In the beginning, there were the superheroes to keep them enthralled - Ultraman, Spider-Man, Batman. Joshua couldn't get enough of them, and Joanne just sort of decided to like whatever Joshua liked. She still does, actually.But for some reason, they could never endear themselves to Superman. Don't know why. The bright red underwear worn on the outside probably had something to do with their aversion the the most recognisable superhero of all times.
Later on, the kids discovered more superheroes - the Powerpuff Girls, Power Rangers (and gosh, there are so many variants of Power Rangers!), the Incredibles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Kimpossible. They have T-shirts, pajamas, shoes, socks, slippers, cutlery, bags, books, caps, DVDs, etc, featuring these unearthly creatures.
Then, Pokemonia hit them. Both Joshua and Joanne ate, drank, breathed, slept and dreamt about Pokemon. They even created their own Pokemon and on many occasions "forced" me to create mine as well. Of course, my Pokemon had to "battle" against their Pokemon too. It was madness. And apparently, it is an affliction shared by many other kids around the world. My 2 nephews are crazy about Pokemon and have collected decks after decks of Pokemon trading cards.
I thought this Pokemania would haunt me for the next few years. Alas, it is not to be. Oh, they still like Pokemon but they like something else better - Yu-Go-Oh! - a game and manga franchise created by Kazuki Takahashi involving a card game called Duel Monsters in which players or duelists use cards to defeat one another.
I find the concept pretty similar to that of Pokemon - the Pokemon battle while the duelists in Yu-Gi-Oh! duel. I personally prefer Pokemon. At least many of the creatures are usually cute and cuddly. Duel Monsters, on the other hand, look hideous most of the time. Which is why I find it a little odd that the kids like them so much.
Now, instead of uttering names like Pikachu, Raichu, Blastoise, Treecko and Charizad (Joshua's one-time favourite), they now spew out rather spooky and gothic-sounding names like the Dark Magician, Celtic Guardian, Spell Caster Summoner, Soul Tormentor, Exodia, Sword of Revealing Light and an assortment of dragons! And there are trap cards, spell cards, magic cards, etc too.
These days, they have several decks of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Actually, they harrass me on a weekly basis to get more cards in the hope they will find a magic card or a card featuring the legendary Blue-Eyed White Dragon. These are supposedly rare and therefore very much sought-after.
There's one good thing about Yu-Gi-Oh! though. The games come with points earned or lost during duelings. So Joshua has learnt quite a fair bit about additions and substractions. Not Joanne, though. The figures are too big for her to manage.
Also, with Yu-Gi-Oh!, Joshua has discarded his propensity to demand that I create my own duel monsters. That would have been too much for me. Maybe I should create one now - just in case. Kid-Chewing Dark Mummy would do nicely.
