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"Piplup, Up and Away!"
July 30th, 2010

Dogasu @ 03:00 JST -- I'm almost there!  Here's "Piplup, Up and Away!"


I hope you like tables because that comparison has a bunch of them.

I actually don't know if I'll be able to have the comparison for "Flint Sparks the Fire!" up by tomorrow.  I've been doing a comparison a day for roughly six days now, and I'm starting to feel like it's time to step back and take a breather for a few days.  I plan to have it up by Monday at least, so I hope you'll bear with me for just a few more days while I take measures to prevent myself from being burnt out.

"Fighting Ire with Fire!"
July 29th, 2010

Dogasu @ 01:48 JST -- I continue to play catch up with "Fighting Ire with Fire!"


I've also updated the lyrics for Ready Go! and added a translation.  I guess I've decided to redo the lyrics to any song that comes up as in any episode that airs from now on, or whatever.

I also went through the General Edits page and have made some much-needed corrections and updates.

I've also updated the box office numbers for the fourth Diamond & Pearl movie, The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark.  The movie fell to fifth place but has managed to make the equivalent of about US $20 million since its debut on July 10th.

I had planned to go and watch the movie again sometime this week, but it's looking more likely that I'll be doing that next week instead.  Oh well!

Also, this is totally unrelated to anything, but pokemon + romance.

I'll post the comparison for "Piplup, Up and Away" either later today (Thursday) or early tomorrow.

"Playing the Performance Encore!"
July 28th, 2010

Dogasu @ 02:24 JST -- Tonight's late-night comparison is, as expected, "Playing the Performance Encore!"


Later today, I'll put up the comparison for "Fighting Ire with Fire!"  Thursday I'll post "Piplup, Up and Away!," and on Friday I'll post the comparison for "Flint Sparks the Fire!"  I'll be out of town during the weekend, so I won't be able to get the comparison "The Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore!" up until Monday.

After that, I'll start work on "The Battling Eevee Brothers" from Season One.

"Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!"
July 26th, 2010

Dogasu @ 22:50 JST -- Been a while since I've pulled the ol' "two comparisons in one day" trick, hasn't it?  Here's "Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!"


This is my first time hearing Ursula's and Leona's voices in the dub and, like Barry and Candice before them, I'll wait until I get around to comparing their actual debut episodes before I offer my opinions that nobody cares about.  I guess that's what I get for missing Season 11 and most of Season 12! 

I also went into the comparison for "A Marathon Rivalry!" and added a transcription of the Rocket-Dan's motto, thanks to Adamant.  In addition, I've added an image from Fist of the North Star to help illustrate the reference being made with the Rocket-Dan's attack on Mukuhawk.

I've also added Victini to the List of Pokemon and have updated the List of Anime Episodes.

Tomorrow I'll have "Playing the Performance Encore!"

"A Marathon Rivalry!"
July 26th, 2010

Dogasu @ 12:17 JST -- I really tried to get this posted yesterday, but a combination of phone calls, thunderstorms, and me playing PokéPark Wii Pikachu's Big Adventure (it gets less awful as you progress) prevented me from getting that done.  My apologies.

So anyway, "A Marathon Rivalry!"


I had wanted to type out the Rocket-Dan motto but couldn't really figure out what they were saying in the Japanese version, so I had to abandon that plan.  I still think the comparison turned out all right, though.

I also neglected to mention the fact that the previous episode introduced us to a live action version of the ending theme, an omission I've since rectified.

I'll do my best to get "Yes, In Dee Dee it's Dawn!" up before the end of the day.

"Short and to the Punch!," new OST
July 24th, 2010

Dogasu @ 20:12 JST -- Are you seeing things?  An episode comparison update!?

Yeah, I figured it was high time I went back and started doing these again.  First up is "Short and to the Punch!"


To go along with the comparison, I went and redid the page for Challenger, which was looking pretty shabby before.


Earlier today, I came across a set of DVDs that I wasn't even aware was coming out.  They're two more entries in the "Best Collection" series and contain two episodes apiece, so their information has been added to the DVD Guide.  I've updated the So which episodes are available on DVD in Japan, anyway? page accordingly.

In other news,


What you're looking at is the cover art various sites have posted for a new soundtrack coming out on September 8th.  It will be a two disc set that contains 88 pieces of background music, from the original Pocket Monsters all the way to Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl.  It'll also come with a booklet that has an interview with Miyazaki Shinji, the man responsible for doing the majority of the background music in the animated series, as well as the Game Freak Sound Team.  I'm guessing the latter will talk about how they feel about the TV series' versions of the game music and whether or not the cartoon affects the way they produce the music for the game.

This is a day one purchase for me, without a doubt.  I've updated the CD Guide with all the details about this release that's been made public so far.  As soon as a track listing becomes available, I'll be sure to post it.

Also, I picked up Poképark Wii Pikachu's Big Adventure the other day.  And...I can definitely see myself selling this one back to a used game shop.  The fact that this game is meant for five-year olds is painfully obvious, and the shitty controls don't really help, either.  I would strongly recommend those of you who are interested in this game to give it a rental before paying full price for it.

"A Marathon Rivalry!" should be up tomorrow, I think!

The last of the "The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark" updates!
July 22nd, 2010

Dogasu @ 15:41 JST -- One of the perks of teaching in Japan is that I get the same school holidays that the rest of the kids get.  So for the next few weeks, I have all the free time in the world.

Let's see how many updates I can manage in the next few weeks, shall we?

VS

I'll start by updating the page detailing the Differences Between the Movie and the Comic page in the section for The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark manga adaptation.  I plan to rewatch the movie early next week, so I'll be adding a few more things to that list after I double check a few things.  But, for the most part, that page is finished.

In other manga-related news, Inoue Momota, the author / artist behind the manga adaptation of the movie, will be attending the Coro Tour 2010 starting later this week.  According to the event's site, Ms. Inoue will be at the Aeon Niigata-Minami Shopping Center (イオン新潟南ショッピングセンター) in Niigata City on Sunday, August 8th, 2010.  She will be signing autographs from 10:00am until 4:00pm.

Rounding out the movie-related updates are updated box office information on the movie's main page and revised character bios.  I didn't want to go overboard with the spoilers in those bios, but at the same time, I didn't think a simple "Goon is Kohdai's bodyguard" was sufficient, either.  Hopefully, those bios will tell you enough about the characters without totally giving everything away.

I've also updated the List of Pokemon with the new pokemon added in the newest issue of CoroCoro Comics.  I'm going to hold off on posting the names of the pokemon revealed on this morning's episode of Oha Sta until a screenshot confirming their names becomes available.

Finally, I've updated the List of Anime Episodes with a few new titles, both English and Japanese.

I'm more or less done with the DP Movie 04 updates.  The only other movie-related update I can think of doing is to type out the end credits printed in that pamphlet I bought, but I'm not sure if I want to take the time necessary to do something that only about 0.00001% of you would actually care about.  So, I'll work on getting up-to-date with the DP Sinnoh League Victors comparisons.

Track Listing for "The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark" Soundtrack
July 16th, 2010

Dogasu @ 07:46 JST -- The Japanese Amazon site has updated its listing for the soundtrack to the Zorro'ark movie with a track listing, so I did the same for my site's CD Guide.


For those of you who actually take the time to go through the track listing...the title of Track 04 is referring to the Pokemon Baccers team filled with electric-type pokemon.  "Raimon" is a combination of rai ("thunder") and pokemon.  Oddly enough, the manga refers to that same team as the "Kotobuki Reds."  Track 08 is Zorroa's signature laugh, Track 12 is a Rocket-Dan theme, and Track 37 is not, as the title would have you believe, a reference to Europe.

I've also updated the "Main Film Basic Synopsis" on the main The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark page.  In addition, I've added the film's box office performance at the bottom of that same page.  The film placed in second place, to nobody's surprise.

Finally, I've added the cover art to the graphic novel release of the manga adaptation.

I'm hard at work on getting the "differences between the movie and the comic" page up-to-date very soon.

"Pocket Monsters Best Wishes 2011"...that's a nice, cheap, attention-grabbing headline, isn't it?
July 14th, 2010

Dogasu @ 07:38 JST -- I'm sure you've already read the lengthy review-type thing I posted on both Bulbagarden and this site's Facebook page.  If you haven't, why don't you give those a look?

So, what to update first?  Well, I've added information for all the voice actors listed in the movie's credits on the movie's main page.  Like before, the credits listed there are written out in the same order on this site as they are during the actual ending credits, and the same omissions made there are made here.  I have no idea why the staff of the movie decided to omit Satoshi's Goukazaru or Takeshi's Gureggru but then went and credited pokemon like Kimawari or Hikari's Mimirol, but they did.  Weird.

By the way, this information came from the pamphlet they have on sale in Japanese movie theaters right now.  The pamphlet, which is on sale for 600 yen (roughly US $6), contains a ton of pictures from the movie and a full staff list.  Pretty much any image you see posted on this site in the next week or so, in regards to this movie, will be coming from this book.

I've also added a tidbit about the movie's soundtrack, available August 4th.  According to the aforementioned pamphlet, the CD will contain a whopping forty-eight tracks.  Also worth noting is the fact that the remix of The Best Everyday! will be included on the CD despite the fact that it's never used in the actual movie.

I've been checking for the box office performance, but so far, it doesn't seem to have been posted.  As soon as it does, I'll update that section of the movie's page accordingly.

I've also posted what little is known about the Pocket Monster Best Wishes movie that's coming out next year.  I think it's important to remind you guys that there's a very real possibility that the pokemon shown in the teaser trailer - in this case, Reshiram and Zekrom - won't actually be in the final product at all.  Remember, Hou'ou and Lugia were seen fighting in the teaser trailer for this year's film yet didn't get anything more than a still shot in this year's "World of Pokemon" segment.  The very same thing could end up happening here as well.

I've still got a few more updates related to the fourth Diamond & Pearl movie coming up.  Once I finish those up, I'll be resuming those DP Sinnoh League Victors comparisons.

The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark
July 10th, 2010

Dogasu @ 08:30 JST -- Today's the premiere of The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark!


I, personally, probably won't be able to see it until the start of the week because of various social obligations throughout the weekend.  Telling a friend that you're going to blow off seeing their newborn for the first time ever  or that you're not going to a birthday party so you can go watch a Pokemon movie isn't really something you do, is it? 

In the build-up to the film, however, I have managed to at least get the pre-movie updates out of the way.  For starters,  I've also made some tweaks here and there to the main section I have set up for the movie.  I've added some voice actor information that I had been missing and added a little bit to the character bios (with more detailed bios to come after I see the non-manga version of the movie).  I was also horrified to find that I was still using the outdated "The Illusionary Conqueror, Z" logo, so I swapped that out for the film's actual logo.  I also copy pasted info from the CD Guide onto the Soundtracks page added information about the movie's soundtracks to the section's Soundtracks page. 

I've posted a translation of the lyrics to the movie's ending theme, Ice Cream Syndrome.

In manga news, I've finally gotten around to posting some more scans from the adaptation of the movie.  Five images for the first chapter and four images for the second chapter have been added to their respective pages.  I also tweaked the "differences between the movie and the comic" page a bit.

In other non-movie updates, I updated the main Manga page with some more recent series, Pocket Monsters HGSS and Pokemon Try Adventure, both under the "Currently Running Series (in Japan) heading.  I also moved the Pokemon Battrio manga there since I found out that it's still being published.  The adapatation of the fourth Diamond & Pearl movie, on the other hand, got moved down to the Previous Series heading.

I've also updated the List of Anime Episodes and got that all up-to-date. 

Finally, I've updated the List of Pokemon with a new pokemon from Pocket Monsters Black & White, Koromori.  The pokemon's name seems to come from koro-koro (the sound of something rolling) and komori ("bat").

I have no idea when I'll be able to update again, but I'm hoping to have something for you guys by Monday at the latest.

"Regaining the Home Advantage," "We Will Carry On," "Ice Cream Syndrome" Lyrics
July 7th, 2010

Dogasu @ 07:17 JST -- Sorry about the lack of updates this past week.  I had about a million different things going on that all required my attention, so I wasn't able to get as much done with this site as I had wanted.  Things look like they're finally freeing up, so I can start updating this site again on a semi-regular basis.

The first thing I've got for you today is the comparison for the first episode of Season 13, "Regaining the Home Advantage!"


There are a few dialogue things here and there, mostly involving Team Rocket (surprise surprise!), but otherwise it's a fairly standard episode.

I've also written up a comparison for the newest opening theme, We Will Carry On.


I had been working on these all throughout the week, but I was only just now able to put the finishing touches on them.  I hope they were worth the wait.

Finally, I've posted the lyrics to the ending theme to the Zorro'ark movie, Ice Cream Syndrome.  My copy of the CD came in the mail yesterday, so the lyrics you see posted are accurate.  I'll get a translation up later tonight.  The music video for the song isn't anything special - mainly footage of a road trip to the beach, filmed with a handy cam - but it at least makes more sense than Nakagawa Shouko painting a cat or Crystal Kay jumping around with bubbles for no reason.

This week I'm going to try to concentrate on updates related to The Illusionary Conqueror, Zorro'ark so I'll be ready for the movie's premiere this Saturday.  Making sure all the pages are up-to-date, posting manga scans for those first two chapters, getting a translation of the lyrics to the movie's ending theme posted...stuff like that.  While I'm doing all that, I'll also be trying to get caught up with those DP Sinnoh Victors comparisons. 

After this week is over, and after I get caught up on the Season 13 comparisons, I'll start working on a comparison for "The Battling Eevee Brothers."

"Kimi no Mune ni La La La"
July 1st, 2010

Dogasu @ 23:45 JST -- I'm working on new comparisons...promise.

Anyway, today's updates include my transliteration of the lyrics to the newest ending theme, Toward Your Heart La La La (君の胸にLaLaLa).  I haven't posted a translation yet because, quite frankly, I don't have the time right now.  I'll get it up after the weekend, though.

Also, new pokemon!  I'm not going to post the same screenshots you've already seen on every other website in the past few days, so instead I'll look at the pokemon's names and let you know what they actually mean.  I figure that's more worth your time, right?

• Ononokusu's name seems to come from ononokusu (戦くす), which means "to shake violently" or "to shudder."  The word ono (斧), which means "axe" (which is fitting, since it has an axe for a head), is also in there.  The kusu part could also be the Japanese way of rendering the -chus in dinosaur names like Marasuchus or Deinonychus, since the creature kind of resembles a dinosaur.
  
• Deathkan is an interesting one.  The desu part means "death" (see Death Note) which makes sense since it's a sarcophagus and all.  The kaan part seems to come from kan (棺), which means "coffin."  Japanese fans are also speculating that the kaan part comes from the Japanese way of spelling Tutankhamun, ツタンカーメン.  The stray メ (me) there is explained away by saying that, like the real King Tut himself, the "eye" (which, in Japanese, is me) has been removed post-mortem.  Yet another theory is that the カーン in the pokemon's name comes from the onomatopoeia of something being hit, referring to the theory that King Tut was killed by a blow to the back of his head.
  
• Dentula's name seems to be a mix of denki ("electricity") and tarantula (written out in Japanese as タランチュラ).
• Doryuuzu's name seems to be a mix of 土竜 (doryuu, or "mole") and 竜頭 (ryuuzu, or "crown").
  
• Moguryuu's name seems to be a mix of モグラ (mogura, or "mole"..."mogura" is the more common word used for the creature) and, possibly, doryuu, that other word for mole.
  

There are also a bunch of pokemon revealed in that model sheet that's been circulating the interwebs for a couple of days now, but I'm not going to speculate on names revealed in such a low quality image.