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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 11 months ago

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STATS TIME Again: More Not-Sequel Animated Movie Openings 1988-2002

I did a post on not-sequel animated movie openings over the years, that went from 2003 to now, to show the rise and decline in opening weekend numbers for these kinds of movies over the years. This was to provide some context on today's not-so-great animated movie openings...

So, I decided to compile another list of not-sequel animated movies over the years, domestically. This list will include:

Truly original animated movies.

Book/comic/game/etc. adaptations.

Adaptations that aren't part of any previous visual/motion picture iteration.

Films based on animated TV shows. Technically a sequel of sorts to the show, whatever season it was on, but still.

Re-releases of classic films.

Every couple of years, I'll cut off at certain numbers, so as not to include a ton of movies on the list and jam things up. Refer to the previous post on the reasoning for this.

So, let's begin again:

1988

$11m - WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT

$7.5m - THE LAND BEFORE TIME

$7.2m - BAMBI (re-issue)

$4.8m - THE FOX AND THE HOUND (re-issue)

$4.0m - OLIVER & COMPANY

1989

$6.0m - THE LITTLE MERMAID

$5.6m - PETER PAN (re-issue)

$4.7m - ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN

$3.6m - THE RESCUERS (re-issue)

1990

$7.7m - THE JUNGLE BOOK (re-issue)

$6.0m - FANTASIA (re-issue)

$5.0m - JETSONS: THE MOVIE

$3.8m - DUCKTALES THE MOVIE: TREASURE OF THE LOST LAMP

1991

$10m - ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (re-issue)

$9.6m - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

1992

$19m - ALADDIN

$5.5m - COOL WORLD

$4.1m - THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (re-issue)

$3.5m - FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST

$3.1m - PINOCCHIO (re-issue)

$3.0m - BEBE'S KIDS

$2.6m - ROCK-A-DOODLE

1993

$9.0m - SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (re-issue)

$8.2m - THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

$3.7m - WE'RE BACK! A DINOSAUR'S STORY

$2.2m - ONCE UPON A FOREST

$1.7m - HAPPILY EVER AFTER

$1.2m - TOM AND JERRY: THE MOVIE

$1.1m - BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

1994

$40m - THE LION KING

$4.1m - THE PAGEMASTER

$2.4m - THE SWAN PRINCESS

$2.3m - THUMBELINA

1995

$29m - TOY STORY

$21m - POCAHONTAS

$6.1m - A GOOFY MOVIE

$1.5m - BALTO

$1.1m - THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN

1996

$27m - SPACE JAM

$21m - THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

$20m - BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA

$7.5m - JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

1997

$21m - HERCULES

$14m - ANASTASIA

$9.8m - THE LITTLE MERMAID (re-issue)

1998

$33m - A BUG'S LIFE

$27m - THE RUGRATS MOVIE

$22m - MULAN

$17m - ANTZ

$14m - THE PRINCE OF EGYPT

1999

$34m - TARZAN

$31m - POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE - MEWTWO STRIKES BACK

$11m - SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT

2000

$38m - DINOSAUR

$17m - CHICKEN RUN

$12m - THE ROAD TO EL DORADO

2001

$62m - MONSTERS, INC.

$42m - SHREK

$20m - ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE

$13m - JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS

$11m - FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN

$10m - RECESS: SCHOOL'S OUT

2002

$46m - ICE AGE

$35m - LILO & STITCH

$17m - SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON

$12m - TREASURE PLANET

And there you have it... If I missed anything, feel free to let me know, as always.

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sonicstarlet · 2 years ago

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The Uncut story of Mewtwo’s origin is an absolutely fucked little special… I love it when Pokémon gets dark.

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duscarasheddinn · 2 years ago

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Mewtwo’s origins in the games and first movie

Back when the Kanto region in Pokemon was supposed to be the real Kanto in Japan, the journals in the Pokemon Mansion state that Mew gave live birth to Mewtwo on February 6th of an unspecified year (though my headcanon places it at some point in the 1990s given how Red and Green started development in 1990 and released in ‘96 even though it was delayed from a 1995 release, that being the reason why the start date for copyrights and/or trademarks in Pokemon is 1995 rather than 1996). This was before Pokemon breeding or eggs were introduced and is like how cloning works in real life.

The first Pokemon movie instead depicts Mewtwo as being grown in a test tube like the pop culture idea for clones depicts them in. Maybe it was so they didn’t have to show the horrific gene-splicing that turned Mewtwo into what it is today. Just so you know, there are technically two Japanese versions of the first movie, and no, I’m not talking about the CGI remake that I can’t stand to look at even in still frames. The original theatrical release was edited for home video to add CGI in some shots (like an opening door) and added an origin story for Mewtwo where it was seen when it was young. It looked so cute and used to be so sweet. It also explained the reason why Dr. Fuji would work with Giovanni (it’d benefit them both because Dr. Fuji would clone his dead daughter and Giovanni would get the most powerful Pokemon).

4Kids did fully dub this extended bit of the prologue, which added ten more minutes to the prologue and made it twenty minutes long, but due to controversy surrounding cloning, they chose not to put it in the theatrical release of their dub of the movie or even the DVD release of it. Instead, the ONLY time the dub of the extended ten minutes was released in DVD Region 1 (North America, which includes at least the United States and Canada) was as bonus material in the DVD of Mewtwo Returns, the made for TV feature length anime special that’s a sequel to the first movie. It was direct to video in the US and it’s probably safe to say that it’s been out of print for twenty years at this point.

#mewtwo #pokemon #pokemon mewtwo #pokemon the first movie #first pokemon movie #pokemon mewtwo strikes back #mewtwo strikes back #mewtwo returns #the uncut story of mewtwo's origin #cloning #clone

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linzerj · 5 years ago

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alive

Short Mewtwo fic/drabble thing. Contains Detective Pikachu spoilers. (listen the DP Mewtwo is the same one from Mewtwo Strikes back they’re the same dang it)

AO3 link will be in a reblog to avoid the tumblr algorithm murdering me

“Don’t cry, Mewtwo. You should be happy. You’re alive, and life is wonderful.”

…

Life is wonderful, they remember, even if they don’t know how, don’t remember who said this to them, don’t know where this thought came from.

Life is wonderful, they repeat. Life is wonderful, but… why?

They know nothing, nothing but an empty ocean, nothing but the vague sense of nothingness. They wonder if they even are alive at all.

Then the sensations get stronger. Voices – other voices – get louder. They want to know what this is all about. They want to exist. They want to live.

They push this feeling, this desire to be, outward, and can hear the shattering of glass, the gushing of liquid from its containment. They land in the remains of the container that had kept them suspended, disoriented.

But then there are others speaking to him. These – these people, humans, scientists, refer to them as Mewtwo.

Two. As in copy, clone. Not original. Not even a pure copy. An amalgamation of Mew’s DNA, and changes that suited the scientists’ needs.

This… cannot be their destiny. This isn’t right. This isn’t what it should be.

(They can picture mountains and lakes, the sun and the moon, freedom, in their mind’s eye. They do not know where these images come from, only that they exist, and Mewtwo wants.)

They unleash their fury on the scientists. It is a confusing fury, they reflect later, after the lab is nothing but ruins and ash. They are angry with the scientists for not caring, for only seeing them as an experiment. They are furious that they have been brought into this world, a copy of something so great and pure. They are upset about even existing in the first place.

But then a new man arrives, promising partnership, and Mewtwo is too naïve and curious to refuse.

…

This turns out to be a mistake.

Humans, Mewtwo reflects, cannot be trusted. Giovanni attempts to control them, subdue them, and use them. Mewtwo will have none of it.

They destroy another prison, and flee. They could go and live in the wilds, avoiding humans and just… exist.

But their righteous fury has reached the breaking point.

(Life is wonderful, someone tells them. You’re alive, and life is wonderful.)

Life is not wonderful. Life is cruel, life is betrayal, life is torture and subjugation. Life, maybe just human life specifically – life is just evil. Humanity is evil.

This revelation, this decision, spurs them to that first lab, the place of their creation. Humans wanted to play with forces they didn’t understand? Fine. Mewtwo would show them what happens as a result of their narcissism and entitlement.

…

It takes several months, but they reactivate the cloning facility that birthed them, and get to work.

They have cloned other Pokémon, now, and are ready to show humanity how superior they are. They are ready to free Pokémon from the subjugation and control of humans.

Mewtwo decides to start by challenging promising young trainers of Kanto to a battle. But only the worthy may come; they plot to brew a storm so only the strongest and most willful can stand in their presence.

The young humans come, with their teams of Pokémon. And Mewtwo challenges them, and defeats them, and takes their strong Pokémon to clone to suit their needs.

But one young human defies logic, defies expectation. This young boy, Mewtwo learns later, is named Ash Ketchum, and he is a human of impulse and heart, compassion and determination. (Years later, Mewtwo will reflect back on how nothing in the world could have prepared them for the unstoppable force that is Ash Ketchum.)

And in the midst of the chaos, there is a familiar yet alien presence. There is someone else, like them, watching.

There is the original. It’s Mew.

Just the sight of them fills Mewtwo with rage.

This pink little kitten is what they originate from? This soft bundle of giggles spawned them, tall and imposing and powerful and angry? This small myth?

They fight. Mew seems unconcerned, despite the effort both are putting into this. Mewtwo never wonders why.

Then that crazy boy gets in the way.

…

“What are… these?”

“They’re tears. You’re crying.”

“Crying?”

“My daddy used to tell me a bedtime story that when Pokémon are sad, and they cry, their tears are filled with life.”

…

Mewtwo wipes the memories of the children and their Pokémon after that. They don’t deserve to live with those awful memories, not really. They’re young, and innocent, and naïve. From what Mewtwo has seen, humanity is evil. But it seems that not all humans in the world are bad.

Ash Ketchum proves this when he returns to Mewtwo’s life barely a year later. He saves their life, for no other reason than … he wanted to.

(“Do you always need a reason to help somebody?”)

They don’t wipe the memories of the kids, this time. Mewtwo does make sure to wipe the minds of everyone else, especially Team Rocket’s.

Ash Ketchum and his friends are good. The rest of humanity is… maybe not all evil, then. Mewtwo… can live with that.

…

“You’re alive, and life is wonderful.”

…

They realize soon after the irony of their powers. Mewtwo can wipe the minds of humans with ease, but at some point early in their life, someone else erased their memories, and now those memories are only coming back in fragments of words and images. They don’t know who was talking to them, only that… she… is gone.

It’s a bittersweet feeling, to know that someone cared about them, once, when they were young, before they had broken free into the world; but now that person, that little girl, is gone. She’s said goodbye, and she can never come back.

(“It feels… like it’s time… to say goodbye.”

“…Goodbye?”)

Mewtwo puts that in the past. The memories may come, or they may not. But they have their whole life ahead. Maybe they can finally experience the wonder of life now, free as they are.

…

“I have to go.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. But it’s alright. Thank you for caring about me. And don’t cry Mewtwo. You should be happy. You’re alive, and life is wonderful.”

…

(Her name was Amber, they learn ten years later, when they return to New Island and go through old encrypted files that they had ignored in their earlier, angrier quest for retribution. Her name was Amber Fuji, and the scientist that had spoken to Mewtwo – that Mewtwo had likely killed – was her father. Heartbroken by her loss, he turned cold. He’d never cared about Mewtwo. Once Amber was gone, Mewtwo was just an experiment again, nothing more.)

(But Amber had cared about them. And they had cared about Amber, for what brief time they had known each other in that psychic in-between.)

(Mewtwo is alive, and maybe life hasn’t always been wonderful, but it’s been getting better, and they are now determined to make life wonderful, to spite the cruel world, and to honor Amber’s memory as best as they can.)

…

Twenty years, almost to the day, from when Mewtwo escaped from the people that created them, a man named Harry Goodman finds them.

Harry Goodman has a Pikachu partner, similar to Ash Ketchum. But Harry and his Pikachu are detectives, he explains. They search for clues, find evidence, and solve mysteries. They’ve been hired by scientists hoping to study Mewtwo in order to improve science and medicine – or so he’s been told.

They should be careful, Harry explains, because the humans working at that lab were discredited for malpractice, or uncertified, and gave off a secretive and mistrustful vibe. Harry took the assignment to find Mewtwo because he cared, and didn’t want this Pokémon to be hurt by people in over their heads.

Mewtwo appreciated the sentiment. But curiosity killed the Meowth – or in this case, the Mewtwo.

…

When the scientists and PCL immediately capture Mewtwo and shove them into a containment unit, Harry Goodman looks upset, but not necessarily shocked. He’d deduced this possible outcome. But as much as Mewtwo wants to know why, what the scientists are after –

They hate being caged. They will not go through this again, not after being free for so long.

The Pikachu fries the circuits, and Harry and Pikachu run. Mewtwo breaks free and follows, but can’t stop the Greninja in time.

Humanity is evil, but not all humans are bad.

The Pikachu wants to save its partner. Mewtwo… they can fix this. The scientists were saying that their psychic energy could merge humans and Pokémon together.

It’s not a perfect fix, but until Harry Goodman’s son can show up, Mewtwo is unable to fully heal the human. So, merging with his Pikachu it is.

And then Tim Goodman arrives, with Harry/Pikachu injured again. Healing Pokémon bodies is easier.

And they try to explain. They can heal Harry Goodman and Pikachu, right then and there – but somehow, the scientists have found them again, and interrupt.

They catch a glimpse in one mind – Howard Clifford wants not only Mewtwo’s powers, but their body. And technology has advanced so much that they just cannot escape.

Tim Goodman shows up alone, confused about which Clifford is at fault. Mewtwo screams at him to run, but then –

– They wake confused, and to a sensation of falling. They’re falling, and falling, and –

Mewtwo barely catches Harry/Pikachu before he hits the ground. They’re still slightly confused, but memories from when they were not in control come rushing back all at once, and they hear Tim asking if they can fix all this.

They can, and they do. Mewtwo fixes everything, sets everything in Ryme City to rights.

…

Humanity is evil, but not all humans are bad. Now Mewtwo has a small handful of humans that are definitively not evil, and are in fact – good.

That’s a nice feeling. Twenty years ago, fifteen years ago even, Mewtwo would have just fled, and maybe killed more humans than they already had. But to see that not every human is so heartless and self-centered – to see that there are humans out there who care just because it’s the right thing to do, humans who want to help, humans who are just good –

Maybe life isn’t so bad after all.

…

(If Ash Ketchum wakes to find Mewtwo hovering nearby, looking to talk about all they’ve seen and done and been subjected to after nearly twenty years – well. Who is he to say no?)

(If Tim and Harry Goodman return to their apartment to find Mewtwo curled up on their couch, just wanting someplace warm and cozy and comfortable to sleep without fear – well. Who are they to say no?)

(If Amber Fuji says that life is wonderful – well. Who is Mewtwo to say no?)

…

The world spins on. Mewtwo is one of the most powerful Pokémon to ever exist – but not the most powerful, as scientists had thought. That’s fine by them.

They still linger on the edges of society – human and Pokémon alike. They don’t really belong, don’t really fit, but that’s okay. They’ll help any in need. They’ll carve out their own place in the world.

Life, Mewtwo thinks, is wonderful, even if they had to wait a while to figure that out. It doesn’t matter how they came into existence. They’ve learned that all that matters is what you do with your life. That’s what determines who you are.

They’re alive, and life is wonderful after all.

#mewtwo #pokemon #detective pikachu #mewtwo strikes back #pokemon fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #drabble #mewtwo returns #the uncut story of mewtwo's origin #amber fuji #ash ketchum #tim goodman #harry goodman #detective pikachu spoilers #mewtwo needs a hug

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buckleberry4ever · 3 years ago

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Jamie: Marc found something interesting! Do you guys remember Amber from “The Uncut Story of Mewtwo's Origin?” The one who died and then her father tries to make an Amber clone! Marc has an awesome theory! He found a video from the Pokémon Kids TV Japan YouTube channel and he found a woman (on the left) that looks like Amber! She has the same hair style and she’s a scientist just like her father! What if this is an adult Amber from an alternate universe? The Amber that didn’t die!😱

Lapis: One thing to say! COOL THEORY!😎👍🏻

#jamzuli #chat #theory #steven universe future #steven universe #pokemon #pokemon kids tv japan #youtube #nintendo #amber #ambertwo #mewtwo #the uncut story of mewtwo’s original #game freak #pokémon the first movie #mewtwo strikes back

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mewtwoandme · 2 years ago

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Wait i'm a little lost about Mewtwo alternative origin story, how is it? Is like Mewtwo escapes earlier or something?

Part 1 is basically a prologue to his original origin story, it's just my adaptation to how it could've been, showing Mewtwo's earlier baby stages.

Part 2 is basically just a short recap of what happened in the uncut origin special/radio drama, just in my DP style.

#answered ask #anonymous ask #wip #comic wip #sneak peek

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inkdemon-whore · 3 years ago

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re: the girl from the other side ova/movie talkin post

@emmynette

For sure I would agree. I don't feel like I could recommend this to anyone who hasn't read the anime (*manga) yet. It would leave too many questions for the viewer who's missing context.

watching the ova back, yeah. i mean i'm really glad that it was made, it feels more like a "thank you" to the manga readers, but i have to be honest. as someone who's not typically a manga reader, and would more than likely watch anime, feeling the need to say "you should read the manga first" is puttin me on a side i'm not typically on as a casual consumer of either medium

when i first saw it, i was thinking maybe it should be watched first before reading the manga, ya know? like enjoy it as its own thing, take in the animation and the wonderful quiet moments. like the ending of this ova is my favorite part of it, but the very, very last cut to the house is what makes it feel so disappointing coming from the manga. like seeing the old house should be like coming home from a long, emotional journey. not to say there's not any emotional moments, hell, for all i know i'm not all that emotionally connected to anything related to these characters, at least i'm not over here balling my eyes out, but like, when i see the house, i feel like i should be taking in a big breath like "thank god the pain is over", but instead i'm just left feeling like i SHOULD have been hurt, and i just, wasn't...

around the end of the film, i couldn't help but think about pokemon. and by that, i specifically mean mewtwo's orgin, which in the japanese version of the first movie, played before the rest of the movie, in the US it was cut out and made as like a bonus if i recall (adding a 9anime link along with a youtube link, though the yt version is in japanese)

youtube

and like, it's short, it's 10 minutes, but GOD DAMN if you do not FEEL for the little clonemon. like you can pack this in, you can have character motivation, and agency hella quick if you know what your doing. if you know what the character wants and/or needs from the start, i wouldn't be surprised if you could show it in 5 minutes

(spoilers by this point)

but then again, maybe i'm just amarican (derogatory but also /joke). cuz there are subtleties in the ova, for example, the house is an absolute mess until shiva comes over, you can see time passing just by the plants growing right in front of ya, but there where also some things where on a first viewing my lil brain didn't really find it all that clear, like the flower teacher had in his coat being a literal representation of shiva. i think that's just because it cut so fast from him holding the flower to him holding her, it just didn't register. and like the entire ova makes it a point to connect these flowers to shiva, so i have no idea how i missed that the first time around

and it's not like teacher doesn't care, like he does, but again it doesn't feel as attached. like in the manga, he's trying so, SO desperately to protect her, so desperate to break the curse she has, that he tries to kill someone to get their soul.

in the manga, this feels earned, like this is the right thing to do in that moment, like it might be the only option, it IS the only option (that we and teacher know of). but in the ova, it's just like... "yeah man, i can kill someone. i'll do it, sure." there's no agency, there's little contemplation, and if he did go through with it, i feel like he'd have next to no remorse

like in the manga, he has some connection to the man he's about to kill (you and teacher don't learn this until later on), but in the ova, it's just, some old guy. some old guy that ppfffuckin, tackles teacher and sets a tree on fire n then dies. like, i guess that establishes more a way to "break the curse" is to just.... die.... but like, fuckin, we already got that with the soldier, who basically took the place of auntie and the two soldiers from the manga, in that "we need to kill those who are potentially cursed, and this is exactly why". which honestly is a nice, condensed change, but the old man adds next to nothing. like maybe make him shivas uncle (we don't know if she has an uncle in the manga, but this ova is basically an au, so anything could happen man), or just remove him entirely, because he serves nothing but a slight, meaningless conflict to teacher

thinkin back, i feel like the 2019 ova did better

vimeo

it doesn't say ANYTHING, but it shows you EVERYTHING, the animation when teacher is running out the door, you can feel his fear and panic, the white sugar cubes turning black from the tea, the feather, just -chefs kiss- (this might also be a hot take, but the animation in this one seems.... cleaner, it's not necessarily nicer, the 2022 ova has some really good moments, but something about the coloring and line work for most of it doesn't land for me personally)

but in the 2022 ova i love shivas dream sequence, it's just, so, so much better than anything we got in the manga (other than maybe the auntie dream)

like like like fuckin like--- lookin back, i'm realizing that, because it's a manga, there's a lot of telling, and the same thing is kinda going on in the 2022 ova, but between shiva and teacher, kinda like the glasses of water thing i was talking about in the prev post, here's what the two are opposites of

shiva is showing, and teacher is telling. shivas dreams are supposed to be a look into her thought process, and in the 2022 ova you get so much more from here, from things like looking out a window, to her dream, to her telling teacher she's cursed, which i think works so much better in animation than a manga (this might just be because i'm not use to reading manga)

but like, in the manga, when teacher is showing his inner struggle, there are times in the manga where he is literally fighting with himself, practically talking to his shadow, his inner struggle of "am i doing what's right for her, or am i being selfish? have i already messed up so hard that i should stop trying for here? should i just give up hope?", and in the 2022 ova we get non of it, but in the 2019 ova, you get just a snipit of the

him going to reach for her, wanting to hold her, and then you pull back and it's his reflection in the water holding her but him in the actual boat is just sitting back. that's a reference to one of the manga covers by the way, and i just, it says so much

i have just

been sitting here, typing, waving my fist and making stupid noises and talking out loud, i just

i want them to hold eachother and be ok

but i want them to do it in the same media

i don't want their feelings split between the manga and the ovas

hell i don't want there feelings split between 11 books with shiva's being in the last 3rd

like i love this series, i really fuckin do, that's why i'm over here talkin to much about it rn, but with how much it has it also has so little

i know i said in the prev post i want an 11 ep anime with 20 to 30 min episodes, but honestly if it was just 4 or 5 10 min episodes like the 2019 ova i'd be so happy

i'm fuckin losing my mind over these two someone help me--

#the girl from the other side #al #talk #Youtube #Vimeo

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transgenderer · 3 years ago

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have i already linked the uncut story of mewtwos origin. its so good and emo

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shironezuninja · 9 months ago

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Hey, Bakas! Read the Bio before replying to my Post!

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jess-the-vampire · 3 years ago

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I have a theory about Amber from Pokémon!

https://jamzuli4life.tumblr.com/post/659890104361435136/jamie-marc-found-something-interesting-do-you

#present #submission #gumceline #tomco #star vs the forces of evil #sky and the forces of the multiverse #don't post

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dizzydaisygettinglazy · 4 years ago

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Hi there ^^! There is a scene that always puzzled me, why did Mewtwo suddently stop fighting Mew and cared when Ash sacrificed himself if minutes ago he would not have cared if a human died? I thought he cared about proving himself to mew? Just because not all humans are bad doesn’t mean that his worldview he learned from Giovanni had to change, or perhaps it was the magical tears that did it?

Thanks for writing in, Anon! My usual disclaimer: this is simply my own interpretation of Mewtwo’s character and the events in Mewtwo Strikes Back, so a lot of this is fact mixed with personal headcanons and includes events in the original and dubbed versions of MSB. :)

First and foremost, Ash’s sacrifice goes against everything Mewtwo believes about humanity. Remember, at this point Mewtwo thinks that all humans are like Giovanni, a man who always acts in his own self-interest. Mewtwo thinks humans are selfish, greedy weaklings, “those cheating creatures who boast about power they don’t have.” Then Ash throws himself in front of Mew and Mewtwo’s attack even though he has very little to gain and everything to lose by doing so. His actions are in-your-face proof that humans have the capacity for altruism, for putting others before themselves, including Pokemon. Ash’s sacrifice also proves that humans are powerful, but not in the ways that someone like Giovanni thinks they are. His sacrifice has the power to bring Mewtwo’s clones and the trainers’ Pokemon to tears and stop two of the most powerful Pokemon in the world in their tracks. This notion of being completely wrong about everything causes Mewtwo to second guess everything he believes to be true.

And in a way, yes, I think Mewtwo’s change is partly due to the magical tears. Not that the tears’ magic makes him change his mind like a spell or something. Recall that Mewtwo had regarded tears as useless and a sign of weakness. “These tears...what good are they?!” “Living creatures don’t shed tears. [...] I won't shed tears of sadness or pain. Because I must be the world’s most powerful being.” There’s a shot of Mewtwo confusedly looking around as the Pokemon’s tears flow into Ash’s petrified body:

Considering Mewtwo’s insecurity with crying, I can’t help but think that Mewtwo’s memory is being jogged in this scene, that perhaps he’s remembering someone once telling him that only human beings cry out of sadness. It’s after this scene that Mewtwo says he’s changed his opinion on Mew, on the natural-born Pokemon, and perhaps most importantly, on himself. “It’s true…that you’re a Pokemon who exists just like I do,” he tells Mew. “I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant.”

If only living beings like humans cry out of sadness as opposed to physical pain, but Mewtwo’s clones and the trainers’ Pokemon cry after a human child dies, then Ash’s resurrection proves that all Pokemon are just as “alive” as humans.

I do think it’s worth noting that Mewtwo does not seem to believe that all humans are trustworthy right after Ash’s sacrifice. He does exile himself and his clones to Mt. Quena, where he believes in having zero contact with humanity until a storm brings a bus full of them a bit too close for comfort. I think it’s safe to assume that Mewtwo still does not like humanity on principle after the events of Mewtwo Strikes Back, but no longer wishes for them all to drop dead. ^_^;

Sources

The Birth of Mewtwo radio drama (1998), Ch. 5

The Uncut Story of Mewtwo’s Origin (2001). This is the English dubbed version of the original Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998) intro.

The Birth of Mewtwo radio drama (1998), Ch. 4

Amber: “Papa said living things don't shed tears unless their bodies hurt. And the only ones who shed tears because they're sad are humans…” The Birth of Mewtwo radio drama (1998), Ch. 3.

Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), Japanese.

Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), English.

#pokemon #mewtwo #ash ketchum #mew #mewtwo strikes back #mewtwo returns #dizzy's asks #dizzy's gifs #mewtwo meta #will this appear in the tags? nobody knows!

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