New Pokemon Starters Not So “Black & White”

Nintendo and the Official Pokemon Black & White website have recently announced the 3 new starter Pokemon that will begin the next generation. Just like in every good handheld Pokemon game ever made, you're given the option of 1 of 3 special, exotic Pokemon to start your epic adventure around color-coded towns in a faux Japanese continent.

Have you seen them yet? Here they are:

Now, who’s ready for some speculation? Smiling Emoticon.

Here’s what you can pretty much tell (especially from the thousands of fan sites who already foretold every possibly detail of the new games). The one on the far left is the Grass-type, the middle one is the Fire-type, and the right one is the Water-type. Their Japanese names have been released, as well: (from left to right) Tsutaja,the “grass snake Pokemon,” Pokabu the “fire pig Pokemon,” and Mijumaru, the “sea otter Pokemon.”

Let me start off by saying that Mijumaru looks like an apathetic, lonely terribly diseased fetus. While the evolved forms for each of these haven’t been released yet, I sure hope the water otter gets a little hotter. Personally, I think Tsutaja looks the coolest so far, and is bound to have interesting evolutions; it’s also the more sly-looking one out of the bunch, sacrificing its cuteness for to-come badassness. Then Pokabu is… well, it’s cute I guess. I’m sure its final evolution will be some Mamoswine-sized behemoth with tusks and a volcano spewing out of its nose or something. As of right now, I’m not terribly impressed with the new designs, save for Zorua and Zoroark from a while back who look pretty cool (despite Dark-types being the black sheep of the Pokemon types).

I believed Generation III to be the weakest entry in the Pokemon foray so far, mostly due to poor new design (and a terrible plot). Generation IV, more or less, made up for it, but nostalgia aside, I yearn for the days of Red and Blue or even Gold and Silver. They were simpler times yet infinitely more enjoyable times, and though it may be obvious that Generation V is only going to add and complicate things further, hopefully it begins to get rid of some of the more ridiculous aspects (like Pokemon moods/natures) in favor for some supremely awesome features (like interspecies FUSION… or something).

So let me know what your thoughts are: are the new starters cool? Are they lame? Is one more dopey looking than the others (cough Mijumaru cough)?