Pokemon and Buddhism?

Did you know that the tv show Pokemon has Buddhist influence? Now for most of you people who are reading this I am sure are most American, but, if you didn't know Pokemon was first created in Japan. We all grew up watching Pokemon but before it came over to America and was translated from Japanese to English, Pokemon was created by the man Satoshi Tajiri. The man is an absolute genius, although he is autistic he created one of the most successful franchises to ever be made in the history of videogames and television media. The show was created in 1996 and before it was a tv show, it was a video game sponsored by Nintendo and GameFreak Corp. Now that you have some background knowledge of Pokemon, back to my original point. People wouldn't think of this show having Buddhist influence because most people didn't know that show was originally made in Japan where Buddhism is the most commonly practiced religion in the country. In one of the episodes of Pokemon you see some Buddhist philosophy and it's actually really cool to see how the implemented it into the show. In the episode I'm talking about, it was an episode that was mainly about the pokemon "Magikarp". Magikarp is actually a Japanese Koi fish

Magikarp

.

In the episode the Magikarp are swimming up the river because in order to "evolve" to their next state. This is a common occurrence with all the pokemon. Over time the pokemon become stronger which results in them evolving to a stronger form. Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, which is a water dragon type pokemon. In order to evolve, the Magikarp must swim up the river against the current and swim up the waterfall in order to become a Gyarados.

Gyarados

This is where we start seeing the Buddhist influence. In the wild, koi are cold water fish who gain strength by swimming against currents. Man years ago, in a time before recorded history, a huge school containing thousands of koi swam up the river. All was going well until the koi reached a waterfall. Immediately, a large number of them grew discouraged and turned back, finding it much easier to simply go with the flow of the river. Yet, a determined group of 360 koi stayed on. Straining and leaping, each koi strove to reach the top of the falls. Again and again they flung their bodies into air only to fall back into the water. All this splashing noise drew the attention of the local demons who laughed at the efforts of the struggling koi. Adding to their struggle, the demons sadistically increased the height of the falls. Still the koi refused to give up! Undeterred, the koi continued their efforts for one hundred years. At last, the with one heroic leap, a single koi reached the top of the falls. The God's smiled down in approval and transformed the exhausted koi into a shining golden dragon. He joy full spends his days chasing pearls of wisdom across the skies of the vast and eternal heavens. Whenever another koi finds the strength and courage to leap up the falls, he or she too becomes a heavenly dragon. The falls have become known as the Dragon's Gate and, because of their endurance and perseverance, koi have become symbolic in overcoming adversity and fulfilling one's destiny.

As you read this story, you realize that it is the story of Magikarp evolving into the great dragon Gyarados. It's so cool to see how buddhism influenced this show. Even though I am a christian I still find the Buddhist philosophy so fascinating and the stories are so engaging. It just goes to show you that if you try hard enough at something then you will become stronger. You will become a dragon.                                                                                              ~ The Man Who's A Fan Of Japan