Pokemon Movie 05: Mizu no Miyako no Mamorigami Latias to Latios

As they continue their journey through the Johto region, Satoshi and his friends visit Altomare, an island city that hosts an annual racing event called the Pokémon Water Race. While Takeshi and Kasumi are enjoying themselves, strange things seem to be happening to Satoshi—he somehow loses the water race, sees some women attack a girl with their Pokémon, and despite them saving her, the girl later denies ever seeing Satoshi and Pikachu before!

Fortunately for Satoshi, his confusion clears up as he learns that the girl he and Pikachu saved earlier was actually a Pokémon named Latias, who likes to disguise herself as her human friend, Kanon. Latias and another Pokémon, Latios, are known as the Eon Pokémon, as they inhabit and guard Altomare along with a mystical blue sphere called the Soul Dew. An ancient legend of Altomare is highly connected to the Eon Pokémon and the Soul Dew, and is well known among the locals—as well as among Latias' earlier assailants, the thief sisters Zanner and Lyon. As the thieves attempt to capture both the Eon Pokémon and the Soul Dew, Satoshi is forced to act in order to stop them from bringing disaster to Altomare.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Satoshi Main

Matsumoto, Rica Japanese

Pikachu Main

Ootani, Ikue Japanese

Takeshi Main

Ueda, Yuuji Japanese

Kasumi Main

Iizuka, Mayumi Japanese

Latias Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Kanon Main

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Latios Main

Ebara, Masashi Japanese

Kojirou Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Musashi Supporting

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Nyarth Supporting

Inuyama, Inuko Japanese

Mori, Takemoto Producer

Yoshikawa, Chouji Producer

Okuno, Toshiaki Producer

Yuyama, Kunihiko Director

Reviews

Mar 31, 2010

Aegwyn

Recommended

This is one of my favourite movie of the Poke series.
I just love the story, the music, the art. The storyline is very nice written, the characters are ofc what we are used to :) I prefer the "older" pokemon storyline, and i think this was the last one which made me whatch it without going away from it in the middle.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 13, 2023

Chaotic_beauty

Recommended

Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias is a strange movie. Unlike the older movies which intertwined the story and characters, this movie (un)intentionally separates the two into their mostly self-contained scenes. Thus, when talking about why this movie is good, we're practically talking about a completely different movie than the one we have in mind while discussing the bad.

Lets get the bad over with first. Continuing the now grand tradition of rushed and poorly thought out plots, here we have a machine which lacks any real gounding in the real world and is bound only by the power of plot necessity. There are two big questions ... which arise from watching the movie - How did ancients build a mech-pod with a VR interface and magic cameras all over the city? How do infinite prison bars materialize all over the city? Both of these are answered with the power of Latios and Latias, of course. It just isn't tought out, at all.

On the brighter side of things, the town looks lovely and Venice, the city this movie was modeled on, can only wish to be this beautiful. Locations in this movie are amazingly detailed and ooze with atmosphere, arguably more so than any Pokemon movie since. Coupled with a really great soundtrack to complement it, the movie becomes an unforgetable cozy experience. As a stand out song, I have to mention "Mistery Girl, Again", a great example of music being synced with a scene in an intricate way.

Since the plot is paper thin, the movie has to rely on something beyond the drive towards a distinct goal. While some later movies utilized daily life in Ash's journey to pad out the running time, this one embraces that reality and shapes itself into a bunch of slice of life scenes which slowly turn the movie into a character relationship piece.

After we're treated to an engaging and visually creative opening through a pokemon race, the movie lets us soak in the atmosphere of the city for a few minutes. Not overstaying its welcome, we're soon introduced to a mute girl, Latias in disguise. After a few fun adventures, Ash finds himself in direct contact with two siblings, Latios & Latias.

What makes the movie tick are the regular interactions between Ash, Latias and Latios. Unlike questionable relationships Ash had with others in previous and will have in future movies, you can really feel the connection between them here.

Eventually a duo of thieves steal the Soul Dew, a jewl which grants its wielder control of the city's defense systems. This leads to a tragic situation. While the aformentioned machine is a lazy plot McGuffin, it's used to steer character interactions into an arc and give them a sense of purpose. While certainly a thorn in the side of this movie, it doesn't detract from the overall experience much.

At the very end of the movie, we get to witness Ash's first kiss. Latias in her human form thanks him for everything he's done for her, cementing this as the weirdest Pokemon movie yet.

Guardian Gods of the Capital of Water: Latias and Latios is a comfy cartoon about a special day in Ash's life. Its B plot is kind of a mistake in itself, but is easily glanced over. Beyond that, the movie is an extremely enjoyable experience in the vein of Aria. I doubt we'll get something like it ever again, so even if it ain't the greatest thing since baked bread, it should still be cherished as one of the best Pokemon episodes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Dec 6, 2010

Luru86

Mixed Feelings

Another Pokémon movie with a decent storyline, beautiful art, and our familiar characters.

Misty and Brock didn't get all that much screen time in this one since the plot revolves around Ash and his adventures with Latias and Latios.

Another refreshing change was that besides our familiar Team Rocket (Jessie, James and Meowth), we had another team (Annie and Oakley), who had more style than our usual arch enemies, and they actually managed to cause some real mayhem.

The plot was okay, but I felt that it lacked a little in focus and inventiveness; it seemed same things/themes were repeated, and although the ending was pretty good, the ... movie left me wanting for more. An okay Pokémon movie, altogether.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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