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Pokémon (anime)
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Pokémon (abbreviated from in Japan) is an ongoing Japanese animated series, which has since been adapted for the North American and European television market. It is somewhat based on the Pokémon video game series and a part of the Pokémon franchise.
Originally a single series, Pokémon, it has since been made into three series, including Pokémon: Advanced Generation and subsequently Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, which continue the story of Pokémon, while its spin-off Pokémon Chronicles or, as it is known in Japan, Pokémon Sunday (formerly Shukan Pokémon Hosokyoku) is a series of stories revolving around some of the recurring characters.
ntroduction
Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in the original japanese) has just become a Pokémon trainer.
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Encyclopedia
Pokémon (abbreviated from in Japan) is an ongoing Japanese animated series, which has since been adapted for the North American and European television market. It is somewhat based on the Pokémon video game series and a part of the Pokémon franchise.
Originally a single series, Pokémon, it has since been made into three series, including Pokémon: Advanced Generation and subsequently Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, which continue the story of Pokémon, while its spin-off Pokémon Chronicles or, as it is known in Japan, Pokémon Sunday (formerly Shukan Pokémon Hosokyoku) is a series of stories revolving around some of the recurring characters.
Plot
Introduction
Ash Ketchum (Satoshi in the original japanese) has just become a Pokémon trainer. He starts off in the Kanto Region. He is stuck with Pikachu. He has a rival named Gary. Ash accidentally destroys a bike belonging to a girl named Misty. Misty starts following him to get her bike back.
In the Johto League, Ash is defeated by a Pokémon trainer from the Hoenn region, thus beginning his new journey into the region. Misty leaves Ash's side to take care of the gym along with her sisters, and Brock, who also returns home to resolve some family issues. Ash changes his outfit before heading to the Hoenn region with only Pikachu.
In Hoenn, Ash gets to know May (Haruka in the original japanese) and her younger brother Max (Masato in the original japanese), who join in his journey. May is excited by the Pokémon Contests that take place in Kanto and Hoenn, while Max joins the group to gain experience so that one day he will have his own Pokémon and become gym leader like his father Norman, the gym leader of Petalburg City. Having solved his problems, Brock who also changed his attire, is back with Ash and new friends to continue his dream of becoming Pokémon Breeder. This season, Gary leaves his promising career as a Pokémon Trainer to become Pokémon researcher.
After Ash becomes the winner in the Battle Frontier, May goes to Johto. Max returns to Petalburg City and Brock returns to Pewter City. Ash finds a new region called Sinnoh, where he embarks on a new journey. Brock comes back and they both meet Dawn, a new trainer who hopes to become a great Pokémon Coordinator, like her mother. Ash meets a new rival, Paul who prefers to capture the strongest Pokémon leaving the weak who are released.
Characters
Current main characters
- The main character, or protagonist, of the series, Ash dreams of being the greatest Pokémon Master in the world.
- Ash’s very first Pokémon and best friend. He has always stuck to Ash through thick and thin.
- New heroine of the series when Ash comes to Sinnoh, dreams of being a great coordinator like her mother.
- Former Pewter Gym leader, he dreams of being the world’s best Pokémon breeder. He also falls in love with most girls he sees.
Former Main Characters
- One of Ash’s travelling friends through Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto. Misty loves water Pokémon and is currently the Cerulean City gym leader. She was the first female protagonist on the show. Her dream is to be the world's greatest Water Pokémon Master.
- One of Ash’s traveling friends through the Orange Islands, Tracey is a Pokémon watcher, and is currently Professor Oak’s assistant.
- One of Ash’s travelling friends through Hoenn and the Kanto Battle Frontier, is currently in Johto competing in the contests there. She appears in several Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl Battle Dimension episodes as a minor character.
- May’s little brother, Max is a very smart (and often annoying) little boy, and is now back with his parents in Petalburg City, where he will begin his own journey.
Tracey and Misty are later shown in Pokemon Chronicles.
Villains
Team Rocket
is an evil organization led by Giovanni. They have operations in Kanto and Johto. However, they have not set up permanent operations in Hoenn and Sinnoh, meaning Jessie, James and Meowth are the only operatives there. They have been present in nearly every episode of the Pokémon saga.
Media
Anime series
The first series tells the story of Ash Ketchum (known as Satoshi in the Japanese version, he is named after Pokémon's creator, Satoshi Tajiri), his friends, and his quest to become a Pokémon Master, as well as their quests. However, unlike in the video games, he is given a Pikachu as his first Pokémon under unusual circumstances. Much of the series focuses on the friendship between Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, May, Max, Tracey, Dawn and the various Pokémon and Trainers along the way. Joining Ash on his adventures are Brock (known as Takeshi in Japan) who wants to become the world's best Pokémon breeder and Misty (Kasumi in Japan) who wants to be a water Pokémon master (Brock and Misty were gym leaders in the original Pokémon games, and were in the anime too but were able to travel with Ash due to different circumstances).
The other two series continue to follow the adventures of Ash and his friends. However, starting with the Advanced Generation series a new main character named May (Haruka in Japan) travels with Ash, Brock and also her little brother Max (Masato in Japan) through the Hoenn region replacing Misty, and competes in Pokémon Contests, which are set up in a similar manner to Pokémon Gyms (many throughout the region, and ending with a large tournament), although immensely different.
Throughout the run of the show the subject matter changes. In the original series, the show is more comical and whimsical (light and airy). It uses "goofy" humor (or "cute" humor when it comes to Pikachu, who does wacky things in between important scenes). In the Advanced Generation series as Ash becomes more of a mature and leader-type character, the main course of the show becomes more serious, as it deals with love and death, and its previous comical nature (for the most part) changes into comic relief, attributed mostly to Team Rocket and Brock's love of girls, though the Diamond and Pearl series seems to have returned to using the original comical nature (mostly Ash being the straight man to his Pokémon's antics and Dawn taking the role of the naive beginner).
Series names
Like many anime metaseries, Pokémon: The Original Series, Pokémon: Advanced Generation Series and Pokémon: Diamond And Pearl Series episodes are split up into smaller series for the English release, usually to denote the areas and adventures going on. Because of this, series are identified by the opening animation used for the episode, rather than a run of a fixed number of episodes. In certain places, the different series are considered different shows altogether, although they involve the same storylines and characters. To date there are 11 total seasons completed, ten of such have aired in the United States. One is currently being aired. Another series is currently in production and will finish the confirmed trilogy of Sinnoh.
Pokémon Chronicles
Pokémon Chronicles, known in Japan as Shukan Pokémon Hosokyoku ( "Weekly Pokémon broadcast"), is a closely related spin-off series that airs concurrently with the beginning part of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. The main episodes are stories that star various recurring characters that appeared in Pokémon, some of which account for discontinuities of the plot of Pokémon: Advanced Generation. However, instead of new episodes each week, as is the case with Pokémon: Advanced Generation, other things may air during Pokémon Chronicles, such as reruns of Pokémon episodes, television airings of the Pokémon movies, cast interviews, and live action footage.
Anime films
During each season of the main series, a , starring the main characters from the TV series has been released. , there have been ten movies and one feature length TV broadcast (released outside Japan as a direct-to-video movie titled "Mewtwo Returns"), the twelfth is scheduled to be released in July 2009 in Japan. The plot of every movie has involved an encounter with a Legendary Pokémon, although some may not conform to a strict definition of the word. The movies are also used to promote brand new Pokémon that appear in new versions of the game.
The Pokémon movies are also coupled with a short movie starring Ash and Co. and their Pokémon. Each movie until the seventh is preceded by the animated shorts. The shorts are: Pikachu's Summer Vacation, Pikachu's Rescue Adventure, Pikachu and Pichu, Pikachu's Pikaboo, Camp Pikachu, and Gotta Dance.
| Movie | Japanese Title | English Title | Release Date (JP/US) | Legendary Pokémon | Link |
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| 1 | Mewtwo Strikes Back (Mewtwo's Counterattack)
???????? | The First Movie | July 18, 1998
November 10, 1999 | Mewtwo
Mew | | | 2 | Revelation Lugia
?????? ????? (Mirage Pokémon: Lugia's Explosive Birth) | The Power of One | July 17, 1999
July 21, 2000 | Articuno
Zapdos
Moltres
Lugia | | | 3 | Lord of the 'UNKNOWN' Tower: Entei (Emperor of The Crystal Tower: ENTEI)
?????? ENTEI | Spell of the Unown | July 08, 2000
April 06, 2001 |
Entei | | | 4 | Celebi: A Timeless Encounter (Celebi: A Time-Crossing encounter)
???? ??????? | Celebi: Voice of the Forest | July 07, 2001
October 11, 2002 | Suicune
Celebi | | | 5 | The Guardians of Altomare (Guardian Gods of the Capital of Water: Ratiasu and Ratiosu
?????? ??????????? | Heroes: Latios and Latias | July 13, 2002
May 16, 2003 | Latias
Latios | | | 6 | Wishing Star of the Seven Nights: Jirachi
?????? ???? | Jirachi Wishmaker | July 19, 2003
June 01, 2004 | Groudon
Jirachi | | | 7 | Visitor from a Fissure in the Sky: Deoxys (Sky-splitting visitor)
?????? ????? | Destiny Deoxys | July 22, 2004
January 22, 2005 | Rayquaza
Deoxys | | | 8 | Mew and the Wave Guiding Hero: Lucario
????????? ???? | Lucario and the Mystery of Mew | July 16, 2005
September 19, 2006 | Mew
Regirock
Regice
Registeel
| | | 9 | Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy
??????????????? ???? | Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea | July 15, 2006
March 23, 2007 | Kyogre
Manaphy | | | 10 | Dialga VS. Palkia VS. Darkrai
?????VS????VS????? | The Rise of Darkrai | July 14, 2007
February 24, 2008 | Dialga
Palkia
Darkrai | | | 11 | Giratina and the Sky Bouquet: Shaymin
??????????? ???? | Giratina and the Sky Warrior | July 19, 2008
February 13, 2009 | Dialga
Regigigas
Giratina
Shaymin | | | 12 | Arceus To the Conquering of Space-Time
??????????? | | July 18, 2009 | Dialga
Palkia
Giratina
Arceus
Heatran Pichu | |
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Pokémon specials
The Birth of Mewtwo/The Origin of Mewtwo
- An animated adaptation of the "Birth of Mewtwo" radio drama, which was later attached to the beginning of the first movie for the Japanese video release. A small 3 minute heavily edited version was released on the US version DVDs, while the full uncut version was made available on the Mewtwo Returns DVD
Slowking's Day
- A short featuring Slowking. It was never released outside of Japan, most likely due to it only being a few minutes long.
Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns
- A made for television special that followed up on Mewtwo after the events of the first movie.
Raikou: Legend of Thunder
- A made for television special that showcased the legendary Raikou, as well as brand new trainers. It became the first three episodes of Pokémon Chronicles. This was based on the release of Pokémon Crystal and is called as such in the Japanese title.
Pikachu's Winter Vacation
- A series of winter themed Pikachu-centered shorts that went directly to video. The first two were part of the Pokémon Chronicles series. This was the only Pokémon DVD not released by Viz Video but rather 4Kids' normal way of releasing DVDs, being released by 4Kids and Funimation.
Pikachu's Summer Festival
- A short that premiered on ANA flights.
Pikachu's Ghost Carnival
- The second short premiered on ANA flights.
Pikachu's Mischievous Island (a/k/a "Pikachu's Island Adventure")
- The third short premiered on ANA flights, and was released in the Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea DVD in the USA.
Pokémon 3D Adventure: Find Mew!
- A Pokémon 3D short that was shown as the PokéPark in Japan in 2005.
Pokémon 3D Adventure: Pikachu's Big Undersea Adventure
- The second Pokémon 3D short, shown when PokéPark was in Taiwan in 2006.
The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon
- An hour-long TV special commemorating the tenth-anniversary of Pokémon in the United States. It features a variety of Pokémon as artificial and stronger "mirages", including a supposedly "most powerful" Pokémon creation. Pokémon shown to be mirages were Mew, Kabutops, Omastar, Armaldo, Aggron, Aerodactyl, Houndoom, Absol, Mightyena, Machoke, Machamp, Ursaring, Magnemite, Entei, Articuno, Zapdos, and Mewtwo.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out Of The Gate!
- A special anime based on the new video games which was shown on Cartoon Network in the USA September 8, 2006. The main characters in this special are a boy who was turned into a Squirtle, who formed a team with a naturally born Charmander and Chikorita.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Darkness
- A sequel to the anime special based on the new video games prior to the Japanese release. The English version was shown on Action Stations! in the UK on July 18, 2008. The USA airing was on September 1, 2008 (Labor Day in the U.S.) on Cartoon Network.
Pokémon Sunday
Pokémon Sunday (Japanese: ?????????) debuted on TV Tokyo on October 3, 2004. The show is the successor to the Pocket Monsters Encore and the Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station. Like the shows before it, Pokémon Sunday is a sort of variety show featuring reruns of old episodes as well as a number of 'Research' episodes involving live-action elements.
Airing and production
The English adaptation of the series was produced by 4Kids Entertainment and video distribution of the series was handled by Viz Media for the TV series for the younger generation as well as the eighth movie forward, Warner Bros. and Nintendo for the first three movies and the first special, Miramax Films, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment for the fourth movie through the seventh. The series and all feature films are directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, with English adaptations originally written by Norman J. Grossfeld and Michael Haigney for the first eight seasons. However, starting with the ninth season, the American branch of The Pokémon Company, Pokémon USA, and TAJ Productions, who worked with 4Kids on the show before taking leave after Season 5, replaced 4Kids as the show's non-Japanese producers and distributors. Most of the original voice cast was also replaced, causing controversy among fans who admired the original voice actors. TAJ was replaced by DuArt Film and Video for the tenth movie and Season 11 of the anime series. In the UK, Pokémon first aired on Sky One, followed by the Saturday morning show SMTV Live and proved to be extraordinarily popular, to the point were segments and sketches of the show itself were based around Pokémon (e.g. the Pokérap).
The show (as of November 8, 2007 in Japan and April 12, 2008 in the United States) started its second season of Diamond And Pearl, subtitled "Pokémon:Diamond And Pearl Battle Dimension" in the English dub. An English version of Shukan Pokémon Hosokyoku has now been made, titled Pokémon Chronicles which premiered in the UK on Toonami on May 11, 2005 at 4:30 p.m. ET, and is currently airing the 10th season on YTV in Canada. Each season also brings forth a Pokémon feature-length film, and each film up until the seventh is preceded by a Pokémon animated short. Pokémon CD's have been released in conjunction with the anime. The tracks feature songs that have been shown in the English dubbed version of the anime. However, some CDs have been released to promote and profit the anime.
In Japan, both series are shown on TV Tokyo, with Diamond and Pearl airing on Thursday nights (previously Monday) and Pokémon Sunday on Sunday mornings. In the United States, Advanced Generation could previously be seen on the air on the now-defunct Kids' WB! cartoon block on Saturdays, but in April 2006, Kids WB, which continued on the CW Network until 2008, announced the fall schedule and Pokémon was nowhere to be seen, replaced by the WB-created series Legion of Super-Heroes. The rights for Battle Frontier were picked up by TimeWarner's corporate sibling Cartoon Network instead, and aired on CN starting September 9, 2006 at 9 a.m. US ET/PT, with a special prime-time episode having been aired the night before (September 8 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, following the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon special. The fourth season of the Advanced Generation series, titled Battle Frontier has been airing in the United Kingdom from February 5, 2007, the show also airs in Canada. In addition, the series is also seen as such on the International Satellite Network.
Cartoon Network's India service, along with their Toonami UK service, also carries Pokémon episodes. As of October 9, 2006, Cartoon Network's online service, Toonami Jetstream, featured Pokémon episodes starting at the Orange League episode "The Pokémon Water War".
The newest series of Pokémon began airing in Japan on September 28, 2006 with a three-episode arc introducing the new series' main female character Dawn (known as Hikari in Japan), based on the playable female player in the games. The new series aired with a sneak preview on April 20, 2007 in the USA. The sneak preview aired on May 5 in Canada. A dubbed version of the 90-minute preview done in Japan, takes place in the Sinnoh region, based on the new Pokémon Diamond and Pearl games. The new series aired in prime time on Cartoon Network starting June 4 at 7:30 PM ET/PT as part of the Cartoon Network Summer 2007 programming promotion. Currently, it airs on Saturday mornings with newer episodes airing at 9:30 AM ET/PT. The summer run was confirmed in the Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea DVD released on April 2 of 2007. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl has also been airing on YTV in Canada since September 8, 2007. May will appear in the 76th episode for Wallace's contest. Max and Misty's statuses are still unknown (Though the latter's Seiyu did hint at one point in her blog that Misty might be appearing in D/P). Dawn is taking their place, while a new rival for Ash, Paul, is also featured along with new villains such as the Pokémon Hunter J and Team Galactic.
In the UK the Kanto region episodes aired randomly on different channels, and most fans saw the Johto and Hoenn regions on Sky1 every weekend. Battle Frontier aired on Cartoon Network, and currently Pokémon Diamond and Pearl is airing in the UK following Battle Frontier. The CITV channel and ITV4 recently showed Battle Frontier episodes for the first time on free TV, everyday as part of Action Stations!. Battle Dimension started airing in the UK on September 6, 2008, on Jetix. This is said to be the new home for Pokémon in the UK as Battle Dimension also airs on CITV and ITV4 as part of Action Stations, so there is confusion on if CITV or jetix is the home for Pokémon.
Controversy
Pokémon has had several anime episodes removed from the rotation in Japan, the Western World, or the entire world. The most infamous of these episodes was "Dennou Senshi Porigon" (translates into "Electric Soldier Porygon"). The episode made headlines worldwide when it caused 685 children to experience seizures and seizure-like symptoms caused by a repetitive flash of light. Although the offending sequence was caused by Pikachu's actions, the episode's featured Pokémon, Porygon, has never been seen again in the anime except for one brief cameo appearance in the movie, Pokémon Heroes. Its evolutions Porygon2 and Porygon-Z have never appeared either. On September 1, 2006, China permanently banned the series, as well as western animated series such as The Simpsons, to protect its struggling animation studios.
See also
External links
Japan
United States
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