132-537: Pikachu ( / ˈ p iː k ə tʃ uː / ; Japanese : ピカチュウ , Hepburn : Pikachū ) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak 's Pokémon media franchise , and the franchise's mascot. First introduced in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue , it was created by Atsuko Nishida at the request of lead designer Ken Sugimori , with the design finalized by Sugimori. Since Pikachu's debut, it has appeared in multiple games including Pokémon Go and
264-417: A cartridge , cart , cassette , or card , is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer , video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments . ROM cartridges allow users to rapidly load and access programs and data alongside a floppy drive in a home computer; in a video game console, the cartridges are standalone. At
396-454: A game cartridge . ROM cartridges were popularized by early home computers which featured a special bus port for the insertion of cartridges containing software in ROM . In most cases the designs were fairly crude, with the entire address and data buses exposed by the port and attached via an edge connector ; the cartridge was memory mapped directly into the system's address space such that
528-607: A ligand believed to provide better visual acuity was discovered by the Osaka Bioscience Institute Foundation and named " Pikachurin ", in reference to the nimbleness of Pikachu. The name was inspired due to Pikachu's "lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects". In 2021, the Chilean independent politician Giovanna Grandón famously went to many protests during the 2019–2021 Chilean protests dressed in an inflatable Pikachu suit. She went on to be elected as
660-458: A playable character , and in the Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament , in both its normal form and as "Pikachu Libre", based on "Cosplay Pikachu" from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire . Pikachu has also appeared in other games, such as Pokémon Unite , Pokémon Rumble World , Pokémon Go , and Pokémon Café Mix . Following the anime season Pokémon Ultimate Journeys , which concludes
792-559: A pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent . Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure is topic–comment . Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or form questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender , and there are no articles . Verbs are conjugated , primarily for tense and voice , but not person . Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has
924-475: A "games" module. Modules were not user-programmable. The Hewlett-Packard HP-41C had expansion slots which could hold ROM memory as well as I/O expansion ports. Computers using cartridges in addition to magnetic media are the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 , MSX , Atari 8-bit computers , TI-99/4A (where they were called Solid State Command Modules and were not directly mapped to the system bus) and IBM PCjr (where
1056-415: A "pet," believing that those buying merchandise would wish to have it in their home. Masakazu Kubo, a member of the anime's development team, stated that a "checklist" was involved in making the choice. He stated that their criteria required a warm design, a non-threatening color, a face that could convey emotion, a vocalization pronounceable by children, and a cute appearance, all of which Pikachu had. Pikachu
1188-562: A Pikachu as the main protagonist. The game Detective Pikachu features a talking Pikachu who becomes a detective and helps the protagonist Tim Goodman solve mysteries. Pikachu appear the games Pokémon Snap and its sequel, New Pokémon Snap , games where the player takes pictures of Pokémon for a score. A Pikachu is one of the sixteen starters and ten partners in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. Pikachu has appeared in all five Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting games as
1320-624: A benefit from the in-group to the out-group) means "[I/we] explained [it] to [him/her/them]". Such beneficiary auxiliary verbs thus serve a function comparable to that of pronouns and prepositions in Indo-European languages to indicate the actor and the recipient of an action. Japanese "pronouns" also function differently from most modern Indo-European pronouns (and more like nouns) in that they can take modifiers as any other noun may. For instance, one does not say in English: The amazed he ran down
1452-436: A cartridge is less than that of an optical disc like a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM . Techniques such as bank switching were employed to be able to use cartridges with a capacity higher than the amount of memory directly addressable by the processor. As video games became more complex (and the size of their code grew), software manufacturers began sacrificing the quick load times of ROM cartridges in favor of greater storage capacity and
SECTION 10
#17328526354151584-570: A companion for fans. She believed its frequent appearances in promotional material for the series additionally helped to serve as an anchor for the series, with its presence helping to draw people into the wider world of the franchise. The multiple aspects of media featuring Pikachu, including its popularization in the anime, were described as helping elevate Pikachu's appeal to a wider audience. However, Kotaku writer Patricia Hernandez criticized Pikachu's over-representation in Pokémon -related media, highlighting Pikachu's constant usage in marketing for
1716-589: A complex system of honorifics , with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned. The Japanese writing system combines Chinese characters , known as kanji ( 漢字 , ' Han characters') , with two unique syllabaries (or moraic scripts) derived by the Japanese from the more complex Chinese characters: hiragana ( ひらがな or 平仮名 , 'simple characters') and katakana ( カタカナ or 片仮名 , 'partial characters'). Latin script ( rōmaji ローマ字 )
1848-445: A custom " J-Cart " cartridge design by Codemasters which incorporated two additional gamepad ports. This allowed players to have up to four gamepads connected to the console without the need for an additional multi-controller adapter . Storing software on ROM cartridges has a number of advantages over other methods of storage like floppy disks and optical media . As the ROM cartridge
1980-414: A distinct language of its own that has absorbed various aspects from neighboring languages. Japanese has five vowels, and vowel length is phonemic, with each having both a short and a long version. Elongated vowels are usually denoted with a line over the vowel (a macron ) in rōmaji , a repeated vowel character in hiragana , or a chōonpu succeeding the vowel in katakana . /u/ ( listen )
2112-466: A form of flash memory technology similar to that of SD cards with larger storage space. As of 2024 , Nintendo is the only major company to exclusively use cartridges for their consoles and handhelds, as others such as Sony and Microsoft continue to use optical disc -based media for their consoles. In 1976 , 310,000 home video game cartridges were sold in the United States. Between 1983 and 2013,
2244-419: A glide /j/ and either the first part of a geminate consonant ( っ / ッ , represented as Q) or a moraic nasal in the coda ( ん / ン , represented as N). The nasal is sensitive to its phonetic environment and assimilates to the following phoneme, with pronunciations including [ɴ, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ɰ̃] . Onset-glide clusters only occur at the start of syllables but clusters across syllables are allowed as long as
2376-479: A listener depending on the listener's relative social position and the degree of familiarity between the speaker and the listener. When used in different social relationships, the same word may have positive (intimate or respectful) or negative (distant or disrespectful) connotations. Japanese often use titles of the person referred to where pronouns would be used in English. For example, when speaking to one's teacher, it
2508-633: A member of the Constitutional Convention of 2021–2022, and is known as Aunt Pikachu (Tía Pikachú) . In July 2021 during the Group of Seven climate summit, a group of protestors dressed as Pikachu demonstrated on Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth , while in November 2021, a group of activists dressed up as Pikachu to protest Japan's refusal to reduce coal consumption at COP26 . In 2016, the Pikachu , also known as
2640-500: A memorable character in the minds of fans. Matthew Byrd of Den of Geek noted that due to Pikachu's rarity in the original games, it led to rumors spread via word of mouth , which contributed to a large following behind the Pokémon in conjunction with its appearance in the anime, leading to it being a well-known yet hard to find figure. Its unique design and cute appearance were also noted to have aided with its popularity. Pikachu's role in
2772-442: A more masculine or feminine audience, leading to it becoming a more universal symbol. Pikachu's rarity in the games has been cited as part of the reason for its popularity. Zack Zwiezen of Kotaku praised the simplicity of Pikachu's design, describing it as "possibly one of the most iconic characters on the planet" due to the design's appealing features and "instantly identifiable" design. Dale Bishir of IGN described Pikachu as
SECTION 20
#17328526354152904-545: A process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items. Each Pokémon have one or two elemental types, which define its advantages and disadvantages when battling other Pokémon. A major goal in each game is to complete the Pokédex , a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading with other Trainers to obtain individuals from all Pokémon species. Midway through Red and Blue ' s development, lead designer Ken Sugimori felt that
3036-553: A puppet or a tennis ball. Pikachu's visual appearance in the film was built as if the character was an actual animal, with the visual effects team creating detailed skeletal and muscular systems for the Pokémon. They visited zoos and consulted animal experts in order to ensure Pikachu's movements were accurate to real world animals. Pikachu initially started with rabbit -like movement, but eventually evolved movement-wise to have characteristics of multiple species, namely those of marsupials and marmosets . Its eyes were inspired by those of
3168-408: A sentence need not be stated and pronouns may be omitted if they can be inferred from context. In the example above, hana ga nagai would mean "[their] noses are long", while nagai by itself would mean "[they] are long." A single verb can be a complete sentence: Yatta! ( やった! ) "[I / we / they / etc] did [it]!". In addition, since adjectives can form the predicate in a Japanese sentence (below),
3300-439: A significant presence in the animated series and remain an icon for the brand". For the 2019 live action film Detective Pikachu , the titular character was portrayed by Ryan Reynolds . Reynolds performed the character's voice work, and also did motion capture for the character's face and movements. Due to Reynolds not being on set, co-star Justice Smith would often act his scenes out to an eyeline representing Pikachu, such as
3432-428: A single adjective can be a complete sentence: Urayamashii! ( 羨ましい! ) "[I'm] jealous [about it]!". While the language has some words that are typically translated as pronouns, these are not used as frequently as pronouns in some Indo-European languages, and function differently. In some cases, Japanese relies on special verb forms and auxiliary verbs to indicate the direction of benefit of an action: "down" to indicate
3564-543: A single color identity chosen to work within the Super Game Boy 's hardware limitations. Afterwards, the design was finalized by Sugimori who, towards the end of development, drew the promotional art of all the species to give them a unified look and make any last-minute changes. Standing 1 ft 4 in (41 cm), Pikachu is a bipedal rodent with long ears and feet but short arms. It has yellow skin, long pointed ears that end in black tips, red cheek sacs, and
3696-518: A sound effect used to represent animal cries in the games. This cry had previously been used to represent Pikachu audibly in the main series games prior to X and Y . Other voice actors have voiced Pikachu in English. Kate Bristol briefly portrayed the role in Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! , for a line of dialogue where Pikachu talks to Ash, with Bristol stating she attempted to emulate Ōtani's portrayal for
3828-1009: A starter in one of its two versions. This starter Pikachu has access to several secret techniques and exclusive moves, which are used to progress throughout the game. Seven forms of Pikachu, which wore caps belonging to Ash Ketchum across different seasons of the anime, were released in the games Pokémon Sun and Moon as well as their Ultra versions via special event distributions, with another round of distributions in Pokémon Sword and Shield additionally adding one with Ash's cap from Pokémon Journeys: The Series . Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire introduced five new forms of Pikachu, labelled "Cosplay Pikachu" which wore different outfits and could be used in in-game competitions known as "Pokémon Contests." Pokémon Sun and Moon games also introduced two Z-Crystals exclusive to Pikachu, which allow Pikachu to use special, one-time use attacks that are more powerful than standard attacks. Outside of
3960-463: A tail shaped after a lightning bolt. It has a black pattern on its back, as Nishida felt since this part of the character would face the player during gameplay, it "would be better to put something there rather than having it be perfectly smooth." While preliminary designs took inspiration from mice or rabbits, as the Pokémon Rattata already existed at this point in development she instead modeled
4092-477: A tiger with huge breasts. It looked like a character from the musical Cats . " Taken aback, he had asked them how it was supposed to be Pikachu, and in response they pointed to the character's tail. This suggestion was scrapped, and Pikachu used the same design in the west as it did in Japan. However, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata recalled the events differently. At the time, Iwata was working at HAL Laboratory , and one of
Pikachu - Misplaced Pages Continue
4224-689: A total of 2,910.72 million software cartridges had been sold for Nintendo consoles . ROM cartridges can not only carry software, but additional hardware expansions as well. Examples include various cartridge-based chips on the Super NES , the SVP chip in the Sega Genesis version of Virtua Racing , and a chess module in the Magnavox Odyssey² . Micro Machines 2 on the Genesis/Mega Drive used
4356-624: Is compressed rather than protruded , or simply unrounded. Some Japanese consonants have several allophones , which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. However, some of these allophones have since become phonemic. For example, in the Japanese language up to and including the first half of the 20th century, the phonemic sequence /ti/ was palatalized and realized phonetically as [tɕi] , approximately chi ( listen ) ; however, now [ti] and [tɕi] are distinct, as evidenced by words like tī [tiː] "Western-style tea" and chii [tɕii] "social status". The "r" of
4488-445: Is also seen in o-medetō "congratulations", from medetaku ). Late Middle Japanese has the first loanwords from European languages – now-common words borrowed into Japanese in this period include pan ("bread") and tabako ("tobacco", now "cigarette"), both from Portuguese . Modern Japanese is considered to begin with the Edo period (which spanned from 1603 to 1867). Since Old Japanese,
4620-519: Is also used in a limited fashion (such as for imported acronyms) in Japanese writing. The numeral system uses mostly Arabic numerals , but also traditional Chinese numerals . Proto-Japonic , the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , is thought to have been brought to Japan by settlers coming from the Korean peninsula sometime in the early- to mid-4th century BC (the Yayoi period ), replacing
4752-440: Is appropriate to use sensei ( 先生 , "teacher"), but inappropriate to use anata . This is because anata is used to refer to people of equal or lower status, and one's teacher has higher status. Japanese nouns have no grammatical number, gender or article aspect. The noun hon ( 本 ) may refer to a single book or several books; hito ( 人 ) can mean "person" or "people", and ki ( 木 ) can be "tree" or "trees". Where number
4884-684: Is associated with comedy (see Kansai dialect ). Dialects of Tōhoku and North Kantō are associated with typical farmers. The Ryūkyūan languages, spoken in Okinawa and the Amami Islands (administratively part of Kagoshima ), are distinct enough to be considered a separate branch of the Japonic family; not only is each language unintelligible to Japanese speakers, but most are unintelligible to those who speak other Ryūkyūan languages. However, in contrast to linguists, many ordinary Japanese people tend to consider
5016-462: Is better documentation of Late Middle Japanese phonology than for previous forms (for instance, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ). Among other sound changes, the sequence /au/ merges to /ɔː/ , in contrast with /oː/ ; /p/ is reintroduced from Chinese; and /we/ merges with /je/ . Some forms rather more familiar to Modern Japanese speakers begin to appear – the continuative ending - te begins to reduce onto
5148-509: Is correlated with the sex of the speaker and the social situation in which they are spoken: men and women alike in a formal situation generally refer to themselves as watashi ( 私 , literally "private") or watakushi (also 私 , hyper-polite form), while men in rougher or intimate conversation are much more likely to use the word ore ( 俺 "oneself", "myself") or boku . Similarly, different words such as anata , kimi , and omae ( お前 , more formally 御前 "the one before me") may refer to
5280-406: Is given to the player as their first Pokémon. Based on Ash Ketchum's Pikachu from the Pokémon anime, it refuses to stay in its Poké Ball , and instead follows the main character around on screen. The player character can speak to it, and it displays different reactions depending on how it is treated. Pokémon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! , which are inspired by Yellow , have Pikachu as
5412-417: Is important, it can be indicated by providing a quantity (often with a counter word ) or (rarely) by adding a suffix, or sometimes by duplication (e.g. 人人 , hitobito , usually written with an iteration mark as 人々 ). Words for people are usually understood as singular. Thus Tanaka-san usually means Mx Tanaka . Words that refer to people and animals can be made to indicate a group of individuals through
Pikachu - Misplaced Pages Continue
5544-722: Is less common. In terms of mutual intelligibility , a survey in 1967 found that the four most unintelligible dialects (excluding Ryūkyūan languages and Tōhoku dialects ) to students from Greater Tokyo were the Kiso dialect (in the deep mountains of Nagano Prefecture ), the Himi dialect (in Toyama Prefecture ), the Kagoshima dialect and the Maniwa dialect (in Okayama Prefecture ). The survey
5676-694: Is memory mapped into the system's normal address space, software stored in the ROM can be read like normal memory; since the system does not have to transfer data from slower media, it allows for nearly instant load time and code execution. Software run directly from ROM typically uses less RAM, leaving memory free for other processes. While the standard size of optical media dictates a minimum size for devices which can read discs, ROM cartridges can be manufactured in different sizes, allowing for smaller devices like handheld game systems . ROM cartridges can be damaged, but they are generally more robust and resistant to damage than optical media; accumulation of dirt and dust on
5808-420: Is often called a topic-prominent language , which means it has a strong tendency to indicate the topic separately from the subject, and that the two do not always coincide. The sentence Zō wa hana ga nagai ( 象は鼻が長い ) literally means, "As for elephant(s), (the) nose(s) (is/are) long". The topic is zō "elephant", and the subject is hana "nose". Japanese grammar tends toward brevity; the subject or object of
5940-489: Is preserved in words such as matsuge ("eyelash", lit. "hair of the eye"); modern mieru ("to be visible") and kikoeru ("to be audible") retain a mediopassive suffix - yu(ru) ( kikoyu → kikoyuru (the attributive form, which slowly replaced the plain form starting in the late Heian period) → kikoeru (all verbs with the shimo-nidan conjugation pattern underwent this same shift in Early Modern Japanese )); and
6072-402: Is the version of Japanese discussed in this article. Formerly, standard Japanese in writing ( 文語 , bungo , "literary language") was different from colloquial language ( 口語 , kōgo ) . The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and
6204-471: Is used for the present and the future. For verbs that represent an ongoing process, the -te iru form indicates a continuous (or progressive) aspect , similar to the suffix ing in English. For others that represent a change of state, the -te iru form indicates a perfect aspect. For example, kite iru means "They have come (and are still here)", but tabete iru means "They are eating". Questions (both with an interrogative pronoun and yes/no questions) have
6336-405: Is why some linguists do not classify Japanese "pronouns" as pronouns, but rather as referential nouns, much like Spanish usted (contracted from vuestra merced , "your ( majestic plural ) grace") or Portuguese você (from vossa mercê ). Japanese personal pronouns are generally used only in situations requiring special emphasis as to who is doing what to whom. The choice of words used as pronouns
6468-602: The Pokémon media franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo , the Japanese franchise began in 1996 with the video games Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy , which were later released in North America as Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998. In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture and use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon. Some Pokémon can transform into stronger species through
6600-567: The Pokémon Trading Card Game , as well as various merchandise. While Pikachu has been primarily voiced in media by Ikue Ōtani , other actors have also voiced the character including Kate Bristol, Ryan Reynolds , Kaiji Tang , Hidetoshi Nishijima , Tōru Ōkawa , and Koichi Yamadera . Classified as an Electric-type Pokémon, Pikachu is a large yellow mouse with a lightning bolt-shaped tail, and red sacs on its cheek which can generate large amounts of electricity. Originally designed to be
6732-450: The 2014 FIFA World Cup . ANA Boeing 747-400 (JA8962) planes have been covered with images of Pokémon including Pikachu since 1998. In 2021, the first Pokémon Jet ( Boeing 747-400D ) featuring entirely Pikachu debuted. Pikachu has been well-received by reviewers; it was ranked as the "second best person of the year" by Time in 1999, who called it "the most beloved animated character since Hello Kitty ". The magazine noted Pikachu as
SECTION 50
#17328526354156864-505: The Japonic language family, which also includes the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands . As these closely related languages are commonly treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is sometimes called a language isolate . According to Martine Irma Robbeets , Japanese has been subject to more attempts to show its relation to other languages than any other language in
6996-585: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2001, with different balloon designs being introduced since. Pikachu was the subject of an internet meme , known as "Surprised Pikachu," where a screencap of Pikachu looking shocked in an episode of the anime is used as a reaction image . Collectible cards featuring Pikachu have appeared since the initial Pokémon Trading Card Game released in October 1996, including limited edition promotional cards. One of these collectible cards
7128-504: The Philippines , and various Pacific islands, locals in those countries learned Japanese as the language of the empire. As a result, many elderly people in these countries can still speak Japanese. Japanese emigrant communities (the largest of which are to be found in Brazil , with 1.4 million to 1.5 million Japanese immigrants and descendants, according to Brazilian IBGE data, more than
7260-540: The Pokemonument , a fiberglass sculpture depicting Pikachu by an unknown artist, was installed in Lower Garden District , a New Orleans neighborhood. Within a few days, the sculpture was vandalized by someone with a baseball bat, but repaired. Some two weeks after its placement, the "Pokemonument" was removed, and an online statement from the artist said that the artwork would be auctioned to benefit restoration of
7392-508: The Ryukyuan languages and the variously classified Hachijō language . There have been many attempts to group the Japonic languages with other families such as the Ainu , Austronesian , Koreanic , and the now-discredited Altaic , but none of these proposals have gained any widespread acceptance. Little is known of the language's prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from
7524-716: The United States (notably in Hawaii , where 16.7% of the population has Japanese ancestry, and California ), and the Philippines (particularly in Davao Region and the Province of Laguna ). Japanese has no official status in Japan, but is the de facto national language of the country. There is a form of the language considered standard : hyōjungo ( 標準語 ) , meaning "standard Japanese", or kyōtsūgo ( 共通語 ) , "common language", or even "Tokyo dialect" at times. The meanings of
7656-794: The de facto standard Japanese had been the Kansai dialect , especially that of Kyoto . However, during the Edo period, Edo (now Tokyo) developed into the largest city in Japan, and the Edo-area dialect became standard Japanese. Since the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages has increased significantly. The period since 1945 has seen many words borrowed from other languages—such as German, Portuguese and English. Many English loan words especially relate to technology—for example, pasokon (short for "personal computer"), intānetto ("internet"), and kamera ("camera"). Due to
7788-448: The standard dialect moved from the Kansai region to the Edo region (modern Tokyo ) in the Early Modern Japanese period (early 17th century–mid 19th century). Following the end of Japan's self-imposed isolation in 1853, the flow of loanwords from European languages increased significantly, and words from English roots have proliferated. Japanese is an agglutinative , mora -timed language with relatively simple phonotactics ,
7920-460: The sugar glider . In order to ensure the design maintained a line between realism and uncanniness, Pikachu's fur frequently changed design. The team would often bring patches of fur to filming locations to see how the colors would respond to the area's lighting. Hidetoshi Nishijima portrays Detective Pikachu's voice in the Japanese dub of the film. Pierre Tessier voices the character in the French dub of
8052-538: The "center of the Pokémon craze" in Japan while also emerging as a leading symbol of the series when it was released in the United States. Pikachu has consistently been considered one of the most notable and influential anime, cartoon, and video game characters since its debut. The character has been regarded as the Japanese answer to popular Disney mascot Mickey Mouse , with Polygon writer Tracey Lien noting that its ubiquity and iconic design helped endear it to audiences, allowing it to attain significant popularity. It
SECTION 60
#17328526354158184-481: The "public face of a phenomenon that has spread from Nintendo's fastest selling video game to a trading-card empire", citing the franchise's profits for the year as "the reason for the ranking", behind singer Ricky Martin but ahead of author J.K. Rowling . The book Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination stated that Pikachu greatly helped to sell the Pokémon franchise, being described as
8316-518: The 1.2 million of the United States ) sometimes employ Japanese as their primary language. Approximately 12% of Hawaii residents speak Japanese, with an estimated 12.6% of the population of Japanese ancestry in 2008. Japanese emigrants can also be found in Peru , Argentina , Australia (especially in the eastern states), Canada (especially in Vancouver , where 1.4% of the population has Japanese ancestry),
8448-564: The 1980s, such as the DX1 , DX5 and DX7 and their PSR keyboard lineup in the mid-1990s, namely the PSR-320, PSR-420, PSR-520, PSR-620, PSR-330, PSR-530 and the PSR-6000 . These keyboards use specialized cards known as Music Cartridges , a ROM cartridge simply containing MIDI data to be played on the keyboard as MIDI sequence or song data. Casio has also used similar cartridges known as ROM Pack in
8580-461: The 3rd century AD recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial Old Japanese texts did not appear until the 8th century. From the Heian period (794–1185), extensive waves of Sino-Japanese vocabulary entered the language, affecting the phonology of Early Middle Japanese . Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) saw extensive grammatical changes and the first appearance of European loanwords . The basis of
8712-552: The CPU could execute the program in place without having to first copy it into expensive RAM. The Texas Instruments TI-59 family of programmable scientific calculators used interchangeable ROM cartridges that could be installed in a slot at the back of the calculator. The calculator came with a module that provides several standard mathematical functions including the solution of simultaneous equations. Other modules were specialized for financial calculations, or other subject areas, and even
8844-482: The Japanese language is of particular interest, ranging between an apical central tap and a lateral approximant . The "g" is also notable; unless it starts a sentence, it may be pronounced [ ŋ ] , in the Kanto prestige dialect and in other eastern dialects. The phonotactics of Japanese are relatively simple. The syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), that is, a core vowel surrounded by an optional onset consonant,
8976-724: The Old Japanese sections are written in Man'yōgana , which uses kanji for their phonetic as well as semantic values. Based on the Man'yōgana system, Old Japanese can be reconstructed as having 88 distinct morae . Texts written with Man'yōgana use two different sets of kanji for each of the morae now pronounced き (ki), ひ (hi), み (mi), け (ke), へ (he), め (me), こ (ko), そ (so), と (to), の (no), も (mo), よ (yo) and ろ (ro). (The Kojiki has 88, but all later texts have 87. The distinction between mo 1 and mo 2 apparently
9108-458: The Pokémon more appealing to audiences, as it allowed Pikachu to become a three-dimensional character with multiple character traits for audiences. Pikachu's personality was described by the book Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination as helping to emphasize not only Pikachu as a character, but also helping in making the anime series as a whole more widely popular, with the reciprocal nature of Pikachu's relationship with Ash in
9240-488: The Ryūkyūan languages as dialects of Japanese. The imperial court also seems to have spoken an unusual variant of the Japanese of the time, most likely the spoken form of Classical Japanese , a writing style that was prevalent during the Heian period , but began to decline during the late Meiji period . The Ryūkyūan languages are classified by UNESCO as 'endangered', as young people mostly use Japanese and cannot understand
9372-543: The addition of a collective suffix (a noun suffix that indicates a group), such as -tachi , but this is not a true plural: the meaning is closer to the English phrase "and company". A group described as Tanaka-san-tachi may include people not named Tanaka. Some Japanese nouns are effectively plural, such as hitobito "people" and wareware "we/us", while the word tomodachi "friend" is considered singular, although plural in form. Verbs are conjugated to show tenses, of which there are two: past and present (or non-past) which
9504-400: The adventures of series protagonist Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu. Ash's Pikachu is initially disobedient, but after Ash saves it from a flock of Spearow , it warms up to Ash, and the pair become friends. Ash journeys to train and capture Pokémon while the members of the villainous organization Team Rocket attempt to steal Ash's Pikachu. The game Pokémon Yellow features a Pikachu, which
9636-421: The anime has been subject of praise and analysis. Pikachu's friendship with Ash has been analyzed for its similarities to Aristotle's values of friendship, with the reciprocal friendship between the two being highlighted due to the equality between them being the reason for their success. The anime's expansion of Pikachu's character was described by professor and author Northrop Davis as humanizing Pikachu and making
9768-472: The anime series. In Electric Tale of Pikachu , Ash gives him the name "Jean Luc Pikachu", a reference to Jean-Luc Picard from the Star Trek franchise. On February 27, 2024, La Poste (France) issued a stamp commemorating Pikachu. As the mascot of the franchise, Pikachu has made multiple appearances in various promotional events and merchandise. In 1998, then Topeka, Kansas Mayor Joan Wagnon renamed
9900-448: The audience to become properly invested with the franchise and the narrative. Meanwhile, TIME Magazine 's Lisa Eadicicco felt its cute appearance coupled with the baby-like pronunciations of its own name led to it becoming an appealing design. She further stated that Pikachu's "well-written" appearance in the anime series led to Pikachu also having a strong personality, causing Pikachu to be seen not only as an object of cuteness, but also as
10032-421: The cartridge contacts can cause problems, but cleaning the contacts with an isopropyl alcohol solution typically resolves the problems without risk of corrosion. ROM cartridges typically have less capacity than other media. The PCjr-compatible version of Lotus 1-2-3 comes on two cartridges and a floppy disk. ROM cartridges are typically more expensive to manufacture than discs, and storage space available on
10164-529: The cartridge was mapped into BIOS space). Some arcade system boards , such as Capcom 's CP System and SNK 's Neo Geo , also used ROM cartridges. Cassettes and floppy disks cost less than ROM cartridges and some memory cards were sold as an inexpensive alternative to ROM cartridges. A precursor to modern game cartridges of second generation video consoles was introduced with the first generation video game console Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, using jumper cards to turn on and off certain electronics inside
10296-688: The console. A modern take on game cartridges was invented by Wallace Kirschner, Lawrence Haskel and Jerry Lawson of Alpex Computer Corporation, first unveiled as part of the Fairchild Channel F home console in 1976. The cartridge approach gained more popularity with the Atari 2600 released the following year. From the late 1970s to mid-1990s, the majority of home video game systems were cartridge-based. As compact disc technology came to be widely used for data storage, most hardware companies moved from cartridges to CD-based game systems. Nintendo remained
10428-418: The creation process by fellow developer Koji Nishino, who grew fond of Pikachu as a result and consistently encouraged the design to be made cuter, something she was happy to oblige. Due to his fondness for Pikachu, he made it more difficult to find in the original games, joking he wanted to "keep it for himself". Despite initial concerns that players would not be interested in seeking out Pikachu, Sugimori showed
10560-459: The design to the game's development team, where the character was instantly popular. Pikachu's design with the release of Red and Blue was initially pudgier in build, but in media and games that followed was changed over time to have a slimmer waist, straighter spine, and more defined face and neck. According to Sugimori, these changes originated from the anime adaptation of the franchise where it made Pikachu easier to animate, and were adopted to
10692-564: The effect of changing Japanese into a mora-timed language. Late Middle Japanese covers the years from 1185 to 1600, and is normally divided into two sections, roughly equivalent to the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , respectively. The later forms of Late Middle Japanese are the first to be described by non-native sources, in this case the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries; and thus there
10824-498: The emotion of the character based off of how the character sounds. The book Anime Impact: The Movies and Shows that Changed the World of Japanese Animation additionally analyzed how Pikachu's voice and inflections on a specific word allowed an animalistic character to be seen as a separate character and entity by the audience. It stated that it allowed them to become more familiar with Pikachu's character and grow more attached to it, allowing
10956-619: The film. Ōtani voiced the character in a brief cameo appearance. This appearance was retained in all language versions barring the German dubbing of the film, which used a slightly deeper and more out of breath version of the dialogue. Pikachu is featured in a 2021 Katy Perry music video, " Electric ". In the Pokémon Adventures manga, main character Red owns and uses a Pikachu. Other manga series, such as Electric Tale of Pikachu , and Ash & Pikachu , feature Ash Ketchum's Pikachu from
11088-426: The final evolution should "look strong". Pikachu evolves into Raichu through use of the game's "Thunder Stone" item. Raichu was originally planned to evolve into a Pokémon species dubbed Gorochu, but this was cut due to cartridge space concerns. Later in the franchise, Sugimori would create a Pokémon that evolved into Pikachu named Pichu to complete the trinity. Nishida developed the original Pikachu sprites using
11220-453: The first part of a three-stage evolution line in Red and Blue , Pikachu evolves into Raichu through the use of a "Thunder Stone" item, with Raichu intended to be able to evolve into 'Gorochu'. However 'Gorochu' was removed due to cartridge space concerns, and a pre-evolution for Pikachu, Pichu , was later added in the sequel titles Pokémon Gold and Silver . Pikachu is widely considered to be
11352-625: The franchise. She stated that Pikachu's overuse detracted from other Pokemon in the series, while also criticizing the overuse for its lack of originality. She further compared it to Mimikyu - a Pokémon who mimics Pikachu in an attempt to be loved- stating that the reason for Mimikyu's popularity inherently lay in how much people were subconsciously aware of Pikachu's overuse. TheGamer 's Stacey Henley cited similar sentiments, believing Pikachu's consistent presence in marketing had made it an uninteresting Pokémon and an ineffective mascot, disliking its consistent presence in games over other Pokémon. In 2008,
11484-463: The game needed more "cute" Pokémon and was struggling to conceive of such designs. Attributing it to his male perspective, he brought in female Game Freak staff including Atsuko Nishida to join the development team. Tasked with developing the Pikachu species and its evolutionary line, she was given specific guidelines to work with, namely its role as an Electric-type Pokémon, that it evolved twice, and that
11616-453: The games for consistency. The older design, nicknamed "Fat Pikachu" by fans of the series, was revisited in Pokémon Sword and Shield , where Pikachu received a special in-battle "Gigantamax" form resembling its original design. This Gigantamax form was designed by James Turner, who served as art director for Sword and Shield . Series director Junichi Masuda stated that Pikachu's name
11748-609: The genitive particle ga remains in intentionally archaic speech. Early Middle Japanese is the Japanese of the Heian period , from 794 to 1185. It formed the basis for the literary standard of Classical Japanese , which remained in common use until the early 20th century. During this time, Japanese underwent numerous phonological developments, in many cases instigated by an influx of Chinese loanwords . These included phonemic length distinction for both consonants and vowels , palatal consonants (e.g. kya ) and labial consonant clusters (e.g. kwa ), and closed syllables . This had
11880-453: The languages of the original Jōmon inhabitants, including the ancestor of the modern Ainu language . Because writing had yet to be introduced from China, there is no direct evidence, and anything that can be discerned about this period must be based on internal reconstruction from Old Japanese , or comparison with the Ryukyuan languages and Japanese dialects . The Chinese writing system
12012-449: The languages. Okinawan Japanese is a variant of Standard Japanese influenced by the Ryūkyūan languages, and is the primary dialect spoken among young people in the Ryukyu Islands . Modern Japanese has become prevalent nationwide (including the Ryūkyū islands) due to education , mass media , and an increase in mobility within Japan, as well as economic integration. Japanese is a member of
12144-427: The large quantity of English loanwords, modern Japanese has developed a distinction between [tɕi] and [ti] , and [dʑi] and [di] , with the latter in each pair only found in loanwords. Although Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has also been spoken outside of the country. Before and during World War II , through Japanese annexation of Taiwan and Korea , as well as partial occupation of China ,
12276-491: The line. Abby Espiritu portrayed the role in the web series Pokémon: Path to the Peak. Espiritu stated that she initially assumed she was portraying Pikachu for a scratch tape before she learned she was portraying the role for the series. Pikachu has appeared in all main series Pokémon video games except Pokémon Black and White and its sequel . Pikachu features prominently Pokémon anime series and films, which focus on
12408-481: The localizers upon seeing the Pokémon designs stated "Something this cute can't be called a 'monster'", arguing monsters should be muscular and fearsome. As a result the localization team drew up a muscular redesign of Pikachu for Iwata to submit to Game Freak. Iwata refused, stating his reaction was "There's no way we can show this to the people who made Pokémon ." Initially considered alongside Clefairy as lead characters for franchise merchandising, Pikachu emerged as
12540-550: The lone hold-out, using cartridges for their Nintendo 64 system; the company did not transition to optical media until the release of the GameCube in 2001. Cartridges were also used for their handheld consoles, which are known as Game Cards in the DS/3DS line of handhelds. These cartridges are much smaller and thinner than previous cartridges, and use the more modern flash memory for game data rather than built-in ROM chips on PCBs for
12672-556: The lower cost of optical media. Another source of pressure in this direction was that optical media could be manufactured in much smaller batches than cartridges; releasing a cartridge video game on the other hand inevitably includes the risk of producing thousands of unsold cartridges. Besides their prominent usage on video game consoles, ROM cartridges have also been used on a small number of electronic musical instruments, particularly electronic keyboards . Yamaha has made several models with such features, with their DX synthesizer in
12804-466: The main series, Pikachu stars in Hey You, Pikachu! for the Nintendo 64 ; the player interacts with Pikachu through a microphone, issuing commands to play various mini-games and act out situations. The game Pokémon Channel follows a similar premise of interacting with the Pikachu, though without the microphone. PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure and its sequel, PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond , features
12936-404: The mascot of the anime series due to its popularity amongst schoolchildren and appeal to both boys and girls. Sugimori felt female players in particular were drawn to "cute" characters like Pikachu, stating in an interview with Famimaga 64 magazine "Some girls just collect 50 different Pikachu". The development team considered Pikachu to appeal to a larger demographic due to more closely resembling
13068-486: The most important Pokémon that impacted the franchise's history, and further stated that "Its irresistible cuteness, merchandising power, army of clones in every generation... if your mom calls every Pokémon 'Pikachu', then you know in your heart that it is the most important Pokémon of all time." The book 100 Greatest Video Game Characters noted that Pikachu's cute design and the emphasis on friendship in its various appearances across Pokémon media helped with making Pikachu
13200-453: The most popular and well-known Pokémon species, largely due to its appearance in the Pokémon anime television series as the companion of series protagonist Ash Ketchum . Pikachu has been well-received by critics, with particular praise given for to its cute design , and it has been regarded as an icon of both the Pokémon franchise and Japanese pop culture as a whole. Pikachu is a species of fictional creatures called Pokémon created for
13332-611: The only other competing yellow mascot at the time was Winnie-the-Pooh , which helped Pikachu's popularity significantly. The color yellow in its design was noted to give Pikachu a "softness" to its design, due to the color yellow's association with words such as "sunshine," "warmth," and "happiness," with Susan Napier, a professor at Tufts University , stating that Pikachu was part of "this very interesting and adventurous world, but it's also fundamentally very re-assuring." Napier additionally noted that unlike similar popular " kawaii " mascots such as Hello Kitty, Pikachu did not lean towards
13464-425: The only strict rule of word order is that the verb must be placed at the end of a sentence (possibly followed by sentence-end particles). This is because Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions. The basic sentence structure is topic–comment . For example, Kochira wa Tanaka-san desu ( こちらは田中さんです ). kochira ("this") is the topic of the sentence, indicated by
13596-470: The out-group gives a benefit to the in-group, and "up" to indicate the in-group gives a benefit to the out-group. Here, the in-group includes the speaker and the out-group does not, and their boundary depends on context. For example, oshiete moratta ( 教えてもらった ) (literally, "explaining got" with a benefit from the out-group to the in-group) means "[he/she/they] explained [it] to [me/us]". Similarly, oshiete ageta ( 教えてあげた ) (literally, "explaining gave" with
13728-502: The park's fountains. Japanese language Japanese ( 日本語 , Nihongo , [ɲihoŋɡo] ) is the principal language of the Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people . It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan , the only country where it is the national language , and within the Japanese diaspora worldwide. The Japonic family also includes
13860-415: The particle wa . The verb desu is a copula , commonly translated as "to be" or "it is" (though there are other verbs that can be translated as "to be"), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence 'politeness'. As a phrase, Tanaka-san desu is the comment. This sentence literally translates to "As for this person, (it) is Mx Tanaka." Thus Japanese, like many other Asian languages,
13992-477: The proposed larger Altaic family, or to various Southeast Asian languages , especially Austronesian . None of these proposals have gained wide acceptance (and the Altaic family itself is now considered controversial). As it stands, only the link to Ryukyuan has wide support. Other theories view the Japanese language as an early creole language formed through inputs from at least two distinct language groups, or as
14124-455: The role for every installment of the fighting game crossover series Super Smash Bros. . Digitized recreations of her performance in the anime were used for Pikachu's appearance in Pokémon Yellow , and she later voiced the character from the 2013 games Pokémon X and Y until the 2022 game Pokémon Legends: Arceus . In all other appearances, Pikachu uses an in-game digitized "cry,"
14256-549: The same purpose. The release of the Nintendo Switch in 2017 marked the company's shift away from their own proprietary optical disc -based media after last using them in the Wii U in favor of small cartridge-based media. These cartridges are known as Game Cards like previous Nintendo handhelds, and are much smaller and thinner than previous cartridges for consoles as well as Nintendo's own Game Cards for their DS/3DS handhelds. It uses
14388-459: The same structure as affirmative sentences, but with intonation rising at the end. In the formal register, the question particle -ka is added. For example, ii desu ( いいです ) "It is OK" becomes ii desu-ka ( いいですか。 ) "Is it OK?". In a more informal tone sometimes the particle -no ( の ) is added instead to show a personal interest of the speaker: Dōshite konai-no? "Why aren't (you) coming?". Some simple queries are formed simply by mentioning
14520-424: The series progressed, but these plans were dropped during production of the series. Ōtani voices the role in all languages which is unlike other Pokémon voice actors, where the actor is different in each country's anime dub. Masuda stated Pikachu's voice was kept consistent across languages so its name would be universal across the world. Ōtani has voiced the character in the main series video games, and also reprised
14652-417: The similar dialogue "If you don’t have a clear understanding of what you want to say in the scene and come up with a plan for your performance, you won't convey anything... Because, if there's the same nuance, then it would just be OK to use [previously] recorded material." In the anime series, Pikachu only speaks using its name. Initially, it was planned for Pikachu to slowly become more adept at human speech as
14784-401: The species after squirrels . Nishida stated in an interview that she was obsessed with squirrels at the time due to their "comical" movement, and had the idea to have Pikachu store electricity in their cheeks similar to how squirrels store food. Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri however chose to change the species to be a type of mouse when he was designing the setting. Nishida was helped during
14916-797: The state as at the time the constitution was written, many of the elders participating in the process had been educated in Japanese during the South Seas Mandate over the island shown by the 1958 census of the Trust Territory of the Pacific that found that 89% of Palauans born between 1914 and 1933 could speak and read Japanese, but as of the 2005 Palau census there were no residents of Angaur that spoke Japanese at home. Japanese dialects typically differ in terms of pitch accent , inflectional morphology , vocabulary , and particle usage. Some even differ in vowel and consonant inventories, although this
15048-420: The story of Ash and his Pikachu and retires them as main cast members, another Pikachu named "Captain Pikachu" was introduced as a major character in the follow-up series Pokémon Horizons , which featured an entirely new cast of characters. Ōtani portrayed the role of Captain Pikachu. Taito Okiura, the vice president of marketing for The Pokémon Company International , stated that Pikachu would "continue to have
15180-476: The street. (grammatically incorrect insertion of a pronoun) But one can grammatically say essentially the same thing in Japanese: 驚いた彼は道を走っていった。 Transliteration: Odoroita kare wa michi o hashitte itta. (grammatically correct) This is partly because these words evolved from regular nouns, such as kimi "you" ( 君 "lord"), anata "you" ( あなた "that side, yonder"), and boku "I" ( 僕 "servant"). This
15312-436: The time around their release, ROM cartridges provided security against unauthorised copying of software. However, the manufacturing of ROM cartridges was more expensive than floppy disks, and the storage capacity was smaller. ROM cartridges and slots were also used for various hardware accessories and enhancements. The widespread usage of the ROM cartridge in video gaming applications has led it to be often colloquially called
15444-595: The topic with an interrogative intonation to call for the hearer's attention: Kore wa? "(What about) this?"; O-namae wa? ( お名前は？ ) "(What's your) name?". Negatives are formed by inflecting the verb. For example, Pan o taberu ( パンを食べる。 ) "I will eat bread" or "I eat bread" becomes Pan o tabenai ( パンを食べない。 ) "I will not eat bread" or "I do not eat bread". Plain negative forms are i -adjectives (see below) and inflect as such, e.g. Pan o tabenakatta ( パンを食べなかった。 ) "I did not eat bread". ROM cartridge A ROM cartridge , usually referred to in context simply as
15576-530: The town "ToPikachu" for a day, and the renaming was repeated in 2018 by Mayor Michelle De La Isla with the release of the Pokémon Let's Go games. Another promotional stunt, used to promote Pokémon 's debut in the United States, involved dropping 700 Pikachu plushes into a field by plane, while skydivers leapt from the planes and drove off in Pikachu themed cars. A " got milk? " advertisement featured Pikachu on April 25, 2000. A Pikachu balloon has been featured in
15708-419: The two consonants are the moraic nasal followed by a homorganic consonant. Japanese also includes a pitch accent , which is not represented in moraic writing; for example [haꜜ.ɕi] ("chopsticks") and [ha.ɕiꜜ] ("bridge") are both spelled はし ( hashi ) , and are only differentiated by the tone contour. Japanese word order is classified as subject–object–verb . Unlike many Indo-European languages ,
15840-577: The two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, literary scholars, and lawyers (many Japanese laws that survived World War II are still written in bungo , although there are ongoing efforts to modernize their language). Kōgo is the dominant method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, although bungo grammar and vocabulary are occasionally used in modern Japanese for effect. The 1982 state constitution of Angaur , Palau , names Japanese along with Palauan and English as an official language of
15972-472: The two terms (''hyōjungo'' and ''kyōtsūgo'') are almost the same. Hyōjungo or kyōtsūgo is a conception that forms the counterpart of dialect. This normative language was born after the Meiji Restoration ( 明治維新 , meiji ishin , 1868) from the language spoken in the higher-class areas of Tokyo (see Yamanote ). Hyōjungo is taught in schools and used on television and in official communications. It
16104-547: The vein of trainer and pet being appealing both to an older concept while still being futuristic in nature. Pikachu's departure from the anime was also met with positive responses, due to the fact that its departure alleviated concerns about how its strength would be handled as the series progressed. The hashtag "#ThankYouAshAndPikachu" trended on Twitter following the announcement of their departure. Pikachu's voice has been analyzed for its ability to convey emotion despite only speaking one word, with children being able to determine
16236-407: The verb (e.g. yonde for earlier yomite ), the -k- in the final mora of adjectives drops out ( shiroi for earlier shiroki ); and some forms exist where modern standard Japanese has retained the earlier form (e.g. hayaku > hayau > hayɔɔ , where modern Japanese just has hayaku , though the alternative form is preserved in the standard greeting o-hayō gozaimasu "good morning"; this ending
16368-548: The world. Since Japanese first gained the consideration of linguists in the late 19th century, attempts have been made to show its genealogical relation to languages or language families such as Ainu , Korean , Chinese , Tibeto-Burman , Uralic , Altaic (or Ural-Altaic ), Austroasiatic , Austronesian and Dravidian . At the fringe, some linguists have even suggested a link to Indo-European languages , including Greek , or to Sumerian . Main modern theories try to link Japanese either to northern Asian languages, like Korean or
16500-596: Was "Pikachu Illustrator", limited to about 20-40 printed in 1998, and was auctioned off for about $ 55,000 in 2016, and then $ 375,000 in 2021. Another card, sold in 2022, went for nearly a million dollars. For the franchise's 25th anniversary, The Pokémon Company announced special trading cards in 2021, each featuring 25 Pikachu drawn by 25 artists. A promotion at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam featured exclusive Pokémon Cards of Pikachu wearing Van Gogh's grey felt hat. It
16632-469: Was additionally selected for the role due to the fact that picking one of Pokémon Red and Blue ' s three starter Pokémon— Bulbasaur , Charmander , or Squirtle —would have created a "gap" with children who did not select the one used in the anime. For the vast majority of appearances Ikue Ōtani has voiced the character since it was introduced in the Pokémon anime . Ōtani records new lines for many of Pikachu's reappearances, and stated that despite
16764-535: Was based on 12- to 20-second-long recordings of 135 to 244 phonemes , which 42 students listened to and translated word-for-word. The listeners were all Keio University students who grew up in the Kanto region . There are some language islands in mountain villages or isolated islands such as Hachijō-jima island , whose dialects are descended from Eastern Old Japanese . Dialects of the Kansai region are spoken or known by many Japanese, and Osaka dialect in particular
16896-718: Was imported to Japan from Baekje around the start of the fifth century, alongside Buddhism. The earliest texts were written in Classical Chinese , although some of these were likely intended to be read as Japanese using the kanbun method, and show influences of Japanese grammar such as Japanese word order. The earliest text, the Kojiki , dates to the early eighth century, and was written entirely in Chinese characters, which are used to represent, at different times, Chinese, kanbun , and Old Japanese. As in other texts from this period,
17028-465: Was lost immediately following its composition.) This set of morae shrank to 67 in Early Middle Japanese , though some were added through Chinese influence. Man'yōgana also has a symbol for /je/ , which merges with /e/ before the end of the period. Several fossilizations of Old Japanese grammatical elements remain in the modern language – the genitive particle tsu (superseded by modern no )
17160-400: Was noted as being part of a movement of " cute capitalism ". In 2024, a poll conducted by BAFTA with around 4,000 respondents named Pikachu as the twelfth most iconic video-game character of all time. Pikachu's resemblance to a cute pet was cited as making its design appealing. Its usage of the color yellow made it easy for children to recognize due to being a primary color . Additionally,
17292-566: Was one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort of wanting to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences. The name is derived from a combination of two Japanese onomatopoeia: ピカ (pika) , a sparkling sound, and チュー (chū) , a sound a mouse makes. When localizing the games for the United States, Nintendo of America 's staff initially proposed to redesign "cute" Pokémon in order to appeal to an American audience. According to Pokémon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara , they had proposed to change Pikachu to look like "something like
17424-526: Was pulled from the exhibition due to safety concerns after scalpers mobbed the store when it came out. Several employees at the museum were suspended due to reported embezzlement of a large number of the cards. The card was later restocked in an attempt to dissuade scalpers, who had been re-selling cards at high prices. The character has also been used in promotional merchandising at fast-food chains such as McDonald's , Wendy's , and Burger King . Pikachu and ten other Pokémon were chosen as Japan's mascots in
#414585