Pokémonis easily one of the biggest media franchises on the planet, and a huge part of that is undoubtedly the series' presence as a long-running animated show. Pretty much since the start of thePokémongames, an anime series has runroughly parallel with the games it’s based on,and this has continued for decades. The adventures of Ash Ketchum (known as Satoshi in Japan) have gone on for well over 1,000 episodes, spanning over 20 ‘seasons’ or series. In this time, Ash has functioned much like other media icons such as Super Mario and Mickey Mouse – a static, mostly unchanging icon, aside fromswapping out a new hat once in a while. It could be argued this has been a great business decision – to keep the entire franchise localized on a single boy and his Pikachu in a world where everyone is evidently stuck in some strange curse where time doesn’t technically move forward. It’s also fair to say that not every series needs to appeal to anything beyond a child audience to maintain its success. But none of that changes the fact thatPokémonpersists to hold onto a growing fanbase that is not magically cursed to be forever ten-years-old, and there is a steadily widening void for content in the franchise of any kind to offer more depth and subtlety for both its younger and older audience.
It’s not as if the multimedia aspects ofPokémonhave completely ignored this void of potential. There have bee a handful of spinoffs and attempts to capture (or recapture) the attention of adults who grew up alongside the brand. But as these people have moved into adulthood, they haven’t really seen the series evolve intothe beautiful Gyrados they know it could become, seemingly content to remain a Magikarp. Merrily Splashing for its audiences as it grows ever fatter, the series only occasionally attempts a new trick now and again before resuming its routine. Miniseries likePokémonOriginsandPokémon Generationshave dabbled in trying to explore non-Ash-attached parts of the universe, running in essentially parallel versions of the world but still largely focused on retelling events from what little plot or characterization the games offer.
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More recently, however, the live action/CGI hybrid filmDetective Pikachuwas a startlingly fun injection of something the franchise has needed for years: an acknowledgement that adults lovePokémon, too, and that kids are capable of keeping up with more involved stories and settings if the series is willing to experiment. The recently concluded animated miniseriesPokémon:Twilight Wingsshows a brief but beautiful glimpse of what a modernPokémonanime could be – or what the games themselves could include, for that matter – if they are willing to treat characters in the universe as fictional people and not merely as props. It can actually be frustrating for many fans to see such well-produced pieces of media like this,including the recent music video collaboration with Bump of Chicken,because they offer such slim glimpses at a version of the loveable world ofPokémonand all of its potential as a multimedia brand. Disney’s brands like Marvel and Star Wars have adapted to their aging clientele to great success. And modern cartoons have more than proven that animation can be designed and written in ways thatappeal to broad audiences without talking down to them. It’s not as if thePokémonuniverse has no potentially compelling adult characters even within the canon of the games whose lives could be explored. And while these compilations of interstitial tales are enjoyable in their own right,Pokémoncould, if it wanted to, exist as its own ‘cinematic universe,’ with different characters from different regions all experiencing different styles of narratives in one interconnected world, instead of trying to show each one from the same point of view.
It’s not about people shouting about wantingPokémoncontent for adults, per se, but more that things likeDetective Pikachuwhich focus on adult characters is certainly a gap which could be easily filled and find an audience without alienating younger fans. Even the Pikachu depicted in the film is an adult - there aren’t any child characters in the movie - so it helps establish that kids are capable of enjoying content in that universe all the same. Most of theTwilight Wingsminiseries likewise follows the adult characters of the Sword/Shield Galar region as we learn bits about their lives and personal struggles, while still including a couple kid characters to round things out. These are great steps in the right direction,but this stubbornness to evolve and growis holding so much potential back. It would be much more edifying to see these measures taken either within the games themselves or in something adjacent or parallel to the mainline series. Even a live actionPokémonseries in a similar vein toDetective Pikachucould be an intriguing experiment - and at the least, we’re bound to get a sequel to look forward to. But even just an anime about characters who aren’t exclusively peppy children, in an interconnected plot (think likeThe Walking DeadorGame of Thronesbut family friendly) could truly elevate the engagement adults and kids can share together. This could provide an alternative to the community congregating primarily around the mechanics of the card and video games - spaces that orient around competition rather than shared storytelling.
At the end of the day, it is difficult to argue with millions of dollars of profit and worldwide recognition – The Pokémon Company might not be interested in trying new things or acknowledging the width and depth of its audience, and they have little motivation to from a business perspective. The recent ‘Journeys’ series might be anextremely slow stride in a new direction, at least. But when we see Bea training with herPokémonin the mountains, when we see various figures from the games colliding into conflict over legendary monsters, and when we see the detailed and plausible take of thePokémonworld expressed in live action, it is difficult to push back the feelings of’What if?‘and ponder how the series could be so much more than it currently is. And with its massive success, it isn’t as if The Pokémon Company is lacking in the necessary resources, and the increasingly diverse selection of merchandise shows they are well aware that adults really do exist in the world. Much ofPokémon’sfanbase has grown up with the series and remained attached to it over time, and yet the majority of content created around the series’ storiesseem to repeat the same old things. Recent steps for the brand’s multimedia presence, however, indicate a change in motivation, perhaps, as many people who were around whenPokémonfirst appeared from the tall grasses of their childhoods are now people working on producing modernPokémoncontent. After all, it appears that Ash Ketchum’s plight to continue his existence trapped in a child’s body doesn’t look like a curse that will be broken any time soon.
