Am a bit tired and heading to bed so this'll be quick.
I've been in the mood to draw so batim stuff since dark revival and have tasked myself to draw all my favourite Henry's over time. (Also planning on redrawing so old stuff)
First up being @inkspottie 's (hope you don't mind the tag) Henry. He was and still is my first favourite Henry and drawing him again after so long was fun! Hope I didn't get anything about him wrong, it has been a while. Will be drawing more later but for now I sleep.
Warning: Extreme Unpopular Opinions, as well as Spoilers and cussing, ahead.
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3. Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction
(Also known as: The Cocoon of Destruction and Diancie)
The Pokemon film that made me quit watching the movies for a good while. Now to be fair, the premise of this film is solid: an inexperienced and immature princess (Diancie) sets out on a quest to find Xerneas to gain an ability that will allow her to protect her kingdom, learning responsibility and the value of friendship along the way. Pretty good for a Pokemon movie right? Yes, but unfortunately the execution is a gigantic mess. Loaded with filler moments (taking Diancie mall shopping when she’s on a time limit to save her kingdom???), pointless chase sequences (the mall, again) villains that come out of nowhere (The Chesnaught Trainer whose name I have already forgotten), forced emotional moments (Pikachu turning to stone would have been more heartbreaking if happened during Yveltal’s rampage and not right after Xerneas appeared to save the day), as well as the horrible English dub (I couldn’t stop cringing at the line-deliveries, this is why I prefer the original Japanese dubs of Pokemon films).
Finally, the advertisements promised a battle between Xerneas and Yveltal (at least I think they did), but that never happened. They fire one or two attacks at each other before Xerneas calms Yveltal down with her Fairy Aura. That’s it (least its not as disappointing or dull as the Cresselia vs Darkrai episode in the anime).
If I had anything good to say about this movie, I would say some of the music tracks were decent, Diancie’s character development was okay, and the way Xerneas and Yveltal were portrayed was brilliant, and I love how they balanced each other out as the Gods of Life and Death. Xerneas had a calming, majestic, and almost motherly demeanor, and you felt safe and comforted in her presence (I admit, I shed a few tears when she ‘died’ and turned into a tree to continue the Life and Death cycle), whereas Yveltal was pure destruction and malice incarnate during his rampage. These two were easily the best part of the movie, but unfortunately they weren’t enough to save it.
Overall, this is still my least-favorite Pokemon movie to this day, and it’s the reason why I never watched the rest of the Kalos-centered films (it sounds like they don’t get much better from here anyway).
(EDIT: Alright I ended up watching the rest of the Kalos films. Hoopa’s was unfortunately the worst Pokemon movie I’ve ever seen, even Diancie’s was better, while Volcanion’s was actually pretty good and is the best of the Kalos movies, though that’s not saying much.)
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2. Arceus and the Jewel of Life
(Also known as: Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetime)
This was one of my most anticipated movies of the year it came out. A story about Arceus, the creator and god of Pokemon, held endless potential, and coming right off of The Rise of Darkrai and Giratina and the Sky Warrior, I was hyped. When the film finally premiered on Cartoon Network, I loved it and called it the best Pokemon movie...buuut then the more I thought about it, the more I started to notice things that I didn’t like or I thought didn’t make sense, and I quickly started to dislike it.
This film is littered with wasted potential. After a broken promise with humanity, Arceus awakens from a thousand year slumber (said awakening was the reason why Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina came into contact and battled each other throughout the previous two films) to lay waste to mankind for betraying him. Sounds insane, right? It could of been, if Arceus’ rampage wasn’t just him throwing Judgment all over the place. Seriously, this is the god of the Pokemon world! He could probably cause the universe to shatter into a million pieces with just the tilt of his head, or at the very least have his enraged presence cause extreme time-space distortions, earthquakes or natural disasters, and have other Legendary Pokemon start freaking out because it. No, none of that happens? He just spams laser-esque attacks all the time? For fudge’s sake, Mewtwo, Lugia, the Legendary birds, and even friggin’ Entei from the first three films were more god-like than this! And Entei wasn’t even real!
On top of that, Arceus can be harmed and is almost killed way too easily. I understand Arceus’ life was at risk by not having the Jewel of Life, but it’s still extremely underwhelming seeing him get hurt and beaten by the humans (and getting stalled by friggin’ Pikachu) most of the time!
Before you remind me, yes I know Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina come in to stop Arceus’ rampage, only to get their asses handed to them rather quickly, but it doesn’t change how I feel. It’s still underwhelming. In the end, Arceus just came off as another typical, angry Legendary, and seeing as he created the Pokemon world, it doesn’t sit right with me.
My problems with the film don’t stop there. With Arceus going on a vengeful rampage, how do our heroes solve the crisis before the world is destroyed? Through time-travel of course!
...Seriously?!
Time-travel has become one of my most hated gimmicks over the years, because it feels like a cheap maneuver to solve a major issue. There are a few stories I love that involve time-travel, but that’s because those films handle the gimmick right. Here? Not so much. Ash and his friends travel back in time (curtesy of Dialga) to stop Damos from betraying Arceus and keeping the Jewel of Life for himself. However, it turns out Damos is not the one who betrayed Arceus, but rather some by-the-numbers ‘I’m obviously evil’ asshole named Marcus, who framed Damos for the betrayal by controlling him through Hypnosis...Why??
You had a perfect opportunity to show that humans are complicated and not all black and white. You had a legitimate reason for Damos to want to betray Arceus (If he gave the Jewel of Life back, the land would die out, but if he kept it, the land would continue to flourish), you didn’t need a cheap, cookie-cutter villain! You had the chance to tell a great story with a great conflict with a great (underrated) Pokemon, but you didn’t. Instead you told a watered-down version of that story because: “We can’t have our movie be too violent or convoluted for kids! Also we need to advertise for HeartGold and SoulSilver!”
*SIGH* Alright, I know I ranted all over the place with this movie, but to be fair despite ending the Sinnoh trilogy on a disappointing whimper, its not bad.
The music for the film is fantastic, I especially love the themes for Arceus during his reign of destruction, and when he saved the world in the ancient past, I like how it connected to the previous films (even if it was executed lazily, using the “tell-don’t-show” method), and the way the conflict is resolved was beautiful and felt earned (I especially loved the message Damos left for the heroes in the future, and how Arceus became friends with Ash).
In the end this is not a bad film, but it has too many problems and an endless amount of wasted potential for me to truly enjoy it. It’s the point where the Pokemon movies started going downhill for me (though I really like Pokemon Black: Victini and Reshiram, don’t hurt me...)
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1. Lucario and the Mystery of Mew
(Also known as: Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero: Lucario)
Oh boy, everyone is going to hate me for this...Let me explain please, before everyone calls me a horrible person for daring to dislike what is considered to be one of the greatest Pokemon films.
I wanted to love this movie, I really did. In fact, I adored the film when I first watched it way back when. It was easily one of my favorite Pokemon movies at the time, that is until I re-watched it recently and I noticed an unfortunate amount of problems and sheer, eye-rolling conveniences.
Let me get the good stuff out of the way: Lucario was fantastic, both as a character and a Pokemon. Between his history, his master-apprentice relationship with Sir Aaron, the friendship he eventually develops with Ash, (his bad tempered yet controlled emo attitude), and his aura/wave abilities, Lucario is easily one of the most interesting and sympathetic Pokemon characters in the entire franchise. In fact I think this movie is the prime reason why a chunk of the fanbase loves Lucario.
The soundtrack is easily one of the best out of the franchise, I loved the medieval theme and atmosphere, the opening prologue with the two armies about to clash was amazing (even if there’s no apparent reason for it) and even the film’s premise is unique. There’s no “save the world!” plot line (at least not until the very end). Instead it focuses on a personal story for the main characters, something Pokemon hasn’t really done since the 3rd film. Ash just wanted to find Pikachu after it was kidnapped by Mew, and Lucario wanted to find out why Sir Aaron seemingly abandoned him and the old kingdom.
This movie has all the ingredients for one of the best Pokemon movies, if not the best....so why is it so disappointing to me?
Lots of reasons, actually. Let’s get the big one out of the way: Mew. To put it simply: Mew is an ignorant jerk, and if it weren’t for them the entire movie never would have happened (Kid is also responsible to a good extent, she’s not completely innocent in this either).
The reason why Mew kidnapped Pikachu and Meowth in the first place could be easily explained: It was being attacked by Kid’s two Weavile, which put both Meowth and Pikachu in danger, so it probably thought it was rescuing them. Shortly after though, Mew refuses to let them go (it seemed that way to me at least) simply because it wanted to play...that’s it. Nice going Mew. Lucario died, and the Tree of Beginning nearly died, just because you wanted playmates, and no one brings any of this up because “Aww but it’s so cute, how can you blame it for anything?”
Speaking of which, this movie, despite having a good number of Hoenn-Pokemon, takes place in the Kanto region (the movie premiered during the Battle Frontier season, so it makes sense). Keeping that in mind...that would make this Mew the same one from the original movie with Mewtwo, despite having a completely different personality. In the first film, Mew was at a perfect balance between cute and serious, whereas in this film, its nothing but cute. In fact its so stupidly cute and adorable that its obnoxious, annoying, and out of place. What happened? Is there more than one Mew? That wouldn’t make much sense, so what’s going on?
The problems don’t end with Mew. Despite having a great premise, the movie takes a long time to get going, and not much happens even when it does. Most of the story is spent trying to get to the Tree of Beginning where Mew lives, with some character and filler moments thrown in. I understand not every movie needs action in order to be interesting, but almost nothing happens throughout most of this movie, not until Ash apologizes to Lucario. Until that point, it’s a pretty dull watch. You could have made it more interesting by focusing more on Lucario’s past and him trying to fit into this new world, rather than road trips and hot springs.
Then there is the Tree of Beginning. Ooh boy, this is a big one...
First off: If humans are seen as harmful bacteria to the Tree, then why did it let Sir Aaron in with no problem? Don’t tell me its aura, because Ash has the same aura in him, being a possible descendent or distant relative of Sir Aaron, and the Tree still attacked him. Granted, it was probably Kid’s fault for triggering the Tree’s immune system with her little robots, but the question still stands.
Secondly: There was no reason for the Tree to start dying after Mew revived everyone that was devoured by the Tree’s white cells. I understand the movie hasn’t been too exciting until this point, and you gotta have a big climax at the end of your Pokemon movie, but having the Tree and Mew suddenly start dying right then and there felt rushed, and it made me roll my eyes and go “Seriously? You’re really gonna do this right now?”
Thirdly: There was absolutely no reason for Lucario to die at the end. I get it, you want Lucario’s fate to be poetic as he died the same way his master did, and it could have worked...if it weren’t so rushed. In fact the entire climax of this movie felt rushed and pointless.
The moment is supposed to be intense and heartbreaking, but as much as I wanted to cry, I couldn’t. It spends so much time focusing on Sir Aaron’s death and his final goodbye to Lucario, that when Lucario gets it (a mere few seconds later I might add), it feels disjointed and comes out of nowhere. Not to mention it looked like neither Lucario nor Ash used too much aura on Mew to revive the Tree, and because of that I can’t shake the feeling Lucario should have lived in the end. Yes, he probably wouldn’t have been happy in the modern world, even after learning the truth about his master, but still.
Finally: The movie ends so abruptly. After breaking the news to everyone that Lucario is dead and Ash looks up at the sky saying “No, he’s not completely gone. His aura is with me,” the camera zooms out and gives us a nice view of the Tree of Beginning before cutting to black. I’ve dealt with sudden, abrupt endings like this, but I think I’m more aggravated by this one because of how rushed and incoherent the climax was.
In the end, I’m not mad at this movie, just severely disappointed that it didn’t hold up for me. There are so many good ideas, and yet for the most part the execution is either dull and rushed. The only reason why I think everyone heralds this film is because of those ideas, and because of Lucario and Sir Aaron. To those fans who adore this movie, I’m sorry but having good ideas and great characters doesn’t automatically make a movie good. The execution of those ideas and the story needs to work as well, and it sadly didn’t for me here. Unless someone can explain all of the problems I have with this movie, I don’t think I’m going to warm up to it anytime soon, which makes me sad because I really wanted to like it...
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There you have it, the three Pokemon movies that disappointed me the most. As much as I raged with some of them, I don’t completely hate them. For the most part, the films disappointed me because I thought the execution of their stories didn’t work, but I can see why others will enjoy them regardless.
Something I’ve learned re-watching some of the Pokemon movies again is that no matter how bad I personally think some of the movies are, it’s always someone’s favorite somewhere in the world (this thought process can work for all sorts of other films and topics as well, not just Pokemon), and that is a comforting thought.
2: Top 3 Disney Movies
- The Little Mermaid
- Mulan
- Tangled or The Beauty & the Beast
11: Top 3 months of the year
Uhm, I never think about it very much. Maybe
- March
- October
- December
13: Top 3 binge perfect tv shows
Choose just three names is difficult. I can write a lot of name for longs shows...
- One Piece
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
- Sailor Moon
Plus answer: as I wrote just anime, for TV series I can say like Vikings or some crime series (Like CSI New York)
15: Top 3 kinds of flower
- Orchid
- Lilium
- Rose
99: Top 3 art mediums
- Pencil
- Watercolors or crayons
- Digital Art (in my case computer with Clip Studio Paint)
I need to admit I like to use also pen to draw.
Can I get top 3 comfort foods for any one of your ocs?
I guess I’ll do all 3 since you didn’t pick.
Kyle doesn’t eat, as he is a hybrid, and in his world, hybrids and werewolves live off of fresh meat instead of blood like vampires. So none for him.
Luka is one of my only human characters. His top 3 favorite comfort foods are as follows:
mashed potatoes
cheeseburgers
noodles
Duncan is a new character so I MIGHT not be able to answer all 3, but here’s my attempt to. Duncan is an elf that was adopted into a human family. Here are his top 3 favorite comfort foods:
chicken tikka masala
shepherds pie
stew
Thank you for playing! :D
Send me either Kyle, Duncan or Luka and a topic to do a top 3 list on and I’ll respond with their top 3 list.
16: Top 3 christmas movies
During the festivities, I see Christmas movies, but maybe I don’t know the titles or, on the contrary, I don’t see the too-common movies about it.. (weird probably, I know...)
Anyway...
- Nightmare Before Christmas
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol
- Il Primo Natale (with Ficarra & Picone).
(Plus: can Rise of the Guardians be a Christmas Movie? In case I add it to the list).
17: Top 3 OTPs
- FRobin (One Piece)
- Saboala (One Piece)
- Murakumo x Jun Kaze (Zone-00)
46: Top 3 fanfictions you've read
Oh well... this is hard, because I need to search them in my memory and select...
I’m thinking about these right now:
- Acciaio by Sweetkonan
- .Quel Qualcuno. by Robin7
- Treasure by S_Fish_Rain
Favourite Random Indie Games to Play on a Sick Day!
(image from: Realistic Therapy Simulator)
Plant Therapy - incredibly relaxing game that will cheer you up whenever you need it! Take care of your plants and some of them will grow and bloom! :D
WigglyPaint - This one's a paint tool! Draw your OCs and watch them come to life in this fun format!
Break Up And Find Love - A fun puzzle game where you match couples with how similar they are. And yes, level 46 is in fact, beatable!
More actors have portrayed Sherlock Holmes than any other literary character in history. Some have been laudable, some, shall we say, less so, and everyone has their favourites. As a rabid fan of Sherlock Holmes, I present my list of the top three, based purely on my own opinion. Take that for what it's worth.
