A fan artist shares a TikTok reimagining Pokémon characters Ash Ketchum, Misty and Brock based on their appearances in the animated series as Black. First launching in 1997, the series is based on the video game franchise of the same name, with each of the seven series being based on a main installment of the games. The story generally revolves around young Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum as he journeys through various regions of the world and competes in various Pokémon-battling tournaments with his partner Pikachu and other of the fictional creatures.
The Pokémon shows have been broken up as seasons in international broadcasts versus being released as individual series, with season 24 subtitled Master Journeys having just begun airing on Netflix. The series as a whole is credited as one of the titles of the anime genre that helped push it to popularity around the world, namely in the United States, where the two highest-grossing anime films are currently Pokémon films. This success also sparked The Pokémon Company's interest in developing a live-action adaptation of the franchise, namely spin-off title Detective Pikachu, with Ryan Reynolds voicing the titular character that would go on to become the second-highest-grossing video game film adaptation and one of the best reviewed of the genre.
As the time draws near for the arrival of the next animated film, fan artist jvzmina took to Twitter and TikTok to share new art for Pokémon. The art sees iconic characters Ash, Misty and Brock based on their appearances in the long-running animated series reimagined as Black characters. Check out the unique art video below:
Throughout its 25-year history, the Pokémon franchise has not been one to explore race very often. However, the franchise has been praised by some fans in recent generations for its further inclusions of characters of color, including Pokémon Sword and Shield's Hulbury Gym Leader Nessa, despite some disturbing attempts by some players to modify her character to appear white. Given the creatives behind the series are not likely to give Ash, Misty and Brock complete overhauls to Black characters, jvzmina's artwork is a great look at what could be.
With Ash and Misty getting slight modifications to their hairstyles while still retaining their iconic dos, it would certainly be interesting to see jvzmina or another artist continue this trend with other Pokémon characters or building their own stories around the reimagined characters. It would also be a positive reinforcement for representation to see official Pokémon Company accounts share the artwork or future games and downloadable content continue to add more people of color to their rosters. In the meantime, fans can catch up with the first 13 episodes of Pokémon Master Journeys on Netflix now.
Source: jvzmina/TikTok