Episode Comparison: "The Lost Lapras"
December 31st, 2020

Dogasu @ 21:00 JST -- I couldn't let the year go out without doing one more of these things, could I? Here's the episode comparison for the Orange Islands episode "The Lost Lapras."


There episode sets up a lot of the changes that'll keep popping up throughout the Orange Islands arc so this comparison's a little bit longer than some of the others. But there's a ton of stuff in here that I haven't seen talked about anywhere else on the English-speaking Internet so hopefully you'll find it well worth your time.

And with that, let's say goodbye to 2020! Tomorrow I'll be taking a look back at the predictions I made for this year to see how well I did.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Theme Song Collection
December 29th, 2020

Dogasu @ 00:55 JST -- This has been reported a bunch of times by now but the 23rd Pokémon movie has a grand total of six vocal songs. Tonight's update is an in-depth look at all six of these songs.

Okite no Uta, the very first song heard in the movie	Koko, the movie's opening theme
Show Window, a song that plays when Satoshi shows Koko around Milyfa Town.	Mori no Humming, a song that plays during a climatic part of the film.
Fushigi na Fushigi na Ikimono, the movie's "main theme" used in numerous film trailers	Tadaima to Okaeri, the movie's ending theme

For each song I've got the full lyrics in Japanese, their English translations, a list of the musicians and other staff who worked on each song, and any comments made by the musicians about each song.

All six songs are available internationally (!!!!!!) on both Spotify and Apple Music under the title "Pokemon Movie Koko Theme Songs." The CD with all six songs (plus all the songs Okazaki Physical Education did for the Sun & Moon TV series is also currently on sale.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Box Office Performance: Week One
December 28th, 2020

Dogasu @ 14:26 JST -- The Japanese box office results for this past weekend have been released and it's official: Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" came in as the Number 2 movie in Japan!


Here's how the Top Ten looked during the 23rd movie's opening weekend:

Rank	Last Week	Title	Distributor	Weeks in Theaters
1	1	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train	Toho, Aniplex	11
2	NEW	Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko"	Toho	1
3	2	Romance of the Three Kingdoms - The New Interpretation	Toho	3
4	NEW	Poupelle of Chimney Town	Toho, Yoshimoto	1
5	3	The Promised Neverland	Toho	2
6	4	Stand By Me - Doraemon 2	Toho	6
7	6	Wonder Woman 1984	Warner Bros	2
8	5	Kamen Rider Saber The Movie / Kamen Rider Zero-One The Movie	Toei	2
9	NEW	Josee, the Tiger and the Fish	Shochiku, Kadokawa	1
10	8	Tengaramon	Giggly Box	3

Source:  Kogyo Tsushin (posted December 28th, 2020)

First place went to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train, which if you've been following the Japanese box office these past few months is not even the least bit surprising. The movie's now the #1 top earning film in Japanese history so there was absolutely no way Pokémon was going to come anywhere close to beating it. The Number Three spot went to Romance of the Three Kingdoms - The New Interpretation.

Other new films debuting this weekend include Poupelle of Chimney Town, which came in at Number Four, and Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, which debuted at Number Nine.

The film's actual box office earnings have not been made public yet but I'll be sure to add them once they become available. Update:  Kogyo Tsushin has provided the box office numbers. Over the two-day weekend, Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th, the movie was watched by 234,000 people and earned 276 million yen. Over the three-day weekend (Friday the 25th ~ Sunday the 27th) it was watched by 320,000 people and earned 378 million yen.

There was no post-credits teaser for Pokémon Movie 24 this time around so we have no idea when the next film is coming out. Based on this weekend's performance, though, it seems pretty clear that Pokémon movies will do well no matter what time of the year they come out.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" - The Review
December 26th, 2020

Dogasu @ 00:07 JST -- After what seems like an eternity the 23rd Pocket Monsters movie, Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko," has finally hit theaters. I went to see it on opening day and so, as usual, I wanted to share my thoughts on this (currently) Japan-only film in my review of the film.


The review has a lot of spoilers in it so avoid it if you'd rather wait to watch the movie yourself before finding out what happens.



Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" ~ One More Beginning ~ Chapter Two
December 24th, 2020

Dogasu @ 22:32 JST -- The January 2021 issue of CoroCoro Comics, which went on sale December 15th, featured the second chapter of the Movie 23 prequel manga, Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" ~ One More Beginning ~!


The second chapter shows the continuing battle between Koko and the giant Maruyakude rampaging about in the Okoya Forest. While this manga depicts an original story, it contains several hints about the kinds of things we'll be seeing in the new movie that comes out tomorrow, such as the Spring of Healing and the Holy Tree.

A graphic novel collection of the manga will be made available tomorrow, December 25th. Amazon lists the graphic novel as having 128 pages so that means the manga's third and final chapter's gonna clock in at around 32 pages.


More information on this third chapter will be posted once I finish my coverage of the actual film itself. Until tomorrow!


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" to bring up Satoshi's Dad
December 24th, 2020

Dogasu @ 11:53 JST -- An Oricon news article released just a few hours ago reveals that Satoshi's going to talk about his own dad in Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko," which comes out in theaters tomorrow, December 25th.

I don't have time to translate the full article right now but here's the relevant part:

The source of Satoshi's ability to take action is his father. What's etched into the heart of a boy who's still only ten years old. In this movie, one part that's sure to leave an impression is when Koko struggles with questions of both his very existence and the relationship between him and his father -- "Am I a Pokémon? Or am I a human?" When he sees Koko struggling with this, the main character Satoshi reminisces about his own father, for the very first time, and talks about the effect his old man's had on him. Satoshi's mom has been appearing in the TV and movie series a number of times before, of course, but as a fan,  hearing Satoshi bring up his dad now, at a time like this, was a huge shock. Director Yajima says: "The events in this movie take place after Zarude has been raising the baby Koko for ten years. They meet Satoshi and Pikachu in the jungle where they live, and little by little seeds of doubt begin to bud within Koko, who up until now had never questioned the idea that he himself is a Pokémon. And we show him questioning his own existence and the relationship between him and his father when he asks "Dada, am I a hewmann?"" During all that, having Satoshi go "When I see [Koko and the others], I'm reminded of my own papa," and then having him go on to talk about his own father is something we've never done in the Pokémon series up until now. But when he sees Koko question the relationship with Zarude, his father, we thought it'd be unnatural for him to not bring up his own dad. Satoshi has never really talked about his father up until now, but since we have a story with a "parent and son" theme we had a perfect excuse to bring it up and so when Satoshi sees Zarude, the father, and Koko, the son, we had to come up with what kind of memories Satoshi'd have about his own father. He can say this about Koko as well, but since the parent who raised him is still around that means is existence and actions must have some kind of meaning. Also, Satoshi is the kind of boy who doesn't look down on people and can make friends with just about anybody and so he connects to his friend Koko by talking not about his mother, but about his own father. We all know Satoshi, and how he never gives up, and how he's an energetic boy who has a positive outlook on life. We thought by making his father's words be what make that Satoshi the way he is it'd make his actions make sense and would make for a great fit for this "parent and child story" that's the central theme of this year's film. Satoshi is working to become a Pokémon Master, and we feel that we should have the reasons he does the things he does come from his family. That's because Satoshi is still a ten-year-old boy who needs the love of his parents, after all. By talking about his father for the first time, we'll understand that his personality and the things he does come from his father.

I personally wouldn't get my hopes up too much -- I'm betting there will be like two, three lines of dialogue, tops -- but it's still interesting how they're even going there in the first place.

I will of course provide as much information about this part of the movie as I can when I go see it in a little less than 24 hours from now.

Special thanks to Twitter user Frandango for the tip!


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Supporters' Podcast - Episode 08
December 15th, 2020

Dogasu @ 13:54 JST -- My write-up for Episode 08 of Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" podcast is...well, it's not here because the episode's release has been postponed until further notice!


Why was it postponed? We can only speculate at this point, but I post the most likely reason in my placeholder write-up for the episode.

Episode 09 is still scheduled to be released this Friday, December 18th at 20:00 JST. The special guest will be one of the film's Executive Producers, Mr. Hidenaga Katakami (片上秀長).


Animedia August 2019 Issue - Interview with Sun & Moon director Daiki Tomiyasu
December 10th, 2020

Dogasu @ 22:53 JST -- Late last month I translated an interview with Mr. Masachika Ichimura and Ms. Sachiko Kobayashi from the August 2019 issue of Animedia. There was one other interview in that issue so for tonight's update I wanted to go ahead and get a translation of that up as well.


The interview is with Mr. Daiki Tomiyasu, the director of the Sun & Moon TV series. This issue of Animedia was released right at the start of the Alola Pokémon League so there aren't any real surprises in there but it is interesting to see how he was trying to hype up the league now that we know exactly how it all ended up.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Supporters' Podcast - Episode 07
November 29th, 2020

Dogasu @ 9:54 JST -- The next entry in my highly acclaimed series of write-ups on the Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" podcast is now up with my entry for the seventh episode! This week's episode features the one and only Ms. Rica Matsumoto!


The episode doesn't go into as much detail as the last two did (it's almost ten minutes shorter, for starters) but it's still a charming look at one of the people who's become the face of the animated series over the years. Ms. Matsumoto talks about her past working in radio, what kind of character she wants Satoshi to be, and how she's often recognized on the street because her actual voice is so similar to her Satoshi voice. Check it out!

It seems like maybe this Friday's episode may be the last episode of the podcast, maybe? They haven't announced anything beyond Episode 08 and the movie's release is only a few weeks away so I think we might only get one more of these things. Episode 08 will feature Rica Matsumoto and Kou'ichi Yamadera and is scheduled to be released this Friday, December 11th at 20:00 JST.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" ~ One More Beginning ~ Chapter One
December 4th, 2020

Dogasu @ 22:17 JST -- The issue of CoroCoro Comics that went on sale the middle of last month featured the first chapter of a Movie 23 prequel manga entitled Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" ~ One More Beginning ~. Tonight's update takes a detailed look at that first chapter.


The first 48-page chapter tells the story of Koko from about three years before the events of Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko." How did Zarude meet Koko? Will the human boy ever be able to learn how to use a Pokémon attack? And what happens when an angry Maruyakude begins rampaging throughout the Okoya Forest? I've written a detailed plot synopsis of the chapter, a bunch of character bios, and an "about the author" page.

Chapter Two is scheduled to be in the issue of CoroCoro Comics that comes out December 15th. A graphic novel collection is scheduled to come out ten days later on December 25th.