Gotta Study ’Em All
Understanding the Cultural Impact of 30 Years of Pokémon
Gotta Study ’Em All
Understanding the Cultural Impact of 30 Years of Pokémon
Description
Gotta Study 'Em All: Understanding the Cultural Impact of 30 Years of Pokémon is a scholarly edited volume that attempts to explain the Pokémon brand's cultural significance on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.
Originally launched in Japan in February 1996, Pokémon has become the world's most valuable media franchise, a combination of video games, an animated series, trading cards, merchandise, and mobile applications, earning lifetime revenues exceeding 105 billion USD.
This book brings together fourteen original chapters from scholars around continents and disciplines (media studies, game studies, cultural studies, sociology, and the humanities) to discuss how and why Pokémon has held its extraordinary cultural and commercial importance over three decades and across multiple generations of fans.
The volume is divided into three thematic segments. The first analyzes Pokémon as a sustained cultural phenomenon and studies media coverage and intergenerational transmission of fandom. The second part looks at the foundations of the franchise-its narrative ethics, transmedia characters, cultural geography, popular music, and the enduring success of Pokémon GO. The third section explores fandom practices-from online communities and fan-made games to competitive play cultures in Latin America and the appropriation of Pokémon iconography for political protest. Collectively, the chapters provide a comprehensive analysis of Pokémon as an integrated media franchise whose appeal spans cultural, economic, and psychological dimensions. Though the book is largely a work in which non-Japanese scholars consider and analyze an inherently Japanese product, it provides insight into the unprecedented global impact of Pokémon and its current resonance with modern digital culture.
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Table of Contents
List of Tables
Introduction: 30 Years of Pokémon
Samuli Laato (University of Turku, Finland), Elina Koskinen (University of Jyväskylä, Finland), and Piotr Siuda (Kazimierz Wielki University, Poland)
Part 1: Pokémon as a Lasting Phenomenon
1. Gotta Frame 'Em All: Thirty Years of Pokémon in the Media as a Social Phenomenon, Entertainment, and Commercial Success
Stela Lechpammer (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
2. From Consoles to Smartphones: Pokémon's Media Representation in the Spanish Press (2011–2024)
Alexander Blanco Chang (University of Navarra, Spain) and Clara González-Tosat (Universidad de Navarra, Spain)
3. “I choose you!”: Understanding the Familial Transmission of Pokémon
Christina Griselda Nickerson (Gonzaga University, USA), Andrew David Sutherland (Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, USA), and Alexandra Elenitsa Fil (Washington State University, USA)
4. “Keep it up! I'm rooting for you, baby!”: Parental Mediation, Guardianship, and Intergenerational Play in the Pokémon Ecosystem
Alan Meades (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK) and Debra Pring (Canterbury Christ Church University, UK)
Part 2: Building Blocks of the Pokémon Franchise
5. Technologies of Utopia: Mediated Life and Post-Scarcity in the Pokémon Franchise
Sampsa Rauti (University of Turku, Finland)
6.“Wild MEWTWO appeared!”" Understanding Nonhuman Ethics in Pokémon through Mewtwo's Transmedia Character
Gregory Blomquist (Universityof Alberta, Canada)
7. Feels Like Home: Pokémon Regions and Their Cultural Background
David Matencio Durán (University of Glasgow, UK)
8. Echoes of Kanto: How the Music of the Pokémon Franchise Cultivates Cross-Generational Nostalgia
James Ellis (Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
9. The Persistence of Pokémon GO
Dale Leorke (University of Stirling, UK)
Part 3: Pokémon Fandom and Communities
10. “I never actually got around to 'catching them all'”: An Auto-Netnography of a Pokémon Community Webmaster
Liam Pomfret (Independent Scholar)
11. Unauthorized Evolutions: Fan-Made Pokémon Games as Transmedia Fandom
Cátia Ferreira (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal) and Tamires Lietti (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal)
12. From Kanto to Kitakami: How Pokémon Relates to Fans' Agency Through Its Media
Sebastián Mercado V. (Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE), Chile) and Maximiliano Acuña (Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE), Chile)
13. From Player to Judge: Trajectories of Professionalization in Organized Pokémon Play from the Latin American Periphery
Felipe García-Soriano (University of Alicante, Spain) and Daniel González Cohens (Independent Scholar, Chile)
14. Pikachu Goes to Protest: Becoming a Digital Symbol
Sena Özsirin (Üsküdar University, Turkey)
Notes on Contributors
Index
Product details
| Published | 12 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 9798216490098 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 10 bw illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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