Review What are your popular opinions/noncontroversial opinions about the Ash-related Pokemon Anime and Movies etc?

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

I don't see it

The XY series' animation is very similar to the BW series, just improved in pretty much every conceivable way.

 

[Mew2]

Dawn is probably one of Ash's best friends alongside Misty and Brock. After all, she was the only one, alongside Chloe, to come to his Masters 8 Champion battle against Leon in person. I also think that she is one of the best Pokégirls alongside Misty as well.

 

[-PokemonBattleFanatic-]

The XY series' animation is very similar to the BW series, just improved in pretty much every conceivable way.

What gym battle in BW is "similar" to Ash vs Olympia?

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

What gym battle in BW is "similar" to Ash vs Olympia?

I meant the overall animation style, like how the characters appeared, etc.

 

[-PokemonBattleFanatic-]

I meant the overall animation style, like how the characters appeared, etc.

I'm talking more so about the camera angles being used throughout the battles in XY. I did not see this in BW and if it did happen it wasn't that often. I think what you actually meant was the art style in terms of how it looks rather than how it moves.

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

I think what you actually meant was the art style in terms of how it looks rather than how it moves.

Well yeah, pretty much.

 

[Skyryan2468]

Lillie - Ah yes, Laurie Hymes' portrayal of Lillie is possibly the most infamous voice to come out of the whole English dub of Pokemon, and I can absolutely see why: whatever words come out of Lillie's mouth always give her the voice of an attractive older woman instead of that of an innocent young girl. Unlike with Mallow and Lana, Lillie sounds the way she does practically every single time in the dub, and it's simply mind-boggling. Not only that, but I did hear Lillie's vocals actually increase in pitch a few times, to the point that Laurie Hymes made her voice crack and sound very squeaky. It's like Hymes knew the whole time that she made Lillie sound too old, so in some kind of attempt to make her sound younger, she had to crack her voice to where she starts sounding out of breath. I don't know about you, but if a VA has to literally strain their voice just to make their recordings sound natural, then I think both the direction and the higher-ups are to blame.

And that was why Jennifer Losi (Masters) & AmaLee (Evolutions) are Supreme. The Latter is my headcanon Lillie VA in the anime.

 

[DigitalGen6]

And that was why Jennifer Losi (Masters) & AmaLee (Evolutions) are Supreme. The Latter is my headcanon Lillie VA in the anime.

Oh Amalee : D I love her, you’ve got my vote!

 

[Skyryan2468]

What do you think of the dub voices of Liko, Roy, the Rising Volt Tacklers, and the Explorers and the Paldeans?

Okay, here is the second part of this post as I stated in the first, going over extra English voices.

Honourable mentions:

Misty - honestly, I didn't see or hear much of Misty when I was younger. I will say, however, that Michelle Knotz's portrayal of Misty in SM and JN is of very jarring quality. When she raises her voice, it sounds really ear-piercing, but when she speaks normally, it's probably not as bad, and comes off resembling Rachel Lillis' original portrayal of Misty more.

Brock - once again, Brock's dub voice is something I preferred from TPCi over 4Kids when I was younger, but in the present day, I think both Eric Stuart and Bill Rogers' interpretations of him are both equally good, even if they both sound a bit different from each other.

Dawn - I always enjoyed hearing Dawn, and think that Emily Jenness' performance as her is one of the best voices to come out of the whole English dub of Pokemon.

Iris - Like Dawn, I have always liked hearing Eileen Stevens voice Iris, and also think it’s one of the best performances in the dub. And although Eileen reprised her role once in Journeys and still sounded pretty good, I wasn't too impressed when I first heard Anaris Quionnes' interpretation of her. At least when she raises her voice and cries, Iris' 2nd Journeys voice was pretty hard on the ears for me, but when she speaks like normal, it sounds more tolerant and actually on par with Eileen Stevens. Despite this, I'm sure Anaris Quionnes is a fine voice actor herself.

Clemont - in my opinion, I never had a problem with Michael Liscio Jr.'s portrayal of Clemont. Sure it sounds deep, but I think it's pretty fitting for a boy around Ash's age, since boys' voices usually deepen more than that of girls.

Bonnie - I also never had a problem with Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld's portrayal of Bonnie. I'm aware that some didn't like it, but I think it's very fitting, made better by the fact Bonnie's younger than Serena.

Kiawe - Marc Swint as Kiawe is one of the best performances in the SM dub IMO; it sounds very natural, and even when he screams and begins to sound higher-pitched and wacky, it doesn't come off as assaulting to the ears as many of the VAs' performances.

Sophocles - Sophocles seems to be one of the characters whose English voice was more well-received, and I can totally agree; just another character Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld perfectly nails in terms of sounding organic in vocal execution.

Professor Kukui - I never had an issue with Abe Goldfarb as Kukui. He probably could have sounded a bit more energetic considering the region he's in, but the voice I actually heard wasn't bad either.

Rotom Dex - as I stated in my critique of the Rotom Phones, I believe Rotom Dex is one of the best voices to come out of the SM dub, TPCi's dub overall, and the entire English dub of Pokemon in general. I always liked how sentient it sounded and acted, reminiscent of talking cartoon animals in general (though Team Rocket's Meowth technically is a talking cartoon animal as well).

Lusamine - on its own, Bobbi Hartley's interpretation of Lusamine probably isn't too bad on its own, but my gosh, how did TPCi/Lisa Ortiz get it wrong? From what I heard, Lusamine sounds too horrendously bland (which yes, I think is just as bad as voice acting that is abysmal in conveying emotions and less-than-favourable casting choices).

Risa (from The Power of Us movie) - Fun Fact #1: Risa is voiced by Haven Paschall, who also happens to voice Serena.
Fun Fact #2: The former has the exact same problem as the latter in sounding too much like an attractive older woman.
Fun Fact #3: Risa is pointlessly given an Eevee for no good reason, other than to disappoint Eeveelution fans.
I'm sorry, but those things I stated above about Risa kind of taint any interesting potential she had as a character.

Goh - Zeno Robinson does a pretty serviceable job voicing Goh in my opinion, though if I did have to complain about it, it would simply be for the kind of dub he's in, one that's operated by a greedy and incompetent corporation in which he has to strain his voice just for the sake of delivering lines (a trait shared with many TPCi voice actors).

Chloe - Cherami Leigh as Chloe in Journeys is also one of the best performances to come out of the entire English dub of Pokemon. I for one, admire her voice acting work a lot, and her most memorable role to me is Asuna Yuuki from Sword Art Online. However, because of the type of dub she's in, her presence there begins to fall short. I think there are four major reasons why:
1. Chloe sometimes sounds too high-pitched.
2. Chloe didn't appear as often as Ash and Goh, yet TPCi acts like she's a major character for some reason.
3. Chloe was pointlessly given an Eevee for no good reason (like Risa), which feels like a huge slap in the face for Eeveelution fans, especially since the last new Eeveelution we got was Sylveon all the way back in Gen 6.
4. I think Cherami Leigh ended up voicing Goh's Grookey more than she did with Chloe, which in my opinion, is a gigantic waste of genuine voice-acting talent.
On one hand, it may seem great that a VA as talented and experienced as Cherami Leigh was able to lend her voice to something like Pokemon. But on the other hand, it saddens me that such a great opportunity was largely underutilized, which makes me think that TPCi/Lisa Ortiz managed to get Cherami on board out of sheer luck.

Acerola - Looks like Acerola is another example of a female character who was given the distracting voice of an attractive older woman in the dub. I've got to say, this one probably feels the most out-of-place, because I initially expected Acerola to have a voice that would reflect the Ghost-type Pokemon she uses, as well as sounding akin to someone like Monica Rial (another really talented VA who I admire).

Leon - Leon's voice in Journeys is okay, but screaming at the top of his lungs the same way many TPCi VAs do cheapens Alejandro Saab's performance as him, that, and pointlessly being given a Charizard to his character as a whole.

Illima - While I think Michael Liscio Jr.'s Clemont is good, I think the opposite for his Illima. When I heard it, it was the epitome of a voice actor completely phoning in their performance in a single take, not to mention being a total miscast in general.

Verity (from the I Choose You! movie) - Now, I did watch M20 in its entirety back in 2018 (dubbed, of course), and I remember not being very impressed with it either. Regarding the character of Verity, I could be wrong but she also sounded much too old for her supposed age.

Bea - Tiana Camacho as Bea is not too bad on its own, it's the kind of dub she's in that makes it of lesser quality. Not only that, but Bea in Journeys otherwise feels more like a plot device than a genuine character, considering she mostly existed as an obstacle for Ash to compete in the Pokemon World Coronation series.

Oleana - another female character whose English voice was screwed over by TPCi/Lisa Ortiz. Oleana sounds WAAAAAAY too seductive, and considering she's supposed to be Chairman Rose's secretary, you'd expect her to sound deeper and more stoic.

Cynthia - I enjoyed hearing Cynthia in DP and BW, but in Journeys, it seems to have gotten worse. This makes me think that whatever voice was previously serviceable in the dub was immediately tainted when Lisa Ortiz stumbled upon them.

Danika - for my last honourable mention, I will be critiquing the English voice of this Project Mew member. Now Anjali Kunapaneni seems like an okay voice actor, but Lisa Ortiz also made her sound too attractive for someone who treats her job very seriously.

Next and final post, I will be discussing in detail all of my further thoughts regarding the current state of the dub, as well as perhaps Pokemon and voice acting as a whole. Now I'll probably have quite a lot to say, but I'll end it here with this interesting observation I think perfectly sums up the dub:
A voice actor who chooses to limit themselves to voicing a small handful of characters, especially within a SINGLE media franchise, isn't really benefiting their careers in the long-run.