'Pokemon' Anime Draws Ire With Intimate Translation Blunder

Pokemon is living a busy life between its film and gaming pursuits. Not only is Detective Pikachu [...]

By Megan Peters

Pokemon is living a busy life between its film and gaming pursuits. Not only is Detective Pikachu set to hit theaters this May, but Pokemon's anime is more than 1,000 episodes gone at this point… but a recent translation blip on the show has gotten fans rather annoyed.

Recently, Japanese fans flocked to Twitter to give Pokemon the Series: Sun & Moon a hard time. One of the series' new episodes chose to use some lengthy exposition to hype up Ash Ketchum's accomplishments, but the summary messed up a major line.

You know, since it ended up comparing Ash's beloved Pokemon to actual — uh — lovers.

During the exposition sequence, a sentence was uttered which Twitter user @moa151 dictated online. You can read the blurb below:

"Through his adventures, Ash Ketchum has not only physically acquired various Pokemon, but has also touched their hearts. Viewers, how many friends and lovers have you captured so far?" (via Sora News)

If the sentence had ended at friends, netizens would have little to complain about, but the addition of lovers threw off most. Ash Ketchum may love all of his Pokemon, but there is connotation behind lovers that doesn't vibe with the trainer's goals. So, it did not take long before Japanese fans started cracking jokes the show's expense.

So, what do you make of this odd descriptor? How are you feeling about the franchise's latest anime run overall? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

If you haven't kept up with the current run of the anime, Pokemon the Series: Sun and Moon is described as such, "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..."

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