Sunday, February 20, 2011

Zoroark: Master Of Illusions Premiere Review

Movie Review: Zoroark: Master Of Illusions
(Phantom Ruler: Zoroark)

Beware the wrath of Zoroark!



Introduction


Old and new fans alike were pumped to witness the 13th Pokemon movie that premiered on February 5th, 2011 on Cartoon Network! The movie premiered later on after they premiered the final episode of the Diamond & Pearl Series. Now for those that haven't kept up with the franchise since it first came to America, your probably asking yourself… the show is still going on?! How many more of those little guys can there possibly be?! Well, not only does the movie treat the fans with great action sequences involving legendaries, but it also entices new viewers into not only getting into the new season of Pokemon, but the new games as well!

Summary


So like always, we follow Ash, Dawn & Brock as they are traveling to Crown City so, they can witness the Pokemon Baccer World Cup! However, they find themselves lost in a forest and end up saving a mysterious Pokemon they've never seen before. It even talks! This strange, fox creature is known as Zorua and he is also heading to Crown City to find someone named, "Meema." They all eventually make it to the city only to find it being evacuated due to the actions of a strange Pokemon called, Zoroark. It seems this Pokemon is manipulating the Legendary Beast Trio: Raikou, Entei & Suicune into destroying the city. However, Zorua reveals that "Meema" is actually Zoroark and the gang tries to discover the truth behind the chaos with the help of a journalist named Karl. Karl along with his comrade, Rowena are both undercover and investigating the incident that happened 20 years ago that almost destroyed the city. They are also trying to learn more about our villain, Grings Kodai. A famous businessman who claims that he can see into the future and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. We eventually learn that he has tricked Zoroark into causing fear in the city; distracting everyone from his true goal: finding Celebi. He seems to be losing his power and the only way to reclaim it is to find the "time ripple," which is what Celebi uses to time travel. We learn that his actions to gain this power caused the same incident 20 years ago, but he has no concern whether the city perishes again. With the combine efforts of our heroes, Zorua and Zoroark, the truth is revealed to the world about Kodai as he is arrested for his crimes. Zoroark is revived with the help of Celebi and is reunited with Zorua at last. The gang finally gets to watch the World Cup while Zorua and Zoroark are taken back home to the Unova region.


Hightlights


Once again, we are treated to beautifully lush backgrounds inspired by several places/locations in Amsterdam. Again, the artists always strive to make the locations real and pleasant within every movie and this one in no exception. The music is captivating and the translation is very close to the original script despite a few minor changes such as Zorua calling Zoroark "Meema" instead of "Ma." The animation of course is fantastic! Fans get treated superb action between Zoroark and the Legendary Beast Trio duking it out with the city. We are also treated to the usual cute scenes seeing Pokemon frolic and interactions including Piplup's gag of tripping over himself then crashing into a tree. It is not as dramatic as the previous movies, but it has enough emotion to make you feel for Zorua in his struggle to find Zoroark. The film gives a bit on insight of where the new series: Black & White is heading. Kodai is one of the most ruthless villains in any Pokemon Movie going so far as to choke Celebi just so he can have power. Sean Schemmel seems to play villains very well in Pokemon. From Archie to Cyrus, he gives each villain not only their own voice, but really brings out how ruthless and cruel they can be to get what they desire. Eileen Stevens who plays Zorua is also familiar in the Pokemon Series playing roles such as Jupiter and Lyra. Despite her giggling sounding a tad loud compare to the original snickering, she captures Zorua's childlike behavior and determination very well especially searching for Zoroark. It seems the show is evolving to become a bit more mature making shows enjoyable for both young and older fans.


One of the major issues with the movie though was how much time was restrained from it. Due to time constraints, the actual beginning of the movie was cut from the premiere; leaving a lot of unanswered questions for new fans while leaving old fans a bit annoyed. From previous showings of the other Pokemon Movies, they're usually shown without such heavy cuts especially not from the beginning of the movie. For those that haven't seen the original Japanese version, I will mention the following that was cut out:


~ World of Pokemon Introduction

Every Pokemon movie nowadays has a little intro basically explaining a little about what Pokemon is, the world and our heroes. This is so new fans of the series can sort of get what's going on and who they're suppose to follow. Wasn't a huge deal that this was removed, but it is part of the formula it seems for Pokemon Movies. Also for the fans, Ash battles Jimmy for a bit!


~ Explanation behind Pokemon Baccer

Did you ever wonder exactly what Pokemon Baccer was? It's not a long explanation, but we basically get a little insight on how this sport works. The beginning of the movie actually shows our heroes watching the sport at a Pokemon Center. We see two teams; each with 3 Pokemon trying to kick this strange object into a pyramid like goal. Team Rocket, who disguise themselves so not to be noticed, even ask what the sport is. It's apparently become quite popular (though I doubt we'll ever hear from it again, but who knows).


~ Introducing Grings Kodai & the Legendary Beasts Trio

During the movie, Kodai announces to the city via broadcast that he was bringing the 3 Legendary trio to the city. This brings up waaaay too many questions! How does he have all 3 and why was he bringing them there? This is also answered in the beginning. While the gang is watching the match, a commercial is shown with Kodai who is also part of the Baccer Cup saying he'll be at the tournament with his team which are Raikou, Entei and Suicune. It then announces where the tournament is taking place: Crown City, which explains why the gang was so excited to head over there.


~ Introducing Zoroark and Zorua

Zorua tells the gang he was on an airship with Zoroark, but we never witnessed it. In the original, the two are on the ship and then Kodai separates the two so he can threaten Zoroark to work for him.


~ Kodai's Technology

Kodai has lots of little gadgets throughout the movie. Though we don't know exactly how they are made (science technobabble), we do get to witness them first hand as they are tested on Zoroark. We get little explanations behind these spheres that can project images of Pokemon (Raikou, Entei & Suicune are revealed to be holograms). Also, the illusion cancelers, which can cancel out illusions to the person who wears them. This explains how Kodai is able to not be tricked by Zoroark's illusions.


~ Zorua's Powers & Escape

Zorua is taken away by a Ninjask, which he then escapes from. We also see one of the guards Scizor's go after him and see Zorua transform for the first time. It seems he has to see the Pokemon in order to transform into it. Zorua eventually escapes out of the airship and falls; bumping into a Skiploom; which explains why when we first see him in that form.


Overview


Other than little unnecessary translations, edits including names of characters and a few little filler moments (did that purple hair girl serve any purpose?!), Zoroark: Master Of Illusions is very engaging from beginning to end. It's also likely that whatever was cut from the premier will be included on the DVDs. We shouldn't worry too much for now. The movie is definitely a highlight for what we may expect for the new Pokemon Series: Black and White. We can expect great things for this series especially since we'll have two more movies based on it: Victini & the Black Hero and Victini & the White Hero!


Star Rating


ComicsOnline rates Zoroark: Master Of Illusions 4 illusions out of 5.


And keep ComicsOnline at the top of your favorites for all your latest Anime and Manga reviews!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Pokey Events! :3


Well folks! I got some exciting Pokey events for you fans out there! Before that, I just want to say I'm still working on my review of Zoroark ~ Master of Illusions so, look forward to that soon! I'm also reviewing various One Piece DVDs/Manga as well as some Pokemon Manga on ComicsOnline! Yay! Now to the events!

~ First up, did you missed the Legendary Beast Trio event? No worries then! Nintendo has given you fans another chance to get them; this time on Wi-Fi! Here are the dates so, you can grab all these guys and still unlock the event of capturing Zoroark in the new Pokemon games: Black/White!
Shiny Raikou: February 7th - February 13th
Shiny Entei: February 14th - February 2oth
Shiny Suicune: February 21st - February 27th

~ Don't forget, you can still pick up Ash's Pikachu at any local Toys R' US till February 13th! Afterwards, another event will begin from February 21st - March 6th! That's getting Celebi! This event is happening at any GameStop, but you can also pick it up at the various Black/White Mall Tours that are happening right now!

~ Speaking of which, there are now Pokemon Black & White Mall Tours happening around the US! There, you will get to demo the new games, get previews of the 13th movie & old/new Pokemon episodes as well as get to see some of the new merchandise! I'm gonna try my best to get to the one in New Jersey on March 5th with maybe my SMA Crew! Might be a special guest there as well! Check the schedule on the site to see if the tour is coming to you!

~ One last event for now! Nintendo just got nicer to us fans at least to those that get Black/White right away lol If you purchase Black/White before April 10th, you'll get the chance to download the Liberty Pass via Wi-Fi! This will allow you to capture, Victini! The event is from March 6th - April 10th (lasts to April 22nd for Europe) so, pre-order now! Remember, the games will be released March 6th for the US/Canada, March 4th for Europe, and March 10th for Australia!

That's it for now! Till next time Pokey fans! :3

Friday, February 4, 2011

Pokey News! Ring in Best Wishes! X3


Bleh! It's sort of been annoying trying to do these blogs and getting inspired to do things... hmmm... OMG I know what to do! I'll start this out with something I love to do... Pokey news! For those that don't know (and it's kind of obvious lol) I'm a huge fan of Pokemon since I grew up when the phenomenon when it hit America (1996 I believe)! It's also been one of my inspirations as an animator so, it's very close to my heart despite the show not being good as it was in the first season (manga is waaay better, but whatever lol). Satoshi Tajiri, who made a simple story from his love of collecting bugs and Ken Sugimori, with his amazing style; creating these adorable creatures, made me stick with this show even to this day! Perhaps some other time I'll talk bout these two, but let's get started on what's happening now! Time for some Pokey news! :3

~ For those that keep up, Diamond & Pearl or Pokemon: DP Sinnoh League will officially be done in America! The last dubbed episode as titled, "Memories Are Made of Bliss" will premiere this Saturday at 9:00 AM EST on Cartoon Network! It's sad, but we must move on as Ash will be heading into a new region and thus a new season: Best Wishes!

~ Whether your a fan or not, you know by now there will be two new Pokemon games: Black & White! Thus, also a new season titled for now as, "Best Wishes" (believe to be substituting the words for Black & White cause racism is bad lol)! So far, 18 episodes have premiered in Japan while in America possibly Europeans will have the first episode premiere February 12th! Basically, everything has been revealed from the game to us, but for a while the only differences Americas will get for the games/Anime will be the difference in names of towns, people, & of course: the Pokemon! This info can be found on many reliable sources such as my favorite: serebii.net/ Since there is way too much to cover, this will help for those that want to catch up (no pun intended)! It has all the info you'll need not only on B&W, but on everything that is Pokemon! Moving on!

~ The 13th Pokemon Movie: Zoroark ~ Master of Illusions will premiere this Saturday February 5th at 7:00 PM EST! Before that, they will premiere the 11th Pokemon Movie: Giratina and the Sky Warrior at 5:00 PM EST! This will be the last movie with our D&P cast though there has been news of two special episodes; ending the D&P arc! One episode is about Dawn starting her new journey alone while the other is about Brock proving he is still a capable gym leader! It's unknown for now if those episodes will be dubbed though. For more bout the movie, there's a link below courteous of Pokemon.com! I'll maybe put up my opinion of what I thought of it; story, dubbing & animation wise!

~ Last for now that's on my mind is of course the giveaways! For awhile, GameStop has been giving away shinies of the 3 Legendary Beasts: Raikou, Entei & Suicune (which of course is the best one lol) for any Pokemon DS game. Time is basically up on the last beast so, if ya haven't grabbed any of them then ya might be screwed out of a special event to catch Zoroark! Then again, it really affects the gamers who want to actually collect all these little buggers...like me lol However, there is one giveaway that is still happening with Ash's Pikachu! If you go to any Toy R' Us, you can get his Pikachu meaning you get a Pikachu with all of the moves that it has in the show! Not sure whether or not you can evolve it into a Raichu, but it could be like the special Pichu from awhile back (though I'm not sure yet). If ya still want Pikachu ya can check the link below! Also, if it's not obvious...yes...I have all of these! AND I'M PROUD! XD


Well that's all I can think of for now and it was kind of nice getting it all off my chest actually (as silly as that sounds lol). Might do these once in awhile and maybe it will get me into updating this more with not only stuff I've been doing, but maybe some artwork as well. I definitely want to write something bout my fun times at Ohayo Con as well! For now, I'm working on some con vids that I like to make as well as some SMA stuff for those that know that (I'll explain on here as well for another time lol). Hope ya enjoyed and look for more stuff to come on my silly little blog! X3

Monday, January 24, 2011

Time to get crackin! :D

K folks! It's a brand new year & lots of opportunity out there so, it's time to get to work on somethings! First of all, I'm gonna finally get into the habit of updating this blog. Gonna post some old, some new & just everything! So yeah wish me luck on that! I'll update later on some more stuff after I get the hang of this site! Hope you like what ya see as I'm still learning to be a decent animator! Least the good part about us humans is that we can never stop learning things so, I'm gonna do my best to learn as much as I can so, I can make some awesome shorts/films in the future! This I swear! :3

~ Corinne Sudberg 2011

PS: Comical Suns was just something that stood for my initials. Yeah I know not that clever, but I thought it was cute at the time. May change it later on, but for now yeah lol

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Hiya! :3

Hey! So this is my first time using a blog site like this so, sorry if it looks crappy right now. I'm in my 4th year of college and I figured it's time to have my own page of some kind to post my works. The name, "Comical Suns" was a studio name I came up using my initials. I know it's simple, but I think it works for now. I'll try my best to updated with different projects I'm working on as well as some animation clips, sketches as well as my progress doing my thesis. For now, bear with me and I'll post up some stuff really soon! :3