Video: Watch Kids React To The Original Pokémon Anime Television Series

It's good to see that some of the kids were happy to see this was the original series, and not any of the new ones. I quit watching at Sinnoh, it just wasn't as good after that. Good thing the games are still fantastic, though!

The classic episodes are the absolute best... no nostalgia blinders here. I'm a gen 4 kid at heart (as you can probably tell by my profile pic), but you just can't deny the sheer greatness of the early episodes. Plus, Pikachu used to be a LOT cuter.

Seeing some of these kids know all the words to the original Pokémon Theme... maybe there is hope for the world, after all. OK, the outcome of 'do you play the games?' was a tad depressing, but at least they know what it is! It's more than kids in Britain know, at least.

Next will be Digimon ?

Next will be Digimon ?

Next will be Digimon ?

Next will be Digimon ?

Oops website kind of gone broken and it did 4 time the message...

I only know the original cartoon so I'm not really seeing what's surprising.

@MarinoKadame - But you're right. They should.

Pokémon.....It's You and ME.....I know it's my DESTINY.....

i used to watch this al the time when i was young and still check it from time to time

I have a morbid curiosity to check out this 'shiny new Pokemon' now!

Back when Red/Blue came out Pokemon was sooo huge, I remember watching Ant and Dec on SMTV Live doing their Pokemon skits which were hilarious.

I also remember at school me and my friends would jump off this high wall and shout the names of Pokemon, sometimes we'd hop over to the edge of wall saying 'P... P...' and then as we jumped we'd shout 'PIKACHU!'... Embarrassing but epic!

Oh man, this show is the reason I watch anime today.
My mom would watch Pokemon all the time (indirectly causing me to watch Sailor Moon) and the old episodes are still as good as they used to be.

Oh my god this takes me back.

"What is Pokemon?"
"What is wrong with someone's life if they don't know what Pokemon is?"

The original season is great and nostalgia and all, but I think it really overshadows some of best moments from the later seasons for fans. "OMG Season 1 was da best thing ever" does that not apply to many MANY other different shows as well? It's that sort of opinion that makes people just write off everything past season 1.

I'm not saying boycott season 1 or anything but just look up and give some of the best episodes of the later seasons a chance. I know there can be a TON of filler in-between but this is a show based around a videogame series that has to fill in the holes while it awaits the next main series game to apply its features or setting to the anime. But then that's the beauty of streaming, you can skip those fillers.

Who knows, you might surprise yourself with some episodes.

@NintendoLee Pokemon? It sounds like something a Jamaican says when he wants to play poker.

"Hey! You wanna play some Pokeh, mon?"

What I learned from this: Nintendo really needs to get Minecraft on their systems.

XY has been really good. They've stepped up the animation and they didn't completely reset Ash like they normally do when he starts a new journey.

How long until "Watch kids watching kids react to 'watching kids' videos"?

It's the same thing every time.

Ha, my son and I are right in the middle of watching this on Netflix. We are on like episode 40. I never watched it as a kid. He absolutely loves it.

@VIIIAxel It's weird, I was talking about it with a bunch of my friends, who also watched it growing up, and we all agreed that Hoenn was the last good season, and Sinnoh was when it all went downhill. The games have always been fantastic, but I just wonder what happened in terms of production/writers/etc. that made the show go downhill in Sinnoh.

I have fond memories of this. Pokemon didn't air in TV here as far as I can remember, but I collected the VCD release that contains three episodes each. I remember checking a CD shop regularly to check if new episodes were up, they usually release two VCD every week or two. Unfortunately, the VCD stopped release when Johto just started and I haven't watched it since then. I bought Digimon this way too and the 2nd season as the box set.

Sadly, original anime VCD is death soon afterward. When DVD comes around, it's also brings along a huge piracy with it (who don't want an entire season in a single disc?), retail CD store suffers since then and closed one by one.

"Can you name some Pokemon?"

Would you like them named in numerical order?

@Chubblings I know that the English version of the anime was handled by a different studio starting with Battle Frontier, so I've always assumed that must be a part of the reason why I didn't like the series as much from that point on.

Just seeing that theme tune makes me want to book the entire rest of the week off work, not leave the house at all and watch the original series on Netflix.

"I love it, it's the old one"
It... it's not old... is it? oh man

The original is always the best. Glad they love it.

@Chubblings SinnOh was pretty great Black and white was garbage tho

@happylittlepigs You actually prefer fat Pikachu? I haven't heard that one before.

@Arcamenel How so? He sent all his previous Pokémon save Pikachu to Prof. Oak and got a new outfit and traveling companions just like he did for every region since Hoenn (although it is nice to see Wobbuffet back with Team Rocket). Personally, I think it's better that way than when they had to come up with excuses for him to dump his old Pokémon when he took most of them with him to Johto.

Anyway, I first started watching during the second half of the first season and have been watching ever since. While the first season does have some pretty iconic moments and episodes, you can't deny that they often screwed up the various attack rules and mechanics. They also annoyingly had half the gyms just giving Ash their badges and some gym leaders giving him a handicap by just calling back a Pokémon for no reason. Once they got to Johto, they did a much better job with it (including enforcing the 4 attack limit), although they'll still make a mistake on rare occasions. As for the gym and league battles, those episodes have since become the highlights of the show with incredible displays of battling with Ash coming up with at least one brilliant stragetic move each time he wins.

I was of course disappointed when Cartoon Network dumped the old voice actors when they took over partway through the Battle Frontier (especially the horrendous test case with the "Master of Mirage Pokémon" special), but I've gotten used to it, and at least Pikachu's voice actress has always been the same since they reuse the Japanese voice in that case.

With the way the show is designed to follow the video games, I wouldn't be surprised if the show lasted for over 30 seasons at this point. When all is said and done, it will be interesting to see which winds up with more seasons, "Pokémon" or "The Simpsons."

@Chubblings But it didn't go downhill in Sinnoh... (?) ._.

It is considered one of the best written seasons by the Pokémon community in terms of story, battles and characters' development. Even the movies from that time are said to be some of the best ones...

The Original Series had many flaws in the script because it was just the beginning (but those episodes are really emblematic) and "Best Wishes" is usually the one pointed out as the worst/down hill.