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Preview M20: I Choose You!

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kantoskies said:
All in good fun (^: I think I've blocked out the OS die hard fans in the western side of the fandom but I didn't know it was similar in Japan
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IDK if it is similar in Japan but I always see ESSAYS about why Misty (1) is the best character of all time; (2) had great character development; (3) should be in Alola and it just cracks me up.
 
SerenaToAlola said:
I read that the companions' cameo in the credits were all in their original design. I guess that kind of makes sense since they wouldn't have met Ash yet in this movie's timeline.
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Yeah, they're all in their original designs; Kasumi and Takeshi in their original series outfits, Haruka in her AG outfit (and not her Emerald one), etc.

ii kanji said:
@Dogasu I beg you more details about the TRio other than limited screen time/did nothing/didn't interact w Satoshi
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Unfortunately there's not much to tell.

Right after Satoshi's shown getting his third badge (ugh) we see the trio sitting in the Pokemon Center eavesdropping on all the Trainers' conversations. They hear that Entei has been spotted in the area and leave to catch it, but! not until after everyone else already leaves. Pretty much every one of their appearances after that is them showing up to a scene after Satoshi's already moved on, getting attacked by the pokemon Satoshi just interacted with, and getting sent blasting away. I think they blast off three times in this movie?

kantoskies said:
It's interesting that they chose the Leo burnett piece (yes that's it's name now!!)
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what

Charmander4 said:
Does Ash get a Pokedex from Professor Oak? And if so is it the original one?
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They've gone 19 movies without featuring the Pokemon Beastiary; they're not going to start now.

(and no, the first Pikachu short doesn't count)
 
Dogasu said:
what
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That piece of music was used during the scene in that Johto episode where in the dub that "Leo Burnett and 4Kids are the devil" thing happened, and I can't ever remember the actual name for it so I call it that instead of "that one menacing Johto theme"
 
Sakuraa said:
I'd love a Sinnoh movie without Dawn. That would be a dream come true for me. :D

Anyway, I've heard that a lot of the reviews for the movie are positive, which I'm happy about. I really can't wait to see this film; hopefully it gets dubbed soon. :)
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Why do you dislike her that much?
 
Eh, they were the same way when Misty and Brock were revealed to not be in this so they either just hate the old companions for some reason or are trolling, I wouldn't pay them much mind.

(Also idk what reviews they're talking about, most I've seen from people who have seen it have been anywhere from neutral to pretty negative).
 
Dogasu said:
Unfortunately there's not much to tell.

Right after Satoshi's shown getting his third badge (ugh) we see the trio sitting in the Pokemon Center eavesdropping on all the Trainers' conversations. They hear that Entei has been spotted in the area and leave to catch it, but! not until after everyone else already leaves. Pretty much every one of their appearances after that is them showing up to a scene after Satoshi's already moved on, getting attacked by the pokemon Satoshi just interacted with, and getting sent blasting away. I think they blast off three times in this movie?
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Would be real nice if the movie that's supposed to be celebrating the anniversary did more to acknowledge the second biggest constant in the series.
 
Now that the movie's out and all of the rumors have been confirmed/debunked, I figure now's as good a time as any to unload the thoughts that have been building up in my mind since December.

No Classic Traveling Companions / No Sonansu
I remember being very disappointed when we got that trailer confirming that Takeshi and Kasumi had been dropped, but now I'm actually a big fan of that decision. Heck, Takeshi's my favorite character and I'm fine with this.

Yes, "I Choose You!" dials up the Kanto fanservice, but it's also a celebration of the show's 20th anniversary. A show with multiple generations of fans and countless points of entry. Takeshi and Kasumi are my own personal "classic" traveling companions, but someone else may have discovered the show when Satoshi was traveling with Haruka. Or Hikari. Or Dent. They want every type of fan to feel at home while watching this movie, so I can understand why the production committee didn't want to play favorites with the side characters.

No matter how old you are, no matter which incarnation of the show you fell in love with, you're guaranteed to be familiar with Satoshi, Pikachu, Hanako, Professor Ōkido, and Team Rocket. They're the constants. They're the characters any fan from any walk of life can point to and say "I know exactly who this person is, why they're important, and what they mean to me." With that in mind, it makes perfect sense to me why we got the cast we got.

Although... I do think they could have kept Sonansu. He's been in every series. Everyone knows him. He deserves to be there.

Lizardon And Butterfree
Makes perfect sense to me. There's no two Pokémon you could pick from Satoshi's roster and satisfy everyone. So if you're going to pick two, it might as well be 1.) his first capture, and 2.) his most popular. Lizardon and Butterfree were there in the beginning, and they've each appeared / been mentioned in multiple series. They're your best bet for audience familiarity. But it's a shame that Butterfree's story is apparently tacked on to the film itself with no real point.

A New, Movie-Exclusive Rival
Again, I'm fine with this. Cross seems to serve as an amalgamation of past rivals (mostly Shinji, but others too), while also needing to play the role of a villain at certain points of the film. I totally understand why they didn't want to bring back Shigeru or whoever and twist them to fit that role. With a new rival, there's no question of "Okay, so what role did this guy play in the show?". That's less baggage for the viewer; every member of the audience is instantly on the same page. I still wish they'd given the "antagonist" role to Team Rocket, but I guess I understand.

Movie-Exclusive Traveling Companions
Absolutely, totally, 100% against this. The most common complaint I've heard about this movie is that there's simply too much going on. Too many characters, too many backstories. They've already told us the goal of this film was to trim the fat, go back to basics, and focus on Satoshi and Pikachu. They've been the protagonists for two decades. There's no reason they can't carry a 90-minute film by themselves. Makoto and Sōji go completely against what this movie is trying to accomplish. And from the sound of it, they don't play much of a role anyway. If I could make one change to the film, I'd axe them immediately.

Pikachu Talking
So, like... this isn't telepathy or anything? Satoshi doesn't hear this while he's in the afterlife or something like that? Pikachu just legitimately opens its mouth, says a random declaration of love for its trainer, and then goes back to "Pika, Pika"? Ew. I love the idea, but the execution seems so awkward. Oh well. If that's my biggest complaint, we're gonna be okay. The movies have been so generic and inoffensive for years. I'd rather they do something crazy and make me feel something than stay bland and make me feel nothing.

The Gym Battle With Erika
Am I the only one who loves this idea? When you look at all the gym battles Satoshi stumbled through during Kanto, fan consensus seems to be that Takeshi, Kasumi, and Erika were the worst ones. We've already established why they didn't want to feature Takeshi or Kasumi in this film. So if we're going to have a battle, why not correct a mistake from the past and have Satoshi earn what was arguably his most annoying "pity badge"? I think it's a great choice. The fact that Kyōko Hikami apparently reprises her role from the original series is icing on the cake.

Random Voice Actor Thoughts
Speaking of Erika's original voice actress... Apparently, the original voice actors return for Butterfree (Rikako Aikawa), Pochama (Etsuko Kozakura), and that lady trainer's Purin (Mika Kanai). Kensuke Satō, who voiced Citron's Rontorar / Luxray in XY, apparently voices Sōji's Rontorar here. I think all of that's worth some praise. After all, they didn't have to do that.

I also have no problem with Shōko Nakagawa as Nurse Jōi. If they insist on squeezing her into these movies, that's a pretty inoffensive casting choice.

Lastly, apparently Yūji Ueda gets to voice a random announcer in this movie. If they aren't going to bring back Takeshi or Sonansu, I'm at least glad Ueda was able to be in the 20th anniversary film somehow. He's definitely earned it.

The Theme Songs
Love 'em. That's all there is to say. Rica Matsumoto continues to be an absolute powerhouse; the new version of the original opening theme was worth the years of waiting. And the ending theme is the best movie song we've gotten since the first movie's theme nineteen years ago. *mic drop* I'm glad they used one of Shinji Miyazaki's compositions instead of creating a new song suited for some flavor-of-the-month idol group. This doesn't happen often, folks. Cherish it.

I'll probably think of more. But none of this criticism has done anything to diminish my excitement. I'm still very anxious to see this and judge for myself! But first, I NEED that soundtrack CD.
 
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MagicBox said:
Apparently, the original voice actors return for Butterfree (Rikako Aikawa), Pochama (Etsuko Kozakura), and that lady trainer's Purin (Mika Kanai). Kensuke Satō, who voiced Citron's Rontorar / Luxray in XY, apparently voices Sōji's Rontorar here.
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Interesting. I guess in M20's universe Purin got a trainer, Hikari's Pochama is owned by someone else and Citron's Rentorar is dead.
 
Charmander4 said:
So can anyone tell what the overall review consensus is in Japan?
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According to what I observed so far from many different websites, the majority is positive towards it.

Though, there were for many times I doubt about the narrative aesthetics sense of most general Japanese citizens. Because if Kamen Rider where this national tokusatsu series that had grew to become excessively merchandise-driven in the recent years yet its latest movies can still be "well received" (and I personally feel they are becoming more boring in the recent years), Japanese's meaning of "fun and interesting" is no more the same as that in Western country.

Therefore, even if M20 maybe indeed well-received in Japan, it doesn't guarantee to be so in European countries.

Let just wait for the result when dub becomes available.
 
Unbeatable HoennMon said:
Sinnoh movie without Dawn- the only one character in the history of the Anime, who was as important as Ash? LOL.
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Yeah… she was so important that the writers didn't have issues in axing her at the end of DP. Or Brock, for that matter.

Don't confound prominent focus with importance, because at the end of the day no one is as important as Ash, Pikachu and TRio.

Besides, if they can make a movie based on Kanto without Brock and Misty, they can easily make a movie based on Sinnoh without Dawn.
 
Cresselia92 said:
Yeah… she was so important that the writers didn't have issues in axing her at the end of DP. Or Brock, for that matter.

Don't confound prominent focus with importance, because at the end of the day no one is as important as Ash, Pikachu and TRio.

Besides, if they can make a movie based on Kanto without Brock and Misty, they can easily make a movie based on Sinnoh without Dawn.
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Of course they can and they probably will but it doesn't make any sense to me.
On the other hand, I'd say Dawn in Sinnoh was much more important than Misty and Brock in Kanto. At least, she had her own goals and, how it was in opening...something like It's the story of Satoshi and Hikari ?
But, as I said, you're totally right- I'm sure there won't be Dawn in this movie but it's not my cup of tea- I'm not interested in movies without original characters- doesn't matter it's Misty, Brock or Dawn.
 
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