How d'you get Pikachu onto a bus? Pokemon! (Pokemon)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Pokemon
Date:	08/11/08 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality entertainment for older kids

Disadvantages: Not suitable for the very young as lots of fighting

Pokemon is a kids' TV series, originating from Japan and based on a comic book of the same name. Initially just a cartoon series, it has led to a number of feature-length films, worldwide success, and the emergence of the spin-off, Digimon.

Pokemon became well known about a decade ago. I was at University at the time, and spent my afternoons with terrestrial TV on whilst doing my Uni work. When the kids programmes came on, I didn't usually switch over, and this is how I first watched Pokemon.

The show features a Japanese boy, Ash, and his friends as they explore the strange concept of the Pokemon, little creatures used for doing duels in order to win arguments and real life battles. Ash's Pokemon was Pikachu, perhaps the mst well known of all the Pokemon, and he was a small, almost cat-sized rodent-like creature. It's quite hard to explain really. He is more like an overgrown guinea pig or hamster!

Ash is given Pikachu as a child, and thus became a Pokemon 'trainer'. He takes PIkachu to a special gym to train him and take part in duels to win badges, an indication of how good you and your Pokemon are. Throughout the episodes and series and movies, Ash and Pikachu maked friends as well as enemies. Their main enemies are Team Rocket, consisting of brother and sister Jesse and James, and their cat Meowth, who is also the leader of the trio! (the plot thickens, no?!)

The episodes are highly entertaining, and the Japanese animation is solid and typical as you would expect. It's very good. It's interesting to meet the various Pokemon and see how they evolve and develop as the series goes on. The movies are also highly entertaining and generally involve a big storyline with Ash or Pikachu or one of their friends. I recommend this cartoon for your children, but it's probably best to wait until they're out of the toddler stage, maybe even pushing 8 or 10, as there is quite a lot of fighting involved in the nature of the programme and how the Pokemon evolve and get their badges, so this may not be suitable for the very young kids.

Summary: Good series of anime