On 24th March 2023, TV Tokyo's anime "Pocket Monsters", the story of Satoshi and Pikachu, reached its final episode, and its 26-year history ended.

It is a pity for viewers that the popular program, which is supported by a wide range of age groups in Japan and is broadcast in more than 120 countries, ended. At the same time, starting a new story with new characters implies the staff's firm intention to create a new value of "Pokémon".

The "Pokémon" series by Satoshi and Pikachu is very familiar to me: many international students from various countries are interested in Pokémon, and the atmosphere in the classroom became more harmonious when I imitated the morphology of Pikachu.

The TV anime "Pocket Monsters" gained social recognition after the so-called "Pokémon Shock" in December 1997. This accident brought about a remarkable change in creating TV programs in Japan.

Even if the story of Satoshi and Pikachu, which has such social significance, ended, Pokémon will continue to travel the world.

Because "Pocket Monsters" is a work with a humanitarian and universal value that preaches the preciousness of living things through the mysterious existence of Pokémon. This value is focused in the final episode again, in which Satoshi said "I want to make friends with Pokémon from all over the world".

All audiences are grateful to Satoshi and Pikachu for their achievements in making a great presence in the history of Japanese TV and expanding the possibilities of TV animation.

And we will continue to pay close attention to the TV anime version of "Pocket Monsters" to see what kind of adventures and encounters await in the new story.

Yes, it is not the end of "Pokémon". It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is only just the end of the beginning of Satoshi and Pikachu's journay.

「サトシ君とピカチュウのポケモン」の物語の終わりと新たな旅の始まり

サトシとピカチュウによるテレビアニメ『ポケットモンスター』は2023年3月24日に最終回を迎え、26年の歴史に幕を下ろした。これは『ポケモン』の物語の終わりではなく、新たな旅の始まりの第一歩が記されたことを意味する。