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First Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution Reactions Call It A Nostalgic Hit

Hot off the trails of Warner Bros.’ successful live action adaption Detective Pikachu, the next animated Pokémon film, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution, is headed straight to Japanese theaters July 12th. Though, no release date has been revealed stateside, fans at the 2019 Anime Expo were treated to a special screening last night, and reactions are slowly rolling in on social media.

Pokemon-The-Movie-Mewtwo-Strikes-Back-Evolution

The Pokémon Company is having quite a year. Hot off the trails of Warner Bros.’ successful live action adaption Detective Pikachu, the next animated Pokémon film, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution, is headed straight to Japanese theaters next week. Though, no release date has been revealed stateside, fans at the 2019 Anime Expo were treated to a special screening last night, and reactions are slowly rolling in on social media.

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The film, which is a nearly shot-for-shot CGI remake of Pokémon: The First Movie, finds Ash and his friends lured to a mysterious island, where the villainous Mewtwo has trapped them as a part of a larger villainous scheme. Updating the very first Pokémon movie, which broke box office records upon its 1998 release in the United States and is still beloved by ‘90s kids today, quickly drew the ire of many fans. After the first trailer debuted online, many of these feelings were worsened by the new digital animation style, with some claiming that the familiar designs of human characters like Brock and Misty now look too creepy and off model.

But according to last night’s reactions, those who were alarmed by the footage won’t have anything to worry about, as audiences will be treated to a nonstop joyride of nostalgia once the story kicks off:

If these early reactions are anything to go by, The Pokémon Company has another surefire hit on its hands. Add this to the box office success of Detective Pikachu, another new wave of popularity for Pokémon Go, and the highly anticipated release of Sword & Shield for the Nintendo Switch, and this is a pretty great year to be a Pokémon fan.

Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution is set to open July 12th in Japanese theaters, while an English language dub is set to release in the West later this year.