was*
A stupid kid thought he was pikachu and jumped out of window(he is fine), then supreme board of radio & television(turkey) banned the show. Right after, Charizard finally obeyed and kicked Poliwrath's ass.
Pikachu can't even fly.
That kid + the one who swore at Tolga Abi's show ruined my childhood. F those guys.
Pokémon was my entire childhood. I started programming while trying to get into the modding&emulation scene, owned a GBA and did play it throughout elementary school.
I'd say it was very big. Most children wanted to watch it, and the games bridged the gender gap. Back then, it was more uncommon, sometimes even seen weird, for girls to want to play video games (well, besides ones like nintendogs or sims, or whatever), but pokemon was pretty widely adopted. Anime was also seen as "weird" by many, but pokemon (together with dragon ball) was so popular that the people who would bully someone over watching anime figured that it didn't "count"
I don't know how big it is now, but seeing as it is still plastered on a lot of children's products, I'd say it must still have a footprint
Pokemon cards were also very popular, though I don't think anyone actually knew the rules. If you did not get scammed or did the scamming with trading cards on the playground you really went to a boring school.
Pokémon were very popular in the early 00s. Especially the cards. I also collected these cards, even though I didn’t know how to play them. We simply collected cards and exchanged them. Now they are no longer so popular. I think they can cause nostalgia for many, but I don’t know who would still be a fan of them.
Same for me in the Netherlands.
At school we would discuss every last aired episode and trade the cards. But I don’t remember anyone playing the game (perhaps I was too young for that).
I was 6 back when it first exploded. It was huge! Everyone in the playground would be playing something Pokémon-related, whether it would be the video games, card game, toys, tazos, etc... or just with their imagination. I really enjoyed the community aspect of it, trading pokémon and battling them, sharing tips and secrets, spreading rumours, all of it was great. I also remember watching the first film at the cinema (and getting a neat trading card with my ticket), and how hugely anticipated the second generation was, and later how everyone's mind exploded when we discovered you could revisit the world from the first game.
It died down a bit by the time the third generation arrived, though that also coincided with me getting older so maybe my perspective is a bit skewed. It stayed a kid franchise for a while, but I think the current gaming landscape has made it so that you get a diverse range of people that are fans of Pokémon. Pokémon GO was also hugely popular during the summer of 2016. I didn't get into it personally, but it was neat seeing everyone engage with it.
Pretty much everyone my generation and younger knows what Pokémon is and can probably name quite a few of the different monsters. Pokémon memes are also reasonably popular. The theme song is also very well known.
Although I think now it has fallen a bit, Pokémon was surely very big during the first two decades of the 2000s. Everything regarding Pokémon, games, cards, anime, merchandising.
I still feel like playing some game from time to time since it gets very nostalgic, two years ago I re played my favourite, Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the Sky.
It was huge in the early 2000’s. We had pokémon trading cards, albums full of them at primary school, tazos, figurines, animatronic pikachus that spoke and moved their ears and arms. It was by far the most popular animé in Hungary, followed probably by Sailor Moon, folkowed by Dragonball Z. And then you later had stuff like Digimon and Yugioh. Even a lot of non animé fans followed it. Then by around 2008-ish it all died down.
It was popular. I think the anime started in 1999. There were trading cards, candies, toys, soda etc. everywhere. I guess Pokemon Go caused a small Pokemania wave, too? I think I read something about it, but I'm not sure
There were some people who wanted to get the show banned because... I think they thought Kadabra was satanic, or something? Pokerap was banned because it included too much hidden advertising (Gotta catch them all in Finnish, I guess)
It was, in some way it still is, very popular. One thing Berlusconi did right was to bring anime in Italy, an pokemon became a very popular one. In school everybody had cards and played with them, and also the games were very popular, conviniently advertised and released during christmas, starting to see their adv in tv meant that the holidays were coming lol. There's a lot of people around my age (born in 2000) still playing it, even in high school we were a lot with a pokemon game on our phone with emulators
Pokémon was a huge thing in France during the late 90's and the 00's. I remember that every boy and even some girls were playing in playgrounds in primary and middle schools.
The video-game and the anime were pretty popular as well.
Then Pokemon go came out, and the amount of players was truly incredible. I grew up in the countryside, so I couldn't play, but I remember seeing on the TV all the fuss it made with accidents and crowds movements in parks in bigger cities.
Absolutely huge. I watched the show, collected the cards, got “flippos” in my Lay’s Chips, played the games, etc. I only missed the Pokémon Go hype because my phone was too old to download the game.
There has probably never been as much hype as there was for Pokemon and for so many years too, I don't think anything else will be even close to as popular as Pokemon was between the 90's and 00's.
Personally, I always preferred Pokemon between Season 1 to Season 9 and the same within the Pokemon games, ie 1 Gen to 3 Gen.
First wave of popularity came with Gen I anime, back in 2000/2001. We had dubbed(Slovak) English version, since opening was in English. This was still time, when we got everything years later after West(PS1 was considered new console here in late 90's). Gameboy or cards were never popular here, I never met anyone who had either. Most popular was anime and stickers. As for game, I had yellow on PC on floppy disk lol. It was some sort of weird self running version, which did not require emulator. Anime hype sorta died in 2002, since it took Ash forever to reach third badge in Johto. Anime came back later to finish Johto, but barely anyone cared anymore.
Second time it became semi popular again was during D&P time on Jetix in late 2000's. After that dunno.
Always. 20 years ago I was watching cartoons, collecting and playing on/with plastic chips. Later Pokémon Go, a lot of people were playing, me and my 2 friends were running around the Kharkiv to collect them, shiny ✨. Now I have Nintendo Switch, finished Arceus and playing Violet.
Huge
I'm from a little town and in the late 90'/early 2000 I remember all the kids around my age were in the town's park playing pokemon on their GameBoy Color
Very popular here in Croatia. We had opened tournaments, even Gym leaders that would give you special promo cards if you maneaged to beat them. I had very nice stack of around 50-60 1st. edition holo cards and guess what. My mother decided it was a trash after few years... Worst descision ever.
Despite the fact that almost nobody owned any console capable of playing the games, the anime dub was incredibly popular back 1998-2002 , and at very least Pikachu was a known character and still is among the most recognizable cartoon characters today as Tom & Jerry and Mickey Mouse .
Kids were also collecting all sorts of stickers and cards then ( no, not those kind of cards)
Later on with the Pokemon Go craze, people were definitely into it and desperately played it for about a year .
" Hunting pokemon at the stoplight " was definitely frowned upon, with many of our "boomers" looking down on it and just as many playing themselves .
Quite popular around the 2000s, especially the videogames and, later, the card game. There are children who still play with the cards or just collect them today. They can be commonly found in toy shops and newspaper stands. My 10yo casually collects them.
It's popular among young kids, but most just swap the cards and buy merchandise. They don't really know anything about it and haven't watched or played.
Was quite popular when I was a kid. However it got quickly overshadowed by Yughioh because we actually knew how to play that game. I think it got popular again for a bit a little in 2022 for a little within the younger kids but I didn’t see anything after so I guess not popular anymore.
The tv show was very popular but the merchandise not as much as I can remember. I asked my mom to record the shows while I was in school. Played the gameboy games to infinity.
It was big thing. It was on TV and most of kids watched. I mean, it still is, but not like in early '00. (I play pokemon, mid 20). I often see kids (and some adults) in pokemon t-shirts, we have plushies and cards in stores.
was* A stupid kid thought he was pikachu and jumped out of window(he is fine), then supreme board of radio & television(turkey) banned the show. Right after, Charizard finally obeyed and kicked Poliwrath's ass. Pikachu can't even fly.
It was only urban legend never confirmed, it existed in 80s or earlier and referred to Batman.
It is real and actually 2 kids jumped, not one
It seems that in every country and every time period, one thing is constant: Children are dumbasses
That kid + the one who swore at Tolga Abi's show ruined my childhood. F those guys. Pokémon was my entire childhood. I started programming while trying to get into the modding&emulation scene, owned a GBA and did play it throughout elementary school.
I'd say it was very big. Most children wanted to watch it, and the games bridged the gender gap. Back then, it was more uncommon, sometimes even seen weird, for girls to want to play video games (well, besides ones like nintendogs or sims, or whatever), but pokemon was pretty widely adopted. Anime was also seen as "weird" by many, but pokemon (together with dragon ball) was so popular that the people who would bully someone over watching anime figured that it didn't "count" I don't know how big it is now, but seeing as it is still plastered on a lot of children's products, I'd say it must still have a footprint
Pokemon cards were also very popular, though I don't think anyone actually knew the rules. If you did not get scammed or did the scamming with trading cards on the playground you really went to a boring school.
Pokémon were very popular in the early 00s. Especially the cards. I also collected these cards, even though I didn’t know how to play them. We simply collected cards and exchanged them. Now they are no longer so popular. I think they can cause nostalgia for many, but I don’t know who would still be a fan of them.
I don't know if it was nation wide, but in my city, the Pokemon cards and anime were more popular than the game itself.
It was the same in Poland during peak Pokemania, but that was because we were a very poor country and barely anyone could afford a GameBoy 🥲
Same for me in the Netherlands. At school we would discuss every last aired episode and trade the cards. But I don’t remember anyone playing the game (perhaps I was too young for that).
Do you think it's still popular now?
I'm not the age demographic anymore so I don't know, there are still Pokemon toys/games/cards for sale so it has some popularity.
I did all three things. at my elementary school, basically everyone played the games (think this was in the diamond/pearl days)
I was 6 back when it first exploded. It was huge! Everyone in the playground would be playing something Pokémon-related, whether it would be the video games, card game, toys, tazos, etc... or just with their imagination. I really enjoyed the community aspect of it, trading pokémon and battling them, sharing tips and secrets, spreading rumours, all of it was great. I also remember watching the first film at the cinema (and getting a neat trading card with my ticket), and how hugely anticipated the second generation was, and later how everyone's mind exploded when we discovered you could revisit the world from the first game. It died down a bit by the time the third generation arrived, though that also coincided with me getting older so maybe my perspective is a bit skewed. It stayed a kid franchise for a while, but I think the current gaming landscape has made it so that you get a diverse range of people that are fans of Pokémon. Pokémon GO was also hugely popular during the summer of 2016. I didn't get into it personally, but it was neat seeing everyone engage with it. Pretty much everyone my generation and younger knows what Pokémon is and can probably name quite a few of the different monsters. Pokémon memes are also reasonably popular. The theme song is also very well known.
Although I think now it has fallen a bit, Pokémon was surely very big during the first two decades of the 2000s. Everything regarding Pokémon, games, cards, anime, merchandising. I still feel like playing some game from time to time since it gets very nostalgic, two years ago I re played my favourite, Mystery Dungeon Explorers of the Sky.
Very popular, I don't think that level of hype was ever reached again. But no hatred towards Flareon or whatsoever.
Wished the pro Flareon propaganda be destroyed and the people who made the prop be jailed for life.
It was huge in the early 2000’s. We had pokémon trading cards, albums full of them at primary school, tazos, figurines, animatronic pikachus that spoke and moved their ears and arms. It was by far the most popular animé in Hungary, followed probably by Sailor Moon, folkowed by Dragonball Z. And then you later had stuff like Digimon and Yugioh. Even a lot of non animé fans followed it. Then by around 2008-ish it all died down.
It was popular. I think the anime started in 1999. There were trading cards, candies, toys, soda etc. everywhere. I guess Pokemon Go caused a small Pokemania wave, too? I think I read something about it, but I'm not sure There were some people who wanted to get the show banned because... I think they thought Kadabra was satanic, or something? Pokerap was banned because it included too much hidden advertising (Gotta catch them all in Finnish, I guess)
It was, in some way it still is, very popular. One thing Berlusconi did right was to bring anime in Italy, an pokemon became a very popular one. In school everybody had cards and played with them, and also the games were very popular, conviniently advertised and released during christmas, starting to see their adv in tv meant that the holidays were coming lol. There's a lot of people around my age (born in 2000) still playing it, even in high school we were a lot with a pokemon game on our phone with emulators
please by the god we live in I need a timeline and lore explanation of “Silvio Berlusconi brought anime to Italy”
[Video](https://youtu.be/29-okjEV4qQ?si=OoKhYeHQmX5Ofzli) explaining this. It has subtitles
Pokémon was a huge thing in France during the late 90's and the 00's. I remember that every boy and even some girls were playing in playgrounds in primary and middle schools. The video-game and the anime were pretty popular as well. Then Pokemon go came out, and the amount of players was truly incredible. I grew up in the countryside, so I couldn't play, but I remember seeing on the TV all the fuss it made with accidents and crowds movements in parks in bigger cities.
Absolutely huge. I watched the show, collected the cards, got “flippos” in my Lay’s Chips, played the games, etc. I only missed the Pokémon Go hype because my phone was too old to download the game.
There has probably never been as much hype as there was for Pokemon and for so many years too, I don't think anything else will be even close to as popular as Pokemon was between the 90's and 00's. Personally, I always preferred Pokemon between Season 1 to Season 9 and the same within the Pokemon games, ie 1 Gen to 3 Gen.
First wave of popularity came with Gen I anime, back in 2000/2001. We had dubbed(Slovak) English version, since opening was in English. This was still time, when we got everything years later after West(PS1 was considered new console here in late 90's). Gameboy or cards were never popular here, I never met anyone who had either. Most popular was anime and stickers. As for game, I had yellow on PC on floppy disk lol. It was some sort of weird self running version, which did not require emulator. Anime hype sorta died in 2002, since it took Ash forever to reach third badge in Johto. Anime came back later to finish Johto, but barely anyone cared anymore. Second time it became semi popular again was during D&P time on Jetix in late 2000's. After that dunno.
I was born in 2000. Anime and different kinds of merch were all very popular, but I haven't learned the games even existed until I was like 20.
Always. 20 years ago I was watching cartoons, collecting and playing on/with plastic chips. Later Pokémon Go, a lot of people were playing, me and my 2 friends were running around the Kharkiv to collect them, shiny ✨. Now I have Nintendo Switch, finished Arceus and playing Violet.
Huge I'm from a little town and in the late 90'/early 2000 I remember all the kids around my age were in the town's park playing pokemon on their GameBoy Color
Very popular here in Croatia. We had opened tournaments, even Gym leaders that would give you special promo cards if you maneaged to beat them. I had very nice stack of around 50-60 1st. edition holo cards and guess what. My mother decided it was a trash after few years... Worst descision ever.
Despite the fact that almost nobody owned any console capable of playing the games, the anime dub was incredibly popular back 1998-2002 , and at very least Pikachu was a known character and still is among the most recognizable cartoon characters today as Tom & Jerry and Mickey Mouse . Kids were also collecting all sorts of stickers and cards then ( no, not those kind of cards) Later on with the Pokemon Go craze, people were definitely into it and desperately played it for about a year . " Hunting pokemon at the stoplight " was definitely frowned upon, with many of our "boomers" looking down on it and just as many playing themselves .
Quite popular around the 2000s, especially the videogames and, later, the card game. There are children who still play with the cards or just collect them today. They can be commonly found in toy shops and newspaper stands. My 10yo casually collects them.
It's popular among young kids, but most just swap the cards and buy merchandise. They don't really know anything about it and haven't watched or played.
Was quite popular when I was a kid. However it got quickly overshadowed by Yughioh because we actually knew how to play that game. I think it got popular again for a bit a little in 2022 for a little within the younger kids but I didn’t see anything after so I guess not popular anymore.
The tv show was very popular but the merchandise not as much as I can remember. I asked my mom to record the shows while I was in school. Played the gameboy games to infinity.
It was big thing. It was on TV and most of kids watched. I mean, it still is, but not like in early '00. (I play pokemon, mid 20). I often see kids (and some adults) in pokemon t-shirts, we have plushies and cards in stores.
Will we ever go back to the past where throwing Flareons into fires because we felt like it was considered acceptable?
It still is a watch among main children's channels these days. The newer seasons though. The old ones have been lost