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New 11 episode series, "Pocket Monsters: Mezase Pokemon Master", starts January 13th 2023

Dephender

Gizakawayusu
Staff member
Moderator
Starts Friday January 13th.
"The final chapter in the story of Satoshi and Pikachu"

Opening theme: "Mezase Pokemon Master -with my friends-"


Executive director: Kunihiko Yuyama
Director: Daiki Tomiyasu
Series construction: Atsuhiro Tomioka
Character design: Shuhei Yasuda
Sound director: Masafumi Mima
Music: Yuki Hayashi

In April 1997, Satoshi and Pikachu set off from Masara Town into the world of "Pocket Monsters". And as Satoshi has been meeting and battling lots of companions, he's always aimed for one thing: To become the "Pokémon Master" of his dreams.
"Pocket Monsters: Mezase Pokémon Master", which premieres January 13th 2023, will depict Satoshi and Pikachu's adventure towards that distant dream across a planned total of 11 episodes.
In addition to his former travelmates Kasumi and Takeshi, these episodes will also feature the Pokémon Satoshi formed strong bonds with and got in various regions, bringing even more excitement to this already thrilling and emotional adventure.


---------

KUNIHIKO YUYAMA'S EPISODE COMMENTARY:

EPISODE 1: THE WIND OF BEGINNINGS! THE EON PATH!!

Yuyama: "It was very new and different to start the first episode off with a scene that just had Satoshi and Pikachu on their own. Pikachu shows its prankster side in this scene too. Their interaction here was all really novel stuff."
Interviewer: The Legendary Pokémon Latias appears in this episode in the role of a Pokémon watching Satoshi's journey. Can you explain why you chose specifically Latias for this part?
Yuyama: "Even among Legendary Pokémon, Latias is a Pokémon it's very natural to think of as being close to someone. In addition, it can move around, fly and turn invisible. For these reasons, I figured Latias would be the best choice for the role."

EPISODE 2: SATOSHI VS KASUMI! A ONE-ON-ONE AT THE BEACH!!

"I like where Kasumi was standing in her intro scene, it gives you the feeling of her proactively taking action against Satoshi. The way she acted in her intro was good as well. Satoshi looked quite animated in that scene too, don't you think?"

EPISODE 3: TAKESHI, DENT AND THE FOREST WITCH!!

"There's only one way to do an intro scene for Takeshi, and that's something involving a girl (laughs). This episode gets really lively once Dent appears. He's such a fun character! The heartbroken Takeshi's "depression mode" and Dent's peculiar way of talking are on full display this episode."

EPISODE 4: TUNBEAR'S SIGH!

"This episode focuses on the heart of this series' theme, 'In what ways does Satoshi empathize with Pokémon?'. By the way, Tunbear is super cute, don't you think? You felt so bad for it. And it was imitating the little Mijumaru and making a Scallsword (laughs). This episode truly makes you realize how nice Satoshi really is."

EPISODE 5: ENTER THE ZENIGAME FIRE BRIGADE!!

"We made this episode because I wanted to bring the trio from the first series, Zenigame, Lizardon and Fushigidane, together again. These three really animate very nicely, and they work very well with Satoshi and his friends."

EPISODE 6: AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THE SAME MOON!

"This episode was made to once again reaffirm Satoshi and Pikachu's bond."

EPISODE 7: RIDING ON LAPLACE

"I just wanted to bring back the Laplace we said goodbye to in the Orange Islands one more time! (laughs)"

EPISODE 8: WHAT JUPPETA IS LOOKING FOR!

"This episode basically started off with us thinking about how we hadn't done an episode about a Ghost type yet in this series. While we were trying to decide which one to use, I was digging through our reference material and thought Juppeta was a surprisingly interesting one. And so this episode was born."

EPISODE 9: THE ROCKET GANG'S COUNTERATTACK!

"For this episode I wanted to bring the Rocket Gang's Pokémon back. There's lots of things about the Rocket Gang that are shrouded in mystery, like what Musashi and the others' current standing IS, and why their Pokémon are being returned NOW... And the episode has some breakup-related drama again too (laughs). I guess this kind of slapstick and mystery is pretty inherent to the Rocket Gang, huh?"


--------

INTERVIEW WITH KUNIHIKO YUYAMA:

Q: Even though you were basing the anime on the Pocket Monsters video games, you were still creating an anime-original story, so what kind of character did you think of the protagonist Satoshi as?
Yuyama: The Pocket Monsters anime started airing about a year after the first video games had been released, and Pokémon was already massively popular with children at the time. So in that respect, Satoshi was "the boy who showed up late". The viewers knew way more about Pokémon than he did. Satoshi positioned himself as a very equal-opportunities kind of guy as far as Pokémon and the world they live in goes... I think people normally project themselves onto things or filter their thoughts about them in some way, but Satoshi doesn't. He accepts the Pokémon he encounters for what they are, showing no prejudice or fear, and is able to befriend them quickly. I think this is the main thing that makes him so appealing.

Q: Satoshi's partner Pikachu showed a really strong personality from its very first meeting with Satoshi too, didn't it?
Yuyama: I think of Pikachu as a combination of cuteness, strength and the ability to bring a few laughs (laughs). By the way, I decided from the very get-go that the Pokémon that would become Satoshi's partner would not be one of the three you choose between at the start of the video game, since I figured that might've made some of the viewers sad. That's why he ended up with a Pikachu, a desicion I'm really glad I made.

Q: In the video games the protagonist starts off by choosing a Pokémon, then sets off on an adventure, working alongside it. The Pikachu in the anime, however, didn't listen to Satoshi at all. That felt really unique and different.
Yuyama: Indeed, Pokémon aren't always what humans expect them to be like. They're unique individuals that each have their own individual reasons for how they interact with humans. That's the kind of themes, or relationships, the Pokémon anime shows; How someone can eventually get along despite being unable to communicate at all when they first meet. Communication is one of the main themes of the show, and Satoshi's first Pokémon, Pikachu, puts it into practise.
There are so many different kinds of Pokémon in this world, so when we depict them, we try to start by imagining what would happen if these Pokémon actually DID exist in a given place, and what those Pokémon would be doing in that case, then let the story develop from there.

Q: Does this go for more uncommon Pokémon as well, in other words Legendaries and Mythicals?
Yuyama: Yes. No matter which Pokémon we're talking about, we always start by asking ourselves what kind of life it has and how it fits into the world. Some Pokémon are weak, some Pokémon scare people, but they're all individual creatures. When we work out how the Pokémon should act, we try to avoid thinking of them from the point of view of a human, but consider the Pokémon's point of view instead.

Q: As far as Legendary and Mythical Pokémon go, I think it's safe to say that Mew and Mewtwo hold a very special place in the hearts of those viewers who watched the 1997 era of the anime and the movie "Mewtwo Strikes Back". What were you especially conscious of when you depicted them in the anime?
Yuyama: We depicted Mew as a trancendent kind of creature that exists beyond the very human values of right and wrong. Think of how the sea and the mountains can be fun playgrounds for people, but can quickly turn on them as well. That's the kind of entity we wanted to depict Mew as, so whenever it appears in the anime, we make sure it never acts in a way that's particularly convenient for humans, nor do we have it gravitate towards humans too much.
Mewtwo, on the other hand, is a product of detachment from nature. The way it constantly ponders its own existence is very very human, but I think the reason it still chooses to live among Pokémon is because of a need of kinship.

Q: Satoshi and Pikachu have developed a friendship that transcends species. What do you find most important when depicting their relationship?
Yuyama: The fact that they don't rely on words. Ever since the beginning of the anime, I've wanted to get across the sense that they communicate using nothing but gestures and noises as much as I could. At first we actually toyed with the idea of having Pikachu talk just like the Rocket Gang Nyarth does (laughs). However, we talked about how it would be both more realistic and more interesting if they had to communicate non-verbally, so that's the way it ended up. I think it'd be really difficult to find a pair of humans that can understand each other as near perfectly as Satoshi and Pikachu can, but I hope we managed to depict a duo everyone can look up to.

Q: The Rocket Gang, the group that acts as the villains on Satoshi and Pikachu's journey, are quite colorful characters as well, aren't they?
Yuyama: Back when we were initially planning the series, scriptwriter Takeshi Shudo-san suggested that the format should have villains in it, and we got Musashi and Kojiro. Shudo-san was the one that gave them their names too, but not even I know why he picked the ones he did (laughs). I believe we decided to include Nyarth "because it looks cat-like and approachable". This meant the show ended up having a cat-and-mouse type relation between the cat and the mouse, something we didn't actually realize at the time. It was a complete coincidence (laughs).
I like the fact that the Rocket Gang have a childish side to them despite being adult characters. They're adults that take things seriously despite approaching them the way children would, and I think that's what makes them so appealing.

Q: How did the current series, "Mezase Pokémon Master", become a thing?
Yuyama: It started with the idea of tracing Satoshi and Pikachu's journey one more time. When it came to his travelmates, we basically just went "Gotta be Takeshi and Kasumi I guess". It was such a natural desicion I don't really remember exactly how we arrived at it. I like that trio, those two just kind of fit into the group, and it makes Satoshi's 10-year-old-boy-ness very pronounced. We wanted to depict world battling champion Satoshi as temporarily forgetting about everything he's been through on his journey and just living the life of a 10 year old boy again.

Q: The scene in the trailer where Shigeru asks Satoshi about the Pokémon Master title really left an impression too.
Yuyama: We struggled a lot with deciding who should say that line. But when you think about it, Shigeru really is the only one that can confront Satoshi with something. He's the reason the line is what it is.

Q: What do you personally think a "Pokémon Master" is?
Yuyama: I think it might involve accepting Pokémon for what they are, without projecting yourself onto them. When we were in the process of creating Mezase Pokémon Master, I thought of a Pokémon Master as being like a rainbow. It's THERE, but you can't touch it, nor reach it. But despite that, people still move towards rainbows they see in the distant sky. I used a rainbow as the motif of the very last scene of Pocket Monsters the Movie: I Choose You, and even though I hadn't thought of this at the time, that scene always comes to mind whenever I think of the concept of a Pokémon Master now.

Q: There's only 3 episodes left of Mezase Pokémon Master now. What do you want to tell us about the climax?
Yuyama: The climax will involve Satoshi coming to a personal conclusion. I hope we did a good job showing how he did so. Please make sure to catch the remaining episodes.

--------

INTERVIEW WITH RICA MATSUMOTO:

Q: How do you personally perceive the Satoshi character when you play him?
Matsumoto: I try to avoid approaching Satoshi "as" something when I play him; Instead I naturally BECOME him as I call upon my childhood memories and experiences. So rather than thinking that I'm going to play a certain type of boy, I take in each and every word spoken to him with full sincerity, and respond just as genuinely. This gives me full confidence in both his character traits and my acting, and allows me to turn any personal feelings into believable lines for Satoshi to say. I've always played him in this unabashed, natural manner.

Q: Satoshi has a truly irreplacable partner in Pikachu, what were your initial impressions of it?
Matsumoto: You know, I got a personal color analysis once, and the result was that my personal color is yellow, so my initial impression was that it looked yellow, cute and very familiar to me.
Also, in the scene where the two of them first met, Pikachu presented Satoshi with a Thunderbolt, which made me feel really sympathetic towards him. Just like Satoshi, I sometimes approach people in an extremely friendly manner (laughs), so when I saw that exchange, I immediately felt a sense of familiarity. "That could've been me!"
Pikachu has always stuck faithfully to Satoshi, and has been an irreplacable companion to me as well. I think of it as a natural extension of me, sitting here on my shoulder (points).

Q: How does Satoshi view the Rocket Gang, the group that acts as the villains on his and Pikachu's journey?
Matsumoto: He's grateful to them, since they helped him understand how important Pikachu is and strengthened his bond with it. Even though they're the villains that oppose him, he's never actually scared of them, he always just goes "Oh, it's those guys again" (laughs).
Oh, and their introductory speech is soooo ridiculously long (laughs). It just doesn't feel right to have them make their appearance without it, though, same with how it just feels wrong to have them leave without going "Ya na kanjiii". But yeah, they're another indispensable part of Satoshi and Pikachu's day-to-day life.

Q: In the current series, "Mezase Pokémon Master", Satoshi is traveling with his initial travelmates Kasumi and Takeshi. What are their interactions like, now that it's been so long?
Matsumoto: You know how when you meet past friends at a class reunion or something you're just mentally transported back to that era? It's like that. The three of them being together just feels so natural, not at all like it's been more than 20 years since they last traveled together! They remain the same no matter when they meet up, so they can always pick up right where they left off last time. I feel the same way about the Pokémon that have made return appearances; Everyone always goes "So nostalgic!" whenever the Pokémon from the early days appear, but I just don't feel that way. Satoshi has met them and you get the sense they're always together, so just like Satoshi, I don't feel anything like nostalgia.

Q: There's only 3 episodes left of Mezase Pokémon Master now. What do you want to tell us about the climax?
Matsumoto: As I've said before, what matters isn't winning a battle, but what you do afterwards. That's definitely the case when it comes to being a Pokémon Master as well. I think Satoshi already IS a Pokémon Master, but that he'll just go "This isn't what being a Pokémon Master is!" and then aim for even greater heights. His dream just doesn't have an end, and I'm sure he'll keep on running with determination and aspiration in his heart. Forever.


RICA'S COMMENT ON SATOSHI WINNING THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
"As I've said before as well, Satoshi likes Pokémon battles, he likes tournaments, he likes everything associated with Pokémon. Him becoming world champion was just something that happened along the way for him, so I honestly don't think of it as anything all that special. Of course I felt really happy for him at the moment he won, but it's not like it was his ultimate goal or anything, so after I had calmed down, I just thought of it as... well, something that had happened to him. I think that's probably how it was for Satoshi as well. That's why it made me genuinely happy to receive all these congratulations on social media as a video announcing his victory played on the big video screens in Shibuya. Thinking about how Satoshi managed to cheer everyone up like this even in today's day and age made me feel really proud of my work."

RICA'S COMMENT ON A SCENE SHE FEELS STRONGLY ABOUT:
"Satoshi and Gekkouga's farewell scene in Pocket Monsters XY left a really strong impression on me. There's a bit where there's a river between the two of them and Satoshi replies "That's right. This is fine." to Gekkouga's answer, but I still felt really sad inside when delivered that line. I think me feeling the same way Satoshi did made it a good performance. It felt like I was able to also convey my own personal thoughts to Gekkouga through Satoshi's words, that we'll always be together even when we're apart."
 
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Lord Godwin

The Lord of Darkness
My guess is they want Ash to meet and fight some Legendaries with his various Pokemon?
 

SatoSereFan224888

Well-Known Member
Holy ****! I guess I was right when I came up with an idea of Ash going to meet other trainers he never faced before in past regions now that he’s champion of the world while SV will focus on new heroes.
 

Vichoo

Well-Known Member
What the hell do directors play? I say this because they showed us Ash in Paldea and even with Lucario!!! Is it very confirmed that this may be the last we will see of Ash? Or will they troll us once again with their troll titles and we will see Ash in Paldea...
 

togenaught18

Well-Known Member
What a ride. When i was young i though if one day Adh's story would end and this week i have finished the collegue. Fells like new start. Now its a troll move and Ash its still somehow in the new anime lol.
 

Blood Red

【推しの子】
What the hell do directors play? I say this because they showed us Ash in Paldea and even with Lucario!!! Is it very confirmed that this may be the last we will see of Ash? Or will they troll us once again with their troll titles and we will see Ash in Paldea...
They confirmed that Mezase Pokémon Master will be his big finale
 

Pepsi_Plunge

Dojyaaa~~aan
What the hell do directors play? I say this because they showed us Ash in Paldea and even with Lucario!!! Is it very confirmed that this may be the last we will see of Ash? Or will they troll us once again with their troll titles and we will see Ash in Paldea...
Was that Paldea? it looked like a random town and Go, Satoshi and Koharu were all there but in different streets.
 

1rkhachatryan

Call me Robert guys
Bro if Ash doesn't reunite with Pidgeot in this special so help me god lol. They put it on the poster so they better especially since they showed Butterfree coming back.
 
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