Volume 1 (1999/2000)
Issue 1 (March 1999)
Issue 2 (Nov. 1999)
Issue 3 (Dec. 1999)
Issue 4 (Feb. 2000)
Issue 5 (March 2000)
Issue 6 (April 2000)
Issue 7 (May 2000)

Volume 2 (2000/2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2000)
Issue 2 (Oct. 2000)
Issue 3 (Jan. 2001)
Issue 4 (March 2001)
Issue 5 (April 2001)
Issue 6 (May 2001)

Volume 3 (2001)
Issue 1 (Sept. 2001)
Issue 2 (Nov. 2001)

Categories
Sport: 1 2 3
Lifestyles: 1 2 3
Commentary: 1 2 3
Review: 1 2 3
Writing: 1 2 3
Event: 1 2 3

Pokemon Mania

Cian Mulligan
Wilson's Hospital School

What is it about Pokemon that has taken such a firm grasp on the under 10 age group worldwide? Could it be those bright colours and flashy lights that shot the cartoon to fame in the first place by sending thousands of Japanese children into epileptic fits? I doubt it! You can see better explosions and special effects on your average episode of Coronation Street. But seriously, something on it must click with the late 80's and early 90's generation, or else why would a playful little creature that looks like a cross breed between a rabbit and a beachball and only says two words be one of the most marketable images on the planet?

Here are a few facts about the origins of Pokemon. In the beginning, it was a game, a Gameboy game at that. As promotion for the game, ads ran all over Japan that there were 150 characters to discover in the whole game. When the first few weeks sales weren't as astronomical (nice word) as the Nintendo chiefs wanted, its creator threw in his ace: there were actually 151 characters (just for the record, it was Mew)! Cue mass shock-horror among all. Then everyone started buying it, along came the trading cards, television show, toilet roll, etc.

There isn't so much in the cartoon series for people over 10 to take seriously, as Ash and Pikachu crying all the time mixed in with Team Rockets' rhyming couplets just make it totally incomprehensible (not to mention James from Team Rocket constantly straying into cross-dressing). And it also sometimes makes you think it has some kind of evil hidden meaning linked to the slave trade (characters trapped in little balls in a backpack and are called on at will by a trainer to fight?!). The voice dubbing does get quite annoying as well, while the pre- Matrix flo-mo shots around Pikachu doing his lightening bolt attack do bring on a few plus points. He can really be an evil little bugger when he wants to.........

Pokemon isn't just for children though. In America especially, it is extremely popular with the 15-25 year old male group. Mostly these are obsessive trading card collectors and more than likely the people you laugh at when you hear on the news that someone has killed someone for a rare Pokemon card.

So, in retrospect (looking back- I think) Pokemon owes its success to two main things: an ingenious marketing ploy by its (now fairly well off) creator, and, of course, all of this would go totally over the heads of children worldwide if not for a widely popular core character (who is not only loveable, but can kick serious ass when he wants to). And they don't even have to write good lines for him in the TV show. Although, if you look closely at the Pikachu on all the merchandise in shops at the moment and the Pikachu in the cartoon series, you'll notice he has been piling on the pounds a good bit since he shot to fame. Maybe that's why he's crying all the time. Ahh, the pressures of celebrity-cartoon-character life.

Back to the top