Summary
- Pokemon remains the top-grossing media franchise with estimated US$100 billion in sales revenue in 2021.
- The newly established Monpoke brand targets toddlers and children with chibi-style Pokemon designs.
- Monpoke short anime series set to debut on Feb 19, 2025, focusing on Pikachu on Monpoke island.
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Pokemon has for long been one of the highest-grossing media franchises. According to Statista, a data company focused on research and marketing, Pokemon had the biggest all-time revenue, with an estimated US$ 100 billion sales revenue in 2021, followed by Hello Kitty — Disney properties were divided into franchises (Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse made 3rd and 4th places).
Especially after the 25th anniversary (also in 2021), The Pokemon Company has started investing more on different fronts, in order to expand the franchise even more. This is where the monpoke brand comes in, and also other completely different campaigns, like the Hatsune Miku collab (and maybe even the Pokemon Horizons series, the first main anime not featuring Ash Ketchum)
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On December 18, it was revealed that Monpoke will be turned into a short anime series, slated for February 19, 2025 in Japan. They dropped a video with the theme song, “Hajimemashite, Atsumeyou” (something like “Nice to Meet You, Let’s Hang Out Together”).
Plot, Schedule and Staff
There are 10 episodes scheduled, and each one will be five-minutes long and they will stream on the Pokemon Kids TV Japan YouTube channel. Reiko Yoshida, who previously wrote Pokemon Journey: The Series, is in charge of the scripts, and studio Fanworks (Aggretsuko) is handling the animation.
The story will be focused on Pikachu (as many Pokemon media focused on small children) and set on Monpoke island, filled with forests and beautiful beaches.
The Newly Established Monpoke Brand
The monpoke brand is initially focused on toddlers and small children (that doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy the cute designs). Here, Pokemon are designed in a “chibi” way, closer to mascot-focused brands (like Sanrio and San-X). It was firstly available only in Asia, but started expanding this year, collaborating with the French luxury brand Bonpoint and American publisher Scholastic.
When the expansion was announced, the international Pokemon YouTube channel released the Fun Times on monpoke Island web series:
So far, there is no confirmation of international release for the new series, but videos on Pokemon Kids TV Japan channel are not region-locked.
The new Monpoke short anime series is slated for February, 19, 2025.
