Gotta catch ’em all, or gotta rack ’em all?
Let’s quickly go back in time: It’s the late 1990s, Pokémon is about to take over the West, and Nintendo has an idea to “toughen up” the phenomenon’s most popular character.
Take a deep breathe, this might ruin your childhood: Pikachu almost had boobs.
According to recently unearthed interview with the Pokémon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, Nintendo of America thought Pikachu’s cute, chubby-cheeked vibe was too soft for Western kids.
Their solution?
A redesign that had Ishihara clutching his pearls and vowing to never let those sketches see the light of day.
When asked if this new Pikachu looked like those, ahem, enthusiastic cosplayers at anime conventions, Ishihara straight-up said, “Yes, exactly!” We’re talking full-on, Jellicle-level chaos—think Pikachu strutting around with a sparkly tail and a chest that could stop traffic.
Thunderbolts and thunderboobs.
Japanese outlet Game*Spark did some sleuthing and confirmed this wasn’t just a bad translation of the word “mune” (which can mean chest or, uh, chests). But, this was a legit pitch from some bold (or unhinged) execs who thought Pikachu needed a glow-up to rival a Las Vegas showgirl.
“I won’t show those illustrations to anyone as long as I live,” said Ishihara. “But they kind of looked like the characters from the Cats musical. So, for example, Pikachu was changed into a character shaped like a kind of a tabby cat with huge breasts.”
So, yes. 1990s Pokémon card collectors could have gone down a very different path.
Which means, somewhere out there, there are professional sketches of Pikachu with massive Pokéboobs, locked in a vault.
Thankfully, advancements in modern tech means a few simple prompts into AI and boom: your scariest nightmares can come true.
Pika-Pika, or hubba hubba?
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