Pikachu

Pikachu (Japanese: ピカチュウ) are a species of Pokémon, fictional creatures that appear in an assortment of video games, animated television shows and movies, trading card games, and comic books licensed by The Pokémon Company, a Japanese corporation. The Pikachu design was conceived by Ken Sugimori. Pikachu first appeared in Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, and later in the first internationally released Pokémon video games, Pokémon Red and Blue, for the original Game Boy.

Like other species of Pokémon, Pikachu are often captured and groomed by humans to fight other Pokémon for sport. Pikachu are one of the most well-known varieties of Pokémon, largely because a Pikachu is a central character in the Pokémon anime series. Pikachu is regarded as a major character of the Pokémon franchise as well as its mascot, and has become an icon of Japanese pop culture in recent years.

Concept and design

Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Pokémon series began in Japan in 1996, and features several species of creatures called "Pokémon" that players, called "trainers", are encouraged to capture, train, and use to battle other players' Pokémon or interact with the game's world. Pikachu was one of several different Pokémon designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by artist Ken Sugimori. According to series producer Satoshi Tajiri, the name is derived from a combination of two Japanese sounds: pika, a sound an electric spark makes, and chu, a sound a mouse makes. Developer Junichi Masuda noted Pikachu's name as one of the most difficult to create, due to an effort to make it appealing to both Japanese and American audiences.

Summer vacation

Summer vacation (also called summer holiday or summer break) is a school holiday in summer between school years and the longest break in the school year. Students and instructors are off school typically between 6 and 14 weeks, depending on the country and district. In America, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Lithuania and Russia, the summer break is normally three months, compared to six to eight weeks in Australia, Britain, The Netherlands, Canada, and Germany.

Criticisms and support

Some countries only get six weeks or two months summer vacation because students supposedly forget large amounts of information learned in the past year (See: Summer learning loss). Other education reformers believed that children were overstimulated in a system which required 48 weeks of schooling. They believe that over-schooling could lead to nervous disorders, depression, insanity, and separation anxiety towards families. They believe that children need the 2–3 months off to relax and also to take a break from other childhood stresses associated with school such as peer pressure, cliques, bullying, and the pressure of heavy loads of homework.

Chu

Chu or CHU may refer to:

Chinese history

Surnames

Places

Fan club

A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea (such as history) or sometimes even an inanimate object (such as a famous building). Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person or organization the club is centered on. This is the case for many musicians, sports teams, etc.

Etymology

The origin of the term fan in reference to a dedicated zealot is unclear. The word may have emerged in the 1800s when boxing supporters were said to take a “fancy” to pugilistic sports. Amongst modern sports fans, however, the title is considered a shortened version of the word fanatic, as in “baseball fanatic,” an indication of the dedication of fan club members.

Functions

Larger fan clubs may organize events and fundraising relating to what they are based on. In some cases the money that is raised goes directly to fan club members or to fund the club itself.

Hirokazu Tanaka

Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka (田中 宏和, Tanaka Hirokazu, born December 13, 1957), sometimes credited as Chip Tanaka, is a Japanese musician, composer, and sound designer best known for his scores in various video games produced by Nintendo, including Metroid, Kid Icarus, Super Mario Land, Tetris, Mother, Dr. Mario, and EarthBound.

Besides writing music, Tanaka is also known for his role in designing and coding the Famicom and Game Boy audio hardware, along with co-designing the NES Zapper, Game Boy Camera, and Game Boy Printer.

Biography

Early life

Born to a schoolteacher mother who had Tanaka undergo piano lessons, Tanaka recounted that he first began paying serious attention to music while in elementary school, and attempted to form a band during that time. His first band was formed in middle school, a Beatles and Elton John cover group which sometimes performed gigs at his school. He has held a longstanding obsession with reggae music. In his teens, he was also in a reggae band, which was known variously by the names the Shampoos or Roots Rockers. For the music event "Reggae Sunsplash" held in Osaka, the Shampoos were an opening act for Sly and Robbie on more than one occasion. Tanaka did meet the duo during those times. On The Shampoos, Tanaka described it as an obscure local band which did gigs in Tokyo about once or twice a year, and that it was "never a formal thing".