Is Pokemon Anime? Ever so often, the debate around popular series surfaces over the internet. From Dragon Ball to Naruto to Sailor Moon, all these shows have been through the debate at least once in the past year. The debate is about whether these shows are anime or whether they are cartoons. And today, the popular series that has come under the radar of this discussion is Pokemon. So, if you too are confused about the origins of this show because it used to air on Cartoon Network, then no need to fret. In the following subheads, you will know if Pokemon is an Anime or not.
Pokemon first came out in the year 1997 as a television and animated series. Since then, the franchise has produced multiple sagas and movie series one after the other. Even after garnering such a large audience, its fans get confused when someone asks whether it is an anime or not. Well, skim through the following subheads and you will get your answers.
Is Pokemon Anime?
A simple skim through the Wikipedia page of Pokemon would confirm that your favorite Television show is an anime. The confusion begins when fans find out that the series used to air on Cartoon Network for the longest time. To elaborate on that, it should be noted that CN was only the western network that used to air the series. And even though most of the fans of the series are from the west, there is no denying that Pokemon draws its origins from the eastern part of the world.
To counter this argument, there is also the fact that Pokemon’s original primary website has Japanese Origin. Other than these, there is also one website for the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the creator list of the anime involves Satoshi Tajiri, Ken Sugimori, Juichi Masuda. This provides the ultimate proof that Pokemon is, in fact, an anime series.
Difference Between Anime & Cartoon!
It is quite an irony that the term anime originates from the English word animation. In Japan, all animation works, regardless of the style, genre, and colors schemes, all works are anime. Thus, if you are watching Bojack Horseman or the Family Guy in Japan, the people there would refer to it as anime. However, this is not the case with the people of the west. For the rest of us who are in the west, Anime is a Japan-specific term.
In the rest of the world, any piece of animation that draws its origins in Japan is known as anime. Thus, if any Japanese studio takes up projects like Futurama and Rick and Morty, then that project will be anime. For instance, Star Wars Visions was created by multiple animation companies from Japan. As a result, the end product was named an anime. On the other side, a cartoon is a semi-realistic animation style that can be from any place of origin.
In conclusion, Pokemon is indeed an anime series. All twenty seasons are anime, including the movies that came out in the meantime. Lastly, for more such interesting trivia on popular anime series, keep coming back to The Anime Daily.