Pokémon 17th Movie Special: Pikachu, What Kinds of Keys are These? (Review)

[TheDanishGuy]

I decided to watch this short focusing on Ash and the gang’s pet monsters on a nostalgic whim, and I must say, it’s in many ways exactly the same as the ones I remember.

We open on the gang telling their Pokémon to go play, like so many times before, with Bonnie saying that Dendenne shouldn’t run away. Dendenne, being the Togepi of this generation, proceeds to do exactly that, stealing a key from an old basement, which turns out to belong to a Klefki. Klefki is a species of Pokémon which collects keys the same way I collect comic books: In piles and with no sense of order or quality.

Klefki thanks them the only way it knows how: Inter-dimensional FREAKIN’ travel!

The narrator pops up to tell us that the Kirby-like place we’ve entered is Klefki’s home world, which has a veritable mountain of keys which all fit into portals scattered around the place.

That will be the only time she doesn’t go “It’s THAT Pokémon!” Enjoy it.

Meowth doesn’t fare much better in this special. He and the Rocket Gang’s Pokés will be played today by Terrance and Phillip, in that they hop into the portal to search for treasure.
Immediately sent into this new world, he sees the giant mound of keys Klefki has amassed, and exclaims “That’s a lot of keys!” Thanks, I really needed to be reminded of the American Godzilla movie while chilling with cutesy Pokémon.

And speaking of cutesy, Pikachu and his posse go from dimension to dimension to have fun, eventually ticking off a big dinosaur-like Pokémon and it’s gang. And if you’ve seen any of the other specials, you know where this is going: They fight, chase, but eventually help the big, scary Pokés out of a bind and become friends.

This is a lot like the plots of the previous specials, which tickles my nostalgia bone, and unique enough to not feel rehashed.

Meowth, on the other hand, is failing miserably at finding treasure. His gang keep unlocking portals and getting hilariously beat up in the process. At one point, Meowth tries one of the keys and unlocks the Nightmare Dimension, nearly getting munched in the face by a Darkrai.

Pikachu’s gang gets the last part of the dilemma: Klefki discovers that the portals are slowly closing, so they have to hurry back. Of course, there’s a problem in getting there, and all the formerly bad Pokémon chip in to send them to the portal.
Safely home, they say goodbye, and I’m reminded here that Ikue Otani, Pikachu’s Seiyuu (Japanese for Voice Actor) must have the job security of a Japanese Hugh Jackman. No X-Men without Hugh, no Pokémon without Ikue.
They say their goodbyes to Klefki and thank it for the day. Meowth and the good guys head to their separate dinners and it all ends on a cute little ditty sung over what appears to be pretty pictures drawn by fans.

Final score: 5/10



Final Thoughts: This is a solid little piece for small kids, but adults, especially people who grew up with Pokémon and its specials, will probably find it a little too much like the previous ones.
But if you can look past them going through a plot that’s been done before, and a narrator who won’t stop narrating the names of Pokémons you should already be familiar with, it’s a good 20 minutes to spend in the company of some old friends.

What do you guys think? Will you watch it? What are your thoughts on Pokémon the anime in general? Feedback is appreciated!

[Eryx]

Awesome review, dude. Made me wanna go watch an anime movie.

Keep the reviews coming I watched this youtube movie with recommendations too. Have you seen any of them and got a recommendation for an anime noob like me?

[visitor]

Hi Danish...
I like the way you write, however the Pokemon franchise never really caught my attention.
Maybe a bit more ss or pics as it is kinda text heavy, but this is a good start. Also be careful not to spoil too much, it is a fine line between review and resume
What is your OVERALL favorite anime and favorite character ?

[[IAMS]]

I used to be the biggest fan in pokemon, knew every single pokemon there was. I saw every single episode of the old pokemon, the ones from 1998 - 2005 (dead serious saw every single one...), the new episodes and movies of pokemon suck now lol, if they kept the original characters, Brock misty and ash it would still be good.

[hackerlol]

So Anime is Asian Animation in general and not just the asian cartoon porn?

[HI5]

Apparently not O_o

And on topic - you'd think they've made enough cash on this franchise, right? NOPE! looks like 32354324 more movies to come XD

Also - I couldn't keep up with all these new pokemons since like good 6 years now, and on that cover alone I recognize only one of them (guess which one :X)

[hackerlol]

I saw the first one Pokémon: The First Movie.
I thought it was good but I was much younger then : P...

I do have a question about anime art In general though, Why do their characters have such large eyes?

[Remus3]

expressiveness; the eyes are the window to the soul. (also different anime's treat these things differently.)

[IChangedMyUsername]

I love that anime reviews are a thing on ownedcore! Good writing indeed, I look forward to more!