This is a list of anime based on video games. It includes anime that are adaptations of video games or whose characters originated in video games. Many anime (Japanese animated productions usually featuring hand-drawn or computer animation) are based on Japanese video games, particularly visual novels and JRPGs. For example, the Pokémon TV series debuted in 1997 and is based on the Pokémon video games released in 1996 for the Game Boy.
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games, animated series and films, a trading card game, and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers. The franchise's target audience is children aged 5 to 12, but it is known to attract people of all ages.
Mewtwo is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise. It was first introduced in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue, and later appeared in subsequent sequels and spin-off titles, such as Pokkén Tournament and Detective Pikachu. In the video games, the player can fight and capture Mewtwo in order to subsequently pit it against other Pokémon. The player can first learn of Mewtwo late in Pokémon Red and Blue by reading research documents left in a ruined laboratory on Cinnabar Island where Mewtwo has escaped. Mewtwo is regarded as one of the series' strongest Pokémon, and was the strongest in the original games in terms of base statistic distribution. It is known as the "Genetic Pokémon" and is a Legendary Pokémon, a special group of Pokémon that are very rare and usually very powerful. Mewtwo has also appeared in various animated adaptations of the franchise.
Squirtle, known as Zenigame (ゼニガメ) in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. It was designed by Atsuko Nishida. Its name was changed from Zenigame to Squirtle during the English localization of the series in order to give it a "clever and descriptive name." In animated appearances, Squirtle is voiced in Japanese by Rikako Aikawa and in English localizations by Eric Stuart, and later Michele Knotz.
Pikachu is a fictional species of the Pokémon media franchise. Designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori, Pikachu first appeared in the 1996 Japanese video games Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green created by Game Freak and Nintendo, which were released outside of Japan in 1998 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. Pikachu is a yellow, mouse-like creature with electrical abilities. It is a major character in the Pokémon franchise, serving as its mascot.
Pokémon, abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters, and currently branded in English as Pokémon the Series, is a Japanese anime television series, part of The Pokémon Company's Pokémon media franchise, which premiered on TV Tokyo in April 1997.
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English-dubbed Japanese anime through its subsidiary 4Kids Productions between 1992 and 2012; it specialized in the acquisition, production and licensing of children's entertainment around the United States. The first anime that 4Kids Productions dubbed was the first eight seasons of Pokémon that originally began airing in first run syndication, and then it later moved to exclusively air on Kids' WB! in the United States. The company is most well known for its range of television licenses, which has included the multibillion-dollar Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! Japanese anime franchises. They also ran two program blocks: Toonzai on The CW, and 4Kids TV on Fox, both aimed at children. The 4KidsTV block ended on December 27, 2008, while its Toonzai block ended on August 18, 2012, which was replaced by Saban's Vortexx, which in itself was succeeded by the One Magnificent Morning block by Litton Entertainment in 2014.
Digimon Adventure, also known as Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 1 in English-speaking territories, is a 1999 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation in cooperation with WiZ, Bandai and Fuji Television. It is the first anime series in the Digimon media franchise, based on the Digital Monster virtual pet released in 1997.
Pokémon is an anime television series that originally debuted in Japan on April 1, 1997. Throughout its run of over 1,200 episodes, specific episodes have been unaired or pulled from rerun rotation in certain countries while others have been altered or entirely banned, some of which include racial stereotyping such as Jynx and the characters appearing in blackface. Notably, the globally banned episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon", which aired only once on Japan's TV Tokyo on December 16, 1997, features a series of rapidly alternating red and blue frames that provoked epileptic seizures in hundreds of children.
"Dennō Senshi Porygon" is the 38th episode of the Pokémon anime's first season. Its sole broadcast was on TV Tokyo in Japan on December 16, 1997. The episode was written by Junki Takegami and directed by Kiyotaka Isako.
OLM, Inc.,, is a Japanese animation and film studio headquartered in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, founded on October 3, 1990, by former Studio Gallop and OB Planning employees. They are best known for producing the Pokémon anime series.
Polygon Pictures, Inc. is a Japanese 3DCG animation studio.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is a video game series spin-off from the main Pokémon series developed by Spike Chunsoft. The games feature the fictional creatures called Pokémon who have the ability to speak human language navigating through a randomly generated dungeon using turn-based moves, common to Mystery Dungeon games. As of March 2020, there have been eleven games across five platforms, as well as several manga adaptations and animated specials.
Jynx, known in Japan as Rougela, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Jynx first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles, or animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. While no English voice actors have been attributed for the character, in Japan they have been voiced by Mayumi Tanaka, Chie Satō, Kujira and Chiyako Shibahara
Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened is a 2013 Japanese animated film produced by OLM, Inc. and distributed by Toho. The film was directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and written by Hideki Sonoda. Its the 16th animated film in the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri, Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori and the third and final film in the Black & White series.
Pokémon Origins, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: The Origin, is a Japanese anime television special based on Nintendo's Pokémon franchise which follows the plot of Pokemon Red and Blue. Like the television series, it was not owned by Media Factory. Animation is handled by Production I.G, Xebec, and OLM, Inc., and the series is split into four parts, each directed by a different director from these studios. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo on October 2, 2013, ten days before the release of the X and Y video games, and began streaming internationally on Nintendo's Pokémon TV service from November 15, 2013 to December 2, 2013. On September 14, 2016, the first episode of the series was released for free on the official Pokémon YouTube channel and was later removed in 2017.
Yo-kai Watch is a Japanese media franchise created and developed by Level-5. The franchise's main work is the role-playing video game series of the same name, the first of which was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013. Three main sequels and several spinoffs, on both Nintendo and mobile platforms, have been released. In December 2019, the franchise expanded to PlayStation with the release of Yo-kai Watch 4++. An associated toy line is produced by Bandai for the Japanese market, while Hasbro formerly sold the toys under license in the Americas and Europe.
Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series is the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon animated series, and the third and final season of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters. The season premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from December 17, 2021 to March 24, 2023, and in the United States Netflix released new episodes on October 21, 2022; February 24, 2023 and June 23, 2023 and the final part titled Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master, known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: Aim to Be a Pokémon Master on September 8, 2023. In Canada, the season aired from May 28, 2022 to July 29, 2023.