Japan Releases Electrifying Pokemon Ice Cream

Following the success and popularity of Detective Pikachu, the Pokemon franchise isn't taking any breaks and is pushing full steam ahead with its next feature, a computer generated anime movie re-telling of the story of the first Pokemon movie with Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution. With a new film comes new merchandising and with summer just beginning, you couldn't for a better product than some ice cream to beat the heat. Placing the unofficial spokesman of Pokemon, Pikachu, front and center, the Gari Gari company in Japan is hoping to lure in customers new and old with this new electrifying flavor.

The ice cream itself will be released as popsicles with a lemon flavor, featuring both Pikachu and Mew on the front of the boxes. Gari Gari was originally created by the company Akagi Nyugyo Co, featuring a middle school mascot with a love of ice cream and a giant mouth to show for it. In Japan, the ice cream popsicles on their own sell for around 70 Yen, which roughly translates to 65 cents USD. The ice cream, based on the overall price and flavors, has become a mainstay in the country to the west.

While a lemon flavored popsicle makes sense to promote a yellow electric mascot, the company has dove into some seriously bizarre flavors of ice cream treats in the past. Weird flavors such as spaghetti, cream of corn soup, rare cheese, and white stew to name a few were released by the risk taking company. Fortunately, the company seems to be sticking with more common flavors for their promotion of the upcoming Pokemon.

Mewtwo Strikes Back follows the popular Pokemon protagonist, Ash Ketchum, with his friends Misty and Brock as they attempt to discover the mysteries behind this new powerful clone. Mewtwo, created in part with the help of the villainous organization Team Rocket, looks to use Mewtwo's power to take over the world. A battle ensues during the movie that sees Mewtwo come face to face with its "father" from which he was cloned: Mew.

Do you want to try this upcoming Pokemon ice cream? What on earth do you think spaghetti ice cream actually tastes like? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution will be directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Motonari Sakakibara, with a screenplay written by Takeshi Shudo. It will be released on July 12 in Japan; No word has been given about a U.S. release date or theatrical run as of yet. Invented in 1981, the ice cream conglomerate has become a staple in Japan with next to no promotion of their flavors in the west and there may be a reason for that.