Now that Pokémon has persisted for over a quarter century, it's time for it to collaborate with different parties. And if the present is of any indication, then the time is rife for them. In fact, among some of these collaborations, there are or have been some "unexpected" ones, involving parties that could be thought of as some of the last to collaborate with Pokémon. Yet they do occur to the wonderment of fans, and for all their wonderment, some of them deserve to be discussed - particularly the most significant ones presently.
In that regard, one significant one - if not the most significant one right now - is a little something called "Project Voltage". It's a collaboration between Pokémon and Hatsune Miku, representing Vocaloid in general; more precisely, it's another edition of that collaboration, as a Snow Miku collaboration had been realized a while back. The scale this time is even greater: it started by showing off Miku as a possible Pokémon Trainer of each of the 18 types, which was then followed by songs created by well-known Vocaloid producers, making this both artistic and musical. That scale makes it significant as well as unexpected, especially considering what results from the collaboration.
A little less significant yet a whole lot more unexpected is a collaboration of Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum - yes, as in the impressionist artist. As can be discerned, this is an artistic collaboration to a high degree, and it resulted in six Van Gogh paintings given a Pokémon twist. One of them, the "Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat", was also turned into a promotional TCG card, and it was released... to unexpected flurries among certain collectors. The objective of this certainly involves kids in a way, as it is designed to get them interested in art. Still, interest in art seems to know no bounds, and fans of both ought to have appreciation for that.
One last collaboration is one that goes back to the past for a bit, and it's a more locally constrained collaboration, specifically where I am. Yuri, a company that makes products for personal hygiene, had once released a line of soaps and shampoos featuring... well, understandably so. They were specifically under the "dee-dee" line for products intended for children, as with this collaboration, the previous one, and other forays, no doubt Pokémon is also geared to appeal to children. Granted, this was more of a licensing deal of sorts rather than a collaboration, but it's as close to a collaboration as they could get, and it's still fitting to mention it as such.
Something that could be gained from the collaborations of Pokémon and different things or parties above is the flexibility of the former to suit a lot of things, even those that are distantly related in spirit and form. In that sense, the "unexpected" quality that the collaborations then possess is the result of realizing a sense of wonder and interest, for which all of the above can and do generate. Given a history of 25-plus years and continuing, it's only very well that it can happen with Pokémon... and other parties embracing each other.
One year ago: Pokémon Café Remix Burnout?
Two years ago: Tournament: Raid Group "Relaxed" Lunar Cup
Three years ago: The Day-Night Cycle and Pokémon Games
Four years ago: Cosplay: KAI ESports Exhibition
Five years ago: Pokémon and Adventure Games
Six years ago: Respect for Ikue Ootani
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