o.o It really happened

[Habunake]

Anime's have a habit of giving extremely age-different voices to characters (especially Shonen protagonist) so it's no big deal.

 

[peno]

Where I live, young male characters in cartoons are often dubbed by boys ages 10 and up, so I hear how boys that age sound like every day. Sarah sounds much, much closer to a real boy of the 10-12 range than Veronica. Can't say about... um... you know, whatsherface from the original Mastermind. I never watched that one.

Where I live it's common practice in dub too. And I can assure you that Sarah never ever sound like a boy between 10-12. She soud like a teenage girl in earlier episodes and then she start to sound like boy about 14. And neither of this voice is supposed to be good for Ash.
But to be honest, she improved much emotion-wise. But she still must work on consistency in her emotion.

 

[Nando]

The only episodes that I felt she did well in were the Anabel episodes, where her quality spiked considerably then fell just as quickly to even lower levels. Every single other episode I've seen with her has at least one scene where she voices him so poorly it's actually painful (Examples: When he greets the crowd in "Tactics Theatrics," every time he mentioned his hat in "Slaking Kong," all of "Wheel of Frontier") And when she did a different character (Lucy) that character ended up sounding disconnected from the rest of the episode (though that wasn't entirely her fault; had Lucy been written correctly the voice would have worked, but they changed the environment 360 degrees while Lucy stayed completely the same)

They hired her because she'd work cheap, that's all.

By the by, does ANYONE have a definite clue yet whether Anabel's voice was Sarah or Emlyn Morinelli?

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Ash has always sounded like a boy. Under all three voice actresses. I honestly don't see see where the girly claims are coming from.

I completely agree with you, FabuVinny.

Ash has always sounded like a boy on Pokemon.


And I don't know where those "girly" comments come from either. That's kinda weird how people keep saying that......


Though, I will agree with peno on one point, early into the Battle Frontier season, Sarah's Ash did sound like a girl. It was terrible!! ;_;

I've thought Veronica's Ash didn't sound like a boy at all since Johto. ^^;

Actually, in seasons 3, 4, and 5, Ash sounded around 12-14. And seasons 6, 7, and 8 Ash sounds around the ages of 15-16 (in my opinion).

Also, I prefer the Advanced Battle voice for Ash. I absolutely LOVE that voice!! I think it was perfect for him. <3

She sounds more like an adolescent boy than Veronica did.

I disagree with that.

Veronica's Ash, especially in seasons 6, 7, and 8, sounded much OLDER and more mature (and I love that!!).

In comparison, Sarah's Ash sounds too young for Ash, in my opinion. This isn't season one anymore, so Ash's should NOT sound like he's 10 or 11!!

I'm sure that by season 10, she'll be okay.

That's exactly what I'm worried about, Snake Bandage......


What if, even after all this waiting, by season 10, Sarah is just as bad at doing Ash's voice that she was during Battle Frontier?

I'll be so sad if that actually happens. I want Ash to have the best voice possible, since he's the main character. But if Sarah is no better in season 10 then she was during Battle Frontier (especially the beginning of Battle Frontier), then I will be greatly disappointed and upset.

But not being a terribly good voice actress yet is the key problem! She has the potential to improve (Gathering the Gang of Four was very promising) but that doesn't change how bad some of it has been while we wait for her to improve.

You hit the nail on the head!!

That's what I've been trying to say all along.


Sarah isn't a good voice actress yet, and since she happens to be voicing the most important character on the show (the main character), this is NOT a good thing.

I mean, we've had to wait so long, just to see if she will improve. And in my opinion, I haven't seen much improvement since the start of Battle Frontier.

Personally, I think her worst episodes so far were between Slaking Kong and Aipom & Circumstance.)

Yes, I definitely agree with you there, FabuVinny.

Also, you need to add "Battling The Enemy Within" to that list.


I believe that Sarah's Ash was terrible in "Slaking Kong", "Battling The Enemy Within", and "Aipom & Circumstance". Those were definitely her worst episodes.

Why is it that Sarah ruins all my favorite Ash-centered episodes, just because she still can't get his emotions right? :-(


I'm sick and tired of all this waiting. I want a huge improvement in her acting, and I want it now!!


(and by the way, I haven't seen "Gathering The Gang Of Four" yet. Unfortunately, I moved into a new dorm room 2 weeks ago and I do not have a TV. So until I get a new TV, I can't watch Pokemon anymore. I have to download all the new episodes X_X)

Good performances in the Anabel eps and the later ones too.

I disagree.

I didn't like those episodes. Though, I will say this. At some point in those episodes, Sarah did have good voice acting. But right afterwards, she went back to the usual Ash voice. And this happens in many Battle Frontier episodes. I mean, every time Sarah does has good voice acting, or some good Ash lines, she always goes right back to the bad voice acting. It's weird. It's almost as if she can't get a very good voice for him, because she can't seem to get the emotion right or get a constant, very good sounding voice for him.

I really liked Ash's voice in the Sceptile arc when he lost all his moves, Ash really sounded like he cared to help Sceptile get better.

Oh dear god. X_X

I HATED those epsiodes!!


You see, I felt that Sarah did the best that she could. However, even Sarah's best "emotional" Ash could NEVER compare to how Veronica would've done Ash's voice in those episodes! Seriously, I know for a fact that, had Veronica been doing Ash's voice in those episodes, she would've given Ash A LOT more emotion and done a much, much better job with Ash's voice overall.

I'm sorry, but those Sceptile episodes were terrible, when it came to Sarah's huge lack in the emotional department.


When I was watching those episodes, I was very disappointed at what I was hearing. It was terrible, and I almost felt like crying (I probably would have too, if it weren't for my roommate being in the room at the time that epsiode was on TV).

At least her voice is good, and from comparing her work in Sweet Baby James to her work in Gathering the Gang of Four, I can hear that she improved some.

Yes, but I've come to a conclusion.

For the voice of Ash, the main character of Pokemon, some improvement is not nearly enough!!


There needs to be far more improvement in his voice, because otherwise, he will lose the great personality that he had before (in seasons 1 through 8). I do NOT want this to happen!! In Battle Frontier (and in the upcoming D/P season), I want to see the Ash I know, the guy who I fell in love with!

As far as I'm concerned, Sarah's Ash seems like an entirely different character from Veronica's Ash. And I don't like that one bit......


Overall, Sarah Natochenny needs to improve greatly, and she needs to do it soon. I don't know how I'll react if her Ash sounds exactly the same as he did all throughout Battle Frontier. It's not fair that Ash (the character), his voice, and his fans have to suffer like this.



Ash's voice should be the best possible voice he could ever have!!!! I mean come on people, he's the main character, but right now, he doesn't seem like it!! ;_;

(seriously, I'm probably the only one who thinks this but, in my opinion, Sarah's Ash - the voice itself sounds like a character of "lesser" importance than the main character - someone in between a character of the day and a character like Gary - that kinda character)

 

[Luna Tiger]

Ash's voice should be the best possible voice he could ever have!!!! I mean come on people, he's the main character, but right now, he doesn't seem like it!! ;_;

I honestly think you're not one to judge whether or not Ash's voice is working for the rest of world, considering your incredible bias for Ash, and the fact that when Ash IS VAed well to someone who's indifferent to the whole ordeal, you disagree vehemently (for you). And it seems to me you're just denying what everyone else is seeing, when they compliment Natochenny, because of your bias of Taylor's Ash (and overall favoritism of Taylor) over Natochenny's Ash.

Stop having such high expectations. High expectations ruin everything.


And damn how I'm disappointed in the rest of you for bringing this all back when it should have stayed dead. It's only going to turn out EXACTLY like the last thread did. You know it will.

 

[Mickey]

(seriously, I'm probably the only one who thinks this but, in my opinion, Sarah's Ash - the voice itself sounds like a character of "lesser" importance than the main character - someone in between a character of the day and a character like Gary - that kinda character)

No, you're not, Lisa. I think his voice is complete and utter garbage right now, and aside from it just downing the entire quality of the show, I really feel that the entire character of Ash has disappeared. He doesn't even seem like the same character. You don't know how depressed that makes me feel. It's just terrible that a voice has that much impact on an entire show, but yes, it does...

I have tried to be open-minded about this and watch episodes. It doesn't change my opinion about Sarah. I just don't think she is the right person to voice Ash, no matter how much time and improvement. But hey, that's only my opinion...

 

[Cybersai]

Question, what are you guys going to do when D/P gets dubbed?

Watch the english version the whole way through or stick with the Japanese eps?

 

[Mickey]

Question, what are you guys going to do when D/P gets dubbed?

Watch the english version the whole way through or stick with the Japanese eps?

Stick with the Japanese episodes, and that's that. So long as these new VAs are voicing the characters, I am not sitting through another episode of the new Pokémon again.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Question, what are you guys going to do when D/P gets dubbed?

Watch the english version the whole way through or stick with the Japanese eps?

That's a very good question, Scott85.

And I'm glad you asked that.


But to answer your question, I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do. I guess it all depends on what happens with season 10.

If when season 10 starts, they still have Sarah voicing Ash and if she hasn't improved at all since Battle Frontier, then I might do something which I never thought I'd do......

I mean, seriously, if season 10 doesn't sound any better than season 9 did voice-wise then I might just stop watching the current season of the dub.

However, if I do stop watching the dub, I won't be watching the Japanese version because I don't like raws. So pretty much, as far as new episodes of Pokemon goes - if I don't watch the dub then I'm going to be screwed. Man, this isn't fair. I either have to watch Battle Frontier, and season 10, with the new voices and be unsatisfied with the voice performance OR I have to give up watching the dub and watch raw episodes (but giving up the dub would be VERY hard for me as well, seeing as how I'm used to getting up every Saturday to watch the new episodes - also, I'm a huge fan of seasons 1 through 8 so that would make giving up the dub even harder for me - nearly impossible).


*sighs*

Either way, no matter what I decide to do, it will be very bad and I won't have much fun.

That's why I'm glad I still have SOVA. It gives me an alternative that I actually like!! ^_^



I mean, it sucks for me right now. I can't even watch my Advanced Battle reruns anymore because I don't have a TV in my dorm (yes, I've seen all of Advanced Battle, but I LOVE watching reruns - it's my hobby).

That's also why I can't respond to the Battle Frontier review threads right away. I usually have to download them, watch them, and after that I can respond to the review threads. But this Saturday, I got lucky and one of my friends allowed me to watch Pokemon (yay!!). I was able to see both "Gathering The Gang Of Four" and "Pace - The Final Frontier". ^^

And it seems to me you're just denying what everyone else is seeing, when they compliment Natochenny, because of your bias of Taylor's Ash (and overall favoritism of Taylor) over Natochenny's Ash.

Yes, I can see where you're coming from, Luna Tiger.

I understand your view completely.


But my opinion isn't entirely based on what I believe personally. Yes, it's true that I like Taylor's Ash and because of that favoritism I'm biased when it comes to a discussion like this. However, my opinion is somewhat generalized. I'm not the only person on here who believes that Ash's new voice could use much more improvement. As xdeadpan just showed, he/she (sorry, I don't know your gender) said that they dislike Sarah's Ash as well.

However, it doesn't just stop there. A few days ago, I was at my friend's dorm room, and they were watching Yugioh GX (they're huge fans of Yugioh, but they also like the Pokemon anime). When that show went off, and an episode of Battle Frontier came on, immediately everyone in the room announced their dislike of the new voices. And including me, there were 5 people in that room (also, they're around the same age as me - don't know if that matters though...).

They hated the new voices so much, that they even turned off the TV.

Stop having such high expectations. High expectations ruin everything.

Maybe I wouldn't have such high expectations if the original VAs (Veronica, Eric, and the rest) hadn't been hired to do Pokemon in the first place.

I mean, think about it. As fans of the dub, we were spoiled for these 8 years/8 seasons because the show had a great cast with very talented VAs. And even now, that's what most of us have come to expect. So therefore, we come to expect the same great quality in the show that we've always seen (but in my opinion, the show doesn't have the same "feeling" as it used to have in seasons 1 through 8 - when I watch it I don't feel the same way, it's almost like watching a different show).


Anyway, with the new VAs, I know that they're talented and they have some experience. That's true, and they are good voice actors as well (I know they must be, otherwise they wouldn't have been hired in the first place, right?). But, in my opinion, these new VAs are nowhere near as talented (or as experienced) as the original VAs were when it came to voicing the characters on Pokemon.

It's only going to turn out EXACTLY like the last thread did. You know it will.

You don't know that for sure.

It might turn out different than the other thread......


Heck, I already think this thread is doing well so far, and that it's doing much better than the "New VA Discussion" thread did. ^^

He doesn't even seem like the same character. You don't know how depressed that makes me feel.

I feel the same way, xdeadpan.

And since I'm an Ash fangirl, this makes me very sad that my favorite character is no longer the same.

I just don't think she is the right person to voice Ash, no matter how much time and improvement.

Agreed (for the most part).

I don't think Sarah's the right person to voice Ash either......


However, I have to admit, I've been watching Battle Frontier just to see if she will improve. And I have to give credit where credit is due. The fact is, Sarah has improved some, and she is better now than she was at the beginning of Battle Frontier. But I'm gonna tell you right now, some improvement isn't enough for me, and it's certainly not enough for the main character of the show (I believe that if Sarah really wanted to, she could make her Ash voice sound more "Veronica-like", and more closer to the original voice...but if she doesn't want to do that and continues "doing her own thing" with Ash's voice and continues to turn Ash into a different character, then I guess my expectations are too high afterall).

 

[Geodude]

It's long past time for this thread to be closed.