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New Voice Actors Discussion (READ FIRST POST BEFORE POSTING)

What do you think about the new voices?


  • Total voters
    171
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Sceptile726 said:
Pika, Max, Misty, and Jessie did not sound too bad
Pikachu?! They dubbed Pikachu's voice? Huh.

Well, it's on in 27 minutes for me. I guess I'll see.
 
Herakurosu said:
I still can't put a finger on who Ash sounded like. There was some Jouto filler boy who had exactly the same voice, but there are so many I can't remember who. :/
char_koby.jpg
 
I've never seen One Piece, so I wouldn't know if he sounded like a character from that. There was definately a boy in Pokémon who had the same voice.
 
I voted for the last one.

They all sucked. Hard. I've already written to the mofo's at PUSA. This would be my second e-mail, but I guess now I have to start spamming the crap out of them. How can they change the VA's after 10 years? I hated all of them, but Misty and Jessie sounded the most like the originals.

Brock isn't even the same character anymore. I like the chain-smoker analogy, don't know why it didn't come to me earlier.

James sounds like he's constipated and has a sinus infection.

Meowth seemed to scream the whole time he talked. No more accent.

Oak's voice was so butchered up I don't know wtf he sounds like. He sounded almost as constipated as James.

May sounds like she's 21. That might be OK for a special when they all grow older or something, but not this. She doesn't even sound like May at all.

Max was bad, too. he sounded off-key and lifeless.

Mew sounded too much like Celebi. Granted it was cute, but I like the Pokémon: The First Movie's Mew much better, no comparison. It had that echo-ey soft "Mew!" instead of sounding like Celebi.

Why are they doing this to us?
 
The guys at Pokemon USA changed the voices because they felt that we (the fans) didn't like 4kids. So like idiots, they casted all new people who sound nothing like the originals.

Pokemon USA made the anime WORSE not better. I really wish 4kids still had Pokemon.
 
Kthleen said:
Pikachu?! They dubbed Pikachu's voice? Huh.

Well, it's on in 27 minutes for me. I guess I'll see.

No, Pikachu still has the Japanese voice.

Scott85 said:
Pokemon USA made the anime WORSE not better. I really wish 4kids still had Pokemon.

Yeah, I agree. I guess that just proves the saying that you never know what you have until it's gone.
 
Here's what I wrote to PUSA:

Me! said:
Dear Sir or Madam:



After watching "The Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon" this morning, I feel very saddened about how the voices of the Pokemon cast have changed. Quite frankly, many of the new voices do not suit the characters at all. Ash sounds too high, May sounds too old, and Brock sounds way out of character, to name a few dislikes of mine about the new cast.

I feel I speak for English Pokemon fans around the world when I say that we've come to love the old voices--those voices were perfect for the characters, and many of us would rather be hearing those voices istead of the new ones.

I hope you'll reconsider the decision you've made, and bring back the old voices.
 
Anyone else catch instances that James sounded like Robin Leech?

Actually, Jenny and Joy sounded very good. They just need to lose the accent for Joy.
 
Oops, voted for the wrong option. Meant to pick "It's okay, but...".

The Narrator owned.

Brock and Oak were terrible. May really bothered me as well, the calmness and maturity of her voice drove me insane. There were times I was OK with Ash's voice, and times where I wanted to throw something.

The rest don't really bother me. Much. I can live with them.
 
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Luna Tiger said:
People were upset when DBZ switched actors (myself included, so long ago). That turned out fine. So will this.


You know,the DBZ or Sailor Moon comparison really annoys the hell out of me.Both those series went into a long hiatus (around a year or two) before other companies acquired the rights and started up production again.Even fans of the original VAs (like myself) knew that it would've been almost impossible for all of the old VAs to stay intact,especially after each series spended that much time in limbo.So in a way,knowing each series was in production hell and that so much time had passed basically cushioned our fall for the new VAs


Pokemon is a completely different matter.Production of the English dub has not stopped,the dub is still based in New York,and the original VAs are still in New York.There is no reason whatsoever why the series had to go through such a drastic change.




Right now,I'm not as disapproving of the voices themselves as I am with the new VAs' acting.(even though some of the voices are really bad) Like I said in the Mirage Review thread,May's acting was pure trash and everybody else didn't do so well either.It's easy to get used to new voices,it's not nearly as easy to get used to bad acting.


I know there's talk of contracts being signed,and changing things at this point would be very difficult.Now,I don't have a problem believing that the new VAs are already under contract to work for the dub.What I would have a hard time believing is if those contracts include actors voicing specific characters.If by some miracle Pokemon USA decides to bring back the old VAs,that doesn't mean they have to fire the new ones right? I'd imagine they would re-cast (shifting the old VAs to their proper roles,new VAs to other roles),and it'd be the end of that.
 
Nomekop Oen said:
Pokemon is a completely different matter.Production of the English dub has not stopped,the dub is still based in New York,and the original VAs are still in New York.There is no reason whatsoever why the series had to go through such a drastic change.

4Kids is the reason. Stuart, Taylor, Lillis et all are ALL contracted to them. To continue using them would mean buying them off 4Kids, and considering they seem to have about 10 actors tops in their whole company, they wouldn't let them go cheaply.

Try lifting your head out of its dreamworld for a moment and look at the reality of things. The voices have changed. Woop-dee-doo. It's not the end of the world, and it's certainly not the end of Pokemon. Hell, SOME of the voices even sound better. And problems with the others can either be ironed out over time or simply replaced. It's not as if PUSA is going to lose out majorly by recasting a few characters between now and the 9th Season. Hell, by "feedback from the fans" over the special, they probably meant sort things out for themselves in that respect as opposed to having to go to 4Kids begging to somehow buy their actors from them at a price that isn't going to bankrupt them.

I very, very, VERY much doubt most of the people here even gave the special or the new voices in it a chance. Some of you *cough*Pie*cough* have even quite clearly said that they'll hate the voices long before they'll ever hear them.

Well, to those people, your opinions were voided there and then by committing yourself to such a path. If you can't keep a clear and open mind about it to sit down and judge for yourself based on the merits of the actual actors alone then there's no real meaning behind launching an attack on PUSA's inbox or mailbox, 'cause they'll just take it as blind anger over the loss of the old voices - something they couldn't have kept anyway.
 
My thoughts:

Ash- I have heard the voice before in other animes, although I can't quite place it. But people say he did Mikey in the Eevee episode. Not very fitting at all.

Max- Sounded alot like Ash, but this voice actually fitted him pretty good.

Meowth- Sounded alot like his Old Kanto voice, who was someone other then Maddie

James- Terrible. Tried to copy the old one poorly.

Brock- The worst. Sounded like a predator.

May- Sounded like her, but very unemotionless.

Oak- Iffy, but he put more emotion in his voice then the others.

Yung- BEST voice in this special, he actually sounded threatening.

Also, Combushken sounded messed up. All the other Pokemon sounded alot like their old voices, I think they may of used voice clips (Armaldo seemed too at least)
 
Misty,Max, James, and Jessie - Pretty Ok voices
May - She sounds like she's 20 or something like that.
Ash - When it comes to drama...he sucks(That fainting scene was just horrendous) and he sounds to young.
Brock and Professor Oak - O.O No comment.

I want the old VA's back. x.x
 
FabuVinny said:
From WPM's 'foreshadowing hints' on Pokebeach, it looks like we could still have Mike Pollock. I just hope PUSA can use him to the best of his abilities.
Sorry for posting when I am banned, but I have to correct this.

I was foreshadowing the return of the old narrator. I told PTL about it last night too incase anyone didn't believe that that is what I was hinting about. :p That right there is proof of my PUSA source. :p
 
There was definately a boy in Pokémon who had the same voice.
Yup, that kid from the Lugia saga with the baby Lugia.
Man, I'm watching a small clip and I'm laughing my head off. Misty is 99/100 perfect so far and Ash is making me wet my pants ;_; sooo funny
But soon it wont be
 
To put it bluntly... This special made me wish I had joined save our voice actors sooner. x.x

Hearing Ohtani's Pikachu was my lone comfort.
 
Nomekop Oen said:
You know,the DBZ or Sailor Moon comparison really annoys the hell out of me.Both those series went into a long hiatus (around a year or two) before other companies acquired the rights and started up production again.Even fans of the original VAs (like myself) knew that it would've been almost impossible for all of the old VAs to stay intact,especially after each series spended that much time in limbo.So in a way,knowing each series was in production hell and that so much time had passed basically cushioned our fall for the new VAs.

Well gee, that's funny. SM only got half a make-over, since half the cast was still intact anyway. And didn't the Vancouver!DBZ dub actually make it past the Freeza arc and on?

Not to mention, really, if FUNimation wanted the original actors, they wouldn't have had to go far to get them all, considering they...yanno...pretty much all work in the same place? Hell, they got Scott McNeil to voice Hohenheim years later, and he was kinda/sorta/no, really in DBZ the first time around. Isn't that like them saying, "We /could/ have gone back to Vancouver to dub it...but we were just too lazy!"

When a series switches hands, the new owners' got legal rights. If they want the VAs to tag along or not is their right. Also, why would they use the old ones? Given that their salaries are possibly steeper than those unheard of hitting a rough patch? So much cheaper. 8D

So....your point?
 
Misty is not the same. She's a good sound-alike but the old voice had a quality that this doesn't match. This one wavers a bit too.

Ash really does sound like Sammy, etc. And since ElderShipping is dub canon...

Jessie sounds a little bit like Cassidy.

The first line by James in the YouTube clip sounded a bit like Eric Stuart, but it soon turned into something unreal.

It's similar with Meowth.

At least Pikachu will always be the same.

I'll have to wait to see the full special before I pass full judgement.
 
Doctor Oak said:
4Kids is the reason. Stuart, Taylor, Lillis et all are ALL contracted to them. To continue using them would mean buying them off 4Kids, and considering they seem to have about 10 actors tops in their whole company, they wouldn't let them go cheaply.

Try lifting your head out of its dreamworld for a moment and look at the reality of things. The voices have changed. Woop-dee-doo. It's not the end of the world, and it's certainly not the end of Pokemon. Hell, SOME of the voices even sound better. And problems with the others can either be ironed out over time or simply replaced. It's not as if PUSA is going to lose out majorly by recasting a few characters between now and the 9th Season. Hell, by "feedback from the fans" over the special, they probably meant sort things out for themselves in that respect as opposed to having to go to 4Kids begging to somehow buy their actors from them at a price that isn't going to bankrupt them.

I very, very, VERY much doubt most of the people here even gave the special or the new voices in it a chance. Some of you *cough*Pie*cough* have even quite clearly said that they'll hate the voices long before they'll ever hear them.

Well, to those people, your opinions were voided there and then by committing yourself to such a path. If you can't keep a clear and open mind about it to sit down and judge for yourself based on the merits of the actual actors alone then there's no real meaning behind launching an attack on PUSA's inbox or mailbox, 'cause they'll just take it as blind anger over the loss of the old voices - something they couldn't have kept anyway.


Oy,I said the voices are whatever.But the acting sucked IMO.Clips and sound bytes don't do the episode justice,you're going to have to get your hands on the Mirage special and see it for yourself.And if you take a look in the Review thread,you'll see that I gave the special a positive review.I watched 'Mirage' without any sort of biased opinion,I did give the new VAs a fair shot.



But I don't want to get too carried away with my disapproval of the acting.It's like if I punch someone in the gut but I let them know beforehand.It probably won't hurt as much.



As far as the old VAs go,I'm only interested in three names at the moment.Taylor,Stuart,and Lillis.The Pokemon Franchise,which has been reported making billions of dollars in the past,can't afford three VAs? I know it's their money and they're free to do whatever they want with it and I can't blame them for doing so.But really,is it so much trouble to get three voice actors?
 
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