Takeshi Shudo, the original head writer of the Pokemon anime, was granted the opportunity to create his own Legendary Pokemon in Lugia when he wrote the script for Pokemon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One. He loved Lugia, so much so that one of the changes the second movie gave to it made him want to die.
When Shudo was still alive, he talked about these feelings in one of the many blog posts he used to write that discussed his experiences working on the Pokemon anime. Pokemon historian Dr. Lava recently uncovered these posts and had them translated, revealing Shudo's feelings for Lugia to international fans.
Shudo had specific ideas in mind for Lugia when creating it. He wanted the Pokemon's lore to consider it the creator of all life on Earth, and because of that, he thought of Lugia as a "maternal" Pokemon; in other words, a Pokemon with female attributes. So when Shudo learned that The Pokemon Company's film team had given Lugia a predominantly male voice, he wasn't at all happy about it.
"Advertisements had already been aired. It was too late; we couldn't suddenly change Lugia into a female… I was gulping down alcohol and drugs. I started to feel like I wanted to die."
This quote isn't to say that Takeshi Shudo wanted Lugia to be solely female, though. He wanted the Pokemon to embody both genders. In his mind, when he heard Lugia speak, he heard both a male and female voice going at the same time. In his final years, Shudo wrote more about Lugia in his blog than anything else, and it's a wonder if this situation might have caused it.
Shudo wanted these attributes for Lugia because the concepts behind Lugia's Explosive Birth — the Japanese name of the second Pokemon movie — dealt with existence and what it means to co-exist with others that aren't like you. These themes were ones Shudo found himself very attracted too, as he even tried to craft an ending centered around them for Mewtwo Strikes Back.
In regards to his use of drugs and alcohol, Takeshi Shudo usually put himself under the influence to get any writing done. He may have had a bit of a problem, as only ten months after writing this particular post about Lugia, Shudo died from a subarachnoid hemorrhage — a brain bleed. These can be brought on by high blood pressure caused by abuse of alcohol and drugs. Maybe — hopefully — Shudo managed to find some peace of mind on the subject before passing.
Pokemon: The Movie 2000: The Power of One is available now on digital, DVD and Blue-Ray.
Source: Dr. Lava