#abra's japanese name is casey

[hibanakabu]

“Casey is an interesting Pokemon. I see it when I’m in the Isle of Armor, it just kind of floats around and teleports when you try to approach it.”

[abrastroubles]

This blog is for an untitled Mewtwo Dojinshi by いなり (Inari) on pixiv. All credit to the artist, please be sure to check out their account.

The comic itself is untitled, but the first chapter was titled Casey's Troubles, with Casey being the Japanese name for Abra. I decided to use that title for the name of this blog.

Start reading here.

Or by chronological tag.

Please note, that while I am not fluent in Japanese, I am not relying on AI to automatically translate this comic. This may take me some time, as I want to make sure that the text fits and is easy to read. This comic is also just over 400 pages long, so please bear with me.

[askkrenko]

Kadabra has returned!

After 20 years, Uri Geller has given Nintendo permission to start using Kadabra in merchandise again.

Who is Uri Geller and why was it his decision, you ask?

Uri Geller is a ‘psychic.’ AKA a magician. His gimmick is having psychic powers and bending spoons with his mind.  He popularized the spoonbending thing.

But anything can bend spoons, right? Heeere’s the thing.

In Japanese, the Pokemon aren’t named Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam. They’re named after three well-known magicians. Abra is named Casey, after Edgar Cayce, a psychic who went into trances and was known as “The Sleeping Prophet.”  Alakazam is named Foodin, which is basically what you get when you try and translate “Houdini” into Japanese.  Here’s the thing, though,  Edgar Cayce and Harry Houdini are long dead.

Kadabra in Japanese is named Yungerer, which is pretty clearly a Japanese-equivalent of Uri Geller.

So Uri Geller got pissed that they’d made some sort of monster version of him, sued Nintendo, and though the court case was never noticeably resolved, Nintendo stopped using Kadabra in merchandise outside of the games. 

Earlier this month, Uri Geller agreed to just let Nintendo use the Pokemon that’s obviously him with no further lawsuits, so Kadabra should be returning to random merch soon.

[grim-grimmsnarl]

tbf kadabra's japanese name is literally "yungeller"

That’s fair, but the entire Abra line is named after famous magicians in Japanese. Abra’s Japanese name is Casey (ケーシィ) after Edgar Cayce and Alakazam’s Japanese name is Foodin (フーディン) after Harry Houdini. While those magicians had long passed away before the creations of the Pokemon, I can’t find anything about their families being upset about their names being used as Pokemon. I still think it’s a silly thing to get mad over, there was definitely no bad intentions with the naming.

[aurordream]

The early Japanese pokemon names are so much fun though. Like, look at these

Bulbasaur: Fushigidane (Isn’t it strange) Ivysaur:  Fushigisou (It seems strange) Venusaur: Fushigibana (Strange flower) Charmeleon: Lizard Charizard: Lizardon (Boss lizard) Kakuna: Cocoon Beedrill: Spear Pidgeotto: Pigeon Spearow: Onisuzume (Demon sparrow) Sandshrew: Sand Jigglypuff: Purin (Pudding) Oddish: Nazonokuza (Enigmatic grass) Primeape: Okirizaru (Angry monkey) Arcanine: Windy Abra: Casey Bellsprout: Madatsubomi (Still a flower sprout) Rapidash: Gallop Magnemite: Coil Magneton: Rarecoil Gastly: Ghos Haunter: Ghost Drowzee: Sleep Hypno: Sleeper Krabby: Crab Chansey: Lucky Scyther: Strike Vaporeon: Showers Jolteon: Thunders Flareon: Booster Articuno: Freezer Zapdos: Thunder Moltres: Fire

[saragl728]

The Abra line in general seems to be named after famous mystics in the Japanese version. Abra=Casey=Edgar Cayce. Kadabra=Yungerer=Uri Geller. Alakazam=Foodin=Harry Houdini(maybe).

Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan each have a Fighting-type Pokémon named after them, and the Galarian evolution of Mr Mime, Mr Rime, is loosely aesthetically based on Charlie Chaplin's iconic "Little Tramp" character.

I know that much; are there any other Pokémon based on/inspired by/named after famous humans?

[gfgfgfgsggfdgjig3234]

#063: Abra

abra is really cute, so i legally can’t say anything bad about it. i’ve always wondered what kind of animal it was supposed to be. its japanese name is casey, after edgar cayce. apparently in japan all members of the abra line are named after famous psychics, which makes me think of it as reminiscent of like, the bruce from neopets