Previous Month

Next Month

---

Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation, Episode Six
May 28th, 2015

Dogasu @ 07:27 JST -- Today the final episode of Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation aired on Oha Suta.  Here's a summary of "Darkness."


I assume these shorts will all be included as extras on the eventual DVD / Blu-ray release of Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" but of course nothing like that will be confirmed until much later in the year.


Mewtwo Mondays, Week Ten
May 25th, 2015

Dogasu @ 21:33 JST -- For this week's "Mewtwo Mondays" update I have two Episode Comparisons for you: "It's Mr. Mime Time" and "Showdown at the Poké-Corral."  Both of these episodes feature the Mewtwo from Mewtwo Strikes Back in what was meant to be a promotional tie-in for 1998's movie but ended up being all for nothing.  Both episodes also, hilariously, have misspelled words on their English language title screens.  Whoops!

"It's Mr. Mime Time"	"Showdown at the Poké-Corral"

For next week's "Mewtwo Monday" update I'll be taking a detailed look at the Mewtwo Strikes Back manga written and drawn by Ono Toshihiro.  I managed to find a copy of the July 1998 issue of CoroCoro Comics that has the 52-page adaptation in it the other month and am in the process of preparing a detailed summary, list of how the manga differs from the movie, and more!  Look forward to it!


Location Scouting Report 06 "Arabian Surprises"
May 22nd, 2015

Dogasu @ 08:23 JST -- The Location Scouting report on the official website for Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" was updated yesterday with a new entry entitled "Arabian Surprises."  I've translated the report and have added it to the Location Scouting page.


It's not really the most exciting or insightful entry but it's a charming little read all the same.

Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" hits Japanese theaters on July 18th, 2015.  It is the second Pocket Monsters XY movie and the 18th film in the franchise overall.


Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation, Episode Five
May 21st, 2015

Dogasu @ 07:35 JST -- The fifth episode of Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation just finished airing on Oha Suta and so I've typed up a summary of what happens.  The episode is called "Shooting Star."


According to Pokemon Fan magazine we've only got one more of these shorts left.


Mewtwo Mondays, Week Nine
May 18th, 2015

Dogasu @ 21:50 JST -- Back in 2013 I had this feature on this site called "Mewtwo Mondays."  The idea behind it was that I'd make an update related to Mewtwo - whether it was related to the first movie or the Jouto TV Special - every Monday from the middle of May leading up to the release of The Extreme Speed Genosect and the Awakening of Mewtwo.  It was a lot of fun and it finally got me to get off my ass and work on updates I had been wanting to do for years and so I wanted to do it again.

For this first week I'm looking at the Kanzenban version of The Birth of Mewtwo.  You already know there are two versions of Mewtwo Strikes Back - the original theatrical version and the special edition "Kanzenban" created specifically for the film's American release - but did you know there are two versions of The Birth of Mewtwo as well?  Even though the latter was created specifically for the Kanzenban and therefore shouldn't even have a "theatrical version" in the first place?  It's all very weird and doesn't make any sense but I do the best I can to make heads and tails out of it.  I hope you enjoy!


Please be sure to also check out screencaps of all the changes as well!  There are almost 50 comparison images:


I've already got the rest of the updates planned out.  Next week I'll upload Episode Comparisons (remember those?) for the other two Kanto episodes that featured the psychic cat Pokemon ("It's Mr. Mim(i)e Time" and "Showdown at the Poké-Co(r)ral").  And then after that...well, you're just going to have to wait and see.  "Mewtwo Mondays" will change into "Lugia Lundis" on June 22nd so those of you who want to delve into the franchise's second theatrical outing will have a chance to do so later next month.

Regular site updates will continue Tuesdays through Sunday so be sure to keep checking back for non-Mewtwo / Lugia updates the rest of the week!

Chapter Two of "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" Manga Adaptation
May 16th, 2015

Dogasu @ 14:54 JST -- The 52-page second chapter of the manga adaptation of The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa  appeared in the issue of CoroCoro Comics that went on sale yesterday and so I've typed up a summary of what happens.  These manga adaptations are usually pretty accurate so treat them as if they're spoilers for the actual movie itself.


We've got two more issues of CoroCoro Comics coming out before the movie's July 18th release so it's possible we'll get two more chapters but at the same time we've never had four chapters of a movie manga adaptation printed in CoroCoro Comics before (we usually get three tops) so I guess we're just going to have to wait and see.

Speaking of this manga, Pocket Monsters Special artist Yamamoto Satoshi recently tweeted an interesting tidbit about the manga artist responsible for the movie adaptation, Kamimura Gin:

I know this is late but Mr. Kamimura Gin, who helped us out with the backgrounds in Volume 51 and the beautiful Parfum Palace backgrounds in the second XY volume (of Pocket Monsters Special) is now doing the manga adaptation of "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" that started in the May issue of CoroCoro Comics!  Have you picked up your copy yet? 告知が遅くなったけど、51巻や、XY2巻の超美麗なパルファム宮殿などの背景を描いてもらった上村ぎん先生の「光輪の超魔神」コミカライズ、コロコロコ ミック5月号から連載中！今日ならまだ手に入るかも⁉︎

Pretty interesting to learn that Mr. Kamimura's done work for Pocket Monsters Special, huh?  I wonder what other ghost artists the series has employed over the years?

Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" hits Japanese theaters on July 18th, 2015.  It is the second Pocket Monsters XY movie and the 18th film in the franchise overall.


Location Scouting Report 05 "To Old Dubai"
May 15th, 2015

Dogasu @ 08:15 JST -- Yesterday the official website for Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" updated with the fifth installment of the Location Scouting report!  I've translated the report, "To Old Dubai," and have added it to the Location Scouting page.


The June 2015 issue of CoroCoro Comics (officially) goes on sale today so I'll pick it up later and start work on a summary of the second chapter of the manga adaptation of Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa."

Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" hits Japanese theaters on July 18th, 2015.  It is the second Pocket Monsters XY movie and the 18th film in the franchise overall.


Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation, Episode Four
May 14th, 2015

Dogasu @ 07:30 JST -- Episode four of Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation just finished airing on Oha Suta and so I've typed up a summary of what happens.  The episode is called "Hot Battle."


This is a lot more like the first episode where Hoopa tries to help out but ends up getting carried away.

The trailer for the shorts that aired a few weeks ago shows a scene that takes place in a cave and another one that seems to occur in outer space.  Wonder which one we'll get next week?


Behind the Scenes
May 12th, 2015

Dogasu @ 07:45 JST -- The official website for Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" added a new section about a month ago called "PokeMov Channel."  The section is basically where they're putting all their miscelleaneous updates and today I'll be presenting translations of those updates.


The Location Scouting Report details the movie's production team's trip to the United Arab Emirates to take reference materials for this year's film.  The pictures they took are all pretty gorgeous and I can't wait to see how the animators bring all of that into the movie.  Plus it features pictures of Mr. Yuyama with a cute little umbrella!  Awww~!


The Appear! Movie Information page is where they're putting all their character model sheets and background sketches.  These kinds of things have been made public before as either DVD extras or in various guide books so this isn't anything new but it's still a nice thing to have.


"Today's Hoopa" is this sorta dumb feature that's basically "what if Hoopa had its own Instagram account?"  The answer is...yeah.

These translations will be updated as new entries are added to the official site.

Pokémon the movie XY "The Archdjinn of the Rings, Hoopa" and "Pikachu and the Pokemon Band" hits Japanese theaters on July 18th, 2015.  It is the second Pocket Monsters XY movie and the 18th film in the franchise overall.


"Stage Fight" and "The Mandarin Island Miss-Match" confirmed missing from new Orange Islands DVD Set
May 7th, 2015

Dogasu @ 22:25 JST -- Two days ago Pokémon Adventures in the Orange Islands - The Complete Collection was released, a three-disc DVD set collecting episodes from the Orange Islands portion of the original series.  The episode "Holiday Hi-Jynx" was missing from last year's Indigo League re-releases and so many of us assumed that "Stage Fight!" and "The Mandarin Island Miss-Match" would be missing from this set as well.  All three episodes feature Jynx with its blackface design and have therefore been de-existed by The Pokémon Company International.


Well the DVD came out May 5th and it seems like our fears were justified.  froakiefroak over on Bulbagarden had a pretty good summary of what happened:

Just received Adventures in the Orange Islands re-release and the crap release pattern continues. Disc 1 is the exact same disc which was put out in 2002 and again in 2008. Opening theme plays once on the first episode and never again, same with ending theme- Plays once at the end of the disc. Stage Fight is indeed gone and removed from Disc 1. Disc 2 may or may not have a different menu, I really don't remember. Refer to the picture below for more on that... and of course, The Mandarin Island Miss-Match is gone. Even worse imo is how there is a giant blank space where the episode used to be on the episode menu, which leads me to believing this is the exact same disc released in 2003-2008. One good thing is that the opening and ending themes play after every episode on Disc 2 unlike Disc 1. Disc 2 episode listing where the giant gap is: http://i.imgur.com/ox7febS.jpg I didn't even bother to put Disc 3 in because there was no banned episodes or things to check out on it really. Just can't express my disappointment with how the crap treatment for Pokemon DVDs in the U.S. continue. Re-using the same discs from 13 years ago time and time again? Leaving giant gaps in the episode menus? Fixing none of the mistakes, crap quality and overstuffed discs? Thanks, Viz. Can't wait to see how they will crap out the Johto season re-releases if they even pop up anytime soon. EDIT: Oh yeah, Disc 2 episode menu still says "On the Orange Islands" so it is indeed the same disc. Another thing Viz neglected to fix.

I mean look at this thing!


I am the first person to tell you that you should support the official releases.  I've said for years that pirating episodes that already have official DVD releases is a shitty thing to do and that we fans should support this series whenever we can.  But holy fuck is Viz making that hard to do.  I mean it was insulting enough to refer to this as "The Complete Collection" when it's missing two episodes but to then draw attention to said episodes' absence by making it as conspicuous as possible?  Viz managed to make the original releases, which were already really fucking terrible, and somehow managed to make them even worse.  It's incredible.

Do not buy this release.  Spread the word about how awful this thing is and convince your friends not to spend their money on it either.  Maybe if this piece of garbage bombs then maybe, maybe Viz will get the hint that they shouldn't insult their customers like this.


Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation, Episode Three
May 7th, 2015

Dogasu @ 07:44 JST -- The third of six animated shorts featuring Hoopa called Hoopa's Great "Appear~!" Operation just finished airing on Oha Suta and so I've typed up a summary of what happens.  The episode is called "Ball Boy."


I guess fans expecting this to be a weekly showcase of legendary pokemon are feeling a bit disappointed now, huh?