November 2022

Dogasu's Backpack | Old Updates Archive | November 2022

Pokémon The Animated Series Theme Song Best of Best of Best 1997 - 2022
November 4th, 2022

Dogasu @ 23:49 JST -- Earlier tonight Sony announced the upcoming release of Pokémon The Animated Series Theme Song Best of Best of Best 1997 - 2022, a massive eight CD set that contains a whopping 78 opening / ending themes from the very first 1997 Pocket Monsters TV series all the way to the 2019 Pocket Monsters TV series!

A full track listing for the upcoming release can be seen here. A few observations:

We don' t know if the songs included will be the full sized or the TV versions of the songs, but if I had to guess I'd say they'll all be the full versions.
This set will include all the major opening and ending themes to the TV series, even those that were only used for a single episode and then never seen again. Rocket-Dan yo Eien ni, for example, was used as the ending theme to the initial TV broadcast of BW 097 "The Reijuu Formes Advance! Isshu's Greatest Crisis!!" but then was changed to Mite Mite ☆ Kocchicchi for all subsequent home video / streaming releases. Regardless, it's thrown onto this release! The set also includes Yajirushi ni Natte 2013, a song I don't think has ever been released on CD before.
Only the regular TV series is a part of this release, meaning songs like Aratanaru Chikai from the Pocket Monsters Crystal: The Legend of Thunder special, the movie openings / endings, or the live action variety shows are all MIA.
So what's missing? An alternate version of a Pocket Monsters (1997) ending theme, Pokémon Hara Hara² Relay (Hard Version) isn't on the set, and alternate versions of the three Diamond & Pearl opening themes -- Together 2008, High Touch! 2009, and Saiko Everyday (Band Version) -- and the first two Diamond & Pearl ending themes -- Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Theme~ Pop-Up Version, Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Theme~ Winter Version, and Kaze no Message PokaPoka Version -- are MIA as well. This release has a ton of other remixes on it (Yajirushi ni Natte 2013, all the 1, 2, 3 versions) so their omissions here is a bit odd. Maybe it was just some oversight? A rights issue?

I've translated the full track listing and added it to the CD Guide.

Despite these odd little hiccups, this looks like it'll be a must-have for any collector. I'll be adding the cover image, list of the contents of the Blu-ray, etc. whenever that information becomes available.

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