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In
1997 The Black Moon became one of the primary
websites in the Western world to inform people about
the little known phenomenon from Japan called Pocket
Monsters (or Pokemon as the Japanese call
it). We
reported on the immensely popular Pokemon anime broadcasts
on Japanese television, and helped to break the story
when one of those broadcasts resulted in an unfortunate
incident. In the winter of '97, hundreds of Japanese
television viewers watching Pokemon experienced epileptic
seizures because of the stroboscopic flashes of colored
lights contained in the episode. Suddenly the West became
aware of anime in a big way as newsrooms from London
to Los Angeles cast it in a negative light. Finally
in February 1999 Warner Bros. broadcast a dubbed, censored,
and totally re-written version of the Japanese original
on its Kids WB! syndicated broadcasts... and it became
an immediate runaway success.
That
all seems so long ago now. In the West anime used to
be appreciated only by a small circle of affcianados
who really loved and cherished the artform and its being
a window into the culture of Japan. Now you can purchase
anime DVDs at Wallmart of shows that are so heavily
edited you would never know they originated from Japan.
Rather than remove this page from the Black Moon, we
thought we'd leave it on our website as a testiment
to more innocent times.
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(The
article as it appeared, originally written and posted
in 1999)
Many
people outside of Japan are by now familiar with Pikachu,
the cute little fellow pictured above. He's one of
the stars in POKEMON, Japan's most popular
amusements and now America's number one cartoon show.
The video game manufacturer NINTENDO introduced
Pokemon to Japan in 1996, and in early 1997 the BLACK
MOON was one of the very first Web sites to inform
the Western public about the wonderful world of Pocket
Monsters!
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premier of Pokemon on U.S. television was a landmark
for Japanese animation in North America, and on November
the 10th 1999 another giant breakthrough was made with
the release of the feature length film Pokemon, the
First Movie (titled "Mewtwo Strikes Back" in Japan).
Now Japan's 2nd Pokemon movie, Revelation Rugia
has been released in the U.S. as "Pokemon 2000"... with
yet a 3rd. Pokemon movie now playing in Japan. Some
people are now under the false assumption that Pokemon
is a creation of the "Kids WB" (an error that Warner
Brothers is only too happy to foster). However, REAL
fans of Pokemon know that artist Tajiri Satoshi
is the creator of the series, and that more anime, manga,
and merchandise for Pokemon exists in Japan than will
ever be seen in the West. |
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There's
little doubt that Pokemon has taken the West by
storm, but despite it's popularity in the U.S.,
Japan is still the trend setter, offering the best
merchandise from trading cards to plush toys. Sales
of Pokemon items have exceeded $4.5 Billion dollars
in Japan since 1996. Tokyo and Osaka both have "Pokemon
Center" mega-stores where nothing but Pokemon merchandise
is carried (a photo of Tokyo's Pokemon Center appears
below). Pokemon
was essentially created for a Japanese audience
and it is full of cultural references that Warner
Brothers edited out. In fact, much of the show has
been altered and everything done to lull U.S. viewers
into thinking the fantasy world of Satoshi
and Kasumi (Ash & Misty) takes place at the
Warner Brothers back lot studio in Burbank, California.
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Pictured
at left is the Pokemon Center of Tokyo, if you're
ever in the area you should visit this collector's
paradise. You'll find everything from special limited
edition toys to clothing and Pikachu cameras.
Things
have changed considerably since Pokemon first showed
on U.S. television. It seems the anti-anime barriers
have at last been breached in the United States.
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Just
a few years ago, U.S. newspapers and televised news
shows were condemning Pokemon for having caused an
unfortunate incident of seizure among Japanese viewers.
At the time, the scandal hungry American press mounted
non-stop attacks upon anime in general and Pokemon
in particular. Many
of the voices in the U.S. who were once condemnatory
of Pokemon and critical of anime are now "singing
the praises" of Pokemon and lauding Japanese animation
as art worthy of serious attention.
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This
is somewhat cheering but let's remember who our friends
are. Two years ago (1997), the mainstream Western
press was busy maligning anime if it mentioned it
at all... while THIS Web site and others like it
were the ones to promote and glorify anime and manga.
We
hate to say "I told you so"... but... we told you
so! We've long felt that anime would eventually become
enormously popular in the West. Today Pokemon reigns
supreme in the U.S., with Card Captor Sakura,
Gundam Wing,and Tenchi Muyo now on U.S.
television. The fantastic Escaflowne series
was briefly on the air and unfortunately pulled, but
other anime shows are sure to premiere on U.S. stations.
While anime is not yet fully accepted or acknowleged
in the West, it is at last beginning to gain the significant
recognition it deserves. Give it a few more years,
anime will take over the world.
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site is owned & operated by The Black
Moon © Copyright. All rights reserved
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