In a blur of tiny hands, the deadlock of an illicit deal brokered over a nail-biting one-hour lunch period is finally broken. As one party hurriedly caches his acquisition underneath the sandwich in his lunchbox, the other broker tucks away his loot in his shorts.
This pokemon day the franchise will swap trading cards for birthday cards as it turns 30 this week, a milestone driven by an original Pocket Monsters launch in Japan that has grown into a global cultural phenomenon and is reportedly the highest-grossing media franchise in history.Helmed by the determined and compassionate Pokemon trainer Ash Ketchum and his loyal but stubborn “pocket monster” partner Pikachu, this Japanese IP has spawned a huge range of anime series, films, video games and merchandise. The now multibillion-dollar franchise began life as a role-playing video game series created by Satoshi Tajiri for the Game Boy handheld console. The first Pokemon titles – Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green – were released by Nintendo in Japan on February 27, 1996, followed later that year by Pocket Monsters Blue in October. Inspired by his childhood pastime of collecting insects in suburban Tokyo, Tajiri designed the games to recreate the childlike joy of exploring nature and interacting with bugs. The idea is to complete the “Pokedex” and, just as the games’ tagline says: “Gotta Catch ’em All!”Pokemon
Translate This Article
