Suede
(real name Will Dufrense), native of New Zealand, was one of the earliest
denizens of Channel Awesome back in the original TGWTG days. Focusing mostly on anime-related topics, he
was a regular presence at the site until going on leave in 2009. He eventually returned after making a
surprise cameo in the second TGWTG anniversary special, Suburban Knights, and continued to expand the types and styles of
videos he produced until #ChangeTheChannel began to build up steam. In March of this year he publicly expressed
his support for the victims and left the site.
He
has managed to get more prolific over the years since his return despite getting
married and becoming a father, and while there is a lot of different stuff of
his out there, nothing quite jives with me like his ever-expanding reviews of
the original Pokemon anime.
Pokemon
officially took over my life right around when 4th grade began, and
I while I haven’t looked back since, it wasn’t until Suede’s first-ever Pokemon
video, a long-form crossover review of the first Pokemon movie, that I realized
a deep look at the early days of Pokemon was something largely missing from the
Youtube products I was consuming up to that point. A need I hadn’t suspected I had was suddenly
being filled, and this was one of the key reasons why my love of Pokemon has
since been reactivated and is part of my daily life once more. After a stop-and-start launch, Suede’s
Pokemon reviews are now his most consistent works and are essential parts of my
weekly viewing schedule.
Here’s
where it gets complicated though; the genesis of Suede’s Pokemon material was a
series of lengthy video reviews of the first Pokemon theatrical movies. Certain DVD specials or direct-to-video works,
like the short films, the infamous Christmas episode, Mewtwo Returns, and the like, he did by himself, but for long-form
examinations of Pokemon The First Movie,
Pokemon 2000, Pokemon 3, and Pokemon4Ever,
he teamed up with Linkara and….Justin Carmical.
Sigh.
Okay,
for those reading this who are not yet aware; one of the most shattering parts
of the #ChangeTheChannel debacle was when Channel Awesome’s incredibly botched
efforts to respond to the scandal inadvertently revealed that Justin Carmical,
a beloved former producer who had committed suicide in 2014 (shock over his
death was one of the reasons why Suede paused his Pokemon reviews for a long while
before starting them again), had in fact been a sexual predator who had abused and
“groomed” both other producers and fans of his for a number of years, and that
although this had been brought to the attention of CA management, they waited
an inexcusably long time before taking any action to remove him from the site
and seemingly never made any effort to ensure the safety of their fans.
The
fact of his death and that he can no longer hurt anyone aside, this presents a
clear moral quandary for anyone in regards to whether or not one can watch
these particular videos any more. Suede
himself openly expressed his mixed feelings about continuing to host the
videos, and has considered either taking them down or keeping them, but with a
disclaimer at the beginning placing the videos in better context. At the moment of this writing, all four
videos are available sans disclaimer
on Youtube, though that may certainly change at any time.
Each
viewer ultimately has to decide for themselves what they think is best. It is certainly that some will decide they
can never give these videos their clicks or their time again. On the other hand, this was primarily a Suede
project, and Linkara was on-hand as well, so should that 2/3rds of the project
team be punished even though they admitted later they had had no idea of the
truth at the time? I still don’t have a
good answer for that. I likely never
will.
I
think this, at least, is made somewhat easier by the fact that Justin was
really only involved in the first 3 videos; Pokemon4Ever
is a somewhat different case, as he is only in the very beginning and for the
review itself Jacob Chapman (pre-transition) filled in as the third reviewer
(although that presents its own issues that would require far too long to break
down here and now). All the rest are all Suede, all the time, so those, at least, we can all continue to love and adore
guilt-free.
Whatever
you decide regarding the very first Pokemon Movie reviews, all the others are
must-sees for anyone who, like me, comes from a Pikachu-shaped background. Taking the time to revisit this particular
bit of nostalgia with someone as chill as Suede is fun, plain and simple, and
we need as much of that nowadays as we can get.
-Noah Franc
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