Pokémon Shock: Does an English Dub of "Cyber Soldier Porygon" Exist?
October 27th, 2023

Dogasu @ 23:59 JST --  We all know that "Cyber Soldier Porygon," the episode of Pocket Monsters that sent all those children to the hospital 25 years ago,  never ended up airing outside Japan. But is there any truth to the claims that 4Kids actually dubbed it before deciding to skip it? Today let's take a look at all the evidence in a new article called Does an English Dub of "Cyber Soldier Porygon" Exist?


What's the timeline leading up to the episode being skipped? Which voice actors claim the episode was dubbed, and which ones have claimed it wasn't? And is there anything else we can look at to figure out what the truth is? I pull in evidence from as many sources as I could find to make the most thorough article on this topic possible so hopefully you'll find something in there you haven't seen before!


Manga Guide: Ciào Pocket Monsters Manga Update
October 26th, 2023

Dogasu @ 23:21 JST --  It's been a while since I've checked in on the various manga series that're out in Japan right now so let's take a look at two of them for today's update.


The one on the left here is Pocket Monsters ~ Liko's Treasure ~, a series I had previously covered on this site. This manga finished its run in the June 2023 issue of the girls' manga anthology Ciào and so I've written up a summary of its third chapter. This series is the third retelling of the Pocket Monsters 2023 TV series, with this particular adaptation stopping at the end of the events Episode 002. The three chapters have since been collected in a graphic novel for those of you who want to read it that way.

The manga on the right is one that started the month after ~Liko's Treasure ~ wrapped up called Pocket Monsters ~ The Detouring Volteccers ~. It's a short gag manga (each chapter's only eight pages) and so it doesn't really get that deep but it's still a charming enough series in its own right. Three chapters have been released so far with a fourth one scheduled to come out next month.

Other manga currently running in Japan at the moment include Kosaku Anakubo's Pocket Monsters - Aniki Version, Pocket Monsters Special: Scarlet & Violet, Let's Play the Pokémon Card Game (Scarlet & Violet), and the Pokémon Four Panel Comics.


Pokémon Shock: Rumor Guide
October 22nd, 2023

Dogasu @ 09:26 JST --  Let's take a trip back to the 1990s to talk about the Pokémon Shock incident again. When you have an event as huge as that there are bound to be rumors that pop up from time to time and so today I take a look at some of the more popular claims made about the incident and try to figure out if there's really any evidence to back any of them up. In other words today is the debut of the "Cyber Soldier Porygon" Rumor Guide.


At the moment I've got the following two rumors covered:

• The Japanese government banned the episode
• A second wave of victims was caused by news reports' coverage of the incident

These are two of the three major ones circulating around (the one about an English dub existing will be covered in this Friday's update) that I'm aware of. Are there any others I'm missing?


"Cram Adventures Into a Pocket" Episode 01
October 20th, 2023

Dogasu @ 07:32 JST --  The first episode of "Cram Adventures Into a Pocket" has aired in Japan and so I've been updating the site's section on the series with all sorts of new information.


Here's what I've done so far. More will be added throughout the weekend.

• Added a synopsis of Episode 01 to the show's Episode Guide. Since this is an ongoing series I've decided to keep them the same length as the ones I do for the animated series episodes in my Episode Comparisons section.
• Added October 21st: I've added the full cast and staff list for Episode 01. As usual, romanizing Japanese names is actually a very difficult task so a lot of the names you'll see on the list are only able to be presented in their original kanji. If I come across any additional romanization confirmations then I'll be sure to update the list.
  

Translation: TV station interviews
October 19th, 2023

Dogasu @ 23:59 JST --  Issue 20 of the magazine TV station, which covers Japanese TV listings for September 30th ~ October 13th 2023, features promotional interviews with two of the people involved with the live action show Cram Adventures Into a Pocket.


Those two interviews are with Koichi Uruma, producer of the show, and Nanase Nishino, its star. You can read translations of those interviews here.

Cram Adventures Into a Pocket is a live action TV show based on the Pocket Monsters video games. It stars Nanase Nishino and will debut on TV-Tokyo on Friday, October 20th at 12:30 am JST. No international release has been announced.


"Cram Adventures Into a Pocket" Section Revamp
October 16th, 2023

Dogasu @ 23:59 JST -- The new live action Japanese show Cram Adventures Into a Pocket (or "PokéTsume" for short) starts later this week and so I've completely revamped my section for the new series over in the Features section!


I've got the full cast and staff list, a fansubbed version of the show's first trailer, character bios and translations of the actors' comments, and a whole lot more! I've basically taken everything I've been able to find about this new show and put it all in one place for easy reference.

Cram Adventures Into a Pocket is a live action TV show based on the Pocket Monsters video games. It stars Nanase Nishino and will debut on TV-Tokyo on Friday, October 20th at 12:30 am JST. No international release has been announced.


Pokémon Shock: Effects on Scheduling
October 9th, 2023

Dogasu @ 23:19 JST -- Something I've talked about on this site a lot over the years is how the hiatus the Pocket Monsters TV series went on in 1998 following the "Pokémon Shock," the incident where hundreds of children were sent to the hospital with seizures and other illnesses, caused all sorts of havoc on the plans that had been laid out for the show for the rest of year. I had written up a few small things here and there but I never really did a deep dive into this topic and so for tonight's update I've got a brand new page in my site's Pokémon Shock section called "Pokémon Shock: Effects on Scheduling."


What's up with the current order in which the episodes are played? How did the show taking a third of a year off affect OLM's plans for the rest of the year? And what is the "correct" order to watch the series? To answer these questions I take a look at magazines and other materials from the era and attempted to figure out what was supposed to air where. There's a ton of original research in here I haven't seen anywhere else so there's sure to be something in there you haven't seen before!

As always, if you have any comments / recommendations / corrections to let me know about then please feel free to contact me via any of the links below.


Episode Comparison: "Pokémon I Choose You!"
October 1st, 2023

Dogasu @ 21:26 JST -- I wanted to get this out during the English dub's 25th anniversary month but, meh, close enough. Here's a completely revamped Episode Comparison to the very first Pokémon episode ever, "Pokémon I Choose You!"