The immense popularity of Pokemon among children in the late twentieth century has already been discussed. What, then, does this translate to in terms of a child’s behaviour? To what extent are these learned behaviours fundamental, and perhaps even desirable in a child’s development? By examining Pokemon specifically, this section aims to shed light on the aforementioned questions by discussing the direct impacts of watching anime on the education and personal development of children. Education here may be broken down into literacy, social and moral education. …show more content…
While it had been the games that jumpstarted Pokemon’s popularity, it was the anime that brought it to life and established its widespread presence in the everyday lives of child audiences. The anime was by far the most appealing with its full colour, animation, and most importantly, storyline. It had created a subculture which included comic books, novels, and Pokemon cards. Vivian Vasquez illustrated in her paper how Pokemon playing cards had improved her nephew Curtis’ literacy. To learn more about Pokemon, Curtis had to “learn to use a variety of resources”, which “led [him] to become an avid reader and a frequent visitor to bookstores and neighbourhood stores where magazines are sold” (Vasquez, 2003). As children may not be interested in reading and learning in the first place, interest in Pokemon may be an effective way to increase initiative to read. This will undoubtedly improve reading skills of children, which will extend to greater ability to read