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Let's get ready for tomorrow's episode, shall we?
November 25th, 2009

Dogasu @ 19:01 JST -- It took me a long time to finish, but it's finally done; here's the comparison for "Holy Matrimony!"


Part of what took this so long was the huge number of references to old Japanese TV shows that only (older) Japanese people would get.  Also, I wanted to be as thorough as possible since I know this is one of the bigger episodes.  I didn't want to half-ass it.

As always, please leave me feedback via e-mail, that thread on Bulbagarden, or the site's Facebook page!

Pokemon Episodes now streaming on (Japanese) Wiis
November 24th, 2009

Dogasu @ 07:00 JST -- Got a Japanese Wii? 

The Wii no Ma (Wiiの間) channel in Japan is a video-on-demand service that was launched for Japanese Wiis back in May.   After connecting their Wii to the Internet, users are able to stream videos of shows made specificially for the service.  Up until now, the service has only been used for crappy cooking shows and unfunny Japanese comedians and nature shows. 

In addition, certain videos could be transferred over to your DSi and watched on the go. 

But, starting this past Saturday, users who downloaded a free update to the channel - via the Wii Shopping Channel - gained access to the Wii Theater, a sub-section of the Wii no Ma channel that lets you "rent" licensed content.  For 50-100 Wii Points, you can gain access to certain video content for a period of three days.  There are a bunch of Elmo videos and the old Cyborg 009 series, but the part of the service that concerns this site are the Pocket Monsters videos.

To date, there are twelve episodes available for streaming on the service.  All the episodes air with the appropriate opening themes, eyecatches, ending themes, and Orchid-Hakase Pokemon Lecture segments.  The episodes available, as of this writing, are:

119 "Wakaba Town!  The Town Where Winds of New Beginning Blow!" 121 "Fierce Battle!  Heracross vs. Kairos!!" 128 "The Stubborn Chicorita!!" 133 "Kikyou Gym!  Battle in the Sky!!" 134 "Crybaby Marill!" 136 "The Valley of Lizardon!  Until the Day We Meet Again!!" 143 "Hinoarashi!  I Got One!" 144 "Hiwada Town!  Yadon's Well!!" 145 "Kunugidama and the Apricorn!  The Battle of Ura Mountain!!" 146 "Hiwada Gym!  The Forest Battle Field!!" 148 "Sonansu and the Pokemon Exchange!!" 149 "Burn with Passion, Zenigame-Dan!  Just Like a Flame!!"

As you can see, it's all Jouto episodes, and they don't seem to be trying to release all the episodes in order.

As I mentioned before, the video rentals cost 50 Wii Points apiece.  The rental period for each episode is three days.

The Wii no Ma channel has, so far, not been released outside of Japan.  So it's hard to say if we'll ever see a similar service released stateside. 

New comparison coming soon, by the way.

"Arceus and the Jewel of Life" place holder comparison
November 19th, 2009

Dogasu @ 00:13 JST -- Know how I said I'd have the "Arceus and the Jewel of Life" placeholder comparison up "later in the week?"  Well, bet you didn't think I'd have it up this early, didja?


I've also updated the DVD Guide with an updated list for those last two DP Battle Dimension discs.  It seems like the episode count was increased from what was reported earlier.  Also, the Riolu two-parter was tacked onto the end of the final volume because Viz had inexplicably skipped over it previously.  Thanks to lucas b for the heads up.

My next update is going to be a comparison for "Holy Matrimony."  Y'know, because of the Diamond & Pearl episode that'll be airing next week.

Updating various sections
November 16th, 2009

Dogasu @ 20:05 JST -- Just doing a bit of housecleaning around here.

First of all, I wanted to go ahead and update the DVD Guide with information about the newer Pokémon Elements discs.  This set of releases is kind of annoying because they actually had a great chance to right a previous wrong and include the never before released on Region 1 DVD "The Psychic Sidekicks" in with that seventh volume.  But they didn't.  Lame.

I also wanted to post the covers of some of the graphic novels that were released in Japan last month.  Below is the cover for the final volume of Pokemon DP as well as Volume 05 of Anakubo Kousaku's Pocket Monsters DP. 


The ISBN numbers for the Pokemon DP volume is 978-4091408556.  The ISBN number for the Pocket Monsters DP Version volume is 978-4-09-140850-1.

Also, the Viz website has uploaded the actual, correct cover for their ani-manga release of Giratina and the Sky Warrior.  Pretty much every other site has been using the cover for the manga adaptation done by Hijioka Makoto that came out in May, so it actually took a while to find this image.  The ani-manga came out November 3rd.


l also neglected to mention this a few weeks ago, but Nintendo is releasing a new version of the DSi called the DSi LL (DSi XL outside of Japan).  The new handheld will have bigger screens - though the number of pixels displayed will remain the same - and will come with three DSi Ware titles pre-loaded into the system.  The newest version is aimed for those who have eyesight problems (particularly when using the system's Web Browser) and for people who like to watch others play.  The system will be released in Japan on November 21st.

Also, more DS 2 (unconfirmed) news.  Whee.

The List of Anime Episodes has also been updated.

I've also updated the page for Arceus - To the Conquering of Spacetime with information pertaining to the dub, such as release dates and characters' names.  The English version debuted on Australian TV back on the 6th and will be premiering on American TV this coming Friday at 5:30pm ET.  Yes, you read that correctly; five-thirty in the afternoon.

I don't know what's been up with Cartoon Network lately, but between this and moving the Season 12 premiers to 7:00 on Saturday mornings, it seems like something's up.

Finally, Pokémon Rumble, the game that came out in Japan as Melee!  Pokemon Scramble, will be coming out on the North American WiiWare service today.  It's a pretty decent game and gets major points for being different, but I don't really know if I think it's worth the 1500 Nintendo points. 

I'll post a place holder comparison for Arceus and the Jewel of Life later in the week.  And I'll post another Kanto comparison before the end of the week.

I have a podcast now
November 9th, 2009

Dogasu @ 20:02 JST -- I've been working on this for a while, and I'm happy to finally be able to post this.


As the title of this update says, this site now has a podcast.  The name of the podcast is Sludge Attack, and it's basically a way for me to provide content in a new (for this site, anyway) way.  I'm not going to commit to any sort of schedule for this thing; I'll just add new episodes whenever there's something out there that I feel warrants a podcast discussion.  Things like CD reviews, voice actor comparisons, discussing pokemon cries...y'know, things that are a whole lot easier to talk about out loud than in writing.

In the first episode of the podcast, I get together with Serebii from Serebii.net for about 45 minutes or so to discuss the ways various pokemon's names are pronounced.  The file size is a bit hefty, I know, but I wasn't sure how I could go about compressing the file without experiencing a loss in quality.

While this isn't the first podcast I've ever been a part of, it is the first one of which I've been completely in charge.  So I'll take full responsibility for anything you may or may not like about it.  The show isn't perfect by any means, so if you have any comments / criticism / whatever, I would very much appreciate any feedback you'd have to give.


Also, the Japanese Amazon site has uploaded the cover art and a partial track listing for the Dotchi ~ Nyo? CD single coming out next month.  So, I've added those to the CD Guide.  I've also updated the List of Anime Episodes.

I hope to be able to update again later in the week.  Until then, leave me feedback!!

"Sparks Fly for Magnemite"
November 3rd, 2009

Dogasu @ 14:05 JST -- It's been a while, but here you go:  "Sparks Fly for Magnemite."


The image I had in my mind of this episode was that it was really rather boring, so I kind of dreaded going into it.  But once I dove in, I actually found myself enjoying it.

I also wanted to point out this page in my Pokemon Bashing section.  I've had that page up for a while now, but going back and reading the ridiculously critical dissection of that one shot of Meowth made me burst into fits of laughter all over again.  Can you find all the innuendo hidden in this picture?


I'll have more updates later this week!

Pokemon Video Games!?
November 1st, 2009

Dogasu @ 11:50 JST -- Hope you guys had a Happy Halloween! 

I've updated the List of Anime Episodes with a few more Japanese titles.  The first part of the Ginga-Dan three-parter airs in just a few days, so that's pretty awesome.  November 5th is my birthday, so I actually won't be home to watch the episode, but I'm still excited at the idea that the TV series is going to do the evil team story arc right this time around.  It could still suck, of course, but I'm deciding to go into this thing with cautious optimism.

In video game news, it looks like the next entry in Namco-Bandai's popular (in Japan, anyway) rhythm game series Taiko no Tatsujin will include a song from Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl.  The song, High Touch, will be joined by the opening themes to Neon Genesis Evangelion, Samurai Sentai Shikenger, Dragon Ball Kai, Naruto Shippuden, and more.  The game is coming out for the Wii on November 19th.

This isn't the first game in the Taiko no Tatsujin series to feature a Pocket Monsters song.  Taiko no Tatsujin Wii, for example, featured Together.


The Taiko no Tatsujin series was always something that I had overlooked.  I'm not really sure why, either; if I'm going to count Donkey Konga games as Pokemon games, I might as well count these as well.  So I'll try to whip something up for those games before too long.

In other video game stuffage, I've added some information about the American release date of Pokémon Rumble (née Melee!  Pokemon Scramble).  I've also added some information about the upcoming PokePark Wii Pikachu's Big Adventure, such as the box art and a link to the game's official site.

I got my copy of the HeartGold & SoulSilver soundtrack in the mail yesterday, so I now have some new music to play in the background as I update my site.  The booklet that's included with the soundtrack has a six-page interview with the sound people over at Game Freak, so I'll try to go through that later and pick out some interesting tidbits for you all.