Sabrina's design evolution hints at an interesting story of self-liberation |
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
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Fun fact Sabrina becomes an actor in pokestar studios which furthers her story of self realization
It's also pretty funny that she plays an evil queen (iirc) that turns people into dolls. She never lost that particular interest lol
People just associate her with it prolly@@PurplesttCoffee
wait a second, Pokemon Masters is reusing a plot beat for that?
That's real funny.
Do she use the psychic bat with a heart for a nose there too?
@@suddenllybahShe does, yeah.
As the other reply mentioned, it's ironically funny to point it out while Masters is releasing her Pokestar Studios outfit for a new unit around these days.
I sincerely appreciate when the Pokémon folks actually give their older gym leaders subtle arcs through these designs--and the HG/SS Sabrina sincerely looks like a mid-2000s, fantasy RPG character in the vein of Xenoblade, which I dig a lot.
This just got uploaded. How is your comment already 5 days old?
@@r.brugman1371Funny membership button beep boop
@@r.brugman1371 I really need to know how that happened too
@@r.brugman1371 Time traveler
Channel members get access to shorts early :)
I will forever love how she became a actress in the pokestar studios
From having to restrain her powers to now using it for her own personal career outside of battle
And its implies she is more friendly now than she used to be
She is GLOWING now.
I'm do happy for her.
OKAY BUT LET'S NOT FORGET SABRINA GEN 1'S WHIP PLEASE ???
I know like what happened to evil don Sabrina?
@@B1ue_fruits Sabrina is still an evil dom, it's just implied now rather than outright shown
Thinking back I really understand now why she was my favorite gym leader. The anime episode definitely helped, too.
@@thatonebonkchoyguy well why are we hiding it?
Fun fact, the whip was originally how they had Pokemon take orders but that was dropped late in development, so late many sprites never got updated to ones without one including Sabrina.
Since you like the HG/SS version! I should mention that this version of her came right before Black and White. In Black 2 and White 2, early on there’s a movie theater that you can do a massive side quest of movie acting for. And one of the two other people you interact with in those movies is Sabrina. Which implies that, shortly after freeing herself and allowing her identity to be more than her psychic power, she went on to pursue a dream of becoming an actress
Makes me wish we could see what happened in Kanto post BW2 my assumption is since canonically the Dojo used to be a gym but was forced out if the title by Sabrina that maybe the Dojo master reclaimed that old title
@@pokefanalex9504I'd say her presence in the PWT imply otherwise and that she's still a Gym Leader, but is also an actress, then again, the PWT includes every single Gym Leader at that point except Koga for some reason, and including the former leaders from BW, so who knows
@@yagofazcoisaseuacho8035 Johto Elite Four must be a cushy gig for him to abandon a whole tournament
@@yagofazcoisaseuacho8035, it's so weird they didn't include koga but they decided to include giovanni
@@someguynamedtrevor6081 that's what confuses me tbh, Giovanni kinda doesn't make any sense there :v
But I guess Janine kinda works as Koga's replacement :v
The anime’s take on Sabrina’s character was always interesting to me: the unhinged way in which she let herself function and treat people always gave me the vibe of someone who was both heavily ostracized and never really properly grew up, likely in part due to her powers. Looking back, I think she was my favorite anime gym leader (that wasn’t a main character) because we get to see her finally begin to find the beginnings of a stable relationship with the world outside of her gym.
Shame she didn't return in Journeys and Ash got a completely different Gengar instead of Haunter
Watching Sabrina in the anime as a child single-handedly is the reason why I love characters with creepy vibes today.
She had an arc which made her unique
@@4Tom4lepus4 She's somehow voiced by Lisa Ortiz, who usually plays cute characters.
Yeah, she's like the opposite of Mob. While Mob never let his powers get to his head and focused on the pursuit of maturity, personal growth, and emotional development, because his childhood crush was always more impressed with his kind heart than his abilities, Sabrina exclusively let her powers and intellect get to her head and so ended up with classic Gifted Child asynchronous development, growing in comprehension but never in empathy or self-control because nothing could make her, the only consequence for her actions she can't avoid or ignore is her extreme isolation, which she hasn't developed the self-awareness to realize is self-inflicted due to her childish callousness, and as such pushes her ever further into dehumanizing others into playthings (literally) and taking out her repressed anguish and frustration on them, as they reject her even harder out of unrelatability and fear.
I feel like Sabrina’s old designs conveyed she was like college age. Young, inexperienced, but clearly knows what she’s doing. But with Gen 2 remake, something about her makes her feel more adult, more experienced, I feel like it her pose, her glare towards you in a “come if you dare” attitude and her hair being shorter and more free conveys a sense of unrestrained expression. Probably my favorite design of her.
Well, there is a (I think 3 years) time gap between Gen 1 and Gen 2...
Just want to remind everyone. Her redesign in Hgss was rather controversial and a lot of people hated it, feeling it was a betrayal of her character.
I was definitely one of them lol I actually have some of those old discussions saved in my bookmarks lol
@@ciontachthecthonicchampion3576 why? What wrong with her redesign?
@@crylec6534 I’m fine with it now, gotta remind you this was like …what 14 years ago lol I was VERY young back then.
But yeah it was just too different and people felt like it wasn’t the same character anymore
@@nohaukrapotke1267yeah it’s around 3 years you were bang on
Gen 2 Sabrina got me acting unwise
true
Every Sabrina got me acting unwise.
@@VolatileVioletpreach
Gen 1 Remake Sabrina is the peak for me.
@@VolatileViolet real
You can still see the inspiration of like the team rocket uniforms in her og design and I genuinely love it. Like, she’s not a team rocket member, but when you take into consideration the fact she was originally made with the intent to be a member from team rocket, you can see it. Especially when you put her outfit next to Jessie’s season 1 the shaping of the top and skirt are almost exact.
So _that’s_ why she’s a villain in the manga!
Where did you get that from? I don't think I ever heard that she was supposed to be a villain, do you have any source for that?
@@yagofazcoisaseuacho8035 In the Pokemon adventures/Pokemon special manga, a few of the gym leaders are members of team rocket
@@MegaBlueKitten That doesn't mean much, Pokespe is just an adaptation, an adaptation that takes MANY creative liberties, Sabrina being a Team Rocket Member there just means the Manga's author thought it would be interesting for the story, not that it was the original plan
@@yagofazcoisaseuacho8035 It's the official Pokemon Adventures manga. Giovanni, Lt. Surge, Sabrina, and Koga are all sided together. I think it was Statoshi Tajiri who said that the manga version was the most "realistic" in conveying the Pokemon Universe.
I love how chill Sabrina is in the games compared to the anime and manga; she's just a cool Hollywood star
"unrestrained" while wearing literal manacles is a wild analysis of her character design
You can interpret them as manacles, I guess, if you want to. They look like power bracelets to me.
@@TBSkyenShorts I suppose in most of the media I've consumed, power bracelets like that almost always serve to limit the output of an OP character. It's a great analysis overall, but I definitely think the final example has moved that concept of "restraint" away from her garb and into those bracelets/bangles/whatever they are 😄
Manacles without chains are a powerful symbol of liberation, mind you. Even if you interpret her bracelets as looking as manacles, she remains unshackled.
It’s not that wild if you consider the idea that the more she is able to restrain her powers, the more unrestrained she can be socially because she is not dangerous or ashamed and doesn’t feel the need to isolate herself.
I thought it was just supposed to be chunky 2009 bracelets
Then in Black 2 and White 2, she plays an evil queen in a series of fantasy movies! I don't remember if any NPCs comment on her career choices. But it kind of goes with what you are saying, Skyen, about Sabrina's new design implying liberation. Maybe film acting lets Sabrina explore her creativity and expressiveness. It's cool!
She actually comments on it. Says she is getting typecasted. Which I think is a joke about her being evil in many adaptations.
@@TheMorlun That's funny!
@@TheMorlun that's honestly freaking neat detail tbh, cause literally most incarnations of Sabrina outside the main games make her a villain.
@@TheMorlunwasn't she evil in the adventures manga and an antagonist in the anime?
@@someguynamedtrevor6081 She was a member of Team Rocket in the Adventures manga, and in the anime she was antagonistic due to being a bit disturbed. When Haunter broke her concentration and made her laugh, she seemed to become a fairly nice person.
It's fascinating to hear that last design described as "free" when the bracelets look like nothing so much as futuristic manacles.
Great point.
My interpretation is the bracelets act similarly to the head devices in Saiki K, allowing her to actually be more free socially and stuff because it helps contain and keep her powers under control, allowing her to stop isolating herself
@@asterliana9729 That's a totally reasonable interpretation... but they still chose to represent those visually as manacles.
@@sonofzeal best guess is it's because we see her psychic energy come out of her hands the most
@@sonofzeala collar would be too weird so the manacles are good enough to convey the idea of having restraints
"Clasps and buckles" sir those are the strings that tighten the corset
Sabrina’s first design goes so hard
I did really like how Sabrina seemed like a very serious, almost apathetic threat in Gen 1, to becoming a lot more relaxed and, albeit still very powerful, a bit more casual and down to earth.
If I remember right she jokes around with Ethan and Lyra in HGSS when you challenge her for your first match and rematches. She's more relaxed and I appreciate that.
Although I've never liked Sabrina's HGSS outfit, I do like what it represents. It feels like she's possibly got more control over herself and is dressing more freely than she had (i.e. dressing more casually instead of her more uniform outfit)
Glad to see appreciation for her HG/SS design. I remember it really surprised me and I also got the impression she was more freely expressing herself. I was like, "Good for you, you're rocking that look."
Her fits are a 24/7 serve for sure
Ash getting her that haunter really helped her out
mommy sabrina can do anything she wants to me, she's such a cutie
I didn’t use to like Sabrina’s HGSS design, but looking at it from that perspective I actually think it’s my favourite, and I think it even conveys the “holding back great power” idea better than LGPE, with the messier hair and only restraints being her shackles/bracelets bringing the withheld power closer to the surface.
Not to mention the anime and manga’s separate depictions of her too! The anime leans more into the “creepy horror” aspect, while the manga straight up puts her in Team Rocket, where she seems to play a larger role in the story. Definitely my favorite Pokémon character of all time, so it’s nice seeing this video!
My original pokemon waifu from childhood,
The bangs had me when i was young 😂
Crazy coincidence, but Gen 1 Sabrina’s splash art design looks strikingly similar to Misato Katsuragi.
Ah, that explains a lot
Really like her HG/SS design, it is quite stylish, yet lowkey. Plus it just makes look cool, haha!
She looks really pretty in her Remake version
Old Sabrina: "I'm a powerful metahuman in a modern age above everyone else."
New Sabrina: "I just got out of bed and it's laundry day."
The pokemon adventures manga has koga, sabrina, and lt surge written as team rocket elites
And the Elite Four as being basically Team Plasma but like two decades before that was a thing
she initally had a whip so I guess the outfit matched that low-key dominatrix vibes
reminder that originally she was in Team Rocket. her original design from gen 1 even has her hair form the shape of an R with her body, just like a certain someone from the anime.
Part of her old gen1 design included a whip, for ordering subordinates around as she was one of the gym leaders(Giovanni, Blaine, Koga and Surge) that were part of Team Rocket in other stories.
in the Adventure's manga, Sabrina is part of Team Rocket, along with Surge and Koga.
Really a lovely series of designs. Mob Psycho vibes before Mob Psycho ever came out.
Sabrina always look so cool its definetly one of the most memorable gym leader
People have noted that HGSS Sabrina looks like Karen! It's spawned theories that Karen and Sabrina are friends or perhaps lovers, depending on how much the person you're talking to likes yuri. The dynamic is cute either way-- a bond with Karen, who seems like a compassionate person, helping Cold and Isolated Sabrina join the world and eventually become a movie star...
Doubly funny considering the types they prefer - Sabrina is the alienated one, yet her type is psychic, while Karen, whose type is dark - which psychic is completely ineffective on - is empathetic and outgoing.
Kinda adds the implication that she could be the perfect one to approach Sabrina because she's someone that the psychic gym leader can't control or interact with through her usual means. Instead, she has to let herself be vulnerable around Karen.
A very interesting potential dynamic which if Pokèmon had been allowed to experiment more with storytelling outside of the episodic format following Satoshi/Ash around might've been really cool to watch.
Adding this to my pile of Pokemon rarepairs
Who tf let bro cook 💀
i love yuri... new ship unlocked... :)
"Sabrina has blue hair now, therefore she's dating Karen."
...shipping goggles are crazy.
I'm definetly looking forward to more of these, Pokémon's human designs are something that has been steadily becoming more and more interesting as the gens have gone on I think.
I like how her gen 1 pose is similar to Mewtwo’s
It's funny how only now I realized that her gen1 outfit is basically a modified and recolored version of the Team Rocket uniform
And of course dont forget her gen 5 appearence as bellelba in pokestar studios where she frees herself from all shackles and just becomes an actor
Ironically her liberation is represented with a job where she can't be herself
One of the biggest glow ups in Pokemon history
I love how much her interpretation was different from many versions of media. From esper actress to a teenage child with too much power to miko and then we have Team Rocket Admin Sabrina in Pokemon Adventure manga.
Her gen 2 design SCREAMS early 2000's scene girl
Forgot to mention her whip and gold/silver
Seeing how OP psychic was in general 1, I can see how she was built to be that last gym.
No mention of the evil villainess sentai costume from gen 5?
Considering she was a member of team rocket, I find it fitting.
I appreciate the BGM from Sabrina's theme from pokemon puzzle league. The The OST for most characters is actually quite excellent for an N64 game.
Sabrina is also the one with the most different takes on her character between the anime, and various mangas
What i love that doesnt seem to get much input is being psychic in the world if pokemon is just a common thing. So many psychic kids
HGSS Sabrina is still my favorite gym leader I think they did good job aging while is looking badass
Those corsets where holding something else "HEAVY"
I really like how it also kinda goes in on the more uncontrollable aspect as the bulky bracelets somewhat give a broken shackles kinda vibe
The bracelets in the HG/SS design look like weightened shackles to me. Gives me the impression that she's more free overall at the expense holding back her powers.
If she read my mind, I'd be dead.
HG&SS looks like she finally gets to just live
One thing I'm a little curious about that extends further to the rest of the series is the connection between hair length and psychic power. Something between Sabrina getting more control over her power and that reflecting into a shorter haircut, while Caitlin of gen 5 gets significantly longer hair when developing her own powers has me curious.
I like her Team Rocket uniform from the manga the most.
also just interesting to note the change in drawing style over time
I don’t enjoy the let’s go games but they did an amazing job on the redesigns, Sabrina and Lance being my favorites ❤
HGSS Sabrina is just Yukari from Persona 3 if she dyed her hair.
"She wears a corsette to hold back her power"
Yeaaa...that's one way to put it
Gen 1 - Franziska Von Karma
HG/SS - Maya Fey
I love it😂
Damn, she's just like Mewtwo. First donning "armor" to restrain her power (likely not entirely her decision), and then doffing the armor to gain power and freedom. We haven't seen armored Mewtwo since the first pokemon movie, but one can always dream of its return
Love the Pokemon puzzle league soundtrack in the background. Genuinely surprised me when i realized what it was
The other interesting thing about her early design is that her hair resembles mewtwo’s tail…. and given the fact she’s a psychic type user, I wonder if there was a scrapped idea for her to have mewtwo.
*HG/SS Sabrina was after she spent time with Haunter and he softened her cold heart. 🙂*
Her hairstyle in Gen 3 is specifically a Hime Cut. Given to lolita goth characters or shrine maidens.
Anime Sabrina really show a good example on how busted Psychics were in gen 1
My favourite iteration of Sabrina is from the manga where she’s depicted as a shrine maiden in the Electric tale of Pikachu and Team Rocket member in Pokemon Adventures.
Big fan of the Let’s Go design tbh, the outfit just looks the most complete in this instance. The green back of the outfit and the corset kinda bring it together I feel.
The thick black bracelets in her later (in-story) outfit help her control her powers, I think
The way her sprite animation plays out makes me think she uses the bracelets as a channeling point for her psychic powers of telekinesis to help her levitate herself more easily by lifting the cuffs and herself with it.
Can be compared to Magneto from the X-Men and how its sometimes stated that he has metal on his costume, like his boots or helmet, so he can levitate and fly with his ferrokinesis.
She definitely has my favorite design when it comes to the Kanto gym leaders.
One of my favorite Gym Leader. Her fight feeled quite intense back then.
Personally think her Lets Go design is her best design. It conveys her original design, but makes her more of a trainer that looks like a psychic trainer. I also love that they made her hair green like her anime counterpart.
The Lets Go games had some problems but the character designs were not one of them. Sabrinas Let's Go design is peak and in my opinion also the best she has ever looked. Translating her midriff bodysuit section into a corset and turning her skirt and crop top into a dress is an interesting deviation from her original look while still preserving the same image. The teal color on her dress and shoes also gives a contrasting element that she never had before but fits since its similar to the color of her psychic powers. I also like the gold ring she wears and the cute high-heel shoes. Last but not least, I like the super long dark green hair that she can control with telekinesis and which coils and moves around during animations in battle. Could probably whip or strangle someone with her hair if she wanted to...
Hgss Sabrina's bracelets look like power limiters, like she's become so much stronger that she needs to be restrained for her own safety
Sabrina's fire red outfit gives me the vibe of a cyberpunk netrunner lol
Sabrina in gen 1 had the same outfit as Team Rocket, which considering hiw sinister she was made sense. I would suspect in the future games the dark aspect of psychic pokemon being removed changed this aesthetic.
I love how Pokémon never addresses why this particular person has actual psychic powers
"...You won't escape..."
--Sabrina, Pokemon Puzzle League
The interesting thing about flat bangs is that they do in fact close off the expression by hiding the eyebrows. Some artists give characters large hats or helmets for this exact reason.
Personally, I'd honestly like to believe the theory that Sabrina just hypnotized someone to take her place as a Gym Leader while she went and had fun for once at Pokestar Studios.
To me the bracelets looked a lot more like futuristic manacles, something to (again) restrain or control her power- or for her to control it through them
God I love Gen1/Remake Sabrina so much
Oh. This is so cool. I was recently thinking of Sabrina. I even looked her up on Google Images. So I am glad to see this short. The furtisitic outfit is a wierd design choice. The crop top is even wier. What the heck. I am liking the hair once the video explans it. The hair is smooth and long with closed off bangs. Nice.
There is something about psychic power that I find very strange. There is quite a bit of psychic power in sci-fi. What the heck? Psychic is not scientific at all. It belongs in the New Age catagory. In fiction, psychic fits into fantasy a lot better. It is really a branch of magic more than anything else. So it fits in perfectly with the wizards, priests, shamans etc. Of all the fiction I like, Pokemon is the one where psychic is the most porominant. While it is not explicitly stated, Pokemon is a fantasy franchise and it is about magical animals. There isn't a good biological explanation in how Pokemon can launch flashy l attacks. So the best explanation is magic. This is a context where the psychic type makes sense. Pokemon can already shoot fire, ice and electricity through magic. It is not a stretch that some use a more abract kind of magic. Psychic is the main example of this. Other examples are ghost, fairy and even dragon. These types are super magical even by Pokemon standards. It is wierd for Sabrina to have a sci-fi look withing the context of Pokemon. I think haveing a more magician kind of appearence would suit her better. She could even be the only Kanto gym leader to wear a robe. That would be cool.
I was thinking of what psychics would look like. How are they distinguished from other magicians? Dungeons and Dragons has a class based on this called the psion. Psions are really cool looking. They look like a typical magician with the fancy robes. Some pictures also show a glowing levitating ring around the head. I recently came up with a story idea. Two psychics have a romance. It is tricky for them to navigate this when they can read minds. The psychic guy was super attractive. The psychic lady gets a crush on him. The guy knows due to mind reading. He was scared at first, and then leans to get over his fear. I did do one drawing. I drew the guy with a robe and a sleek headband. The robe has a fancy collar. It may take some trial and error to get a good psychic out. I did draw the lady with a hairstyle like Sabrina. All of this stuff is not set in stone. It still takes further development to get a design right. The psychic lady is shy but romantic. Maybe the hairstyle works.
I can also agree that the changes are rather stunning between games. We need to keep in mind that Gold and silver, and to that end Heartgold and Soulsilver, are set years apart, as is the originals versus the remakes, and to me, the final design does not equate to just freedom, but comfort WITH that freedom.. all of the sleeves and closed off elements to her design bring about the idea of restraint, and with restraint becomes anger out of discomfort. It's rather shown in her body posture to me. But the wider stance, again, the outfit, and how much maneuverability her arms now have compared to every outfit prior lead to comfort through freedom, but not loss of ferocity as shown by her stance.
It's also worth noting that in the original manga, Sabrina was a Team Rocket exec (as was Lt. Surge) and that's part of why she had that outfit design! It was a modified Team Rocket outfit! It's also why she had the whip, just like those old Gen1 Rocket Grunts!
Nah, she had a whip because a whip was just a thing trainers had in the earlier plans, even Red had one in his earliest design in the prototypes
Besides, the Manga was based on the games, not the other way around
I love how he's using the pokemon puzzle league soundtrack for the gym leaders
I'll take whatever the Gen 1 remake is selling. Skintight rubber suit has my auction winning bid.
Me: _changes shirt_
This guy (probably): *So let's talk about implications of this style change on your personality*
I see her story as being one of "gradually coming out of her shell". Early on in the timeline (Gen 1 and remakes) she is antisocial and uptight, completely separated from ordinary people due to her psychic powers, but over time she starts taking on hobbies like acting and wearing more sporty clothes. She never really has much in the way of dialogue in the games but her extreme design changes implies more unstated personal growth than almost any other side character.
Eh yo Sabrina’s song from Pokémon puzzle league goated
Let's not forget the Team Rocket exec, Sabrina in the manga
And I would HEINOUS things to each version of her
and Sabrina was a team rocket member (if I remember right, she was one of the heads) in the manga, so her clothes were more like Jessie.
Looking more free while having what basically look like shackles implies she was more restrained by her full powers, than anything else. Reminds me of freedom paradox irl. For largest number of people to have freedoms and rights, there must be restrictions and laws. So as to stop the people who would have the most freedom from trampling on other peoples rights
I think it's less a shackle about her and more of a shackle to her "psychic" side, while the rest of the outfit shows more of her being "human" in a way.
Idk or it just looks cool I guess idk
Yall should check out the fan-made Pokemon Red series by Pedro Araujo. His series has the most fleshed out characters that Game Freak wouldn't dream of doing. And ima not spoil much, but when Red reaches Sabrina for his 6th gym badge, you'll know why she used to use a whip
Yeah, that animation of her was awesome. Made me appreciate her all over again.
I guess she built up a reputation as cold and terrifying. something to be feared. rumors swirled that she turned challengers into dolls if they lost to her, that she ran a cult out of her gym that she used her telekinesis to dominate and humiliate her underlings, and that the porcelain doll collection she liked to display contained part of her soul. being telepathic she knew about this almost immediately and she knew a press release wouldn't work people are going to believe what they want. so she tried to reinvent her image. perhaps meeting red helped her change into the newer friendlier sabrina. maybe she also met whitney once the magnet train connected kanto and johto.
the bracelets were an interesting choice. do the let her focus her powers? do they let her store psychic energy and maybe even let her share her powers? are they training weights that make her powers harder to use? or are they just cool bracelets that light up
God her hgss sprite, i might start barking
People has childhood crushes on Misty and Jessie....but Sabrina was the ONE
Meanwhile in the anime
Johto Sabrina: Alright the coast is clear
*Pokeball opens*
Haunter: Haaauuunnnntttt
Johto Sabrina: Thanks Haunter, ever since I met you I've realized I don't need to keep everything locked away.
* Sees the new world champ on TV*
Johto Sabrina: Thanks Ash for saving the lonely me😊