CoroCoro Comics is known for its coverage of the Pocket Monsters movies. From the late 1990s up until the mid 2010s or so the magazine was used as kind of the centerpiece of the films' coverage with news getting announced there first and then making its way to other media outlets from there.

Since I live in Japan I have access to bookstores that sell old issues of CoroCoro Comics. They're hard to find but every now and then you'll get lucky enough to come across a Mandarake or a Book-Off store that has an old issue of CoroCoro Comics from the 90s. I've managed to find a few of these precious time capsules from the summer of 1999 and so today I thought we'd take a look at what one of the biggest publicity machines this franchise has was doing to promote Revelation Lugia.

CoroCoro Comics - July 1999

The July 1999 issue of CoroCoro Comics went on sale June 15th, 1999.


There's a lot of plot summary stuff going on that I won't bother to translate so I'll just cut to the more interesting stuff:

Hama-chan from "Downtown" is giving it a shot as the voice of Yadoking!! Masatoshi Hamada from "Downtown" is the voice of Yadoking. Image Caption:  Since Hama-chan's going to be the voice actor does that mean Yadoking will talk with a Kansai accent?

"Downtown" is the name of the comedy duo that Masatoshi Hamada is a part of. His comedy partner is Hitoshi Matsumoto.

"Pikachu's Exploration Party" - The story's super exciting!? The narrator for the all-Pokémon movie Pikachu's Exploration Party has finally been decided! Red text:  The narrator is Ms. Tamao Satou!! Image Caption (Top):  A look at a Pokémon-only holiday! Image Caption (Left):  The narrator will be the famous celebrity Tamao Satou!! Story:  Pikachu and its friends come together to help save a Tamatama after being caught up in a terrific storm! Image Caption (Top):  New Pokémon will debut, one after the other! Image Caption (Bottom):  Can Pikachu save Tamatama?

The ANA Pokémon Jet '99 takes off into the skies! The ANA Pokémon Jet '99 will take to the skies to commemorate the release of the new movie!  Call the number on the left to find out details about flight schedules! Image Caption (Top):  The new design will fly all over Japan!! Image Caption (Bottom):  The design was decided by an art contest won by Shouta Satou!

Next up is a little blurb about the upcoming Pokémon Stamp Rally.

The JR Pokémon Stamp Rally '99 is Coming! The JR Pokémon Stamp Rally is going to hit the Kanto and Kansai areas to commemorate the new movie this summer vacation! Information about the dates and locations will be announced in next month's issue. Image Caption:  You can go around to the stands at various train stations, enjoy collecting their stamps just like you enjoy catching Pokémon, and get special prizes! *The poster shown is from last year's stamp rally

The "stamp" in "stamp rally" here refers to rubber stamps in ink, not postage stamps. What happens in these things is that you get a booklet with a bunch of blank spaces in them and you have to go around to various train stations and put that station's stamp in the appropriate space. Send in your booklet with all the pages stamped and you get a special prize.

The third round of "Pikachu Ring-Ring Call '99" starts on July 1st!! The third round of telephone services that allow you to get the newest information on this year's movie is about to start! Don't forget to listen until the very end! *Call 03-5211-2912 if the line is busy.You do not speak directly with anyone through this telephone service. Each call lasts about a 1 minute 30 seconds. Regular phone charges apply. This third round of telephone service lasts from July 1st to July 31st, 1999.

This phone number is, obviously, no longer in service.

CoroCoro Comics - August 1999

The August 1999 issue of CoroCoro Comics went on sale on July 15th, 1999.


Again, there's a lot of plot rehash stuff going on here so let's skip that to get to the more exciting stuff:

! The ending theme will be performed by Ms. Namie Amuro!! The movie's ending theme toi et moi will be performed by the popular celebrity Ms. Namie Amuro!! Image Caption:  Namie Amuro, with her amazing singing voice, will be participating in the Pokémon movie! We can't wait to hear it!!

Now with cutting edge CG!! The scenes of Lugia swimming through the water was first animated with computer graphics before being traced over with traditional animation cels. Check out the super realistic movements in the theater! Image Caption (Right, CG):  This fluid animation is made possible by using computer graphics to map out Lugia's movements beforehand. Image Caption (Right, Cel):  Don't miss the realistic way it moves in the water!! Image Caption (Bottom):  Check out the super realistic 3D model!

That final line is hilarious, yes, but the rest of this is pretty interesting. The animators basically rotoscoped the CG model so that they could make their 2D animated Lugia move with a complexity that would have been more difficult to do if they had tried to draw it from scratch. Pretty interesting!

Limited Edition & Pre-Order Merchandise!! Let's take a look at the limited edition and pre-order merchandise you'll be able to get in theaters!  Which ones do you want? 1)  Medal A commemorative medal! 500 yen 2)  Pencil Set & Postcards There are two types of pencils. 300 yen each. The postcards are 500 yen 3)  Pins Pokémon the Movie Pins / 500 yen each Lugia & "The Movie" Logo Pin Only available at movie theaters 4)  T-Shirt Pikachu and the others are so cute! Adult Size 2800 yen / Child Size 2400 yen 5)  Stuffed Animals and Lugia Baseball Cap The 1:1 scale Marril stuffed animal is 6800 yen The big size Lugia stuffed animal is 29800 yen The Lugia baseball cap is 2500 yen More information on the merchandise can be found on Page 535!

That Lugia plush, the one that's 29,000 yen? If you adjust that for inflation that thing would cost about $400 in today's money. Yikes!

"Pikachu's Exploration Party" secrets & the debut of the Pokémon Jet! The Pokémon from Pikachu's Exploration Party are on the Pokémon Jet that's currently flying over Japan! The theme song The Flying Pokémon Kids is also on sale!! Image Caption (Pink Text):  The Pikachu short's being played on flights leaving from Narita airport (from July 17th until August 15th). Image Caption (CD Cover):  The six-track CD will go on sale July 17th / 1300 yen (before tax) / Media Factory Image Caption (Handkerchief):  First printings of the CD will come with a special handkerchief!!

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And that's all I've got!  I'll be sure to add more information as I acquire more vintage issues of CoroCoro Comics.