The character Eco-chan opened an environmental centre in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and was supposed to be used in green publicity campaigns.
According to Japanese news reports, it was only after the character’s costume was complete that a city staffer said that it looked like Pikachu. Moreover, the person who did the original illustration apparently had never heard of Pikachu.
That person also lives in a cave with no electricity, television, and has never been to a supermarket in Japan. Pika-whut?
The individual in charge at Yamaguchi Prefecture told Sankei News that he thought the original illustration was different from Pikachu, adding, “I didn’t think this was a copyright problem.” The city is currently considering what to do regarding the character that ended up looking like Pikachu.
codemonkey
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 8:50 PMDon’t be ridiculous, this looks nothing like Pikachu.
Sho Minamimoto
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 9:50 AM+1
Michael
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 8:54 PMTo be honest, the illustration doesn’t really look like Pikachu. It’s only once it gets two of those eyes, and the mouth straightens out a bit, and the body becomes bigger, that it becomes similar.
Scott
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 9:52 PMThe picture doesn’t look like Pikachu, and the custome reminds me more of Pichu than anything. Poor transition from a drawing to a costume.
lalaland
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 9:55 PMits pikachu!!!!
Jake
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 11:24 PMThe drawing looks fine, it’s just the costume is well, it’s pikachu.
I think the original isn’t a ripoff though, and I can see how this happened.
skitt
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 12:51 PMThe main problem is that the leaf ears are the same colour on the costume as the skin, so they just look like ears. While in the original they are a different colour.
Kyle_Katarn
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 11:31 PM“Moreover, the person who did the original illustration apparently had never heard of Pikachu.”
[cough]BULLSHIT[/cough]
Piccoroz
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 12:12 AMWell now I can see it, is totally the fault of the one that made the costume, it missed a lot of key elements that made the character original.
I can bet they were lazy and just took a pikachu costume and painted it.
Reoh
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 12:32 AMPoint the ears sideways, then it won’t look like pikachu so much, mind you LucasArts might get in on them for making a yoda rip off.
wizza
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 4:20 AMeven if the original designer didn’t realise he was making a pikachu clone what about the other people that approved the design and the people that made it?
The Gremlin
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 8:17 AMPikawho?
706
Friday, August 5, 2011 at 10:05 AMIf it’s an environmental centre, why use a fictional creature as a mascot?