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| Welcome to Dogasu's Backpack, a fansite for the Japanese franchise Pocket Monsters! For twelve years, this website has been your guide for the Japanese version of Pokémon and contains content you can't find anywhere else. Stuff like detailed comparisons between the Japanese version and the English version of the animated series, English-Japanese lists for all pokemon, information on the various manga, a lyrics database, a DVD Guide, and much more! So whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newbie just getting into Pocket Monsters, this site has something for every fan to enjoy. | ||
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"The Rocket-Dan vs. The Plasma-Dan!"
May 16th, 2012
Dogasu @ 23:51 JST -- It's finished. "The Rocket-Dan vs. The Plasma-Dan!"
Are you aware of the comic book series Bone, by Jeff Smith? I've been a fan of it since the early 90s and think it's probably my favorite non-superhero American comic of all time. I'm bringing it up here because 1) it's awesome and you should all read it, and 2) because I want to share with you all a letter that was printed in the back of one of the comic issues. I can't give you guys the exact details because my copies of the comics are over on the other side of the Pacific, but I can tell you that the letter in question addressed the series' irregular release schedule. Mr. Smith told his readers something to the effect of "In ten years, nobody's going to remember that there were these agonzingly long waits between issues. All they'll care about is the quality of the final product."
That's kind of the way I feel about this site. At the end of the day, I want to produce content that's well researched, not hastily thrown together in just a few short moments. I want to write things that have been properly proofread, not essays filled with grammatical errors and confusing syntax. I sacrifice speed for quality, and while I sometimes go overboard with that, I only do so because I don't want to have to go back years from now and basically redo everything from scratch like I'm having to do with those Kanto comparisons.
So I thank you all for your patience. I hope it's paid off.
Pokemon Fan Issue 22 - Pocket Monsters Special
April 20th, 2012
Dogasu @ 06:33 JST -- The issue of Pokemon Fan that officially goes on sale today has, as always, a new Pocket Monsters Special chapter. Here's my summary:
In other site news, yes, I'm still working on my write-up for "The Rocket-Dan vs. The Plasma-Dan." I've been spending a good 30 minutes to an hour each night working on it, but there's still so much left to do. I currently have seven separate html files being worked on, and that's not even counting all the image galleries! I hope I'll be able to finish it up soon; I'm really anxious to see what you guys think about it.
In the meantime, enjoy this image from one of the 4-Koma comics featured in this month's Pokemon Fan.
New manga based on BW 2 to start with next month's issue of CoroCoro Comics
April 14th, 2012
Dogasu @ 02:33 JST -- This month's issue of CoroCoro Comics revealed a ton of stuff about Black & White 2, but the part I'm going to highlight tonight is the manga. Every other site is ignoring it because Special is the only manga that exists, apparently, but there's going to be a new manga series based on the upcoming games starting in next month's issue of CoroCoro Comics. We don't know the title of the series yet, but it's being done by the same guy who did the excellent Pocket Monsters BW The Hero of Thunder and Fire. Can't wait!
In other manga-related miscellany, I'm a bit worried about the fact that we haven't heard anything about a manga adaptation of this summer's movie yet. We already had the first chapter of the Victini movie adaptation by this time last year, yet so far we haven't even gotten an announcement of one coming out for the Kyurem movie. What gives? Were not enough people buying the other movie adaptations? Did someone involved in the franchise worry, and with good reason, that any new manga would get lost among all the Black & White 2 hype? Did someone decide that having comics come out that pretty much give away the plot of the entire movie weren't good for sales?
I'd hate to see this sort of thing go away, but it's hard to be optimistic when we only have three months to go before the movie's out in theaters.
"Kyurem vs. The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo"'s Theme Song revealed
April 11th, 2012
Dogasu @ 22:09 JST -- Universal Music Japan is reporting that Rola, one of the most popular models in Japan at the moment, will be singing the theme song to this year's Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! movie, "Kyurem vs. The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo." The song will be called Memories (メモリーズ) and will mark her debut as a singer.
Rola will also be voicing Marin (マリン), a naïve girl Satoshi and his friends will meet along the way.
The page for Kyurem vs. The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo has been updated with this information.
I'm still working on the "The Rocket-Dan vs. The Plasma-Dan" page(s), by the way. I'm still trying to figure out how to organize everything into an easy to navigate, non-massive-wall-of-text way, so please continue to be patient for just a little longer. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek.
And now the "Kyurem vs. The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo" page is up-to-date
April 5th, 2012
Dogasu @ 22:53 JST -- Both the page for Kyurem vs. The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo and the Character Bios - Pokemon page have been updated with everything I was able to find on the official site.
Based on what's been done in the past, I'm guessing that the issue of CoroCoro Comics that goes on sale on the 15th of this month will have the first chapter of the manga adaptation of this movie. Can't wait!
Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition Conquest
April 4th, 2012
Dogasu @ 23:55 JST -- So Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition is being localized. That's not surprising.
I've also added some information about the plot to Meloetta's Dazzling Recital to the Movies & Specials Guide.
Let's get a few things up-to-date
April 3rd, 2012
Dogasu @ 23:42 JST -- I've really fallen behind with things on this site. Tonight's update hopes to fix some of that.
First, I've added a synopsis for the Pocket Monsters Special chapter that came out in the issue of CoroCoro Ichiban! that went on sale way back on March 21st. It was really difficult fitting in everything that happened in that chapter into 200 words (my self-imposed word count limit), but I think I managed to hit all the high points.
I've also added the English titles for the Pocket Monsters Special chapters used in Viz's sixth volume of Pokémon Black & White.
The List of TV Episodes has also been updated. Tons and tons of English dub titles!
Next, I've added a "Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys & Pokemon Jirachi Wish Maker" double feature that I missed back in October to the DVD Guide. I've also added information about the upcoming quadruple feature Blu-Ray, "Pokémon Heroes / Pokémon 4Ever / Pokémon Jirachi Wish Maker / Pokémon Destiny Deoxys." Finally, I've added the cover art to "Pokémon Movie: Black - Victini / White - Victini."
There aren't any CDs coming out to add to the CD Guide, but Nana-Iro Arch is available on the Japanese iTunes store. That's something, right?
In the Video Games section, I've added the box art for Pocket Monsters Black 2 and Pocket Monsters White 2.
That's all I'm going to do for now. I'll try to update tomorrow with some updated Kyurem movie stuff, or info about the Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition manga, or one of the million other things I've got in my backlog.
April Fools' Day
April 2nd, 2012
Dogasu @ 19:45 JST -- ...and archived.
Also, doing this gag has made me want to do a new Feature all about those two years or so when the franchise was still this Japan-only thing. I can't wait to get started on it.
"A Venipede Stampede!"
March 11th, 2012
Dogasu @ 23:53 JST -- This was probably the most difficult episode for me to watch in the twelve years since I've been working on this site, but I figured it was about time I posted it. Here's the comparison for "A Venipede Stampede!", with that extra touch of bleakness that you'll only find on Dogasu's Backpack!
I'll be adding a page for the skipped two-parter in the next few days.
Oh yeah, there's a new Pokemon game coming out next week
March 9th, 2012
Dogasu @ 00:15 JST -- Let's forget about Black and White 2 for a second and remember that there's a new Pokemon game coming out next week!
To celebrate, a manga spin-off is going to be made available on the Nico Nico Seiga website called Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition ~ Ranse's Color Picture Scroll ~. It will start on March 16th with new chapters coming out every Friday. I've compiled all the information I could find about the series and added it to the Manga Guide.
Meanwhile, video game magazine Famitsu has gotten around to reviewing the game and have given it two 9s and two 8s. The reviewers all praise the game for being easy to learn and for how much there is to do after you beat the game's main story while saying that the graphics don't have as much variety as they'd prefer. The magazine claims that getting to the end of the main story will take 20 hours but that players who want to do all the post-game stuff can end up playing for more than 200 hours.
I'm definitely picking up the game when it's released next Saturday. How about you guys?
"Beheeyem, Duosion and the Dream Thief!"
March 4th, 2012
Dogasu @ 14:33 JST -- And I start the month of March off with "Beheeyem, Duosion and the Dream Thief," an episode that aired in the U.S. back in December. I would have had this up sooner, but this case of writer's block I've been having has seemed determined to keep me from getting things done. The version that's up now is probably the tenth draft I've done!
I've also added a comparison for Viz's third volume of Pokémon Adventures Black and White. I've also added a summary for the chapter that was printed in the Pokemon Fan issue that went on sale yesterday.
Finally, the List of TV Episodes has been updated with a ton of English titles.
My goal for the month of March is to get up-to-date with the recent Best Wishes comparisons and the Pokémon Black and White comparisons so I can start attacking the enormous backlog I've built up over the months.
I feel sorry for both "Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition" and Meloetta
February 27th, 2012
Dogasu @ 00:19 JST -- The April 2012 issue of CoroCoro Ichiban! came out on Tuesday. Here's a summary of the Pocket Monsters Special chapter that was printed inside.
Also, if you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at this thread over on Bulbagarden that offers a very convincing argument regarding the true identity of the Dark Trinity. Very, very interesting stuff there.
The List of TV Episodes has also been updated.
Now, yesterday morning's news. First, there's the announcement of Pocket Monsters Black 2 and Pocket Monsters White 2.
So, what are these? Sequels, the way Gold / Silver / Crystal were sequels to Red / Green / Blue / Yellow and how Pokemon XD was a sequel to Pokemon Colosseum? A remake, like Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum? We don't know yet! The only things we do know are the titles and the mascot pokemon; anything else you hear out there is pure speculation.
There are a couple of interesting things I noticed about these games that makes me think Game Freak isn't done with the Generation I callbacks that they started doing with the original Black & White. One, these two games will give Generation V four non-remake main series games, the same number of games Japan had back in Generation I. Two, I'm thinking the way they simply added a "2" to the titles of these two DS games is a reference to the original Pocket Monsters 2, the working title for Pocket Monsters Gold and Pocket Monsters Silver.
Next, there's the (quiet) reveal of Meloetta and what appears to be the return of the Pikachu shorts.
All we have is a logo from a new poster for the upcoming movie (which also happens to feature Black Kyurem and White Kyurem, because apparently this movie isn't going to be crowded enough as it is). A bunch of old pokemon are there with Meloetta, so maybe this short will be their way of celebrating the series' 15th anniversary?
Whoops!
February 19th, 2012
Dogasu @ 23:32 JST -- So I kind of forgot to make a main page within the Pocket Monsters Special section that links to the two comparisons I did in the last update. This has since been remedied.
Also, the Viz website has been updated with the (tiny) cover art for Volume 6 of Pokémon Black and White. Based on the page count listed on Amazon.com, I'm thinking this volume will contain four chapters: the chapters from the August, September, and October 2011 issues of CoroCoro Ichiban! as well as the chapter printed in the July 2011 issue of Shougaku Yon-Nensei.
I'm more or less finished with my Rival Destinies opening theme comparison. I want to hold off on posting it, however, because I still feel like I haven't really had enough to get used to it yet. Like right now - I can't even hum the melody of the damn thing, and I must have listened to it a half a dozen times by now. I don't want to post an essay that's basically one huge knee jerk reaction, so I'm going to wait a little while and then revisit it to see if I still feel the same way then that I do now.
Why isn't it "Pokémon Adventures Black and White"?
February 16th, 2012
Dogasu @ 06:42 JST -- I've finished the edit lists for the first two volumes of Viz's Pokémon Black and White!
Isn't it strange how it's taken me this long to finally do a manga comparison? I do edit lists of the animated series all the time, but this whole "reporting on the differences between the Japanese and English versions of a comic" thing is new to me.
I'm really interested to read what you guys think about these first comparisons. Do you like the format? Are they easy to read / understand? Is there anything I should do differently? Let me know!
The most predictable update ever
February 13th, 2012
Dogasu @ 22:51 JST -- This summer's Best Wishes movie has a new title. Can you guess what it is?
Keldeo being in this movie would have been exciting if we hadn't all been predicting this for the past few months.
I've updated the Kyurem vs. The Sacred Swordsman Keldeo page as well as the Character Bios - Pokemon page.
Found an error? Spot an omission? Please help me keep this page current and error-free by e-mailing me with a description of the error or omission.
