Your Favourite Version(s) Of Pokemon?

[animeforever]

I really hope that this hasn't been done before as I looked everywhere and couldn't find anything so I apologize if it has already been done before but I am curious.

So, what is your favourite version(s) of Pokemon?

Original Japanese Pocket Monsters
4Kids Dub
Pokemon USA Dub
Other - A foreign dub that isn't in English or Japanese, but maybe your native tongue

I personally LOVE and always have loved 4Kids dub of Pokemon. As soon as I herd what Pokemon USA had to offer ‘Battle Frontier’ onwards, I was so disappointed that I gave up on the dub and continued watching the show in Japanese and I love it so much!

I do check into the new DP dub every so often just to see what’s going and even I must admit that it HAS improved ALOT over the episodes but I just can't stand Ash's or Brocks voices anymore T_T

I mean, despite all of 4Kids edits and such, I really enjoyed watching the show through to their end and although I had watched and enjoyed the unaired episodes in Japanese from time to time, I still loved going back to their dub.

Overall, I think I prefer 4Kids version a little more than the Japanese version which I still love to watch. I mean, 4Kids took a few years to find their feet with the dub and I'm sure PUSA will do the same but I just feel that the things I am missing the most from 4Kids and stopping me from enjoying PUSA's version are the BGM that PUSA has removed and the original voices that we all grew up with! They evolved with the characters and made them who they are.

The Japanese version is amazing and I love every part of it but there is nothing better than being able to sit back and watch the show in your own language without having to focus on subtitles lol ^.^

So, what about you guys?

EDIT::

Good points from both 'Nate' and 'Pokemon Trainer Lisa'!

We DON'T want this thread turning into a flame war over the VA's, we just want a short reasoning for your vote! Good job you two for keeping your discussions courteous and friendly ^_-

I read though it so everyone please remember the "VA Moratorium"

Thanks everyone

 

[Keela]

I would love it, as I think a lot of others would, if the Japanese versions of the episodes were available with subtitles. But after that, I like both dub versions pretty equally, except for Ash's new(er) voice sometimes.

 

[animeforever]

I would love it, as I think a lot of others would, if the Japanese versions of the episodes were available with subtitles. But after that, I like both dub versions pretty equally, except for Ash's new(er) voice sometimes.

I know, that would be so amazing if they became more easily avaliable to us Uncut in Japanese subtitled or even in Uncut English. Who knows though, maybe oneday ^_-

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Well, they all have good things and bad things about them.

 

[Idon'tcare]

Orginal and PUSA dub.

Orignal because it's, well, the orginal verison of Pokemon.

PUSA dub because, at the begining I was okay with the 4Kids dub, however, as the show went on, 4Kid's dubbing of the show started to change, I wasn't so fond of these differences, and it was up until a point I stopped watching it and lost intrest in the Pokemon anime (this goes the same for the japanese verison too, I started to rewatch it at around the end of the Battle Frontier series and when the Diamond and Pearl series started).

When I heard PUSA got the rights, I wasn't so fond of the voices, however, I was kind of glad 4kids no longer had it so I decided to check it out, at first I wasn't happy, it was no different from the 4kids dub, they still used puns and corny jokes and still changed the background music, yet, as the show went on, I saw an improvement as well as not wasting time erasing letters (although changing ones they think needed to change) and keeping rice balls as rice balls - although none of that is really imporant - what stuck out for me more is that they didn't cut scenes out didn't that have a reason to be cut (I think they only cut the disturbing Honey-covered Giovanni scene) and got their Pokemon facts right, e.g; ablilties, 4kids screwed up the meaning of them, however, as PUSA already knew alot about Pokemon, they got most of the facts correct. It's no surprise they know alot more about Pokemon than 4kids, they are called Pokemon USA after all.

Another thing I like about the PUSA dub is that they actually bother to fix their mistakes. Anyone remember the line in which Max called Mud Shot and 'earth-type move'? Well, they corrected it into 'ground-type move' then there's the correction of Arbok into Ekans and so on (not sure if there' anymore though).

As for the voices, like I said, at the begining I wasn't happy, yet, as the show went on and the voices improved, to me the voices in the PUSA dub were no different from the 4kids dub. I say this because of how similar the two dubs are I didn't even feel a wave of differences between either one including the voices (well, actually, I did see some difference and those differences are what what made me come back to the dub verison of Pokemon).

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Ooh! This is an excellent idea for a thread! ^_^

I don't think this has been done before either. People have probably been too "afraid" to start a thread like this, what with all the flamewars that there have been in past (threads such as "New VA Discussion" come to mind).

But with the VA Moratorium thing, I think we can discuss this subject in a nice, cool and collected manner without starting any heated debates. Yay! ^^


To answer the main question, my vote definitely goes for the 4Kids dub. First of all, I know there are many people in the anime fandom who despise 4Kids for their work on other dubs (mainly One Piece). But, they handled Pokemon a different way, and I think everyone can agree this was a good thing for us Pokemon fans. Also, when people are asked the following question, "Is there anything 4Kids has done a GOOD job on?", most people will respond by saying that Pokemon was one of 4Kids best dubbed shows.

I love it whenever I hear people say that about Pokemon. It means that they recognize the quality that lies within the 4kids dub of Pokemon, and it also means that they enjoy watching the show. With that being said, it's obvious to me that many people feel this way about the 4Kids dub. While it may get a lot of criticism here and on other Pokemon forums, the fact remains that the 4Kids dub of Pokemon was very, very good. Who knows, maybe some anime fans who wouldn't normally watch dubs, would actually watch the 4Kids dub. But with Pokemon fans and anime fans alike, the 4Kids dub has been loved and appreciated by all who enjoy it. Whether it was the awesome openings they had for the show, the amount of BGM that was kept, the lines in the script and what they brought to each scene, or the way the voice actors brought the characters to life - these are things that many people like about the 4Kids dub. And this is the reason why the 4Kids dub of Pokemon will always be remembered. I know in my heart, that people will still enjoy this show for years to come (well, that's what I hope will happen, cause it'd hurt me to see anyone forget about the 4Kids dub entirely).



On the other hand, Cartoon Network is currently not airing any seasons that have been dubbed by 4Kids, so that doesn't give me much hope about this. ;_;

Now, I could understand them not wanting to air every season of the 4Kids dub. But even if they showed one season - any season - I would be really happy and appreciate what they're doing. Heck, at the very least, they could air some of the Pokemon movies (1 through 8). ^^

I do check into the new dub every so often just to see what’s going on but I just can't stand Ash's or Brocks voices anymore T_T

I agree. While I dislike Ash's new voice the most (to get an idea of how I feel, just read any previous review threads for Battle Frontier or D/P), I dislike the other new voices as well - the ones for Brock and Team Rocket. Sure, maybe the new voices of the other characters don't bother me quite as much as Ash's new voice does, because you know, Ash is my favorite character, lol. But anyway, I personally feel the show isn't the same anymore without all the old voices I'm used to hearing in the dub. I mean, Brock's new voice may be similar to Eric's Brock, but for me, it doesn't have the same exact qualities that Eric brought to the character. And the same thing can be said about the new voices of Jessie, James, and Meowth.

I know, I know, VA Moratorium. Don't worry guys, that's all I'm gonna say on the subject of VAs. I won't say anything more about this, since everyone knows my opinion already (which is why I didn't say anything about *cough Sarah's Ash cough*). XD


EDIT: Wait, I have a question. Does the VA Moratorium still apply here? I mean, could you guys make an exception for this thread? Of course, you don't have to do this if you don't want to, I was just wondering. Seeing as how, everyone is talking about their opinions on all the voices in general here, instead of just talking about "one particular VA". I thought it would be okay if everyone did it this way, but only if the discussion stayed in this thread. Also, it doesn't seem like anyone's fighting (at least not yet anyway). So who knows, maybe this idea would work....

EDIT 2: I'm assuming this is the case. So, I'm I correct in saying that VA discussion will be allowed, but only in this thread? Because, if that isn't true, then probably half the people who post here are either gonna get infraction points or be banned. :-(

 

[Idon'tcare]

I forgot to mention that I think Brock's PUSA dub voice is excellent, it wasn't so impressive from the start, however, he improved so much as the show went that I actually forgot how Eric Stuart's Brock sounded like (and he's not the only one). Brock's dub voice is probably the only voice who I like as much as the japanese voice (And Bill Rogers is one of the best VA's in the PUSA dub IMO).

As for other VA's, well I won't be talking about them, except for James. James was the one who I was most happy that changed, old James ws okay from the start, even when Eric Stuart took over the voicing from Ted Lewis, but then Mr. Stuart just started to make him sound way too goofy that it got really annoying, infact it was so goofy that Old James couldn't even pull a decent emotional preformance in "A Poached Ego" were as New James did it very well in "Sweet Baby James"

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Hmm, I'm almost afraid to ask....

But I'm very curious, so I'll ask anyway. XD


Nate, what are your thoughts on Sarah Natochenny's version of Ash and how she portrays him, compared to Veronica's Ash in the 4Kids dub?

No, I'm not gonna argue with you or anything, if you feel different than me about this (and it seems most people do). But I just wanted to know your opinion. ^^;


Personally, I feel that Ash's voice was changed the most, compared to the new voices of the other characters and how everyone is portrayed in the Pokemon USA dub.

 

[Idon'tcare]

Nate, what are your thoughts on Sarah Natochenny's version of Ash and how she portrays him, compared to Veronica's Ash in the 4Kids dub?

Hmm, I'm going to try to keep this short...

Well first, I felt like how everyone else felt when first hearing, it was bland, it had no emotion, etc. But as the show went on, Sarah started to give emotion to Ash's voice and now I find his voice to be no different from Veronica's Ash (well, maybe just a bit of differece, kind of deeper).

Out of all the VA change, James is possibly the only voice I felt a major change on due to loosing that retarded goofiness that Eric gave him (it bothered me too much).

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Ah, I see. So that's how you feel. That's interesting, Nate. ^^

And I agree, Sarah's current Ash voice is indeed deeper.

I have one more question, though. And just to be on the safe side, I'm gonna put my comments about Ash's voice in a spoiler tag (because I don't want to make anyone upset with me).


But what about the inconsistency? Have you noticed how, every so often, Sarah will change Ash's voice? And I promise, this is my last question about Ash's voice. ^^

Spoiler

This seems to have an effect on the show, because when you watch an episode of D/P, Ash will sound a certain way. But in the very next episode, Ash may sound slightly or very different (the episode, "A Secret Sphere of Influence" comes to mind here). At least that's what I think anyway. And yes, the inconsistency does bother me. Unfortunately, it's one of several reasons why I sometimes find it hard to listen to Sarah's Ash. ^^;

But nevertheless, it's not like the voice acting is horrible for me, like it was back in Battle Frontier. I can still tolerate Sarah's Ash voice enough to watch every new episode of D/P, and as long as I can still watch the Pokemon dub I'm fine.

Anyway, getting back on topic, since we're talking about "all the voices", I completely agree with you about James. In the Pokemon USA dub, he seems to have lost that goofiness quality that he always had before.

 

[Idon'tcare]

And due to losing the goofiness, we won't have to worry about bad emotional performance from James in

Spoiler

the episode in which James gives Cacnea to Gardenia

just like the other episdoe I mentioned before.

Ah, I see. So that's how you feel. That's interesting, Nate. ^^

And I agree, Sarah's current Ash voice is indeed deeper.

I have one more question, though. And just to be on the safe side, I'm gonna put my comments about Ash's voice in a spoiler tag (because I don't want to make anyone upset with me).


But what about the inconsistency? Have you noticed how, every so often, Sarah will change Ash's voice?

Spoiler

This seems to have an effect on the show where, when you watch an episode of D/P, Ash will sound a certain way. But in the very next episode, Ash may sound slightly or very different (the episode, "A Secret Sphere of Influence" comes to mind here). At least that's what I think anyway. And yes, the inconsistency does bother me. It's one of several reasons why I sometimes find it hard to listen to Sarah's Ash. ^^;

But nevertheless, it's not like the voice acting is horrible for me, like it was back in Battle Frontier. I can still tolerate Sarah's Ash voice enough to watch every new episode of D/P, and as long as I can still watch the Pokemon dub I'm fine.

Yes, I have often notice Ash's voice changing in certain episodes, it usually goes from deeper to higher, however, even though I took full notice of it, it never bothered me one bit. Meh, it's kind of like Sarah still hasn't decided on the perfect voice for Ash yet or something like that.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Oh, so you did notice that, but you weren't bothered by it. I see.

Heh. It's probably true that most people aren't bothered by the inconsistency of Ash's voice in D/P. But, with me being an Ash fangirl, that explains why that bothers me so much! LOL. XD


Anyway, that's all I needed to know. Thank you for answering my questions, Nate! ^_^

Meh, it's kind of like Sarah still hasn't decided on the perfect voice for Ash yet or something like that.

Yes.

Those are my exact thoughts as well!


It's kinda weird though, when you consider the fact that Sarah has been voicing Ash for 2 years and we still see this much inconsistency in D/P. O.O

Oh well. I guess it can't be helped. I mean, with voice actors, some people have more experience and can "find the right voice" faster and more quickly than other VAs can. So in a way, it does make sense that we're seeing inconsistency in the Pokemon USA dub (I just wish there wasn't as much inconsistency with Ash's voice). ^^;

 

[Dual]

As much as I absolutely hate 4kids, I have to throw my vote to them. I've never watched any of the Japanese episodes or anything that could qualify as "Other", and I really hate PUSA's voice actors, so 4kids wins by elimination.

 

[Idon'tcare]

Oh, so you did notice that, but you weren't bothered by it. I see.

Yep, due to the two dubs being similar, the voices don't matter to me, I'm just intrested in the way it's dubbed, and in my opinion, PUSA dubs Pokemon better than 4kids.

(Although, I can't say the same for One Piece, everything changed from when Funimation took the rights and changed for the better).

Anyway, that's all I needed to know. Thank you for answering my questions, Nate! ^_^

You're welcome.

 

[Jukain]

I chose the two dubs as well, since the dub is all I know and understand. PUSA retains more of the raw than 4Kids did, but that is the only thing I'm willing to observe of them. It comes as no surprise to me who's winning this poll, after all this is a community that is deeply involved with the raw.

 

[JB88]

They both have the good and bad. It's nice to see a mix.

 

[animeforever]

Ooh! This is an excellent idea for a thread! ^_^

I don't think this has been done before either. People have probably been too "afraid" to start a thread like this, what with all the flamewars that there have been in past (threads such as "New VA Discussion" come to mind).

But with the VA Moratorium thing, I think we can discuss this subject in a nice, cool and collected manner without starting any heated debates. Yay! ^^ :-(

YAY!! Thanks a lot ^.^ I was also afraid of starting this with me being a newbie and everything but I was always curious on the answers and I'm glad it has taken off!

Oh, and like she said, NO FLAMEWARS please!!

Also, I totally agree with you "Pokemon Trainer Lisa" on Sarah's changing of Ash's voice! I mean he sounded completely bland and 'dude' in Battle Frontier but as DP started, it started to sound a little more natural.

When I was watching the DP episodes of the 30's, he sounded completely different again, really high pitched! I do prefer this version of Ash waaay more than bland Ash but still not as much as Veronica's, although, I guess she also took several tones with him over the seasons until it was just right, but I liked them all ^^;;

Do you think that PUSA will do back and re-dub some of the earlier episodes before releasing them on Dvd?

 

[pokeslob]

Well.......
The japanese pocket monster show kicks bung hole!
but the 4kids dub sucked because of heavy editing, and the pokemon usa dub didn't change much of that, cept the voices and paint edits went down a bit along with music!
as for other there is no other and if there is I hope its better than what I've seen...

so yeah go w/ Jpanese Ones

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Do you think that PUSA will do back and re-dub some of the earlier episodes before releasing them on Dvd?

Hmm. There's no telling what Pokemon USA will do.

I'm not sure what you're referring to by "earlier episodes". But I'm assuming you mean Battle Frontier and D/P, since these seasons haven't been released on DVD yet.

But to answer your question, I highly doubt Pokemon USA would go back and redub episodes of Battle Frontier or D/P, for their DVD releases. Pokemon USA seems pretty happy with the current voice cast. So they would have no reason to redub anything.


By the way, thanks animeforever!

I'm glad that you agree with me about Sarah's Ash. ^^

Spoiler

And you're right, he did sound more natural once D/P started. I'm happy about that, because his voice was just awful in Battle Frontier. Oh god, I had so much trouble watching each episode of Battle Frontier. X_X (I had to watch the Pokemon USA dub though, because I have a strong attachment to the dub overall, and I didn't have any alternative, since I don't watch the Japanese version)


But anyway, in D/P, it baffles me that (for whatever reason) Sarah keeps changing her Ash voice. It seems like she can't leave him with one particular voice, because with every other D/P episode, Ash will sound a little different than before. I don't know, maybe she just doesn't like the way she voices him, so she's still trying to find the "best voice" for him.

And yes, Veronica has also changed Ash's voice throughout the years. But each time she changed Ash's voice, it seemed very similar to the way it was previously. It never really changed that much. But when it did change, I always thought it sounded better than before. Like for example, Veronica's Ash voice for Advanced Battle sounded really great, in my opinion! ^_^

 

[Chatsy]

The original.

The Danish version has started to sound a bit forced far too often, and they're inconsistent with the voices overall. I think Misty's had, like, five or six different VA's/voices so far, and Oak and Gary have had at least two and it just bugs the hell out of me - So I only watch just to hear what puns can be done in Danish.

The English version(s) are just flatout annoying, and again only watch for the puns or funny lines. The voices themselves are just... ew.

The Japanese version is just wonderful, and there's clearly done a greater effort with the voiceacting - Certain 'sounds' like groans, laughs etc. really do make a difference when they aren't the standard "Haw haw haw" which makes the show that much more enjoyable.