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Ritchie, or Richie, is a recurring trainer in the Pokémon Series anime. Introduced in the 78th episode, "A Friend In Deed," Ritchie befriends Ash as a fellow Indigo Plateau Conference competitor. Ritchie helps Ash defeat Team Rocket's latest scheme, and the two grow closer. Ritchie was the one who defeated Ash in the Indigo League and became in the Top 8 of the League. After this moment, Ritchie was rarely seen again, but he made a brief cameo in the anime Pokémon Journeys.

Ritchie is a kindhearted boy with a courageous attitude that lets him create friends. It's discovered that he and Ash have similar Pokémon, so identical that they are doppelgangers. Ritchie and Ash even share similar designs but opposite color schemes and personalities, with Ritchie being the far more cautious and reserved of the two. While Ritchie never appeared again in the series using Ash's caught Pokémon, it's possible...

Just as there is a Pokémon for any fan of the Pokémon franchise, every fan also has a movie from Pokémon's vast film roster that they view as their favorite. For fans of Lucario, the Aura Pokémon, that film may be Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, which is often seen as one of the most emotional Pokémon movies. Meanwhile, Pokémon: Spell of the Unown is certainly one of the franchise's most surreal films, with a somber atmosphere and action-packed fights sure to leave the viewer on the edge of their seat.

At the heart of each Pokémon film is one or more Pokémon that carries the narrative and either acts as a friend or foe for Ash and friends in the end. Just like in the games, every Pokémon in the movies varies in strength, though they are certainly all unique in how they use their power.

Action-comedy Hitman 2 dominated the Korean box office for a second consecutive weekend, claiming 28% of admissions.

The film earned $1.3m from Friday to Sunday (February 7 to 9), according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service.

The sequel has grossed $15m since its January 22 release, surpassing original Hitman: Agent Jun, which took $14.1m in 2020, and pushing the film past its break-even point of 2.3 million admissions. Kwon Sang-woo reprises his role as secret agent-turned-webtoon artist who, in this instalment, is falsely accused of plotting a terrorist attack.

Ranking second was mystery romance Secret: Untold Melody, which added $937,000. Based on...

Action comedy Hitman 2 rose to the top of the Korea box office during the Lunar New Year holidays, claiming 39% of ticket sales.

The sequel earned $2.8m from more than 450,000 admissions from Friday to Sunday (January 31 to February 2). Released on January 22, it has generated a cume of $12.7m from nearly 2 million admissions to date, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service.

Kwon Sang-woo reprises his role as a secret agent-turned-webtoon artist. The first film, Hitman: Agent Jun, took $14.1m when released in January 2020, a couple of months before the pandemic lockdown.

After leading the box office the previous weekend,...

In 2025, a time when we have dozens of new anime shows every couple of months and enough fans with different tastes that it takes a lot of effort for a single show to become a viral phenomenon, it's easy to forget just how big of a cultural movement "Pokémon" was.

Based on the already hugely popular video game property of the same name, Studio Olm's "Pokémon" anime was an instant success not only in Japan but abroad too. It kickstarted Pokémania and became a global phenomenon, making fans out of millions of kids and paving the way for a wave of anime titles aimed at kids like "Digimon."

The original iteration of the anime follows Ash Ketchum, a kid who — when he turns 10 — ventures out into the wilderness on a journey to catch every single Pokémon and become a Pokémon master. That's right, a 10-year-old lives alone in the wild with no money,...

2025 will mark the 20th anniversary of some old animated favorites, and it's hard to believe certain movies have been around for so long. Looking back at the best animated movies from 20 years ago is also a good way to rediscover some forgotten classics. The 2000s saw plenty of straight-to-dvd movies, or movies based on popular children's TV shows that were huge at the time but don't get talked about much these days.

2005 was an interesting year for feature-length animated movies. After releasing Finding Nemo and The Incredibles in back-to-back years, Pixar took a year off before releasing Cars in 2006. Other studios battled it out to claim the throne, with DreamWorks and Aardman Animations both producing classics. Disney also produced its first fully computer-generated movie, finally catching up to the competition and ushering in a new era.

Pokémon: Lucario & The Mystery Of Mew The Eighth Pokémon Movie Is A Highlight...

Japanese actress, voice actress and TV host Kumiko Okae (nee Kumiko Owada) died Thursday at a Tokyo hospital from pneumonia complications caused by the Covid-19 virus. She was 63. Her death was confirmed by her management office.

Okae entered the hospital on April 3 with a high fever. Her condition was complicated by radiation therapy she underwent in January after surgery for breast cancer.

Okae voiced the character of “Jenny” in the 2005 feature film Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. Her voice credits include the animated 1997 movie adaptation The Dog of Flanders as Elina, and Studio Ghibli’s The Cat Returns (2002) as Haru’s mother, Naoko. She was also Ryouko in the 2005 live-action series adaptation of Chikako Urano’s Attack No. 1 volleyball manga.

Born in Setagaya preficture of Tokyo, Okae debuted in Tokyo Broadcasting System Television’s Omitsu in 1975. She went on to appear in many live-action series, including Ten Made...