About the franchise
In February 1996, Satoshi Tajiri’s Pokémon Red and Green video game appeared in Japanese stores for the Nintendo Game Boy, one of the most popular game consoles of that era. Tajiri got the idea for a pocket monster collecting game since childhood. In his school years, the game designer collected various insects and came up with unusual traps for them. Tajiri had a huge collection of insects, and his friends even nicknamed him “Doctor Bug”.
The console game spawned a number of sequels, quickly becoming a major franchise and an international cultural phenomenon. It includes games, movies, TV shows, apps, clothes, toys and more. By 2020, the total value of the Pokemon franchise has reached a record $95 billion, which is more than the cost of Star Wars or Harry Potter, according to Title Max.
Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Series appearance
The story of the Pokémon anime series begins on April 1, 1997. Today, the show’s “Pokemon! I choose you!”.
The plot revolves around ten-year-old Ash Ketchum, who dreams of becoming the greatest Pokémon Master. He goes on a journey with Pikachu, the first pocket monster. Along the way, Ash is joined by Brock, the Rock Pokémon trainer, and Misty, a tomboy who trains the Water Pokémon. Friends travel around the country, participate in various competitions and fight enemies.
“Pokemon” series
Nintendo co. Ltd.
More than 1000 episodes have aired since then. At the same time, the production of new episodes continues to this day. Periodically, full-length films are released that complement and expand the plot of the series. The Pokémon anime airs in 169 countries and is considered the most successful video game adaptation of all time.
The fate of “Pokemon” in Russia
The series was brought to Russia by the local distributor of the board games “Sargona”, which sells cards from the collectible card game Pokemon TCG. The translation into Russian of the first two seasons of the anime was done by the Kyiv studio “Pilot”.
The Russian version of the series is a mix of American and Polish adaptations. Character names and musical variants were borrowed from the United States, and city names were borrowed from Poland. For example, Ash’s hometown in the Japanese version is called Masara (from the words “new” and “white”), and in the American version – Pallet Town (“pallet”). In Poland and Russia, this city was called Alabaster – from the word “alabaster” (white mineral), which is closer to the original version.
Nintendo/socialbites.ca
The Russian adaptation also includes local changes: the character Gary became Harry, and Pokemon Ninetails became Nine-Tails. At the initiative of the head of the ORT directorate of children’s programs, Sergei Suponev, the series took first place. shown On the main TV channel of Russia.
“There was a lot of noise in this series all over the world,” said Suponev. “It’s pretty harmless, actually. A sweet story about how a boy saves animals, teaching them to fight for good and justice. And there are bad guys who are sent to the zoo for big bucks – everything that’s scandalous in this movie.
Children from Moscow orphanages were the first to watch the series in the country and were very happy. Initially, Suponev assumed that there would be no wholesale “Pokemania” in Russia due to the different mentality of children. However, the release of the first two seasons greatly increased the interest in anime in the country. Until August 2001, 104 episodes of the series were shown on ORT. That same year, the documentary “Pokémon Hunt” was released, about the phenomenon of anime success.
Over the next few years, Russian fans watched Pokémon series and movies on VHS and DVD. In 2008, Pokemon returned to Russian television screens – TNT and Jetix channels showed the tenth season of the show. The series later aired on Gulli and 2×2, as well as Pokemon TV and Netflix.
Why has Pokemon been criticized?
On the one hand, the series has been highly praised for its handling of the right values, the absence of death and violence in the plot, the depth of the characters and the teaching of respect for nature. But viewers around the world also found plenty of reasons to criticize Pokémon. And Russia is no exception. There is a version that in 2001 Pokemon stopped appearing on ORT due to the death of Suponev, who introduced the series. Another suggested reason is the influence of the press.
Domestic media often presented “Pokemon” as an example of bad foreign animation and opposed Soviet cartoons. Some journalists wrote that “Pokemon” with the help of the 25th square causes epileptic seizures and “zombie” children.
In 2001, the media reported that after watching the 38th episode of Pokemon, dozens of children in different countries were hospitalized with epileptic seizures and neuroses. This was due to a bright screen flickering when Pikachu used one of his attacks – an explosion of red and blue flashes. They vibrated at a frequency of about 12 Hz for a few seconds.
Children reportedly complained of nausea, partial loss of vision, headaches and dizziness, and some convulsions, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. Japanese media dubbed the event “Pokémon Shock” and the flash episode was canceled in all countries.
Doctors in Turkey banned “Pokemon” because the series “takes it from real life and causes false heroism.” The ban preceded the trial of two Turkish youths who jumped out of the window to “fly” like cartoon characters. The children survived but were badly injured. However, Turkey The ban lasted only two years.
Scott Roth/Invision/AP
The animated series was also banned in Arab League countries due to its promotion of gambling and Darwin’s theory of evolution from which Pokemon evolved. Christian crosses, Stars of David and Masonic triangles, which are perceived by Arabs as symbols of international Zionism, also drew attention in the show. In addition to the series, the League of Arab States has the ability to display any images of Pokemon – clothes, stationery, toys, etc.
Cutting Series
At least ten Pokemon episodes have been banned for ideological, political, racial, and other reasons. 38 series was discontinued due to bright flashes, which, as previously reported, negatively affected the health of children. In episode 18 titled “Beauty and the Beach”, it became unacceptable for many countries, including Russia, for one of the male characters to wear artificial breasts at a beauty pageant.
Episode 35 of The Legend of Dratini was not shown in the US due to footage of the footage and several episodes that could cause negative reactions among African Americans. In one, Ash’s face was painted black.
Episode 377 “Battle on the Rocking Island! Burbock vs. Whiskash!” It was not screened because it showed an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Due to natural disasters in the country on the eve of the planned broadcast of the episode, the series was cut off and was not sent abroad. A few days before the release of episode 826, “Underwater Castle! Kuzumo and Dramidoro! showing a shipwreck, the Sewol ferry wrecked. This episode aired just seven months later.
Pokémon Hunt
In 2016, Niantic released the Pokemon Go smartphone app, which allows you to find, catch and train Pokemon through augmented reality mode. Players literally roamed the streets of the city in search of checkpoints, sometimes found in unexpected places like museums, cemeteries, and even churches.
The Pokemon hunt didn’t always end well: in 2016, Russian blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky was sentenced to three and a half years suspended prison sentence (the term was later dropped) for starring in the Temple of Blood in Yekaterinburg. The YouTuber’s case sparked wide public repercussions as the court found him guilty of inciting hatred and insulting the feelings of believers.
After the Sokolovsky trial, the State Duma proposed limiting the capture of pocket monsters to religious sites and burial grounds so as not to offend the feelings of citizens, but the issue was never considered. In March 2022, the creator of the game announced that he had left Russia during a special operation in Ukraine.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.