Sometimes at Kokowa Dokoda, we're actually on the ball, so to speak, with breaking news. Not often, but sometimes. This section will contain "news bites". When we havent got enough information to merit a page, or when we're afraid you'll miss the mention on the updates page, we'll offer you a bite-size bit right here.
More elusive than Mew, this short manga story has been evading fans since 1998. Manga-ka Toshiro Ono (Dengeki Pikachuu/The Electric Tale of Pikachu) made passing mention in an interview with Animerica Magazine some years ago of a manga story he had written just prior to the release of the first Pocket-Monsters movie. This is the only time it has been brought up in the western media. After fruitless searching, I myself attributed it to a discarded manga idea that was never published...I was wrong.
I recieved an e-mail from Fearow on April 23rd, 2005. I actually fished it out of my junkmail bin, where it had gotten sidetracked. I followed the link she provided and was shocked to discover it led to a collection of low-res scans...
A sixteen-year old Japanese girl's personal website contained scans of the entire manga story. With captions. Employing first Babel Fish and then GoogleTranslator, I was able to gain a fairly rudimentary understanding of the story. Kokowa Dokoda will be running a full feature on this manga in the summer of 2005.
A big shoutout to Fearow, Who did a heck of a lot better at capturing this phantom than Miyamoto ever could.
Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero
June 3, 2005
PokemonJP has released voice actor information! Six VAs have been confirmed in their roles, including Yamadera Koichi (who has not yet been cast as Mew)! Below are the seiyuu listed with their roles, and a piccu matching them up.
Yamadera Koichi -Aaron
Okae Kumiko-Jenny (Not Officer Jenny)
Kikuchi Momoko - Rene and Ilene
"Becky" - Kid Summer
Nishino Akihiro -Freddy
Kajiwara Yuta - Usohachi
May 13, 2005
" Mew...What have you done?"
A fancy new trailer is up on the Wave-Guiding hero website, which has also been updated. Games, videos and pre-purchase tickets are available. And...Is that Imakuni?
Yamadara Kouchi has been listed in the voice credits for the new film. Yamadara has been the voice of Mew in the past, but has appeared in some role in every Pocket Monsters film, therefore we cannot assume that he will again voice Mew...but it seems likely, in my mind!
Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic has begun running the manga adaptation of the film (excerpts below). Two comics magazines will be running two different manga following the film. I will look into this, also. For the record, CoroCoro was also the magazine that ran Dengeki Pikachuu by Toshihiro Ono, and featured the manga mentioned in the above newsbite.
A new voice-actor for Mew?
Viewing the trailor for Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero, it sounds as though Mew has a different VA from the previous films. This voice is less anaimal-istic and somewhat more expressive. Denise, of CopyCat wonders whether this might be a new Mew, or if the writers are hoping to make it seem more masculine. Ironic, as the voice actor for mew is the same as the Japanese Lugia. Nothing definite. I will look into the VA list.
Rukario can talk, a la Mewtwo -- that is, echo effects and no lip flaps. The same trailor also show Ho-Oh, the golden bird Satoshi saw on his first day as a trainer, transform into Mew to battle a costumed Lizardon. All very exciting! More info as it is available.
Observing the above poster, we see that the young man in blue and Rukario are almost identical, right down to their puffy pants and black belts. One wonders if they might be one and the same?
A new trailer is available at the official Mew and the Wave-Guiding Hero: Rukario site. The trailor shows a beautiful European locale, at which Satoshi-tachi tgake part in (yet another) festival, re-enacting a historical event in full costume. Sometime in the past, a mysterious Pocket Monster stopped a battle between red-and-green suited rival teams. In the trailor, we see Rukario released from a crystal prison, and Piakchu swept away by Mew.
Sounds pretty far out? Keep in mind that most of the Japanese trailers contain footage not found in the films. Recall the second movie - In the trailor, we see Kenji forced to restrain a distraught Kasumi, screaming Satoshi's name. And also, the third movie --there was no Mewtwo in that, no matter what the trailor showed! Darnit, that's the only reason I paid for tickets.
The eighth Pocket Monster movie, set to open in Japanese theaters this summer. Tentative release date is July 16th. Little is known, as the trailers available at this point do not involve movie footage. Unlike previous trailers, they do not contain fabricated foorage, either. The official film website offers information on the earlier films, e-mail postcards and the film trailer in several formats. More information on this as it becomes available.