Review S25 EP52: The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!

[AgedVeteranofShow]

They muted the Kanto Wild Pokémon battle theme where you couldn’t even hear it and wouldn’t know it’s there if you didn’t watch the Japanese version.

Dogasu needs to IMHO apologize to Liz Lysinger, Joel Douek, and Michael Brady given the team of Ed Goldfarb, Akhil Gopal, Geoff Li, and co. IMO, for what he said back then.

Kanto Wild Battle Theme from the last Season 4Kids dubbed, Season 8, kept at full volume as originally played in Japanese:

Charizard vs. Articuno! | Pokémon: Advanced Battle | Official Clip

Charizard vs. Articuno! ❄️Watch as Ash confidently challenges the Legendary Pokémon Articuno in his first Battle Frontier match!There’s a #PokemonForYou!Fo...

www.youtube.com

I noticed this too, why did TPCi pitch it down so much? They only kept 2/3 of that track because the last 1/3 goes into the eye-catch in which the OST wasn't kept there.

Anyway, 4.66/16, so 29% kept in this episode. I'm just going to say this: even 4Kids had an episode in S08 that kept 40% of the OST in 8/20 tracks originally (would've been 45% at 9/20 if they kept the AG Title Card OST instead of swapping it out for the OS Title Card OST there, but nonetheless)- that is "From Brags to Riches" for those curious.

 

[PokeFanForever1]

So, let me preface this by saying, the English dub of Ash's journey over 25 years is technically over. Like the original English dub which ran for 8 years from September 8, 1998 to July 8, 2006, the current English dub ends in the month of July (in 2023), and started in September (in 2006). Unlike it, it actually ends its run debuting in Canada, whereas it ended in its native country the United States (mine) in the original run: additionally, AG145 was the last dub episode to premiere on local TV in the US (you didn't need cable or satellite to watch Kids WB for those of you in Canada, the UK, or Australia, etc. over here, it was broadcast to the masses on Saturday Mornings for a long time for free) whereas JN147 premieres dubbed on the new CN in Canada, which to my knowledge, you do need to view things but that was the case for a long time now in general for the franchise!

It has been a very wild ride, to say the least, and I will be a bit kinder (and more serious than my usual cynical self, to be blunt) as Sarah Natochenny said on her Twitter prior that her performance in this episode as Ash was dedicated to her teacher's passing on earlier (may she RIP, believe it or not I know what that's like ma'am, as I experienced something like that as well).

Personally, I'd like to dedicate this Review in Ash's final chapter to the late Maddie Blaustein, myself, may she also RIP: I do wonder if she was still with us, how she'd feel about things: she was the VA of the original "main 5" stars in Taylor (Ash/May/Delia), Stuart (Brock/James), Birnbaum (Max), Lillis (Misty/Jessie), as well as herself (Meowth), that was the most active on the Serebii/Bulbagarden Fan Forums & even took our questions at the time she was laid off in 2006- a very kind, sweet woman, sadly she passed away in 2008 just 2 years later but her presence was always missed in the franchise for me.

Additionally, I'll dedicate it to JCC, in light of his cancer battle: may you recover, sir, I'm sorry I wasn't a big fan of the roles you took over and was critical of your script writing over the years (it's something I had felt actually suffered in the transition between the two companies, unpopular opinion or not, I've held steadfast to it that said to this day).

With that said, let me delve into things, I'll omit VA work & OST tracks kept because that'll go in a separate post:

- The first piece of OST was only kept in one episode of dub Season 3 ("The Johto Journeys" in the 4Kids Era, it was "For Crying Out Loud" that is the only time the Pokémon English dub ever kept this piece- 1999-2001-M36 ~OK!~ (BONUS-TRACK):

Pokémon Anime BGM - OK! (Orchestral Arrangement) (1999~2001-M36) (A shame, easily one of Miyazaki's best pieces)

I had zero hope Ed Goldfarb would keep this, moving on...

- A shame they got rid of Misty saying, "Too close, too close!" as she did in Japanese, the humor kind of got taken out of the moment with the inaudible mumbling there.

- "I'll be by in the future, to say Hi in person" from Brock was not that at all, it was originally "Precisely! I want to get closer to-- I'm going numb" when Croagunk got poison jabbed.

- Ash in Japanese originally said "Okay. Look after yourself," but in the dub, he said "Goodbye. Safe travels!" Nothing inherently bad about the line change, but odd choice. Satoshi seems a BIT sadder than Ash about his BFF Takeshi/Brock leaving him here, oddly.

- Goldfarb's piano piece is better than his usual stuff, but it's still a shame a theme 4Kids kept in the early Johto dub...got replaced in the TPCi Journeys dub, regardless.

- Mr. dub Narrator, what's with the Histrionics here? "Minutes away from home sweet home" was just "Home isn't far now" originally? Nice that Rodger Parsons got to do the role over 22 of the 25 years of the dub (Mike Pollock aka "Dr. Eggman since 2003 in English" was interim narrator for years 6.5-8, to clarify this point).

Skips OP, no comment, for all the hatred they get 4Kids' OPs were all genuinely memorable, for the franchise and TPCi's final OP is...just a remix of their first one, speaks volumes to how iconic the original ENG dub OPs were

- Title card w/same visual but OST replaced & with dub music instead of a different OST piece instead...sighs. Save EP001, 4Kids at least had the sense to use this piece of OST throughout their dub for it, even if it stopped playing after EP274 in Japanese:

Pokemon Anime Sound: Episode Title

www.youtube.com

- Ed...that music is too comedic and silly for Ash entering his mother's house excitedly, come on man...come on! I laughed when I should've been heart-warmed there, it's a remix of his SM dub theme when Ash/Sophocles are running & Ash ran into a wall, I remember that.

- Added dialogue, in the dub Ash says, "No wait, just kidding" where in Japanese he's just quiet, a reversal of Misty's removed dialogue at the start of the episode.

- Another theme replaced that 4Kids kept very often, in the Kanto, OI & Early Johto dubs of Seasons 1-3, during this time...moving on...TPCi, really?

The theme is Pokémon Anime BGM - Pikachu Appears! (1997~1998-M10)

Pokémon Anime BGM - Pikachu Appears! (1997~1998-M10)

- Dodrio keeps its Japanese voice? Very un-Lisa Ortiz like, but I'll take it.

- A theme 4Kids kept a lot, was kept by TPCi, for once? Didn't expect Ed to keep this one, but I'll take it.

1997-1998-M03 ポケモン!ゲットだぜ!
Japanese (Romanized): Pokémon Getto Da ze!
Japanese (Trans): Get Pokémon!

- Ted Lewis gets back Tracey: I know it's because Craig Blair only did the role one time in Battle Frontier's final dub episode, so they figure most wouldn't notice it, but bittersweet as while he gets to reprise, no one else retains their original English VAs of the major Generation 1 to 3 characters that 4Kids first established the voices for in the English run (of the minor, only Nurse Joy has regained hers recently after her replacement in S07, Giovanni did in S11 after S08, and Mr. Narrator did in S09 after being replaced midway into S06- everyone else was replaced, including Gary at the very end here, despite JCC surviving the purge period as one of the handful of non-casualties).

- Another theme 4Kids kept in the dub of OS many times, now replaced as per normal TPCi these days, shame as it's one of my favorite ones too:

TV Anime Pokemon OST Vol. 2: 1997-1998_M41

Disclaimer: I do not own this soundtrack.All credit goes to Shinji Miyazaki, and any other respective owner.This is for entertainment purposes only.No copyri...

www.youtube.com

- Ed, maybe, just maybe you can compose more serious stuff like this in HZ around the 9:30 minute mark? This is what has been missing from the dub for a decade now, more like this please?

- Some interesting nods to AG, eh, I didn't notice them but Ash spitting out the watermelon seeds and brain freeze first happened there: nice, JN, I caught the references- not dub related, just recall those.

- Another dialogue removal; in Japanese Jessie/Musashi says, "Hey! Outta the way!" but in English, nothing comes out of her mouth when she's running off.

- Meowth has a script alteration here...it's...interesting. In Japanese, he just says the generic, "Standing up all day is exhausting, Meow," but in English, he says, "It's hard being on your paws all day" instead. Um...unnecessary change, even if nothing's wrong with it, I guess?

- Jessie says "Upsie dasie" in the dub, but in Japanese, just "Hup" like "Hup, two, three, four" which is the same meaning in this case, but a different word choice. Again, nothing wrong with this one, just strange to change the wording here.

- Ash has an actual line change here, in Japanese he just says Viridian Forest "is such a nice place," but in English he says, "is THE awesome-est."

"Awesome-est" is not a real word, folks. Better this than, "I'm so psyched to do special trainin' in Virdian Forest, kay," though, that's what would've been said in BF or DP's dubs 100% IMO. Still, a bit lame, but I guess it's the least bad made up word TPCi has come up with over the years, "Scrumptchy" was the worst ever to me.

- Because this is the TPCi dub post-Season 10, and you know JCC loves his alliterations/wordplay to the very end evidently, Jessie says "Brain bruising" whereas in Japanese, there's none of that present. Hahahaha...yeah...and then James adds on with, "This not so charming charm feeling" whereas in Japanese, Kojiro/James just says "That bristly sensation must be..."

- Meowth's "Being out on the prowl is the best, meow," is changed to, "Yes! The fitter (???) the crime suits us best." I genuinely can't understand what Wingert's Meowth was trying to say, I'm sorry, can anyone decipher that for me?

- Ash's "wait a sec" is originally "Hold on" in Japanese.

- They pitched down the OST at SDI Iyuno for the 4th piece retained so far, and that is "
1997-1998-M13 戦い（VS野生ポケモン）
Japanese (Romanized): Tatakai (VS yasei Pokémon)
Japanese (Trans): Battle (VS Wild Pokémon)"

This piece was kept in all 8 years of the 4Kids run, from OS to late AG, not a surprise TPCi retained it in JN but it's lowered down in volume and is very hard to hear, compared to the one in the Japanese. 1/3 of it however is replaced, because it overlaps into the eye-catch which the dub rescores entirely, so it's .67 retained on this one in English.

- Someone has said TPCi had made the characters add in "let's go," but that happened under 4Kids too, which I never minded in either instance so that's fine.

- However, 4Kids kept this piece of OST in none other than the Ash vs. Whitney re-match Gym Battle most memorably in the dub of mid Johto in Season 4, and it was replaced by TPCi in JN here. It's in the Episode "A Dairy Tale Ending" in mid Johto at around the 18 minute mark & this piece of OST is:

1999-2001-M28 The Day Is Conquered!! (you can go to pocketmonsters.net and listen to it, it's very beautiful & it's a shame it got replaced)

- Ash says in the dub that, "It's so awesome to have you back" to Pidgeot, but in Japanese, he says instead, "Counting on you once again!" He's a bit less melodramatic in Japanese, oddly, usually TPCi made Ash more arrogant/abrasive than he was under 4Kids' reign & in Japanese early on but instead here, he's a bit TOO soft instead here?

I will say I like that they keep imitating Eric Stuart's Poliwhirl voice, as I also thought it was a great voice originally in English & I'm glad they didn't take that Pokemon in a different direction in English.

- Ed Goldfarb + electric guitar synth = water + oil, they don't mix well. I guess what I'm saying is, please cut that out in HZ, if it's possible from him.

- Of course TPCi replaced Life's Purpose from the Japanese Version. Presenting the only time the English dub ever kept it, in 4Kids' dub of Early Johto in Season 3:

Ash say charizard you have go || Ash leaves charizard || Ash goodbye to charizard (Not the full clip, just some scenes a fan spliced)

- In Japanese, Ash's speech is mostly similar, but a bit different in this one regard. He says, "All the things that happen each day...Every one of them matters," but in English, he says, "And put it to good use" for some reason instead? He's a bit more contemplative in Japanese, whereas in English, he's more sunshine-y optimistic about it? He also has a lot of "Thing is" phrases added in for some reason at the start of each sentence?

- Delia has a script change to "And...the journey continues," but in Japanese, Hanako says, "Come back safe." Delia is more caring and motherly in Japanese, than she is in English, as a mother to Ash. She's oddly very cheerful her son is gone in the dub, but in the original, she's concerned for her little boy more. Oh my...um, Delia, Ash is your son you know?

It ends with an instrumental version of Pokemon Theme, which was created by 4Kids in 1998, but is a TPCi Ed Goldfarb instrumental version of it instead. It's...okay, I suppose, but you know, it makes me wonder how Veronica Taylor would've handled this and them if they got this far. It's a bit bittersweet for me, honestly.

And at the end of it all, this is the only time the English dub ever outright removes, "Next time, a new beginning!" 4Kids kept that text in "Hoenn Alone!" aka EP274 with Ash in his AG clothes, believe it or not, at the end of Season 5 in OS before little did we know-- AG would be the final Series they'd get to dub, for just 3 more years.

So...that's it, on the script, music, and VA reprisals/alterations from prior episodes. The VA column deserves its own post which I'll do later, but I'll try to be nicer than usual, since it's the very end of Ash's journey in English over 25 years.

Delia saying "And the journey continues" is basically her filling in for the narrator who often ends episodes with "As the journey continues", I think that was a cute addition tbh.

also in terms of dub music I liked how they used Ash's theme from the M20 dub, it's a tune I rather like so it's awesome to hear it here and honestly I think musically this episode was solid personally, a lot of emotional music here which is fitting considering what this episode is (highlights include the parting ways of Ash, Misty and Brock and the time stamp you mentioned at 9:30). And having them end it with a piano rendition of the original Pokemon theme was rather lovely and something got in my eye I think!


Also... Ted Lewis. Back as Tracey!! I'm so happy about that, I had a feeling he would reprise Tracey again but it was never a guarantee so it was so nice to see him back in that role for his brief voiced reappearance - the first time he's spoke since the end of AG, poor Tracey.

And Sarah Natochenny did an amazing job as Ash in this last episode, of course we know Sarah herself isn't going anywhere as she's gonna be in Horizons but for Ash's final episode she really delivered on the emotion. It's really bittersweet honestly, since Ash is gone. As much as I like Liko and Roy and Friede and all the others in Horizons, I really do miss Ash. It feels very different without him, you know? But what a nice episode to go out on!

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Delia saying "And the journey continues" is basically her filling in for the narrator who often ends episodes with "As the journey continues", I think that was a cute addition tbh.

also in terms of dub music I liked how they used Ash's theme from the M20 dub, it's a tune I rather like so it's awesome to hear it here and honestly I think musically this episode was solid personally, a lot of emotional music here which is fitting considering what this episode is (highlights include the parting ways of Ash, Misty and Brock and the time stamp you mentioned at 9:30). And having them end it with a piano rendition of the original Pokemon theme was rather lovely and something got in my eye I think!


Also... Ted Lewis. Back as Tracey!! I'm so happy about that, I had a feeling he would reprise Tracey again but it was never a guarantee so it was so nice to see him back in that role for his brief voiced reappearance - the first time he's spoke since the end of AG, poor Tracey.

And Sarah Natochenny did an amazing job as Ash in this last episode, of course we know Sarah herself isn't going anywhere as she's gonna be in Horizons but for Ash's final episode she really delivered on the emotion. It's really bittersweet honestly, since Ash is gone. As much as I like Liko and Roy and Friede and all the others in Horizons, I really do miss Ash. It feels very different without him, you know? But what a nice episode to go out on!

Fair enough!

I don't know why people hated Tracey, so much? Sure, he's not as funny as Brock was at his best, but he was a decent enough character.

If Goldfarb composed more like he did at 9:30, I'd be much happier with him: he's still got some issues in Horizons he needs to work out over there, too, not specific to this Series but he's very hit or miss IMO (the only dub VAs I think need some work there are personally Friede, while I'm glad Freeman is back he's got a bit of a deeper timbre there than the Japanese seiyu I feel needs to be ironed out, Roy who is pretty scratchy and effeminate, and Lucius- I have no idea what Blum is doing, but it doesn't work so far- everyone else actually sounds good to start, with Liko and Ann the best of the dub cast IMO).

I think Sarah did okay as Ash in this one, surprisingly: I certainly prefer her take on the role to Knotz's current take on Misty (I miss Lillis, personally, there) and especially Brock (I think in general Eric Stuart received the worst replacements of the bunch, as much as Dogasu and co loved slamming his James at the end I still honestly preferred it to JCC's from XY onward + Edward Bosco's takes, personally): at the end, I prefer Veronica despite her doing the role for only 8 years to Sarah's 17 in the part, but I think her Ash is...average, it's at its best when doing soft or contemplative scenes, but at its worst in moments of high emotional intensity or yelling to me. Kayzie is at the bottom, naturally, on that one. However, I still strongly preferred Veronica's Delia, even over the Japanese seiyu for Hanako: it helps Taylor is a mother, and I always thought she nailed that role.

Mick Wingert as Meowth is very...ugh, I still miss Blaustein, even Price & JCC fit the role better, at least in the start for the latter (I didn't start turning negative on it until late DPish, w/JCC's rendition). Edward Bosco as James is just DP tier James for me, I don't like it as much as Stuart or Lewis in the role, but I prefer it to JCC's XY+ rendition. Knotz's Jessie is better than her Misty, but again, Rachael Lillis to me fit more with the deeper tone and it meshed well with her Japanese seiyu's take.

 

[PokeFanForever1]

Fair enough!

I don't know why people hated Tracey, so much? Sure, he's not as funny as Brock was at his best, but he was a decent enough character.

If Goldfarb composed more like he did at 9:30, I'd be much happier with him: he's still got some issues in Horizons he needs to work out over there, too, not specific to this Series but he's very hit or miss IMO (the only dub VAs I think need some work there are personally Friede, while I'm glad Freeman is back he's got a bit of a deeper timbre there than the Japanese seiyu I feel needs to be ironed out, Roy who is pretty scratchy and effeminate, and Lucius- I have no idea what Blum is doing, but it doesn't work so far- everyone else actually sounds good to start, with Liko and Ann the best of the dub cast IMO).

I think Sarah did okay as Ash in this one, surprisingly: I certainly prefer her take on the role to Knotz's current take on Misty (I miss Lillis, personally, there) and especially Brock (I think in general Eric Stuart received the worst replacements of the bunch, as much as Dogasu and co loved slamming his James at the end I still honestly preferred it to JCC's from XY onward + Edward Bosco's takes, personally): at the end, I prefer Veronica despite her doing the role for only 8 years to Sarah's 17 in the part, but I think her Ash is...average, it's at its best when doing soft or contemplative scenes, but at its worst in moments of high emotional intensity or yelling to me. Kayzie is at the bottom, naturally, on that one. However, I still strongly preferred Veronica's Delia, even over the Japanese seiyu for Hanako: it helps Taylor is a mother, and I always thought she nailed that role.

Mick Wingert as Meowth is very...ugh, I still miss Blaustein, even Price & JCC fit the role better, at least in the start for the latter (I didn't start turning negative on it until late DPish, w/JCC's rendition). Edward Bosco as James is just DP tier James for me, I don't like it as much as Stuart or Lewis in the role, but I prefer it to JCC's XY+ rendition. Knotz's Jessie is better than her Misty, but again, Rachael Lillis to me fit more with the deeper tone and it meshed well with her Japanese seiyu's take.

Yeah, I love Liko and Ann's dub voices too, and in regards to Ann she's voiced by Xanthe Huynh who I know as Haru from Persona 5 (my fave game ever!), she also was previously in Journeys as Lauren in that Sinnoh Iceberg race episode (pretty forgettable episode honestly), I love her voice! So it's awesome to see her get a new character to voice, and it fits really well with Ann! Which funnily enough is the same name of another character in Persona 5 though it's pronounced differently. I find that kinda funny! And I watched the first 11 minutes of Horizons that was posted as a sneak peek and it was really fun recognising voices too: Sarah Natochenny voices a girl at the bus stop, Erica Mendez (Parker in Journeys) voiced a random male student, Lisa Ortiz voiced the old lady teacher doing the whole world of Pokemon speech as well as, of course, Oshawott and a big one is Zeno Robinson voicing Liko's Rotom Phone and this is very interesting because in the jp version the Rotom phone is voiced by Goh's japanese VA! Coincidence? I think not! As for other VAs that we heard in the trailer I'm waiting to see them in the proper episodes as for me a trailer isn't really enough to really judge them for me, so we'll see! But I do like that much like with Journeys there's a mix of old and new talent and long may that continue and with the Horizons dub being union that opens up more possibilities with union VAs.

 

[snowmint]

So, let me preface this by saying, the English dub of Ash's journey over 25 years is technically over. Like the original English dub which ran for 8 years from September 8, 1998 to July 8, 2006, the current English dub ends in the month of July (in 2023), and started in September (in 2006). Unlike it, it actually ends its run debuting in Canada, whereas it ended in its native country the United States (mine) in the original run: additionally, AG145 was the last dub episode to premiere on local TV in the US (you didn't need cable or satellite to watch Kids WB for those of you in Canada, the UK, or Australia, etc. over here, it was broadcast to the masses on Saturday Mornings for a long time for free) whereas JN147 premieres dubbed on the new CN in Canada, which to my knowledge, you do need to view things but that was the case for a long time now in general for the franchise!

It has been a very wild ride, to say the least, and I will be a bit kinder (and more serious than my usual cynical self, to be blunt) as Sarah Natochenny said on her Twitter prior that her performance in this episode as Ash was dedicated to her teacher's passing on earlier (may she RIP, believe it or not I know what that's like ma'am, as I experienced something like that as well).

Personally, I'd like to dedicate this Review in Ash's final chapter to the late Maddie Blaustein, myself, may she also RIP: I do wonder if she was still with us, how she'd feel about things: she was the VA of the original "main 5" stars in Taylor (Ash/May/Delia), Stuart (Brock/James), Birnbaum (Max), Lillis (Misty/Jessie), as well as herself (Meowth), that was the most active on the Serebii/Bulbagarden Fan Forums & even took our questions at the time she was laid off in 2006- a very kind, sweet woman, sadly she passed away in 2008 just 2 years later but her presence was always missed in the franchise for me.

Additionally, I'll dedicate it to JCC, in light of his cancer battle: may you recover, sir, I'm sorry I wasn't a big fan of the roles you took over and was critical of your script writing over the years (it's something I had felt actually suffered in the transition between the two companies, unpopular opinion or not, I've held steadfast to it that said to this day).

With that said, let me delve into things, I'll omit VA work & OST tracks kept because that'll go in a separate post:

- The first piece of OST was only kept in one episode of dub Season 3 ("The Johto Journeys" in the 4Kids Era, it was "For Crying Out Loud" that is the only time the Pokémon English dub ever kept this piece- 1999-2001-M36 ~OK!~ (BONUS-TRACK):

Pokémon Anime BGM - OK! (Orchestral Arrangement) (1999~2001-M36) (A shame, easily one of Miyazaki's best pieces)

I had zero hope Ed Goldfarb would keep this, moving on...

- A shame they got rid of Misty saying, "Too close, too close!" as she did in Japanese, the humor kind of got taken out of the moment with the inaudible mumbling there.

- "I'll be by in the future, to say Hi in person" from Brock was not that at all, it was originally "Precisely! I want to get closer to-- I'm going numb" when Croagunk got poison jabbed.

- Ash in Japanese originally said "Okay. Look after yourself," but in the dub, he said "Goodbye. Safe travels!" Nothing inherently bad about the line change, but odd choice. Satoshi seems a BIT sadder than Ash about his BFF Takeshi/Brock leaving him here, oddly.

- Goldfarb's piano piece is better than his usual stuff, but it's still a shame a theme 4Kids kept in the early Johto dub...got replaced in the TPCi Journeys dub, regardless.

- Mr. dub Narrator, what's with the Histrionics here? "Minutes away from home sweet home" was just "Home isn't far now" originally? Nice that Rodger Parsons got to do the role over 22 of the 25 years of the dub (Mike Pollock aka "Dr. Eggman since 2003 in English" was interim narrator for years 6.5-8, to clarify this point).

Skips OP, no comment, for all the hatred they get 4Kids' OPs were all genuinely memorable, for the franchise and TPCi's final OP is...just a remix of their first one, speaks volumes to how iconic the original ENG dub OPs were

- Title card w/same visual but OST replaced & with dub music instead of a different OST piece instead...sighs. Save EP001, 4Kids at least had the sense to use this piece of OST throughout their dub for it, even if it stopped playing after EP274 in Japanese:

Pokemon Anime Sound: Episode Title

www.youtube.com

- Ed...that music is too comedic and silly for Ash entering his mother's house excitedly, come on man...come on! I laughed when I should've been heart-warmed there, it's a remix of his SM dub theme when Ash/Sophocles are running & Ash ran into a wall, I remember that.

- Added dialogue, in the dub Ash says, "No wait, just kidding" where in Japanese he's just quiet, a reversal of Misty's removed dialogue at the start of the episode.

- Another theme replaced that 4Kids kept very often, in the Kanto, OI & Early Johto dubs of Seasons 1-3, during this time...moving on...TPCi, really?

The theme is Pokémon Anime BGM - Pikachu Appears! (1997~1998-M10)

Pokémon Anime BGM - Pikachu Appears! (1997~1998-M10)

- Dodrio keeps its Japanese voice? Very un-Lisa Ortiz like, but I'll take it.

- A theme 4Kids kept a lot, was kept by TPCi, for once? Didn't expect Ed to keep this one, but I'll take it.

1997-1998-M03 ポケモン!ゲットだぜ!
Japanese (Romanized): Pokémon Getto Da ze!
Japanese (Trans): Get Pokémon!

- Ted Lewis gets back Tracey: I know it's because Craig Blair only did the role one time in Battle Frontier's final dub episode, so they figure most wouldn't notice it, but bittersweet as while he gets to reprise, no one else retains their original English VAs of the major Generation 1 to 3 characters that 4Kids first established the voices for in the English run (of the minor, only Nurse Joy has regained hers recently after her replacement in S07, Giovanni did in S11 after S08, and Mr. Narrator did in S09 after being replaced midway into S06- everyone else was replaced, including Gary at the very end here, despite JCC surviving the purge period as one of the handful of non-casualties).

- Another theme 4Kids kept in the dub of OS many times, now replaced as per normal TPCi these days, shame as it's one of my favorite ones too:

TV Anime Pokemon OST Vol. 2: 1997-1998_M41

Disclaimer: I do not own this soundtrack.All credit goes to Shinji Miyazaki, and any other respective owner.This is for entertainment purposes only.No copyri...

www.youtube.com

- Ed, maybe, just maybe you can compose more serious stuff like this in HZ around the 9:30 minute mark? This is what has been missing from the dub for a decade now, more like this please?

- Some interesting nods to AG, eh, I didn't notice them but Ash spitting out the watermelon seeds and brain freeze first happened there: nice, JN, I caught the references- not dub related, just recall those.

- Another dialogue removal; in Japanese Jessie/Musashi says, "Hey! Outta the way!" but in English, nothing comes out of her mouth when she's running off.

- Meowth has a script alteration here...it's...interesting. In Japanese, he just says the generic, "Standing up all day is exhausting, Meow," but in English, he says, "It's hard being on your paws all day" instead. Um...unnecessary change, even if nothing's wrong with it, I guess?

- Jessie says "Upsie dasie" in the dub, but in Japanese, just "Hup" like "Hup, two, three, four" which is the same meaning in this case, but a different word choice. Again, nothing wrong with this one, just strange to change the wording here.

- Ash has an actual line change here, in Japanese he just says Viridian Forest "is such a nice place," but in English he says, "is THE awesome-est."

"Awesome-est" is not a real word, folks. Better this than, "I'm so psyched to do special trainin' in Virdian Forest, kay," though, that's what would've been said in BF or DP's dubs 100% IMO. Still, a bit lame, but I guess it's the least bad made up word TPCi has come up with over the years, "Scrumptchy" was the worst ever to me.

- Because this is the TPCi dub post-Season 10, and you know JCC loves his alliterations/wordplay to the very end evidently, Jessie says "Brain bruising" whereas in Japanese, there's none of that present. Hahahaha...yeah...and then James adds on with, "This not so charming charm feeling" whereas in Japanese, Kojiro/James just says "That bristly sensation must be..."

- Meowth's "Being out on the prowl is the best, meow," is changed to, "Yes! The fitter (???) the crime suits us best." I genuinely can't understand what Wingert's Meowth was trying to say, I'm sorry, can anyone decipher that for me?

- Ash's "wait a sec" is originally "Hold on" in Japanese.

- They pitched down the OST at SDI Iyuno for the 4th piece retained so far, and that is "
1997-1998-M13 戦い（VS野生ポケモン）
Japanese (Romanized): Tatakai (VS yasei Pokémon)
Japanese (Trans): Battle (VS Wild Pokémon)"

This piece was kept in all 8 years of the 4Kids run, from OS to late AG, not a surprise TPCi retained it in JN but it's lowered down in volume and is very hard to hear, compared to the one in the Japanese. 1/3 of it however is replaced, because it overlaps into the eye-catch which the dub rescores entirely, so it's .67 retained on this one in English.

- Someone has said TPCi had made the characters add in "let's go," but that happened under 4Kids too, which I never minded in either instance so that's fine.

- However, 4Kids kept this piece of OST in none other than the Ash vs. Whitney re-match Gym Battle most memorably in the dub of mid Johto in Season 4, and it was replaced by TPCi in JN here. It's in the Episode "A Dairy Tale Ending" in mid Johto at around the 18 minute mark & this piece of OST is:

1999-2001-M28 The Day Is Conquered!! (you can go to pocketmonsters.net and listen to it, it's very beautiful & it's a shame it got replaced)

- Ash says in the dub that, "It's so awesome to have you back" to Pidgeot, but in Japanese, he says instead, "Counting on you once again!" He's a bit less melodramatic in Japanese, oddly, usually TPCi made Ash more arrogant/abrasive than he was under 4Kids' reign & in Japanese early on but instead here, he's a bit TOO soft instead here?

I will say I like that they keep imitating Eric Stuart's Poliwhirl voice, as I also thought it was a great voice originally in English & I'm glad they didn't take that Pokemon in a different direction in English.

- Ed Goldfarb + electric guitar synth = water + oil, they don't mix well. I guess what I'm saying is, please cut that out in HZ, if it's possible from him.

- Of course TPCi replaced Life's Purpose from the Japanese Version. Presenting the only time the English dub ever kept it, in 4Kids' dub of Early Johto in Season 3:

Ash say charizard you have go || Ash leaves charizard || Ash goodbye to charizard (Not the full clip, just some scenes a fan spliced)

- In Japanese, Ash's speech is mostly similar, but a bit different in this one regard. He says, "All the things that happen each day...Every one of them matters," but in English, he says, "And put it to good use" for some reason instead? He's a bit more contemplative in Japanese, whereas in English, he's more sunshine-y optimistic about it? He also has a lot of "Thing is" phrases added in for some reason at the start of each sentence?

- Delia has a script change to "And...the journey continues," but in Japanese, Hanako says, "Come back safe." Delia is more caring and motherly in Japanese, than she is in English, as a mother to Ash. She's oddly very cheerful her son is gone in the dub, but in the original, she's concerned for her little boy more. Oh my...um, Delia, Ash is your son you know?

It ends with an instrumental version of Pokemon Theme, which was created by 4Kids in 1998, but is a TPCi Ed Goldfarb instrumental version of it instead. It's...okay, I suppose, but you know, it makes me wonder how Veronica Taylor would've handled this and them if they got this far. It's a bit bittersweet for me, honestly.

And at the end of it all, this is the only time the English dub ever outright removes, "Next time, a new beginning!" 4Kids kept that text in "Hoenn Alone!" aka EP274 with Ash in his AG clothes, believe it or not, at the end of Season 5 in OS before little did we know-- AG would be the final Series they'd get to dub, for just 3 more years.

So...that's it, on the script, music, and VA reprisals/alterations from prior episodes. The VA column deserves its own post which I'll do later, but I'll try to be nicer than usual, since it's the very end of Ash's journey in English over 25 years.

Is "to be continued" removed from the Taiwan Korean broadcasts as well?

 

[BigDocFan]

For anyone wanting to watch this episode to hear Tracey's voice

 

[Poke Trey]

So good to hear Ted Lewis as Tracey.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

So good to hear Ted Lewis as Tracey.

His performance changed a little, but it's good to hear an OG English VA back in a role (a shame they kept Bill Rogers on Gengar as Ted Lewis was his OG VA in the dub, and didn't give him back James after JCC retired, opting for a mimic in Bosco of the latter) in some way. Only 4 roles received their original English 4Kids VAs by the end, and not one VA lasted through all the 25 year run, as trivia.

Lewis' audio was used in OS, AG, and early DP for this line, during the 4Kids & TAJ Eras of S01-S10:

Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar! | Pokémon: Indigo League | Official Clip

Ash and Pikachu are ghosts?! ð»Watch as Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar play tricks on our heroes in Lavender Town.For more iconic Pokémon animation clips, check...

www.youtube.com

 

[PokeFanForever1]

His performance changed a little, but it's good to hear an OG English VA back in a role (a shame they kept Bill Rogers on Gengar as Ted Lewis was his OG VA in the dub, and didn't give him back James after JCC retired, opting for a mimic in Bosco of the latter) in some way. Only 4 roles received their original English 4Kids VAs by the end, and not one VA lasted through all the 25 year run, as trivia.

Lewis' audio was used in OS, AG, and early DP for this line, during the 4Kids & TAJ Eras of S01-S10:

Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar! | Pokémon: Indigo League | Official Clip

Ash and Pikachu are ghosts?! ð»Watch as Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar play tricks on our heroes in Lavender Town.For more iconic Pokémon animation clips, check...

www.youtube.com

Well that makes sense as it's been a long time since Ted Lewis voiced Tracey, and Ted is a lot older now, but he still has that unique sound to his voice which you can immediately tell is Tracey even if it's slightly different.

 

[Charmander4]

He sounded pretty spot on from what I can tell.

why hasn’t the Tracey article on bulbapedia and JN147 been updated to reflect the fact he got the role back?

 

[Poke Trey]

He sounded pretty spot on from what I can tell.

why hasn’t the Tracey article on bulbapedia and JN147 been updated to reflect the fact he got the role back?

A bit slow today?

 

[BigDocFan]

A bit older sounding, per se. Still better than Craig Blair was, regardless, in the role to me.

They’re slow on it, pocketmonsters.net is honestly the best Pokémon fansite to me besides this forum sites (Liam also > Serebii’s Joe M, he will actually let everyone voice their opinions freely and isn’t a Stan of everything done by Pokémon Co.). Dogasu is hit or miss to me, in that some days he’ll be pretty funny and others just mean spirited.

A bit slow today?

As a junior admin for Bulbapedia, I checked with the other admin about this, they said as the role was recast so long ago, it needs full confirmation

 

[HylianBelmont]

Glad to hear Ted Lewis back as Tracey! The character voice does sound a little older, but I suppose that's to be expected though. (His regular Bakura performance in Duel Links' "DSOD World" also sounded somewhat different to how he originally played him.)

 

[BigDocFan]

To be fair about Tracey sounding older, Ted Lewis along with the other actors age, unlike the characters lol

 

[Charmander4]

As a junior admin for Bulbapedia, I checked with the other admin about this, they said as the role was recast so long ago, it needs full confirmation

Seems kind of ridiculous as that is clearly Ted Lewis. Have they not heard it yet?

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

So it looks like my guesses earlier on nu-TPCi dub Prof Oak and James ended up correct (I took multiple tries that said for James, but eventually figured out who before it was revealed), but was wrong on Meowth: Wingert is indeed TPCi Prof Oak/Meowth II and the 7th dub VA for the former and 4th dub VA for the latter. Edward Bosco is the 4th dub VA for James, obviously.

Anyway, to the very end, I think Blaustein was the best dub Meowth, Stuart the best dub James, and Zagnit/Hart was the best dub Prof. Oak personally (all the popular opinions, but valid ones, IMO).

 

[snowmint]

We're all the JCC voice replacements confirmed 100% completely? James is an improvement. Meowth and oak are worse. Gary is meh.

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

We're all the JCC voice replacements confirmed 100% completely? James is an improvement. Meowth and oak are worse. Gary is meh.

They're all on pocketmonsters.net, basically.

I think James is somewhat better than what it replaced, but it still remains worse than Lewis or Stuart's, even at the latter's worst IMO. It's on par with JCC's in DP: E. Bosco was basically imitating the same overly goofy, nasally performance from there- but at least dub James doesn't sound 60+ years old on top of that IMO, like he did in XY-JN136 at least in English (my all time worst dub James was the rendition from 2014-2022, just godawful, XY was the worst of AG & DP dub James in one package + it only continued to get even more grating from there, peaking in all time-suck to me in the episode where he slipped into his Meowth voice in SM especially IIRC).

Meowth is indeed worse, but he hasn't sounded decent in English since Season 12-ish as is IMO, and hasn't been good in the English dub post-Season 8 to me in general so not bothered much by this.

Prof. Oak, I liked neither rendition they came up with at any time, post-4Kids in the main Anime dub: JCC's always sounded extraordinarily fake, ranging from Dr. Namba with an older mad scientist-y feel to it, to a younger, fake sounding nasally mad scientist as it "progressed" and Wingert's is just an imitation of JCC's already bad impression of Stan Hart/Zagnit to me- so my opinion on that one, speaks for itself.

Gary sounds more like a teenager w/a deeper voice than a little boy: JCC's was much better IMO, though his performance itself as the character got worse after DP to me.

 

[PokeMasterLA]

They're all on pocketmonsters.net, basically.

I think James is somewhat better than what it replaced, but it still remains worse than Lewis or Stuart's, even at the latter's worst IMO. It's on par with JCC's in DP: E. Bosco was basically imitating the same overly goofy, nasally performance from there- but at least dub James doesn't sound 60+ years old on top of that IMO, like he did in XY-JN136 at least in English (my all time worst dub James was the rendition from 2014-2022, just godawful, XY was the worst of AG & DP dub James in one package + it only continued to get even more grating from there, peaking in all time-suck to me in the episode where he slipped into his Meowth voice in SM especially IIRC).

Meowth is indeed worse, but he hasn't sounded decent in English since Season 12-ish as is IMO, and hasn't been good in the English dub post-Season 8 to me in general so not bothere.

Prof. Oak, I liked neither rendition they came up with at any time, post-4Kids in the main Anime dub: JCC's always sounded extraordinarily fake, ranging from Dr. Namba with an older mad scientist-y feel to it, to a younger, fake sounding nasally mad scientist as it "progressed" and Wingert's is just an imitation of JCC's already bad impression of Stan Hart/Zagnit to me- so my opinion on that one, speaks for itself.

Gary sounds more like a teenager w/a deeper voice than a little boy: JCC's was much better IMO, though his performance itself as the character got worse after DP to me.

I feel like James is the character that improved with the new VA.

I feel like Meowth sounded worse IMO.

Professor Oak sounds pretty much the same. Whoever voices him now does a good job at matching JCC. I actually prefer this version of Oak than the one from Pokemon Go when Meltan was introduced. That is the worst version of Prof Oak IMO.

Stuart Zagnit will always be the best version of Professor Oak!!

Not a big fan of Gary’s new VA!!! This will always be my favorite JCC role and I’m sad that he was unable to voice it one final time in the final episode

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

I feel like James is the character that improved with the new VA.

I feel like Meowth sounded worse IMO.

Professor Oak sounds pretty much the same. Whoever voices him now does a good job at matching JCC. I actually prefer this version of Oak than the one from Pokemon Go when Meltan was introduced. That is the worst version of Prof Oak IMO.

Stuart Zagnit will always be the best version of Professor Oak!!

Not a big fan of Gary’s new VA!!! This will always be my favorite JCC role and I’m sad that he was unable to voice it one final time in the final episode

I think James improved from JCC's in XY, but still sucks compared to Lewis, Stuart, and JCC in BF and BW (JCC's take from XY on is worse than anything the prior three did, and I think James still sounds like a nasally goofball with Bosco, but not age inappropriate anymore at least).

Pretty much agree with the other three, though (that Oak was pretty bad, I think Ben Diskin's was the overall worst, with JCC's in second worst to me).