Anime is getting more popular by the day, and fans have begun to notice just how much more notoriety it’s starting to get in mainstream pop culture in the United States. But none of this would be possible without franchises like Pokemon laying the groundwork for this massive popularity. The Pokemon franchise is closing out the year with not only a new set of video games, but a new anime series as well so it’s going to take a victory lap around New York City as Pokemon’s popular Pikachu balloon will be returning to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year.
Pokemon’s official Twitter account confirmed the return of the Pikachu balloon as it will mark its 19th appearance in the parade overall. Cementing its place in the pop culture pantheon for another year, Pikachu’s yellow glory will be taking to the skies once again!
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Here’s looking at you, Pikachu!
2019 marks the 19th appearance of this familiar yellow balloon in the 2019 @Macys Parade, Trainers! Will you be watching?
🎈⚡️📺 https://t.co/3HX0Zhm3Dq#MacysParade pic.twitter.com/RQtocP9Lvx
— Galar region Pokémon (@Pokemon) November 18, 2019
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will be airing on the NBC Network on Thursday, November 28th (Thanksgiving Day in the United States) at 9:00 AM across all time zones. Pikachu won’t be the only anime balloon returning for this year’s parade either as Funimation has previously confirmed that their Super Saiyan Blue Goku balloon will be representing Dragon Ball Super in the parade once more.
Seeing the balloons float by is one of the best parts of the parades each year, and seeing mascots get their debut cements them within the United States as proper pop culture icons. Seeing Pikachu again will undoubtedly help keep Pokemon around for yet another strong year.
Pokemon: The Series is now airing new episodes weekly in Japan, but unfortunately has yet to be officially licensed for an English language release as of this writing. You can currently check out the first episode on YouTube, however.
Staff confirmed for the new series include Daiki Tomiyasu serving as chief director for OLM, Maki Odaira as series director, Kunihiko Yuyama as creative supervisor, Shoji Yonemura overseeing series construction, Shuhei Yasuda serving as character designer, Masafumi Mima as sound director, Yuki Hayashi as series composer. Voice cast members include Daiki Yamashita as Go, Yuichi Nakamura as Professor Sakuragi, Kana Hanazawa as Koharu, Megumi Hayashibara as Jessie, Shinichiro Miki as James, and Inuko Inuyama as Meowth.
