...pokemon wasn't a work meant 'for them.' nintendo's always had the target audience as kids.
it just so happens however that the content in it appealed to those outside of it too. much like any well done show for that matter - spider-man (both 90s and Spectacular), batman (TAS, Beyond, The Batman), etc all were the same way, and yes, like MLP or Powerpuff girls. if you're good you will appeal to more than just the specific target age and that's what happened to all of those.
and when a company literally builds a store or has planes with a Pikachu on it, you've gone beyond obsessive or passionate. no two ways around that.
<_<; and if you think they aren't as numerous, you'd be wrong. that's something you really can't pull off either just on the basis that pokemon has age and size advantage on its side. there's f'd up people in every fanbase. internet unites them better. bronies are heavily an internet phenomenon.
still not as bad as WoW in its peak.
and the absurdity that is Pokemon is one that really can't be touched because it grew past all those barriers and into something we actually consider fairly normal. that is what you don't seem to get.
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"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.