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Pokémon: An international cultural phenomenon (view source)
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Pokémon; a franchise that now ranks as the second best selling video game series in history per units sold, placing it behind only Mario. It is a series that has a decade-long anime and trading card game running in conjunction with it, and that has spawned numerous manga series. The Pokémon franchise is a phenomenon unlike any other, and one that has taken the world by storm since its inception in 1996. | Pokémon; a franchise that now ranks as the second best selling video game series in history per units sold, placing it behind only Mario. It is a series that has a decade-long anime and trading card game running in conjunction with it, and that has spawned numerous manga series. The Pokémon franchise is a phenomenon unlike any other, and one that has taken the world by storm since its inception in 1996. | ||
[[File:CharizardBaseSet4.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Charizard; the most sought after Pokémon card of all.]] | |||
No series can gain such a massive amount of popularity without being referenced or parodied in the mainstream media; and despite the fact it is clearly a series aimed at young children, many of these cultural references can be found in series that are unequivocally aimed at an older audience. Take "{{wp|List of Everybody Loves Raymond episodes|Hakidu}}", the seventeenth episode of the fourth series of ''{{wp|Everybody Loves Raymond}}'', which was first broadcast in 1999. A spoof of the trading card game, it depicts the titular character’s daughter trading away a very rare card for one much less valuable, the wizard Hakidu. Raymond discovers the value of the card after the fact and does everything in his power to reclaim it, even going so far as to enter a card shop to purchase a new one when all his other attempts fail, only to find out to his horror that the price of the card is close to $100. This scenario is a clear parody of everybody's favourite TCG obsession: obtaining that {{bp|Charizard (Base Set 4)|incredibly powerful Charizard}} which just destroyed every other card. The episode also mocks the rumours surrounding trades (my personal favourite was the kid who traded his Charizard for a {{bp|Weedle (Base Set 69)|Weedle}}), and the lengths parents would go to get one; individual Charizard cards often went for more than $40. Other appearances in television at the time included a parody in ''{{wp|The Norm Show}}'' (Season 2, episode 3: "Artie Comes to Town"), which looked at every kid's secret ambitions to be a Pokémon Master and stop the evil Team Rocket. | No series can gain such a massive amount of popularity without being referenced or parodied in the mainstream media; and despite the fact it is clearly a series aimed at young children, many of these cultural references can be found in series that are unequivocally aimed at an older audience. Take "{{wp|List of Everybody Loves Raymond episodes|Hakidu}}", the seventeenth episode of the fourth series of ''{{wp|Everybody Loves Raymond}}'', which was first broadcast in 1999. A spoof of the trading card game, it depicts the titular character’s daughter trading away a very rare card for one much less valuable, the wizard Hakidu. Raymond discovers the value of the card after the fact and does everything in his power to reclaim it, even going so far as to enter a card shop to purchase a new one when all his other attempts fail, only to find out to his horror that the price of the card is close to $100. This scenario is a clear parody of everybody's favourite TCG obsession: obtaining that {{bp|Charizard (Base Set 4)|incredibly powerful Charizard}} which just destroyed every other card. The episode also mocks the rumours surrounding trades (my personal favourite was the kid who traded his Charizard for a {{bp|Weedle (Base Set 69)|Weedle}}), and the lengths parents would go to get one; individual Charizard cards often went for more than $40, with some prices reaching over $150 for the 1st edition. Other appearances in television at the time included a parody in ''{{wp|The Norm Show}}'' (Season 2, episode 3: "Artie Comes to Town"), which looked at every kid's secret ambitions to be a Pokémon Master and stop the evil Team Rocket. | ||
One might argue that the vast majority of these took place when the franchise was younger and still considered to be a fad by children and schoolyards, taking over the reins of the "most popular thing" from Pogs and Yo-Yos. But in actuality, Pokémon's influence can still be found today. The 2006 ''{{wp|Robot Chicken}}'' episode "{{wp|List of Robot Chicken episodes|Cracked China}}" humourously examined the secrets of the ''Pokémon'' anime. The franchise has also been referenced numerous times in the iconic comedy series ''{{wp|The Simpsons}}''. Pikachu has been shown numerous times in passing, including a hallucination by Bart on one occassion (in "{{wp|Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade}}"), while Maggie has been portrayed as a Pikachu twice during the couch gags. As recently as March 2010, in the same week that {{game|HeartGold and SoulSilver|s}} were released in North America, Pikachu and Ash made a cameo in the beginning of the episode "{{wp|Postcards From the Wedge}}", distracting Bart from his homework and leading him to muse over the franchise's ability to stay fresh over the years. | One might argue that the vast majority of these took place when the franchise was younger and still considered to be a fad by children and schoolyards, taking over the reins of the "most popular thing" from Pogs and Yo-Yos. But in actuality, Pokémon's influence can still be found today. The 2006 ''{{wp|Robot Chicken}}'' episode "{{wp|List of Robot Chicken episodes|Cracked China}}" humourously examined the secrets of the ''Pokémon'' anime. The franchise has also been referenced numerous times in the iconic comedy series ''{{wp|The Simpsons}}''. Pikachu has been shown numerous times in passing, including a hallucination by Bart on one occassion (in "{{wp|Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade}}"), while Maggie has been portrayed as a Pikachu twice during the couch gags. As recently as March 2010, in the same week that {{game|HeartGold and SoulSilver|s}} were released in North America, Pikachu and Ash made a cameo in the beginning of the episode "{{wp|Postcards From the Wedge}}", distracting Bart from his homework and leading him to muse over the franchise's ability to stay fresh over the years. | ||