It has been decades since the Pokemon anime debuted, and soon, the franchise will enter a new era. This month marks a milestone for the anime as Pokemon will bid Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu farewell. The big decision has put all eyes on the Pokemon anime, and of course, the team behind the show is speaking out in honor of Ash’s last moments. And in a recent interview, one Pokemon exec admitted Pikachu came close to talking in the anime like Meowth.
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The update comes from Kunihiko Yuyama, a director who has worked with the anime since its earliest days. Recently, the artist spoke with Animedia ahead of Ash’s departure, and it was there the topic of Pikachu came up. Yuyama said Ash’s partner was crafted very carefully by the team, but at first, he had it in mind to make Pikachu speak the same language as his trainer.
“At first we actually toyed with the idea of having Pikachu talk just like the Rocket Gang Mewoth does,” Yuyama explained. “However, we talked about how it would be both more realistic and more interesting if they had to communicate non-verbally, so that’s the way it ended up.” (via Dephender)
Continuing, the director said the choice to keep Pikachu from talking like a human was the right one. It forced the Pokemon team to get creative with the trainer-partner pair, and those interactions made Ash the charming hero we all love nowadays. “I think it’d be really difficult to find a pair of humans that can understand each other as near perfectly as Satoshi and Pikachu can, but I hope we managed to depict a duo everyone can look up to.”
Obviously, Pikachu and Ash have their own ways of communicating. There are no two characters in the Pokemon anime who understand each other like this pair. Even with their language and species dividing them, the two overcame the odds to become champions. And after more than 25 years, their journey is coming to an end.
For those curious about the Pokemon anime’s goodbye, Ash has enjoyed a farewell tour this year by way of a special anime. March 24th marks the boy’s final episode as Pokemon: Aim to Be a Pokemon Master will drop his emotional goodbye. And once Ash is out of the picture, Pokemon will kickstart an all-new anime series in April set in the Paldea region.
Do you think Pokemon made the right call with Pikachu? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
