#if I included every iconic 90s op this post would need a read more and I'm tired after a 12 hour shift

[dragonslaved]

listen as much as I LOVE the current trend of anime OPs being able to stand as their own singles for radio play, anime OPs in the 90s were just built different

"don't make me wild like you" (ranma 1/2)? a bop neverending

"in the night" (key the metal idol)? beautifully atmospheric

"hohoemi no bakudan" (yu yu hakusho)? eternal

"give a reason" (slayers next)? perfect and on almost every playlist I ever make

"catch you catch me" (cardcaptor sakura)? so catchy and so visually iconic it rewired a lot of our brains in middle school

"rondo revolution" (revolutionary girl utena)? don't even talk to me I'll never stop

"moonlight densetsu" (sailor moon)? of course no one can ever forget or ignore the classic

"cruel angel's thesis" (neon genesis evangelion)? (warning for rapid image flashes) so iconic a convention in 2006 I attended had to ban it from karaoke because so many people kept singing it

they do not make anime OPs like this anymore and I miss that. Love the music we have now but it's not the SAME do you undersTAND ME-

[pkmnjesus]

P J’s ranking of Pokémon movies (Top 5)

                                                     *DISCLAIMER REGARDING MY RANKINGS*

#5 Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (Original Japanese title: Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation the Movie - Mew and the Wave Hero: Lucario) *8th Pokémon movie*

Personal thoughts and why you should watch this movie: And from the Advanced department, we have my favorite right here! Any movie with cute Mew in it automatically goes to the top, but that isn’t really why I liked this movie. This movie is first time we laid eyes on the aura Pokémon, Lucario. Eventually we see Lucario lots of times in the main-core anime used by many different trainers DP and beyond. The story of Sir Aaron’s legend and renaissance theme (the outfits, tournament, dancing) is why I love this movie so much. The bond that Lucario had with him is implanted in Lucario’s aura and cannot be forgotten. His relationship with Ash had a rocky start, but eventually softened up after seeing how much Ash is determined to find Pikachu until its death sacrificing himself to the Tree of Beginning. AND THE REGIS…THE LEGENDARY TITANS! My goodness were they intimidating with their super strength and robotic sounds (as they should!). The scene where blobs in the cave sucking in everyone was pretty scary as well. Lodd summers is one of my favorite movie exclusive character with that cool chick sass <3 And on a production side of things, this was also the final movie with the original 4Kids voices. Moving forward from this movie with the new voices really did take a while to adjust to back then, but I’m totally fine with it now.

#4 Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias (Original Japanese title: Pocket Monsters the Movie - Guardian Gods of the City of Water: Latias and Latios; a.k.a., The Guardians of Altomare) *5th Pokémon movie*

Personal thoughts and why you should watch this movie: My memory with this movie is a bit blurry since it’s been so many years since I’ve seen it, but I remember Latias’s liking towards Ash was super cute, especially when she would transform herself into looking like Bianca. The infamous tease at the end that questioned fans if Ash got kissed by Bianca or Latias is still a mystery to this day. The the animators did that intentionally (you can see Bianca’s hat being left behind in her room) that got everyone thinking. I still think it was Latias, and Bianca probably really did forget her hat, though she could be the one that drew the nice sketch for Ash…unless Latias learn how to draw? AHHH ANYWAY! Moving on from that topic, Annie and Oakley, a.k.a. Team Rocket baes, served as the villains with their skeleton Gundam device (forgot what it’s actually called lol) that held poor Latias & Latios hostage. They really weren’t much of a threat but they were focused with their objective that made an even bigger threat to the water city of Alto Mare…A TSUNAMI! Also this movie featured the the first ever permanent death of a Pokémon…which Latios ;_; It became a beautiful new Soul Dew to protect the city.

#3 Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (Original Japanese title: Pocket Monsters the Movie: Mewtwo’s Counterattack, a.k.a. Pocket Monsters the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back!) *1st EVER Pokémon movie*

Personal thoughts and why you should watch this movie: IT’S THE FIRST MOVIE DUH…nostalgia man I can’t even lie about it. I didn’t see it in theaters but mom got me VHS tape for my 5th birthday, and I remember watching it a lot as a kid using the VHS rewinder (remember those?). I now have the Blu-Ray version (along with movie 2 and 3) of it and seeing it again recently made me realize it was a good movie but not that great compared to others (nostalgia aside), but it was iconic and I know I needed it to be in my Top 5. I loved the storytelling of Mewtwo’s anger and pain towards humans. It would have been even better if they included the sad Amber flashback, but it was only seen in the Japanese version. They truly made Mewtwo OP proving it be the most powerful Pokémon ever. The highlight of the entire movie is when Mewtwo’s buffed clone Pokémon faces off against real Pokémon from trainers. Fergus is probably my favorite trainer from this movie with his water Pokémon team (in which Mewtwo rekt) Also the battle between Mew vs. Mewtwo gave us the most depressing scene of Ash turning into stone. That scene a lone already an iconic “90s kid” symbol that any old school Pokémon fan would recognize. When I recently watched the movie with my friend, HE STILL CRIED..a grown man in his 20s Ladies and Gentlemen that’s how powerful this scene was to us who grew up with it. It’s also good to mention that this is possibly the only canon movie with the main-core anime, as this ties with the episode when Ash got his Earth badge. This movie also got a special sequel afterwards in “Mewtwo Returns” where we got to see a kinder side of Mewtwo after the mistakes he made in the first movie. (which I own on VHS too). I could honestly go on and talk about this movie but I just wanted to make this brief…for new fans that haven’t seen it yet, just go watch it!

#2 Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One (Original Japanese title: Pocket Monsters the Movie - Mirage Pokémon: Lugia’s Explosive Birth; a.k.a. Revelation-Lugia) *2nd Pokémon movie* (ha it’s ranked #2)

Personal thoughts and why you should watch this movie: Probably watched this movie MORE THAN ANY OTHER POKÉMON movie! Funny story is that I actually borrowed my cousin’s DVD of this movie, and I NEVER RETURNED IT for like 2-3 years, I think? Legendary birds were my favorite growing up (even more than Mewtwo) so I was really happy to see them get their own movie along with Lugia. I really liked the concept of Ash going into each island putting the spheres back into place. Lawrence III’s flying ship was one of my favorite things about that movie because of how it was beautifully animated for something that was released in the year 2000. This was also the only movie Tracey was featured in, but the focus was more on Ash, Misty and Melody. Way before Latias (or Serena), she was actually the first girl to kiss Ash on the cheek. Throughout the movie Misty was jealous of Melody but eventually found camaraderie with Ash’s stubbornness haha! And thanks to that friendship, they were able to save Ash when he was unconscious in the middle of the sea. Melody’s tune of Lugia’s song is something that definitely needs to be heard! This movie feels like a tradition to me, I need to at least watch it ONCE A YEAR.

#1 Pokémon 3: The Movie - Spell of the Unown: Entei (Original Japanese title: Pocket Monsters the Movie - Emperor of the Crystal Tower: Entei; a.k.a. Lord of the “Unknown” Tower) *3rd Pokémon movie*

Personal thoughts and why you should watch this movie: My FAVORITE MOVIE <3 This isn’t really a surprise for those that see my tags when I reblog GIFs from this movie. I just like the story of a Entei becoming Molly’s dad…a fairy tale come to life! Molly Hale is probably my favorite movie exclusive character EVER. TO THIS DAY, Molly is my #1 character I wish they would bring up in the main-core anime so that we could get more history between her family relationship with Ash’s. All Molly wanted was a mother, and you can’t really hate her as one of the antagonists (though she really isn’t) because of how innocent her intentions are. With her dad suddenly disappearing, and no one to play with her, she was desperate to have a complete family again. The real antagonists, the Unown (CGI looked pretty scary on them…was actually scared of Unown as a kid seeing this movie) got to being her “friends” and granted her a Papa in the form of an Entei which is based on one of the stories her dad read to her. The dream scenes were excellent showcasing her fantasies in each floor at different ages. For Ash this was an adventure to save his mother, after being kidnapped by Entei. My favorite part in the movie was when Charizard returned (was already staying at the Charicific Valley during these events) I JUMPED AND YELLED AS AN 8 YEAR OLD WATCHING THIS. With Ash on his back, they chased and fought Entei through the crystal terrain. This movie literally only had 1 legendary (and it’s not even a real one) but it still delivered a great tale of adventure, fantasy, loneliness, and the most important theme of all…FAMILY.

All movie ranking posts: 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | Top 5

Movie 21 and beyond…

So who here is as crazy as me watching ALL 20 movies throughout the course of his/her life since 1999? Well, I’m still GOING!

As a new era of Pokémon movies come in the next few years, starting with the unnamed 2018 movie premiering this July in Japan, we can only hope that Ash stays alive in all of them, and that every story, battle and adventure is as hype and beautifully animated as all the movies have been over past 20 years. I will probably have to update my list in the next 5 years lol

I’M READY BOYZ (and galz)