Pikachu's global adventure : the rise and fall of Pokémon
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Pikachu's global adventure : the rise and fall of Pokémon
Duke University Press, 2004
- : cloth
- : pbk
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Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Initially developed in Japan by Nintendo as a computer game, Pokemon swept the globe in the late 1990s. Based on a narrative in which a group of children capture, train, and do battle with over a hundred imaginary creatures, Pokemon quickly diversified into an array of popular products including comic books, a TV show, movies, trading cards, stickers, toys, and clothing. Pokemon eventually became the top grossing children's product of all time. Yet the phenomenon fizzled as quickly as it had ignited. By 2002, the Pokemon craze was mostly over. Pikachu's Global Adventure describes the spectacular, complex, and unpredictable rise and fall of Pokemon in countries around the world.In analyzing the popularity of Pokemon, this innovative volume addresses core debates about the globalization of popular culture and about children's consumption of mass-produced culture. Topics explored include the origins of Pokemon in Japan's valorization of cuteness and traditions of insect collecting and anime; the efforts of Japanese producers and American marketers to localize it for foreign markets by muting its sex, violence, moral ambiguity, and general feeling of Japaneseness; debates about children's vulnerability versus agency as consumers; and the contentious question of Pokemon's educational value and place in school. The contributors include teachers as well as scholars from the fields of anthropology, media studies, sociology, and education. Tracking the reception of Pokemon in Japan, the United States, Great Britain, France, and Israel, they emphasize its significance as the first Japanese cultural product to enjoy substantial worldwide success and challenge western dominance in the global production and circulation of cultural goods.
Contributors. Anne Allison, Linda-Renee Bloch, Helen Bromley, Gilles Brougere, David Buckingham, Koichi Iwabuchi, Hirofumi Katsuno, Dafna Lemish, Jeffrey Maret, Julian Sefton-Green, Joseph Tobin, Samuel Tobin, Rebekah Willet, Christine Yano
Table of Contents
I. Contexts and Issues
1. Introduction / Joseph Tobin 3
2. Structure, Agency, and Pedagogy in Children's Media Culture / David Buckingham and Julian Sefton-Green 1
3. Cuteness as Japan's Millennial Product / Anne Allison 34
II Global Circulation
4. How "Japanese" Is Pokemon? / Kiochi Iwabuchi 53
5. Localizing the Pokemon TV Series for the American Market / Hirofumi Katsuno and Jeffery Maret 80
6. Panic Attacks: Anti-Pokemon voices in Global Markets / Christine R. Yano 108
III Places and Practices
7. Initiation Rites: A Small Boy in a Poke-World / Julian Sefton-Green 141
8. Pokemon in Israel / Dafna Lemish and Linda-Renee Bloch 165
9. How Much Is a Pokemon Worth? Pokemon in France / Gilles Brougere 187
IV Pokemon Goes to School
10. Localizing Pokemon through Narrative Play / Helen Bromley 211
11. The Multiple Identities of Pokemon Fans / Rebekah Willett 226
12. Masculinity, Maturity, and the End of Pokemon / Samuel Tobin 241
13. Conclusion: The Rise and Fall of the Pokemon Empire / Joseph Tobin 257
Contributors 293
Index 295
by "Nielsen BookData"
