Pokemon movie 9 review+Japanese artbook scans & movie 10 trailer

Though it’s not my favorite of the nine (soon to be ten) Pokemon movies, movie 9 holds a special place in my heart because I was studying in Japan in July 2006 when the movie first came out. I was lucky enough to get to see it in a small theater in Kyoto a few days before I had to return to the US. The theater was very small compared to the ones out here in CA and there were a lot of loud kids there, but hey, it was a great experience to see an anime movie in a real Japanese theater ^^ The English version of the movie just premiered about a week ago on Cartoon Network. I didn’t bother to watch it though because 1) Pocketmonsters.net had just released a fansubbed version of the movie a little while before and 2) I dislike the new PUSA voice actors and it’s the first movie that’s using them. But after watching the fansubbed version of it (and understanding a lot more compared to watching the raw in the theater =P), it turned out to be one of the better Pokemon movies in my opinion. So I felt like writing a review of it (plus I can’t think of anything else to blog about tonight ^^,,,)

First of all, like most of the Pokemon movies, the visuals were really good (compared to the relatively poor animation of the TV episodes). You could obviously tell they used a lot of computer graphics, but they didn’t stick out against the hand-drawn animation. The designs of the towns, the Water Folk’s trailer, the Sea Temple, etc., were all very detailed. Believe it or not, I think the creator’s did some research when designing the visuals of the movie. The movie 5 DVD has some footage of the Japanese creators going to another country (I think it was Venice, in Italy) and basing the design of the Altomare town in that movie off of it. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they did something similar for this movie.

The pacing of the movie was also very well handled. From the beginning introduction to the pokemon ranger Jackie and the pirate Phantom, the introduction to the Water Folk, then learning about Manafy, the long boat ride to the Sea Temple, the exciting sequence with Satoshi and Haruka in the Sea Temple, etc., all the different parts of the movie fell into place perfectly. Cute and humorous moments fit in well and didn’t interrupt the flow of the story. There were some good emotional moments too, such as Haruka’s distress over not being able to keep Manafy, and Satoshi locking Haruka, Manafy, and Pikachu in the air pod while he tries to fix the Sea Crown, and his struggling in the extremely deep water trying to put the missing piece back. And even though the movie had so many different parts, the creators still eased things up by throwing in some “off course” but cute scenes, such as Satoshi and co. taking a break during their trek to the Sea Temple to play with their water pokemon, and Manafy serenading the wild water pokemon with its song. Even though these and some other scenes didn’t have much significance to the main plot, they eased the tension and helped make the movie seem less structured.

The story/plot of the movie is pretty typical for a Pokemon movie, as are the movie’s guest characters, but it’s one of the better executed ones. One flaw in movie 9 is that it’s way too similar to movie 6 (except with Haruka and Manafy instead of Masato and Jirachi, and pirate Phantom wanting to steal said legendary pokemon instead of magician Butler). But I think movie 9 was more interesting and had more things going for it than movie 6. Since there was really only one Pokemon episode so far that’s featured a pokemon ranger, it was nice to see one in this movie. The creators even took the time to show us Jackie’s back story as to why he wanted to become a pokemon ranger. As far as pokemon in the movie go, there was pretty much only water pokemon (but lots of them). Manafy was cute (though I think Mew and Celebi have him beat ^^), but I actually think I liked Buizel the best (even though he didn’t serve much purpose in the movie besides to look cute =P)

As for the music in the movie, it was pretty good. I have the soundtracks of the 2nd and 4th Pokemon movies and, surprisingly, Pokemon movies have really well made background music, and movie 9 was no exception. I especially liked the music that was played during the opening credits. Usually during that time they play a remix version of the TV series’ current opening song. I thought for sure we’d hear a remix of “Spurt!” but instead we got this cool instrumental song. That song, together with the well animated sequence of the Water Folk’s street performance with their water pokemon was really nicely done. And the ending song, “Mamoru Beki Mono” by Sowelu, was beautiful. I’m not a Sowelu fan or anything, but that song is one of my most favorite Japanese songs of all. Even though it doesn’t sound very Pokemon-ish, it still fit in pretty good ^^

The only two things I didn’t like about the movie occurred in the end. Kyogre’s appearance was totally cut-short. I remember when news of this movie first came out, Kyogre was on the initial movie poster image and the impression was given that he was pretty important in this movie. But he only appeared for a few minutes towards the way end, and all he did was swim around and get the finishing blow on Phantom. So as far as legendary pokemon go, Kyogre didn’t get nearly enough screentime XP Also towards the end, with Satoshi suddenly bursting out of the Sea Temple and flying around in that yellow stream of light…that was kind of random. I think they could of thought of something better to happen to him besides being able fly around like Superman or something. But anyway, these two things weren’t really that big a deal to me, and they didn’t interfere too much with my enjoyment of the movie.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got to say about Pokemon movie 9: Pokemon Ranger & the Prince of the Sea Manafy. The order in which I personally like all the Pokemon movies are as follows: movie 2, 5, 7, 1, 9, 3, 8, 6, 4. So this one ranks right in the middle ^^ I’d also like to share some exclusive scans of the artbook I bought when I saw this movie in the Japanese theater, as well as some scans of a movie 9 folder I bought. I actually posted them a long time ago on my main site, but if you haven’t already seen them, I’ve compressed them into a ZIP file here. Hope you like ’em ^^

And one more thing before I go, speaking of Pokemon movies, Pocketmonsters.net just released a fansub of the movie 10 trailer. This will be the first Pokemon movie based off of the new Diamond & Pearl series. So far, the movie looks awesome, with nice visuals, and we can finally see the anime versions of the new legendaries, Palkia, Dialga, and Darkrai. I’ve also uploaded the trailer here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! ^_^ My next Pokemon-related post will probably be about the US release of the D&P games when they come out later this month. I can’t wait! ^.^

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. Lenners says:

    Watching the Pokemon movies gives me a good feeling (most of them). It’s like watching a family film, only anime style :] I can’t wait to watch this one!

  2. Eminai says:

    I watched the dub version of movie 9 (partially because my computer hates videos and partially because I had no idea where to watch subbed Pokemon movies), and the voice acting was okay. Still, I really want Mrs. Taylor back… The only thing that drove me nuts was that Jackie’s lines were so cheesy. >.

  3. Nekozumi says:

    I really didn’t like this movie. Maybe it was because I just finished Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and after seeing death reins upon everyone, this seemed too childish to me.
    Kyogre really didn’t get screen-time if at all. I was kinda disappointed with it, since the story itself for Kyogre and…. Uh…. Forgot it’s name… O.o The one from movie 6… was kind of intresting. Throwing him in like that just makes him a cameo appearance and I was disappointed.
    You are completely right that it’s the same with Jirachi, that Haruka couldn’t leave Manafy, while Masato couldn’t leave Jirachi. The plot and bases of the Monsters are quite different though, so you can say it’s similliar with it’s mushy aspect as following:
    Hero:”aw! I love you so much!!! *cuddle*”
    Evil guy in shadows: “Haha, I shall take that legendary Pokemon! Kukuku!”
    *after being foiled and defeating the bad guys, yay!*
    Hero: “Oh shi–, bye Pokemon that I shall never see again! :D I’ll never forget you! (or at last not until the ending credits end)”
    But the plot is way way way different. Can’t compare it, really.

  4. Max says:

    The movie was great…no not the english version but the japan version was great. i didnt watch movie when aired on Cartoon network as well. i hate the new voice over. The ending song to me has to be the best movie ending song in pokemon movies ever.

  5. I watched some of this movie RAW until my computer crashed. Couldn’t figure some of the lines though… so I’m about to watched it subbed. Haven’t watched it dubbed yet, waiting until i could get my hands on the DVD because I don’t HAVE CN anymore (or half of my channels on cable for that matter), and I refuse to watch it on CN/ download the rip on #PM because as I remember, CN speeds up the ending sequences to the movies. Yes, I refused to watch it just because of that. :P

  6. Cuber says:

    I saw this today on CNToo (UK), it was pretty good, not my favourite movie of them all, but I enjoyed it, really didn’t get the whole flying in the yellow light thing at the end, but oh well xD

    And I don’t think the new voices are too bad… I found some of the lines a bit silly though.
    Team Rocket:
    “We’re going to get Diamonds and Pearls!”
    “Hey, that would make a good video game!”
    >_>;

  7. Noosha says:

    What is the ending song called in english?

  8. Yumeka says:

    “Mamoru Beki Mono” means “the one who should protect.”

  9. tom says:

    I will like to knoe what is the best song in the moive.

  10. Paige says:

    I liked the movie, but the whole flying in yellow light ruined it for me. Does anybody know the name of the ending song for the english version? Or better, the singer?

  11. saskue1094 says:

    how do u get japenese pokemon movies!!!!!!!!!!?????????????

  12. Jaz says:

    It’s a great movie, i think. I like the scene when manaphy said goodbye to haruka…

  13. pokemonISLAM says:

    saskue1094 You can get all of the Pokemon Films in there Japanese Uncut versions online. But You probably wont be able to find them all at one website. I have gotten 1-2-3-4-5-6-10. I am still looking for 7-8-9 so…. Well Hope that might help. The new pokemon films are so so amazing. They are totally different from the rest. The 10th & 11th film are going to make you think differently about Pokemon after viewing them. I hope they come out with a film with the CREATION POKEMON. (want to speak to me about Pokemon? write me at http://www.myspace.com/pokemonislam Later :D

  14. Musashi says:

    Maaaan, I love your blog so much, you know that?

    Reading your review was very fun and interesting~!

    Also, Yuyama-san and his group research every time they make a Pocket Monsters feature film. ^^ I think the only movies that didn’t require travelling were the first four.

    Your place is also the only place I have managed to find so MANY Pokemon Calendar scans on the net! Kudos!

    And all the other lovely anime calendar pics.

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