Talking About Pokemon Openings - "I Wanna Be a Hero" (2003), "This Dream" (2004), and "Unbeatable" (2005)
The continuation of my posts about every Pokemon anime opening song. The link to the previous part is here. There might be some edits to previous parts going forward. Especially when the official links to songs keep getting removed.
From the perspective of Tumblr, it's been a moment. However, I actually talked about these songs back in February over on my Bluesky.
This should be a sign that I plan on continuing this. Part of the reason for the break was that I don't like doing things for a franchise during that franchise's hype cycle. But if we're being honest, their current cycle doesn't seem to be getting that much hype. But also IRL stuff got in the way. It's somehow still getting in the way all these months later. So I opted to do this in spite of that.
Pokémon: Advanced - “I Wanna Be a Hero”
It has a more unique techno sound. It introduces the region and the premise of “resetting” while giving it some respect. It has buildup to the end of the song. One may argue about its tone for the first episode, but that’s unavoidable.
Let's address it. It's odd for one of these songs to straight up specify it's Ash Ketchum being talked about, but it makes sense.
The song talks about a fish out of water. He has experience, but there's more to learn. If he starts fresh, he'll rise from the unknown even greater. I love the idea.
The actual anime doesn't care about that interesting premise though and Ash only dropped everything because “new region to sell”.
That meant a bunch of critics who watched Johto or even just Indigo kinda constantly shit on it and the Ruby and Sapphire games as a whole.
3rd gen became some ultimate scapegoat online, at least in the past. It apparently ruined the childhoods of mfs pushing 40. When 5th gen was (wrongly) shat on, people responded with “3rd gen’s the real travesty”. So many people in the community used to argue that 3rd gen didn’t deserve remakes at all. The shade gets ridiculous. Like at it's worst, these are just normal ass Pokemon games.
I wasn’t cynical enough to believe as a kid that the anime was treating this whole new region thing as an afterthought.
As an adult, it’s still weird to argue at least for Hoenn. Because if that were true, they wouldn’t have even bothered having Pikachu in critical condition as a cliffhanger.
At this point, I'll say that this singer is pretty straight forward. My comment about him peaking at “Born To Be a Winner” might hold some weight imo because his vocal riff for “Hero” is in autotune. Although admittedly, this was before T-Pain so it might’ve been just a cool effect.
This is really the point where the "PO-KE-MON!" at the end of each song started sounding more standard with the whole chorus and everything. Sounds okay here.
The question will always come back to “Would this get viewers hyped?” and I don’t see why this wouldn’t.
Does the theme song match the visuals? Yes, but I’d say not as well as others.
As a song to start the region, there is something kinda comforting about the visuals. Perhaps a more effective use of shading at play. But animations are sped up from the Japanese opening. And the whole “I wanna be a hero” part doesn’t really come into play visually.
That might be an additional criticism. “I wanna be a hero” is what the song builds to. It’s what brings the hype. Yet is that Ash’s goal, or just a byproduct of him being a good person who happens to help people out while on the journey? The lyrics building up to it don’t mention the hero thing.
This was the first Pokemon opening to not get ANY sort of extended version. Also the first theme to not appear in a movie. Not the last tho.
Probably even more of a shame than "Believe in Me" because I think the lyrics and it's structure are better here. It sums up multiple things at once.
I think the song getting more talky only benefits it. I can see someone thinking this walks a line between trying to force lyrics in vs. sliding on a beat. But I think it's the latter. The voices multiplying in "Take a step and I'm on my way" elevate the song.
But with that explanation, you can see why I wanted a second verse. Maybe that verse could've had May/Max's POV. Then it can still lead to "I wanna be a hero" but the definition of hero can be more broad. Meaning more protagonist than anything, without having to say it.
There was more potential left than I would've liked, but it's an overall entertaining song that conveys it's message solidly in 45 seconds. It's a song that epically says "The heroes don't know everything, but the will to learn makes them heroes." At least that's what I think.
Pokémon: Advanced Challenge – “This Dream”
This theme song is pretty high up there. I’ve never seen anyone debate that. The delivery of the first line followed by the guitar makes this stand out by default. Not since “I wanna be the very best like no one ever was” has a first line felt THAT epic.
The song has a more epic buildup than “I wanna be a Hero”. I like that it invokes the idea that there’s difficulties ahead and the heroes are ready to endure. Sometimes viewers just wanna get stuck in, and this song says to unite with each other and they will achieve great things despite the long road.
Can’t really think of a lyric that isn’t good. I doubt these days a Pokemon theme would use the word “die” in any context. So This Dream still stands out.
If there is anything I can say about the Hoenn era, it wanted viewers to have an unyielding willpower in the face of struggle. That makes all the songs hype af.
The visuals are fantastic. Might be controversial to say that since it speeds up a LOT of the footage from the Japanese opening. But I think they edited it better than Advanced did. It’s basically a music video at that point. I don’t think they could've improved.
So...there’s no extended/movie version of This Dream. That sucks. That said, for a while, certain theme compilations used fan lyrics. Seemingly confusing it with the official version despite quality difference. Those lyrics kinda work, but also contrast too much from the original.
Like after describing the original, the fan lyrics mention running and hiding. Which in any context kind of undermines the idea of the first verse. Then he rhymes "On" with "On" which isn't ideal.
But then again, this was probably just some teen in 2010 writing this and at least it has effort. I applaud that.
Back for the official version.
Seriously, if there were ANY Pokemon theme that didn't get a full version but deserved one, This Dream was it.
I can only assume it was because Destiny Deoxys didn't play the theme in the Japanese version. Similar with Jirachi Wish Maker.
They probably thought these movies weren't worth the effort anymore. They went straight to DVD in the West starting with Jirachi. Wouldn't necessarily stop 4Kids but they were on autopilot and just aired these on KidsWB.
Most of those Hoenn movies I never saw in any full capacity. Despite me getting great grades, I had to attend Saturday school.
Just to make a tangent, they also had us do after school bullshit as well, so I could barely relax with the after school KidsWB lineup or anything Toonami. Then I lost cable. I grew up like shit and the only escape I had, school took it away for no reason since I got A+ scores without all the tacked on nonsense.
Somehow in the bullshit, I learned Destiny Deoxys was coming on TV and told Saturday school to fuck off. I thought it was....well it was better than being at school that day lol.
I know there was a battle in a futuristic city. This Dream might've been able to fit there, even the short version because I think the battle gets interrupted.
But I guess why try to force it?
If there's anything left to say…well apparently the creators of the music didn't properly label credit for this song and the next theme. But it's the same people. Let's be real. Copy/Pasting the names over and over on songs that weren't doing The Pokemon Theme's numbers woulda felt tedious. Probably not an excuse though if any kind of royalties were attached to these.
I'll end this part by saying this. I don't know if it was their intention or not. But I feel these 3 Hoenn songs played back to back tell a story. I think none of the other regions do that with their anime themes. So I congratulate the writers if that was on purpose. But we'll get to Unbeatable in order to fully explain what I mean.
Pokémon: Advanced Battle - “Unbeatable”
This has been in my head since it aired in 2005.
No that is not a joke. That is just how much I like this theme.
To bring back the idea of “Championship Songs” because that’s what this is, this is the best Championship Song hands down. No doubt in my mind.
From the Ooh chant making yet another memorable melody that’s endured 20 years.
To the specific Hoenn references.
To what’s probably the smoothest insert of the title with the crowd going “ADVANCED BATTLE!” Somehow it feels way more earnest than most later crowds in these songs.
The song even has shit talking. "They can never win, but they sure can try." This song wants you excited to watch some battling.
Tbh, this song signifies a lot of things. An end to the 4Kids era, the end of the Hoenn League, the last time this singer shows up after 5 songs in a row. A bunch of stuff. To me, whether 4Kids intended to or not, they sent this era off with a banger. Their first and last Pokemon themes are peak. This whole era of the catalogue is great.
To say this lines up with the visuals is an understatement. This is straight up a music video. Even more than This Dream. It uses the clips from the Japanese equivalent PLUS uses clips from the Japanese Battle Frontier opening. Speeds up parts too. I'm sure someone is mad about that, but I can't find fault in how this came out.
This led to the grandest opening they ever made lol.
This has Ash battling multiple legendaries like it's nothing. This has virtually every legend/mythic up to that point. It has 4th gen Pokemon throughout it that hadn't even been in the games yet. Apparently this opening literally has the most Pokemon both by species number and individual count. Meanwhile it also shows a little of the sillier characterizations while not being intrusive. It also has throwback characters.
Hell it even has foreshadowing for the series and the movie. This opening has scale on a different level. Meanwhile it still has time to have fun. I don't know how much you could ask for a Saturday Morning cartoon opening.
That said, we're gonna go address some smartasses real quick.
Time to address it. "This song Unbeatable actually sucks because Ash loses." Yeah and Apollo Creed beat Rocky in the first movie, but you don't see people saying the first Rocky theme is ass, now do you? You don't wanna go there because a deep dive will truly reveal how ass the WHOLE anime is.
Now if you want a simpler argument that all 3 Hoenn songs are collectively clickbait, I mean it has some merit. All 3 songs combined imply Ash starts from nothing and grows to finally become a Pokemon Master after so long. I get that.
But shit, at least the three songs HAVE a motif, unlike future songs.
I don't think you can really convince me that's a bad thing that the music creators wanted to give this shit some grace that the actual show doesn't.
I mean, come on, Ash lost to a fuckin Meowth. A Pokemon he regularly battles, isn't even connected to Hoenn or Sinnoh, its just sus all around.
That's my issue criticizing the song. How about you just blame the anime for not meeting that standard of character growth and instead being a toy commercial?
"The anime never promised Ash winning" well it should've promised something after Johto and it didn't for over an additional DECADE. While we're talking about that, I don't think Ash winning in recent years makes "Born To Be A Winner" all of a sudden have a good title after a mountain of losses.
But let's say it did. No one knew Ash was eventually going to win. In fact, most people kept up the argument that Ash should just always lose the big one to teach kids a lesson. Acting like previous seasons didn't already beat that lesson to death. Syndication and streaming services exists to rewatch those. But in that case, which was true for the longest time. "Born To Be A Winner" would just be an innacurate title altogether. But is has NEVER gotten the same criticism as "Unbeatable".
As for the song itself, might as well address the smaller shit. Unbeatable can dip into simplicity. Remember when I referenced someone saying this singer just did the same song over and over? Well this and Master Quest have parallels. I don't deny that.
I just think Unbeatable is better executed.
Unbeatable pays off the dangers and unknown scenarios stated in "I Wanna Be a Hero" and "This Dream". Ash and friends survived all that, and are now thriving here.
Frankly, I woulda just had Ash win here, go back to Kanto, win the Battle Frontier, and make a new protag. But that's another convo.
Lucario and the Mystery of Mew - "Unbeatable"
Been so long without it, you'd think I forgot about the movie version.
The movie version only enhances the song. 3 lyric segments were added to the song. So you know they thought they were cookin when they made this. All of them great. No complaints.
Although I might as well complain because there's no official link.
I mean, I like Lucario starting with the anime. So hearing Unbeatable in a movie starring it, yeah seems cool.
But even then, Idk if 4Kids ever aired it before losing the rights. Plus I lost cable.
Does Unbeatable match the visuals in the movie?
Yes? It's not some epic scene to begin with. I'd say the aerial moments give it some emphasis. But it's a weird mixture of shots getting away from the action and the focus turns to Mew's transformations from the same angle. All of this in a medieval Colosseum that could in theory work for rock, but not when you cut away from the fight that much. Tone's off.
But we're at the last stop at the station. So I'll say it once more.
I will genuinely miss when these songs had attitude. When they were willing to talk shit, at least on a basic level. Focusing at least somewhat on the battling. Make it sound like Ash has SOME confidence in his winning ability.
When it comes to this Hoenn trilogy, I think it's great. The singer sticking around was a working formula and gave it consistency while the songs still sounded appealing. Simple as that. I appreciate it as a possible arc of being willing to learn, having determination, and paying off in the end.
"What about Battle Frontier?"
Next time I cover the themes Battle Frontier and Diamond and Pearl. Watch as I probably get insults thrown at me. However I did further research.
Anyone remember Pokemon Chronicles?
I thought that simply didn't have a theme song. A reminder that I didn't have cable. At most, I saw most of 1 episode way back when it aired. Turns out, it has 2 themes in the West.
We'll get into both of those, as well as Battle Frontier and Diamond and Pearl. What was going to be a 2 song post will now be a 4 song post.
There's too many good moments from these Hoenn openings to post a GIF of. So instead, here's that Medicham scene from This Dream that Pokemon fans are obsessed over for some reason.
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