I really enjoy the TPCi Dub of Pokémon.

[Leonhart]

Age-old music gripes aside, my main beef with the dub is that most of the time, the characters' voices are about as fitting as nails on a chalkboard

It's a problem that I noticed with some of the female voices in recent sagas like Mao's dub voice and even Lilie's to some extent. I just think that their dub voice actresses pale in comparison to the originals, and I'm also a bit peeved that Satoshi's dub voice still hasn't improved much these past thirteen years in terms of how his voice actress handles emotional scenes.

 

[Blood Red]

Nothing wrong with having an unpopular opinion. While I think the dub is absolute garbage (and I can't be convinced otherwise), you're free to enjoy whatever you like.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Wow, it looks like I’m the only one who appreciated the current dub a lot. In my opinion, the dub had greatly improved and it’s hard for me to find any bad acting when watching the episodes. As I say about the music, I never had a problem with it. I enjoy them for what they are as they weren’t ear bleeding, just mostly pleasant to hear. I even hum a little when listening to them.

Maybe I’m more of a causal anime fan. The anime had been my childhood and doesn’t disappoints me at all.

Where have you been in the entire time I've been here???

But seriously, though, I'm in full agreement with you about the dub(s). I would've been even if I didn't end up with the terrible relationship with the JP version as I have now.

 

[MockingJ]

I would've been even if I didn't end up with the terrible relationship with the JP version as I have now.

Did the Japanese version of the anime steal your lunch money or something?

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Did the Japanese version of the anime steal your lunch money or something?

Look elsewhere on these forums for the answer to that because I'd rather not derail this thread.

Back on topic,

A controversial thing to say I think? I grew up with the 4Kids dub and when I got to the BF season, the voices weren’t that different for me, mostly because I was a kid. I still watch the current dub today and it’s been a pleasant experience.

It is incredibly messed up that we live in a world where just the simple act of liking the dub is considered controversial. And yes, it is okay for people not to like it, but a line is crossed once dub hate turns into dub fan hate. Plus, no one's obligated to like the JP version. No one's obligated to like any version. It's by nothing more than choice that Luxer and I like the dub.

 

[LuxerWap]

It is incredibly messed up that we live in a world where just the simple act of liking the dub is considered controversial. And yes, it is okay for people not to like it, but a line is crossed once dub hate turns into dub fan hate. Plus, no one's obligated to like the JP version. No one's obligated to like any version. It's by nothing more than choice that Luxer and I like the dub.

Well, the dub is not everyone’s cup of tea. Same could say with the sub. I always go with dub in anime cause I speak English and I want to hear English, not read it. If I wanna read it, I rather read the manga.

 

[LuxerWap]

I do wanna add that I have a problem with 4Kids’ unnecessary Paint Edits. Even as a kid, I knew something was off.

What I didn’t know is that they erased letters from billboards, posters, etc. I get that I cannot read the Japanese letters, but at least try to make the signs have some text. Another problem I have is how they edited the badge cases in the Ruby and Sapphire series. They changed the Poké Ball logo to a red shaped rectangle. How is that an American thing, and why was it edited in the first place? Every kid knows what a Poké Ball looks like.

And now the rice ball edits. They called them rice balls after donuts, so why change the rice balls into sandwiches? I wouldn’t mind really, but I did mind how poorly drawn and animated those foods were. The PBnJ sandwich from AG 92 looked ugly and out of place, didn’t fit Jimmy’s hand nor they increase the size of the wrapper. The way it was animated was horrible as well. It’s just a static image of it being shifted in size and rotated. The sandwich didn’t even break. Same problem I had with the sandwich from AG118. Like 4Kids, do you even know how physics work? Lol

That is something I’ll never miss from 4Kids. I blame Al Kahn for “Americanizing” the anime and other shows as well.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

If anyone likes the dub of this anime, hoo boy, you will love other anime that isn't targeted at young children but teenagers.

This anime has atrocious voice direction (Zapdos: AAAAAAAAAAAH!), strange casting choices (Lillie makes me want to punch her Vulpix), and adults that can't really pull talking like 5-year olds (Bonnie, shut up).

 

[Lord Starfish]

I do wanna add that I have a problem with 4Kids’ unnecessary Paint Edits. Even as a kid, I knew something was off.

What I didn’t know is that they erased letters from billboards, posters, etc. I get that I cannot read the Japanese letters, but at least try to make the signs have some text. Another problem I have is how they edited the badge cases in the Ruby and Sapphire series. They changed the Poké Ball logo to a red shaped rectangle. How is that an American thing, and why was it edited in the first place? Every kid knows what a Poké Ball looks like.

And now the rice ball edits. They called them rice balls after donuts, so why change the rice balls into sandwiches? I wouldn’t mind really, but I did mind how poorly drawn and animated those foods were. The PBnJ sandwich from AG 92 looked ugly and out of place, didn’t fit Jimmy’s hand nor they increase the size of the wrapper. The way it was animated was horrible as well. It’s just a static image of it being shifted in size and rotated. The sandwich didn’t even break. Same problem I had with the sandwich from AG118. Like 4Kids, do you even know how physics work? Lol

That is something I’ll never miss from 4Kids. I blame Al Kahn for “Americanizing” the anime and other shows as well.

Nowadays the show doesn't really have much Japanese cultural stuff in it anyway though. They've long since switched to using made-up symbols in place of actual writing, and the dreaded, evil Japanese food also doesn't show up as much. Though... when it does, TPCi does seem to be a lot more okay with it than 4Kids and their apparent fear of letting this Japanese cartoon reference Japanese culture in it.

...TPCi does still do some paint edits though; They've at least been redrawing wine glasses to be... not wine glasses so as to not even imply the consumption of alcohol. Which seems dumb to me, but apparently it's a broadcasting rule in the US so I can't really fault them for it, I guess.

 

[Leonhart]

I get that I cannot read the Japanese letters, but at least try to make the signs have some text.

That would've required 4Kids to work harder though, and although it seems lazy for them to keep most signs blank, it actually made it easier for foreign dubs since 4Kids supplied their dubbed version of the anime to most international markets. So keeping signs blank meant that foreign versions of the anime didn't have to go through the trouble of erasing English text and adding in their own text.

 

[Doppelgänger]

This dub isn't just bad, it's an anachronism. Pokemon isn't reaching the same audience as it did in decades past, let alone the same number of viewers.

You know the dub is a problem when the 30 second Pokemon commercials bordering the anime are of higher quality stuff than the 22 minute commercial.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

If anyone likes the dub of this anime, hoo boy, you will love other anime that isn't targeted at young children but teenagers.

Of such shows, only FMAB and Sgt. Frog ever appealed to me.

This needs to be said: due to them having some kind of edgy kick that only the worst of Japanese animation thinks is a good idea to satisfy (often at the expense of literally anyone who knows better), teenagers are the worst demographic to aim at. I'm ashamed to admit that I say this from experience; I liked that stupid edgy anime **** when I was in puberty. The moment it ended, my taste in entertainment got better and I abandoned those pessimistic POS's immediately, never to even look in the direction of them or anything like them again.

Stick to jollier-in-comparison shows like this, Digimon, Yo-Kai Watch, or to brilliantly-made products like Cowboy Bebop or most of Studio Ghibli's library. The people who made those (with the exception of the ones in charge of Pokemon's JP version) are pros who know how to do their jobs properly. Oh, and checking out animation from places other than Japan is a great idea, too.

This dub isn't just bad, it's an anachronism. Pokemon isn't reaching the same audience as it did in decades past, let alone the same number of viewers.

That's a problem the "superior" JP version has, too. Difference is it totally deserves it and worse.

 

[Leonhart]

That's a problem the "superior" JP version has, too. Difference is it totally deserves it and worse.

I'm not sure why the Japanese version deserves more criticism than the English dub. In terms of story structure, both the dub and the Japanese version are the same although the dub does take minor liberties every once in a while, but thankfully TPCi isn't as bad as 4Kids was when it comes to this. And of course there's the background music issue, but other than you I don't think I've ever seen anyone who likes TPCi's BGM more than the original soundtrack.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

other than you I don't think I've ever seen anyone who likes TPCi's BGM more than the original soundtrack.

Do remember that though I'm the only one you've met as of this post, there are others out there.

And besides, you know full well that its lack of quality since 2013 in addition to its stans doing terrible things on its behalf cost it my respect.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Do remember that though I'm the only one you've met as of this post, there are others out there.

Yeeeaaah, I checked, and they ain't here.

 

[Ryu Taylor]

Yeeeaaah, I checked, and they ain't here.

I wasn't talking to you. I know your comfortable sub-fellating bubble can't be penetrated. I just have the spine to fight back when people like you persecute us for absolutely no other reason than for not being you. Others who also do aren't wrong to, despite what sub stans desperately delude themselves into believing.

And don't bother trying to give me any of those worthless handwaves I've heard millions of times before. They stopped working years ago.

On that note, here's another great thing about the dub: its fandom is generally very pleasant, and they don't try to force anyone else to be dub fans, and they also don't try to deny that fans of the JP version exist. All they do is enjoy the dub and, if necessary, defend their liking of it. It's honestly laughable that people act like doing either of those things is evil. It's nonsense like that that's the reason I err on the side of caution around any Westerner I see admit to liking the JP version; being a fan is 100% acceptable, but being a stan of it isn't, and it's not immediately clear which of those they are. In your case, Chris, you're definitely a sub stan due to just now trying to deny the existence of dub fans who like TPCi's music more than the JP music (which, again, is something that those who live in the real world know isn't an act of evil).

 

[Victorian Rush]

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the TCPI dub of Pokemon. I have never hated the TCPI dub but in terms of which version I like more, I pick 4Kids because that’s the version I grew up watching. I had an issue with the dub change because it was not like it used to be. I stopped watching the end of AG after the change and only picked it up when DP started airing. Before long, I completely switched to watching the Japanese version and I haven’t gone back since. I will occasionally watch episodes here and there but for the most part, I stick to the sub.

Though, I’m not gonna lie, I completely stopped watching Pokemon all together, has nothing to do with the music since someone in here who I will not name will obviously put his two cents where it is not wanted but because after watching so many other awesome animes over the past couple of months, I’ve come to realize that the Pokemon anime just cannot measure up.

 

[LuxerWap]

Yeeeaaah, I checked, and they ain't here.

Hey there, champ!

 

[Ryu Taylor]

since someone in here who I will not name will obviously put his two cents where it is not wanted

The OP most likely didn't want dub haters poisoning this thread with their usual ravings, but it still happened.

after watching so many other awesome animes over the past couple of months, I’ve come to realize that the Pokemon anime just cannot measure up.

I don't watch many Japanese cartoons (refer to a few posts above this for why), but I do find Pokemon enjoyable because of how unlike other JP shows it is in general. The closest it ever came to being like a typical JP cartoon is the XY saga, and it definitely suffered for that. All it has going for it is good performances from the cast starting from when Lisa Ortiz got the job of VD (and thank goodness they got rid of Tom Wayland) and good dub music.

 

[LuxerWap]

The OP most likely didn't want dub haters poisoning this thread with their usual ravings, but it still happened.

Now hold on, I am fine with people not liking the dub. I like to speak my opinion about the current dub because I think it’s underrated. I mean, yeah, TPCi wants to save money, but imo, they done a well job with the dub.