Do you prefer to watch dubbed episodes or the Japanese originals?

[Sakuraa]

English dubbed since I can understand it.

 

[Ranger Jack Walker]

Why would I want to watch something in a language I don't understand (subbed or not) when I can watch it in a language I do understand?

 

[Darth Darkrai]

I like both because U can learn something different with Both Versions I think.

 

[Galar Adventurer]

Dubbed Version. TPCi's dub is fine now. Even their openings. Yeah, IN COMPARISON to the 4Kids themes, It's Always You and Me doesn't stack up to a 4Kids theme, but as a stand alone theme, it's one of TPCi's better songs.

 

[FANG-TAN]

I strictly watch the Japanese version.

I never watch the English dub of *any* anime unless it's a really good dub like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Those are good dubs. Pokemon is not. I watched the English dub as a child, but like @Yamato-san, I eventually went back and watched all of those episodes in Japanese, replacing the English dub with it in my mind by default.

At the very least, there's no reason for people to have not watched the original versions of the first five Pokemon movies, especially the first movie. Raw and subbed versions of those are *so* easy to find, it's a shame people don't even look into it. People are missing out on some really great things that were present in the original versions because of this "durr I don't like reading subtitles/listening to foreign languages" BS mentality. Perhaps this is the reason why people haven't listened to the awesome CD Dramas + available translations?

 

[Darth Darkrai]

Both are Good because U Guys can learn from both Versions and learn good Facts.

 

[FANG-TAN]

^ Before watching the dub, I never knew Arbok evolved into Habunake.

Those accursed writers, writing off Musashi's Arbok for no reason!

 

[Darth Darkrai]

They are BOTH Good I think and can Learn a lot from both and U can Decide which Voices in both Versions are better.

 

[Caseydia]

I never watched Pokémon in Japanese before because once I noticed Veronica's voice, I became interested. I even grown to like Sarah's as well. I don't watch Jap because I always watched pokemon in English.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

The Original JPN Version is the best from the little I've seen of Best Wishes! and all the other sagas. While I can see there's clearly more effort and emotion put into things, it doesn't make either of the dubs bad by any means.

Despite that, as I grew up with it, and I'm not missing anything remotely important in terms of plot (dub fans, I'll admit we are missing some of the more naughtier things from the subbed, e.g. Takeshi's perversion is even greater; Kasumi likes to flaunt herself, in addition to the excellent orchestrated score by Shinji Miyazaki playing the whole way through with no dub BGM, nothing major has been lost at all). Thus, I go with the dub, solely because (1) I like hearing things in English, even if the subbed version is superior, because it creates a greater sense of familiarity for me and (2) the show is now completely for children, and I'm not missing scenes like Kojiro/James inflating his breasts anymore, so I'm not missing anything.

Of the two dubs, I'm definitely more fond of the 4Kids dubbed seasons, though. What can I say? They're much funnier, more emotional, have better script writing (aka Team Rocket is not spouting rhymes/alliterations, Ash is actually saying things a normal 10 y/o kid would, etc.), and the voice acting is clearly better than that of the current dubbed seasons. Now, the current TPCi dubbed seasons were pretty abysmal for their first 3 seasons, but something happened around Galactic Battles that seemed to go in the right direction, and since Black and White began, the dub is once again at least decent and watchable again. The only real problems I have with the current dub now are (1) *coughs* the bad script writing/dialogue, particularly in Team Rocket's case *coughs*, and (2) the openings/endings are still mostly pretty poor. Still, the TPCi dub has been good since Black and White to me, so I can't really complain considering they've shown marked growth this series.

Gotta say, even when the new dub was at its worst, it was better than, say, the initial new dub of DBZ was on its best day, both in terms of music AND voices. Anyone who was unfortunate to watch Funimation's first take on DBZ without the Ocean Group cast should know what rock-bottom is for replacement dubs.

Well, I agree and disagree. I agree that the FUNimation cast was pretty terrible when they started out, but personally I disagree in that it wasn't nearly as jarring for me as the Pokemon recast because (1) that happened after only 53 episodes + 3 movies, not a whopping 422 episodes + 8 movies, nearly 8 times the amount of episodes with the same cast, and (2) the characters in DBZ actually age, making some remote sense for the change to occur, while in Pokemon they do not age (I blame the writers for that), which is amazing because everyone excluding Jessie, who sounds like she went back 10 years in time, in the TPCi dub has far more rough and deep voices than they used to, which doesn't make any sense (I disagree on the voice actor front).

On the music front, I agree wholeheartedly though. Even 4Kids' and TAJ's synthesized themes TPCi continued to use and add as well when they took over are LEAGUES better than what Bruce Faulconer came up with for the dub of DBZ (at least until the Majin Buu Saga, IMO).

 

[Johtohfiller]

I'll watch either, but Japanese wins on the strength of the music. Shinji Miyazaki's score is *incredible*.

 

[Gurukin]

I'm not following the animated series anymore, but when I did it was right back when BW started getting aired, so that was the very first time I watched the series in its original dubbing (with subtitles, of course). So, I started watching some movies and my favorite episodes in the original version, and what to say, there sure is a huge difference! I don't know how to explain, it seems like the japanese version is more "mature" and that in the dubbing one I'm always missing something.

 

[Masato]

I prefer watching the original Japanese version because it has a superior soundtrack compared to the dub. The music is extremely important to me because it really gives the Japanese version a much "quieter" tone than the dub does, which I like. That said, I'm fine with dub music issues aside. Plus, I don't really get a choice of which one to watch when I watch episodes pre-Sinnoh.

 

[G50]

I like watching both the original and dub equally. Although I can't understand a lot of what is said in the original, the music is really great, plus it helps remember the Japanese names of moves, Pokemon, and people.

The dub does have mistakes now and then, but animation, music, and being able to understand what's going on I really like about it.

 

[Bluelatios]

(moved from other thread) For me it has to be the dub. That's what I grew up on, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Its a big part of how I remember the spirit and personality the show had when OS aired that got me into Pokemon. Stuff like silly over-americanization that most dubbers do were just a non-issue compared to the positive impact of having the show in the US. The voice actor change (and the dub crew change in general) was extremely painful for me and I think about the repercussions of it all the time (heck anybody who knows me knows that), but I have undying hope for the dub's future. The show's potential and legacy is too great; I love it too much to give it up, say screw TPCi and settle for Japanese. I'll endure the rainy days, smile at the occasional rainbow, and never stop watching on my pride as a Pokemon fan.

Go America

 

[Pikafanboy]

I prefer the dub up to the point 4Kids left, after which I prefer the subs. I enjoy the voice actors, openings, and humor of the 4Kids version over the Japanese version. But I feel the opposite about the TCPI dub, I hate their openings, writing, and many of their voice actors, especially the ones that replaced long standing characters like Ash and James. The only problem with that is I find it very jarring switching to the Japanese names of everything since I stuck with the dub all the way until very recently, and not all episodes are subbed.