Board 8 > Why was Pikachu of all Pokemon chosen to be Ash's #1 in the anime?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I seriously don't know.
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They knew how well they could market it, and it sticks out for people to remember
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It was the most popular one. RBY had already been in out in Japan for years and they had time to gauge who to make the flagship character.
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Same reason why John Cena was chosen to be the top face in WWE.

1)Very marketable to both women and little kids
2)Provides inspirational moments/scenes about friendship and life that appeals to parents
3)Uniquely sticks out making it memorable
4)The product has a bunch of other more "badass" support characters for older males that want a more "edgy" character to root for
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KamikazePotato posted...

It was the most popular one. RBY had already been in out in Japan for years and they had time to gauge who to make the flagship character.

The anime premiered in Japan April 1997.

Pokemon Yellow was released September 1998.
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*Red/Green had been out in Japan for a year before the anime
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It was originally going to be both Pikachu and Clefairy, with Clefairy being the main mascot, but they chose Pikachu because it was more popular in the games and because they figured its image was closer to cats/dogs/etc. and would remind kids of a pet more.
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jcgamer107 posted...

*Red/Green had been out in Japan for a year before the anime

Ok. That doesn't explain how Pikachu became hot before the anime.
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if not for that, Pikachu would've merely been a counterpart to Sandshrew

messed up to think about

UF8 posted...

if not for that, Pikachu would've merely been a counterpart to Sandshrew

messed up to think about

lol
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Bane_Of_Despair posted...

They knew how well they could market it, and it sticks out for people to remember

Marketable would be my guess as well. Pikachu is also cuter than the original starters.
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redrocket posted...

That doesn't explain how Pikachu became hot before the anime.

he's a cute mouse and people liked him.
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redrocket posted...

UF8 posted...

if not for that, Pikachu would've merely been a counterpart to Sandshrew

messed up to think about

lol

not a joke though, they're both called the mouse pokemon and they're right next to each other in the pokedex with the same total stat spreads prior to gen 6. Pikachu was literally designed to not really be that unique.

redrocket posted...

Ok. That doesn't explain how Pikachu became hot before the anime.

KamikazePotato posted...

It was the most popular one. RBY had already been in out in Japan for years and they had time to gauge who to make the flagship character.

StealThisSheen posted...

It was originally going to be both Pikachu and Clefairy, with Clefairy being the main mascot, but they chose Pikachu because it was more popular in the games and because they figured its image was closer to cats/dogs/etc. and would remind kids of a pet more.

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UF8 posted...

redrocket posted...

UF8 posted...

if not for that, Pikachu would've merely been a counterpart to Sandshrew

messed up to think about

lol

not a joke though, they're both called the mouse pokemon and they're right next to each other in the pokedex with the same total stat spreads prior to gen 6. Pikachu was literally designed to not really be that unique.

this is blowing my fuckin mind
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Boys wouldn't like clefairy
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Kids loved it.

https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/08/17/pokemons-creators-on-the-anime-we-werent-really-sure-about-it.aspx

Our discussion began with a simple question: why is Pikachu so popular? "Probably thanks to Pikachu being in the anime and being Ashs partner," Masuda says. It wasn't Game Freak's decision to make Pikachu the face of the brand, he just sort of fell into it. It was the production company, OLM Inc., that made the anime who recognized the adorable electric rat's potential. "That was a decision, or rather a suggestion, from the company that made the anime," Masuda says, "They originally came to us with the idea that they wanted to feature Pikachu, because Pikachu at the time was really popular amongst kids in school. It is a hard-to-find Pokmon, so kids knew about it."

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