Japanese singer of the original Pokémon anime theme made just $800 for the performance

Here in North America, the original theme song for the Pokémon anime is the stuff of legend. That song is forever synonymous with the Pokémon brand, and even those who haven’t followed the Pokémon franchise for years can still belt out that tune word for word. While the theme song for the anime’s debut in Japan was different, it was also just as iconic for that region.

Rica Matsumoto is the person behind the singing in that intro (heard above), and she also happens to be the actress that plays the role of Ash (Satoshi). While she’s been playing Ash for years and no doubt makes a decent living doing so, Matsumoto has revealed that she made very little for her musical performance.

On a Japanese variety show, Matsumoto talked about a bunch of things related to her Pokémon work, and that included notes on her theme song performance. Believe it or not, Matsumoto made just $800 for singing that song. Even worse, there was no royalties contract tied to the song, either! A one-time deal for $800 for a song that helped foster absolute powerhouse of a franchise worth billions. Doesn’t seem fair, does it!?