And with the Ultra Beasts explained, we'll begin a BUNCH of Scarlet and Violet content. What new Pokemon do you think deserve a deep dive first?

I feel like Celesteela is also a secondary play on the “friendly alien” trope, but this time from a more tragic angle, similar to stories of raising orphaned wild animals, and having to release them when you realize this isn’t a pet or a safe member of society. Actually, that could tie into the “invasive species” idea from another angle, too, where the invader itself realizes it does not belong, so it’s about trying to get them home before anyone gets hurt. Thus it being based on an “invasive” species that is significantly less invasive than most. It doesn’t really conquer ecosystems like most: it spreads, yeah, but it doesn’t have the same level of destruction to it. As for Kartana, I think there might be a secondary alien trope of “honorable but dangerous warrior”, like Klingons: absolutely a problem, but they’ve got standards.

I feel like celasteela could of had a pre-evolution like the seed in the anime

Kartana being a Grass-type samurai could also be a reference Japan's most famous sword, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, since its' name literally means "grass-cutting sword".

Ultra Beasts are my favorite things from this series, full-stop. I LOVE their weird reinterpretations of classic Types (Grass being paper, Rock being glass, for example), and their bizarre designs are still so dang fascinating! I haven't had the best first impression of S/V, part of which being due to concepts that I feel have already been tackled far more than necessary (how many birds and dogs do we need???), but the Ultra Beasts will ALWAYS stand out. Ironically enough, their attempt to make an intentionally unsettling batch of Pokemon secured them as one of the most endearing groups in the franchise. Kinda like Mimikyu!

Kartana, hands down one of the coolest UBs

I think the scale only goes up to 999.9, they could be way heavier but it doesn't show up since the scale breaks.

5:40 wait, is that a Lupin III reference there? “Again, I have cut a worthless object” is kind of a catchphrase for Goemon Ishikawa; a samurai who’s one of the main members of Lupin’s crew.

I do love the idea that these ultra beasts, though mystical and one of a kind to us…are just normal creatures where their from. Like imagine a planet where celesteela is just the geodude of where it’s from, it would be stunning and terrifying

"Kartana is the only Ultra-Beast with humans in it's own world." Mr.Glutton : Wut ?

Curtana isn't a type of sword but the name of a sword once owned by Charlemagne now on display in the tower of London, it is also called the Sword of Mercy. Now for some legends about it, it is said to have been forged by Wayland the Smith as a set of three swords, Curtana, Joyeuse, and the legendary Durandul. Curtana was said to be gifted to one of Charlemagne's paladins, Ogier the Dane, by Charlemagne himself while Durandul was gifted to Roland. Two of the swords are known to remain, Curtana being displayed in the Tower of London and Joyeuse in the Louvre, Durandul, however, has no known whereabouts, it's Last record being at Roland's Breach where the paladin attempted to destroy the Sword by swinging it at a rock, instead making a huge gash in them while the Sword had not a scratch on it. Folklore claims that Roland threw the sword at a cliff wall in Rocamadour, where it created a crevice and embedded in it. Perhaps Kartana's cutting capability came from the legendary Durandul while its name came from another sword closely related to it.

Will you be able to cover Paradox Pokemon after looking through Scarlet and Violet? It would be interesting how they are a new gimmick like Ultra Beasts, Fossils, and Regionals, etc and also Convergent species in separate videos.

Her baby form in the anime could’ve been an actual pre-evolution in the game

Just another thing, one of the things kartana is heavily based on/imo is it’s main inspiration is the practice of folding steel to increase its quality for swords (from what I know usually Japanese swords such as katanas) hence why it’s origami, it’s FOLDED steel

That paper puppet story was beautiful....

In the anime Ash and his friends went out of their way to shield the bamboo forest and it's mentioned in that very episode that Celesteela's liftoff would have obliterated the whole bamboo forest if they did nothing about it

Kartana's name has an interesting meaning to me. Kertas means paper in malay, and malay words usually have their origins in other languages like Portuguese and English.

One of the things why Celesteela is not grass type and many people confuse it with the grass type is because the Anglo-Saxons have a word that is bamboozle. And Celes has that very Japanese Hime cut on her head like Japanese women apart from her Kimono. I just wanted to add that curiosity, I liked the video.

3:21 none of the forest was damaged because everyone spent the whole episode building a barricade around it before it launched!

Kartana's backward speech at 5:40 ("I cut a worthless object") May be a reference to Goemon from Lupin the 3rd. On numerous occassions in the anime, he says, "I have once again cut a worthless object."

Kartana reminds me of those helicopters leaf/seed things. No idea if that’s an invasive species but maybe that’s another interpretation of the design

The Kartenvoys in Kartana's part of Ultra Space also alludes to the humanoid alien trope. It's exactly what it sounds like: aliens are able to blend in with humans because they look exactly like humans. It could also be the trope of how humans get integrated into alien society, voluntary or otherwise. Also, this could be a stretch, but Celesteela being an alien rocket ship based on Kaguya-hime could also be a nod to Okami, which involves some sci-fi with its Japanese mythology inspirations.

5:31 It's specifically a reference to to the more modern Samurai, Goemon XIII from Lupin III as Karana shares a Japanese VA with him.

The stuff with the paper "puppets" was a great to the video, *and* thematically appropriate to boot.

You're right about bamboo being "invasive, but not really" In my neighborhood like 60 years ago someone went "hey, let's plant some bamboo" while it did grow extremely quickly and established itself in the area permanently, it has never been detrimental to the local ecosystem. Other plants continue to thrive in the area, and the bamboo almost never spreads past its established territory. It also provides food and shelter to the local wildlife. Overall, the bamboo looks very out of place where I live, but has made itself a home where it coexists with everything else. Of all the "invasive species" to have in my area 10/10 recommend bamboo

These ultra beast analysis videos have really made me appreciate them more than I already did- there’s so much more behind them than I thought, and even the UBs I didnt care as much for like Celesteela and Nihiligo are way more interesting that I gave them credit for. I really like the both of them, now

To be honest, I always thought of Kartana and Celesteela as representations of "invasive" cultures, in this case, the Japanese culture in Hawaii. Especially since the region has a large amount of people with Japanese descent... I would imagine it would have been quite a shock, the first time these two cultures collided. Also, isn't that an alien trope too? A different society, unkwown to us.

Those paper depictions of Kartana, Celesteela, and even Pheromosa look great and literally works on paper.

Love Celesteela. They’re one of my favourite steel Pokémon and my favourite ultra beast. Considering how Kartana is known as the grass cutter, I was surprised that no connection was made to Susanoo’s sword in Shinto dubbed Grasscutter. It would go into another aspect of the alien infiltrator; the idea that they were the inspiration for gods.

Kartana can also relate to grass, which becomes pretty invasive with some people's addiction to the lawn. Also, how about a video explaining all abilities :D? You explained every type, pokemon, Berries, moves... Abilities sounds logical!

Kartana is "Rock, Paper, Scissors" personified. It is paper, it cuts things (scissors), and is steel/Grass type (rock)

I understand that the antennae are just because of its Kabuto (not the Pokemon) helmet, but I kind of wonder if there might be some insect going into Kartana's design inspirations.

I love the Kaguya inspiration there. I fell in love with that story through the game ōkami and a film made by studio ghibli

Whoever came up with that thumbnail needs a raise this channel really goes out of their way to make the best pokémon content out there

It's worth noting that Kartana may also pull from kirigami, which is similar to origimi except it uses multiple pieces of paper or just one paper cut/ripped

Celesteela is my absolute favorite of the Ultra Beasts. A friend of mine was Shiny hunting Ultra Beasts, found a Celesteela and gave it to me.

I wonder if the word Kirigami has anything to do with Kartana’s name. Physically I suppose they only share the K at the front, but it would have been a super appropriate word to use since it basically just means origami that has been cut, which are like Kartana’s things

Looking forward to the long ultra beast video! They're definitely my favorite series of pokemon

The "TEK" in Tekkaguya literally meant "iron/metal", basically calling it iron- kaguya.

The “once again I cut a worthless object” is a lupin reference haha, Goemon says it a lot

I find it interesting hearing about USUM's Ultra Space, cause I never got that far in UM, so I haven't really had much opportunity to see much of it. A nice bonus to these videos. :)

I think Kartana's invasive theme is less a single species and more the idea of humans spreading invasive species because of gardening culture. The part of Ultra Forest that you go to resembles a zen garden, and the old men seem like they are the gardeners who help create the Kartana, maybe both growing the 'plant' and then creating the pokemon itself by folding them. The fact that Kartana is explicitly not in a pokeball could represent that the gardeners can't fully control it and it could escape outside of its intended space easily.

Your videos are on another level. Compared to anything else on KZfaq. So creative, so informative. I do adore.

I remember my grandpa planting bamboo in his yard when I was a kid. By the time he realized how far it spread, shoots popping up in our years next door and pocking through the side wall, it took him a solid year of salt, and weee killers to finally kill it. Which was unfortunate, made me love bamboo.

8:14 ORIGAMI VAPOREON

The sad spongebob pheramosa puppet is the best thing ever

3:32 for clarification, Ash and friends had to wall off the rocket blasts from celesteela or it would destroy everything when its ignition began.

Wait.. they had baby celesteela?! Why didn't they give us a prevo? IT SO CUTE!

i love celesteela! glad youre finally explaining its origins

I do like Bamboo but I don't think it would ever thrive here in KS. Now Kudzu on the other hand that's another story. In fact, the running joke for that plant back in my home state of TN is drop and run.

Thanks for doing this vid! Celesteela is hands down my favorite pokemon. I wish it had more merch... I didn't realize it also had elements of Selene in it. Another detail I like is how the cut glowing ends of its bamboo thrusters are supposed to look like the glowing bamboo stalk Kaguya was found in.

been waiting for this; Celesteela is my favorite Ultra Beast

I still can't believe the only Kartana merch is a plushy

Calling out Kartana's way of speaking but not stating which specific samurai it's a reference to made me sad. For those unaware, that line is the catchphrase of Ishikawa Goemon XIII from the Lupin III manga series.

I absolutely adore how this Ultra Beast is literally a nod to Princess Kaguya or as it's rightfully known as the tale of the bamboo cutter! If anyone says that my rocket bamboo beauty has no right to be in pokemon I will defend her honor as Kartana would.

Been waiting to see the rest of the ultra beasts inspirations

I have been thinking alot about the newly introduced Ruined Four: Wo-Chein, Chein-Pao, Ting-Lu, and Chi-Yu. And since I have caught them in game, I have noticed something very interesting things: They are reminding me of the tapus of Alola. While the tapus protect people and Pokemon from disaster, the Ruined Four causes such disasters against people. Not only do they can counter some of the tapus moves, but their signature move (Ruination) works just like Nature's Madness only being a Dark type move instead of Fairy. So they could something like a polar opposite to the tapus, or guardians that have fallen to darkness. Like the comparison you made between Guzzlord and Zygarde. And it could be possible that they could foreshadow the region of the 10th generation, being inspired by Eastern Asia regions. Their names, their design, and even how they got here. The merchant that brought them (as relics at this time) came from the East of Paldea. It is possible that this merchant can from this Asian like region along Pokemon's version of the Silk Road, the famous trade route in Europe and Asia. And if this merchant passed through Kalos during the time of AZ, that negative energy and emotion from the war only added fuel to their creation, only reaching the climax when the Paldean king bought the relics from the merchant.

Kartanas Ultradimension isn't the only one eith humans. Guzzlord has them too. Most likely because it's the same place as Alola, just destroyed.

Nearly all of Kartana's lines in the anime are a reference (or shout-out) to Goemon Ishikawa from the Lupin the 3rd series. I've also heard one theory that Eternatus is and Ultra Beast that came to Earth millennia ago. Maybe examine that?

A couple things: Celesteela might also be so big because Kaguya grew really fast for a person, and it's just the logical conclusion Also kinda funny how "alien mixed with invasive species" only held for like 3 of them without stretching

For some unexplainable reason, I keep hearing a voice sing "Love is War" over and over in my head...Welp, back to therapy then.

I really liked the papercraft intro for the video :)

"you can be tall and still be super pretty" >Shows Noi from Dorohedoro Not the example I would have used, but is also OBJECTIVELY correct

I’m wondering how you get tied in weight with a literal ghost.

I have Kaguya Houraisan, Touhou's version of Princess Kaguya, to thank for my innate knowledge on Celesteela's origins.

In terms of oragami, Vaporeon is not something I figured you could pull off, kuddos to whoever made that

Fun Fact the typical Origami Paper Stock which is called Kami paper is made from Wood Pulp of the Kozo Bark Tree which is itself an Invasive Species!

9:55 LOckstein is a tiny Allian this whole time.

Kartana is definitely my favourite Ultra Beast. (Certainly helps that I have it’s Rainbow GX Card ;)

Is it just me or does Gimmighoul’s evo look like Kokopelli? I can’t be the only one who sees this

Another alien trope for each of the pokemon mentioned: Kartana is the tiny, dinky weapon that deals an insane amount of damage, like the noisy cricket in MIB. Celesteela is not only a spaceship, she is a sentient ship that is also a living being. Think Jean Jacket from Nope, or Trypticon and Omega Supreme from Transformers.

*munching on popcorn in the background* Oh, don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the puppet show! *continues to stare in amazement at the great craftsmanship and care put into the re-enactment of the tales*

5:47 YAAASSS SOMEONE KNOWS ABOUT ECHO OMFG!!!

Paper can be actually considered an invasive especies if you think about from what plant it is made of: eucalyptus. Some recent researches discovered that this tree can reduce biodiversity, I couldn't read the article because of paywalls. But yea it is an invasive especies

Really loved the origami and paper parts!!!

IMO kartana also represents what is done to make paper, cut down trees, which destroys entire ecosystems and is part of why humans are so invasive. Perhaps it'd also explain why its ultra space has humans

I'll confirm this once and for all, viking didn't have horns on their helmets 99.9% of the time. The remaining 0.01% are most likely ceremonial helmets never used in battle.

Another way you can look at celesteela sci-fi trope is that in some alien movies it is revealed that the U.F.O's are not carry alien life forms, but the U.F.O is the living breathing alien itself, like in Nope for example.

whenever i hear about the bamboo cutter story and hearing the name Kaguya, i will always think about Touhou’s Kaguya

I love all ultra beasts so this series is auto magically KZfaq hall of fame

The release of this video is timely with the recent successful launch of Artemis 1. Though here's a fun theory that might make fore a good video...could Deoxys be an Ultra Beast?

Celesteela is the coolest UB. Geat design, its baby form is adorable and the inspiration is interesting.

lol I think the end part is a bit of a stretch, reading a bit too far into a card effect that's just a support effect for ultra beasts making them unaffected plus the tcg kinda has it's own canon going on, I like to think the ultra dimensions as like pocket dimensions, kinda like mini alternate universes where they have their own peoples, history, pokemon, etc

5:39 NICE Lupin III reference.

0:41… I see… good taste XD

Edit: 8:20 the video explains it Maybe it's a bit of a stretch but paper is technically invasive if you consider trash made out of paper that people throw away everywhere. Sure, there's more metal, plastic and other materials thrown away than paper but one of the frst thing you think about when you picture trash in your mind is propably a ball of paper ...yeah, i tried to make some sense out of it at the end so that's why it's a stretch.

Being familiar with the tale of the Bamboo Cutter, I laughed my ass off when I first saw Celesteela because she's the pokemon equivalent of Kaguya's Bamboo Shoot Rocket in Ōkami. I love Celesteela. Always name it The Bamboozler(when I can fit it) If Kartana is named and treated like a god, it makes since it has its own Trainer Class of celestial envoys following it around.

This episode was peak I loved this segments as series

I just got an idea for a video. I’m not sure if you’ve already done a topic on this, but you should do a video on moon Pokémon. Like what is the ecosystem like there? Are clefairys the only Pokémon from the moon? And what’s up with moon stones? If being exposed to one causes a Clefairy to evolve, then are there any clefairys on the moon. Or do they evolve instantly when they hatch on the moon? Do clefairys only exist on earth where they don’t have enough moon energy, and clefables are their true form? So many questions!

5:49 Or in the case of Transformers, a communications officer. Specifically Blaster unscrambling Soundwave's schemes.

If you believe in yourself and with a tiny pinch of magic, all your dreams can come true

This Ultra Beast series has been awesome!

I have an idea for a video for you Why Galarian Yamask has primary type Ground and secondary Ghost while Palossand has primary Ghost and secondary Ground, when it's lierally made from sand while Yamask only has a stone plate on it's tail. I would love to hear your thoughts about it

Just to point this out, while it is true in pop culture that the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari) is often considered "the first sci-fi story" or that Kaguya is often regarded as an alien, the statements are quite facetious. It's no different than calling angels and demons of the Bible "aliens", the reason being is because Kaguyahime is a celestial maiden, AKA a tennyo, tennin, celestial, deva, etc. These are female beings that live in the heavens, wearing celestial feathered robes that allow them to fly into the air, and they often come down to the Earth to bathe. In these tales, usually what happens is these maidens get their clothes stolen either by an old couple or a young man, and then said maiden becomes the adopted daughter (if it's an old couple) or wife (if it's a young man). Usually these tales end up with the celestial maiden returning to the heavens after retrieving their garment, often times with the help of her children in the young man's case. Kaguya embodies all of the qualities of a celestial maiden, from her incredible beauty, to the fact she leaves for the heavens (the moon) at the end of the tale after finding her celestial robe, and her being adopted by an old couple. Also just consider how the people at the time would have thought of Kaguyahime. They would have considered her a celestial maiden or a goddess. Just a little something I thought people would find interesting.

Hey, actual metric system user here, I dont know what they were smoking when they said milk carton weighs 0.1kg, sure its the lightest canonical poklemon thats still 100 grams A sheet of a4 paper weighs about 5 grams, nothing nothing "lightweight" or "paper" should be 100 grams. this oversight has made me so mad that im throwing my leaf green and soul silver catridges into an incinerator as we speak

7:29 my workplace got free publicity!

I usually don't care for baby pokemon, but baby celesteela is hella cute

0:45 recognizing this artist was certainly a real kick in the balls

7:29 is that an uncle roger reference

Remember. That Bamboo spaceship is someone's waifu.