Live Action Pokemon Movie: How It Can Be Super Effective?

Rumor is that there will be a live action Pokemon movie. Nothing is official yet, however The Pokemon Company is selling the movie rights in a top secret auction. It seems that the Pokemon Company has been trying to make Pokemon as real as possible as they can with the new Pokemon GO app and hopefully this. There is no possibility that this could be done. After all we did get a small taste of this with the Super Bowl commercial. The commercial does make it seem that a live action Pokemon movie isn't as bad of an idea as it might seem. But what would a live action Pokemon movie be based off of? These are a few thoughts as to what they can go with it.

     First the idea to make a live action movie based around the anime. That would be the worst idea. I feel like the anime and the possible universe of the live action movie should be kept separate. It's in its own realm as the games and the manga are. Also, the anime already have movies on their on so this wouldn't make sense. Also the thought of a live action Ash is cringe-worthy.

     Another thing is possibly who or what the movie could center around with is the game universe. Since Ash is completely out of the picture, literally, the next candidate could be Red, right? Wrong. I feel that Red as a character would be too old for current fans to identify with. He's our first and second gen hero. The new protagonist in X and Y and possibly Sun and Moon would probably be too new for the old fans to identify with as well. 

     The answer of how to do the movie justice could rest in one of the games. Not the main ones, one of its spin-offs, Pokemon Colosseum. No there shouldn't be a live action movie based off of Pokemon Colosseum, but the fact that it is in a completely different universe is exactly how the movie should be done.  It could make sense is if they could make a movie universe in of itself that is separate from the anime and the games. A separate movie universe, with a different region, and a completely different protagonist. It would be good for whoever gets the movie rights to give us something completely new to identify with as well as setting the movie as something new and separate from the games and anime. Now them pulling a Resident Evil with occasionally dropping video game characters like Red, Professor Oak, and Giovanni is a different story.

What are your thoughts on a live action Pokemon movie and what should it be about? 

9 Shows Nintendo Needs to Make

In last week's post, it was announced that Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima was going to start 2016 by doing five key objectives in order to branch out the company and make even more money. One of these objectives was to start making more anime and shows that could feature Nintendo stars. This is huge news. I remember watching the Super Mario and Legend of Zelda cartoons during the 80s-90s. They occasionally did make shows based on the other characters like Kirby and Donkey Kong, but now it seems that they are going to be invested in making more shows with more characters. Here's a list of shows that hopefully Nintendo might make or probably some ideas that sound just as good.

Detective Pikachu

The Detective Pikachu trailer came out this week and it was glorious. You're not only a Pikachu, but you're a Pikachu that talks with a weirdly adult male voice. There is comedy gold in this as well as potential to make this something more than just a video game. Detective Pikachu already has a little Detective Conan feel to it but that's a good thing already and would be a greater thing if they make a show to tie with the game coming out in the near future.

The Cat Mario & Cat Peach TV Show

I know there's a show online on the Nintendo UK channel, but  maybe it is time to move it to another format? The possibilities they could do with the Cat Mario and Cat Peach is huge. Along with games facts, which they give in their episodes, they can also do skits, jokes and probably play cartoons in the middle. Almost a revival of the Super Mario Super Show with Captain Lou. They could even play some of the old Mario and Zelda cartoons if they get the rights from them. Hopefully we'll include Kitsune Luigi and Tanooki Toad.

Wacky Mario Kart Races

For those who aren't old enough to remember. Wacky Races was an awesome show. You had Yogi and other Hanna Barbara characters race along on weird and funny track full of comedy and suspense guessing who will win the race. Since the Mario Kart games are almost the same thing, why not make a cartoon series to showcase the wackiness of the games. This would probably mean that Bowser Jr. will probably be the Muttly of the show.

Koopalings Series

I'm a Koopalings fan and I'm proud of that. They have been used in Nintendo games recently after a hiatus since Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. Ever wonder what they did during that hiatus? A cartoon series could be an explanation of what they've been up to and what they do in-between helping Bowser take over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping Peach. It could explain why they're not related to Bowser anymore too.

Zelda Anime

I know people were excited about the possibility of a live action Legend of Zelda series being on Netflix only to be saddened by it being a false rumor. While I don't exactly think that a live action Zelda could ever work. The story could wind up be poorly written fanfic and game pandering, going Once Upon a Time bad quickly. An anime or at least an adaptation based on the manga series could work however. The story is already there and I feel it could do more justice to the series than a live action Zelda series ever could. Just add a great animation team like the people behind the Marvel Anime series and it could be solid.

Animal Crossing Series

For those who loved the Animal Forest anime movie would probably love the idea of an Animal Crossing series. The idea could be to do everything in the movie but better and hopefully including more things in the game that couldn't fit into the movie.

Wario Series

A Wario series is kinda long overdue. you have Wario which gets into the most bizarre adventures in his own video games. Add that along with the zany characters of the Warioware games and you'll have a pretty awesome cartoon series.

Captain Toad

When we first introduced to Captain Toad we loved the little guy. We loved how adorable he looked navigating on the giant 3D puzzle grabbing stars. We loved him even more when he got his own game. We'll probably love him even more if he got his on cartoon. It could be him discovering places and going on adventures finding treasure, not just stars. Each episode could even start like Uncle Traveling Matt from Fraggle Rock with Toad or Toadette receiving postcards from Captain Toad himself.

Metroid Anime

I feel that a Metroid show was is way overdue. Even during the height of Nintendo's popularity there should've been a Metroid cartoon. It would be moreso like the idea I have for the manga Zelda anime except it would be have original stories instead of it being adapted by the Metroid manga series. I think anime Samus would look awesome.

What video games do you think Nintendo should make into shows?

Does It Suck?: Sailor Moon Crystal

     Ladies and gentlemen, She's back! The pretty sailor soldier, Sailor Moon is back with a brand new anime series. Ever since making her debut in 1992, Sailor Moon has became a hit, forever becoming an anime staple and is even responsible for putting it on the map here in the U.S. Sailor Moon has build an empire not stopping with anime and manga, but branching out to cosmetics, musicals, toys, a live action drama, and video games to name a few. It's not a surprise that she is being introduced to a new generation with a brand new anime series. The new anime christened Sailor Moon: Crystal is described as being a reboot and not a continuation of the previous anime series that ran from 1992 to 1997. There have been a few setback trying to launch the series. The studio, Kodansha, had to postpone it a few times due to things not being ready, but it is now ready to be seen to fans worldwide. But the question is, does it suck?

The Story
The story is the same as the other adaptations. If you don't know: Usagi Tsukino is a crybaby 14-year-old schoolgirl that is given a magical brooch by a talking cat named Luna that transformers her into the Soldier of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon. It is up to Usagi to find and reawaken the other Sailor Soldiers to help her find the Legendary Silver Crystal and the Princess in order to defeat the Dark Kingdom and save the world from destruction. The studio says this time around, the new series will be following more closely to the manga. This is can be both good and bad. I enjoyed reading the manga more so than the anime. With most adaptations you try to diverge from the original content in order to have your version stand out and make it individual. The new anime has the opportunity to do just this. I'm worried that (and this is the huge problem at hand) the new anime would follow too closely to the manga. This is a major problem as it wouldn't be anything new. It would just be a glorified animated comic. This is just the first episode so let's see how far they go.

The Animation
Since Sailor Moon Crystal will follow more closely to the manga, it is drawn as such. The animation is drawn to look as closely to the manga as possible. A matter of fact, some of the illustrations from Crystal are drawn exactly as they appear in the manga. They did make some subtle changes like Usagi's alarm clock. It's fun to look at the manga and the anime and compare. The series' eye catch and title card is done in the classic Naoko Takeuchi-designed that we all love. With it being a modern spin on the series, the animators decided to incorporate CG into some scenes like the transformation scene and the opening sequence. This is a win and lose situation. It looks amazing in the intro, but it is poorly executed in the transformation scenes. The transformation scene looks a little shoddy. It looks like the original transformation only added with unnecessary CG added which drags it much longer than the original. Hopefully hey can fix this in later episodes.

The Music
I'm actually impressed by the BGM if the anime so far. The score is done by Yasuharu Takanashi who has done the music for PreCure, another popular Magical Girl anime. At first hearing the choir-sung BGM music in the trailer and transformation scene, I was a bit skeptical, but hearing it in high quality I actually like it. It's also a plus that you won't be getting all vocal featured music. The opening and ending songs are sung by the popular idol group Momoiro Clover Z. The opening song, Moon Pride is energetic and action packed, which is MomoClo's style. The ending song, Gekkou is a bit unusual hearing the girls sing  and but they do a good job.

The Voice Acting
The cast of Sailor Moon is mostly new. The castors have gathered themselves a crew of well known voice actors like Kenji Nojima (Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask) who has Naruto, One Piece and Blood+ and Ami Koshimizu (Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter) who has worked in Death Note and My-Otome. Kotono Mitsuishi reprises her role as Usagi. Oddly enough, her performance was strange. She sounded a bit different than what she used to sound like in the old anime. Everyone else did a good job. We haven't heard the voices of the other soldiers yet so I'm excited to hear them.

Final Verdict
Sailor Moon Crystal has a lot potential. It shows a lot of promise. It's great that it wants its story and art to be more faithful to the manga, but again, it can back fire by not having any originality and make the series dull. The first episode overall did an ok job, but I'll watch more to see how the series develops. Sailor Moon Crystal premiers an new episode ever first and third Saturday of the Month. The second episode debuts this Saturday. You can watch it either on Hulu or Crunchyroll.