Bakugan Trivia Time!

Because it wasn't fair to Bakugan otherwise.

• Chan Lee is most likely a reference to Jackie Chan and the Lee family (Bruce Lee and his son Brandon Lee).
• An interesting fact is to note, that during the first episode of each season Dan has a different illusion. In "the original series", during his battle against Shuji, Dan had a illusion of Drago, in "New Vestroia" at the beginning of the episode he "heard" Drago, and in "Gundalian Invaders" he had a illusion about the Twelve Orders after battling Ren. 
• Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders is also the only series to drop "Battle Brawlers" in its name.
• Shun is the only member of the Bakugan Brawlers who has not, as of yet, used his Battle Gear.
• They say Dan is ranked number one, but an interesting fact to note is he actually has a record of a normal brawler (a lot of losses, a lot of wins) were other brawlers ranked in the average have a great record.
• Jake's original last name was listed as "Rockwell". 
• In episode five of Battle Brawlers, Runo's mom complains that there isn't a single picture of her, you can see a picture of the entire family, herself included. 
• In episode 35, it is shown that Preyas can talk to cats.
• Hydron and his father are the only Vexos that do not have a last name.
• Subterra is the only Attribute to not end in an S.
• Masquerade is the only character to defeat all of the Brawlers.
• Dan was the first character to use a triple ability in the anime.
• Alpha Hydranoid may be based off of the Russian legend of zmey.
• All of Marucho's guardians are laid back. 
• It's stated on his profile on Bakugan.com that Ace is in love with Mira, which is one of the reasons why he doesn't like Dan that much.
• If one pre-ordered the DS version from Gamestop or EB Games, they would get a DS case with Shun, Dan, and Marucho on it. 
• Minx Elfin's real form resembles the uniform of Sailor Moon in the SuperS season, while Minx's Darkus mode resembles Sailor V's costume. 
• Stoica is the only non-minor member of the Twelve Orders to show his human form.
• Kazarina is shown to have violet eyes in episode 17. 
• Sid Arcale's hair seems to be modeled after the hair of famed X-Men character Wolverine.
• The episode "A Fish Called Tayghen" is titled after the movie "A Fish Called Wanda". Likewise, the episode "Dude, Where's My Bakugan" is a reference to the movie "Dude, Where's My Car".
• Tentaclear is the only non-mechanical Guardian Bakugan of an important character that cannot talk (possibly due to the fact Tentaclear is a giant eyeball and therefore likely lacks a mouth). 
• The shields on Fangoid resemble PokeBalls.
• In the original series, at the intermission where there is a brawler and their Bakugan, it showed Alice along with a rabbit holding a pocket watch. This is likely a reference to Alice in Wonderland and the White Rabbit. 
• Leonidas was named after Leonidas I who was the King of Sparta and led the 300 Spartans against a much greater Persian force. 
• Merlix is named after Merlin of Arthurian legend.
• When you start a battle in Bakugan Dimensions, the brawler on the right of the intro is throwing an Aquos Coredem. 
• Spectra Phantom and Gus are the only two Brawlers to use more than one Attribute in New Vestroia.
• Ventus was mostly overlooked in New Vestroia, as only two Brawlers, Shun and Lync, posseseed the Attribute.
•  Akwimos' cry is similar to a cross between a dolphin and killer whale cry.

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Reshiram and Zekrom to join Pikachu at the Macey's Thanksiving Day Parade

It looks like Pikachu won’t be the only Pokemon balloon in Manhattan’s annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as has been the case for the past decade; according to a new press release, Reshiram and Zekrom will debut alongside the electric mouse as well! You can read the full press release below. The parade will air on NBC this Thursday at 9:00 AM, which is where you can see the Pokemon. How exciting!

BELLEVUE, WA– Turkey, pumpkin pie and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®; Thanksgiving traditions shared by millions of Americans across the country. One Thanksgiving tradition is commemorating a milestone in 2010 — Pikachu! The Pokémon Company International announced today that the world renowned Electric-type Pokémon™ will celebrate its 10th anniversary participating in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Accompanying Pikachu in New York City will be two brand new Legendary Pokémon, Reshiram and Zekrom, from the highly anticipated Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version video games launching worldwide spring 2011 for the Nintendo DS™ family of systems.

For their debuts, Reshiram and Zekrom will each stand an imposing 14 feet tall, a dramatic kick-off to exciting, never-before-seen Pokémon reveals, news and events all tied to the launch of Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version video games. Pikachu’s balloon handlers will also celebrate the upcoming games, dressing the part in black and white uniforms.

“Pikachu’s participation in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of our favorite events of the year and we’re proud to have been involved in such an iconic event over the past decade,” said J.C. Smith, director of Consumer Marketing for The Pokémon Company International. “Having Reshiram and Zekrom join the Pikachu balloon makes this year’s parade extra special for us as we begin to reveal more exciting details about the Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version video games.”

In the coming weeks and months, Pokémon fans can get exclusive information about the brand new titles by visiting www.PokemonBlackWhite.com, launched this week. Exclusive details will be added frequently leading up to the spring launch of Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version video games.

Sauce

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Starters Names in English!

Tsutarja, Pokabu, and Mijumaru? No more! Still calling the region Isshu? Time to get an update! You ready?

Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott are the names of the grass, fire, and water Pokemon respectively. Not too sure how I feel about the Mijumaru's English name, but I like how fitting Tsutarja's name. Oh, and Isshu is now Unova, which the awesome people at PokeBeach translated roughly to "One New" from the latin words "Unum" and "Nova". Cool right?

Also:

-Zekrom will be known as the Deep Black Pokemon with the Teravolt ability.

-Reshiram will be known as the Vast White Pokemon with the Turboblaze ability.

Thanks to PokeBeach for the info, and thanks to my brother for telling me that the info was out! :D


Ian's Edit: Snivy seems to be a mixture of snake and ivy, Tepig is tepid (which means warm) and obviously pig. Oshawott...I have no idea. The "wott" could be both water and otter, but I'm not sure about the Osha.

Magica Avventura Winx VS Witches Alfea Battle in Russian!

Black and White English Starter Names to Be Revealed on November 22nd!

Hey everyone! On November 22nd, this Monday, the Black and White starters' names are going to be revealed on pokemon.com! Here's the picture they show:



I'M REEAAALLLYYY EXCITED! I would have posted this sooner, but I was running errands today and didn't notice until I got back. I'll keep you guys posted, and I'll tell you all on Monday!

SUPER AWESOME QUALITY! Magica Avventura Believix and Opening in Russian!

Everyone, thank wizkid696 for this super awesome video! It's amazing how fast things get across the internet, huh?

Magica Avventura Clips

So, I know I haven't been a very good admin lately. School's been tough, and for some reason, all of my writers disappeared. Listen. *crickets chirp* SEE!? So, I'll try my best to get the Winx news up, but if I seem a bit late in it, sorry about that. Oh yeah, and, Magica Avventura hit Italy October 29th.

Italian Fight Scenes and Believix:



A little over 8 minute long Italian preview:



Italian Opening:



Iginio Straffi Interview (and some clips with him talking over them):



Italian Preview:

How Pokemon Get Made

When Ken Sugimori first started Game Freak in the early '80s, it was nothing but a video-game fanzine he co-created with his pal Satoshi Tajiri. Now he's the main 2D art director on the Pokemon series, and Tajiri is famous worldwide as the man that not only gave Nintendo a billion-dollar franchise, but almost singlehandedly saved the Game Boy from irrelevancy at one point.

One would think, therefore, that the monster design process for Pokemon Black and White was a regimental, heavily overseen affair. Not so. "There's about 17 people in our design team, and generally what happens is they each draw their own Pokemon and then they get discussed over group meetings," he told Famitsu magazine this week. "We didn't have a very long development cycle with this game, so I had a lot of one-on-one time with each designer."

"There's no particular number that each designer needs to create," added Takao Unno, Pokemon's 3D art director. "But they come up with far, far more designs than actually get included in the game."

Sugimori's main design task for Black and White was Reshiram and Zekrom, the two legendary Pokemon that appear on the box art for each game. "Those were the main ones," he said. "We had previously decided they would be black and white dragons, and that they'd be Fire and Electric type. I wanted to have a pretty stark contrast between the two, so Reshiram was given a light, airy, ladylike design while Zekrom has a much tougher and manly look. The tails on both Pokemon are the central points of their respective designs -- they're based off of those electric turbines you see, and they give the impression that they're these great big generators of fire or electric energy."

The designs for the three starter Pokemon in Black and White, meanwhile, were handled by younger staff at Game Freak. Pokabu, the Fire-type pig shown above, was conceived by Korean graphic designer Lee Hyun-Jung, who's mostly handled art for the Pokemon Trading Card Game up to now. "The original idea with Pokabu was to have a Pokemon that figuratively looked 'cute enough to eat' at the start, but would eventually evolve to the point where it'd wind up eating you instead," Lee told Famitsu. "Also, I read somewhere once that pigs wallow in mud because otherwise they have trouble regulating their body temperature, so I thought it'd be amusing if it shot fire out of its snout to do that instead."

A lot of thought goes into the starter Pokemon and their respective roles, as you'd expect. "Out of the first three Pokemon, we eventually decided that Tsutaja [the Grass type] would be the 'cool' one and Mijumaru [the Water type] would be the 'cute' one," Lee said. "Pokabu wound up being more of the 'sidekick' sort -- clumsy but lovable. He gradually evolves and matures into something a lot more reliable as you play, so it makes the effort to raise him seem pretty worth it, I think."

As for Mijumaru and his evolutions, designer Yusuke Ohmura decided to make him the 'den mother' figure looking over the other two starters. "Janobii and Chaoboo [Tsutaja and Pokabu's first evolutions, respectively] were already done up by the time I worked on Mijumaru's evolutions, so I envisioned something that could get in between those two and stop them whenever they got in a fight," he said. "For Daikenki [Mijumaru's final evolution], I decided that a full-on change in shape would be the best. I caught a trained-seal show at the Sunshine International Aquarium in Ikebukuro around that time, and it really impressed me how strong those seals were -- they just seemed so powerful, especially the sound they made when they stamped on the ground. I worked that into the design, and Daikenki was the result."

When asked what the hardest part of Black/White development was, Unno and Sugimori being up the sheer amount of work animating each Pokemon proved to be. "A lot of people think that our graphic designers do nothing but the basic Pokemon portraits," Unno said, "but they're also responsible for the in-game pixel art and 3D sequences. Since we have the Pokemon constantly moving during battle, we had to decide how each one would act when executing this or that move, or what they should look like when they were put to sleep or whatever. It was a lot more work than I ever imagined it'd be."

"Since you can bring in your old Pokemon after finishing the story, we also had to add new animation to all of the Pokemon in the book," Sugimori added. "It was just a massive quantity of work, and I really respect everyone on the team for plowing through it."

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Pokemon Black and White moved forward to first Quarter 2011 in North America

When Nintendo announced Pokémon: Black and White for North America at E3 it was a "spring 2011" title. Nintendo’s latest bit of supplemental financial data says something else.

According to the Q2 report, we’re getting Pokémon: Black and White in "CY2011/Q1" or, in plain English, the first quarter of 2011.

Here’s how Nintendo listed Pokémon: Black and White in July 29, 2010.

And here’s their Nintendo DS lineup as of October 29, 2010.

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