I was in 4th grade when the original Pokémon games and anime series came out.  It was pretty much the greatest thing my friends and I had ever seen.  There was something so cool about being able to pick between 150 little creatures to be your favorite.  It was definitely one of the first pieces of Japanese pop culture I consumed as a kid.  It made a big impact on me.  This mash-up of Asian anime and hip-hop is a great example of Asian pop culture cross currents.