Movie Substrate · Film

Pokémon: The First Movie (1998)

★ 7.0 · 1,572 ratings on TMDB

The Pokémon match of all time is here.

Pokémon: The First Movie poster★ 7.0

Determined to prove its superiority, a bio-engineered Pokémon called Mewtwo lures Ash, Pikachu and others into a Pokemon match like none before.

DirectorKunihiko Yuyama
CastAyako Shiraishi, Chinami Nishimura, Ikue Otani, Inuko Inuyama, Mayumi Izuka, Megumi Hayashibara
GenresAction, Adventure, Animation, Family
The emergence reading

In Pokémon: The First Movie, consciousness is carried by monsters and creatures — a plane of “pokemon realm”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing prejudice, identity, cloning, power, freedom.

↷ monsters and creaturesJPprejudiceidentitycloningpowerfreedom
Also inConsciousness hiding in monstersFilms about prejudiceFilms about identityFilms that move consciousness off the human
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

The Legend of Hei (2019)E8/E9 · identity, powerWolves (2014)E8/E9 · identity, powerBarbie in A Mermaid Tale (2010)E8/E9 · identity, powerBarbie: Fairytopia (2005)E8/E9 · identity, powerRise: Blood Hunter (2007)E8/E9 · identity, powerCity of Women (1980)E8/E9 · freedom, identity

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

Blade II (2002)E4/E10 · rare rung · power, prejudiceUltraviolet (2006)E4/E11 · rare rung · power, prejudiceArthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds (2010)E6/E11 · rare rung · identity, powerWarcraft (2016)E12/E13 · rare rung · power, prejudiceReturn to Oz (1985)E10/E13 · rare rung · identity, powerX-Men: The Mutant Watch (2000)E11/E12 · rare rung · identity, power

Also hides consciousness here

Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)consciousness in monsters · dragon‑kin worldAladdin (2019)consciousness in monsters · magical desert kingdomBlade (1998)consciousness in monsters · vampire underworldUnderworld: Evolution (2006)consciousness in monsters · vampire‑lycan warHellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)consciousness in monsters · mythic warKPop Demon Hunters (2025)consciousness in monsters · idol‑stage demon battleground

Same subject, different mask

The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.

Shrek 2 (2004)consciousness in animals · identity, powerDawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)consciousness in animals · identity, powerAlita: Battle Angel (2019)consciousness in machines · identity, powerCaptain Marvel (2019)consciousness in aliens · identity, powerI Am Number Four (2011)consciousness in aliens · identity, powerByzantium (2013)consciousness in the dead · identity, power

Same people

Shared director or cast.

Pokémon the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution (2019)dir. Kunihiko YuyamaPokémon the Movie 2000 (1999)dir. Kunihiko YuyamaPokémon 3: The Movie (2000)dir. Kunihiko YuyamaPokémon: Mewtwo Returns (2001)Ikue OtaniPaprika (2006)Megumi HayashibaraPerfect Blue (1998)Rica Matsumoto