T5W#559-Top 5 Classic OVAs I Just Cant Get Behind

Been watching a lot of Anime retrospective lately and many of them focus on titles from the OVA boom that began in the 1980s.  For those not in the know, OVAs are the Anime equivalent of Direct to Video features and can range from movies to miniseries to full on shows.  They usually what I refer to as “The best of both worlds”, the budget of a feature film that can be applied a TV series length project.  Early OVAs also had a greater emphasis on the more extreme elements of Anime due to their direct to video status.  This meant more violence and gore, nudity and sex, even horror that pushed the boundaries of terrifying.  Because of this and more, OVAs became the most sought out titles in Anime and boosted Anime’s worldwide appeal during it’s heyday between the Mid 80s to Mid 90s.  Some of these titles were gateway points for many Anime fans.  Recently, I’ve reviewed a great deal of these classics and…I haven’t exactly had great things to say about them.  Maybe it’s because I wasn’t introduced to them so early on or maybe I’m being too critical.  But a lot of those golden age OVAs have a ton of issues in terms of plot, pacing and characters that you think would be more tightly controlled given how short they are.  I do understand their influence on the genre and fandom but they are flawed as heck.  It’s been a thought at the back of my head over the last year having tackled some of these titles recently, so on today’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’m counting down the Top 5 Classic OVAs I Just Cant Get Behind.

 

Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias

While taking a breather in the seaside city of Alto Mare, Ash and Pikachu encounter a pair of Pokémon siblings: Latios and Latias.  These two also happen to be the guardians of a treasure important to the history of Alto Mare, a treasure a pair of Team Rocket thieves have their sights on.  Now it’s up to Ash, Pikachu and their new friends to stop theft before Alto Mare becomes submerged by the waters its most famous for.

By the time Pokémon Heroes debuted in the US in 2003 (a year after it’s Japanese release), Pokémon fever had died down considerably and it went on to become the lowest grossing entry in the series stateside.  Now one could blame that lack of success on the movies being distributed by Miramax instead of Warner Bros. (deeper discussion there for another time).  Honestly though, Pokémon Heroes is a tough movie to market, much less release with any hype, when the movie itself is pretty lackluster and super underwhelming outing for Ash and Pikachu.  I really think this is the first Pokémon movie I’ve seen where calling it a “movie” feels inadequate.  Instead it feels more like the first time we’re seeing an episode of the series stretched painfully to feature length with some spiffy special effects and not much else to make it a movie level event.
 

T5W#558-Top 5 Thoughts on the Street Fighter (2026) Teaser Trailer

While I’ve always fancied myself more of a Mortal Kombat fan compared to Street Fighter (just rewatched the 2021 movie and I cannot wait for MKII in a couple of weeks), I’ve been rewatching the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Street Fighter movie with a lot of enjoyment.  Everything that was shown during the Game Awards Reveal late last year looks dialed up to 11 and I think that whether this movie is good or bad, it’s gonna be fun as hell.  So what’s got me making this one of my most rewatched trailers of the last few weeks?  Well our slew of Video Game themed (or I guess in this case Video Game Movie Themed) Top 5 Wednesday’s continues as I break down my Top 5 Thoughts on the Street Fighter (2026) Teaser Trailer.

Pokemon 4Ever: Celebi-Voice of the Forest

Deep in the forests of the Johto Region, a young Pokemon trainer from 40 years in the past is spirited to the future by a mysterious Pokemon called Celebi.  Here he meets Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock and soon they all become embroiled in a battle to save Celebi and the Forest from a rogue member of Team Rocket.  Two generations of Pokemon trainer must combine their talents and hearts to defeat a new breed of Dark Pokemon and ensure peace returns to the forest.

I’ll say this about the Pokemon movies: they may involve saving the world in some way but overall, so far, they’ve all been pretty unique adventures.  Evil clones, Legendary Birds, even a psychedelic wish castle, no one movie has been the same.  They do try to stand out from each other and Pokemon 4Ever continues that trend.  Here we get a battle for nature that feels right at home with the likes of Ferngully and Princess Mononoke.  It might not do things as poignant or extravagant as those examples but there’s still a bit of fun to be had, even if it never comes close to matching the awesomeness of Pokemon 3.
 

T5W#557-Top 5 Thoughts on the Teaser Trailer for Godzilla Minus Zero

The Return of the King is nigh.  Three years after his historic Oscar win, Godzilla is on his way back to the big screen with the highly anticipated sequel to Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla Minus Zero.  And yesterday, the very first teaser dropped at Cinemacon.  It was less than a minute but there’s a lot to chew on as to what is waiting for us in the next chapter of Writer/Director Takashi Yamazaki’s new take of the King of the Monsters.  So let’s not waste anymore time and roar our way into todays Top 5 Wednesday as we check out my Top 5 Thoughts on the Teaser Trailer for Godzilla Minus Zero.

Pokemon: The Movie 3-Spell of the Unown

The wishes of a lonely little girl accidentally summon a race of ancient Pokemon: The Unown.  As a beautiful town turns to crystal, Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock get pulled into the action when a legendary Pokemon: Entei, abducts Ash’s mother.  Once more, Ash and friends venture into danger but this time against an otherworldly forced they’ve never encountered before.  Can they save Delia and little Molly before the Spell of the Unown consumes the world?

I’ve said before and continue to say that if you’re gonna do a Pokemon movie, you’ve gotta go bigger than the TV show and that definitely includes rare and legendary Pokemon seldom seen on the small screen.  That’s one thing both Pokemon: The First Movie and Pokemon 2000 both did at the very least.  Pokemon 3, however, not only includes two of these types of Pokemon, it also manages to outdo both of its predecessors in story, animation and *gasp* actual Pokemon battles?  It even manages to have some nice emotional resonance that doesn’t feel as brutally forced as Pokemon: The First Movie.  I dare say it, this might just be the best of the Pokemon films I’ve looked at so far.
 

T5W#556-Top 5 Potential Sequels/Spin Offs Setup in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Mamma Mia, is it any shock to anyone that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie did gang busters this weekend at the box office?  It shouldn’t be.  Even if I and others didn’t think it was as good as the first, Mario Galaxy is still a Mario movie and that alone is enough to put butts in seats for a fun 90 minute romp.  One thing that the Mario Movie sequel emphasized more than it’s predecessor (believe it or not) was it’s cameos and Easter Eggs.  Nintendo clearly has plans for opening up it’s plethora of iconic gaming characters to enter their newly minted cinematic universe and I’m not gonna lie, some need those projects more than others.  So on today’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’m speculating about the Top 5 Potential Sequels/Spin Offs Setup in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.  Aside from our first entry, I’ll keep Spoilers to the bare minimum if I can, but still you should probs check the movie out anyway before checking out my ideas here. 

 

Pokemon 2000: The Movie-The Power of One

When a Collector of rare Pokemon begins ensnaring the three Legendary Birds, the world is thrown out of balance and is on the brink of destruction.  This time, Ash finds himself the literal chosen on a mission to return peace and harmony to the planet and quell the violent rage of Moltres, Zaptos and Articuno.  But he cant do it alone.  Not only will his closest friends and most dangerous enemies join forces, but they’ll get help from another Legendary Pokemon: Lugia.

Despite the heavily hyped and ancitipated battle between Mewtwo and Mew, Pokemon: The First Movie seemed more interested in teaching life lessons with tears than showing off exciting action.  By contrast, Pokemon 2000 is much less darker and way more adventurous than its predecessor and even delivers on the promise of seeing multiple legendary Pokemon duking it out on the big screen.  Sure it gives the fans what they want action wise.  The rest of Pokemon 2000 kind of suffers from a lack of spectacular storytelling.  This is as basic an epic adventure as you can get, so basic in fact that it makes all the risks taken by Pokemon: The First Movie more respectable.
 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

The Super Mario Bros are back in action when a Baby Star falls from the sky, begging for help to save it’s mother from an evil dictator.  It’s a journey that will take Mario, Luigi, Peach and friends both old and new to places once far beyond reach.  Waiting for them is an old enemy looking for revenge and the son he never happened to mention he had.  The Galaxy awaits and its fate rests in the hands of two handy dandy Plumbers.

Making a Super Mario movie should, in theory, be one of the easiest jobs imaginable.  You don’t need a super deep story, just some imaginative action sequences and the most basic of stories and understanding of what makes Mario special, and you have a slam dunk.  The Super Mario Movie understood this assignment and was an absolute blast.  Now we come to it’s much anticipated follow up, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.  Fundamentally, it does everything the first film did but takes things up a notch in terms of scope and spectacle.  Yet despite this, it doesn’t land as good as its predecessor.  Sometimes the movie does somethings right while also overdoing it in other areas, and in some cases not doing enough.  It’s underwhelming to say the least but does that mean it’s bad?
 

T5W#555-Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Video Game Adaptations

Three years after they crushed the box office, Mario and Luigi are back with their ever growing gang of Nintendo favorites for another cinematic offering with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.  If it’s even half as good as it’s predecessor, it’ll continue to cement just what kind of a new golden age of Video Game Adaptations we live in now.  The Last of Us and Fallout continue to reign supreme on the TV side while we still have more big screen spectacles to look forward to with Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat II.  However, it’s hard to forget the dark ages of Video Game Adaptations, the ones that got it all wrong, that might’ve made money but made no one happy and…yeah I’ll admit some of them I do like in a so bad theyre good kind of way.  Maybe it’s because I grew up with a lot of them and watched them a ton, some bad video game movies can get an amusing chuckle out of me and I might, dare I say, even genuinely enjoy them.  So, on today’s Top 5 Wednesday, I’m counting down my personal picks for the Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Video Game Adaptations. 

 

Pokemon: The First Movie-Mewtwo Strikes Back

When Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock receive an invitation to meet the worlds greatest Pokemon trainer, it’s a chance they cant pass up.  Little do they know, they’re walking into their biggest and most dangerous adventure to date when they meet Mewtwo, a clone of an illusive legendary Pokemon.  Tired of Human arrogance and Pokemon dependency, Mewtwo seeks to eliminate both and start his own world of those made in his image.  Against foes even Ash and his Pokemon cant handle, the only hope for the world rests in the very Pokemon Mewtwo was born from: Mew.

Released in 1998 in Japan and in 1999 in America, Pokemon: The First Movie arrived at just the right time for Pokemon fans all over the world.  The legendary Video Game and Anime had taken the world by storm and you can be anticipation for its first feature length film was through the roof.  It even teases a match between two of the strongest and rarest Pokemon at the time: Mewtwo vs. Mew. So how is Pokemon: The First Movie?  Well, let’s just say it wasn’t what was constantly advertised at the time of its release and that’s both a good and bad thing.