A recent Pokemon anime special brought back the voice of the TV series' original narrator, Unsho Ishizuka, in a posthumous narration role. The anime branch of the massively popular monster-catching franchise made major waves recently when it announced that longstanding protagonist Ash Ketchum is set to leave the series. The iconic trainer and his Pikachu have been faces of the multimedia juggernaut since its inception with Ash starring in every main anime series thus far. Now, as The Pokemon Company is saying goodbye to one of its mascots, an old voice will help to send him off.The announcement of Ash's departure from the Pokemon anime came earlier this month when The Pokemon Company revealed its next animation series. With the anime set to feature the region of the recently released Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, The Pokemon Company revealed the series will star a pair of new protagonists, Liko and Roy. While rumors have persisted about Ash's potential connection with Liko, the studio would confirm that Ash will not feature as the new series' main character. Now, Ash's original narrator has made a posthumous return for his farewell tour.The deceased Unsho Ishizuka's voice made an appearance during the most recent Pokemon special, centering around an alternate universe Ash and Pikachu. The anime franchise's original narrator had served with the series for over 20 years following its debut in 1997 until his death in 2018. His voice was revealed to have been re-created using clips from past performances by The Pokemon Company for the special. Ishizuka also portrayed the beloved Kanto Pokemon professor, Professor Oak, during his time in the anime.
Ishizuka's vocal return to the Pokemon anime serves as just one part of the grand farewell tour the TV series has in store for its flagship trainer. Several of Ash's past traveling partners, including his original group with Brock and Misty, have been confirmed to be returning during the closing episodes. The Pokemon Company has also teased the possibility of Ash re-uniting with several of his past Pokemon, already confirming the long-awaited reunion with his Butterfree. The new Ash-less Pokemon anime is speculated to be starting early next year with Ash receiving 11 more episodes as the star.
The Pokemon anime's farewell to its long-running main character comes as the newest entries in the Pokemon franchise have achieved massive success. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would break records following their launch, becoming the fastest-selling Nintendo games of all time. Scarlet and Violet were confirmed to have sold a staggering 10 million copies within just three days of the games' release. With Scarlet and Violet transitioning the games into an open-world model and the anime moving away from Ash, Pokemon looks set to begin a new era with the Paldea region.
Source: ComicBook