People talked about it on the street.
"Pokémon are so cute!"
"I'm really looking forward to it! But is it a trailer or a promotional video?"
"I haven't seen the plot or the broadcast time, so it's probably a promotional video. When did Mirai-sensei decide to make the animation? Why wasn't there any news before?"
"Did I hear that Hinotori Publishing was holding voice actor auditions a while ago?"
"Really? I haven't seen any news about them lately. Only Kanto Manga appears in the newspapers. That company is incredible."
"Yes, their daily magazine is of great quality, with many excellent manga series, but I still think it's not as good as Mirai-sensei's. It's a shame he's not going to Kanto Manga Company."
"Yes, that's right. Although Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga have made progress lately, the overall quality of Kanto Daily is higher. There are too many mangaka at Hinotori Publishing holding Mirai-sensei back."
Except for some articles about Gundam and Magical Girls, other manga are worse than Kanto Daily. But animation doesn't matter. We can look forward to Pokémon with anticipation!
The public responded very well to the promotional video, but journalists and media didn't care. They dug through old stories to find more valuable clues. Pokémon was rejected by NHK a few months ago, and now Hinotori Publishing is producing it alone. This is a very appealing topic.
Many media outlets have set their sights on the original author of The Cat and Mouse Couple and are looking for opportunities to ask about this matter.
"Haru, we all know that a few months ago, your The Cat and Mouse Couple successfully defeated Pokémon and gained NHK's favor. Now Pokémon has announced that it will also be animated. What do you think?"
"No comment."
Haru refused to answer. After repeated failed attempts, journalists found Masahiro, the animation director of The Cat and Mouse Couple.
"Director Masahiro, what do you think of Pokémon?"
"Pokémon, what's that?" Masahiro laughed: "How come I haven't heard of it?"
The journalist was surprised: "How could you forget? It's the animation they sent you a few months ago."
"Oh, that one, you mean the one our team discarded?" Masahiro showed a "sudden enlightenment" expression on his face and smiled: "That's a useless work; you don't have to exaggerate; I won't answer related questions."
Although he said he wouldn't answer, his words were full of sarcasm.
Afterward, no one from The Cat and Mouse Couple's animation team came out to respond. They were very conservative and refused to answer, which angered and disappointed the media. NHK Animation refused to give them the opportunity to promote it. 'The truth is, he didn't know if they weren't interested in Pokémon or if they didn't want to give it a chance to stand out.'
However, there are many people related to The Cat and Mouse Couple, and there will always be a bad egg.
There is a well-known male singing group in Japan called S5, composed of five young and handsome singers. In an interview, the host invited The Cat and Mouse Couple's mangaka, Kaze, and the topic accidentally turned to Pokémon.
"I also follow Kaze's The Cat and Mouse Couple. I laugh for half a day in each episode. The plots are very interesting. It turns out that the animations selected by NHK are different!" A member of S5 laughed: "By the way, I heard that Osaka recently has an animation called Pokémon. It seems that The Cat and Mouse Couple beat it?"
"You could say that, but it can't be called a defeat. We didn't take it seriously at all." The mangaka Kaze replied to the singer. Unlike other colleagues, he ruthlessly satirized Pokémon: "The author submitted that work three times and failed every time. In the end, the staff got annoyed and burned it on their own initiative."
"Is that true?"
The singer was surprised: "Some media are talking about it now. It can't be that bad, can it?"
"Of course not." Kaze snorted coldly, with an air of pride: "The media wrote about it not because the content was good, but to generate hype. The mangaka wanted to use us to get attention."
"Ah, I understand!" Another member of S5 immediately nodded and said: "We often encounter these kinds of things. After we become famous, all sorts of people want to use us to get known. These people don't make an effort; they just want to get famous."
"In fact, I watched the Pokémon promotional video, and my first impression at the time was... Hey! Isn't that the animal world? Is it really not the animal world? Turning animals into cartoon characters and then thinking it will become popular, the author's idea is too extravagant..."
"Hahahaha, animal world, what an appropriate metaphor, how funny!"
The other singers laughed, and after laughing, they continued to ask: "I heard that Kaze made a bet at one point, saying that if Pokémon's viewership surpassed The Cat and Mouse Couple's, he would lose a lot of money. Kaze, how daring!"
"This is normal..." Kaze touched his head and smiled. "I was just impulsive at the time. I didn't expect it to be recorded. Those reporters asked me several times. The Cat and Mouse Couple's viewership has broken the record. How could I lose?!"
"Hey, it broke the record, what's that? Isn't it interesting?" A member of S5 immediately said: "Should we also bet with Kaze? I hate people who maliciously exaggerate things."
"Okay, it seems interesting!"
"Let's bet."
"Hello everyone..." Even the host laughed: "Although it's a sure bet, don't teach our audience bad lessons."
"But, by the way, I'll join too."
This program was originally a regional entertainment program. Perhaps it was suspected that the program team had created the content to increase ratings, but it is undeniable that the media got excited when it premiered.
"Recreating the bet, how bad is Pokémon? Why is it constantly ridiculed?"
they asked. "The well-known music group S5 performed adorably, and fans said they were too adorable."
"Pokémon is also known as Animal World - Animated Version. Mirai-sensei, are you sure it will be a success? How can you have such boundless imagination?"
"An alternative bet. Is S5 deliberately exaggerating? Or is it The Cat and Mouse Couple's bragging? As the third party, Pokémon is innocently caught in the crossfire."
"Experts commented on S5's bet to eat feces: using local vocabulary to connect with reality will expand the group of young fans!"
"S5 would rather eat feces than let Kaze hog the headlines..."
"The president of Tokyo University said on Twitter: I saw a lot of tragedies. Experts have interpreted what this means. Some reports say it's related to betting on eating feces!"
- - - -
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