Review S14 EP01: In the Shadow of Zekrom! ・ EP02: Enter Iris and Axew!

[Daxdiv]

Personally, I do like how the dub kind of makes Team Rocket out to not be so robotic when they speak. Maybe it's because they're used to being goofy for the role and such, but because of that, it sort of gives them more of an edge for my preference in BW. Well, based on these two episodes at least.

 

[Giovanni Sakaki]

Is Jimmy Zoppi still writing TR's dialogue? Because I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard the translation of their new motto.

 

[Hellwarden]

Ya know even now when I hear Iris call Ash a kid in the original, it sounds, well, mean. In the dub, it sounds more friendly, though that could just be the language I suppose.

 

[Noivern]

Well, I jumped back into the anime, for once. And it was a pleasant experience. What a great dub! I don't think I'm bothering with the original versions, despite I never watched them. It's enjoyable. And Team Rocket is serious for once, and perhaps, for all. I have a feeling that this is going to be the best series yet. Right?

"Who's That Pokémon" being reintroduced only gave me a smile. A very nice smile. I had a warm feeling. It's been a long time since I first watched the Pokémon anime.

Not to mention that the animation is very good.

10/10

 

[matt0044]

Is Jimmy Zoppi still writing TR's dialogue? Because I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard the translation of their new motto.

I think so. Personally, he gave TR more personality than the JPN version (along with their VAs) which is good.

 

[ehh123]

Since the voice actors ban has been dropped for now, let us discuss the new character voices we have heard in these two episodes.

Here is a list of the characters and the people who voiced them for reference:

Iris- Eileen Stevens
Trip- Jamie McGonnigal
Professor Juniper- Khristine Hvam
Nurse Joy- Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld (she is also going to do Audino)
Dexter- Marc Thompson
Oshawott- Lisa Ortiz
Axew- Kayzie Rogers

As for me, Iris is great, I was a little surprised when I heard Trip's deep voice, and I think it is interesting that Lisa Ortiz is voicing a Pokemon since she has mostly done human characters up till this point.

 

[Shift]

Professor Juniper- Khristine Hvam
Nurse Joy- Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld (she is also going to do Audino)

Where were these two confirmed? I can imagine Rosenfield voicing Joy, but Audino hasn't come up yet, and Juniper sounds almost exactly like Emily Jenness.

 

[ehh123]

I can imagine Rosenfield voicing Joy, but Audino hasn't come up yet

She mentioned it on her website.

Juniper sounds almost exactly like Emily Jenness.

It says Khristine Hvam on both Bulbapedia and behindthevoiceactors.com.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Here's my review of the Black and White episodes.

I miss the episode title puns. I enjoyed those, and I wish they would bring them back. I wonder if they're pulling a season 1/Kanto here, by translating the Japanese titles?

Anyway, I've gotta say, these 2 episodes were quite impressive overall. The animation was awesome and the story was great too. It almost seemed like a movie! =O

Haha, Ash and his mom going on vacation was great! XD

Don't have much to say about the "Pikachu getting overcharged" plot, though. Didn't they pretty much do the same thing in the first episode of Pokemon Advanced? =P

I liked the part when Ash had Pikachu shock him with Thunderbolt and then Volt Tackle. LOL, I love it when Ash gets shocked. XDDD

The music in these episodes was awesome! =)

And OMG, I can't believe they brought back Who's That Pokemon! I didn't expect that at all. LOL, my jaw dropped when I saw the eyecatch. XD

Props to TPCi for bringing back Who's That Pokemon. At least that gives me a little bit of nostalgia in the TPCi dub, hehe.

Now time for the FUN part of my review: the voice acting. :-D

As for me, Iris is great, I was a little surprised when I heard Trip's deep voice, and I think it is interesting that Lisa Ortiz is voicing a Pokemon since she has mostly done human characters up till this point.

Wow, I didn't know Lisa Ortiz voiced Oshawott! She was great! I'm glad they're using Lisa again, because she is one of my favorite VAs. =D

Trip's voice was great! LOL, when I first heard Trip, I thought he was voiced by Paul's VA. Because the voice sounds so similar to Paul's. XD I think Jamie McGonnigal is gonna be great as Trip! I really enjoyed his performance as Barry. ^_^

And I loved Elieen Steven's performance as Iris. She's great! =D

Ted Lewis as Giovanni is epic. Nostalgia FTW!! =D

And I still don't like Professor Oak's new voice. I'm sorry, but Jimmy Zoppi has way too many roles, lol. He voices like half the characters on the show. XD I wish they would bring back Stan Hart for Oak, because he was GREAT. If Stan still does voice acting, maybe they could bring him back?

As for Sarah, well, her acting has definitely improved. In fact, even I enjoyed her performance in the Sinnoh League tourament episodes. And that's saying a lot. XD However, she still pronounces Pokemon wrong. =P

Also, I wish Sarah would use a higher pitch for Ash... Personally, I think a higher pitch would be more suitable than her D/P pitch, given the fact that Ash is 10 in BW. In my opinion, Ash sounds older with Sarah's D/P voice, lol. Does anyone agree that she should use a higher pitch?

At one time, Sarah did use a higher pitch for Ash. You can hear her high pitch in the episode "A Maze-ing Race", where everyone got lost in that big maze. I think that's from season 10 or 11. I can't remember.

 

[Piplup]

I think a higher pitch would be more suitable than her D/P pitch, given the fact that Ash is 10 in BW. In my opinion, Ash sounds older with Sarah's D/P voice, lol. Does anyone agree that she should use a higher pitch?

Ash is 10 in the whole show... and ages don't really matter in this show... they state the age of 10 cause that's the age people can get their first Pokémon - there's nothing more to it than this and anime characters never act or look according to their ages anyway
They shouldn't try to make Ash sound younger... it actually fits that he'd sound a little older than he sounded in the first seasons, cause he's acting way more maturely now than he did back then
Also, there's no reason to all of a sudden change Ash's voice (even if it's same actor doing a different voice) from Season 13 to Season 14 - it's not like the Japanese version made any changes and there's really no reason to change anything...

 

[J J M]

Trip's voice was great! LOL, when I first heard Trip, I thought he was voiced by Paul's VA. Because the voice sounds so similar to Paul's. XD I think Jamie McGonnigal is gonna be great as Trip! I really enjoyed his performance as Barry. ^_^

Actually, I instantly recognized that Trip had Barry's VA. He sounds exactly like him, only without the coffee-induced excitedness. Trip is just way more calmer, though they are both blond....they should meet! xD

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Pokemon Chronicals opening doesn't count, that was the Poke'rap GS.

Why? If it is used as opening theme, then it is count.

 

[Joshawott]

"In the Shadow of Zekrom" has just aired in the UK ("Enter Iris and Axew!" will air in an hour). One thing was notable: "Who's That Pokémon?" was cut. I'm not complaining though; as CITV doesn't cut for commercials in the middle of a program (they only do that with movies), so it make WTP a bit redundant anyway.

 

[harryheart]

"In the Shadow of Zekrom" has just aired in the UK ("Enter Iris and Axew!" will air in an hour). One thing was notable: "Who's That Pokémon?" was cut. I'm not complaining though; as CITV doesn't cut for commercials in the middle of a program (they only do that with movies), so it make WTP a bit redundant anyway.

Yea I noticed that too, but maybe because it apparently wasn't in the 3rd ep of BW and maybe it won't be in others too so they thought there was no point. Also at the end with the TO BE CONTINUED did that seem weird to you, because it seemed to have been plastered over a black banner.

 

[Joshawott]

Well, the Dutch airing of episode 3 kept it in; and WTP returned for episode 4. I will admit, without WTP, the scene transition looks really awkward.

 

[jennytablina]

"In the Shadow of Zekrom" has just aired in the UK ("Enter Iris and Axew!" will air in an hour). One thing was notable: "Who's That Pokémon?" was cut. I'm not complaining though; as CITV doesn't cut for commercials in the middle of a program (they only do that with movies), so it make WTP a bit redundant anyway.

CITV overall has been very good this weekend, they showed *all* of Movie 13 so they officially got the premiere of the opening 10 minutes in the dub, it really does make a lot more sense to see the films set up.

For those curious, the intro from the US airing is the same - also the ending is an instrumental of "Black and White" on black credits, no Unova starter band for us : (

Anyway review of EP1; It's not bad, but because of the set-up - it feels pretty short. The only thing that bugs me on repeat viewing is the whole "Zekrom temporarily nerfs Pikachu" thing. I get he's mad but he reverses the judgement right after the battle, why?

I like the dub voices, Ash's voice has gotten tons better and none of the Unova Pokemon sound too irritating (on reflection, Axew is a bit of an improvement even if it's not as cute as Kubon). Oak does not really sound right but I guess we don't really need to worry about that as he's off again after Ep 2. Trip sounds too old considering he's effectively younger than Ash, oh well

 

[Joshawott]

At the end of Episode 2, a little banner came up saying CITV will be showing Black & White "Later this year"

Or y'know CITV, you could just air it weekly? >>

The only parts of the dialogue that seemed awkward was in Episode 1 when Delia was talking about leaving with Oak; the way she said it sounded like it was a sexy getaway.

 

[jennytablina]

At the end of Episode 2, a little banner came up saying CITV will be showing Black & White "Later this year"

Or y'know CITV, you could just air it weekly? >>

The only parts of the dialogue that seemed awkward was in Episode 1 when Delia was talking about leaving with Oak; the way she said it sounded like it was a sexy getaway.

I'm disappointed after a pretty decent weekend of premieres. I guess there must be some reason they don't want to run B&W yet (episodes won't come their way quickly enough? waiting till theres a decent amount of episodes to rerun a billion times?)

I hope theres was good viewing figures for the movie and episodes. Would be nice if CITV decided the new season was worth airing at 9:25 every Sunday or just generally at a better time to Sinnoh League Victors.

 

[Joshawott]

I'm guessing CITV want to air Black & White with 5 new episodes a week; similar to how every channel that isn't Sky1 have aired Pokemon in the UK (basically, Advanced Battle onwards); and if CITV did that now, we'd catch up to Japan in 5 weeks (which is impossible). Their schedule is odd now, as "Diamond & Pearl" has taken Sinnoh League Victor's spot, and repeats of SLV are shown at seemingly random times. I would have thought they'd have repeated DP on weekdays, and aired BW on weekends.

I've emailed ITV (the company that owns CITV; for those who don't know) to ask when they plan to air "Memories are Made of Bliss" and "Black & White".

 

[Bikini Miltank]

I can't be the only one who identified with Trip here, can I? While Gary and Paul were (at least initially) portrayed as arseholes, I find Trip's dislike of Ash to be perfectly justified. Good God, the kid wouldn't leave him alone.

"Ooooh boy I bet you're so excited I sure was I couldn't sleep at all hey what starter are you gonna pick they all look great I don't know which one I like best that's a fire type nice and fiery oh that one's so cute and that one sure looks confident hey where are you going we should battle I'm gonna be a Pokémon master you know Pikachu use Volt Tackle huh that didn't work oh well you beat me YOU'RE MY RIVAL NOW!"