I've lurked around these forums for a few months, after discovering their existence while looking through Bulbapedia, and especially mostly in the wake of the announcement of Black and White. However, I feel that this is a good time to break my silent streak.
I've seen a few topics about how Isshu, or atleast Hiun City, is based on Hong Kong (this being the foremost argument: http://i40.tinypic.com/2vay1dg.png). Also, I have to admit for a while, my gut reaction was that it was going to be based on the Korean peninsula, because, as I understand it, Pokemon is pretty popular there and recently it's been getting some press time. However, I feel that after digging around, I have come to the conclusion that Hiun City is, infact, New York City.
I'm not the first one to believe this, nor will I be the last to propose this (until we get a map of Isshu that confirms or disproves the theory). However, many who have said it looks like New York have been shot down by people (mostly Hong Kong supporters), citing that a suspension bridge and tall buildings do not, a New York, make. Also, many say that moving the series from Japan to the American East Coast is too huge of a jump.
But here are some points I've come up with to support my claim.
1. The Aesthetics
First, I would like to draw your attention to the basic shapes of each of the cities. Here is a picture of Hiun City I took from Bulbapedia's page on Isshu:
Now let's compare this picture to the end of Manhattan:
Now, this comparison is the most basic. I've already pointed out that people have said that just because Hiun City has tall buildings and a bridge, it doesn't mean it's based on New York. However, let's go into the finer details.
Of course, none of the previous Pokemon cities and towns looked exactly like the cities or towns they represented, however they generally maintain similar aesthetics. Etruceak City, for example, doesn't exactly look like Kyoto (the city it's based on), but has the same feeling that Kyoto does, with having numerous temples and ancient looking buildings, much like the real life Kyoto has. This is also the case for Hiun City.
If we take a look at the buildings as a whole, we will notice that both Hiun and New York have similar building colors: grey, brick-red, tan, glass, etc. Let's take a look at Hong Kong:
Now, you're probably thinking, "Well, that picture of Hong Kong also features those colors." However, if you'll notice, the frequencies of brick and tan buildings in the Hong Kong photo is lower than it is in the picture of Hiun and New York, which both have about the same frequencies of colors.
But, the differences don't end there. Let's take a look at the buildings themselves. The buildings in Hong Kong have a very distinct look: their roofs tend to be slanted. I'll illustrate my point using a picture that's closer to the buildings:
(I didn't count the big building because it seemed too obvious)
However, if we take a look at New York and Hiun, we see that they both have a majority flat roofed buildings.
Something else you can see, when you compare buildings, is that some of the buildings in Hiun City look almost identical to the ones in New York City (in advance, sorry for the poor picture quality):
I've looked through some pictures of Hong Kong, and have yet to yield any results as close to these.
2. The Bridge
The biggest argument for Hong Kong supporters is the bridge off to the right in the Isshu picture. They say is closely resembles the Tsing Ma Bridge, a bridge that connects the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan together. But to me, the bridge more looks not like the Brooklyn Bridge (which Hong Kong supporters have shot down in the past), but the George Washington Bridge, a lesser known bridge within eyesight of the Brooklyn Bridge. If you put the three bridges together, you'll see what I mean:
Notice that even though the support of the Hiun City Bridge is slightly more closer to the Tsing Ma Bridge, the actual bridge part is almost identical to the George Washington's one. The Tsing Ma's road looks sleek and smooth, while the George Washington's and Hiun City's one looks more unrefined and industrial. Also, the color scheme of the Hiun City's Bridge is closer to the George Washington Bridge than it is to the Tsing Ma Bridge.
Also, as stated before, not everything in the Pokemon universe is exactly like what it represents. So we can forgive Game Freak for taking artistic license on the support structure.
3. Cultural Reasons
All we know about Isshu, as a whole, is that it's "located much further away from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh than the four are from each other." (quote taken from the Isshu page of Bulbapedia) What this means is that it's most likely not set in any part of Japan, nor is it Korea (because Korea is near where Hoenn is supposedly located).
"But that means that it could be Hong Kong!" you might say, "That's far away from Japan, yet close enough to make cultural sense." However, I know numerous Chinese immigrants (convenient, right?), and all of them detest the Japanese because of the Rape of Nanking (read the wiki article Here). I feel that making a Japanese game set in China would be roughly akin to an American game being based in Russia. While this isn't unheard of, it's just rather uncommon.
4. Location, Location, Location
Some agree with me that it will be in America, but it would be in San Fransisco or some other West Coast locale, mainly because of it's location on the Pacific, and history of Japanese immigration. However, I don't feel that this necessarily is a solid argument, because we've already have been in the Atlantic area.
Faraway Island, an area in Emerald only available though an event item, and home to Mew, is popularly thought to be in South America. This is mainly due to the journal entries located in the Pokemon Mansion on Cinnabar Island, which states, "A new Pokémon was discovered deep in the jungle" in Guyana, which is located on the Atlantic Coast. Also, as you can imagine, it is indeed far away from Japan.
Something else that bodes well for the New York area is its location. New York City's location near Long Island makes it a prime target for a region similar to Hoenn or Sinnoh. I mean, can't you imagine this being a region?
In conclusion:
I feel that people write off America too quickly because Pokemon is a Japanese game, and thus far all the main regions have been based in Japan. But, given the information we have, I feel that Hiun City is New York City, and Isshu is Long Island. I could be wrong, I could have missed a fact or something, but I feel that for the most part, my logic and facts I've presented are right. Feel free to pick it apart if I got something wrong
Anyways, thank you for reading my post. It took me a while to get all the facts and write the thing.
I've seen a few topics about how Isshu, or atleast Hiun City, is based on Hong Kong (this being the foremost argument: http://i40.tinypic.com/2vay1dg.png). Also, I have to admit for a while, my gut reaction was that it was going to be based on the Korean peninsula, because, as I understand it, Pokemon is pretty popular there and recently it's been getting some press time. However, I feel that after digging around, I have come to the conclusion that Hiun City is, infact, New York City.
I'm not the first one to believe this, nor will I be the last to propose this (until we get a map of Isshu that confirms or disproves the theory). However, many who have said it looks like New York have been shot down by people (mostly Hong Kong supporters), citing that a suspension bridge and tall buildings do not, a New York, make. Also, many say that moving the series from Japan to the American East Coast is too huge of a jump.
But here are some points I've come up with to support my claim.
1. The Aesthetics
First, I would like to draw your attention to the basic shapes of each of the cities. Here is a picture of Hiun City I took from Bulbapedia's page on Isshu:
Now let's compare this picture to the end of Manhattan:
Now, this comparison is the most basic. I've already pointed out that people have said that just because Hiun City has tall buildings and a bridge, it doesn't mean it's based on New York. However, let's go into the finer details.
Of course, none of the previous Pokemon cities and towns looked exactly like the cities or towns they represented, however they generally maintain similar aesthetics. Etruceak City, for example, doesn't exactly look like Kyoto (the city it's based on), but has the same feeling that Kyoto does, with having numerous temples and ancient looking buildings, much like the real life Kyoto has. This is also the case for Hiun City.
If we take a look at the buildings as a whole, we will notice that both Hiun and New York have similar building colors: grey, brick-red, tan, glass, etc. Let's take a look at Hong Kong:
Now, you're probably thinking, "Well, that picture of Hong Kong also features those colors." However, if you'll notice, the frequencies of brick and tan buildings in the Hong Kong photo is lower than it is in the picture of Hiun and New York, which both have about the same frequencies of colors.
But, the differences don't end there. Let's take a look at the buildings themselves. The buildings in Hong Kong have a very distinct look: their roofs tend to be slanted. I'll illustrate my point using a picture that's closer to the buildings:
(I didn't count the big building because it seemed too obvious)
However, if we take a look at New York and Hiun, we see that they both have a majority flat roofed buildings.
Something else you can see, when you compare buildings, is that some of the buildings in Hiun City look almost identical to the ones in New York City (in advance, sorry for the poor picture quality):
I've looked through some pictures of Hong Kong, and have yet to yield any results as close to these.
2. The Bridge
The biggest argument for Hong Kong supporters is the bridge off to the right in the Isshu picture. They say is closely resembles the Tsing Ma Bridge, a bridge that connects the islands of Tsing Yi and Ma Wan together. But to me, the bridge more looks not like the Brooklyn Bridge (which Hong Kong supporters have shot down in the past), but the George Washington Bridge, a lesser known bridge within eyesight of the Brooklyn Bridge. If you put the three bridges together, you'll see what I mean:
Notice that even though the support of the Hiun City Bridge is slightly more closer to the Tsing Ma Bridge, the actual bridge part is almost identical to the George Washington's one. The Tsing Ma's road looks sleek and smooth, while the George Washington's and Hiun City's one looks more unrefined and industrial. Also, the color scheme of the Hiun City's Bridge is closer to the George Washington Bridge than it is to the Tsing Ma Bridge.
Also, as stated before, not everything in the Pokemon universe is exactly like what it represents. So we can forgive Game Freak for taking artistic license on the support structure.
3. Cultural Reasons
All we know about Isshu, as a whole, is that it's "located much further away from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh than the four are from each other." (quote taken from the Isshu page of Bulbapedia) What this means is that it's most likely not set in any part of Japan, nor is it Korea (because Korea is near where Hoenn is supposedly located).
"But that means that it could be Hong Kong!" you might say, "That's far away from Japan, yet close enough to make cultural sense." However, I know numerous Chinese immigrants (convenient, right?), and all of them detest the Japanese because of the Rape of Nanking (read the wiki article Here). I feel that making a Japanese game set in China would be roughly akin to an American game being based in Russia. While this isn't unheard of, it's just rather uncommon.
4. Location, Location, Location
Some agree with me that it will be in America, but it would be in San Fransisco or some other West Coast locale, mainly because of it's location on the Pacific, and history of Japanese immigration. However, I don't feel that this necessarily is a solid argument, because we've already have been in the Atlantic area.
Faraway Island, an area in Emerald only available though an event item, and home to Mew, is popularly thought to be in South America. This is mainly due to the journal entries located in the Pokemon Mansion on Cinnabar Island, which states, "A new Pokémon was discovered deep in the jungle" in Guyana, which is located on the Atlantic Coast. Also, as you can imagine, it is indeed far away from Japan.
Something else that bodes well for the New York area is its location. New York City's location near Long Island makes it a prime target for a region similar to Hoenn or Sinnoh. I mean, can't you imagine this being a region?
In conclusion:
I feel that people write off America too quickly because Pokemon is a Japanese game, and thus far all the main regions have been based in Japan. But, given the information we have, I feel that Hiun City is New York City, and Isshu is Long Island. I could be wrong, I could have missed a fact or something, but I feel that for the most part, my logic and facts I've presented are right. Feel free to pick it apart if I got something wrong
Anyways, thank you for reading my post. It took me a while to get all the facts and write the thing.
