm aware that this is a movie location, we've never seen that much urban stuff in a random location shot before.
On any given speculation thread about Isshu's real-world counterpart, on any given forum under any given site, the arguments always seem to become incredibly one-sided. That is, everyone immediately takes the side that doesn't compare Isshu to New York City.
More or less, the minute the NYC points are brought up, every person online, accompanied by any or all family members near the computer, pets, or neighbors walking by who happened to see the computer through the window, will simultaneously cup their ears and start shouting "SHANGHAI SHANGHAI SHANGHAI!!!"
In general, New York City, for whatever reason, barely ever scraps the top three candidates. Lately it seems to be Shanghai on top, followed by another Japan-based region, and then either Hong Kong or Korea.
Why should NYC be any less credible than the other areas?
Here's some counter-arguments to stances that often come-up.
"You can't say it's New York just because it has skyscrapers and a bridge!"
---Very true, it could be any given city. But then why was this one city the first advertising point? Was it because this one city was supposed to represent something more? I think we all know what Hiun City called to mind when we first saw it, but so few admit to it.
"Hoenn was also described as 'far away', you can't define Isshu by that."
---At one point it prbly was described like that, but the Advance Generation in general was a major "step in a new direction." To me, it seems like this was retconned in HGSS, where the PokeGear Radio calls Hoenn "The Warm land to the south" or something like that, in a very similar context to Sinnoh.(being the cold northern land.) If anything, Hoenn and Sinnoh are now cast as opposites to each other, not far away locations.
"It has to be an Asian location with themes that match"
---No not really, it's a Japanese game first and foremost. No matter what mythology it draws from, it will always be a Japanese game that reflects Japanese culture. It could be set in a place based off of Egypt, but it would still feel like a Pokemon game bc of those themes.
"The Yin/Yang principles seal the deal for China/Shanghai."
---The concept of light vs dark, of nature vs industrialization, of peace vs corruption, could easily fit New York City.
All of this is backed up by FlyScorpion's findings. (Namely the ??? River part of his labeled pictures.)
Just saying, I don't think that the NYC Theory should be swept under the rug so easily....
July 20th: I feel the need to add some stuff I've forgotten.
- We have Mamepato, a pigeon Pokemon. Of all the available small birds with interesting feature still unused, a pigeon was selected. Think about that for a second.
- I'm aware of how much of an obvious argument this is, but we have Wargle. The Valor Pokemon should've been a major argument for the NY side...but it wasn't. Perhaps as a testament to my point about this debate, instead of accepting the fact that we were given a red,white, and blue eagle Pokemon, most internet folks seemed to immediately, and desperately, pull up Chinese eagle drawings, and things like "Well according to this one article an eagle was once featured in a Shanghai parade!" etc etc. C'mon folks...are we serious?
-Take a look at the Movie 14 teaser, if you can find it. For a split second, we can see a huge, familiar, peninsula literally covered in skyscrapers While I'm aware that this is a movie location, we've never seen that much urban stuff in a random location shot before.
