Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai

The Rise of Darkrai
File:Dpmovie.jpg The Japanese poster
Directed by	Kunihiko Yuyama
Written by	Hideki Sonoda
Distributed by	Toho (Japan) Viz Media (US) The Pokemon Company (Japan, United States)
Release dates	July 14, 2007 March, 2008
Running time	90 min.
Languages	Japanese, English

Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai (劇場版ポケットモンスター ダイヤモンド＆パール ディアルガVSパルキアVSダークライ, Gekijōban Poketto Monsutā Daiyamondo to Pāru Diaruga Tai Parukia Tai Dākurai, lit. “Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl the Movie: Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai”), is the 10th Pokémon anime film that was released in Japanese theaters on July 14, 2007. Other release dates for Australia and Europe have yet to be announced. As indicated by the film title, Dialga, Palkia, and Darkrai will be the featured Pokémon. On January 25, 2008, Cartoon Network revealed the title to be Pokemon: The Rise Of Darkrai, with a preview that aired on February 1st, 2008 as part of a 90-minute episode involving a tag team battle at 8 PM ET/PT, and was shown on Cartoon Network on February 24, 2008 in the United States at 7 pm ET/PT. The preview was shown during Cartoon Network's Fried Dynamite, and indicated the possibility that The Rise of Darkrai may have a cinematic release. This was later proven false when Pokemon.com announced a direct-to-DVD release following the premiere on Cartoon Network. This is the last English dub between Pokémon USA and TAJ Productions; as of the start of the TV series' eleventh season an unidentified audio studio was handling the new season of the television anime, but retained the primary Pokémon USA voice cast.

As with all Pokémon films, it was announced in Japan after the ending credits of the previous Pokémon film; in this case, Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.

Sarah Brightman, famous for her roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, performs the movie's theme song, a cover of "Where the Lost Ones Go", originally by Sissel. The cover also features Chris Thompson. This is the first time an English song was sung in a Japanese dubbed Pokémon film, and it is unknown if it will be kept in the English version.

The film’s tagline: 神と呼ばれたポケモンたちのバトル。今、新たなる物語が始まる Kami to yobareta Pokemon-tachi no batoru. Ima, arata-naru monogatari ga hajimaru. “A battle between the Pokémon called gods. Now, a new story begins.”

Plot

On their way to participate in the next Pokémon contest, Ash and his friends have come to Alamos Town, where they meet a woman named Alice. Alice guides them around the landmarks of the town - the Space-Time Tower and the beautiful gardens filled with greenery and water, and while they are completely absorbed by the sightseeing, they discover that the gardens have been devastated by someone. Then, Baron Alberto, an influential man of the town, comes on to the scene. Alberto is confident that the devastation is the work of the legendary Pokémon Darkrai. Then, from the ominous shadows, Darkrai suddenly appears before them. A never-before known Pokémon, just who is Darkrai? Just at that moment, a fierce battle between Dialga and Palkia is unfolding in an interval of space-time. Space-time is torn apart by the collision of terrible energies. Through the tear, Alamos Town can be seen...

The whole of Alamos Town is wrapped in an ominous fog, and a mysterious phenomenon arises where the people are unable to leave the town. Then, Tonio, who has become aware of the abnormal space-time phenomena, hastily analyzes the data, and discovers that the devastation of the garden was a sign that Palkia had entered the town. Palkia, having sustained injuries in its violent fight with Dialga, took refuge in Alamos Town. However, Darkrai senses the presence of Palkia and attacks it, causing a terrible battle. Furthermore, chasing Palkia, Dialga appears in Alamos Town from another dimension. When the two Pokémon called as gods encounter Darkrai, the greatest battle in history will begin. Powerful shockwaves shake all of Alamos Town, and before long the town is on the verge of collapse. The prediction written in Godey's diary is becoming reality... Will Ash and his friends be able to resolve this crisis? Is Darkrai an enemy or an ally? Just what is Oración?

Story outline

In the square where the Space-Time Tower (時空の塔, Jikū no Tō) stands, Darkrai makes another appearance. Using a move called Dark Void, Darkrai puts every person and Pokémon in the town to sleep. Baron Alberto forms a force to capture Darkrai, but its counterattack is terrible and the town ends up falling into pandemonium.

On the other hand, Alice's childhood friend, the scientist Tonio, has noticed the abnormal space-time phenomena breaking out in the town. In the laboratory, he begins reading the diary of Godey, his great-grandfather and the genius architect of the Space-Time Tower. In it, a grave prediction is written.

When space and time come together, a great wrath will engulf the world. An eternal never-ending battle of gods... a hope is left: Oración...

The whole of Alamos Town is wrapped in an ominous fog, and a mysterious phenomenon causes people to be unable to leave the town. Then, Tonio, who has become aware of the abnormal space-time phenomena, hastily analyzes the data, and discovers that the devastation of the garden was a sign that Palkia had entered the town.

Director outline

The director of the tenth Pokémon movie, Kunihiko Yuyama (湯山邦彦), wrote about the movie on the official blog for the movie. When the movie was first revealed as Dialga VS Palkia, he explained the rationale for the title and also outlined the plot.

Dialga and Palkia are like the face of Diamond and Pearl; as representative Pokémon, I thought I would like to have Dialga and Palkia in the title of the movie…and there’s no way to do that except with Dialga VS Palkia, is there? Usually we discuss with the departments above until a title is selected, but this time unlike previous occasions, we unanimously decided to go with the straight, simple, Dialga VS Palkia.

Dialga rules time, and Palkia rules space, so the scale of the story is large, but, since the design of Dialga and Palkia was that they lived in an alternate dimension, we decided that their fight in the alternate dimension would affect reality—the world of Satoshi and friends. Dialga and Palkia will appear before Satoshi and friends and drag the city they have arrived at into it as well in a manner that will raise the question of if they destroy this city, isn’t it possible that they will destroy the whole world as well?

I would also like to involve the main characters’ Pokémon in the movie, who we haven’t really been able to portray in the past. Not only Satoshi, Hikari and Takeshi’s Pokémon will appear in the movie, but there will also be many Pokémon belonging to guest characters. To put in as a single sentence, I would like it to be a very lively movie with a festive atmosphere.

With the revelation of Darkrai’s involvement in the movie, Kunihiko Yuyama further elaborated on the nature of the film.

Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai. This is the first movie for Diamond & Pearl, so I wanted to include Dialga and Palkia. So the title chosen then could only have been Dialga VS Palkia. But this time we added another Pokémon, Darkrai, which is also making its debut, so we ended up deciding to include all three in the title. Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai… There’s nothing else but this, is there?

Darkrai is a Pitch-Black Pokémon, but one cannot know what it really is like. It could be an evil Pokémon, and it could be a good Pokémon. It is a Pokémon that holds the key to the movie this time: Will it be an ally to Satoshi and friends, or will it be an enemy - one can’t tell from the beginning. That’s all I can say at the moment.

Dialga is a time-ruling Pokémon, and Palkia is a space-ruling Pokémon. The two them live in a dimension that is completely different in terms of space and time, and by some chance they end up meeting each other. A conflict arises as a result of that. The biggest theme in Pokémon is communication. Communication is not just understanding each other, but also mutually accepting the differences and existence of the other when one type of person meets another type of person. This time, how will Satoshi and friends calm the conflict between Dialga and Palkia, two Pokémon which should not and must not meet…? Ultimate communication (究極のコミュニケーション) - that is the theme of the movie this time. I think that it would be nice to illustrate this most important theme of Pokémon in the movie.

Cast

See also: List of Pokémon cast members

Character	Japanese Voice Actors	English Voice Actors
Satoshi/Ash Ketchum	Rica Matsumoto	Sarah Natochenny
Hikari/Dawn	Megumi Toyoguchi	Emily Bauer (a/k/a Emily Jenness)
Takeshi/Brock	Yuji Ueda	Bill Rogers
Pikachu	Ikue Otani	Ikue Otani
Musashi/Jessie	Megumi Hayashibara	Michelle Knotz
Kojirō/James	Shinichiro Miki	Jimmy Zoppi (a/k/a Billy Beach)
Nyassu/Meowth	Inuko Inuyama	Jimmy Zoppi
Alicia	Chiharu Suzuka Mamiko Noto (Young)	TBA
Godey	Kenta Miyake	TBA
Middle-aged shop owner	Hirokazu Miura	TBA
Tonio	Kōji Yamamoto Daisuke Sakaguchi (Young)	TBA
Alice	Rōsa Katō	TBA
Baron Alberto	Kōichi Yamadera	TBA
Dai	Ryūji Akiyama of Robert	TBA
Katsumi	Hiroshi Yamamoto of Robert	TBA
Maki	Shōko Nakagawa	TBA
Narrator	Unshō Ishizuka	Rodger Parsons

Setting

The Rise of Darkrai is set in an area based on Barcelona, Spain. The staff visited this area in September 2006 to form a basis for the movie’s setting. Yuyama Kunihiko travelled there with screenwriter Hideki Sonoda and composer Shinji Miyazaki. Places in The Rise of Darkrai are inspired by places in Spain - the Space-Time Tower and Oración featured are based off the uncompleted Sagrada Família and the Park Güell, respectively, in Barcelona. The name of the architect behind the Space-Time Tower, Godey, and the name of his descendant, Tonio, bear homage to the name of Sagrada Família's architect, Antoni Gaudí.

Reception

The Rise of Darkrai proved to be a very successful film as the movie topped the Japanese box office charts in the first three days of its release. With a revenue of ¥1.13 billion ($9.26 million) from 1,074,000 viewers, the movie performed better than its predecessor Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.

External links

• Official Site
• English Darkrai Site