Customer Reviews

Pokemon - Jirachi Wish Maker

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker may have gone direct to video, but that doesn't mean it's not as good as previous installments. In fact, in some ways this entry could very well be the best Pokemon movie so far, especially in the way the franchise seems to have grown up with it's original fans.
The basic premise of the movie is that Ash and company attend a festival for the Millenium Comet, which only comes to earth once every thousand years. They meet a magician named Butler and his assistant Diane, who have found Jirachi deep in an isolated forest and convince Max to befriend it. However, Butler has dark motives and it's not long before he is found out and it's up to Max, Ash and the others to save Jirachi.
The story is actually quite good, considering this is a direct release. This time, Ash takes a back seat to May and Max, and we get to see their characters really develop. The themes of the movie, such as the relationship between brother and sister, and having to say goodbye to friends, are subtle at first, but by the end of the movie you realize they've been around all the time. We even get some foreshadowing for Season Seven of the tv series... the only thing that disappointed me was the lack of a theme song during the opening credits, but the Pokemon Advanced theme really wouldn't have fit the action on screen, so it was probably the right decision to exclude it.
One thing I would like to add... this is a film for the older Pokemon fans. Parents would be advised that the movie might be a bit intense for their littlest Poke-fans, especially the creature Butler creates near the end. I'm a college grad, and it creeped even ME out! The accompaning Pikachu short, however, is perfect for all ages.
If I liked the film so much, why only four stars? Well, Miramax and 4Kids have done better with this release than the previous two. There are no color tint errors this time around (ie, Pikachu doesn't appear green in some scenes) and the production values are quite high. But some of their decisions are still baffling. The movie end credits, the Pikachu short, the music video, even the DVD menus are all presented in widescreen, but the main feature is not. It just doesn't make sense why they could not present the main feature in widescreen as well. The ending song includes Japanese lyrics, the music video is completely Japanese, the director's message is Japanese, yet there is no Japanese language option for the main feature. It's just very frustrating and odd. Perhaps they're planning on releasing special widescreen versions of the films down the road...
At any rate, despite the shortcomings, Pokemon fans will really dig this entry. It definately competes with Pokemon 3 and Pokemon Heroes as the best entry in the series.

Kudos to "Pokemon" for turning out yet another wonderful masterpiece!Like"Pokemon Heroes" and the other "Pokemon" films,JWM has a unique plot,well-rounded characters,and plenty of action,suspense ,comedy and drama!And the scenes are breath-taking and well-animated!

Get this for your family today and watch everyone's faces light up with pure joy!

This 6th movie's gotta be the best of them all! I mean, Jirachi doesn't appear as often as most people would like...

Anyway! This movie is in the Pokemon Advanced series, as in May takes Misty's place (I hate that!). Max is Jirachi new best friend! ^__^ It's so cute the way he fell asleep with Jirachi's big, crystal rock in his arms! And there's a small part that gives a small hint of Ash liking Misty!

The mini movie is in the extras (Like always), and it's called "Gotta Dance." It's basically how Meowth gets this cool stick that can make Pokemon dance, but it's really cute! ^___^

I highly recommend this to ANYone who's a huge fan of Pokemon, or has been into it for a very long time! And here's another thing... I think I was one of the first ones to get this DVD a week before it came out because a certain movie, DVD and CD store forgot not to put it on the shelves yet! Hah Hah!!

This movie was so awesome! I'll admit, it did start off rather slow, but this movie is so different from all the others before it!! The animation was beautiful and fluent, and so was the music! Thank you Miramax for keeping the original Japanese music in this film too, although I wished that there was a Japanese audio too. Maybe later I hope. Some of the scenery in the movie was so breath-taking!! The story was very exciting as it got going, especially at the end with the fake Groudon. I loved the scene where Ash and Max are flying around on the Flygon and Butler is on Salamence. The ending song "Chiisaka Mono" in Japanese, or "Make a Wish" in Enlish, is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. The Japanese singer puts so much emotion into her singing, its gorgeous and makes the music video one of the biggest reasons to buy this movie! I also like the fact that there was some romance going on with the two new characters, Butler and Diane. However the voice acting left a lot to be desired. Some of it sounded like a tv dub, Diane's voice was great, but Butler...well it was ok. But it sort of took away from the film. I was about ready to pound that Flygon, very annoying. And the movie actually focuses on a character other than Ash!! *gasp* Thank God! Max & Jirachi were the main focus, with Butler and Diane being secondary focuses. Which made the movie very interesting and a lot more enjoyable than the old "Ash saves the world from certain doom" theme. Not very much air time for Jessie, James and Meowth though, which was a dissapointment. The Pokemon short on this dvd, "Gotta Dance" is hilarious!! The original song for this short was "Polka wa Dolka" and I prefer the Japanese singing to the English-its better on the ears. >_< Very cute song though, makes me wanna dance too. ^_^ All in all, this is a movie that should definetally be on your favorite's list!! Thank you Shogakukan and keep up the good work!!

As an avid Pokemon fan I couldn't wait to see this film, I have all the films so far in both Japanese (as the UK is also region 2 so I get the originals from Japan) and English.
However, as I couldn't find Jirachi Wish Maker in Japan and I only have the original version of the short 'Odoru Pokemon Himitsu Kichi' (appaulingly dubbed 'Gotta Dance' in English) I had to settle for just the English version of this film.

I feel that the plots of the films are beginning to slip, well, it's not really suprising as this is the SIXTH installment.
The story to this film was VERY dull, and Jirachi wasn't as much cute as he was annoying ! Although I am glad that they let another character take over the limelight other than Ash (Satoshi) and Max (Masato) did a great job as main character.

As usual, nintendo of America made many dubbing mistakes that just make you want to cringe, for example, when Max wishes for 'candy' Jirachi not only makes candy appear but also boxes of crackers and crisps (or chips to Americans) surely wishing for 'snacks' would have made more sense, even a three year old could see that !

The animation is very rich in quality, which is impressive, but sadly this is ruined by the less than perfect voice acting. Even Veronica Taylor who has had years of experience playing the role of Ash sounded like she had a sore throat at times, this can never live up to Rika Matsumoto's flawless performances as Satoshi.

Although impressed that they kept the Japanese background soundtrack (including the instrumental version of 'Advance Adventure' the original Japanese opening theme song) the English versions of 'Chisaki Mono' ('Make A Wish') and the even worse attempt at 'Polka O Dolka' (the theme song from Gotta Dance) can only be described as vomit-enducing to all those with a sense of hearing.

As for the short, it is simply terrible !!! and yet, I love the Japanese version, this just goes to show that original really is best. Do yourself a favour and buy the DVD from Japan.
I am glad that they have started showing the ending videos along with the shorts though - the one triumph of Miramax over WB !

Problems aside, I generously gave this film a 4/5 rating simply because I'm too much of a Pokemon fan to be able to rate this any lower.
If you are not a huge fan of Pokemon then you will simply hate this film ! But not to worry, the first 5 are really good so check those out instead =D

When Jirachi is heard by Max, Mays little brother at the magic show at the Mellinium Fair. It turns out that Jirachi was sleeping for 1,000 years and ONLY comes out once every 1,000 years. So the magician who really used to work for Team Maga wants the power of Jirachi to create a real walking breathing Groudon! It is a battle to the finish! Will the magician finally make his wish come true? Or even if he does how will he control a Groudon? Find out in this action packed movie!

Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker centers around the Millennium Comet. This comet appears in the night sky for seven nights once every 1,000 years (hence, its name). The legendary Pokemon named Jirachi also awakens from its slumber when the comet comes in order to absorb the comet's energy. A magician named Butler, along with his partner Diane, find the stone that encases Jirachi. Ash and his friends become involved when Max is able to hear Jirachi from the stone during a performance put on by Butler and Diane.

Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker clocks in at 81 minutes, which is just the right length for the story being told in the film. Like the other Pokemon films, some attempts were made to combine computer graphics with the 2D animation. Unfortunately, the computer animated portions are still standing out too much from the 2D animation and calling attention to itself.

On this disc, the short "Gotta Dance," which was shown before the film in Japanese theaters, is included as one of the special features. In this short, Team Rocket has built a new base. They have captured three Whismur to help provide entertainment when Giovanni (the leader of Team Rocket) arrives to see the base. Meowth creates a special baton to make the Whismur cooperate. Pikachu, as well as some of the Pokemon owned by Ash and his friends, find themselves at the base. Much of the humor in the short is derived from the running gag of the baton being inadvertently turned on or off.

The next special feature is a trivia game. This is exactly like the trivia games that appeared on Pokemon 4Ever and Pokemon Heroes. The disc randomly chooses a set of seven questions, and the viewer uses the remote to answer them.

Next is "Message from the Director, Mr. Yuyama." This 45-second feature is in Japanese with English subtitles. The director thanks the audience for watching the movie, and he says he is location scouting for the next movie.

The "Make a Wish" music video is for the song that is used in the ending credits of the film. The video, which runs for about six minutes, combines footage of the singer with footage from the film; most of the film footage used features Jirachi. At the beginning, the video is labeled as "Pokemon Edit"; I assume that means that this version of the video included footage from Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker.

The "Pokemon Character Scrapbook" is a series of still images that not only include pictures of most of the Pokemon shown in the film or the short, but also include the name, the height, weight, species, and abilities for each one. The Pokemon included in this feature are: Absol, Flygon, Dusclops, Kirlia, Pikachu, Whismur, Torchic, Mudkip, Lotad, Ludicolo, Loudred, Seviper, Wobbuffet, Treecko, and Cacnea. However, it should be noted that Meowth was not included in this feature.

The final extra on the disc is "Jirachi Wish Maker Original Artwork," which is a series of still images. The images included in this feature are stills from the movie, production art, and even a storyboard.

Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker is a good film. The DVD extras are also a little better than what appeared on some of the earlier DVD releases of the Pokemon films. If you're a fan of Pokemon, you should have this film in your DVD collection.

This pokemon movie is amazing! It's about Ash, May, Max and Brock going to a fair that comes every thousand years. While there, they go to a magic show where Max hears Jirachi talking to him from a crystal! The magician lets Max keep Jirachi only to find out Jirachi stays for one week! During that week the gang finds out that the magician is evil and uses Jirachi to bring to life a legendary pokemon! It's a little sad for kids under the age of 7. Even I cried and I'm 11. But it's also funny, like when Max and Jirachi were in the tea cups and got dizzy.If you like pokemon you must get this movie.

This pokemon movie is amazing!It's about Ash,May,Max and brock going to a fair that comes every thousand years. While there they go to a magic
show.Then Max hears Jirachi talking to him from a cristel!The magician
lets Max keep Jirachi but then only to find out he's evil!But will he
get Jirachi?This is the most funniest,sadest,cutest pokemon movie sinse
pokemon heroes!

Pokemon is only for kids? Not really, if you don't believe this, watch Jirachi Wish Maker, it'll probably alter you view point on this series...

Anime romance? Yup, Pokemon 6th movie has it, Bulter and Diane's bond of love is more than enough to portray this aspect, although we won't see kissing and more mature contents in this movie, the idea of love is presented clear enough that even younger children will understand

Anime action? Plenty. The movie takes time over a 7-day period, as each day passes, the story gets more and more intense until a full explosion of action packed adventure on the 7th night. Flying, falling, fire breaths, beams, tentacles, evil energies are joining together to create the best graphical effect you won't find in the previous Pokemon movies

Themes? Unforgettable. As usual, friendship is emphasized in Pokemon films, but there's more: the film also shows how a person could change after a negative impact that destroys his/her confidence in life; how going against nature could create disasters and unwanted problems for not only humans, but other species living in the same world as humans do...

Graphics and sounds are similar to Pokemon Heroes, with improved cel-shading overall. One downside of this movie is that Characters' voices seem too loud, they don't blend in with the background music that well; but this shouldn't affect the atmosphere the movie creates.

A worth mentioning point in this movie is that the theme song Making a Wish is very catchy, and it alternates between English and Japanese, 4Kids finally begins to realize that keeping something original is more welcomed by anime fans than writing and composing new musics on their own. In addition, there's no intro theme for this movie, the story gets into its position right away, no more time wasted on some Pokemon battles with theme song playing in the background...

In general, Pokemon Jirachi Wish Maker is more than just a kid's show, older generations can watch it together with younger ones and understand the themes at a different level. The movie is worth the money and time!