Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 55: Discussing the score (and the rest) of "Secrets of the Jungle"

In this second part of our “Secrets of the Jungle” discussion, we cover the score of the film, and our thoughts on the movie itself. In the process, we revisit a song from a previous Pokémon movie, and make some observations about scientists in the franchise’s recent cinematic outings-there’s definitely a pattern:

Links:

Pikapi Podcast

Poke Casters Network

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 54: Discussing the songs of "Secrets of the Jungle"

In this first part of our "Secrets of the Jungle" discussion, Anne from Pikapi Podcast helps me go over the movie’s six songs. It’s a lot of material to navigate, but we manage to cover all of them, including comparing the ones that are different between the Japanese and Western versions. So…maybe it's really ten songs then. In any event, we had a lot of fun with this one, and we hope you do too:

Links:

Pikapi Podcast

Poke Casters Network

Why it Works: The Extra Mile

Laura Pausini's "The Extra Mile" started as a submission for the 2000 Summer Olympics, but wound up working surprisingly well when re-purposed for the Pokemon 2000 soundtrack (also, as some of the screen captures in this video hint, it might have worked for another Pokemon movie). Find out what I think makes this combination work so well.

Transcript:

Originally written for the 2000 Olympics, “The Extra Mile” predictably includes a large number a sports-related phrases, including references to races, archery, and recognition for one’s personal feats. While Sydney wasn’t in the cards for this song, it did manage to find a home on the Pokemon 2000 soundtrack, and it’s easy to see why. In addition to the events of the movie drawing a large amount of attention, Ash is required to traverse rocky terrain, put his faith in a pair of wings, and perform other feats in order to fulfill his role. You could even consider the shrine where the ritual takes place to be a podium of sorts, or the artifact where the stones are put to be some sort of trophy case. The song doesn’t solely focus on the hero, though, as during the second verse (assuming I’m interpreting it correctly), the lyrics acknowledge the contributions of others that allowed the leader to achieve their goals. In the original use case, that was probably coaches, teammates, and family members, but in the movie, you could certainly apply it to Ash’s Pokemon and traveling companions. No “Chosen One” does it alone, after all. Anyway, if you’d like to know more about this song, I have an interview with co-writer Pam Sheyne linked in the video description. Thanks.

Pam Sheyne Interview

The music of "The Power of Us" with Pikapi Podcast

Another Pokemon movie has come out, and as usual Anne and I are here to share our thoughts. This time, however, we recorded it live:

Discussing the music of "The Power of Us" was a lot of fun, and we hope you'll join us next time when we discuss the music of "Genesect and the Legend Awakened" in about a month. If you're wondering where our previous discussion of "Kyurem Vs. the Sword of Justice" is, it'll be coming to the channel soon, but you can listen to it on Anne's Patreon.

Discussion: The Music of "Pokemon the Movie Black/White" (Part 1)

In an unusual move, there are actually two 14th Pokemon movies, each with a different ending theme, as well as score. Listen as Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I discuss the Japanese and English end themes of these films, and other musical aspects. Does"The Sky/The Voice" top two versions of "Follow Your Star"? Here's the first part:

If you need something to tide you over a bit longer, here's a recap of last weekend's Wizard World event in Madison:

The livestream includes me unpacking a Pokemon-themed mystery box, so be sure to check it out!

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 19-Zoroark Movie Music

In this single-segment episode, Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to help cover the music of the 13th Pokémon movie, "Zoroark: Master of Illusions". Sukima Switch and Erin Bowman go head-to-head this time around, though there may be another entrant that comes in later. Also, it seems Anne had a somewhat different opinion of the movie than I did, so stay tuned after the outro:



Links:
Pikapi Podcast
Erin Bowman Interview

Discussion: The Music of "Giratina and the Sky Warrior" (Part 1)

The 11th Pokemon movie, "Giratina and the Sky Warrior" introduces us to the mythical Pokemon Shaymin. In this discussion, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I discuss the music of the film, focusing  on "ONE" by Crystal Kay and "This Is A Beautiful World" by Aaron Brotherton. These two lyrical takes on the film offer somewhat different perspectives, which may be appropriate given one the characters. Find out more about each of these songs in the first part of our discussion:

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 15-The Music of "The Rise of Darkrai"/Ultra Prism Prerelease

In the first part of this episode (0:55-1:02:19), Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I share our thoughts on the music of the tenth Pokémon movie, The Rise of Darkrai. In an unusual twist, this film features English songs in both the US and Japanese versions. Listen to our discussion to find out whether Sarah Brightman’s “I Will Be With You” or Kirsten Price’s “I’ll Always Remember You” comes out on top.

The second segment (1:02:28-1:05:13) is a player interview from a recent Pokémon TCG League Challenge and Prerelease. We talk about what deck the player used, and some of the cards from the recently released Ultra Prism set.



Links:

Segment 1:
Pikapi Podcast

Discussion: "The Rise of Darkrai" Ending Themes (Part 1)

The Japanese and English ending themes of the tenth Pokemon movie, "The Rise of Darkrai" go head-to-head in this comparison, featuring Anne from Pikapi Podcast. Sarah Brightman's "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)" and Kirsten Price's "I'll Always Remember You" took rather different routes to become associated with this film, but Anne and I do our best to compare them:

Discussion: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew Ending Themes (Part 1)

Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by once again to compare the ending themes of the eighth Pokemon movie. In this rare example of a Japanese musical group many US fans have heard of, Puffy AmiYumi's "Song of Origin" faces Jim Malone's "We Will Meet Again". Which one will come out on top?

Discussion: Pokemon Movie 6 End Themes

"Jirachi: Wish Maker" has a somewhat different relationship between its end themes. Find out more in this discussion with Anne of Pikapi podcast:

WTPT-Pokemon Christmas Bash Review-Part 1

Way back in 2007, I appeared on the WTPT Pokemon Podcast to discuss the "Pokemon Christmas Bash" album. In the first part, KC and Jowy do a brief news segment, then bring me in to introduce the album:

Special thanks to Jowy Romano for permission to upload this audio.

Review: Pocket Monsters XYZ Character Song Collection Volume 2

Steven Reich

Earlier this year, Pokémon put out an EP of character songs featuring the Japanese voice actors from the sixth generation of the anime. Predictably (given that the EP had “Vol. 1” in its title), this has led to a second volume that was released in late October. Despite its name, this second volume also includes the songs from the first volume (though not their instrumental counterparts), and as such, the question becomes whether the new songs add enough value for consumers who already picked up the first volume. Here’s a run-down of the new tracks on this album:

DreamDream

“DreamDream” is one of several rearrangements of songs from earlier in this generation in this collection. Unlike when this was done in generation four for Hikari (Dawn), however, this version is fairly close to the earlier release of the track. As a result (and perhaps also due to my unfamiliarity with Serena’s Japanese voice actor, Mayuki Makiguchi), I’m not particularly attached to this rendition of the ending theme. It’s hardly bad, but doesn’t offer much beyond the original version.

Brilliantly (a.k.a. Glitter)

Performed by Citron’s (Clemont’s) voice actor Yūki Kaji, this remake of a song from the “Getter Ban Ban” single was more appealing to me, but perhaps that’s just an indication of my fondness for his engineering work (similar to how my love of art elevates my opinion of Tracey), or that the underlying song appeals to me more due to its “fun” quality. In any case, it ends up being one of the standout tracks on this collection for me.

Pikachu’s Song

A call-and-response track between a group of children and Ikue Ohtani, this is clearly a song designed for a different audience. There’s a fair amount of variation, and I appreciate the challenge writing this song must have presented, but it’s definitely not something I would listen to more than once in a while.

Meowth’s Ballad

Another in a line of Meowth-related tunes, this song (as the name implies) goes for a lighter mood akin to “Meowth’s Song” from generation one. Like the older track, I enjoy listening to this, and it’s impressive that Inuko Inuyama can deliver such a low-key performance. Definitely comes across as one of the better entries on this CD.

XY & Z (Movie Version)

As one might expect, this is the earlier TV version with some new instruments (Side Note: I really miss instances like the first few English movies and “High Touch” where they would re-do or otherwise majorly change the theme for the movies-it doesn’t have to happen for each one, but it would be nice to see more often). My feelings on this version are pretty much the same as the original-it’s good overall, but the ending doesn’t seem to be quite what I wanted tonally.

Overall

If I didn’t own either, I’d probably pick up just this second volume (especially since I’m not running a station anymore), as there’s not a great need to own the instrumental versions present on the first volume. If you already have that first EP, I would still say this is worth purchasing as long as you’re interested in enough of the new tracks. I would have preferred to have a few more fully original songs, but in general it’s still a good package.

Want to see an unboxing of this CD?

WTPT-2.B.A. Master Review-Part 4 (Listener Mail) + First Movie Ending Theme Discussion

In the last part of the episode, we go over some of the mail Jowy and KC received:

Special thanks to Jowy Romano for permission to upload this audio.

If you missed some of the earlier parts (or want to restart from the beginning), all four parts are available in a playlist:

If you still need more discussion of Pokemon music, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I recently recorded a comparison of the Japanese and English ending themes for the first Pokemon movie ("Together With the Wind" and "We're a Miracle"). It will appear here eventually, but for now it's a timed exclusive on the Pikapi Podcast Patreon feed. Here's a sample: