How would you feel if Pokemon was given a joke dub instead?

[Dogasu]

(let's try to keep the snide "but the dub is already a joke!" comments out of this, please)


So shows like Samurai Pizza Cats, Duel Monsters, the FUNimation version of Crayon Shin-chan, and, apparently, later episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX have dubs that aren't intended to be straight-up or faithful at all. Instead, the shows are heavily rewritten and/or edited to pack as many jokes as possible, many times at the expense of whatever plot was in the original version.

While the way these shows are handled are met with mixed results (some people find the humor in Cryaon Shin-Chan to be too forced, while others feel that Duel Monsters would have fallen into obscurity as just another card game show if it wasn't for the dub), the majority of people seem to like them. Of course, there are those who want faithful adaptations and feel that these sorts of dubs are horrible bastardizations, but for the most part, people don't seem to mind.

So, my question is...what if 4Kids/PUSA/whoever decided to just do a joke dub instead? Would it have been any good? Would it have been popular? How would the fandom, in general, be different?

 

[Lethal Carnivine]

I assume you're talking about things like Abridged Series and Parodies, basically?

I wouldn't mind if PUSA didn't do a joke dub. As long as it's funny and not stuffing obvious jokes and puns down our throats.

It probably would be a bit more popular since a lot of older people would like the subtle humor. The fandom probably would remain the same since there are a lot of older people on there already.

(When I say older, I mean over the intendfded target auidence.)

 

[Cybersai]

Since Pokemon has such little plot to begin with, I don't really know how PUSA could change what really goes on.

If you mean a parody thing like Yamato-San's sub of AG160 (I think) then that could work. Of course something official like that could never happen.

 

[MetaRobo]

NO. I'm reminded of Duel Masters. Nothing is more painful than someone trying to be funny and failing miserably. Considering the episode titles the dubbers give, it's likely that attempts at joke dubs would be extremely mind-numbing.

 

[Casual_Furi]

I remember how [AS] ran April fools joke dubs of FMA and GITS. PUSA could do something like that and stream it on the internet. As long as they don't make us pay, of course.

What I hate about Shin Chan is all the jokes about domestic abuse. I really don't think that was in the Japanese version. It's nothing to laugh about.

 

[Lil Brother]

If done correctly and filled with subtle adult humor, it could have been awesome. But I don't think Nintendo would let that happen when they could just do a good dub and hypnotize kids all over the world to buy their products.

 

[Musashi]

It never would have lasted as long as Pokemon has lasted. I just can't see a joke dub lasting for over 10 years.

The people around here would definitely be different. There's no way I would have become interested in the show if it was just a joke dub unless I saw the original version online somewhere. It wouldn't be that big either since by now the show would have been off the air for a number of years.

I also agree with Lil Brother in that Nintendo would never allow this to happen.

 

[Gligarman]

I don't think a joke dub would have worked if they had tried that from the beginning. Too many people liked the game at that point and the novelty would have worn off very quickly.

As for Shin Chan, I think the dub is hysterical but I think it's ridiculous that Funimation didn't include the original Japanese versions of the episodes.

 

[Casual_Furi]

I heard that the JP version of Shin Chan had alot of untranslatable puns and word-play. People who don't speak the language would have been lost.

 

[Duckgon Z]

I don't think a joke dub would have worked if they had tried that from the beginning. Too many people liked the game at that point and the novelty would have worn off very quickly.

As for Shin Chan, I think the dub is hysterical but I think it's ridiculous that Funimation didn't include the original Japanese versions of the episodes.

Funimation actually couldn't get the rights in time to all the Japanese audio but 1 episode, so its not like they didn't want to include it.

But on topic, it would not have succeeded for 10+ years. Maybe have a cult following that leads to some high budget Hollywood movie in about 20 years that destroys its camp value, but not now.

 

[PDL]

I don't think a joke dub of Pokémon would have been successful since there wasn't a whole lot in the original source to make fun off. It would have flopped from not being funny.

 

[JB88]

It would be hilarious, with some adult content, but are we talking a la Family Guy or like Adult Swim? It would be awesome. But we're talking a complete overhaul though.

 

[Kazamatsuri]

If by "joke Dub" that means completely unfaithful to the original source material, you need look no further than the Raikou special. It's been pretty well documented as to why people think the Dub of that special is so bad, so I won't go over any long lists. But I can't even begin to imagine how things would be if the entire series, including the movies, were just as bad (or worse).

Having said that, I don't know that Pokemon would be much less popular in North America if it were less faithful to the original. Thing is, the vast majority of Pokemon fans aren't like us. They don't visit Pokemon forums or websites on a regular basis and therefore, they aren't given the knowledge to form a concrete opinion over behind-the-scenes politics like we are. They simply make decisions based on what they see and hear on screen and that's it. They might sense that something's wrong with the dialog or the music. But they don't know whether or not the translations are faithful, or which side of the globe said music was composed.

That said, there are exceptions, but the Dub would have to screw up pretty badly (i.e. 4Kids' One Piece) to have a dramatic impact on its popularity.

 

[Yoshi1001]

I would't mind seeing a episode here or there (kinda like shows that do April 1st episodes), but I wouldn't want the whole show to be like that.

 

[Nomekop Oen]

But the dub,is already a joke!

hardy har har *slaps leg*






*ahem*


But anyway,you can add Ghost Stories to your list of joke dubs that are made to make a series,if anything,a bit more entertaining.


I've only seen a handful of Shin Chan and Duel Monsters episodes but I thought both series were pretty funny.But as far as Shin Chan goes,aren't the artistic liberties taken with the script more of a necessity rather than simply spicing up the show? I figure there'd be lots of jokes that wouldn't translate that easily into English.In any case,it's still a funny series,how can anyone not laugh when they hear,"Action Bastard?" XD


And Duel Masters' dub was a genius move by Hasbro.Pokemon, Digimon, Yugioh,Medabots,Gheyblade,Beyblade,etc.The TV airwaves were already over saturated with this type of anime,so the only way that Duel Masters could stand on it's own was to become a parody of those kinds of series.If I remember correctly,there was an episode where the kid had constant flashbacks of his father,and by the end of the episode,the kid asked,"Dad,will I ever see you again?" to which the father replied,"Probably not son,I'm not integral to the plot." (heh heh...)



As for an official joke dub,I can see some April Fools Day thing happening if Pokemon USA ever got the urge to make a joke dub in the first place.But other than that,I wouldn't hold my breath.That kind of stuff is best left to the fans.I wouldn't mind seeing LittleKuriboh take a shot at it.

 

[Dogasu]

How do you guys not get what I mean when I say "joke dub?" I included a list of other joke dubs in the very first post of this thread; if you've seen those shows, then you know what kind of show I'm talking about.

What I hate about Shin Chan is all the jokes about domestic abuse. I really don't think that was in the Japanese version.

Instead, the shows are heavily rewritten and/or edited to pack as many jokes as possible, many times at the expense of whatever plot was in the original version.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I think the show's wacky enough. Episodes like the Shuckle one they'd have been hard pressed to make it even funnier without increasing the ratings (come on, the whole episode was about an aphrodesiac). And there'd be the giant elephant in the room with Harley.

They could make a parody dub of certain episodes, maybe once a box set, and release them as an extra. That would be freaking awesome.

 

[JB88]

I don't know if this is talking about abridged series. I found abridged series videos of Pokemon just last night, but I don't think that's the discussion in here, is it?

 

[Siliva]

Dogasu isn't referring to the abridged series. His means, the official English dub is full of jokes and reference not found in the original Japanese version.

I personally think that if the anime was still with 4Kids, we'd have a joke dub. Since 4Kids seems to do that with their currently-dubbed shows now.

PUSA might turn on us sooner or later if they got over-confident with the dub or something.

 

[Lilac Hill]

I don't know if this is talking about abridged series. I found abridged series videos of Pokemon just last night, but I don't think that's the discussion in here, is it?

(I'm posting in the anime section, I must be tired.)

Correct, it's talking about the actual dub being made into a joke. Which some people seem to have missed entirely.