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Pokemon, the worldwide renowned franchise consisting of cute, tameable yet deadly creatures, began its journey 28 years ago. However, an interview with its COO revealed that the franchise is nowhere near its end. Another phenomenal series,One Piece, began just a year afterPokemon‘s emergence, but it might not outlast the latter.
PokemonandOne Piecedebuted in 1996 and 1997, respectively, but it seems like one of them will outlast the other by decades, asOne Piecehas already entered its final saga. Will any of them stay relevant for the upcoming generations? The COO ofPokemonanswers.
PokemonMight Outlast All of Us (includingOne Piece)
Takato Utsunomiya, the COO of thePokemonCompany, hada lively discussion with The Guardian, which revealed his future ambitions forPokemon.
Our goal is to keep Pokémon alive for hundreds of years – making sure it survives well past our lifetimes.
Utsunomiya further explained that in the past,Pokemonhad audiences consisting of younger kids and adults with disposable income, but gradually, thefranchise is seeing an increasein a family audience who enjoy the experiences ofPokemontogether. The COO also claimed that while it’s easy to track the reactions of adults with social media, the hard part is to keep kids interested.
Kids are very honest – they won’t play something they don’t like. If your brand feels old or boring, they will immediately dismiss it.
Pokemonhas done a very good job at always being relevant, especially in today’s world, where a thousand other options are available. In fact, some of the recent releases includePokemon Sleep, a sleep-tracking app, andPokemon Smile, an app that promotes dental hygiene. As days pass by,Pokemonis ceasing to be just a game and is slowly invading every aspect of our lives.
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WhileOne Piecebegan just a year afterPokemon‘s debutand is one of the most humongous manga/anime series out there, it has already entered its final saga. Even ifEiichiro Odamanages to continue it for a few more years (given how largeOne Piecesagas are),Pokemonwill still outlast it. While One Piece as a franchise made over $142 million, Pokemon is the highest-grossing franchise, which has generated over $105 billion.
Pokemonis Continuously Modified to Last for Decades
While the original 151 pokemons are still the most iconic and popular ones, the new crittersdesigned by Game Freakhave also been climbing the charts. Recent designs even show pokemons inspired by swords, chandeliers, and even ice creams. Utsunomiya thinks that it’s necessary tocontinue creating lots of new pokemonsas well as make them appealing if they want the series to continue for the next generations.
The COO also clarifies that the best way to experience the setting of each pokemon is to play the games as the company tries its best to treat them like living creatures. While the pokemons in the original game were quite different from their Pokedex descriptions, a newfound realism has begun to take the stage sincePokemon: Legends ArceusandPokemon: Scarlet and Violet.
Of course, it has not been a smooth journey for the franchise asScarlet and Violetproved to be underwhelming and buggy, along with poor technical performance, which led to severe backlash from the franchise’s fans.
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Utsunomiya revealed that the company always paysclose attention to the feedbackas well as conversations that happen in the communities, despite there being some aspects where they can’t align completely with the audience.
you’re able to readOne PieceandPokemonon Viz Media and watch their anime on Crunchyroll. You can play the latestPokemongames on Nintendo Switch.
Aaheli Pradhan
Anime Content Writer
Articles Published :1558
Aaheli is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with 1300+ published articles. With five years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. From Shonen and Shojo to the most niche anime, nothing escapes her radar. Her poisons of choice are Assassination Classroom, Gintama, Ouran High School Host Club and every Ghibli movie ever. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cats.
