Pokemon is one of the biggest franchises out there, and it knows how to celebrate successes in style. This year welcomed several major Pokemon projects like Detective Pikachu, a new anime, and its first mainline game for the Nintendo Switch. Now, Japan is honoring Pokemon with a brand-new store, but fans are a bit freaked out by one aspect of the center.
And really, you cannot blame them. After all, it was the first Pokemon movie that told fans it was a bad idea to capture Mewtwo, and that is what this new store did.
As you can see above, Tokyo Fashion posted a video taken within the new Pokemon Center that opened in Shibuya. The location marks one of the latest stores of its kind to open in Japan, and its lobby includes a giant column where a scarily realistic animatronic of Mewtwo is kept.
The video shows Mewtwo in hibernation has he heals inside the tube. A slew of bibles can be seen flowing behind Mewtwo as he rests, and the figure appears to be bobbing up and down. Given the crowd surrounding the Pokemon, the installation is a hit with fans, but netizens have questions.
You can find just a few reactions to this column in the slides below, and they are all on the same page. For most fans, they are surprised the Pokemon Center would lock up Mewtwo given how poorly that went over for Team Rocket in the anime's first film. When Mewtwo woke up, he went on a violent rampage which cost several scientist's their lives. Clearly, the store was going for a nostalgia play with this familiar-looking scene, but some fans admit they are horrified by its canon implications.
How do you feel about this Pokemon display...? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Pokemon: The Series officially debuted November 17th in Japan with its first episode titled "Birth of Pikachu." The synopsis for it reads as such, "In a forest somewhere in Kanto, there once was a lonely Pichu. This Pichu – who was still quite young – had a certain encounter and farewell. This took place shortly before Ash and his partner Pikachu started travelling together. This is the beginning of the anime 'Pocket Monster.'"