Pokémon Koko (2020) First Sub Viewing Thoughts

Hey fellas- as I continue to eagerly await the release of its English dub; here are my first viewing thoughts on “Pokémon Koko” from its recent fan-subtitled release.

The story revolves around a young man named Koko, who was orphaned 10 years before the movie's events; and has a surrogate father figure in the mythical Pokémon Zarude. Crossing paths with Ash and Pikachu; they must form an unlikely alliance to save the forest from disaster.

While not quite the breath of fresh air that the previous film from director Tetsuo Yajima, 2018’s “Pokémon The Power of Us” was; I still consider it to be a good movie even if it’s not my favorite of this alternate continuity. Animation-wise, even though there’s some instances of iffy CGI vehicles (including a walking tank in the final battle of the film); the traditional animation is still as incredible as ever. Everything looks smooth and colorful, and especially like the setting of the movie.

I will do my best to not have any major spoilers, though I will say this: much as I did with past movies in the series; I am pleased with how they’ve taken the material. I will get into this in my full review after the English dub comes out, but while some have compared this movie to a larger-scale version of “The Kanghaskhan Kid,” in many respects, I consider it more to be its spiritual antithesis. However, at the same time; I don’t really mind the parallels to the Disney animated “Tarzan,” as that film was the last of their renaissance era and a good one to go out on. Though the character dynamic isn’t my favorite of the recent movies, the main themes of identity, childhood and parenthood are quite effective.

On that note, I will address the Cufant in the room: the scene where Ash mentions his absent father. Again, I will detail this more in my full review; but even though it’s a small scene in an alternate continuity, the fact that he’s mentioning his dad at all is simply world-shattering; as a great many things have been over the past year alone (Space Jam finally getting a sequel after almost 25 years, Bill and Ted finally finishing their trilogy after almost 30 years; and so on and so forth). It’s a simple, but effective way of handling the matter.

With this, I am going to take a brief break from posting; though I will be back later this month with my thoughts on the next Pokémon Presents. That will be all for now, take care everyone.