‘Pokemon’ Anime Shares Super Slick Mecha Nod

Pokemon is the peak of pop culture for plenty of people, and it seems the series just caught the reference bug. Not long ago, the franchise had its anime roll out a brand-new episode, and it saw Pokemon go full mecha on Team Rocket.

For those caught up with Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon, they will know what its latest episode got into. Fans tuned into episode 93 to watch Ash Ketchum put on a play with his Pokemon School companions. However, things got hairy when Team Rocket showed up like always, but the interruption worked out in the end.

After all, it is all because of Meowth that fans got their own PokeMecha.

As you can see above, a clip taken from episode 93 shows off the reference. Just to be dramatic, Meowth and Team Rocket fantasized an epic scene for the play where the mouthy Pokemon assembles his own golden mecha. The complex transformation sequence looks like it came right from Mobile Suit Gundam or Voltron. Plus, it seems like Masaaki Iwane was the mastermind behind the whole gimmick.

Yes, that’s right. The iconic Pokemon animator took credit for the technical transformer scene. The artist, who has been with Pokemon for many years now, is considered to be a legend by many. His fluid artwork is difficult to mistake, and Iwane made sure to put it to good use for Pokemon‘s latest episode.

Do you want Ash to get his own mecha suit now…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Not caught up on all things Pokemon? You can check out the official synopsis of its current run below:

“What starts as a summer vacation in the tropical Alola region turns into the next exciting chapter in Ash Ketchum’s quest to become a Pokémon Master! There’s plenty for Ash and Pikachu to explore in this sunny new region, with exciting new Pokémon to discover and interesting people to learn from along the way—including the cool Professor Kukui and the fun-loving Samson Oak.

More new faces will help guide Ash’s Alolan adventure, in the form of a group of skilled Trainers—Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles—and a mysterious research assistant called Lillie. Frequent foes Team Rocket have also made the trip to Alola, looking to swipe some high-powered new Pokémon. But they have some heavy competition on the villainy front: the ruffians of Team Skull, who delight in causing chaos and may have more sinister intentions…”