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| Welcome to Dogasu's Backpack, a fansite for the Japanese franchise Pocket Monsters! For 22 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, interview translations, information on Japan-only manga, a lyrics database, a home video 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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Pokémon The Animated Series Theme Song Best of Best of Best 1997 - 2022
November 4th, 2022
Dogasu @ 23:49 JST -- Earlier tonight Sony announced the upcoming release of Pokémon The Animated Series Theme Song Best of Best of Best 1997 - 2022, a massive eight CD set that contains a whopping 78 opening / ending themes from the very first 1997 Pocket Monsters TV series all the way to the 2019 Pocket Monsters TV series!
A full track listing for the upcoming release can be seen here. A few observations:
- We don' t know if the songs included will be the
full sized or the TV versions of the songs, but if I had to guess I'd
say they'll all be the full versions.
- This set will include all the major opening and ending themes to the TV series, even those that were only used for a single episode and then never seen again. Rocket-Dan yo Eien ni, for example, was used as the ending theme to the initial TV broadcast of BW 097 "The Reijuu Formes Advance! Isshu's Greatest Crisis!!" but then was changed to Mite Mite ☆ Kocchicchi for all subsequent home video / streaming releases. Regardless, it's thrown onto this release! The set also includes Yajirushi ni Natte 2013, a song I don't think has ever been released on CD before.
- Only the regular TV series is a part of this
release, meaning songs like Aratanaru
Chikai from the Pocket
Monsters Crystal: The Legend of Thunder special, the movie
openings / endings, or the live action variety shows are all MIA.
- So what's missing? An alternate version of a Pocket Monsters (1997) ending
theme, Pokémon Hara Hara2
Relay (Hard Version) isn't on the set, and alternate versions of
the
three Diamond & Pearl
opening themes -- Together 2008,
High Touch! 2009, and Saiko
Everyday (Band Version) -- and the first two Diamond & Pearl ending themes
-- Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no
Theme~ Pop-Up Version, Kimi
no Soba de ~Hikari no Theme~ Winter Version, and Kaze no Message PokaPoka Version --
are MIA as well. This release has a ton of other remixes on it (Yajirushi ni Natte 2013, all the 1, 2, 3 versions) so their
omissions
here is a bit odd. Maybe it was just some oversight? A rights issue?
Despite these odd little hiccups, this looks like it'll be a must-have for any collector. I'll be adding the cover image, list of the contents of the Blu-ray, etc. whenever that information becomes available.
Episode Comparison: Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles
October 17th, 2022
Dogasu @ 9:51 JST -- A few weeks ago The Pokémon Company International released their version of the four-episode mini-series Pocket Monsters: The Arceus Who is Known as a God, which they edited into a single "movie" called Pokémon: The Arceus Chronicles, on Netflix. It's been a while since I've done anything from TPCi's run of the show so I decided to go ahead and do comparisons for all four episodes:
 |
 |
| "Satoshi
and Gou! Let's Go to the Sinnoh Fes!!" |
"Headran's Explosive Start!!" |
 |
 |
| "The
Red-Hot Battle of Mt. Tengan!!" |
"The
Miraculous Light! The Sinnoh Legend!" |
I'll be going back to the Orange Islands comparisons very soon but I wanted to go ahead and get these comparisons out first while the episodes are still somewhat relevant. It's been years since I've taken an in-depth look at anything TPCi's done that isn't a movie and boy oh boy was it an experience! I have a lot of thoughts about the current state of the English dub so be sure to check them out in the new write-ups!
Episode Comparison: The Pokémon Shock Edits, Opening & Episode 002
September 8th, 2022
Dogasu @ 9:06 JST -- This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon Shock incident. Shortly after this franchise-altering event, the powers-that-be went back to those first 37 episodes and re-edited them to reduce any strobe lights, flashing, quick background color changes, or any other special effects that even slightly resembled the types of images that sent all those children to the hospital back in December 1997. As far as I know no one has ever compiled a comprehensive list of these edits and so today I would like to start filling that gap by offering comparisons of both the Opening Theme Mezase Pokémon Master and Episode 002, "Showdown! Pokémon Center!"
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| Opening
Theme |
Episode 002
"Showdown! Pokémon Center!" |
My source for the pre-Porygon edit versions is the Japanese Hulu site which, unfortunately, only has a post-Porygon edit of Episode 001.
At the moment, these two comparisons (and the placeholder page for Episode 001) are meant to be just test runs. Before I go down the rabbit hole and start working on the other 36 episodes I'd like to ask for your feedback. Are these types of comparisons something you'd like to see more of? Do you like the format? Is there anything you'd like to see done differently? Let me know what you think!
Episode Comparison: "Tracey Gets Bugged"
September 1st, 2022
Dogasu @ 9:09 JST -- Are you curious what changes 4Kids made to the Orange Islands episode "Tracey Gets Bugged"? Well wonder no more! A brand new comparison for the episode is now up:
The episode like the one before it, has a lot of rewrites and so it actually ended up taking forever to finish. But, I gave myself a deadline with my last episode comparison post and so, thanks to a few marathon writing sessions, I more or less stuck to it!
From what I remember the next episode, "A Way Off Day Off," has a fairly accurate script so I'll hopefully be able to get that out sooner rather than later.
Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl The Movie "Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai" Box Office Performance
August 29th, 2022
Dogasu @ 13:26 JST -- We're now three weeks into The 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival and the re-release of Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl The Movie "Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai" is the third of three Pokémon movies to make it into the Top Ten at the Japanese box office.
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 |
 |
Here's how the Top Ten looked over the weekend:
| Rank |
Last
Week |
Title |
Distributor |
Weeks
in Theaters |
| 1 |
1 |
One
Piece Film Red |
Toei |
4 |
| 2 |
2 |
Jurassic
World Domination |
Toho
Towa |
5 |
| 3 |
NEW | Akira
and Akira |
Toho |
1 |
| 4 |
3 |
Top Gun: Maverick | Towa Pictures | 14 |
| 5 |
NEW | Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl The Movie "Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai" | Toho | 1 |
| 6 |
4 |
Minions: The Rise of Gru | Toho Towa | 7 |
| 7 |
NEW | I've Been
Reassigned to the Police Band! |
Gaga |
1 |
| 8 |
6 |
Kingdom 2: To the Far Land | Toho / Sony | 7 |
| 9 |
NEW | Nope |
Toho
Towa |
1 |
| 10 |
11 |
PAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue | Aeon
Entertainment |
3 |
Source: Kogyo Tsushin (posted August 29th, 2022)
This week, One Piece Film Red and Jurassic World Domination are joined by Akira and Akira, a financial drama starring Detective Pikachu actor Ryoma Takeuchi. Other newcomers to the Top Ten this week include the Japanese release of Jordan Peele's Nope and the comedy film I've Been Reassigned to the Police Band!
Pokémon Movie 10's actual box office earnings for the week, much like those of the previous two Pokémon films that're a part of this festival, have not been made public. Looking back at its original 2007 release, "Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai" debuted at Number 1 and brought in 1 billion 133,400,000 yen during its three day opening weekend. Movie websites at the time speculated that part of the reason it earned such an impressive amount (it made roughly 171% of its predecessor, "Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea, Manaphy") is because it was the first Pokémon movie to offer audiences with a special Pokémon distribution (Darkrai) just for seeing the film.
This coming weekend the three films that are part of The 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival -- Movie 5, Movie 6, and Movie 10 -- will all be making one more trip back to theaters. Film distributor Toho hasn't announced the exact logistics of how this'll work but we can make educated guesses based on the way the Victini movies were handled back in 2011. That summer Toho released two movies (Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! The Movie "Victini and the Black Hero Zekrom" & Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! The Movie "Victini and the White Hero Reshiram") and individual theaters dealt with this by dedicating certain screens to just "Pokémon" and then rotating its screenings between "Zekrom" and "Reshiram" throughout the day. So for example, a random movie theater might assign Screen 10 as the "Pokémon" screen. They might have shown "Zekrom" during its 8:15 screening, "Reshiram" during its 12:20 screening, "Zekrom" again during its 16:55 showing, "Reshiram" again during its 18:55 showing, and so on.
Theater schedules for this weekend's film festival haven't been made public yet (they usually don't come out until Wednesday) but I imagine the three movies returning to theaters may follow a similar rotation scheme.
Pokémon Radio Show! The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire -- Vol. 6
August 24th, 2022
Dogasu @ 08:44 JST -- Today I'm continuing to make my way through Pokémon Radio Show! The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire with a write-up on Episode 6!
This is actually a pretty rare episode as the interview with Pocket Monsters chanteuse Ms. Sachiko Kobayashi is, for some reason, not included on any of the CDs that were released back in 2013! Was it omitted because of a rights issue? Did someone not get the proper contracts in place? Who knows! In any case, Ms. Kobayashi talks about how she got involved in Pocket Monsters, what she had to do in order to learn how to sing the iconic ending theme to the first movie, and what it was like to voice that one Pokémon she did that one time.
The episode also features a music segment that's a lot more fun than those food eating segments we've been getting the last few episodes. Be sure to check it out!
Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation The Movie "The Seven Night Wishing Star, Jirachi" & "The Dancing Pokémon Secret Base" Box Office Performance
August 22nd, 2022
Dogasu @ 13:37 JST -- The Japanese box office results for the second week of The 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival has just been announced and the re-release of Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation The Movie "The Seven Night Wishing Star, Jirachi" & "The Dancing Pokémon Secret Base" has also managed make it into the Top Ten!
|
|
 |
Here's how the Top Ten looked over the weekend:
| Rank |
Last
Week |
Title |
Distributor |
Weeks
in Theaters |
| 1 |
1 |
One
Piece Film Red |
Toei |
3 |
| 2 |
2 |
Jurassic
World Domination |
Toho
Towa |
4 |
| 3 |
5 |
Top Gun: Maverick | Towa Pictures | 13 |
| 4 |
3 |
Minions:
The Rise of Gru |
Toho Towa | 6 |
| 5 |
NEW | Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation The Movie "The Seven Night Wishing Star, Jirachi" & "The Dancing Pokémon Secret Base" | Toho | 1 |
| 6 |
4 |
Kingdom 2: To the Far Land | Toho
/ Sony |
6 |
| 7 |
8 | Even If Love Vanishes from the World Tonight | Toho | 4 |
| 8 |
6 |
Tang |
Warner |
2 |
| 9 |
NEW | The
Violence Action |
Sony |
1 |
| 10 |
NEW | Sonic
the Hedgehog 2 |
Towa
Pictures |
1 |
Source: Kogyo Tsushin (posted August 22nd, 2022)
To nobody's surprise, One Piece Film Red continues to remain untouchable in its Number Jurassic World Domination kept its Number 2 spot and Top Gun: Maverick, which is now in its thirteenth week in theaters, jumps back up to the Number 3 spot.
Other new films debuting this weekend included The Violence Action, a live action adaptation of the manga series of the same name, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the sequel to the 2020 film which is only just now coming out in Japan for some reason.
The sixth Pokémon film's actual box office earnings for the week, much like those of Pocket Monsters The Movie "Latias and Latios, The Guardian Deities of the Water Capital" & "The Glittering Starlit Camp" last week, have not been made public. For comparison's sake, the 6th Pocket Monsters movie debuted at Number 3 and managed to bring in 445,271,493 yen during its first weekend back in 2003.
Next week the third and final film that will be part of The 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival, 2007's Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl The Movie "Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai," will take Movie 6's place. The week after that -- September 2nd -- all three movies will return on a rotating schedule for one last week.
Pocket Monsters The Movie "Latias and Latios, The Guardian Deities of the Water Capital" & "The Glittering Starlit Camp" Box Office Performance
August 15th, 2022
Dogasu @ 13:51 JST -- The Japanese box office results for this past weekend have just been released and the re-release of Pocket Monsters The Movie "Latias and Latios, The Guardian Deities of the Water Capital" & "The Glittering Starlit Camp" , as part of The 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival, has managed to make it into the Top Ten!
|
|
 |
Here's how the Top Ten looked over the long holiday weekend:
| Rank |
Last
Week |
Title |
Distributor |
Weeks
in Theaters |
| 1 |
1 |
One
Piece Film Red |
Toei |
2 |
| 2 |
2 |
Jurassic
World Domination |
Toho
Towa |
3 |
| 3 |
3 |
Minions:
The Rise of Gru |
Toho Towa | 5 |
| 4 |
4 |
Kingdom
2: To the Far Land |
Toho
/ Sony |
5 |
| 5 |
5 |
Top
Gun: Maverick |
Towa
Pictures |
12 |
| 6 |
NEW |
Tang |
Warner |
1 |
| 7 |
NEW | Pocket
Monsters The Movie "Latias and Latios, The Guardian Deities of the
Water Capital" & "The Glittering Starlit Camp" |
Toho |
1 |
| 8 |
6 |
Even
If Love Vanishes from the World Tonight |
Toho |
3 |
| 9 |
NEW | PAW
Patrol: Jet to the Rescue |
Aeon
Entertainment |
1 |
| 10 |
7 |
Ghostbook
The Ghost Bestiary |
Toho |
4 |
Source: Kogyo Tsushin (posted August 15th, 2022)
First place went to One Piece Film Red, the latest One Piece film that'll likely stay in the Number 1 spot for weeks to come. Second place went to Jurassic World Domination, which came out in Japan a few weeks after the U.S. while third place went to Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Other new films debuting this weekend included Tang, a movie about a man who finds an amnesiac robot starring a famous member of the Japanese boy band Arashi, and PAW Patrol: Jet to the Rescue, a theatrical release of the 2020 PAW Patrol TV movie.
The fifth Pokémon film's actual box office earnings haven't been made public yet but since it did manage to make it to the Top Ten we should hopefully expect to see some numbers reported later in the day. Update: None of the usual news sources reported any box office numbers for the film. It'll be interesting to see how the film stacks up to its performance 20 years ago: according to this old page on the Japanese Pokepale! fansite the fifth movie debuted at Number 4 and earned 320 million yen in its first weekend back in 2002. For comparison's sake Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko," the most recent Pocket Monsters film to get a nationwide release, earned 276 million yen during its initial weekend in theaters.
There was no post-credits teaser for Pokémon Movie 24 at the end of the Movie 5 showings and so we still have no idea when the next film is coming out. It's reasonable to expect Toho to look at how well these 25th anniversary re-releases do before deciding how to proceed, though it should also be pointed out that the company hasn't made any official statement connecting the two.
Episode Comparison: "Meowth Rules!"
August 6th, 2022
Dogasu @ 20:39 JST -- I just did an episode comparison not all that long ago, right? That's what I had assumed when I went to update the "Next Episode" link in the last comparison I did but it turns out I haven't posted a new one since May!? And it's now August!?
So without further ado, here's a comparison between the Japanese and English versions of the Orange Islands episode "Meowth Rules!"
The episode has a lot of rewrites and so it actually ended up taking quite a bit longer to do than your average comparison. It's also one of my favorite episodes of the saga so I may have been a little overzealous in documenting all the changes that took place...? Either way, I hope you enjoy this deep dive into one of the more famous episodes of the show's second year on the air.
I'll try to pick up the pace and aim to get the next comparison out before the end of the month.
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.
