[访谈翻译] Game Informer 独家专访：增田顺一谈初代动画——“我们起初并不确定它能否成功”与大谷育江皮卡丘之声的诞生
2017年8月，Game Informer 赴东京专访 Game Freak 核心创始人增田顺一。在系列回顾专访中，增田顺一首次深层回顾了1997年《宝可梦》初代无印篇电视动画诞生的珍贵内幕：皮卡丘之所以能成为全球代表吉祥物，并非 Game Freak 最初的商业谋划，而是动画制作公司 OLM 根据日本小学生中‘常青森林抓到稀有皮卡丘’的狂热反响所极力举荐；解密宝可梦‘用自己的名字啼叫’的声效设定同样出自 OLM，当 Game Freak 众人试听大谷育江（Ikue Otani）充满灵性与可爱感的配音试音后欣然赞同；回忆初代动画开播当晚 Game Freak 全体员工围坐电视机前激动收看，以及火箭队经典二人组武藏与小次郎的诞生；并详述《超梦的逆袭》北美票房登顶引发的全球跨媒介轰动狂潮。
增田顺一大谷育江本·里夫斯宝可梦 红·绿宝可梦 皮卡丘版
原始资料
1997年开播的《宝可梦》无印篇动画：小智与皮卡丘的结伴启程，将游戏热潮引爆为全球现象级跨媒体奇迹
图像作为阅读入口保留；正文仍以可检索、可对照的文字档案为主。
逐段译读
宝可梦之父谈初代动画：“我们起初并不确定它能否成功”
Pokémon's Creators On The Anime: 'We Weren’t Really Sure About It'
1997年开播的《宝可梦》无印篇动画：小智与皮卡丘的结伴启程，将游戏热潮引爆为全球现象级跨媒体奇迹
原文
Pokémon Red and Blue (and Green in Japan) were highly successful. They are quality games that are well loved, but there was another factor that undeniably bolstered the success of the games and helped skyrocket the franchise to the juggernaut it is today. Our focus while visiting Game Freak in Japan was to learn the history of the video games, but we did have a few questions about the anime for Junichi Masuda.
译文
《宝可梦 红／蓝》（以及日本本土的《红／绿》）在当年取得了空前的商业成功。它们本身便是深受玩家爱戴的传世杰作，然而不可否认的是，还有另一股关键力量极大地助推了游戏的爆发，促使这一 IP 一飞冲天，蜕变为如今庞大无匹的全球娱乐巨擎。虽然我们此行造访日本 Game Freak 总部的核心目标是探寻电子游戏本身的研发演进史，但我们依然抓住机会，向增田顺一先生请教了若干关于初代电视动画的珍贵内幕。
皮卡丘为何成为绝对主角：制作公司 OLM 的力荐与校园口碑的蔓延
Why Pikachu Became The Mascot: OLM's Suggestion and Schoolyard Word-of-Mouth
原文
Our discussion began with a simple question: why is Pikachu so popular?
译文
我们的对谈始于一个看似简单却至关重要的问题：皮卡丘究竟为什么会变得如此家喻户晓、大受欢迎？
原文
“Probably thanks to Pikachu being in the anime and being Ash’s partner,” Masuda says.
译文
“这恐怕要归功于皮卡丘在动画中出场，并且成为了主角小智无可替代的搭档伙伴。”增田顺一先生回答道。
原文
It wasn’t Game Freak’s decision to make Pikachu the face of the brand, he just sort of fell into it. It was the production company, OLM Inc., that made the anime who recognized the adorable electric rat’s potential.
译文
事实上，让皮卡丘成为整个宝可梦品牌的门面代表，并非 Game Freak 最初主动规划的商业决策，而是一场水到渠成的机缘巧合。正是负责制作电视动画的制作公司 OLM Inc.，敏锐地察觉到了这只娇憨可爱的电气鼠所蕴藏的巨大潜力。
原文
“That was a decision, or rather a suggestion, from the company that made the anime,” Masuda says, “They originally came to us with the idea that they wanted to feature Pikachu, because Pikachu at the time was really popular amongst kids in school. It is a hard-to-find Pokémon, so kids knew about it.”
译文
“那其实是动画制作公司做出的决定，或者说向我们提出的宝贵提议，”增田先生回忆道，“他们最初带着这个想法来找我们，表示希望能以皮卡丘作为主角的核心伙伴。因为在当时的小学校园里，皮卡丘已经在孩子们之间掀起了一股风潮。它在游戏常青森林里属于稀有、不容易遭遇的宝可梦，正因难以寻觅，孩子们反而在课间互相交流传阅，都对它印象极其深刻。”
用名字呼唤叫声：大谷育江的试音打动 Game Freak 与火箭队的诞生
Saying Their Own Names: Ikue Otani's Audition and Team Rocket's Origin
原文
The idea of the Pokémon speaking their own names is an idea that can also be attributed to OLM Inc., and Game Freak was hesitant about it at first.
译文
让宝可梦在动画中直接喊出自己名字的发声设定，同样归功于 OLM Inc. 的创意构想，而 Game Freak 起初对此其实抱有相当大的疑虑与犹豫。
原文
“They actually had [Pikachu’s] voice actress, Ms. Ikue Ōtani, do a take on the voice and they showed us a clip of it and we listened to the sound of it saying its name over and over in a really cute way,” Masuda says, “We weren’t really sure about it, but it worked out.”
译文
“他们特意请来了皮卡丘的声优大谷育江女士进行试音录制，随后把样片展示给我们看。我们听着试音片段里，大谷女士一遍又一遍用极其软萌治愈的语调呼唤着自己的名字‘皮卡～丘！’，”增田先生说道，“虽然我们一开始确实心里没底、不太确定这种改动是否合适，但事实证明，这个决定取得了绝妙的成功。”
原文
Game Freak came up with the idea for Team Rocket (they were in the games after all) but the characters Jesse and James can also be attributed to OLM, Inc..
译文
虽然作为反派组织的‘火箭队’最初是 Game Freak 为游戏本体构思设计的势力，但动画中深入人心的经典反派二人组武藏（Jessie）与小次郎（James），以及会说人类语言的喵喵，其标志性的鲜活人设同样出自动画制作公司 OLM（由已故编剧首藤刚志奠定基调）。
首播之夜的 Game Freak：全体围坐电视机前，激动万分
Premiere Night at Game Freak: 'We Definitely Watched It Together'
原文
The anime premiered in Japan in 1997, and Game Freak made sure to watch.
译文
1997年4月，电视动画在日本正式开播，Game Freak 的全体团队成员当晚全都守在电视机前。
原文
“We definitely watched it together,” Masuda says, “We were very excited to watch it.” They did not, however eat popcorn, “[Laughs] We didn’t have any popcorn. We’re Japanese.”
译文
“我们当时毫无疑问是聚在一起收看的，”增田先生笑着回忆道，“大家的心情都无比激动、满怀期待。”不过他们当时并没有像欧美观众那样一边看片一边嚼爆米花，“【笑】我们可没吃爆米花。毕竟我们是日本人嘛。”
全球热浪：剧场版《超梦的逆袭》破纪录的票房奇迹
The Global Sensation: Mewtwo Strikes Back and Historic Box Office Records
原文
The anime made its way to North America in 1998, and quickly found an audience. The first Pokémon movie, appropriately titled Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, actually held the record for highest grossing opening for an animated film until it was beaten by Toy Story 2 two weeks later. The anime is still going strong today with adaptations of every mainline game and a new movie, recounting the events of the beginning of the anime, coming to American theatres in November.
译文
1998年，动画正式跨越大洋登陆北美荧屏，并迅速俘获了千家万户年轻观众的心。系列首部剧场版动画《宝可梦 剧场版：超梦的逆袭》（Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back）更是创造了北美动画电影历史最高开画票房纪录，直到两周后才被皮克斯的《玩具总动员2》超越。直至今日，宝可梦动画依然生生不息，紧随每一世代正统游戏推陈出新，历久弥新。
原文
For more on the history of Pokémon, you can check out the latest issue for a 12-page feature covering the franchise’s history, as well as online features and interviews linked below.
译文
欲了解更多关于宝可梦波澜壮阔的发展史，敬请参阅 Game Informer 当期杂志刊载的 12 页独家重磅专题报道，以及我们在专题页面中持续更新的独家幕后深度访谈。
Archive record 档案信息
- Date
- 2017.08.17
- Source
- Pokémon's Creators On The Anime: 'We Weren’t Really Sure About It'
- People
- Game Informer, 增田顺一
- Game / Work
- 宝可梦 红·绿、宝可梦 皮卡丘版
- Page
- 未标注
- Language
- en
- Status
- published