RIP Rachael Lillis
august 13, 2024
Today I heard about Rachael Lillis passing on 8/10, who if you don't know, was the original voice actress for Misty and Jessie in Pokemon. She had a lot of other roles in other series, but I knew her most for playing those characters (and Jigglypuff!).
Anyway, I found myself weirdly affected by the news, like... I even cried a little? I think it's the first "celebrity" death that's ever made me cry, even. I think it's mostly because Pokemon, literally, was my childhood. It was probably the biggest constant in my life during my childhood. And when I say I was obsessed with pokemon, I mean I was obsessed... I would record episodes on VHS while I was at school so I could watch them when I got home... would play pokemon on my gameboy every day after school ALL NIGHT until going to bed (and even in bed under the covers sometimes). When I was in high school, I wrote pokemon fanfiction. You get the picture...
So hearing about her passing really hit a nerve, not only because I really liked her work, but because it seems like a sort of reminder that childhood really is over and there's no going back. That era of life is over. I can still look back on it and reminisce, I can still watch old episodes of pokemon when I'm sick with the flu (which is what I do; it's my comfort show), but there's no going back to being 8 or 10 and getting home from school and just escaping with pokemon.
Escape is harder to do, now. Whether it's because of work, or chores, or just the weight of everything wrong seeming to be going on in the world these days... I find it harder and harder to just forget things and let myself get immersed in things.
To my credit, I DID play Pokemon Ultra Sun earlier this year, which was really nice. I did kind of rush through bits of the story, but I otherwise had a really good time with it. (I really want to take my time when I play games and fully enjoy them, but I guess there's still a bit of speedrunner left in me.)
Funnily enough, I was thinking about Jessie's voice earlier today. I heard a lady laughing in the park and it reminded me of her classic maniacal laugh. And then later I hear the news about ther voice actor. I think it's kind of a cute coincidence, anyway.
As awesome/funny as Jessie was, though, I think I like Misty more. She was definitely a character I identified with, because she was a little on the tomboy-ish side, although she could also be girly when she wanted to. She had kind of a fiery temper but wasn't afraid to yell at people for stepping over her boundaries. All in all, not a bad role model for a little kid to watch on the TV all the time.