The story of the man who brought us Pikachu and countless other fantastical creatures to feature in an educational manga next month.
Many (if not all) readers familiar with this site, or modern Japanese culture in general, will be aware of Pokémon, whether through the games, cards, anime or more recently the augmented-reality mobile game Pokémon GO. But you might not be so familiar with the story of its creator, Satoshi Tajiri. That’s the reasoning behind a new educational manga detailing the man behind the (pocket) monsters that have gone on to be a cultural phenomenon and the second biggest selling games franchise in Japanese history after Nintendo’s Super Mario.
The comic, entitled Satoshi Tajiri: the Man Who Created Pokémon, (Japanese title: ポケモンをつくった男：田尻智) is aimed at Japanese elementary school children (who would have been born long, long after the first games in the series, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, were published way back in 1996). It will form part of a series of comics that introduces kids to figures from Japanese and global history, from late-period samurai Saigo Takamori and Sakamoto Ryoma to Cleopatra and Steve Jobs. The Satoshi Tajiri comic will be released by publisher Shogakukan next month on 16 May, priced at 900 yen (US$8.28), and is already available to pre-order on Amazon Japan (maybe on the shelf behind the giant, rideable robot).
▼ Satoshi Tajiri, the man who created the world-conquering franchise, in the flesh.
As well as covering Satoshi Tajiri’s early life, the manga will cover the period of his life where he came up with the creatures that would go on to become famous, even if they stole all of their creator’s limelight. For those unfamiliar with the background to Tajiri’s achievement, the comic will also include pages at the front and back detailing the history of Pokémon and of games in general in Japan, and also a commentary by the producer of Super Mario, and Representative Director and Fellow at Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto.
While the manga promises to reveal some of the secrets behind the creation of his Pokémon characters, the publishers are remaining tight-lipped so we may just have to wait until next month, in the meantime at least there’s plenty to keep us busy.
Source: Kai-You
Top image: Amazon Japan