How the Pokémon cartoon and games form one of media’s best symbiotic relationships

When I say Pokémon, most of you probably think of the games. But the franchise owes just as much of its success to its cartoon series.

The Pokémon anime started in 1997, one year after the original game released in Japan. Those handheld classics celebrate their 20th anniversary this week. The cartoon is still going today — a 900-episode run. To put that in context, The Simpsons, which is often the butt of jokes for its long broadcast life, only has 587 episodes. It’s still one of the 10 most popular animes in Japan, and it airs today in more than 74 countries. Pokémon’s show has done just as much to keep the series popular as the games. In fact, the cartoon has become something of an advertising platform for the interactive entertainment, which has sold over 200 million copies in its 20 year life.