Honest Thoughts- Pokémon Horizons Doesn't Need a Movie, The Anime Needs a Reboot.

Hey everyone- with Pokémon Horizons winding down its most recent storyline, I thought it would be a good time to talk about what comes next. Though the cast has expressed interest in a movie; I’m not certain about that for a couple reasons. The first is how the movies have been on hiatus since 2021; and the second is how the “Tera Leak” is suggesting the next one will be another reboot. More to the point, I thought that would be a good time to see how such an idea would fare in an age where anything is open to the concept at any time. Here is why I don't think Pokémon Horizons needs a movie; and instead, the TV anime could use a reboot.

Let’s start with the aforementioned hiatus the movies have been on for a few years. Though Pokémon Secrets of the Jungle (known as Pokémon Coco in Japan) was well-received; it ultimately underperformed financially in its homestead as a result of two major factors- the pandemic, and the juggernaut success of “Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train.” It even surpassed Makoto Shinkai’s “Your Name” as the most successful Japanese language film ever. The “I Choose You” timeline as a whole was personally a more effective attempt at a character-driven story than HZ; and if/when Project Bauer (codename for the movie reboot) comes to fruition, something along those lines can be done to adapt the games.

This brings me to my next point- the source material. Though the discourse over both this anime and Journeys is ongoing; there is one constant between them. Whenever it adapts the source material, people tend to appreciate the story more than when it deviates from it. 

More than that, though there isn't anything inherently wrong with the story of Horizons; a sizable amount of the audience (Hello.) couldn’t really get into it. For every viewer that sees the “mystery box” as a benefit; there are others that see it as a detriment to the plot (Hello again.). That, and it’s not clear whether the movie would be a side story or canon to HZ. There’s also the fact that so many narrative threads that are reaching their end; especially the central storyline. Realistically, there’s a question about where the anime could even go after this last arc concludes; if anywhere.

With the “Tera Leak” informally confirming that HZ is in the same continuity of the previous anime; there has been persistent talk about how they might formally confirm it. I suppose if I did pitch a movie about HZ, it would be something of a “crisis crossover” to celebrate the vast legacy of the franchise.

Courtesy: The Pokémon Company/ShoPro/TV Tokyo

Barring that, I am very much open to the idea of rebooting the TV series. There are actually plenty of great animated reboots that not only honored their source material; but vastly improved on it. Even I, someone who still watches and enjoys the legacy seasons would love to see what could be done with modern animation techniques. I would keep what worked about previous seasons and leave the rest to tell the story, but that’s just me. One last thing- I would definitely not be above embracing the more out there elements of the source material; something that has been done with multiple recent video game adaptations to great effect.

 

The success of Dragon Ball Daima has proven that you can reimagine a beloved story while still retaining what made it memorable at the start; it is possible. 

In a time where many anime reboots can honor and even surpass their seniors; I think the time is certainly right to reboot this one. I will see you all after the Pokémon Presents, take care.