The Pokémon Effect: How 20-Year Old Game Boy Cartridges Shaped a Generation

The franchise's 20th anniversary logo. In the early 2000s, reporters loved writing panic-fueled pieces about Pokémon. They nervously wondered if the Japanese media franchise was corrupting children by glorifying animal fighting, addicting them to Game Boys, or sending them Satanic messages through a cartoon theme song. Saudi Arabia even issued a fatwā against Pokémon. (And no, that isn't some Internet urban legend. It actually happened. You can Google it now; I'll wait.) Granted, the accusati...