Underplayed Gems

Pokémon (1997)

Pokémon poster
Original title
ポケットモンスター
Genre
children's television series, fantasy anime and manga, action anime and manga, adventure anime and manga, comedy drama anime and manga, Action
Country
Japan
Length
26 seasons, 1115 episodes
Rated
TV-Y7
Rating
8.0 of 10 from 2,208 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A young boy named Ash sets out to become a Pokémon Master. He travels with his electric mouse Pikachu and makes friends along the way, battling creatures in tournaments. The series also later follows new heroes Liko and Roy.

adventurouslightheartedepisodicchild-friendlywhimsicalenergeticoptimisticaction-packed

What happens

Pokémon, abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters, and branded in English as Pokémon the Series and Pokémon Horizons: The Series, is a Japanese anime television series, part of The Pokémon Company's Pokémon media franchise, which premiered on TV Tokyo in April 1997. The anime franchise consists of eight sequential series in Japan, each based on a main installment of the Pokémon video game series. In the international broadcasts, these series are split across 28 seasons. The show originally followed Ash Ketchum, a young trainer of fictional creatures called Pokémon. Joined by his partner Pokémon Pikachu and a rotating cast of human characters, Ash goes on a journey to become a "Pokémon Master", traveling through the various regions of the Pokémon world and competing in various Pokémon-battling tournaments known as the Pokémon League. Starting with the 26th season, a new cast is featured, centering on protagonists Liko and Roy. The anime series is accompanied by spin-off programming, including Pokémon Chronicles, a series of side stories, and live-action variety and Pokémon-related news shows, such as Pocket Monsters Encore, Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, Pokémon Sunday, Pokémon Smash!, Pokémon Get TV, Meet Up at the Pokémon House? and Where Are We Going with Pokémon!? The Pokémon television series played a major role in increasing anime's worldwide popularity, especially in the United States and Asia, where many Pokémon films are among the highest-grossing anime films. It is also considered to be one of the first anime series on television to reach this level of mainstream success with Western and Asian audiences, as well as being credited with allowing the game series to reach such a degree of popularity and vice versa. Pokémon is regarded as the most successful video game adaptation of all time, with over 1,300 episodes broadcast and adapted for international television markets, concurrently airing in 192 countries worldwide and being one of the most widely watched shows on Netflix as of 2016. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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