How should I keep watching the anime?

[Eclipsical]

Late 2019 I decided to take the task of watching every single episode and movie of the Pokémon anime, as I didn’t become a fan until Pokémon XY came out on the 3DS, so I didn’t watch most of it. Fast forward to now, and I’m reaching the end of Ash’s journey through the Johto region.

Up till now, I’ve been watching it in the English dub, but I’m considering switching over to the original Japanese at the beginning of the Hoenn seasons. Should I switch over to Japanese subbed?

 

[P_S_B]

Japanese with English subs aren't complete for Advanced Generation or DP. AG has some scattered subs and so does early DP, but you'll have to wait until midway into DP before you can fully switch to subbed.

 

[Eclipsical]

Oh, I see, guess I’ll have to wait until then!

 

[pharaohyami5000]

Japanese with English subs aren't complete for Advanced Generation or DP. AG has some scattered subs and so does early DP, but you'll have to wait until midway into DP before you can fully switch to subbed.

Correction: Only Orange Islands, Johto and Advance Generation (and Journeys) needs subs. The rest are done.

 

[KenzeyEevee]

I watch it subbed, because you dont have to wait for months how it continues

 

[Nicolas721]

It depends on what aspects you care most:

• Plot: It's the same in both versions. The script has very minor changes in the English Dub, but nothing too big.
• Voices: Those are subjective and it depends on you whether they sound good or bad, but there's a big change in the dub in season 9 that could make the series harder to watch.
• Background music: In the dub, the music from late season 5 will be spammed to death in seasons 6-8. Then it will became bearable in seasons 9 to 16, but will take a nosedive in season 17 and onward that's much worse than that spam. I can't speak for the Japanese version but I assume it has a more consistent style.
• Long openings, cute endings & previews: Unavailable in the English Dub. However, its short openings and endings could make it ideal for binge-watching.
• Censored episodes: By that point you have already skipped four (or seven depending on the platform) filler episodes by following the dub. But the other series don't have as many, if you follow the Japanese version you'll get access to just two recaps in seasons 10 & 12 and a filler in season 21. Of course, you could just change versions to see the missing episodes.

Another thing is that I don't know whether subs for older seasons are easy to find as all of them are fanmade.

 

[ii kanji]

The script has very minor changes in the English Dub, but nothing too big.

Unless you're the Rocket TRio in which case your entire characters and relationship are rewritten in the dub...

 

[Silktree]

The streaming site I use is missing 80 (subbed) DP episodes out of the first 100. The others can apparently be watched with subtitles by other means, but the quality may be iffy.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Sub has better and more nuanced voice acting, amazing BGM, and killer OP/EDs. The Dub generally butchers Team Rocket, especially as you get further into the series. While the 4kids Dub has a great core cast of actors, I find the TPCI Dub (debuting in Battle Frontier) extremely hard to watch. Sadly the OS-AG Subs aren't complete, but beyond that Subs are far more enjoyable in my opinion if you can dig them out.

 

[TheLoonyRebel]

And there is some... moments like these as well.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxwyYfSdtoQ

 

[Galactic_V]

I could just find a few Kanto episodes, Jouto episodes and AG episodes from when I followed the sub lol From DP onwards they had everything but still. Not mentioning they were mostly bad done.

There was a fansub in my homecountry who was doing every single episode from OS, but they were even worse than those English subs I used to use. Lots of mistranslations.

 

[Cinnabar]

It all depends on what you like honestly.

Personally, it's the dubbed version that works for me. I started with Pokemon in the Sun and Moon series, and basically missed everything before then, but I did eventually start back and watch up to date. I don't mind watching the anime in subbed, but it's just easier and a lot more laid back for me to watch it dubbed. If you find that you started out liking one version more, then you should continue with whatever feels best for you, because the last thing you'd want is for a show you normally enjoy to become something less fun to watch.

Anyways, just how I feel about it honestly, considering it is a question I get asked commonly.