Pokémon Sunday

Poké Morning!

A Japanese Sunday morning Pokémon-themed variety show and all-around general marketing device for the Pokémon franchise.

It originally specialised in re-runs of the Pokémon anime (a rare-enough concept in Japan), with the occassional live-action episode following the exploits of the Pokemon Research Crew. The show was eventually expanded to a full hour, allowing them to have both the reruns and the live-action segments.

Originally specializing in reruns of the Pokémon Anime and occasional live-action episodes following the Pokémon Research Crew, the show was eventually expanded to a full hour slot allowing them to have both the reruns and the live-action segments.

The show is hosted by an ensemble of Shoko Nakagawa, Japanese comedy duo "TIM", comedy trio "Robert", and a small group of costumed Pokemon characters (News Reporter Chimchar, Director Lucario and occasional appearances by a Trickster Sableye).

The current format for an episode is:

  • Pokémon Selection: A quick live-action scene of the Poké Sun Company has the hosts introducing the rerun episode of the day, typically the selection of episodes follows some kind of monthly theme, such as a month of episodes revolving around water types.
  • Pokémon Daisuki Project: The bulk of the live-action segment, involving any myriad of things, typically Robert (a Japanese comedy trio) and Lucario heading out into Japan for some (occasionally vaguely) Pokémon-related mission, often directly tying into current events with character cosplay.
  • Sunday Pokémon News: A short (Pokémon-hosted) segment not in every episode that details some current Pokémon-related event, be it a promotion at some store, or an online distribution starting that week.
  • Pokémon Game Arena: A segment of the show relating specifically to the Pokémon games, the most common activity being to invite a young guest on the show to challenge one of the hosts to a Pokémon battle using the current Pokémon Video Game Championship rules. If the child wins, they are allowed to trade with the host they defeated for one of the Pokémon they used. This is also where information about new and upcoming games is featured, including gameplay demonstrations that take the place of the usual battle. As in, the thing most people are tuning into the show to see.

This show was notably the first source of news regarding the games Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, but as people who tune in looking for information on any newer games find out: said information is only a small part of the show, said information is typically already revealed by other sources during the week before, and the rest of the show is really weird.

It is currently the longest running show of its type (Pokémon Anime rerun show), beating out its predecessors by over a hundred episodes.

Pokemon Sunday aired its last episode on September 26th, after which it was essentially renamed Pokémon Smash with some slight additions to the cast (such as the International Division, and replacing Chimchar and Lucario with Oshawott and Zoroark).

Tropes used in Pokémon Sunday include:
  • Ascended Meme: Comparisons to Pokémon Black and White to Michael Jackson's song "Black Or White" are made solid by the use of the song at a few points relating directly to Pokémon Black and White.
  • The Bus Came Back: Leader Treecko, who was part of the early years of the show, makes a brief return to celebrate the 300th episode.
  • Chain of Deals: Inspired by the story of the Red Paperclip, PSC set out to find 30 people willing to trade with what they have. What does a Level 5 Magikarp get you after 30 trades? a Level 75 Darkrai.
  • Crossdresser: Robert does this a lot.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The cast play the game reasonably well, using particularly strong Pokémon. Some kids never stand a chance, but it can go either way.
  • Drop-In Character: Sableye isn't an actual member of the Poké Sun Company, it just shows up from time to time. Other characters include Battrio Leader Sho, who appears to deliver news about the arcade game Pokemon Battrio.
  • Fan Nickname: Chief Golgo's distinctive Charlie Chaplin moustache has earned him the unfortunate nickname of "Japanese Hitler".
  • Fridge Brilliance: When you think about the fact that Pokémon Sunday's reveals are often scooped by CoroCoro Magazine, as people typically have to pay for the magazine to get the news, where tuning into a TV show is relatively free. This especially kicks in with Pokémon Sunday's practice of revealing shadows of the new Pokémon they will show the following week, as the CoroCoro issue with images the new Pokémon will come out during the week in between, attracting people too impatient to wait until Sunday.
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language: Smash gives us the International Division, three girls, one of which can speak in English, the other in Italian.
  • Keep Circulating the Tapes: It is notoriously hard to find old episodes; This isn't really the kind of show you can expect to be released on DVD.
  • Lethal Chef: Shokotan tends to put weird ingredients in her cooking. The PSC has refused to let her cook on one occasion.
  • Merchandise-Driven: Notably Japan doesn't have any laws against showing commercials for show-related products during said show, so episodes can literally become hour-long commercials. Since they typically discuss recent products, you can bet that the commercial for it is currently running and you probably will see it during the commercial break.
  • Milestone Celebration: While the hour-long format hadn't been introduced by the 100th episode, the cast have celebrated their 200th and 300th episode, with the latter getting two episodes worth of celebration.
  • Name's the Same: A kid whose name happens to be Satoshi (Ash Ketchum) challenges Yamamoto specifically because Yamamoto's given name happens to be Hiroshi (Ash's rival Ritchie).
  • Preview Piggybacking: It may not have new information often, but it does have gameplay videos.
  • Put on a Bus: Becky, who was replaced with Shoko Nakagawa when the show went hour long. The Pokémon cast has also changed over the years.
  • Recycled Soundtrack: The soundtrack from the anime is used here, too.
  • Sesame Street Cred: Plenty of Japanese performers make guest appearances on the show, even Canadian Bubble Artist Fan Yang has been on the show when his show was in Japan.
  • Spot the Imposter: In a 13th movie-related special, Zoroark uses it's illusion to impersonate Yamamoto. Yamamoto proves his identity by taking out a strip of tape and using it to tear his leg hair off, causing a frightened Zoroark Yamamoto to run off.
  • Stock Footage: The Sunday Pokémon News segment, which became more noticeable when the show moved to a widescreen format, as the SPN segments remained in bordered full-screen.
  • Surprisingly Good English: Hana of Pokemon Smash.
  • Talking with Signs: Director Lucario, unable to talk, communicates with the cast using signboards. Chimchar's Sunday Pokémon News report is simply translated via voice over.
  • Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: Chimchar is a girl, you can tell by the bow in her hair!
  • The Professor: Professor Red, who comes up with wacky inventions for the crew to try out, including but not limited to life-sized versions of toys that are currently being sold.
  • Widget Series
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