Darkrai

“The Rise of Darkrai” Review / Opinions / Notes – I arrived to my dorm 15 minutes late, so I missed the very beginning of the movie (showing Dialga and Palkia fighting, which I am sure remained unchanged, and the “World of Pokemon” intro). So, my notes begin from when the air currents hit Alice’s balloon, and as a result, she invites Ash and crew to take a tour of Alamos Town. In anticipation of my tardiness, I already set my VCR to record the movie, so I will rewind to the beginning to see if there is anything to note once the movie is over.

Be sure to refresh this page every once in a while – I will be adding notes as the movie plays! The notes are from newest to oldest.

• ———THE END———-
• Right when the movie ends, it cuts immediately to Cartoon Network credits with the intro to a new show (Something about cards? Like YGO?). We don’t hear any song or see any of the ending video. So, we won’t know if her song is in the ending credits until the DVD is released in three months.
• And, and, and… a minute left until we find out if Sarah Brightman’s song, “I Will Be With You,” was kept at the end!
• Oh… my… gawd. Ash sounded SO bad when yelling at Palkia – the acting was TERRIBLE (they took out the “idiot” part, by the way).
• THEY REPLACED THE ORACION SONG AT THE END WITH A RAP SONG! IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE! No, just kidding, they kept it the same. :p
• ——-Commercial——–
• He said “This garden is everyone’s” instead.
• Yay, Alice said “This is everyone’s garden,” which means the line will probably not be changed when Darkrai repeats it!
• Man, Darkrai is less likable. He doesn’t talk as much, and he sounds grumpy.
• Alicia and Alice say Oracion means “prayer” – they did not change it to a less religion-like word. :p
• Oracion is pronounced “Or-ahs-eon” (like grass) rather than “Or-aush-ion.” I suppose the English pronunciation is correct, as that is probably how we would say it in English.
• ——-Commercial——–
• Nothing really to note.
• ——-Commercial——–
• Palkia’s name is mispronounced as “Pawl-key-uh.” It should be “Pal-key-uh.”
• When Dialga is approaching to fight Palkia, Ash screams “Darkai!” instead of “Dialga!” It could be that for the dub, Ash was calling for Darkrai to defend them rather than labeling who Dialga is, meaning the situation was changed.
• Dialga and Palkia are referred to as “deities” instead of “gods.”
• Alberto pronounced Gyro Ball correctly the second time around.
• ——-Commercial——– (dang I have to pee bad)
• Darkrai is called an “evil demon.”
• The Infernape trainer sounds like Zoey.
• In the Japanese version, everyone gets confused between who Lickilicky and Baron Alberto are, since their names are similar (Beroberto, Baron Alberto) and they switch bodies. When people are confused as to who are who in the English version, they say “It’s Baron Lickilicky” instead of “It’s Beroberto,” and Alberto responds with, “I’m Baron Alberto!”
• Darkrai talks like a caveman. When Ash said “Darkrai, the one getting out is you!” he replies with, “No, I stay,” in a not-so-great, unnatural, and forced voice.
• Darkrai screams “Dark Void” when using the attack instead of screaming “Get out!” like he did in the Japanese version. Screaming “Get out” is part of the explanation as to why he appears.
• Alberto pronounced “Gyro Ball” incorrectly. “Gyro” is pronounced “Ji-ro,” and he said “Guy-ro.”
• Okay, so now we are at the scene where Darkrai appears after the light explosion in the sky. Darkrai’s voice is not too good, in my opinion. He sounds like Fatso from Casper.
• ——-Commercial——–
• The tower’s “records” are now called “music discs.”
• It’s scary how close the script is to the original (excluding some “humorous” rewrites, which fit in well). I know I keep saying this, but wow, they went out of their way to keep it the same.
• So far, all of the background music is exactly the same.
• Oracion’s name is butchered when pronounced, but its name is still the same.
• Again, you can tell they listened to the Japanese voice actors before saying their parts. Darkrai’s English actor makes the same grunts as the original in the same way!
• Why are so many Pokemon voiced by Natochenny? They all sound the same and forced.
• Alicia, Alice’s grandmother, keeps the same name.
• Wow, I am amazed – the script is almost word-for-word the same at some points.
• In the Japanese version, Nurse Joy labeled Darkrai’s ability as “Bad Dreams,” but the English version merely described it and did not name it.
• It sounded like Ash was screaming “Pichuuu!!” when he and it were being sucked up by the ground in his dream.
• ——-Commercial——–
• Lickilicky says its English name in the Darkrai scene – in its first appearance, it had the Japanese voice.
• Some humor was added in to the script that was not present in the Japanese script.
• Cherrim’s voice is different.
• Again, the script is almost dead-on to the Japanese script.
• Opinion: Tonio’s and Alberto’s voices are also okay.
• Tonio’s name is pronounced weird – they say it like “To-nee-o” or something.
• Drifblim has the same Japanese voice.
• Lickilicky’s voice is the same as the Japanese, unlike the “preview” where it was quiet.
• Gallade’s voice actor screams “Gallade” just like the original Japanese actor did – you can tell they listened to the original Japanese actors before they dubbed.
• In case there were any fears, Alice’s Oracion song is exactly the same.
• Gaudy keeps his original name.
• Opinion: Alice’s voice is pretty good – the commercial with the 4-second clip did not do it justice.
• The script is almost dead-on to the Japanese version.
• The Japanese song “Together” is replaced with a pretty good dub-created song. It goes something like, “Another day, another fight… we will be heroes… we can change the world if we try… Pokemon!”
• The movie is in widescreen, like with Manaphy.