Japanese Release of Pikachu's Vacation:

   In this version of the mini-movie, Pikachu's Vacation, Pikachu and his friends are all given a well needed vacation by their trainers and
are allowed to run amuck at an amusement park designed especially for pokèmon.  The movie opens with a rather cute song which goes
on and on about the joys of it finally being summer and all the fun that comes along with that fact.   Pikachu gets run over by most of the
other foot-loose and fancy-free pokèmon in a very cliché act, but it is still cute when Pikachu falls down because he tries to pass off a
"Why does this always happen to me, or a I should have seen that one coming" look.  Time passes somewhat uneventfully for the next
few minutes except for the fact that Togepi, the baby pokèmon, gets very hungry... and cranky.   Pikachu, Zenigame (Squirtle), and
Fushigidane (Bulbasaur), all work together to try and get Togepi an apple which is quickly eaten by another pokèmon.  Fushigidane tries
to rock Togepi to sleep and sings a very quaint lullaby which seems to be working until a small band of new pokèmon appear, some new
and some old.  These new pokèmon are being very loud and are causing quite a ruckus so Pikachu intervenes, then Zenigame also steps
in and the friction between the two groups rises.  Zenigame and Mari (Marrill) have a water race which is is actually quite close.  Then
Pikachu and Raichu, one of the other pokèmon, have a race after Raichu shocks Pikachu as he tries to calm Togepi.  They eventually
upset a Lizarddon (Charlizard) who accidentally gets his head stuck in a pipe.  All the pokèmon must work together and help free
Lizarddon.  Can they do it?  You'll have to see the movie to find out.

American Release of Pikachu's Vacation:

    The American version is actually quite similar, the directors changed the constant narration which helps the viewer figure out what is
being said to the occasional Pokèdex analysis of the current situation.  One thing that actually was better was the cut-scenes that were
made a bit more psychedelic.  A viewer put it best while watching the American release "If I were ever to decide to do acid, I bet it would
be a lot like this movie."

Japanese Release of Mewtwo Strikes Back:

    Many people reading this review may remember a while back when some Scottish scientists cloned a sheep.  Eventually the
experiments worked and the new sheep was called Dolly.  Now picture what would happen if Dolly wanted to know if she was better
than her predecessor in every aspect ranging from mental capacity to sheer brute strength.  This is what happens in the Pokèmon movie
Mewtwo Strikes Back.   Mewtwo was cloned from some cell fragments of Mew, the rarest of all pokèmon which was thought to be
extinct.  Eventually the procedure is a success but the scientists who did the cloning and genetic alterations to make Mewtwo more
powerful have their celebration interrupted when Mewtwo decides to start its journey into the depths of its existence and the meaning of
its life.  Of course one of the questions is who is more powerful, the original or the copy.  Mewtwo tricks Satoshi and his pals to the
island for a test to answer this question and eventually clones all the pokèmon there, except for Togepi who gets hidden in Megumis'
(Mistys') backpack.  Three of the fully evolved pokèmon are made to fight their clones and in each case the clone wins.  Satoshi, enraged
by this pointless fighting tries to take on Mewtwo by himself, hand to paw.  Just as Mewtwo sends Satoshi flying to his death in the form
of a high-speed impact with a castle minarets (those castle towers), Mew pops up and saves Satoshi.  Then the cloned pokè-poop really
hits the fan.  It's every pokèmon for itself as they fight each others clone using purely physical attacks, the reasoning behind this is that a
clone made to be stronger has an unfair advantage.  Mewtwo and Mew go head to head and in the midst of their high-energy psychic
battle Satoshi throws himself into the middle.  Almost instantly his body turns to stone and he drops to the ground in what is a very
dramatic moment in the movie.  Even more touching is the next scene where Pikachu tries to shock his friend back to life while Mewtwo
wonders how a human can be so uncaring about his own well-being.  All of the pokèmon begin to cry and their tears gather into floating
streams and miraculously bring Satoshi back to life.  Mewtwo finally understands what is going on and that everything is equal, all living
things have a right to exist no matter who or what is the strongest.  The movie ends with the classic flashback to just before all the major
events took place and somehow Satoshi and his friends are all safe and no one remembers anything about what has recently transpired,
probably another time manipulation thing (thank-you Gene Rodenberry).

American Release of Mewtwo Strikes Back:

    In the American release of this movie one sees yet another attempt of the entertainment industry to cover its hide and make up for all
those years of pro-violence cartoons with hopes of probably avoiding the linking of another Columbine High incident to the movie.  This
movie has the same feeling as the mini-movie that comes before it.  Almost all the plot has been changed and the depth and universal
enjoyment factor of the Japanese version is virtually non-existent.  Of course all the events occur the same way but the meaning behind
them has changed.  Prime example is the scene near the end where Meowth talks to his clone and the clone simply says that he doesn't
want to fight.   Meowth then goes into a small monologue where he realizes that all pokèmon are the same and all should be treated
equally with nothing but love and respect.  It's enough to make someone want to turn their popcorn bag into an airsickness bag.
However there are some good aspects to a movie like this even after the plot has been brutally murdered and replaced with a two-dollar
pet-shop almost but not quite the same look alike.  For example the voice acting was exceptional.  I attended a panel at Neko-con on
voice-actor directing hosted by Tristan McAvery, Tristan I was the one wearing the pajama pants under the cargo shorts.  I must say that
the timing for the lip-flaps was perfectly matched as best as I could tell.  Also the addition of some extra CG made the background and
landscape shots breathtaking, well maybe that's a little extreme but I thought they were beautiful.  Sound was good too, maybe a little too
much bass, but the background noises in addition to the surround-sound theater almost made me feel like I was a part of the movie.  The
chattering kids kept me anchored.

Conclusion:

    In my personal opinion the Japanese versions were about 100 times better than the American storywise, but as far as overall
appearance the American wins hands down.  I recommend renting a fansub of the Japanese version and putting up with the occasional
snow from a bad recording then going and seeing the American version in the theater.  Then, and this is no intentional insult to Lisa Ortiz,
Eric Stuart, or any of the other voice actors, but then you should cover your ears and just try to remember what happened in the
Japanese version rather than deal with the annoyingly obvious sub-messages of the American version.

Peach-out