Japan still loves Pokémon films News • News • Eurogamer.net

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Pet-fighting animations make millions.

Pokémon has become the most popular animated cartoon series ever in Japan, as the 11 films combine to gross over JPY 50 billion (GBP 246 million) in the region.

The latest film, Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet: Shaymin, was released in mid-July in Japan and has commanded around GBP 16 million. The story is probably about a boy with spiky hair who traps animals in balls and makes them fight each other.

Pokémon films have had a hard time in the West, but coupled with the heap of games based on the franchise and the television cartoon, the franchise is one of the most lucrative in the whole entire world.

Nintendo told us during E3 that the Pokémon franchise had sold 180 million units, which Wikipedia thinks makes the creature-battler second only to Mario in the grand scheme of things.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

Comments (14) Latest comment 4 years ago

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Dizzy #1 4 years ago

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Please note that Ghibli movies destroy Pokemon in revenue in Japan. (luckily)
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gingerlink #2 4 years ago

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11?
jeez...
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consignia #3 4 years ago

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Pokemon movies; Gotta Watch 'em All.
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LazyDan #4 4 years ago

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Hands up who went to see the first one at the cinema!

/just me then 15 ISN'T TOO OLD!
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sickpuppysoftware #5 4 years ago

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I didn't even know there was 1 let alone 11. What on earth could they say in the 11th film that they didn't in any of the first 10?
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Xerx3s #6 4 years ago

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Japan in: "we have no fucking taste and like absolute shit" shocker.
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Tuffty #7 4 years ago

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^ To be fair you could also apply it to this country as well.

Edited by 1 at 13/08/08 @ 16:55
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carrotcake #8 4 years ago

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They do a movie every year, but only in Japan do they still get a theatrical release. In the west they are still shown on cartoon network or something, and released on dvd in america. Not sure if they stopped the dvds in the uk. On the TV series they are probably approaching 600 episodes now.
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Zaltan #9 4 years ago

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I saw the first two Pokemon films at the cinema! I think i was 12 when the first one came out (I don't remember the exact year but I'm 21 now).
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ChthonicEcho #10 4 years ago

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And this has to do with the video game industry... what, exactly?

Either way, Pokémon equals pop music. It's stupid, but it's popular and highly recyclable.
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AgentCool #11 4 years ago

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I went to see the first one at the cinema and got my money back by selling the "rare" trading card I got free on the way in to some Poke-nut. The first two-thirds of the film weren't that bad from what I can remember but it trailed off from there. 5 on 10.
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JayeM #12 4 years ago

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I went to see the first at the cinema too. Quite liked it, but I was young.
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Redeye #13 4 years ago

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"Massive super lucky revenue booster, I choose you!"
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YourMessageHere #14 4 years ago

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@ Xerx3s:

Children worldwide in: "we have no fucking taste and like absolute shit" shocker.

Fixed =P
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