Pokémon Ranger e il Tempio del Mare

Ever since Pokémon's anime began, fans could not get enough of the adventures of Ash and friends. Season after season and film after film, the truly devoted Pokébuffs would be there to watch the adventures unfold. Much of the reason behind this was the original voice cast and the studio behind it. 4Kids Entertainment may not have been the most prestigious of children's programming but they did assist in bringing anime to the west. However to many followers' shock, the company wouldn't renew their representation agreement thus handing over the brand to new management beginning 2006. With that came one the most notable changes; different voice actors. To this day, several people remain unhappy with the abrupt turn and have not followed the franchise since. That doesn't mean the franchise itself stopped though because a new film came out anyway.

The story, as expected continues the journey of Ash and friends. This time, they're crossing paths with two parties - the Marina group who are descendants of a tribe called the People of the Water and Phantom the Pirate. What Phantom is after is a Pokémon egg from Manaphy, a rare Pokémon that is known as the prince of the sea. It is this Pokémon that could lead Phantom to his greatest plunder. Despite the US production changing hands, the Japan side hasn't. The Yuyama and Sonoda duo haven't gone anywhere and maintain their regular positions. Doing the English adaptation this time was Armen Mazlumian as director and James Carter Cathcart for the screenplay. Both also perform as voice actors. For plot, there's an attempt to make it stand out but it does walk on very familiar ground.

The execution of the story feels very much like Pokémon: Jirachi - Wish Maker (2003) with some minor changes in perspective. Instead of Max becoming the main focus where he develops a bond with Jirachi, it's May who becomes attached to Manaphy. While changing the attention to another character is something that should be done, having it feel like the same scenario from another movie doesn't exactly make it feel all that new. May's relationship with Manaphy is touching, but enough to say its unique enough. Additionally, Phantom as the villain isn't all that fleshed out. He's certain not the poor quality that was Lawrence III, but he's not better by a huge margin either. Phantom is a pirate...okay so his motivation is just to be king of the sea? It's pretty generic since that could've been the motivation without knowing the whole Manaphy egg subplot.

Regardless of that, the biggest hurdle fans have to overcome is the difference in voice cast. Which in all honesty is acceptable. Upon initially hearing the change it is jarring because it sounds like the actors are trying to play as the original cast. To some extent it can be understood why but it makes it all the more apparent. Nonetheless, over time the voices sound more natural. Sarah Natochenny replacing Veronica Taylor as Ash Ketchum takes some getting used to but it's best to keep in mind she was given the role at age 19. Also replacing Veronica Taylor and Rachael Lillis is Michele Knotz as May and Jessie. Knotz actually does a decent job taking on these characters almost sounding exactly the same. Kayzie Rogers as Max is okay but the actors who stand out the most is James Carter Cathcart as James and Bill Rogers as Brock. All the acting is fine but it's just the sound that needs getting used to.

Visually speaking, the look of the film continues to maintain its standard. Cinematography again was handled by Takaya Mizutani however that was done. The animation itself though is on prior entries as well, perhaps improving its CGI renders slightly, but not by much. And as expected, like Mizutani and the other Japanese members listed before Shinji Miyazaki returns again for composing music for this entry. This time, Miyazaki gives his score some Caribbean flavor by adding steel drums to his orchestra. Of course that is when the scene calls for it. And not like it needs to be said either but no domestic album release for this score as well. Guess there really just aren't enough Pokébuffs out there who demand the scores to these films. Oh well.

Devotees of the earlier seasons may struggle to get over the change in voice cast more than the actual story itself. It's not vastly different from other entries but can entertain its fan base. The new voice cast gives a good first effort, the music still is nice and the animation keeps consistency.

This movie is so cute and i recommend it to the Pokémon advanced fans who wrote positive reviews about the series. Manaphy is, without a doubt, the cutest Pokémon i've ever loved and managed to get my hands on. May plays a vital role in this movie, because she has gotten along with Manaphy. the voice actors did a good job voicing the actors, but pretty decent than the 4kids voice actors were considered better than the voice actors after the pasta la vista episode. but what's great about this movie? Manaphy and it's cutest voice. the water effects were decent, so it's not that bad after all. Manaphy should definitely make more appearances, like every other episodes in a hypothesis spin off other than Pokémon chronicles. as i mentioned, May is my favorite Pokémon character along with Mira, Molly Hale, leader Whitney, leader Jasmine, leader Roxanne, leader Flannery, leader Winona, leader Maylene, leader Candice, leader Elesa, and leader Skyla, and a good possibility of Iris with a dragon-type Unova Pokémon with her. Pokemon of Japan, you've made my Pokemon memories so light-hearted.

Plot Summary: Constantly moving throughout the ocean the Temple of the Sea exists invisible to human eyes. It is here that the Sea Crown exists. Phantom the Pirate has captured the egg of a Manaphy, the only Pokémon able to locate the temple. However, his plans are ruined when Jack Walker, a Pokémon Ranger, interferes. Along the way, Ash Ketchum and his friends manage to get caught up in the adventure to return Manaphy to it's home. But along the way Manaphy and May form a special bond.

By the way, Manaphy's portrayal was loosely based on a human Baby, because Japanese animators wanted something different than American little girls would normally expect, Right?!

Since, Manaphy is still a baby, of course, she'll cry. However It does sound a bit weird since Baby animals rarely fall into such a human niche.

Of course, Little Girls in America, like me wouldn't expect Manaphy's Portrayal to be based on a human baby that way!!

So, If you like Manaphy and It's "Human" baby portrayal, This Pokémon movie is for you!! :D

So bye!! :D

I really like this one and it's another one I find to be underrated. This was the last Pokémon movie of the Hoenn region and the last great one before the quality of the TV show and the movies started to slip.

The story is engaging with Phantom the pirate going after the Temple of the Sea to find the sea crown. I really liked Phantom as a villain. He was quite entertaining and suitably vile. Ranger Jack was a very interesting character, and I thought it was pretty cool for a Pokémon ranger to be a part of the adventure.

I don't care what anybody says. I thought Manaphy was adorable. Her relationship with May was much more appealing than Max's relationship with Jirachi three movies ago. It was nice that May got her own movie.

With the gang journeying to the Temple of the Sea, the film has a great sense of adventure. The scope of the film is epic and the sea temple was a wonder to behold. The animation is as good as ever, even if there is some really bad CGI here and there.

The action in this film is also quite epic, especially the action taking place at the sea temple. The scene where Ash goes to put the crystal back was exciting and the music score used for that scene was simply perfect.

This is another strong Pokémon movie. It's too sad that after the Hoenn region, things started to go bad with rehashes of old material and other stuff that just doesn't work. Recommended for fans of the series.

RATING: B+

I have two younger siblings (aged 5 and 8) who LOVE Pokémon. They watch the TV show every day without fail, have stuffed animals, the video games, pictures on their walls, and they can tell you about almost every Pokémon there is.

Being 20, I seen Pokémon as a child and liked it as well, so I thought I'd go and rent some of the older movies to show them the originals. Well, getting there I realized there were 12 and decided to get them all. We watched them out of order but it didn't really matter. Over the course of a weekend, the 4th movie we seen was Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. My 5 year old brother wanted to see this and was excited about the ranger and the pirates.

The beginning of the movie made it seem like we were in for a good one but after about a half hour the whole thing got old. I thought it was just me being older and not wanting to see it but it didn't keep the kids' interest and they told me this one was boring. We ended up finishing the movie but the last 20 minutes were filled with 'is the movie done yet?" These kids LOVED the other ones we've seen and the only ones we haven't are the next 2 after this. They still beg to see more Pokémon movies which I plan on showing them the final 2 today, but this one was by far their LEAST favourite. It just kept on going! It's a bit longer than the rest of the movies and I think if they cut the story down to the length the rest of the movies are, maybe it would have been paced well enough to keep their interest. It would get interesting and then not, the characters introduced were annoying, and the Pokémon they find cries throughout the first hour which even got annoying for my baby loving 8-year-old sister (she told me it needed to stop crying).

Ultimately, the graphics are VERY good compared to the previous movies, but the characters tended to get annoying and this made it least enjoyable for me and the two little ones.