And how is it all connected with a 1996 video game?
With Pokemon being one of the most popular anime franchises ever it would be hard to find an anime fan who has never heard its famous catchphrase — "Gotta Catch'em All!". And yet, when we actually stop and think about it, the series was never about 'catching all of Pokemon' as none of the characters managed to accomplish that or even attempted such a feat to begin with.
So, how did this seemingly unfitting phrase end up being inseparably tied to the franchise?
This story dates back to the second half of 1990s when a Pokemon-themed RPG game for Game Boy console — Pokemon Red and Blue — after being recently released in Japan was now preparing to enter foreign markets.
At that time the Japanese version already had a relatively well known catchphrase borrowed from the anime itself — "Get Pokemon!". However, in the eyes of the English-language marketing teams, it was not catchy enough — especially for a traditionally oversaturated American market that required any things foreign to properly stand out if they wanted a chance to succeed.
And thus, after some pondering, they came up with now legendary phrase — "Gotta Catch 'em All!" — which not only sounded quite nicely but also did a very good job reflecting one of the key aspects of the Game Boy title that — unlike its anime counterpart — did actually require the player to ultimately catch all of its many Pokemon in order to finish the game.
This made even more sense considering the fact that the full roster of Pokemons necessary for completion was split between two games, Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue — which were totally the same in every other regard.
After the game's smashing success, the Pokemon franchise suddenly ended up with millions of new fans all over the world, the majority of whom now strongly associated the title with its new catchphrase and… It kind of stuck. And, while the franchise itself was gradually expanding westward, the phrase made its way back to Japan and now started appearing on various covers and merchandise made for the Japanese market.
Interestingly enough, when we consider the treatment of Pokemons themselves in the anime series, we can clearly see that they are not meant to be 'caught and collected in great numbers' for the joy of the humans. Quite the opposite — with the creatures having their own personalities, strong bonds with owners and generally being treated with a lot of respect — the story and central message of Pokemon cannot be further from the idea of 'catching all of pokemons'. And yet the phrase stuck and now the two seemingly find themselves in an absolute in harmony