Watch Ash’s Japanese Voice Actor Sing Unique Pokémon Theme

Pokémon bids farewell to a legend subsequent week. In Japan, the ultimate episode of the two-and-a-half-decade-old Pokémon anime to star Ash Ketchum (or Satoshi, as he’s identified over there) will broadcast, paving the best way for a new series. However the voice behind the forever-young Pokémon coach is sending him out in fashion.

Whereas a few English-language voice actors have shared in Ash’s legacy within the dub of the Pokémon anime, Rica Matsumoto has voiced the character for the reason that very starting in Japan—and he or she additionally sang the present’s very first opening tune there, “Mezase Pokémon Grasp,” or “Purpose to Be a Pokémon Grasp.” As iconic as our personal unique theme was culturally, “Mezase Pokémon Grasp” has returned a number of occasions within the unique anime—and a brand new model recorded by Matsumoto has change into the theme tune for the ultimate episodes of the present epilogue collection bidding farewell to Ash, itself titled Pokémon: Purpose to Be a Pokémon Grasp.

And now, you may hear Matsumoto belt it out within the video above, for the favored Japanese music YouTube channel, the First Take—which invitations stars to carry out their iconic tracks reside in a single take. She is, in fact, accompanied by a small refrain of Pokémon plushes as she sings, together with some notable ones particular to Ash’s journey, like Greninja, Ho-oh, current team members (like Dragonite, Lucario, and Gengar), and, of course, Pikachu.

It’s only a very candy solution to mark a time because the Pokémon fandom prepares to bid farewell to its hero.

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