High Touch, Ashita wa Kitto
December 31st, 2008

Dogasu @ 13:09 JST -- I had wanted to get the comparison for "Haunter versus Kadabra" up before New Year's, but some weird translation stuff in that one is taking more time than I had anticipated.  So, in the meantime, I went ahead and typed up the lyrics to High Touch! and Ashita wa Kitto.

I'll get the next comparison up sometime in the next few days.

"The Tower of Terror," DVD Guide updates, "All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go!"
December 27th, 2008

Dogasu @ 20:52 JST -- Hope you guys had a good Christmas and all that.  I had a surprise visitor come from out-of-town that pretty much put my website updating plans on hold for a few days, but now that that's over, I can update again. 

I guess the first thing you guys will want to look at is the unfortunately timed "The Tower of Terror."  That would have been a much better episode to post around Halloween time, but there's not a whole lot I can do about that now.  Don't forget to go on Bulbagarden and leave some feedback!

In addition, the List of Anime Episodes has been updated with some new titles from Japan and the U.S.  I've also updated the DVD Guide with listings for the last two Diamond & Pearl volumes that are due out in March.

Speaking of Diamond & Pearl DVDs, I got an interesting e-mail from someone named lucas b regarding the episode "All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go!":

So I guess it's a TV-only edit then?  Very interesting.  I was definitely against the edit and found it to be one of the dumbest and most unnecessary edits in recent memory, so I'm really quite happy to learn that it's apparently been reversed.  I wonder if the Boss Fantasy was restored to "Some Enchanted Sweetening!" as well?

Finally, I wanted to draw you guys' attention to this fan made video I was made aware of.  It's a video that basically takes the second opening to Naruto Shippuden, Distance, and makes it all Pokemon-y:

Simply amazing stuff.

"Abra and the Psychic Showdown"
December 19th, 2008

Dogasu @ 00:09 JST -- So I didn't tell you guys this in my last update, but the reason I didn't have the "Bye Bye Butterfree" comparison up for you guys before this past weekend like I had wanted was because I had gone to Tokyo for the weekend for an all-nighter at a dance club.

The reason I bring this up is that, while I was at the club, a duo of DJs really stuck out to me called DEXPISTOLS.  They don't really have an official website or anything, but they do have a MySpace page, for what that's worth.  I liked them because they're the only DJs that played music that I actually knew, and they were pretty good at what they did - they did a version of N.E.R.D.'s Everyone Nose that was pretty awesome, for example.  They really worked to get the crowd excited as well, something that none of the other DJs that night really bothered to try.

So I'm working tonight's update and come across my copy of the Crystal Kay One CD.  And, sure enough, one of the tracks listed on the back is One (DEXPISTOLS remix).  Which means that I, without knowing it, saw was only a few feet away from a group that collaborated with the woman who did the ending theme for one of the Pocket Monsters movies.  The connection is a bit tenuous, I realize, but I still wish I had realized it at the time.

Anyways, you guys didn't come here to read about my cluelessness while around random non-celebrities, did you?  Of course not.  So what do I have for you guys?  Could I interest you in some "Abra and the Psychic Showdown"?  I had a half day today, so that's why this one was able to be finished so soon.  When you're finished, head over to the Bulbagarden thread and let me know what you think.

I've also added a translation for the aforementioned One, the ending theme to the movie that comes out on DVD in Japan later today.  That translation took me a long time to do because song translations, by nature, are tricky things to do.  I've seen a few translations on the 'net that were really rather Engrish-y and difficult to follow, so I wanted to provide a translation that actually flows and makes sense.  I would absolutely love some feedback on this translation, so please either e-mail me or post in that Bulbagarden thread with any comments and/or suggestions. 

I also, randomly, went into the Video Games section and added Platinum's English release date.  I also posted a little place holder for the third Mystery Dungeon game that, according to PokeAni, will be announced in the February issue of CoroCoro.

The last thing I want to bring up is the news that I'm sure you've all heard by now regarding Maddie Blaustein.  At first, the talk about her death was from those shady and unverifiable "secret sources" that everyone except me seems to have, but before long, public announcements were made by 4Kids and her coworkers confirming the news of her passing.  She was only 48 years old.

Personally, I can't say that I was a fan of her work or anything, but as a person I hate to see her go.  I do recognize the way she touched others' lives and can see that she was a really nice and caring person.   She actually took the time to talk to her fans, something that most other voice actors would avoid, so that certainly raised my opinion of her.

One silver lining to this, I guess, is how well the fandom is handling the news.  Let's face it - the Pokémon fandom is full of people who love ot argue and fight amongst themselves (and I'm certainly no exception).  Yet, so far, everyone I've seen has been really respectful and civil toward one another.  People seem to be celebrating her life instead of mourning her death, something I think shows a great deal of maturity on everyone's part.  I think that as long as we can put aside our differences and come together, Ms. Blaustein's memory will remain pure.

In an eerily creepy coincidence...this coming Saturday is when Cartoon Network is scheduled to premiere the Yosuga Collection episode featuring the woman who looks eerily like Maddie Blaustein. 


I'll pick up the Shami movie DVD after work today and try to update the relevant pages.

"Bye Bye Butterfree"
December 16th, 2008

Dogasu @ 21:55 JST -- It feels like it's taken forever to finish this, but I've finally got the redone comparison for "Bye Bye Butterfree" up.  Let's squash that annoying "Butterfree is dead!" rumor once and for all!  When you finish reading that, head over to this thread on Bulbagarden and leave some feedback!

DVD Guide update
December 13th, 2008

Dogasu @ 15:07 JST -- I've still got a little ways to go before I finish the "Bye Bye Butterfree" comparison, so I thought I'd post this in the meantime.  It's a guide to all the episodes of the TV series that're available on Region 2 DVD.  Hopefully you guys will find some use for it.

I'm about to head out for the weekend, so all the DP 03 Movie stuff and whatnot will have to wait until Monday. 

Getting back into the groove of things
December 11th, 2008

Dogasu @ 07:30 JST -- How many of you actually expected me to have an update ready by Monday night?  No one?

Anyway...sorry about that.  I guess I underestimated how tired I'd be from the test.  Also, Chrono Trigger's sort of taken over my life for the past few days, now that I have the time to actually play it and all.  I've seen some people whining about how it's horrible that Square-Enix barely did anything to the thing and pretty much just did a straight up port of the game for the DS, but when it's a game as good as Chrono Trigger, you tend to overlook something like that.  The game is most certainly worth every penny of the $40 Square-Enix is charging us.

Speaking of video games...Charon!?  Seriously, Nintendo?

Anyways...today's update isn't from that High Touch/Ashita wa Kitto CD.  Instead, it's from a CD even older than that...Crystal Kay's One.  I figure I've ignored that song for way too long, and the Japanese DVD release of the movie the song is from is just around the corner, so the timing seemed right to me.  I'm in the middle of writing up a translation for the song and I'll try to post that within the next week or so, so you can look forward to that.

In DVD news...a new set of those Japan-only convenience store-only "Best Of" DVDs has been announced.  These discs seem to have the theme of "The Popular Battles Chosen by Everyone."  I don't know why Media Factory doesn't just go ahead and give the series a proper DVD release already instead of continuing with these dumb singles, but whatever.  They come out in Japan in March.

I've also updated the List of Anime Episodes with some new Japanese and English titles.

Finall, I've got some manga news.  Looks like Viz is going to start re-releasing Pokémon Adventures (aka Pokemon Special) next year; Volume One goes on sale June 2nd, 2009 while Volume Two goes on sale August 4th, 2009.  Both volumes will retail at $7.99.  Also coming out is Volume Four of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!.  That one hits stores on June 2nd, 2009.