#Streamers inherently being individuals doing low effort content VS Iono supposedly being one but having corporate level Idol content

[tunnaa-unnaa]

We don’t like Iono for a reason

"Eww streamer gym leader, that’s cringe”-crowd can go sit down and let the big girls talk for a moment. We’re looking at Iono’s design and premise today.

Let’s get to the point. This is what Iono looks like in her trailer.

That is not a streamer or YT/IG/Twitter influencer setup - this is a professional pop star/idol setup. She has wacky clothing, crazy hair design with pink eyes and pointy teeth to match, and she’s in a high-production value studio with extremely fancy visuals. In addition, in the video you can also see fluent camera movement from angle to angle, and she speaks like a professional TV host or a trained idol rather than an individual influencer.

Therein lies the issue. Streamers don’t look like that. Their shows don’t look like that. Everything in that setup screams “trained professional pop star with company level production value" and Iono looks like she doesn’t even know how to edit or handle a camera that isn’t attached to a smartphone.

And before you go “but JAPANESE streamers are different” - no they’re not. Here’s screencaps from some of the most popular Japanese twitch streamers

Japanese streamers and “Western” streamers are the same. Playing video games with a camera at their desk, maybe some added visuals here and there. Streamed content by default doesn’t have high production value because the content is supposed to go on for hours often without a specified end point, and the entire appeal of the content is that it’s personal and mostly unscripted.

Even the richest influencers like Rola make content like this. Her usual self, normal clothes, in her house talking to the camera by herself or with a friend.

Contrast that with what idols and their content (music videos, concerts etc) tend to look like:

Do I even need to say which type of content Iono’s “stream” looked like?

So Iono is not a streamer, she’s a pop idol. Ok. What’s wrong with that then? Nothing, per se. We already have Raihan being a bit of a social media star, so Iono could be a pop idol for sure. But why insist on calling her a streamer/influencer? (on all languages, including original japanese) Why does she pretend to run a stream that is clearly scripted, lasts for 3 minutes and took more money to produce than an average streamer spends on all of their equipment combined?

See, I would love a streamer Gym Leader. Constantly taking videos, making everything in her life some kind of content to post. Acting a bit extra all the time, that sort of thing. I think a trailer using their content format would also be really fun. But the dissonance that comes with Iono’s design begs the question: Do the people at Gamefreak even know what streamers look like and what they do? Do they not understand the difference between individual influencers and highly curated, corporate products like idols? Have they ever... watched a single stream? Or do they know Iono belongs to a completely different group of people, but decided to call her a streamer on a whim to appeal to young people? As if it’s as simple as that. Professor Turo looks more like a streamer than Iono does at this point.

So ultimately it makes Iono’s design look out of touch. Made by people who don’t know what they’re presenting. An old man’s idea of what the kids are into these days. I don’t intend to shame anyone who finds her interesting and likes her as a character, but I would invite everyone to keep in mind that Iono is an idol, and that Gamefreak COULD have created a character who is and acts like an actual streamer, but they didn’t.

#And let's not dive into how Pokemon has started to have this trend of bringing corporations into everything. #Streamers inherently being individuals doing low effort content VS Iono supposedly being one but having corporate level Idol content #it smells you know #Not to mention how AWFUL she looks in SV graphics #the grey shading and awful hair textures #she could have looked great in SwSh even and you don't hear me praising that game's graphics often but the trainer models are great #pokemon #pokemon sv #pokemon scarlet and violet #blah blah