Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Falls out of the Japanese Box Office Top Ten
February 23rd, 2021

Dogasu @ 11:44 JST -- It took nine weeks but it's finally happened; Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" has fallen out of the Japanese box office's Top Ten.

Based on information posted by Kogyo Tsushin it seems that the debuts of romantic comedy Liar x Liar  and the latest super sentai film Mashin Sentai Kiramager The Movie "Bebop Dream" pushed last week's Number 9 and Number 10 movies -- Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" and The Family -- out of the Top Ten.

Box office figures for films outside the Top Ten are rarely ever reported so the figure we got last week -- 1.5 billion yen -- is going to end up being the most up-to-date earnings report we're likely to get. The film's distributor may report a final tally at some point in the future but that is in no way guaranteed.

In any case, it's clear that Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" is now officially the lowest performing Pokémon movie in the film franchise's 23 year history. It'll be interesting to see how this affects the approach taken for future films in the franchise.


Megumi Hayashibara's The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time
February 21st, 2021

Dogasu @ 16:05 JST -- So, this was unexpected; last night Megumi Hayashibara, known mostly to us Pocket Monsters fans as the voice of Musashi from the Rocket trio, dropped a surprise autobiography about her life as a voice actor. But that's not even the best part; an official English translation has also been made available, simultaneously, by Yen Press!


The name of the book is Megumi Hayashibara's The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time (林原めぐみのぜんぶキャラから教わった 今を生き抜く力) and was written by Ms. Megumi Hayashibara herself. The book goes in chronological order, from the very first bit role she got in the 1980s to her more recent stuff in the 2010s, and reveals some life skill she learned from each and every role. She shares a bunch of anecdotes and behind-the-scenes information I haven't seen made available anywhere else.

About 10 pages of the 250+ page book are dedicated to Pocket Monsters. In them, she talks the sense of camaraderie she shares with her fellow partners-in-crime and reveals that a certain change her character underwent was brought about because she specifically requested it. There are also some nice illustrations included by the Pocket Monsters staff to congratulate her on the release of her book.

According to the blog post Ms. Hayashibara made about the book's release, the English version is only being made available digitally (for now...?) in order to ensure that it could come out the same day as the Japanese version.

A sample of the book, including the full table of contents, can be viewed on the Book Walker website. The Yen Press website's listing for the book includes links to retailers where you can purchase the US $9.99 book for yourself.

I haven't finished reading it yet but when I do I'm planning to post a full review of it on the site.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Box Office Performance: Week Eight
February 15th, 2021

Dogasu @ 17:05 JST -- The Valentine's Day weekend saw Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" fall from seventh to ninth place in the Japanese box office.


First, a look at the Top Ten:

Rank	Last Week	Title	Distributor	Weeks in Theaters
1	1	We Had a Love Like a Bouquet of Flowers	Tokyo Theatres, Little More	3
2	NEW	Detective Conan: The Scarlet Alibi	Toho	1
3	2	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train	Toho, Aniplex	18
4	NEW	First Love	Kadokawa	1
5	3	Suicide Forest Village	Toei	2
6	NEW	Under the Open Sky	Warner	1
7	5	Gintama: The Final	Warner	6
8	4	Poupelle of Chimney Town	Toho, Yoshimoto	8
9	7	Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko"	Toho	8
10	6	The Family	Star Sands, Kadokawa	3

Source:  Kogyo Tsushin (posted February 15th, 2021)

The entertainment website Kogyo Tsushin is reporting that, to-date, Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" has been seen by 1,360,000 people and has passed the 1.5 billion yen mark. For comparison's sake, 2019's Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution managed to earn 1.7 billion yen in only three weeks, and 2018's Pocket Monsters The Movie "Everyone's Story" earned 1.6 billion yen in, again, only three weeks. Movie 23 taking almost three times as long to reach that same milestone is...not great.

This week the 23rd Pocket Monsters film was joined in the Top Ten by Detective Conan: The Scarlet Alibi, a compilation film being released to prepare audiences for the franchise's 24th film; First Love, aa suspense mystery about a university student accused of killing her own father; and Under the Open Sky, a sorta-kinda biopic about a real life serial killer. Conspicuously absent from the Top Ten this week is Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie (Part Two), which hit Japanese theaters on Thursday the 11th.


Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" Full Staff List
February 13th, 2021

Dogasu @ 18:41 JST -- The first (official) update for my website's 22nd year on the Internet is a transcription of the entire staff list for Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko"!


This list of the more than 1200 people who worked on this film was taken from the Pocket Monsters The Movie "Koko" pamphlet that you can get at movie theaters here in Japan. I transcribed the entire list myself and did my best to romanize what I could but there are still quite a number of names that I just wasn't able to figure out how to write out in our alphabet. I'll have to take another pass at the list once the English dub comes out and provides us with the fully romanized credits.

It should be noted that a lot of the people who worked on this movie just simply didn't get credited. D'Art Shtajio animator Henry Thurlow, for example, apparently did some 2nd Key Animation on the movie and yet his name doesn't show up in the film's credits at all. So who knows how many people actually worked on this thing.

Anyway, I hope at least some of you find this list to be useful!