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What language(s) do you watch the Pokémon anime in? (2026 Edition)

What language(s) do you watch the Pokémon anime in?

  • Japanese

    Votes: 11 47.8%

  • English

    Votes: 11 47.8%

  • Another European language (specify in your post)

    Votes: 3 13.0%

  • Another Asian language (specify in your post)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    23
Archaic

Archaic

黒い王様
Archaic - Webmaster Scorbunny Fan Sprigatito Fan
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Messages
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This is a question that's been asked many times before, but I'm wondering just what sort of spread we actually have with our current userbase. Traditionally we had very strong contingents of dub-only watchers here, but I wonder if that's still the case today.

(Please note: Particularly for those watching in Japanese, keep Rule #3 in mind in commenting in this thread. Unless of course there's some great legal streaming or satellite service we should all be aware of).

As for me... I don't think I've watched the anime in English since the last time I saw a Pokémon movie in the cinemas in 2011. Pretty much ever since I spent that year living in Japan in 2004, I've almost exclusively watched the anime in Japanese. Honestly, it was decent listening practice. ^^;
 
currently watching Horizons in English dub for free using the "Pokemon Asia ENG" official YT channel (unfortunately, it's region-locked to Southeast Asia as I live there) although I do check out a tiny bit of the JP version to see what the OP and voice acting is like

I would like to point out how disappointing it is that Pokemon is the only well-known anime to not legally distribute their Japanese version of the anime outside of Japan when probably almost everyone else (like Demon Slayer, Naruto, etc.) already does through platforms like Netflix and Crunchyroll
 
Yeah it’s a huge shame Rule 3 still applies to the original anime in the age of streaming… :jessie:

Anyway I’ve watched the show in Japanese since the start of DP and never looked back. I saw the dubs of M20/21 in the cinema with friends, but that is it really in the years since.

Also I’m surprised Archaic at the sense of lots of dub-only watchers? Even during DP when subs were relatively inaccessible I felt like this was the place people watching in Japanese congregated, and particularly since XY I always felt that most people were following along with the subs in real time, even if they also watched their local dubs later.
 
ii kanji said:
Also I’m surprised Archaic at the sense of lots of dub-only watchers? Even during DP when subs were relatively inaccessible I felt like this was the place people watching in Japanese congregated, and particularly since XY I always felt that most people were following along with the subs in real time, even if they also watched their local dubs later.
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Back in the AG era, Bulba was where the whole SOVA movement got off the ground. Our Bulbacasts in that era had a strong anime focus, and there was sufficient demand that we had to have a separate “English edition” that only followed the later dubbed episodes.
 
It's been a long, long time since I last watched a full episode or movie in English. I think I started watching the series actively in Japanese around 2008, and probably stopped watching any English dub-only episodes around then too. Can't believe it's been this long! The only animated Pokémon content I watch in English are the special episodes that get uploaded to YouTube (like the POKÉTOON shorts and other similar special episodes).
 
From about halfway through Best Wishes onward I started exclusively watching it in Japanese, but whenever I go back and rewatch OS and AG that's always in English because I have all those episodes on DVD anyway (and I still have a lot of nostalgic fondness for that era of the dub haha). But ever since Journeys they've been bringing in a lot of English VAs that I like, so if I was still watching the current anime I might be watching that in English too.
 
I've watched episodes in English before trying out Japanese and haven't gone back since outside of YT specials. I don't have anything against the quality of the English voice acting but rather with how the localization changes out the music tracks. I understand the logic of why bc of legal reasons, but more often than not the localization's music these days has far less impact compared to the original's barring a few exceptions. I'm very iffy about music placement in media in general because it can make or break a scene and I've gotten into heated arguments with my brother over this with anime like Digimon in the past even.
 
i am a mess of ADHD that needs to multitask whenever i'm watching something so 99.9% of the time if im watching the pokemon anime im watching it dubbed so that im able to draw or shiny hunt or text friends or something similar while i watch it. Plus i kinda have a soft spot for the corniness of Ash era Pokeani voice acting.
 
Archaic said:
Back in the AG era, Bulba was where the whole SOVA movement got off the ground. Our Bulbacasts in that era had a strong anime focus, and there was sufficient demand that we had to have a separate “English edition” that only followed the later dubbed episodes.
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Yeah I was thinking about SOVA when I wrote that, but tbh by the time I was active in this community they were really ramping down - it was only 2-3 passionate supporters.
 
Mostly English although there's a few episodes I like I've also watched in Japanese.

For most anime I tend to watch the English dub though there may be one or two times I switch to Japanese (for example some Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's episodes that were never dubbed when I watched that show) or have to watch in Japanese with subtitles if there's no dub which isn't all that often.
 
My preference is always Japanese. Not only do I admire the overall dubbing quality of Japanese language and culture, but also the music is not altered like in the U.S. (int) version.
 
  • Latin American: My main way to watch the anime, I watch around 100 episodes per year in that language including new and old seasons. I watch them on Netflix or Youtube.
  • Japanese: Some newer episodes that look interesting I can't wait and end up watching them as soon as they come through totally legal means in extremely trustworthy websites, around 25 per year.
  • English: Just a few clips here and there for comparison reasons with the Latin American. I think the last time I saw something long about it was the Horizons preview.
  • French: The Malamar, Plusle and Minun and Starmie clips appear a lot on my social media feeds. Yes, those ones.
 
Mialentia said:
Haven't watched the dub since XYZ dropped. I mean, I still go back and check out of curiosity, but when it comes to actually watching, I pick Japanese every time.
At least the English dub isn't THAT bad. The less said about the French dub, the better...
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What’s bad about the French dub? As someone who doesn’t watch the anime these days, I would like to know. And I would like to know how the Kalosian game characters sound like in the French dub of the XY anime saga.
 
English, I love the 4kids cast, especially Maddie's Meowth who I find irreplaceable (Try not to bring up Meowth challenge, IMPOSSIBLE). Once I get to the point where Maddie no longer plays him I'll switch to either the Japanese original or the Spain Spanish dub (Because Meowth in Latin American Spanish sounds HORRIBLE).
 
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