Pokémon & You - Myles & Taylor

Hello everyone! Taylor and Myles here to talk all about Pokémon and the effect the franchise has had on the world and us.

Pokémon has a rich 20 year history behind it. Starting February 27^th, 1996 was the launch of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan on the Gameboy, with more the more polished Red and Blue versions being released in North America in 1998.  Since then it has spawned a long running game series and has developed into a multimedia empire. The year after it's creation, Pokemon spawned a long running children's anime. On the day of writing this blog entry, 922 episodes have aired in Japan. In January of 1999, the game moved to tabletops around the world as the Pokemon Trading Card Game was born. Today, 69 sets have been released for the TCG. From this point on, Pokemon exploded into all forms of media. Multiple spin-off games, including Pokemon Pinball, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Conquest, the infamous Hey You, Pikachu!, and the recent Pokken Tournament have been released. 20 Pokemon movies have been made, world championships for the more popular games and the TCG are held every year, and Pokemon merchandise has been made for everything one can imagine.

In North America, Pokémon is as beloved as ever. As said earlier, Pokémon debuted with Pokémon Red and Blue, followed soon by the anime, the adventures of Ash Ketchum. Followed by Pokémon Yellow in 1999 the franchises spot in North America exploded. Myles was sucked into the Pokémon vortex with the purchase of Pokémon Blue before he could even read. Taylor was forced into the Pokémon world by her anime-loving heart, then later reintroduced to her love of Pokémon with the release of X & Y in October 2013. 

However, no where in the world has Pokemon had a greater influence than in Japan. Japan takes Pokemon merchandising to a whole new levels and many of the best Pokemon players in the world are Japanese. Since coming to Japan, Myles has worn a different Pokemon shirt everyday and, everyday, the Senshu University students recognize them and comment about their interest in them. The characters of the Pokemon universe are instantly recognizable and have helped us cross the language barrier when communicating with our fellow students many times. One of the most interesting things we've been able to do is share the English names of Pokemon and learn their Japanese names in return. Myles' conversation partner, Takeru, told him his favourite Pokemon is カメックス (Kamex), which is Blastoise in English. Myles' knowledge of commonly used competitive Pokemon's Japanese names also helped him talk with Kazuki about competitive Pokemon at nomikai.

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to meet with the members the Senshu University Pokemon Club yet. However, today, we took a trip to the Mega Tokyo Pokemon Centre in Ikebukuro. Myles immediately ran to it squealing in delight as he caught a glimpse of the entrance and Taylor was right behind him. The experience was something a person could never experience in Canada. Every wall was covered in Pokemon merchandise. From plushies, to games, to clothes, to utensils, to chopsticks, everything you could imagine was sold there with a Pokemon slapped on it. While you might think Pokemon Centers might just serve as tourist attractions, this was definitely not the case. At least 80% of the people in the store, which was absolutely packed, were Pokemon loving locals (though I think they all had a laugh at the ridiculous amount of goodies in our baskets). 

Pokémon is such a huge popular culture phenomenon, it is simply amazing how far reaching the franchise is. Gotta Catch Em All - Pokémon!