Pokémon Origins (known in Japan as Pocket Monsters: The Origin) is a spin-off Japanese anime television mini series based on Nintendo's Pokémon franchise. Unlike the ongoing television series, this 90 minute special features the settings and characters from the original video games Pokémon Red and Blue (and their remakes Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen), and is largely more faithful to the games' mechanics and designs. Like the television series, it was not owned by Media Factory (brand company of Kadokawa Corporation). Animation is handled by Production I.G, Xebec, and OLM, Inc., and the film is split into four parts, each directed by a different director from these studios. It was broadcast on TV Tokyo on October 2, 2013, ten days before the release of the Pokémon X and Y video games, and began streaming internationally on Nintendo's Pokémon TV service from November 15, 2013 to December 2, 2013. On September 14, 2016, the first episode of the series was released for free on the official Pokémon YouTube channel and was later removed in 2017.
