Pokemon's tag line--"Gotta catch 'em all"--is taken very seriously by young consumers. They're snapping up Nintendo's Pokemon Game Boy hardware at a pace of 100,000 units per week, and software to the tune of eight million total units. They're watching the animated TV series and heading to the movie theater for Pokemon: The First Movie, which brought in $77.8 million as of November 28, two and a half weeks after its release. And they're collecting $1 billion worth of 1000 Pokemon products from 100 licensees, including 500 million Wizards of the Coast trading/strategy cards.

The juggernaut has extended into publishing; licensees Golden Books, Viz Communications and Scholastic together have printed nearly 40 million Pokemon books since August. "It's definitely one of the hottest trends in recent memory," said Lisa MacMartin, director of marketing for books and toys at the Musicland Group, whose Media Play division carries a variety of Pokemon books. "[Sales have] been very much a function of inventory," reported Beth Gorman, associate director of trade books for Borders. "Each time we reorder, we sell more." Rich Maryyanek, senior v-p of marketing at Golden Books, said, "We never show up on bestseller lists because of the types of books we do, but we're there now." Golden has shipped more than 27 million copies of its 20 Pokemon titles.

Meanwhile, Scholastic has introduced nine titles, including chapter books, how-to companions and film tie-ins. More than seven million are currently in print. "We're definitely seeing an overall boost for the whole program from the film," noted Michael Jacobs, Scholastic's senior v-p for trade books. For Viz, the largest U.S. producer of Japanese comics, graphic novels and videos in English, Pokemon represents its bestselling property ever and its first foray into the traditional children's book market. The company reported that it has 3.5 million Pokemon books and graphic novels in print.

Publishers say they are talking with retailers and other licensees about Pokemon cross-promotional opportunities, but no plans have been finalized, largely because Pokemon licensees are concentrating on meeting demand. Stores such as Media Play, Borders, Toys "R" Us and Sears have pulled together Pokemon displays that include books, while some retailers have organized their own events. Borders saw sales increases on Pokemon products when it held Pokemon card-game tournaments in several of its stores.

Pokemon has brought books into some nontraditional channels as well. Golden's titles can be found at Blockbuster Video and in perfume shops and bodegas, and Scholastic's are in We're Entertainment, an entertainment merchandise chain. Jacobs emphasized that Pokemon is also strong in traditional bookstores. "It's not mass-focused," he explained.

Most products inspired by Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime) traditionally have been sold in comic book stores, which have suffered from consolidation and flat sales recently. "To continue to publish this stuff, we have to look at other markets," said Oliver Chin, director of sales and marketing for Viz. "With Pokemon, we're reaching thousands of new fans that may never have been in a comic book store in their lives."

Riding the Coattails

Can Pokemon's success help boost the popularity of other Japanese manga and anime properties in North America? Pokemon-like children's properties from Japan have already begun appearing on U.S. television and are generating full licensing and publishing programs, with most products scheduled to appear on store shelves next year.

Saban Entertainment has signed HarperCollins and Modern Publishing for its Japanese series Digimon, which premiered in August. "Everything's happening fast," according to Sharon Markowitz Bennett, v-p of licensing and merchandising for Saban's consumer products division. Licensees are signed in most key categories, and Target and Toys "R" Us are doing retail promotions.

BKN is licensing Monster Rancher, which launched this fall and is based on a Tecmo video game. It runs seven days a week on four networks. According to Carol McGovney, senior v-p of U.S. licensing and merchandising, BKN is currently in discussion with children's publishers for a variety of books; more than a dozen licensees in other categories are in place.

An upcoming girls' property is Cardcaptor Sakura, based on a Japanese serialized comic introduced in 1996. North American licensor Nelvana is currently selling an animated series, which premiered in Japan in spring 1998, for U.S. distribution. Sid Kaufman, Nelvana's executive v-p of worldwide merchandising, said that the breadth of licensing will depend on where and when the television series airs but he expects publishing to be a major component. Mixx Entertainment has comic-book and graphic-novel rights and will release the first graphic novel in March, according to Jay Goldstein, public relations and marketing director at Mixx.

Pokemon has not only helped bring new Japanese properties into the market, it has contributed to sales increases for familiar Japanese brands such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. The Sailor Moon television series first appeared in the U.S. in syndication in 1995, accompanied by a vast but unsuccessful licensing effort. In June 1998, the series moved to Cartoon Network and debuted with strong ratings, which led to a limited licensing relaunch. Thanks to Pokemon, that effort is now expanding. "We hoped that [Sailor Moon] would have a second chance, and we absolutely have Pokemon to thank for it," said M.J. Chisholm, v-p of licensing and merchandising for licensor DIC Entertainment, adding that Pokemon has "made a tremendous difference in the mass market." Mixx Entertainment holds publishing rights to the Sailor Moon franchise and has released five graphic novels (263,000 in print) and three YA novels (61,000 in print). More titles are forthcoming.

Funimation Productions, Dragon Ball Z's U.S. licensor, is signing several new licensees, with products expected to begin appearing at retail next spring. The company is negotiating with publishers for novelizations and picture books and is close to signing Modern for sticker, tattoo and activity books. "I think people have more confidence in the Japanese properties than [they did] before Pokemon," said Gen Fukunaga, Funimation's president, "but we were trending up before that." Viz has introduced 18 Dragon Ball comics since March 1998 and plans to release its first graphic novel in the spring. "[The property] is definitely finding a huge new audience of Pokemon fans," said Chin.

While Pokemon has helped boost interest in Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, licensors give equal credit to Cartoon Network, which airs both series and plans to add another Japanese animation property, Gundam Wing, this spring. Mixx will publish Gundam Wing graphic novels.

The Traditional Market

Most books based on Japanese manga and anime have historically taken the form of graphic novels--trade paperback compilations of comic book series--sold through book and comic book stores and geared toward an older, primarily male audience. They have gained a wider following in the U.S. over the last decade; Viz now sells more of its 200-plus graphic novel titles through bookstores than comic book outlets, reflecting a more mainstream fan base. (One of its bestselling franchises, Ranma 1/2, has more than 200,000 copies in print of its 13 titles.)

Dark Horse Comics, another leading supplier of manga graphic novels, counts its Blade of the Immortal (more than 31,000 in print for the first three of five titles) and Oh My Goddess! series as among its top-selling graphic novel franchises in bookstores, along with Ghost in the Shell (90,000 in print since 1996).

John O'Donnell, managing director of Central Park Media, another anime and manga specialist, reported that 20% of his company's graphic novels are sold through bookstore chains. Noting that most book, music and video stores now carry anime and/or manga, O'Donnell said, "Basically we've gone from a cult to a solid mainstream category."

Despite the very different content and target audience of Pokemon versus core manga/anime titles, the publicity surrounding Pokemon--and another high-profile Japanese animation property, based on the film Princess Mononoke--has opened doors for distribution of other Japanese comics and animation. Pokemon also is helping publishers develop a future customer base and is breaking stereotypes about what manga and anime are. "Pokemon will be a great help for us. It demystifies manga," said Michael Martens, Dark Horse's v-p of marketing. "The kids that read Pokemon will grow older, and they'll know Japanese anime."

At least one publisher is using the high visibility of Pokemon and Princess Mononoke as an opportunity to promote backlist titles. Viz has rights to Nausicaä, the only manga series created by Princess Mononoke director Hayao Miyazaki, and is making available a four“graphic novel box set of the series to bookstores for the first time.

A Long Life?

Properties that take off quickly, as Pokemon has, can fall off just as suddenly, and publishers and booksellers are aware that they must avoid market oversaturation. Yet most observers, including Jacobs, are optimistic about Pokemon's potential: "It seems to have a longer than normal life cycle for something that is clearly a craze."

Maryyanek pointed out that the property's multimedia support--with the television show, film, trading cards and Game Boys all creating interest and awareness--leads to a wide target audience. He cited the tattoo books as an example: "We have 12-year-olds buying them all the way down to four-year-olds."

Maryyanek also noted Pokemon's psychological appeal to children. "It combines the nurturing of Tamagotchi [a recent Japanese-origin fad] and the collectibility of Beanie Babies," he explained. "Kids get it and they understand it, and their parents don't." Jacobs concurred: "There's a whole universe there that these kids have become immersed in." He credited Nintendo's promotional plans, which were underway well before most books were introduced, with creating grassroots popularity. "The marketing machine had started to really work," he remarked. "It was happening in the schoolyard."

Publishers are hopeful that Nintendo's and its licensees' plans for next year will keep the property on track. Those plans include the introduction of new trading card games and 100 new monsters (for a total of 250), more promotions, new television story lines and the video release of the first movie (expected next spring) and a second film in the summer.

Publishers are doing their part, too. "We're trying to feed the publishing in such a way that it's timely and appeals to the various age groups," said Jacobs, noting that Scholastic's ongoing monthly chapter book series will continue and that a Pokemon Jr. chapter book series for younger fans will debut in the spring. Golden also plans regular releases of workbooks, coloring and activity books, storybooks and novelty titles through the first half of next year.

While the Pokemon craze inevitably must decline at some point, the property is not likely to disappear any time soon. As MacMartin put it, "Even if it falls off from this hotter-than-hot peak, it'll still be big."

Japan: An Unlimited Source of Properties

If Pokemon's success continues to create stateside demand for other Japanese properties, producers and publishers in Japan will easily be able to fill it.

The Japanese comic book (manga), video game and animation (anime) industries are highly integrated. Properties arise from all of these sources--Pokemon began as a video game, Sailor Moon a comic serial and Princess Mononoke an animated film--and then make their way into the other sectors.

While exact figures on the size of the industries are hard to come by, comics are estimated to account for half of book and periodical sales in Japan, with up to 500 titles on the market at any time. The average comic book is a 300-page omnibus bringing together 20-30 serials for a specific target audience at a cost of $3. Japan's largest publishers, including Shogakukan and Kodansha, produce comic books.

Meanwhile, as many as 20-40 animated feature films and 300 direct-to-video titles are released each year, and up to 50 animated series are on the air each week. One hundred or more animation studios are in business, including one of the world™s largest, T i.

Manga and anime are sometimes perceived as targeting either young children or 20-something males, but the market for these products in Japan is diverse. Comic titles range from science fiction, romance and historical nonfiction to explanations of job skills and are aimed at every market segment.

In the U.S., anime and manga have been available since AstroBoy and Speed Racer in the 1960s, followed by Robotech, Voltran and others in the 1970s and 1980s. Most were not marketed as Japanese in origin, and consumers often were unaware that they came from Japan. Distributors peg 1990 as the start of a separate anime/manga industry in the U.S.; comic book stores and mail order initially accounted for most sales, but by 1994, video and book store chains were beginning to feature anime and/or manga sections.

While mainstream Japanese movies, such as My Neighbor Totorro and Kiki's Delivery Service have been released on film and/or video, and series, such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, have appeared on television here in the 1990s, they did not kick-start awareness of Japanese animation in the U.S. as Pokemon and the film Princess Mononoke have. "They're hardly the first," said Fred Patten, director of marketing and publications for Streamline Pictures and an American expert on anime. "But they're some of the first to be labeled Japanese."