Things you like about 4Kids' Pokémon

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

They get a lot of hate, and while true, some of it *is* deserved, some of it's just plain mystifying. Good voices, clever writing...and heck, they built Pokémon up from "that show that causes seizures" into an animated empire. Without the dub of Pokémon, anime as a whole wouldn't be nearly as popular in English as it is today. So credit where credit is due and all that. You don't have to like the company (lord knows I despise Kahn), just say what they did right.

-The voices. I'd say 90% of the characters were brilliantly acted, even ones with "questionable" accents or voices like Meowth or Morrison (as grating as Morrison's voice was, he showed emotion like a pro). Heck, even the much-controversial "Hun" was acted well, if not miscast.
And mmmmm, I'll take Jirarudan's dub voice over his too-deep Japanese one any day. Talk about sexy...

-The scripts. Even with edits, the scrips were never dull (well, very rarely, and only in places where the original was dull too). Team Rocket in particular was especially well-written, with clever puns and turns of phrase.

Heck, I even like some of the music! Who doesn't like the intros or the house-written movie themes? (yes, a lot of the movie songs were bad, but they were done by outside sources, so 4Kids can't take the blame for those)


So, how about it?

 

[TTEchidna]

Most of the theme songs were damn good. The VAs were pretty good, too. Not to say that the PUSA voices aren't still good, we're just more used to the old ones.

All I can really say is that it's because of them that we really got Pokémon.

 

[FabuVinny]

The dub was always enjoyable under 4Kids.

The voices were great, the themes were great, the writing was great (...and PUSA have the same scriptwriter so don't think this is said against them.)

I didn't get the Kids WB version, so I didn't get most of the stupid edits, though there was inconsistency over the badge case. Had KidsWB not dropped Pokémon at the time they did, we would probably be able to compare the exact comparison of influence with Cartoon Network.

 

[Pie]

I am such a fangirl of the 4Kids voice actors. But you all probably know that by now. But still, they are awesome and talented people and I'll shout how wonderful they are from the rooftops whenever I can.

They were really not as bad as everyone claims. Especially with Pokémon, which was probably their best work, wasn't it? Well, Legend of Thunder is another story. I think everyone agrees that was an odd duck in the 4Kids dubbing, and shouldn't be an example of their overall work. To a lesser extent, the rest of Chronicles too. But the regular editing, while having a few things that bugged people, really wasn't bad in my opinion.

 

[Cybersai]

I was pretty content with everything 4kids did except for the music changes. At first I didn't think it was a big deal and thought people were whining for the sake of whining, but then I started watching the Japanese episodes and realized just exactly what I was missing. The Japanese music is pretty amazing, I've watched all of D/P in Japanese and plan to rewatch AG in Japanese just for the music and see what I missed.

 

[FabuVinny]

A lot of the Japanese music is great but lack of it doesn't make the dub bad.

And they did keep some. Advance Advanture is my favourite piece of music used in the dub. Though I do like some of the tunes created by 4Kids.

 

[Pie]

I like all music. It's a little disappointing that they didn't use the Japanese music, but... I dunno, I don't hold it against them, for some reason.

Maybe because I compose, and all the music in both the Japanese and English are better than my stuff? :B

 

[poke07]

music

I happen to love the American dub music. The Japanese music is great too.

Is the music in Pokemon that is played when Pikachu battles Magmar in season 1 with Blaine Japanese or American? It is the GameBoy theme when you battle Gary at the end of the Elite Four. This would make me think it was Japanese...but I don't believe it is on any of their CDs.

 

[Perxio]

I'm agreeing here with Pie and FabuVinny, wholeheartedly, so there's not much more I can add.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

I am such a fangirl of the 4Kids voice actors. But you all probably know that by now. But still, they are awesome and talented people and I'll shout how wonderful they are from the rooftops whenever I can.

Agreed!!!!


Anyway, as for the 4Kids dub of Pokemon, where should I start? ^^o

Well, Pie said everything that I would've said about the VAs. So there's no need for me to repeat that again. And yes, everyone already knows how I feel about the VAs. *points to sig*


Of course, it wasn't just the VAs and the awesome voices that I liked, it was everything about the show that made me fall in love with Pokemon. I like the 4Kids script, and I thought all the lines were hilarious. With the music, I personally like both the music that 4Kids uses and the original Japanese music. So I was always happy with the music.

Also, I love it whenever the dub uses and keeps the Japanese BGM. And speaking of which, FabuVinny took the words out of my mouth. I love the Advance Adventure instrumental! That is my favorite piece of music from the dub as well!



Oh, and about the edits? They didn't bother me whatsoever. I don't watch the Japanese version, so I wouldn't even know if something was edited or not. And even if I knew something was edited (from reading about it on the forums), it still didn't bother me. I watched the 4Kids dub and enjoyed it for the great show it was, regardless of the presence or absence of edits.


EDIT: And by the way, thanks for making this thread, Blackjack. ^_^

 

[Yamato-san]

A lot of the Japanese music is great but lack of it doesn't make the dub bad.

I recall Sailor Moon Uncensored stating that music accounts for a third of a dub's quality (I think this was said in one of their comparisons of the early S episodes, obviously while noting the change Cloverway made from the DiC dub). Personally, I'm one to agree with them... but seeing as I've seriously fallen in love with Japanese soundtracks, I'd be seen as a tad biased. ^^'

Anyway... I don't know what to say, really. I've been mainly watching the Japanese episodes for the past two and a half years now, I've seen all of AG and what we have so far of DP in Japanese, and I've been (off and on) watching through the entire first series in Japanese (I last left off at the beginning of the Whirl Cup). That said, I've come to completely disassociate the English dub from my personal views of the show, and that includes the character voices, 4kids's original tracks, etc. (and whenever I watch the dub again, which is rarely... the voices seem very different now, with me taking a rather neutral stance on them for the most part. And the music changes, compared to the original, and especially with the 4kids version in the later stages with its inability to keep a track playing for longer than 10 seconds, are just blegh XP).

However, I will give it credit where it's due. It does seem as though they kick-started the surge in popularity for anime in the western world. I also first got into anime because of the anime they dubbed, though I kinda get the feeling I would've gotten into it whether it was 4kids dubbing the show or not. Before I got into anime, I've always been a fan of games. Of course I would've been interested in watching this particular anime for being based off of a game I enjoyed (and as I've mentioned a few times before, a game I've been interested in ever since it was first coming out in Japan).

 

[Trainer Lisa]

I'm confused, Yamato-san...

So overall, are you saying there's nothing about the dub you actually like? O.O


Also, about the voices, you said they're different now and that you're neutral towards the voices, so I assume you're referring to the VA switch. Right?

Anyway though, just how much of the 4Kids dub have you seen, like which seasons?

 

[Yamato-san]

I'm not denying that the dub had good qualities, especially back when I watched it prominently (which was before 4kids lost all dignity and started editing like mad), but I can't really remember it, especially as the Japanese version has pretty much replaced it all in my mind (though, some things just sorta linger there... like the repetitive repetitiveness that is Lisa Ortiz -_-). And about my neutrality towards the voices, I mean any English voices, not so much the VA switch. To put it simply, I've now come to heavily associate the characters with their Japanese VAs, and if I watch the dub once in a blue moon, you can imagine it's a different experience. Just different, not inherently good or bad (though, watching James in A Poached Ego again makes me want to cringe). Nonetheless, I've come to the conclusion that 4kids, and TAJ, don't exactly have the best actors under their belt. Most of them are tolerable, some are even good, but I take a neutral stance for the most part (I question what exactly makes some of these actors seem great to so many, and I'm even willing to say that some of it's just an acquired taste, which I obviously can't get from watching the dub sparingly). Though again, my views are probably skewed and my now-limited viewing of the dub must've equated to a bias towards the original (but I don't know... I mean, I recall managing to get into the first English episode of Bleach alright).

 

[Suzu]

The voices. To quote my mom; 'Ash sounds like a loser in this new season'.

And the voices in 4Kids WERE alot better actors in general. Although I DID hate how similar Haruka and Satoshi sounded.

 

[Kazamatsuri]

I'd say the silver lining with the 4Kids Pokemon Dub is that they weren't nearly as bad as 4Kids' other dubs. In fact, I'd even be willing to go as far a to say they did a better job than the Sailor Moon (Dic) and Dragonball Z (Saban) Dubs.

As far as things I liked:

1. Music

Unlike their other Dubs, they at least kept some original music. I always felt positive about the show on the occasions when the original music was kept. In fact, I'll even say that some (though not all) of the Dub music was well placed and well composed.

2. Script and Dialog

Almost all the time, the script and dialog translations were dead-on(even if some of the puns were a bit excessive and annoying). Yet another attribute that got lost in 4Kids' other Dubs.

3. Voice Acting

I will admit this. IMO, the voice actors for most of the main characters was pretty damn good, even though they're not nearly as exceptional as some have hyped them to be.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Oh I see, Yamato-san....

So the dub is just "different" to you.

And you're neutral to all English voices.


Well, that's an interesting point of view you have. And I can see why you would feel that way, having been used to the Japanese version.

So, do you have any opinion on Veronica's Ash? I'm just asking out of curiosity, because I personally love her Ash voice (I'm not going to debate this, if you feel the opposite about her).


Oh, and Yamato-san one more question, about your limited-viewing of the dub, what does that mean? You haven't seen very many episodes of it? Or you just prefer the Japanese version, and don't choose to watch the dub very often (if at all)?

 

[TeddiUrsa]

I like the scrits sometimes, but what really turnes me off ( and still turns me off) about the US-dub are the voices and the music changes.

I still don´t get WHY it is necessairy to change the music. It is something you aren´t used to in germany.
Both, 4KIDS and PUSA are guilty of this. And it ruins the experience for me.

The VA aren´t as good as many try to make them. but they aren´t as bad either ( although I can´t stand Brock...Rocko and Takeshi are a lot better...same for the us-dub james...I can´t stand him...).
It is just that I don´t like them enough to really care.

What really bugs me are the pokemon-voices. you can´t top the japanese version in this. ( the german version was pretty good in kanto as well but lost it completly after kanto...-.-)

4KIDS paint edits were stupid as hell as well and I´m glad that PUSA doesn´t do this kind of thing.

So,...the US-dub of Pokemon isn´t my cup of tea altogether and I stopped watching dub-pokemon a few years ago, but it isn´t SO bad ( one piece bad, or...sailormoon bad...).

 

[Habunake]

Well I never had any major complaints about main characters...(people like Morrison...ick, I'm sorry...but Sean Schemmel needs to lock King Kai in a box)

Except James, he just got intolerable near the end. Dunno why...I use to like Eric Stuart, but now he's the man of 1000 bad accents. I remember when he just did Brock, James, and Kaiba...those were the days.

Besides that, everyone else was fine...not GREAT, but fine. Although I never cared for Veronica's Ash that much...he always seemed the boringest voice.

The only complaint was the music...but oh well.
But atleast they keep some music, unlike there other shows...with a grand total of none.

I've faithfully watched the dub since it started, and will continue too (both dubs, as I find the PUSA dub just as good).

 

[The Big Al]

Anything good I have to say about the $kids applies to the first and second years. Though I think Pokemon in general was at its best during the first and second years.

Ash's voice:
Ash actually sounded like a boy when the anime first started. I don't know what happened to Veronica Taylor but her voice for Ash lost quality as time went on.

James' voice:
Ted Lewis was great as James and even Eric Stuart was alright in the beginning before he shot James with the Gay Ray and forgot how to act. Again, a voice that started out alright and lost quality with time. What the Hell is wrong 4Kids? Did you're VA's start taking bad acting pills or something?

Meowth:
They kept the Meowthisms but then got rid of them. Why 4Kids why?

The Music:
The kept a whole lot of the original background music until some moron decided to replace it with chimps banging on instruments.

That's about it for now.

 

[Habunake]

I actually thought Ash sounded weird in early episodes, but then extremely high in OI. I thought it was best in Late Johto/Early Advanced.