As promised in this thread, here is a thread about Pokémon puns, double entendares, etc.
Here is an episode guide. Pokémon is a TV show about a boy named Ash and his pals Misty and Brock. They travel the world befriending pokémon (superpowered animals) and battling other pokémon trainers (think cute cock fighting. No one ever dies or gets injured too bad.). The show is full of puns. I will mention three types.
Character Names:
-Ash Ketchum: Our main character. Ash’s job is to catch them. Ash Catch 'Em.
-Misty: She uses water pokémon and has a name that reflects this.
-Brock: He, at first, only used rock pokémon and, like Misty, has a name that reflects this.
-Pikachu: Ash’s first and favorite pokémon. It is a mouse (Chu=rat in Japanese) and uses electricity (a pika is a type of electric measure).
-Jessie and James: Two crooks named after an American bandit.
Title Names:
-Nice Pryce Baby: A take-off of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby. Pryce is an ice pokémon trainer which makes the job even better.
-High Ho Silver…Away!: The gang is on Silver Rock Island. The title refers to the Lone Ranger’s catch phrase.
-A Parent Trapped: A parent of a pokémon is trapped. An allusion to the movie The Parent Trap.
-For Ho-Oh the Bell Tolls: The bells only ring for the pokémon Ho-Oh. An allusion to Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Spoken Puns:
-Jesse and James rattle off a series of bad puns. Their partner Meowth slaps then both announcing that they have been “Pun-ished.”
-James appears wearing a very form fitting costume of a pokémon. Meowth “Where did he get that?” Jessie: “I think it came out of his closet.” (I can’t believe that made it past the censors.)
You do know that it was originally a video game, right?
In the very first Pokémon game(s), there were 150 (or 151) Pokémon. There have been a heck of a lot more added since these first two versions, but I’m familiar with those 150. Anyway, almost every one’s name is, to some degree of cleverness or other, a play on words. (The only two I can think of offhand that may not be are Eevee and Dratini.)
Sometimes the puns lose something in translation, I have to admit. I did like one episode (I think it was “Showdown at Dark City”) where they’re asked for their names and they make up names on the spot - Ash says “Ketchup” but changes it to “Tom Aito”. Misty says “Anne Chovy”. Brock says, “Cesar Salad”. That was cute, anyway.
I used to think Ekans & Arbok (snakelike Pokemon) were also exceptions until someone (OK, my 8-yr-old nephew) explained to me how the names fit very will. D’oh!
Whatever you think of the Pokemon show & movie, the games are pretty damn good.
But…Dratini is a tiny (or teeny) dragon-type Pokemon. And, Eevee EVolves into several different types.
I heard that, in the Japanese version, Jessie and James are each named after famous samurai. Hence, Jessie has a traditionally male name. Therefore, when translating the anime, they gave her the sexually ambiguous English name of Jesse (or Jessie).
I personally like the names of the cities in Pokemon…they are all colors–Viridian City, Cerulean City, Vermillion City, Lavender Town, etc. It’s really cute that they start out in Pallet Town.
That makes sense, Tamex. I thought there was probably something that I was missing.
Pokémon currently holds three of the 10 worst animated film slots on IMDB (see here). I am a bit perplexed in that #9 and #10 appear to be the same movie. But at any rate, the only Pokémon movie not on that list, Pokémon 3: The Movie, has the exact same rating (4.0) as tenth on that list, so it’s just barely not there.
I kind of liked the movies. In Pokémon 2000, there was a prophecy that when the ancient destructive force or whatever is awoken, that “the world will turn to Ash.” I figured out right away that Ash was the Chosen One, of course, but it was funny when they characters did. Ash says, “Well right now I wish my mom had named me Bob instead so I wouldn’t have to save the world!” So he sets off into the icy tundra, up to his knees in snow. “I feel more like the Frozen One!”
Yes, the second movie is full of puns and inside jokes, as well as the heavy Misty/Ash relationship subtext. That’s why it’s my favorite Pokemon movie (but just barely…I liked the fourth one a lot, too, and I wish it had gotten more promotion, because I think it could have re-legitimized the franchise.)
One problem with the movies is that they reuse voices too much. Ever notice how they will invariably meet a girl in a Pokemon movie who sounds just like Lina Inverse for Slayers? (I think that most of the people who dubbed Pokemon into English also worked on Slayers.)
Ever notice how all the professors are named after plants or trees–Oak, Elm, Ivy, Birch. Well…“Ash” is also a kind of a tree! Does this mean that there is a Pokemon professorship in Ash’s future?
I am list owner for a Yahoogroup called Pokeadults. If you’re over 18 and like to talk Pokemon, I’d love to have you join!
Aha. I wasn’t aware of the fourth movie. I see it’s just two tenths of a point from #10 as well.
Tangent’s joke reminds me of the episode “Island of the Giant Pokemon”, in which everyone visits an island with enormous animatronic Pokémon. At one point Team Rocket are running from a giant Pikachu, and they yell, “It’s Bigachu!” This is one of the puns that I think lost something in translation. Someone asked what I would replace it with. “Easy,” I said, “That Pokemon is so big, if it wanted to look at you, it’d have to Pikachu.” Or better, “That Pokemon is so big that if it wanted to communicate with you, it’d have to Raichu.”
Yes, there is a fifth movie, and, in Japan, at least, a sixth. They are so underpromoted these days that it’s tough to know when they come out! Only one second-run theater in my area carried the fifth movie, and I only knew to watch out for it because someone posted something on my list!
Oooh, all this Pokemon talk makes me want to get out my Game Boy Advance and play some Pokemon Ruby…but I have to go to work soon :(.
Some puns don’t translate well to English. In an early episode, there is a pun regarding mushi and ushi in the original Japanese. Mushi means bug, and ushi means cow. In the English, this became a joke about a “Cowterpie.”
And one of my favorite in-jokes is in Pokémon: The First Movie. Jessie and James watch the Pokémon cloning machine, and as shadows of Pokémon appear, they ask, “Who’s that Pokémon?” This, of course is a reference to the game played during the commerical break, in which a Pokémon shadow is shown and you are asked, “Who’s That Pokémon?”
This is one of the puns that I think lost something in translation. Someone asked what I would replace it with. “Easy,” I said, “That Pokemon is so big, if it wanted to look at you, it’d have to Pikachu.” Or better, “That Pokemon is so big that if it wanted to communicate with you, it’d have to Raichu.”