Lara, CV.2023

In my thesis I would like to explore the possibilities of the Kishotenketsu (起承転結) in correlation to Pokemon’s Game loop and its individual Feedback loop. I want to make this thesis to learn more about Kishotenketsu (起承転結) and what so unique about it especially in Japan to the point where it is being used in some Japanese media such as games, manga, anime, etc. An important aspect that will be seen later in the future chapters is how difficult it would be to accurately translate the word “Kishotenketsu.” As seen in the RRL section, the Kishotenketsu is mostly understood as an acronym and that most sources do not really translate Kishotenketsu as a whole word. I am interested also how, in general, Pokemon still thriving with nine generations worth of Pokemon games from 1996 to 2023 that, despite tackling different regions with different kinds of Pokemon the core, is still the same: Catch Pokemon, Train the “ideal” team composition, and Battle different trainers and wild Pokemon until you become the Pokemon Champion. Throughout that nearly 30 year-gap between the 1st to the current 9th Generation of Pokemon games, a set of formulas has been planted with different kinds of Feedback loops that made the perfect structure for Pokemon. Shigeru Miyamoto, the CEO of Nintendo, devised the game philosophy using the Kishotenketsu (起承転結) and he so happens to be Satoshi Tajiri’s mentee that can possibly lead to how Satoshi may have taken inspiration from Miyamoto’s. Kishotenketsu (起承転結), in itself, was not well known until there were articles surrounding Super Mario 3D and how it revealed that it uses that Japanese 4 structured narrative and it gain awareness to the global range. Kishotenketsu, a four-step literary structure, has the quality of lacking conflict yet making the story work and the addition of the Ten is what makes this research all the more interesting.