The How Much Japanese Music Is Kept In The Dub Thread

[Yamato-san]

Well, it depends on how one would define "CD worthy. Many fans across the world seem to find the BGM very appealing, which is actually part of the point of this thread. And part of that appeal (for me at least) are the Anime compositions of tunes from the games. And FYI, their are countless CDs featuring the Pocket Monsters Anime BGM. You can find a list right here. If you're looking for Anime BGM, in addition to SAC, check out Advance Adventure, Genki Ippa!, and Together / By Your Side ~Hikari's Theme~. The Pocket Monsters movies also have BGM released on CD. And generally afterwards, the BGM in question becomes a mainstay to the regular series.

Anyway, it looks like this season is shaping up to be like the last two, in terms of music being kept in the Dub. Well, see what happens later on, but so far, we have an average episode, and a below average episode.

personally, I love soundtracks to Japanese productions in general. However, some are better and more memorable than others (I fucking adore Yuki Kajiura ^^). Pocket Monsters... well, for such a long-running series (which also managed about 12 movies which all get their own OSTs, not to mention being adapted from a series of video games that supply the anime with several tracks as well), it clearly has a lot to its name. Some are highly outstanding, a few are mediocre if not terrible, while most the others are just something nice to listen to within the show but probably isn't something you'd want bother getting a CD for. Overall, I'd label this series as something of in-between; good, but there're much better ones out there (but I should acknowledge that my experience with other anime thus far has been quite high).

Really, though, the purpose of this thread doesn't necessarily need to be for people who really love the music. Personally, I just despise the changing of soundtracks during localization altogether, because it really just seems unnecessary. Not to mention that western replacement soundtracks are pretty much always infinitely inferior to what was already there, if not just plain shit [cough]4kids filler tracks[cough].

 

[Rex Kamex]

Would it be okay if this were stickied? Especially since this thread is about to be considered dead (if it isn't already).

Also, I wonder how much BGM will be kept this season of Pokemon. It was random (but nice, imo) how two eps ago nearly all the BGM was kept.

 

[Lord_Mewtwo]

That would be a great idea.

 

[Blue_Drifblim]

Minor nitpick: DP160 actually kept 5 pieces.

First song in the episode
Fighting Spirit
Team Rocket Sinnoh Theme Remix
DP Gym Battle
DP Route... something. I always forget the route numbers.

Also, I agree on the sticky idea.

 

[Mijumaru]

Doesn't With the Easiest of Grace! have 13 pieces, not 12?

 

[Lord_Mewtwo]

Doesn't With the Easiest of Grace! have 13 pieces, not 12?

I counted 12 pieces.

 

[Lady Gaga]

Honesty, the Japanese music is not as good as the American music.

The dub has always massacred the Japanese, because it originated from America. If it wasn't for America, Pokemon wouldn't be popular.

 

[Lord_Mewtwo]

Honesty, the Japanese music is not as good as the American music.

The dub has always massacred the Japanese, because it originated from America. If it wasn't for America, Pokemon wouldn't be popular.

Many people on here would beg to differ. We're at the point where replacing music in an Anime dub is inappropriate. Yes it was common in the 90's back when Pokemon first came out, but when the dubs switched they should have started using the complete Japanese score in the episodes.

 

[Lady Gaga]

Many people on here would beg to differ. We're at the point where replacing music in an Anime dub is inappropriate. Yes it was common in the 90's back when Pokemon first came out, but when the dubs switched they should have started using the complete Japanese score in the episodes.

Really? Seriously? The Japanese version in general just doesn't compare with the American version. Isn't it a fact that if it wasn't for the American version, Pokemon wouldn't even be here.

 

[Mijumaru]

I counted 12 pieces.

I might have made a mistake here...

 

[xxxthebxxx]

Great work on this! It is very comprehensive, and it seems that DP has started a trend in using slightly more Japanese music then Hoenn and Johto.

 

[Pokemaster Justin]

Really? Seriously? The Japanese version in general just doesn't compare with the American version. Isn't it a fact that if it wasn't for the American version, Pokemon wouldn't even be here.

I HATE Japanese themes, lettering, and lyrics in Pokemon and I will TOTALLY disagree with you on that one buddy the Japanese music for BGM is AMAZING

 

[Trainer Lisa]

I like the Japanese BGM! It's awesome! But I also love the 4Kids BGM. I think 4Kids composed some great music for the dub. =)

Personally, I think TPCi's BGM is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as the 4Kids' music was, in my opinion. XD

Anyway, I've been thinking about the dub BGM. Okay, we know they released the BGM for Pokemon The First Movie. Cause I actually own The First Movie Score CD (which has all the dub music from the first movie).

I also heard that they released the dub BGM score for Pokemon The Movie 2000, but I can't find that anywhere...

However, this is what I've been wondering. Is there any way to find out how many 4Kids dub tracks (and Pokemon USA dub tracks) there are? I'd really like to know this because I love the dub BGM.

I tried going to Manny Corallo's website just now. http://mannycorallo.com But unfortunately, his site now appears to be "offline". =(

Hmm, there has to be some way we can get the dub BGM. It'd be awesome if they would release the dub BGM tracks from the early seasons! In fact, most of my favorite tracks were used in the first episode of Pokemon! ^_^

And besides the music used in the first episode, there is another 4Kids BGM track that I really like. It plays in "The Stolen Stones" from Johto League Champions. It plays when Ash gets on the Arcanine and rides it properly (this scene is right after the character-of-the-day breaks his arm and he can't ride Arcanine, so Ash takes over for him).

I'm sure this song has played in other episodes too, but I can't remember the other episodes. Anyway, this specific 4Kids track is awesome, because it sounds like a remix from the games. But it's really a dub song. ^^

So, does anyone remember that song I'm talking about? I'd also like to know the first dub episode where this track was used. I think they played that song in "The Pi-Kahuna" during one of the flashback scenes, but I'm not sure since I haven't seen that episode in a while...

 

[snowmint]

Helpfully the Best Wishes dub keeps all the original music. Who am I kidding... >_>

 

[shapps07]

For today's episode, here's the Japanese dub music used:
1. Beginning music (Attic Playground theme from Movie 8)
2. Nando's harp
3. When Nando shows off his badges (Oldale Town Theme)
4. When Dawn sees Zoey (Sandgem Town Theme)
5. Pokemon DP Contest Theme
6. Fantina's appearance (Magic Show Theme from Movie 6)
7. Dawn's Appeal
8. End of Dawn's Appeal (Route 206 theme)
9. When showing the coordinators moving on (Movie 8 fanfare)
10. Ending music (A Meeting and Parting)

 

[Lord_Mewtwo]

For today's episode, here's the Japanese dub music used:
1. Beginning music (Attic Playground theme from Movie 8)
2. Nando's harp
3. When Nando shows off his badges (Oldale Town Theme)
4. When Dawn sees Zoey (Sandgem Town Theme)
5. Pokemon DP Contest Theme
6. Fantina's appearance (Magic Show Theme from Movie 6)
7. Dawn's Appeal
8. End of Dawn's Appeal (Route 206 theme)
9. When showing the coordinators moving on (Movie 8 fanfare)
10. Ending music (A Meeting and Parting)

Nando's harp played twice, so I counted it twice.

 

[Kazamatsuri]

You know, I have an observation to make.

I was looking a little more closely, and it actually seems that the decline in original BGM under 4Kids actually began during Johto Journeys, and not the season later. I think this was primarily due to the fact that a 3rd of Johto Journeys episodes used karaoke versions of tracks from 2BA Master, and that the English Dub started inserting music that 4Kids produced for the first 2 English Dubbed movies. The reason why Season 3 averages out relatively the same as the previous 2 seasons, is because the first batch of episodes, which took place in the Orange Islands, kept such a high percentage of the original music.

When I averaged out all the BGM kept from School of Hard Knocks to A Sappy Ending, it came out to more than 75%. Then the remaining Season 3 episodes, and the first half dozen episodes of Season 4 (which are on par with Johto Journeys in terms of keeping the original BGM) average out to about 60%. So there was a slight downturn. And then from there onwards, you know the rest.

 

[shapps07]

You know, I have an observation to make.

I was looking a little more closely, and it actually seems that the decline in original BGM under 4Kids actually began during Johto Journeys, and not the season later. I think this was primarily due to the fact that a 3rd of Johto Journeys episodes used karaoke versions of tracks from 2BA Master, and that the English Dub started inserting music that 4Kids produced for the first 2 English Dubbed movies. The reason why Season 3 averages out relatively the same as the previous 2 seasons, is because the first batch of episodes, which took place in the Orange Islands, kept such a high percentage of the original music.

When I averaged out all the BGM kept from School of Hard Knocks to A Sappy Ending, it came out to more than 75%. Then the remaining Season 3 episodes, and the first half dozen episodes of Season 4 (which are on par with Johto Journeys in terms of keeping the original BGM) average out to about 60%. So there was a slight downturn. And then from there onwards, you know the rest.

Very keen observation. Yes, it's sad that 4Kids started the trend of removing some Japanese dub music and now TPCi is following in their footsteps

 

[Trainer Lisa]

I think this was primarily due to the fact that a 3rd of Johto Journeys episodes used karaoke versions of tracks from 2BA Master, and that the English Dub started inserting music that 4Kids produced for the first 2 English Dubbed movies.

Okay, you're all gonna hate me for saying this. XD

But as a loyal fan of the Pokemon dub, I LOVE how 4Kids did this with Johto Journeys!! =D

The tracks from 2BA Master are nostalgic. And in my opinion, it was great to hear the instrumental/karaoke versions used in the show. ^^

This is just another reason why Johto Journeys is my favorite season. I really enjoyed watching those episodes. =)

Also, I noticed it right away when they started inserting music from the first 2 Pokemon movies. In addition, they also use BGM from the first 2 Pikachu shorts as well. ^^

And personally, I think 4Kids background music does fit the scenes most of the time. Well, that's my opinion, anyway (note that this is coming from someone who doesn't watch the Japanese version at all and watches only the dub). =P

By the way, did anyone see my post?

However, this is what I've been wondering. Is there any way to find out how many 4Kids dub tracks (and Pokemon USA dub tracks) there are? I'd really like to know this because I love the dub BGM.

I tried going to Manny Corallo's website just now. http://mannycorallo.com But unfortunately, his site now appears to be "offline". =(

Hmm, there has to be some way we can get the dub BGM. It'd be awesome if they would release the dub BGM tracks from the early seasons! In fact, most of my favorite tracks were used in the first episode of Pokemon! ^_^

And besides the music used in the first episode, there is another 4Kids BGM track that I really like. It plays in "The Stolen Stones" from Johto League Champions. It plays when Ash gets on the Arcanine and rides it properly (this scene is right after the character-of-the-day breaks his arm and he can't ride Arcanine, so Ash takes over for him).

I'm sure this song has played in other episodes too, but I can't remember the other episodes. Anyway, this specific 4Kids track is awesome, because it sounds like a remix from the games. But it's really a dub song. ^^

So, does anyone remember that song I'm talking about? I'd also like to know the first dub episode where this track was used. I think they played that song in "The Pi-Kahuna" during one of the flashback scenes, but I'm not sure since I haven't seen that episode in a while...

Anyway, I'm confused. Yes, I can understand why all of you want TPCi to keep more Japanese BGM in the show. And I think it would be nice if they did that too...

However, as I stated before, I like both the Japanese music and the dub music (though I prefer 4Kids BGM).

To be honest, I am disappointed by the lack of people here, who truly appreciate and like the dub BGM. It looks like I'm the only one here who actually likes the dub music. If that's true, then it's a shame. =(

Come on guys, whether it's 4Kids or TPCi music, the dub BGM couldn't be as bad as you're making it sound. I mean, with all the 4Kids and TPCi BGM tracks that you've heard (and instrumental tracks of the 2BA Master songs), there has to be SOME dub music that you guys like.

So, am I right? Are there any 4Kids or TPCi BGM tracks that you like?

 

[Dogasu]

The dub music itself isn't really the problem. Some of it is kind of catchy, if you actually take the time to sit down and listen to it on its own.

The problem I (and I'm assuming others) have with it is that it shouldn't be in this show. It's very Pokemon-y, but not very Pocket Monsters-y. You're watching the show, with this amazing orchestrated soundtrack, and then suddenly you're hit with this synthesizer music done in a completely different style from Miyazaki Shinji's music. It's awkward and it's tacky, and it creates a very uneven soundtrack.