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At the center of the rumors, apparently, is the translation of a Japanese word that means both "chest" and "breasts" and talks between Nintendo and The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara.
The talks reportedly centered around the launch of Pokémon in the U.S. market. The Japanese site Game*Spark decided to do some digging to get to the bottom of the rumors.
They discovered an interview around the time of the Pokémon Gold and Silver - whatever that means - between Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of the series, and Ishihara, who is still the president and CEO of The Pokémon Company.
When Nintendo of America was first shown Pokémon for "localization," reports GameSpot, they thought it was "too cute." So they came up with some of their own alternate character designs.
He then clarified later on in the interview when asked if the designs looked like women dressed up like Pikachu at anime conventions.
"Yes, exactly. They presented that kind of design to us for real. I thought it was interesting, in a sense of appreciating such cultural differences. However, I didn't want to compete in the [overseas] market with that kind of thing," Ishihara added.
Well, there you have it. It seems pretty obvious if Nintendo of America had their way or at least had some of their design suggestions listened to, we'd have a much bustier version of Pikachu in the U.S. right now.
Is it a missed opportunity? That's hard to say. Pokémon seems to be doing just fine with minimal changes to the Japanese version. It's still nice to know that these discussions were had, and the designs were created.
Nintendo Of America Wanted To Give Pikachu 'Huge Breasts'
The rumors among the Pokémon community of discussions about a Pikachu with "huge breasts" appear to be true. This is the first I've heard of these interesting rumors, but I'm not plugged into the scene.At the center of the rumors, apparently, is the translation of a Japanese word that means both "chest" and "breasts" and talks between Nintendo and The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara.
The talks reportedly centered around the launch of Pokémon in the U.S. market. The Japanese site Game*Spark decided to do some digging to get to the bottom of the rumors.
They discovered an interview around the time of the Pokémon Gold and Silver - whatever that means - between Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of the series, and Ishihara, who is still the president and CEO of The Pokémon Company.
When Nintendo of America was first shown Pokémon for "localization," reports GameSpot, they thought it was "too cute." So they came up with some of their own alternate character designs.
The world must not have been ready at the time for a Pikachu with huge breasts
"They kind of looked like the characters from the Cats musical. So, for example, Pikachu was changed into a character shaped like a kind of tabby cat with huge breasts," Ishihara said.He then clarified later on in the interview when asked if the designs looked like women dressed up like Pikachu at anime conventions.
"Yes, exactly. They presented that kind of design to us for real. I thought it was interesting, in a sense of appreciating such cultural differences. However, I didn't want to compete in the [overseas] market with that kind of thing," Ishihara added.
Well, there you have it. It seems pretty obvious if Nintendo of America had their way or at least had some of their design suggestions listened to, we'd have a much bustier version of Pikachu in the U.S. right now.
Is it a missed opportunity? That's hard to say. Pokémon seems to be doing just fine with minimal changes to the Japanese version. It's still nice to know that these discussions were had, and the designs were created.
