20th Pokemon Film Confirmed: New Adaption of First Season?

[Vegard Aune]

I would like to point out that not only is home video expensive in Japan... The first series of Pocket Monsters never even got a home video release. Later series at least have the episodes available for rent (which, given Japan's steep prices for DVD and BD, is actually far more accessible to your average viewer), but the Kanto arc? Nothing doing, you flat-out can't get those episodes on DVD. Though they are available for streaming on Amazon and Netflix, so... yeah, actually it's not at all difficult for people to see them if they want to. This movie is really just a milestone celebration, going back to the beginning of the story to celebrate 20 years of the anime, and branching it off into its own plot which might perhaps, if we're lucky, mean that we will have a version of Satoshi's journey that has an ending.
...while throwing in a few new Pokémon because they gotta advertise Sun & Moon I guess.

 

[Light Lucario]

Featuring new Pokemon, as well as non-Kanto Pokemon in general, does make it clearer to viewers that this is an alternate take on Ash's beginning rather than a retelling too. When the movie was first announced, people weren't sure whether or not it would be a retelling of the original Kanto arc. The primary reason would still be needing to market the newest Pokemon, but it also emphasizes that the movie is going in its own direction with Ash's first journey.

 

[Daikun]

Mild spoilers for the movie. (Linked instead of embedded due to language.)

You'll either find it touching or hilarious.

 

[Dudley]

That was really weird and unexpected.


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[Light Lucario]

Spoiler

I have no idea why people are throwing such a fit over that scene. Pikachu talking was sudden, confusing and there was laughter in the theater during that moment, but it wasn't that bad to justify such Internet rage from fans. It was one line of dialogue that could have just been just a figment of Ash's imagination considering he was near death. It still wasn't quite clear as to what was happening, but it was to convey more of Ash and Pikachu's bond in a direct way. The scene was still really touching and emotional, especially with all of the callbacks to the opening of the movie and how their bond was strong enough to bring Ash back.

I can understand not liking that bit, but people are acting like Pikachu talking with one line of dialogue is the worst thing to ever happen in the anime or that it ruined the movie. It's a complete overreaction to what I think is one of the best Pokemon movies to come out in years, so hopefully things will calm down eventually and these reactions won't overshadow everything else about the new movie.

 

[CyberCubed]

For those who saw the movie in theaters how many people were bitter that Misty/Brock weren't in the movie?

 

[Light Lucario]

For those who saw the movie in theaters how many people were bitter that Misty/Brock weren't in the movie?

I didn't stick around to listen on what people were saying after the movie, but no one mentioned Misty and Brock until the ending credits. There were a good number of people around my age who would be more familiar with them, but there were also a good amount of little kids, so I doubt that Misty and Brock not being in the film was that big of a deal for causal fans. For what it was worth, people actually clapped at the end of the movie in the theater I went to see it, so I take that as a sign that they generally liked the movie at least.

 

[SpaceCowboy]

Spoiler

I have no idea why people are throwing such a fit over that scene. Pikachu talking was sudden, confusing and there was laughter in the theater during that moment, but it wasn't that bad to justify such Internet rage from fans. It was one line of dialogue that could have just been just a figment of Ash's imagination considering he was near death. It still wasn't quite clear as to what was happening, but it was to convey more of Ash and Pikachu's bond in a direct way. The scene was still really touching and emotional, especially with all of the callbacks to the opening of the movie and how their bond was strong enough to bring Ash back.

I can understand not liking that bit, but people are acting like Pikachu talking with one line of dialogue is the worst thing to ever happen in the anime or that it ruined the movie. It's a complete overreaction to what I think is one of the best Pokemon movies to come out in years, so hopefully things will calm down eventually and these reactions won't overshadow everything else about the new movie.

Spoiler

I thought the English voice fit rather well. The American actress, Kate Bristol (voice of Pan in Dragon Ball Kai/Super) tried to match Ikue Otani's tone. Japanese audiences wouldn't have reacted in the same way, because they're probably used to Otani also voicing characters capable of human speech like Chopper in One Piece.

 

[Dudley]

Watched it on the Disney Now app. Definitely one of the best Pokemon movies ever. The battles were fun, seeing Ash in a world with no Pokemon was cool. Didn’t mind at all that Brock and Misty weren’t there at all. Didn’t like how we only see Ash catch two other Pokemon, but that makes sense due to time constraints and pacing.
Also, watching Team Rocket in this made me realize they need to have a slogan similar to “Ie Kanji” (Feels Good), because they dialogue they make to replace it is cringey.

Seeing characters and locations from previous movies made me squee during the “World of Pokemon” narration. Wish they had the full closing credits. I heard all of Ash’s traveling companions made cameos.

All in all, it was the most fun I had watching a Pokemon movie in a long time.


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[Light Lucario]

Watched it on the Disney Now app. Definitely one of the best Pokemon movies ever. The battles were fun, seeing Ash in a world with no Pokemon was cool. Didn’t mind at all that Brock and Misty weren’t there at all. Didn’t like how we only see Ash catch two other Pokemon, but that makes sense due to time constraints and pacing.
Also, watching Team Rocket in this made me realize they need to have a slogan similar to “Ie Kanji” (Feels Good), because they dialogue they make to replace it is cringey.

I agree. It's easily one of my favorite Pokemon movies. It was such a good anniversary celebration while also offering something extremely refreshing for the movies at the same time. It was strange how Ash only had two other Pokemon on him and it still confuses me how he could have gotten three badges with just Pikachu and Caterpie, but that wasn't really a problem. The Gym badge quest wasn't the main focus and they'd want to give him only a couple of Pokemon due to the time limit of the movie.

Seeing characters and locations from previous movies made me squee during the “World of Pokemon” narration. Wish they had the full closing credits. I heard all of Ash’s traveling companions made cameos.

All in all, it was the most fun I had watching a Pokemon movie in a long time.


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Yeah, the ending credits feature all of Ash's traveling companions in between the usual epilogue scenes. It is a shame that Disney XD didn't include it, especially when they did include the credits for the Volcanion movie. The song itself was quite nice too. The next movie is going to be a continuation of this movie's continuity. We don't know much more about it right now, but that alone makes me pretty excited for it given how much I loved this movie.

 

[CyberCubed]

You can see the ending credits on youtube if you missed it. Strangely enough all of Ash's former friends have surprised looks on their faces in the ending, with the only exception being Serena as the only one smiling staring directly into the camera. Many speculate it's because of Serena's kiss with Ash at the end of XY, assuming the Movie 20 universe Ash has the same interactions or relations with his companions the main Ash does. The official Movie 20 guidebook that came out in Japan that listed Ash's companions also has a description by her bio saying she has a crush on Ash. It seems to me the writers are actually keeping the ship alive after she left, unlike the way they dropped Pokeshipping like a rock after Johto.

It's kind of funny, and I'm not even a big shipper or anything, I just find it highly amusing.

 

[Light Lucario]

Well Serena's crush on Ash was a noticeable gimmick and I don't think that they could just try to ignore it completely, at least in relation to Serena, after their kiss in the XY finale. I still feel like people seeing Serena only as the girl with a crush on Ash does a disservice to her character and overall development during the course of the series, but it is something that people can use to quickly identify her and the kiss probably sealed the deal in terms of what people would remember her the most for as well.

As for the ending credits, I just took it as a nod to the anime given that it was a celebration of the anime's 20th anniversary. It's possible that Ash would still run into all of his friends in this new continuity, but I don't know if they'd have the same relationships. Since this is a different universe from the main anime series, their situations could be drastically different just like how Ash's first journey in this movie is pretty different from how it played out in the original series.

 

[Dudley]

You can see the ending credits on youtube if you missed it. Strangely enough all of Ash's former friends have surprised looks on their faces in the ending, with the only exception being Serena as the only one smiling staring directly into the camera. Many speculate it's because of Serena's kiss with Ash at the end of XY, assuming the Movie 20 universe Ash has the same interactions or relations with his companions the main Ash does. The official Movie 20 guidebook that came out in Japan that listed Ash's companions also has a description by her bio saying she has a crush on Ash. It seems to me the writers are actually keeping the ship alive after she left, unlike the way they dropped Pokeshipping like a rock after Johto.

It's kind of funny, and I'm not even a big shipper or anything, I just find it highly amusing.

I heard it’s because like in the show, Serena knew Ash when they were younger.
I also heard according to the director, that the other characters didn’t smile and looked puzzled to see Ash because he was asking them where the gym was.


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[Light Lucario]

I heard it’s because like in the show, Serena knew Ash when they were younger.
I also heard according to the director, that the other characters didn’t smile and looked puzzled to see Ash because he was asking them where the gym was.


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I heard about the whole Ash asking them where the Gym was too, but that would be strange if they were all in Kanto. It wouldn't be impossible when this Kanto was so different from what we've seen in the anime and their situations could be different enough to where they'd end up in the same region for various reasons, but it would be kind of strange. Serena knowing Ash from when they were younger in this continuity does sound more plausible to me though.

 

[CyberCubed]

Between this movie and Movie 21, I guess the Sun/Moon characters will never be in a movie. Kind of feel sorry for fans of them who would want to see them in movie animation, because the characters tend to look better in the movies due to the higher budget.

Misty was in 5 movies, May/Dawn in 4, Iris and Serena in 3, and now SM characters...zero I guess.

 

[Light Lucario]

Between this movie and Movie 21, I guess the Sun/Moon characters will never be in a movie. Kind of feel sorry for fans of them who would want to see them in movie animation, because the characters tend to look better in the movies due to the higher budget.

Misty was in 5 movies, May/Dawn in 4, Iris and Serena in 3, and now SM characters...zero I guess.

While seeing the SM cast in a movie sounds cool, I'm not too heartbroken over it. We're lucky if any of Ash's friends do anything in the movies. They often are in the background not contributing much, if anything, to the plot. The movies primarily revolve around Ash and the movie only characters. It would be even more of a challenge for them to give everyone in this larger than usual cast enough screentime in a movie. The mascot Legendary Pokemon of this generation and Ultra Beasts are better suited for the SM series instead of also throwing them into a movie. Not to mention they're able to do something really different for the movies by putting them into a different continuity. The recent movies have been enjoyable, but I feel like the formula of Ash and his friends helping out the new Legendary Pokemon of the year has gotten stale. It's one reason why I liked this movie so much. It was so wonderfully refreshing for a Pokemon movie.

I feel kind of bad for fans of the SM cast who really wanted them in a movie too, but at the same time, I think that they are making a good call if they are going to not feature them in a movie during this generation. It really helps out both the SM series and the movies in the long run.