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News Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon special streaming on Pokemon.com

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Cybersai

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For those that didn't see it yet, Pokemon.com is streaming the infamous Mastermind of Mirage pokemon special on Pokemon.com:

Mastermind Mewtwo Pokemon special

Although the special basically promotes Mewtwo and Mew, it also holds other important distinctions for Pokemon anime fans:

1. It represented the debut of the PUSA voice actors back in 2006. This special was the first thing PUSA dubbed, and thus the first time we heard the new voices that would continue with the anime for the rest of its run. Its actually kinda funny going back to hearing what they used to sound like and seeing how they changed over 6 years. (Granted, none of these characters besides Ash and TR are in the anime anymore anyway).

2. Although we didn't know this at the time it originally aired, this would be Misty's final appearance in the anime to date. Her character would never again appear in the anime after this, so this basically also wound up being Misty's final role in the anime. The last time Misty appeared in the anime was 6 years ago back at the beginning of Battle Frontier, with this special basically being the end of her character. Its also the ONLY time we hear the PUSA voice for Misty.

3. It actually references the movies, therefore making them canon. (Even though they always were).


Decent watch for nostalgia purposes I guess.
 
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Its the second one from 2006, the one where Ash was played by Sarah and May's voice was much higher.

I remember the original Mastermind dub made May sound like she was 30 years old or something.
 
This are rather good news for those who never had chance to watch it,or want to refresh their memories.
Personally i liked Mastermind of Mirage special.It had decent plot,i liked whole story about dr.Yung and mirage system to create pokemon holographs and it was saddening to see Mew end up in such a tragic way regardless of not being real . Characters were entertaining and May and Misty friendship was nicely played out there,and i think it was nice touch to gather all past and current traveling companions for 10th anniversarry special making sense.Afterall each of them represented certain generation being important when on cast,so it was logical to have them receive some sort of recognition.

Only thing i disliked were new voices with Ash,Brock or May voice being pretty bad.Misty and Max took some time to adjust as well,but they were definitely more tolerable compared to other 3.

Gliscor'd said:
2. Although we didn't know this at the time it originally aired, this would be Misty's final appearance in the anime to date. Her character would never again appear in the anime after this, so this basically also wound up being Misty's final role in the anime. The last time Misty appeared in the anime was 6 years ago back at the beginning of Battle Frontier, with this special basically being the end of her character. Its also the ONLY time we hear the PUSA voice for Misty.
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We dont know if Misty will return again or not,with such assumption not having sustainable evidence to be supported.

Just because character wasnt seen for long time doesnt mean it cant be brought back later,with examples of Gary or Jessibelle in DP showing how writers can easily make absent characters relevant to story again.Since Misty was original girl and part of cast which is probably most iconic making show popular and recognized worldwide in first place,logically she will always have chance to show up again.
Not to mention her story was left unfinished with many things remaining open about goal of becoming water master,her past,ambitions etc having loose ends to be tied up and potential to offer more on table.

Lastly if i recall right in interview with mr,Hidaka(ex director)it was confirmed how Misty will continue to make appearances in future,but its no known when being stated how writers might bring her for some tournament(like they did with May)or meeting up with group somewhere on road.
So i dont agree,how character will never be seen again.
 
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At first I was like, "Pfft I can't watch the special I didn't properly watch or watch at all(don't exactly remember which) it is probably region blocked or some shit."

Then I was like "Pokémon.com, Y U NO HAVE TURKEY?"

Then I was like "Let's choose USA or something."

Then I was like "Pfft, Mewtwo event."

Then I was like "Let's try watching the episode.

Then I was like "HOLY SHIT I CAN WATCH IT OMG POKEMON.COM YOU ARE AWESOME."
 
Yeah, I feel the need to put my foot down here. By all means talk about the voices in said special and if it makes the movies canon, but this is not going to be another thread turned into "Will Misty come back?". Please instead use the search feature to find a relevant thread for this discussion. This goes for both sides.
 
Even though I think the plot is ok, I don't think I want to see it again because the voices really were hokey. I will never regret that I gave the new voices a chance, but yeah, I'm not putting myself through that again.
 
I watched it yesterday morning. It was a really good episode. I think that one must've premiered during the time when I didn't watch Pokemon because of a lack of tv to watch. It would've been even better if my computer wanted to cooperate and load the video, but oh well. It took well over an hour to watch, but didn't change the quality of the episode.
 
I could never sit through the dub of it because it hurt my ears so much, but when I watched the Special in Japanese I liked it well enough. Especially the imageshipping.
 
gryffindor1991 said:
I watched it yesterday morning. It was a really good episode. I think that one must've premiered during the time when I didn't watch Pokemon because of a lack of tv to watch. It would've been even better if my computer wanted to cooperate and load the video, but oh well. It took well over an hour to watch, but didn't change the quality of the episode.
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It aired in 2006 on KidsWB, I think it was somewhere around July or August.
 
Did we ever find out if this special was co-produced by 4kids prior to the dub switch ? I remember it being stated this was co written by 4kids hence why the special was aimed at Americans. Out of canon stuff like Oak owning a Dragonite and Misty claiming she was Ash's rival contribute to this.

Seriously when in Japanese canon was this ever stated? It's odd.
 
Gliscor'd said:
Did we ever find out if this special was co-produced by 4kids prior to the dub switch ? I remember it being stated this was co written by 4kids hence why the special was aimed at Americans.
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If I recall correctly, 4Kids had actually received the materials to Dub the special by mistake, and had to send it over to TPCI (PUSA at the time). This was most likely due to the fact that the 4Kids license to handle anything Pokemon related had already expired as of January 1, 2006. Other than the pre-expiration package of 52 episodes for Season and the associated movie, they no longer had control over the franchise.
 
Kazamatsuri said:
If I recall correctly, 4Kids had actually received the materials to Dub the special by mistake, and had to send it over to TPCI (PUSA at the time). This was most likely due to the fact that the 4Kids license to handle anything Pokemon related had already expired as of January 1, 2006. Other than the pre-expiration package of 52 episodes for Season and the associated movie, they no longer had control over the franchise.
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It just feels odd that the special seemed so out of character. I am not talking about the voices either, just the writing. It almost feels as if its fanfiction:

Someone came up with the idea of virtual reality pokemon, made a virtual reality Mewtwo due to its popularity, Misty randomly re-appears, Prof. Oak owns a Dragonite that we've never seen before, the special tries to act as if Misty and May don't know each other, etc.

Since we know this HAS to take place in Battle Frontier, due to May having Squirtle, its obviously set after those Pallet eps when Ash came home from Hoenn. Its just strange that it feels more fanfiction or "American written" than by the Japanese writers.
 
Hmm, I'd only ever watched clips of that to sample the apparently awful voice acting in the special - I'd never actually bothered to sit through the whole thing before. But the thing is, apart from Ash and Brock sounding a little flat (which was pretty consistent with both characters' voice actors for their first couple of years on the show) the other characters (Oak, May, Max, TR) were all pretty much on par in the redubbed version with how they sound(ed) today/in their latest appearence - that is to say, they were pretty good - and after having six years to get used to them, sounded rather normal. The way Billy Regan says "Pokemon" really bugs me for some reason, though. But that's hardly a big issue.

The real problem I have with the special is the atrocious plot. Oak with a Dragonite? Ultimate Haxorz Mewtwo? (despite the fact the only people alive who know about Mewtwo are those who were present in Mewtwo Returns) As said above, it really sounds like a crappy fanfic that was animated and (in the case of the original version, fan-)dubbed.

Still, cheers to Pokemon.com for putting it up so I could finally experience the craptasticness.
 
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Thingamajig said:
The real problem I have with the special is the atrocious plot. Oak with a Dragonite? Ultimate Haxorz Mewtwo? (despite the fact the only people alive who know about Mewtwo are those who were present in Mewtwo Returns) As said above, it really sounds like a crappy fanfic that was animated and (in the case of the original version, fan-)dubbed.

Still, cheers to Pokemon.com for putting it up so I could finally experience the craptasticness.
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Although probably nobody remembers this but me, back in 2006 when the special was first announced, it had a tagline of, "Ash, Misty and Prof. Oak must stop the evil Mastermind and Mewtwo from taking over the world!"

For some reason, May, Max and Brock weren't mentioned at all, making people thinking this special was some kind of Ash, Misty and Prof. Oak adventure. Yet in the special, May is heavily featured and Brock disappears for the majority of it to stay with Officer Jenny.

You can read the original Mastermind review thread we had here back in 2006, the complaints were hilarious.
 
Keep in mind I think it was the first Mastermind dub, where Ash wasn't played by Sarah and the voices were horriffic. May sounded 30 years old and Brock sounded off as well particularly.

This second dub came out later, which is the one on the site. May and Brock now sound more normal and how they should, and this is Sarah's first performance as Ash. This one was at least bearable, even though Ash's voice really was too flat at this point.
 
Please note: The thread is from 14 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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