How should Pokemon cries sound?

[RileyXY1]

If Pikachu has its old pre-generation VI cry, then I guess every other Pokémon from I-V should have theirs. Masuda clearly had stated that people hear Otani’s Pikachu imitation as a cry. This was back when XY were in development though and stuff has changed from 9-10 years from then. They can have other cries replace the other I-V Pokémon in VI onwards but no one replaces Pikachu. It’s like the Roblox “Oof!” sound getting replaced with “Aah!” or “Uh!” due to it being copyrighted from one game. Not joking, the “Oof!” was borrowed from another game into Roblox.

I believe that they made the change so that they no longer had to pay Ikue Otani royalties for all copies sold.

 

[PokéSean]

I believe that they made the change so that they no longer had to pay Ikue Otani royalties for all copies sold.

I get it’s more yen to pay royalties with both Otani and Aoi Yuki voicing Pikachu and Eevee respectively in modern Pokémon games but one actor/actress shouldn’t be that much. As Masuda said, people vision Pikachu sounds like Otani’s voice lines.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Also, surely Game Freak can afford that.

 

[DawningWinds]

Depends on the pokemon. I love Pikachu having its anime cry and its cute for a lot of other Pokemon as well, but there are some I think other sounds fit better for instead. In general anime cries suit best for small cute mons in my mind, while others I think should have different sounds.

 

[Rachael]

I much prefer the game cries, especially compared to the English cries. My theory is that Pokemon saying parts of their names makes more sense in Japanese, which is based on a syllabary instead of individual letters. Then again, they could have done something similar with the English names--for example, having Charmander say "Cha" instead of "Char." But I have to agree with people who posted those videos--some Pokemon cries just sound ridiculous in the anime, and it kind of breaks the immersion for me.

Having Pikachu, and later Eevee, with their anime cries was kind of cute for a while, when it was new. But I was actually kind of happy to hear their old cries in Scarlet and Violet. It's very nostalgic.

For years, I've been more of a fan of the games than the anime, anyway. I think it's fine to keep the two separate.

 

[PokéSean]

Having Pikachu, and later Eevee, with their anime cries was kind of cute for a while, when it was new. But I was actually kind of happy to hear their old cries in Scarlet and Violet. It's very nostalgic.

Don’t want to cause offense but you shouldn’t be (at least with Pikachu) because:

The cartoon has always been on the air for 16 years and is shown in 83 countries, but everywhere you go it’s always Ikue Ohtani’s voice for Pikachu. You can go all over the world and ask what Pikachu sounds like and it’ll always be the 'Pi-kaaa!' from the Anime. I figured that if that’s how people see it, then that’s how they probably like the game to be, too.

 

[Rachael]

Don’t want to cause offense but you shouldn’t be (at least with Pikachu) because:

Um...I can be as happy as I want. To me, it's nostalgic. It doesn't really matter what other people think; this is how I feel.

Masuda's thoughts on the matter have no impact on how I feel.

 

[PokéSean]

Um...I can be as happy as I want. To me, it's nostalgic. It doesn't really matter what other people think; this is how I feel.

Masuda's thoughts on the matter have no impact on how I feel.

But as I was saying, GameFreak is doing what they think and I’m sure Masuda thinks what he thinks about how people hear the cry of Pikachu. You can be happy to your opinion.

 

[Norzan]

Pikachu and Eevee having their anime cries is completely jarring to me in the games because all the other Pokemon have had the same cry since their introduction. Either have all pokemon retain the cry they had since their inception or have all them say their name like in the anime.

So i'm glad Scarlet and Violet gave back their old cries.

 

[PokéSean]

Pikachu and Eevee having their anime cries is completely jarring to me in the games because all the other Pokemon have had the same cry since their introduction. Either have all pokemon retain the cry they had since their inception or have all them say their name like in the anime.

So i'm glad Scarlet and Violet gave back their old cries.

First off, they got changed in Legends Arceus and second, I care more about Pikachu because of what Masuda said. GameFreak doesn’t care about people’s opinions. They can do what they like. People are allowed to hate Ikue Otani voice lines in modern Pokémon video games but that’s their preference, not GameFreak’s. This is an official legit “PokéSin”. I also do wonder what Gen VI Pokemon sounded like in Gen I-V games.