Line #10 YMMV/PokemonHeroes


1	* AmericansHateTingle: The AmbiguousEnding of whether it was Bianca or Latias who kissed Ash is a rather [[BrokenBase infamous debacle]] among the Western fandom, mainly due to the latter carrying {{Squick}}y implications. In Japan, however, the ending is considered much more SugarWiki/{{heartwarming\|moments}}, with various references to the ending still being shown in the main series anime long after the movie's release (including during the famous KissingDiscretionShot from the end of ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY XYZ]]''). In general, ''Pokémon Heroes'' has a much better reception in Japan than it does in the West, with it having won [=2nd=] place in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20210801072320/https://www.nintendo-insider.com/most-memorable-pokemon-movies-as-voted-in-japan/ a Japanese poll]] for the most popular ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' movie, only beaten out by ''[[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie Mewtwo Strikes Back]]''.
2	** To give a bigger picture on how much Japan enjoys ''Heroes'': in 2017, it was voted the most popular in a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20170709022351/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2017-07-06/pokemon-heroes-latias-and-latios-tops-fan-poll-of-favorite-franchise-film/.118289 fan poll]] hosted on the Pokémon films' official website. In 2021, the Pokémon Company released a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20210927234214/https://www.pocketmonsters.net/news/4703 poll]] in Japan asking them to pick their favorite one in each category of OS, AG, DP, BW, and XY, and the winner for the OS group was ''Heroes''. Finally, for the 25th Anniversary Pokémon Film Festival in 2022, the Pokémon Company held a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20220831080906/https://www.pocketmonsters.net/news/5975 vote]] and re-released three of most popular Pokémon films in Japan that year and they were ''Heroes'', ''[[Anime/PokemonJirachiWishmaker Wish Maker]]'', and ''[[Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai Rise of Darkrai]]''.
3	* FanficFuel: [[CityOfCanals Alto Mare]] is a pretty popular choice of places used in fanfics. Being based on Venice no doubt helps its cause.
4	* FanPreferredCutContent: Latias was originally supposed to become one of Ash's Pokémon. However, the staff decided against it because that would have meant that the rest of Ash's Pokémon would have been OvershadowedByAwesome and that the movie would break some non-written rule in the anime that [[NonSerialMovie movies have to be not canon to the main series]]. Needless to say, fans believe that Latias ''should'' have became one of Ash's Pokémon.
5	* HarsherInHindsight:
6	** ''My Best Friends'' being the film's end credits song, considering this was the final film with the original cast. It doesn't help that it caps off a medley with the prior song being ''The Time Has Come'', which first played during ''Recap/PokemonS1E39PikachusGoodbye''' and ends its section with "Somehow, someway, we'd have to say goodbye."
7	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'', we see both [[spoiler:the Latios and Latias of that universe [[TakenForGranite killed off]] and unable to protect each other from harm.]]
8	* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:Latios dies saving Alto Mare at the end.]] A lot of fan art of the two Eon Dragons gives this away.
9	* LesYay: Annie and Oakley are the subject of a ''lot'' of shipping. Considering Jessie and James, and Butch and Cassidy are both popular ships due to their status as teammates with each other, this was hardly unexpected.
10	* MemeticMutation: Summing the movie up as the one where "[[ItMakesSenseInContext Ash kisses a Pokémon on the lips]]" is a popular joke among fans of the anime.
11	* {{Moe}}: Latias: in her human disguise she's a bonafide MysteriousWaif, and in her true form she's a cheerful, affectionate GenkiGirl of a Pokémon. She racks up multiple Woobie points along the course of the movie for good measure.
12	* {{Narm}}: Near the end, when Ash and Bianca call out to Latias and Latios, respectively, and Pikachu calls out to them as well. Since [[PokemonSpeak he can only say his own name]], it sounds like a RockyRollCall.
13	-->'''Ash:''' Latias!\
14	'''Bianca:''' Latios!\
15	'''Pikachu:''' Pikachu!
16	* NightmareFuel:
17	** The zombie fossil Pokémon; blank-eyed {{Super Persistent Predator}}s that, according to the dub at least, belonged to an evil Trainer in life and attacked innocent people at their command. The sight of Aerodactyl stalking Ash from a distance as he's paddling a gondola in particularly creepy, and Kabutops came frighteningly close to [[WouldHurtAChild skewering him]] on one of its scythe blades.
18	** The tidal wave; large enough to engulf the whole city and with enough force to shatter solid stone, as shown by an abandoned cathedral that happened to be in its path.
19	* RootingForTheEmpire: Annie and Oakley's feats of athleticism, charisma and HumbleGoal (as far as villains go) can make it easy to root for them for lots of the movie. This lessens once Oakley gets DrunkWithPower and [[spoiler:indirectly causes the death of Laitos]], but they're still pretty popular villains.
20	* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: While not as highly regarded as [[Anime/{{Pokemon 3}} the third movie]] or the original Japanese of [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the first]], this is still regarded as one of the better movies of the original series, and at least often viewed as a good bit more enjoyable than its [[Anime/Pokemon4Ever immediate predecessor]] (though how negatively the [[DubInducedPlotlineChange heavy editing]] of the dub affects that enjoyability is debated).
21	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Latias is an [[{{Moe}} adorable Pokémon]] with an... [[InterspeciesRomance interesting]] relationship with Ash. However, she only appears in this movie and a cameo at the very end of the main series when Ash retires, and she doesn't even interact with him in the latter. Plenty of fans believe Ash should have caught Latias.
22	* {{Woolseyism}}: Some fans feel the Japanese ending song sounds a bit too cheery for one of the most emotional finales, with some liking the tone of the end credits more in the dub.

Context YMMV / PokemonHeroes