It will have rocked our childhood: the Pokémon anime turns 24, since its very first episode was broadcast for the first time on April 1, 1997 in Japan. Here are 5 things to know about the cult animated series.
1145 episodes in 24 years
Begun on April 1, 1997 in Japan, the saga currently has 23 seasons for 1,145 episodes and is still in production. The anime arrives two years later with us thanks to the broadcast of the first episode on the Fox Kids channel, marking the meeting between Sacha and his great friend Pikachu.
Pikachu: a mascot that shouldn’t be
If it is impossible today to imagine the series without Pikachu, it is however not him who was to be the mascot, but Mélofée. Sweet, pink, cute, he had everything to please… except the male audience. Têtartre was then cast, but he does not turn out to be small enough or cute enough. Evoli, on the other hand, is cute and appeals to the public. Perfect candidate then? No, because it is considered too simplistic. Finally, it is Pikachu the big winner of this story: in addition to bringing together all the characteristics previously mentioned, it is yellow, a flashy color that marks.
Why Ectoplasma VS Nidorino?
First visible fight in the series but also in the games, it is about a considered choice. In the early 90s, Game Freak was working on the first game in the series under the name “Capsule Monsters”. A draft of a fight between two pokémons is drawn: its staging will be used for the intro of the first games. But the technical limits of the consoles of the time do not do justice to the epic side of the clashes. An animated fight in black and white is then staged, with a pokémon of each color to differentiate them: Ectoplasma and Nidorino, aggressive pokémons and being among the first imagined by the developers. Legend has it that this fight is a flashback to the clash between Professor Chen and Council of 4 member Agatha in the Pokémon League Finals.
Censored episodes
The series has been the victim of censorship on several occasions. Episode 18, Beauty and the beach, is not broadcast in the United States and Europe because of the disguise of the character of James during a beauty contest. Episode 35, The legend of Minidraco, is also censored. This time it is an ethical problem since a character points a pistol at Sacha. Rebelote with The virtual soldier (episode 38): Pikachu throws lightning at exploding bombs, causing several hundred seizures in Japanese youth. The series is then no longer broadcast for 4 months. Much later, episode 250, Such is taken who believed to take, is censored because the Lippoutou pokemon is considered a racist representation of African women.
Sacha won the pokemon league (!!!)
It took him a while, failing 6 times to place between second and sixteenth place, but Ash did manage to win the Pokémon League after 22 seasons. It was long. In his defense, he still won the Orange League, considered a “fake” league because it is absent from video games. The fans are sometimes hard …