Pokemon Movie 20: Kimi ni Kimeta!

If we're going to be honest here, Pokémon needs no introduction, especially when it comes to the anime; a boy named Ash Ketchum gets a Pikachu - a yellow mouse - as a partner, leaves his hometown of Pallet Town, and travels the world while catching new Pokémon along the way, all while he remains ten years old. Well, what if we went all the way back to the beginning and started all over? Perhaps I'm the worst person to talk about Pokémon; I was 10 myself when I ended up being pulled along in the Pokémon craze, and by not looking back, I have ... made some Pokémon-related memories that I will never regret, whether it's from the game, trading cards, or anime. When I found out about this franchise's twentieth movie, however, I was skeptical, thinking that Pokémon had just caught the "recap movie disease"; however, with each new trailer came a promise of a new experience born from something old instead, and I got more hyped (even though Misty and Brock were still missing). At last, I watched the movie in the theatres with all intent on tackling (heh, get it?) it in a review; I tried to watch it from a critic's point of view instead of a fangirl's....but man, was it hard!

Ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon Trainers all over, here is my review of "Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!"

Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You starts the same way the Pokémon anime series did; Ash Ketchum wakes up late, all of the starter Pokémon are taken, he ends up getting a Pikachu, they don't get along well at first, they accidentally tick off a group of Spearow, Ash tries to protect Pikachu, Pikachu knocks all of the Spearow out with a Thunderbolt, Ash and Pikachu finally become friends, and they see a legendary bird Pokémon fly through the sky. Your childhood memories know the drill here....but here's where the story starts to diverge. As this legendary bird Pokémon - Ho-oh - flies away, it leaves Ash and Pikachu a rainbow-colored wing; the two then make a promise to each other to one day meet this Pokémon. After that, Ash travels through the Kanto region, collects Gym badges, and follows his dream to be a Pokémon Master, like he originally had been doing; however, an encounter with another legendary Pokémon, Entei, reminds him of his promise. Together with new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel, Ash and Pikachu embark on a quest to reach Rainbow Mountain and encounter Ho-oh.

Okay, time to try to not fangirl.

May I first say that the story was masterfully executed? I personally would have liked to see some of Ash's Gym battles, as part of one was actually shown and it was differently executed from the series; however, with a limited amount of screen time and a different story to tell, I fully understand this decision. In regards to this "different story", it shared some key story elements with the series, but even with those integrated, the film stays on its own two legs through and through. Although it does start back when Ash is at square one in regards to being a Pokémon Trainer, the different direction the story took didn't affect his character development. In fact, I dare to say that this film dug deeper into his and Pikachu's characters than the series did and gave both of them great amounts of character development as a result.

Some of the other characters were likable, too, but they come with the one flaw I'd say this film has; they don't get fleshed out enough. Perhaps the biggest offenders of this are Ash's new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel; while they are interesting characters with their own respective backstories, these backstories aren't fleshed out enough for the audience to really get to know them, and they are sadly left as mostly supporting characters. The infamous Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth return, but they are also reduced to supporting characters and don't get as much screen time as they did in the series; however, the scenes of them that we DID get were amusing and retained each of their personalities. Another new character, Cross, is the exact opposite of the ones I have mentioned; he does get enough screen time for his character to be fleshed out, but that doesn't mean he came off as likable. As a rival, he is definitely a powerful adversary who actually affected Ash emotionally, but at the same time, the various problems he ends up causing and the things he says just made me want to throw my bucket of popcorn at the screen.

What this Pokémon movie lacks in fleshing out most of its characters, however, is redeemed in its art. Instead of conforming to the new style of the Pokémon Sun and Moon series, the art style stays close to what the series was before then, which was a wise decision cinematically; with what kind of story it was trying to tell, using that rather goofy style would have made it look pretty ridiculous. However, even with that in mind, this is definitely the best-looking Pokémon movie I have ever seen; the animation was smooth and solid, the backgrounds were drawn in a beautiful fashion, and some shots were masterfully executed. Now, I don't care what other people say about Sarah Natochenny voicing Ash; all of the voice actors did a stellar job at their roles, and there was pure emotion in their performances, too. While I'm not always one to pay attention to background music, I definitely have to give this film's background music credit; the music always blended in perfectly with what was going on. Finally, the opening theme was an excellent remix of the first Pokémon theme song, and the ending theme.... OH, THE ENDING SONG. I wanted to stay at the theatre just to finish listening to it; it was that good!

Overall, Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You is definitely an excellent movie and a challenging one for a longtime Pokémon fan like myself to critique. I wouldn't recommend it to those who can't handle different stories and the fact that Misty and Brock are missing (although I do admit, it was slightly disheartening not to see them), but other than that, I'd recommend it to any Pokémon fan out there, even the ones who haven't watched the anime in forever. With this movie being watched and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon being eagerly awaited, I can tell that it'll be harder to critique anything Pokémon-related from here on out, but with that being the case, maybe I should just let my inner fangirl out!

Okay, so gonna go part by part here...

Story

I am particularly impressed how the movie not only retells the original kanto journey, but also weaves back in a once-long-abandoned plot point with Ho-Oh. While weaving the new hotness with Marshadow in felt a bit forced in some aspects, the story had nice pacing and even had some tension at the climax that ultimately was resolved not with raw strength, but by the bond between Ash and Pikachu overcoming those odds. Overall, all that occurred worked quite well even if some of the older parts were abridged for the sake of moving the story along.

Art

First off, Ash's ... design seems more in line with his Gen V and Gen VI designs which is a nice change from the excessively cartoonish art style I've seen from his SM exploits. And the character designs of the supporting cast are definitely quite something as well. Secondly, I like how they played around with color and shadows, adding atmosphere and life (or lack thereof) to the film. Not breathtaking or anything, but it worked.

Sound

Not much to note here. Not too intrusive nor breathtaking persay, and yet evocative when it needed to be.

Character

Besides Ash and Pikachu's obvious OTP-in-the-making, the other supporting cast actually kept my interest. His traveling companions, both from Sinnoh (Gen IV remake, anyone?), each have their own goals independent from Ash. The female one is determined to show her mother (who I am convinced is Cynthia) that she is worth something, and the male companion is a professor wannabe and seems to be quite knowledgeable in a few things as it is. Then you have the brutish 'rival' character who has Alolan pokemon and the conviction that might makes right in direct opposition to Ash's 'friendship is magic' policy. In any case, I would've loved to see more of these characters and learn their past as well as witness their continued growth in the future. Who knows if that'll happen though.

As for the pokemon, again, Pikachu is the center as a support to Ash. We finally learn why it doesn't like to be in its pokeball (which Ash had carried with him all through the film), and they take things a few steps further than they had ever done in the series with their relationship up to this point. As for the other pokemon, the butterfree plot thread becomes a side-story that kind of resolves itself with less investment than the original, whereas the Charmander sideplot comes full-circle in the best way possible. Then there's Marshadow, which again I feel they did kinda push in for...reasons. Maybe would've been better in its own movie, but I guess they saw an opportunity of sorts.

Enjoyment

It was definitely worth watching. Most pokemon films are just a supplement to the anime, but this effort of retelling and revamping made the Kanto region seem a lot more vast and alive than the prior time around. Hopefully should we travel to it in USUM, it will live up to the hype...and the Pokemon Company can follow this up with something just as nice.

Overall, I give this series a 91%.

While it may be a nostalgic cash-in, at least it's an enjoyable nostalgic cash-in.

The story, which combined elements of season one with a new plot involving Ho-Oh, was pretty thin, but the stuff with Ho-Oh was very interesting and tapped into the "mythical" vibe I so very enjoy when Pokemon does. The rest at least did a decent job convering the bases of season 1.

I didn't like Verity, who was bland and had no personality, but his other companion was good, and his voice actor did a great job. There was a lot of good comedy throughout, especially from Pikachu's antics, and there was some ... REALLY nice emotional moments.

And as is the standard to the franchise, the animation was lovely, the action scenes were great and very well-directed, and the climax scenes were Fantastic.

So as a whole, it was a good movie, and a fan might like it at least if they look past the Genwunner pandering.

I was lucky enough to get to enjoy this movie on the big screen twice (dubbed) Last time I did that was over 16 years ago with Pokémon 2. This movie is propably, THE Pokémon Movie we as fans have, been waiting for. As both old fans, Poké Maniacs (Myself included) and newcomers can enjoy)

Now ill try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

Story:8
I went in expecting a loose retelling of the first season and thats not what I what I got. (Which was great) The first 15 minutes or so, is heavely based on the start of the first season ... after that, it takes the story in a whole new direction, with a plot revolving around getting to a mountain to meet Ho-oH (and the other legendary Pokémon surounding its lore). With Ash is two new characters called Sorrel & Verity. Now im not gonna go in depth with the story, but it went in some pretty dark coners in some parts of the movie (Which I loved) Showing that Pokémon aren´t invincible.

Art: 8
What can I say It looked great. The design was good and consistant allround the whole movie.

Sound: 10
Starting the movie with a brand new recording of the Pokémon Theme was pretty dope, the rest of the movie everything just kinda fit together. Also the piano cover of the Pokémon Theme is beatiful. So huge kudos to the music crew.

Character: 7

Ash: The main character, wants to be a Pokémon Master. Travels with his Pikachu and some other Pokémon he catches along the way. He is still about freindship is strenght (Which is fine) But it just became kinda ennoying a little. Atleast there was character development from start to finish. But most importantly he was actually a somewhat competent battler.

Sorrel: A kid who wants to be a Pokémon Professor,Travels with Lucario. The more interesting of the new main characters. Even though both don´t really do much, he atleast stood out as he had more moments than Verity to do stuff, as he knew alot of info about Legendary Pokémon.

Verity: A girl who travels with her Piplup. Personally, she was just kinda there. She didn´t do much. But I guess, they needed a girl character. Which was a shame, as she had a lot of Pokémon Lore regarding her background. So If they did a sequel, I would love to see where they take her, and her Mom.


Enjoyment: 8

I really loved this movie. It had alot of small details and moments that only the older Pokémon fans & Pokémon Maniacs would really get. Which was really cool, I was practically glued to the screen. Another thing is that the Pokémon Battles are more like in Pokémon Origins, Pokémon Generations & The Pokémon Mega Evolution Speciels (They look coordinated and are pretty fast paced, and a a little more adult oriented) But the most importent thing is that they actually show a more Dark side of Pokémon, which I enjoyed (As it treated us viewers as adults) There was only 2 Minor things I disliked. If you are gonna have Team Rocket in the movie atleast let them do stuff, and there was a scene near the end of the movie that left me with a wierd feeling (Im sure most People that have watched it will know what im talking about)

Overall 8:
I really liked it. My only beef was the amount of Pokémon Ash catches and uses.(I won´t spoil the Number) But that itself is not something that should drag than the score. Let me say it like this.
If you like Pokémon you should like this. You can even see it with a Pokémon Fan or a newcomer.

In this day and age of mindless gluttonous consumption of anime season after season we have deluded our tongues to only savor the utmost of the gourmet dishes. We adjust our critiquing glasses and analyze the shows as 'deep', 'fast-paced', 'symbolic' and most of all a 'modern commentary'. In our society of high expecting monkeys comes the 20th Pokemon movie flipping off Einstein and taking us back to the end of the millennia.

Story - It's basically the same story that kick started your venture into anime with a few new Pokemon added to still keep it original.

Art - We can see some stellar artwork that ... is consistent. The colors are phenomenally used hand-in-hand with the story and is just a bonus over your hormonal body.

Sound - Nothing extraordinary other than the gargantuan dose of nostalgia injected in you as soon as the opening and Pokemon cries kick in.

Characters - The same good old (young) Ash with his trusty Pikachu.

Enjoyment - Now forget all the descriptions of the sound and characters and story and all and just ask yourself - Am I a Pokemon fan? If yes, just watch it and join eternal bliss and if not, then why are you reading this review?

We have put these highly over the top expectations from anime that they simply can't deliver and a lifetime of gourmet foods will even exhaust your tongue. So relax, remember the pizza you ate when you were 10, how good it was, and nothing would compare. That's Pokemon, nothing to analyze, everything to enjoy.

First of all, I would like to say that I had big expectations as it's been a while since we travelled back to the 1st few generations of the pokemon anime. Even more so when it is going to be animated with current amazing anime animations and art. I was all into this movie and might have been slightly disappointed in this endeavor, but all the while making me feel that it was worthwhile that I watched it, as I travelled along with Ash on this nostalgic road.

Spoilers will be included in this review as I write it down.

Story: 7/10
I give it a 7/10 as ... the movie scenes were kinda rushed. There were just so many scenes from the first few generations which made pokemon amazing that we come to be fans of what makes up the Pokemon anime seasons and the movies today, despite the fact that most of the seasons are mainly episodic. (Except for the X & Y and X, Y & Z series, which I was very entranced by.) Such scenes include the Butterfree and Charmander story. I would have to say that choosing such amazing stories from the seasons, it would require time to make the story in the movie heartwarming, yet this movie sandwiched all these stories into 1.5 hour, meanwhile pushing for the main story to move along with the new Ho-Oh rainbow hero arc.

I have to say there were amazing heartwarming moments in the movie, yet there was not enough time for the audience to get into these moments and exclaim "It's amazing!". All these moments are just flashed by and you can see these pokemon evolving every 10 to 15 minutes or-so. It played a lot with fans' nostalgia, yet the movie turned on and off the audience's emotion switch like a flickering light. An example would be the ending, which was a bit similar to "Pokemon: The first movie" ending yet everything suddenly turned into colors of the rainbow. Overall, everything is too rushed and mashed up, but it's still an enjoyable nostalgic watch so hence 7/10.


Art: 9/10

It was amazing, as amazing as X & Y season, hence I have no qualms but to be entranced by it.

Sound 9/10:
Mainly because it seems to me like it is an enhanced version of the original catch'em all song.

Character 9/10:
The new 2 travelling partners were well-developed, they had their opinions and dreams yet support Ash ketchum well in the movie. I had no problems in this area.

Enjoyment 7/10:
It was nostalgic and amazing, but due to the rushed and mashed up story development, I wasn't able to be engrossed in the movie. I could only give it 7/10, mainly due to nostalgia.

Overall: 8/10

I’m a big fan of Pokémon and have been for a while now. I loved to watch the Pokémon anime and films with my brother when he still really enjoyed the series. I originally went to see the film during an extra screening in one of the locations the film was being showed at and I went to see the film with my brother (he is younger then me btw) and the film holds a special place in my heart as it brings up memories of playing the games and watching the anime together. While I was exited to see the film, with it being ... my second anime film that I saw in a cinema, the first being a silent voice, I didn’t think that I would be a 10/10. However, I was wrong.

STORY: 9/10
Pokemon: I choose you is a loose retelling of the anime’s main character, Ash, journey through the kanto region and the first anime series. It also focuses on Ho-Oh, a legendary that never really got a film of its own. It also was the first anime appearance of marshadow, a mythical legendary. At the start, the story is the same, with ash getting Pikachu (who has his newer appearance, rather then his chubbier look in the older games and anime). However, it ends up diverging with ash getting the rainbow wing from Ho-oh.

I didn’t grow up with the first anime or the games but around the diamond/pearl, black/white, heartgold/soulsilver games (I haven’t really got many memories of when I started liking Pokémon), but as someone who didn’t grow up with the first series of Pokémon, I really enjoyed the story as a whole. I feel that the story can appeal to newer fans but also bring enough changes to the story that also appeals to older fans.
There were certain parts of the film that actually made be tear up and made me laugh. The whole cinema was laughing at certain parts. Additionally, Although I don’t want to spoil it, there’s one part at the end with Pikachu that took everyone by surprise. Although I reacted the same way, I didn’t really care for it but instead thought it was cute.

ART: 10/10
The art is one of the best things about this film. I can’t explain how much I love this film’s art style. While I do somewhat enjoy the sun and moon’s art style, I’m glad that they went with a style that closely resembles the older anime’s art.

CHARACTERS: 8/10
When it was shown that Misty and brock were going to be replaced by two new characters, Verity and Sorrel, like others I was worried. As mentioned before, I wasn’t brought up with Misty and Brock and don’t really have much attachment towards them, I was still worried that I wouldn’t like them. Again, I was wrong. I ended up loving these characters and wanted more.

The only thing I’m disappointed in is that they don’t really have much character development, as we aren’t given a long time for the two to be developed. I’m secretly hoping that we somehow see these characters again, maybe in another film. From what I understand, the newest film that comes out in 2018 will take place in the same universe as this film, so if they end up choosing to make the films take place in the same universe, there might by a small chance that we do, which makes me happy.

There’s one other character that I want to quickly talk about: Cross. Cross is an alright character, acting as the rival to ash. I’m not a big fan of his character as what he did was pretty crappy and made me want to punch the guy. He also nearly ruined Ash’s journey but that’s a spoiler, so I wont mention it. I don’t feel that he should have been redeemed as he was a crappy guy through out the film, but I won’t hate the film for it as it is a kids film so it does make sense that they did do this. I also like how Cross has alolan Pokémon rather then kanto Pokémon, so it makes me think that has not actually from the kanto region rather than from kanto, which is cool.

DUB: 8/10
I watched this film in dub, rather then subs like the normally do. After I started getting into anime, I switched to subs. While I do watch dubs every once in a while, the newer Pokémon dubs aren’t the best. However, the thought that it was enjoyable. I was watching it with my brother, so I had no chance. But I wouldn’t mind sitting down and rewatching it in dub rather than sub. I wouldn’t call it the best dub ever, but i feel that all the voice actors did great and I have to give praise.

OVERALL ENJOYMENT: 10/10
Overall, this film is now my favourite Pokémon films in a long while. I wasn’t too hyped about this film, but was still excited about it none the less. The cinema I watched it in also showed the Pokémon generation shorts after the film so that was a plus. This film surprised me on the story, art and its characters and I ended up loving it more than I thought I would of.




This is my fist ever review on this site and i was wanting to make a review on the film since i first saw it, however, I forgot to actually make it. I hope you like the review and if there is a grammar and spelling mistakes, I'm apologise.

After watching the hoopa & genosect movies prior to this my expectations were rather low. However I was pleasantly surprised, it was pretty good. I had been shown a certain semi-controversial scene near the end of the movie before watching it and was apprehensive about it, but it the movie it fit pretty well. It was a bit weird getting used to this being an alternate time line which incorporated events from the original tv series but also putting new things in it and changed events around. If you watched the original series you'll recognize certain big events but not enough to be called a ... recap movie. After some pretty bad pokemon movies its good to see they're getting back on the right track.

I don't see why so many people are making a big deal out of the scene when Pikachu speaks. It was a totally harmless scene, and it was indicated to possibly be in Ash's head.

Did Team Rocket really need to be "sneaking around" in this film? Don't get me wrong, I like Team Rocket. However, since this is a retelling, and they don't know Ash (yet) or his friends, there's no reason for them not to approach him and say, "Hey, we heard you guys were searching for Ho-Oh. We're looking for him too. Wanna team up?" Sure, Verity (Makoto) had seen a wanted poster ... of them, so she might've recognized them. Still, that's still they're only fallback. It just seems that the only reason Team Rocket were "sneakily" following Ash was because that's what they do in the main series.

No Misty or Brock. :'(

That being said, there are some things I like about this film. I remember when Ash saw Ho-Oh in the first episode of Indigo League. Ho-Oh was never the focus of the story. Ash mentioned seeing it in later episodes, but he never saw it again. I like that this retelling is about the quest to find Ho-Oh. Did it need to be a retelling? No, but again why not. This film was made for both old and new Pokémon fans. New Pokémon fans had another movie, and old Pokémon fans get to take a trip down memory lane without Misty, Brock, Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Bulbasaur... Seriously, they did a Pokémon: Indigo League retelling without Misty, Brock, and half the Pokémon on Ash's team!! Well, can't have everything I guess. At least Ash isn't a bicycle thief in this version. :)

Although, no one can replace Misty and Brock, I did like Ash's new companions: Verity and Sorrel (Souji). I also like how they split once their quest was over.

I also like how the trainer that abandoned Charmander played a bigger role in this story. Cross does see what kind of trainer Ash really is and what his Charmeleon become a Charizard. A powerful one at that. Cross also sees his own mistake when Marshadow possess his...um...main Pokémon. Wouldn't it be nice if Damian saw same thing? Wouldn't it be cool if Damian lost a battle to Ash's disobedient Charizard in a later episode?

Sure Pokémon: I Choose You is not a perfect film, but that doesn't make it a bad one.

This review will try it's best to be spoiler-free.

To anyone curious about this film, it's more or less a "soft-reboot" of the original Pokémon anime. Catered towards a younger generation, giving them some sort of idea what Ash's adventures were when it first aired (all the while giving its own take on the said journey).

Any veteran Pokémon fan would somewhat be disappointed by the cast of characters as they're no longer the original familiar faces we grew up with, but take note that this film is for the newer Pokémon fans. It's a fresh take on Ash's journey per se.

Story: 6/10
The flow somewhat has the ... gist of the original story of the anime, there are noticeable changes if you compare the story of the film to the anime. But all in all, the plot of the movie has the idea of the original but misses some key parts of the original in order to make up with the film's run time.
Ash goes back to the beginning of his journey but with more Pokémon from different generations.

Art: 7/10
If you've been following Pokémon ever since the first film, you can really tell the improvements of the animation and art style. There are some scenes that are drawn beautifully and battle scenes where you can really feel the battle. Given that it's an anime film, you can expect the animation team to go all out.

Sound: 7/10
The soundtrack is amazing you can feel nostalgic with the rendition of the Pokémon theme and some music taken from the series as a whole.

Characters: 6/10
If you read the MAL page of the film, then yes. Brock and Misty are no longer Ash's companions. Instead, we get two new characters with different goals and dreams. Depending on how you accept them is purely up to the viewer, but personally I'd take Brock and Misty over the newer companions. It's not the nostalgia that's talking, but its more because they're more memorable than Souji and Makoto.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Well, it's Pokémon. Even if they changed the story of Ash in this re-imagining, the fight scenes are always enjoyable. Aside from that, the film also has moments that touch the little nostalgic hearts we have for this series (one in particular made me cry personally, made me remember all the memories I had with the series).

Overall, I'd give it a 7, the film is more catered for newer Pokémon fans. From the plot, to the characters, to pretty much everything, it all aims to please young kids that are first exposed to the series. To any older fans out there, the film is somewhat nostalgic, even if everything is changed, the general idea of Ash's first journey still remains the same.