Pokémon released a new video that celebrates 25 years of Ash Ketchum's adventures.
The nostalgic new compilation video was released through the official Pokémon anime Twitter account. The video features clips from all 25 years of the main Pokémon anime, ranging from Ash and Pikachu's tumultuous first meeting to his most recent adventures with Goh in the current season of Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series. The video can also serve as a retrospective for the entire franchise, as it goes through the anime's adaptation of each of the franchise's eight -- soon to be nine -- generations as it documents Ash's rocky road to becoming a Pokémon Master. The video ends with a thank you message for viewers who have joined Ash and Pikachu on their adventures for the past quarter of a century.
The Pokémon anime originally debuted on April 1, 1997, a little more than a year after Game Freak and Nintendo released Pocket Monsters: Red and Green Version for the original black-and-white Game Boy in Japan on Feb. 27, 1996. For its entire run, production of the series has been handled by studio OLM, the studio behind the recent hit comedy series Komi Can't Communicate and Disney+'s upcoming first exclusive anime series, the psychological thriller Summer Time Rendering. While a year separated the premiere of the anime from the release of the original games in Japan, the TV show premiered in North America just a month after Nintendo released the original games, now localized under the title Pokémon Red and Blue Versions, in 1998.
The celebration of the anime's big anniversary comes after The Pokémon Company wrapped up its year-long celebration of the video game franchise's 25th birthday. Nintendo and Game Freak marked the year by releasing a slew of new games, including Pokémon Unite, a free-to-play MOBA-style competitive game and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, a 3D remake of the main series' original pair of DS games. The franchise kicked off the year by releasing Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a new title that revamped the series with a new, more open structure, and the announcement of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the series' ninth generation of games, which is scheduled to be released for the Nintendo Switch before the end of the year.
The current season of the anime series, meanwhile, is being streamed by Netflix, which is releasing new episodes in batches. Matching the franchise's current nostalgic mood, this season of the show sees Ash and Goh revisiting regions and old friends from past seasons of the show. The last group of new episodes was released on Jan. 21; Netflix has yet to announce when it will release the next batch of episodes.
Source: Twitter