This article is about the mainline animated series. For other Pokémon animated works, seePokémon animation.

ThePokémon animated series (Japanese:テレビアニメ「ポケットモンスター」シリーズTV Anime "Pocket Monsters" Series) is the mainanimatedTV series for thePokémon franchise that airs on television inJapan. It is based on thecore seriesPokémon games originally created bySatoshi Tajiri.

The television series premiered withPokémon - I Choose You! on April 1, 1997 onTV Tokyo in Japan, and has since aired nearly every week with the exception of a four-month hiatus after thePorygon incident and a seven-week hiatus during theCOVID-19 pandemic. The Englishdub premiered withBattle Aboard the St. Anne on September 7, 1998 insyndication inthe United States. The series has aired in 197 countries and regions in over 30 languages. Severalmovies andspecials have been produced as tie-ins to the series.

Terminology

In English,The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) generally describes the series as some variation of the "Pokémon animated TV series", depending on the context.The Pokémon Company (TPC) refers to it similarly, but does not avoid using the term "anime" to describe the series, unlike TPCi. Prior toPokémon Horizons: The Series, most of these terms were synonymous withPokémon the Series.

In Japanese, the Pokémon animated series is titledPocket Monsters, but is typically called some variation of theTV Anime "Pocket Monsters" Series to distinguish it from the core series games or the movie series. The official abbreviation for the series is (Japanese:アニポケAnipoké).^[1] These terms may also be used to refer specifically toPocket Monsters (1997),Pocket Monsters (2019), orPocket Monsters (2023), depending on the context.

Some examples of how the series has been described are listed in the table below:

Episodes

Main article:List of animated series episodes

In Asia (including Japan), the Pokémon animated series consists of 1,380 episodes across eightseries, with the first beingPocket Monsters (1997) and the newest beingPocket Monsters (2023).^{[38][39][36][21][40][22]} In Asian regions that use season numbers, the seasons are numbered consecutively across all of the series, with thefirst season ofPokémon Horizons: The Series being numbered as season 26.^{[41][42][43][44]}

• 
  Pocket Monsters (1997)
• 
  Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation
• 
  Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl
• 
  Pocket Monsters Best Wishes!
• 
  Pocket Monsters XY
• 
  Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon
• 
  Pocket Monsters (2019)
• 
  Pocket Monsters (2023)

In the West, the Pokémon animated series consists of two animated series:Pokémon the Series, which consists of 1,224 episodes across 25seasons focusing onAsh Ketchum andPikachu, andPokémon Horizons: The Series, which focuses onLiko andRoy.^[6][45][46] The seasons within each animated series are numbered separately, with thefirst season ofPokémon Horizons: The Series being numbered as season 1.^[47] It was initially shown under the titlePokémon; the termPokémon the Series was introduced in 2013 with the debut ofPokémon the Series: XY, with the episodes from the prior 16 seasons being retroactively grouped into five series, partially corresponding to the Japanese ones, in certainhome video andvideo-on-demand releases.

• 
  Pokémon the Series
• 
  Pokémon Horizons: The Series

Each episode is roughly 25 minutes long. Individual episodes generally follow the structure of acold open, theopening theme, thetitle card, the first half of the episode, aneyecatch, a sponsor listing, the second half of the episode (ending with a "To Be Continued" message), theending theme, abonus segment, and a preview for the next episode. In the English dub, the sponsor listings, bonus segments, and next episode previews are typically removed, reducing the runtime of each episode to around 21 minutes long. Prior toFear Factor Phony, the Japanese version did not use a cold open and instead had an introductory scene after the opening theme and before the title card; the English dub had already begun using a cold open sinceA Goldenrod Opportunity by moving the introductory scene to the beginning of the episode before the opening theme.

Characters

Initially, the main story of the Pokémon animated series revolved around the characterAsh Ketchum, whose main goal was to become aPokémon Master. During his adventures, Ash interacted andtraveled with several characters present in thegames fromGeneration I toGeneration VIII. By the time he left the series at the end ofPokémon the Series, Ash had become one of the longest-running protagonists in Japanese anime history.^[48][49]

In addition to Ash,Pokémon the Series introduced two other protagonists over the course of its run:Dawn, who shared the role of protagonist with Ash throughoutPokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, andGoh, who shared the role with him duringPokémon Journeys: The Series.^[50][51]

Pokémon Horizons: The Series, the following series, told the story of the charactersLiko andRoy and their adventures with the other members of theRising Volt Tacklers, who searched for the location of the lost paradiseLaqua and the whereabouts of theSix Heroes, a group of Pokémon that belonged to a legendary Trainer namedLucius. This saga featured a completely new cast of characters unrelated to Ash's adventures, as well as bringing a more linear plot. On their journey, the two protagonists encountered and interacted with some characters fromGeneration VIII toGeneration IX such asKabu, theGym Leaders ofPaldea and theElite Four of that region.

Protagonists in the Pokémon animated series

Pokémon the Series			Pokémon Horizons: The Series
The Beginning–Journeys	Diamond and Pearl	Journeys
Ash	Dawn	Goh	Liko	Roy

Availability

In Japan, new episodes have been broadcast every Friday evening at 6:55 PMJST onTX Network stations since October 9, 2020, and is also broadcast in syndication on other channels. Episodes are also made available on demand onYouTube,Prime Video,Netflix,Hulu,NicoNico, and several other platforms,^[52] and have been physically released on rental DVD byShogakukan. The series premiered withPokémon - I Choose You! on April 1, 1997 in a Tuesday evening time slot onTV Tokyo, and has only went on hiatus after thePorygon incident from 1997–1998 and during theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Previous time slots for new episodes of the animated series are listed in the table below:

In the United States, new episodes are made available exclusively onNetflix every few months. Episodes are also made available on demand or for purchase on Netflix,Prime Video,iTunes,Google Play,Hulu, and several other platforms, and have been physically released on DVD byVIZ Media.^[53] The series premiered with the 15th episodeBattle Aboard the St. Anne on September 7, 1998 infirst-run syndication, with new episodes being aired every weekday starting from the first episodePokémon - I Choose You! on the following day. Previous broadcasters for new episodes of the animated series are listed in the table below:

Internationally, the animated series is aired on various local broadcasters and available on various video-on-demand platforms, including Netflix.Pokémon.com publishes a guide on where to watch Pokémon animation in theUnited States, theUnited Kingdom,France,Germany,Italy,Spain,Latin America, andBrazil. As of 2021, the series has aired in 197 countries and regions in over 30 languages.^[17][11]

Music

The music for the animated series is currently produced and distributed bySony Music Japan. Prior to its acquisition byKadokawa, the series' music was produced by the record labelPikachu Records underMedia Factory. In the English dub, much of this music is replaced by original compositions.

Opening and ending themes

Main articles:List of Japanese opening themes,List of Japanese ending themes,List of English opening themes

Most episodes of the animated series feature an opening theme and an ending theme, with the first opening theme beingAim to Be a Pokémon Master performed byRica Matsumoto and the first ending theme beingOne Hundred Fifty-One performed byUnshō Ishizuka. In the English dub, these songs are replaced with shorter, original opening themes, with the first being thePokémon Theme performed byJason Paige. Shortened or instrumental versions of these songs are typically used in place of the original ending theme. These English songs are subsequently dubbed into other languages for most of the dubs based on the English dub.

Background music

The background music for the animated series consists of both original compositions for the show and arrangements of tracks from the video games. The composer wasShinji Miyazaki until the end ofPokémon the Series: Sun & Moon,Yuki Hayashi forPokémon Journeys: The Series, andConisch forPokémon Horizons: The Series. These tracks have been released in the following albums:

• Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack Best 1997-2010 Vol.1
• Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack Best 1997-2010 Vol.2
• Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack
• Pocket Monsters Original Soundtrack Volume 2
• Pocket Monsters: Liko and Roy's Adventure Original Soundtrack

In the English dub and those based on it, the score is often replaced with new tracks byJohn Loeffler,John Siegler, Manny Corallo, John Lissauer, and Ralph Schuckett until the end ofPokémon the Series: Black & White, or byEd Goldfarb, Akhil Gopal, Steve Mayer, and Geoff Li sincePokémon the Series: XY.

Staff

Main article:Staff of the Pokémon animated series

The series, along with the tie-in movies and specials, are primarily produced by the Japanese animation studioOLM. Until thefifth season episodeA Crowning Achievement, the series was animated usingcel animation; fromHere's Lookin' at You Elekid! onwards, all episodes are digitally animated. While much of the series and movies' production takes place in Japan, some parts of the production have been performed by OLM Asia in Malaysia, OLM Thailand in Thailand, or outsourced to other studios in Korea or China. The specific teams who have worked on episodes of the animated series are listed in the table below:

Over the course of the series,Masamitsu Hidaka,Norihiko Sutō,Yūji Asada,Tetsuo Yajima,Daiki Tomiyasu,Maki Kodaira, Jun Ōwada, and Saori Den have served as directors.TV Tokyo,MEDIANET, andShoPro are the executive producers for the series, while the Pikachu Project is theproduction committee for the movies. The copyright for the series and movies are held jointly byNintendo,Creatures,Game Freak, TV Tokyo, ShoPro, andJR Kikaku.

While the staff working on the animated series has changed over time, a few individuals and entities have been credited on the series across its entire run:

In the West,The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) currently oversees production and distribution of the series in partnership withIyuno.^[55]4Kids Entertainment initially licensed the series in the United States,^[56] producing the Englishdub in conjunction withTAJ Productions from seasonsone tofive. 4Kids was then the sole producer from seasonssix toeight, after which the show was produced by TPCi (then known as Pokémon USA) and TAJ Productions for seasonsnine andten. From seasonseleven throughtwenty-two, the dub was produced by TPCi withDuArt Film and Video. Since the beginning of thetwenty-third season, the dub is produced by TPCi with Iyuno.

Adaptations

Main article:Pokémon manga → Animation adaptations

The Pokémon animated series has spawned a wide variety of adaptations into manymanga and otherbooks: these include the manga seriesThe Electric Tale of Pikachu,Ash & Pikachu, andPokémon Journeys;manga adaptations of the movies;guide books;novelizations; andactivity books. There have also been tie-ins featuring characters from the animated series invideo games,TCG cards, and othermerchandise: these include the gamesPokémon Yellow,Pokémon Puzzle League, andPokémon Masters EX; a number ofPromotional cards; and lines offigures andclothing.

Trivia

• AnimatorMasaaki Iwaneonce stated that the animated series was originally slated for a 1½-year run, which corresponds approximately to the length of theKantoregionsaga (had it not been delayed due tothe Porygon incident).^[57] Due to its popularity during the run, however, the show was extended and continues to be one of the longest running video game-based anime series.
• In 2001, an average episode of the series cost approximately US$100,000 to produce.^[58]
• During the early episodes of thePokémon the Series: The Beginning, Japanese text was seen quite frequently on signs and buildings as well as objects. This usually resulted in the English dubbed version (and thus, foreign dubs based on it) painting out the text or converting it to English.
  • DuringPokémon the Series: Gold and Silver, the animators acknowledged the practice of painting out the Japanese text in the English dub. As a result, they used made-up symbols slightly similar to the Latin script instead of Japanese text, so it would be universal to all languages and would not have to be edited for the English localization.
  • DuringPokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire andPokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, the animators used a new style of symbols that appear to be blocky letters without a resemblance to any alphabet. However, most of these were still edited out for the English dub untilPokémon: Battle Frontier.
  • FromPokémon the Series: Black & White and onward, a full writing system was specifically created for the animated series. This language consists of three different fonts: a font used for titles, big signboards, etc.; another font used as less remarkable text accompanying the title font; and another font used only occasionally as a minor text filler. Each font has 26 unique symbols, and each one of those symbols represents a letter from the modern Latin script.
    • This text usually has meanings, as the symbols converted from the Latin script are written as romanized Japanese; sometimes its meanings are related to the context in which it is used, but sometimes the text contains hidden messages, like mentioningWobbuffet in a magazine seen inBW001.
    • This writing system would start being used occasionally in thegames as part of the scenario, starting fromPokémon Sun and Moon.

In other languages

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Anime on Pokemon.co.jp (Japanese)
• Animation on Pokemon.com

Related articles

• Differences between the Pokémon games and animated series

This episode article is part ofProject Anime, aBulbapedia project that covers all aspects ofPokémon animation.

• Pokémon animated series
• Animation