The very first design for Pokémon mascot Pikachu was a delightfully chubby little fellow. Chunkachu, because it’s lovingly identified, was Mitsuhiro Arita’s unique drawing for the 1996 Japanese Pokémon card, and it gave the yellow mouse much more to like than he has in most trendy renditions. To have fun the thirtieth anniversary of Pokémon this 12 months, Takara Tomy is releasing a correct chungus of a plushie in that unique design.
It’s going to be a really busy 12 months for Pokémon. 2026 is the thirtieth anniversary of not solely the discharge of the very first Pokémon video games, Japan’s Pocket Monsters Pink and Inexperienced on February 27 of 1996, but in addition the very first Japanese Pokémon TCG playing cards with October 20, 1996’s 1st Starter & Growth Pack, that means the celebrations are going to final the entire 12 months. And that’s an excellent excuse to recollect how Pikachu used to look, each within the recreation and on the playing cards, earlier than he received the Mounjaro.
The brand new plush comes not from The Pokémon Firm and isn’t accessible on its numerous Pokémon Middle shops, however quite is being offered by toy big Takara Tomy, and presently solely in Japan. The extraordinarily cuddle-able stuffed toy is 7,480 yen, or about $47, which isn’t too dangerous for a 40 cm tall cuddly. On the time of writing it’s offered out on Tomy’s website, although dearer choices for buy nonetheless appear to pop up on Amazon’s Japanese site.
Chunkachu has been celebrated throughout the many years in Pokémon, not least with the design of the monster’s VMAX incarnation, in addition to updated versions of the original artwork showing throughout the twenty fifth anniversary celebrations. However for probably the most half, the way more slimmed-down rendition of Pikachu is the recognizable emblem of the whole franchise. And honest sufficient—identify a beloved cartoon character that didn’t look every kind of weirdly completely different of their first type than the model we received used to. Oh my pricey god, unique Garfield.
