Regarding the new Pokemon movie

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So, while on my summertime escapades in Japan, I happened to attend a screening of the newest Pokémon movie in theatres, entitled "Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction". After going to a Pokémon movie exhibition the previous day (which included concept art, original scripts and information on location scouting, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the Yokohama skyline), I was pretty stoked. At the theatre, my 3DS-owning friend got his paws on the Diancie that was being given out as an event Pokémon and I got ahold of a Diancie Tretta chip (which is used while playing Pokémon Tretta, an arcade game only available in Japan). After a rather... fascinating... short film starring Klefki we realized that, despite the two obviously-not-Japanese-people in the crowd, no subtitles were turned on. It is surprising how little one needs subtitles during a Pokémon film in order to understand what's going on.

The verdict: Like most Pokémon movies, this instalment was decent and enjoyable, but nothing special. While the animation was good and the setting (which is based on Ottawa and Niagara Falls, by the way :iconcanadaplz:) was aesthetically appealing, the plot was... meh. (Not that Pokémon movies usually have excellent plots. I didn't exactly go into this movie expecting Forrest Gump.) Between chocolate-eating sort-of-villains and a Team Rocket rip-off duo whose sense of fashion is scary beyond all reason, the characters in the story were interesting to say the least. Our protagonists on the other hand conform to the past decade of Pokémon and get no character development whatsoever, save Diancie, of course.

Now, when I got back to good ol', not-45-degrees-Celsius-with-the-humidity Canada :iconcanadaplz:, I of course wanted to see the movie in English. Only one problem: the movie isn't out in North America yet, and the best I could do was watch the one-and-a-half minute trailer.



And I noticed something. Something slightly disturbing.
It is completely different from the film I have seen in Japan.

First off, just as there is no spoon in The Matrix, there is no Mega Scizor in the Japanese movie. Mega Absol, yes, though he only makes a cameo appearance during the opening credits (which are set to the best Pokémon theme ever, by the way: )

during which he battles - and beats the snot out of - Ash's Hawlucha. Nothing more.
Also, in the Japanese film, Yveltal's cocoon is located underwater in the middle of a lake that dwells in a sinkhole that lies in the middle of a large forest (that grows in the house that Jack built), NOT in a large rocky canyon.
That's about all the inconsistencies I can remember off the top of my head, again, the trailer is very little to go on. It doesn't surprise me that the film will be modified in North America, but I had no idea it could potentially be to such an extent! This isn't me complaining that it's different because it's different, this is me complaining that it's different because we aren't getting the same content as our Japanese counter-parts, and I don't really understand why we can't get the exact same movie as them, just dubbed. However, I will watch the English version when it comes out. Who knows, maybe it will be superior than that Japanese version! :)

So go forth and enjoy the upcoming 17th addition to the Pokémon movie franchise, and just remember: There is no Mega Scizor.
 

Oh, and more thing, SPOILERS: during the closing credits, the blue ninja guy "pops the question" to the scary red witch-girl. :O
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