Review S16 EP12: New Places... Familiar Faces!

[Team Gaara]

Well, now that the league is over, it seems I can go back to liking Adventures in Unova.

I found Nanette pretty funny. Annoying, of course, but by the end of the episode, I actually liked her. Though, her inability to stop her brain...I'd call that extreme paranoia. Also, I didn't see that Japanese episode, but I really liked her voice. Not to mention her little, "Tepig, help me please."

Ok, so my man Oak said Ash was "quite excellent" in the League? Really Oak? Really? Let's not kid ourselves here. But I'll forgive him because we got to see Muk. And I just love him.

Ah, stock footage battles~ How I love them. Well, I can't say anything was bad about it. Except for that fact that Iris has once again, not used Axew for a battle (He could use a bit of training). Also I found Stunfisk hilarious.

Okay, so while I'm glad Team Rocket paid some homage to the Original Series (and Jessie using alliteration), I don't really understand why they want Pikachu so seriously again. I mean, the last thing Giovanni wanted were fricken legendaries, and now they think he'll just settle for Pikachu again? Well, anyway, I also really liked Frillish and Amoonguss. It seems it's been a while since Team Rocket had Pokemon that were actually trying to be of use to catch Pikachu. It seemed like all Woobat and Yamask were doing was weakening Pikachu for capture, but Frillish held him with Psychic and went in and grabbed Tepig. So I liked that.

Okay, so Unfezant; I find it pretty sad that she was such a factor here, but couldn't beat Riolu, I mean, that still pisses me off. Also, I may be wrong, but it just seems like Amoonguss should be bigger than Frillish. It just looked pretty awkward to me. And it's always awesome to hear them say Best Wishes~

Now Cedric Junpier? That man I found hilarious, so I'll waiting for him. Though it still seems that movie events never happen in anime canon, which is rather annoying. They already did it in the episode for Zekrom, so I guess now it's Reshiram's turn. And it seems now N has been revealed to us, so I'm also anticipating him.

So all in all, I really liked this episode. So I'll give this episode an 8/10

 

[Solacen]

I was pleasantly surprised to find that i actually enjoyed this episode. Atleast more so then many of the Unova league eps lately. Team Rocket going back to their former selves was a huge plus to me (I would still love to see some of their older pokemon against and have wobbuffet return permanently). I found Nanette cute although i can see how she could be annoying. I think we will see more of her in the future (ive not seen any of the Japanese eps). Stunfisks troll laughing through out the battle was hilarious and unfezant kind of made up for previous uselessness. Still cant stand her VA though.

Im looking forward to more of the N storyline.

 

[Yamadora]

I also was dissapointed that the English dubbed Tepig and Oshawott had the same voices as Ash’s, while in Japanese they all had different voices. But I kind of expected it anyway.

I think Tepig's voice was little different than the one Ash had before it evolved: it sounded little lighter and not so rough to me.

Oh my poor ears, all that annoying dub bgm. And I can't stand Unfezant's voice.
But nice episode, though. Rival Destinies worked here quite well, like in the previous episode. And this comes from a person who didn't liked it when it was the opening.

 

[Adamant]

Unfortunately, the English dub and the English versions of the video games uses the term "Breeder" for both of these occupations, making it seem like Brock raises eggs. He doesn't.

Actually they don't. The video game all use terms like "Day Care Man", etc - referring to the egg-making stuff as "breeding" is fan terminology with no origin in the games.

4Kids had a terrible habit of referring to Day Cares as "Breeding Centers", though. Didn't help things.

 

[UnovaCastaway]

Started lousy, ended awesome!

Nanette was a little obnoxious. (really, afraid to cross a sturdy brick bridge with walls?) Iris had a well-placed "what a kid" line there. The writers tried too hard to make her seem less competent than Ash, and they succeeded, in a not-so-positive way.

Way to go with more "best wishes" references, TPCI! Keep it up! I love it when they acknowledge Japanese titles like that.

I echo the same sentiments that a couple others said here about Zagnit. He does a good job with Cedric (who sort of sounds like his Oak voice, but not quite), but I still wonder why TPC brought him back only to voice different characters. (Did they cast Zoppi as Oak as soon as the VAs changed and then gave Zagnit another chance with other characters later?) Have the two of them done an episode together before?

I cheered when N showed up. (not very loud, though, because there were other people in the house) Having seen bits and pieces of Episode N in Japanese, I hope the dub handles the rest of this arc well!

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

So here's my review of the dub. I have a LOT to say on this one:

Pros:

- Wow, Sarah Natochenny's Ash...wow. I remember when I absolutely hated her voice in mid-BF up until mid-DP: I even thought she made Ash sound like a constipated chainsmoker, but now...it's probably my favorite dub voice among the current VAs right now. It reminds me so much of Veronica Taylor's Ash right now. I'm blown away. I still prefer Taylor, but wow...to think this is the same obnoxiously constipated and forced Ash VA I heard in DP...vast, vast improvement this saga. O_O
- Eileen Stevens is a lot less forced and more in character as Iris lately. It sounds she's really loosened up and has a good feel for her character. Improvement noted.
- Same goes for Jason Griffith as Cilan. He sounds like he really enjoys what he's doing now, as opposed to how childish he used to sound in the role at the beginning of BW.
- Apparently James is a coordinator now in the TPCi dub, stating that it's time to go "On stage, Amoongus!" = rofl. Carter, gotta hand it to you here, that made me laugh.
- Cilan: "Best wishes...have a delicious journey!" = What? rofl. That connoisseur.
- UnovaCastaway brought up a good point in that TPCi kept the "Best Wishes" reference. I will give them points for that.
- Marc Thompson's Tepig voice is solid as always. He started out much rougher at the beginning of BW with his voice, but it's a lot smoother now, and I like it.

Cons:

- Professor Oak's TPCi dub voice sucks, as always. Nothing new there! To think, they have Stuart Zagnit with them, but no. Let's keep the guy who's been doing an imitation of him since Battle Frontier to maintain consistency with our inconsistency! Whatever floats your boat, TPCi.
- Jason Griffith is STILL playing the male Snivy with his Usopp voice tone. Yeesh.
- Cathcart, take note, it's "unite ALL peopleS" not "unite the people." God, you'd think after 15 years with the show, you would know this better than anyone. As usual, you don't.
- NO, WE HAVE TPCI TEAM ROCKET BACK AGAIN!!! "Pilfering and pinching; stash it in the hatch, takes a slammin' and keeps on flappin'"...eugh...stop the alliterations. Please. Now they're rhyming too! God please...4Kids TRio, where are you?
- Typical Kayzie Rogers unfitting voice when playing Frillish. Eugh. How she gets any roles besides Wobbuffet and Axew is beyond me-- for the most part, I hated her work in 4Kids, and I hate her work in TPCi too.
- TPCi's dub BGM right now is blegh. Manny Corallo and John Loeffler, really? This is the best you guys can come up with now? Pathetic.
- Is it just me, or is Michele Knotz's Jessie getting extraordinarily annoying to listen to? I never really had a strong preference for Rachael Lillis for this character, but lately I'm developing a strong one. Funny. Knotz sounds like she's overacting too much, and it's getting very shrill. She just needs to tone it down a bit.
- Carter Cathcart's Meowth is so bad this episode. My ears...god, it's like he wasn't even trying here.

NOTE: People wonder why I prefer the 4Kids dub. This episode is a good example of why. Their voice actors made the characters sound...I don't know...realistic and relatable? Bottomline is, and I hope I haven't offended anyone too much, but TPCi has really let me down with their dubbing of this episode. My hopes for BW116 have been shot down to say the least, but I'll give them another chance anyway. I can see potential from them here-- they just need to utilize their resources better. Sad to say, this is one of the worst TPCi dubbed episodes I've seen in a long time.

ORG JPN: 8/10
Dub: 5.5/10 (Mediocre-- They can do so much better than this: I know they can).

I echo the same sentiments that a couple others said here about Zagnit. He does a good job with Cedric (who sort of sounds like his Oak voice, but not quite), but I still wonder why TPC brought him back only to voice different characters. (Did they cast Zoppi as Oak as soon as the VAs changed and then gave Zagnit another chance with other characters later?) Have the two of them done an episode together before?

Yes, they cast Zoppi as Oak as soon as the VAs changed. Also correct, they gave Zagnit another chance with other characters since BW. This is the first time the two of them have done an episode together.

Hope this helps clear things up about that for you.

 

[Fennekin]

Just wondering, do we know for fact how to spell Nanette's name? Did the CC on Saturday's episode confirm it?

 

[ninfiaVI]

Just wondering, do we know for fact how to spell Nanette's name? Did the CC on Saturday's episode confirm it?

Incorrectly written as Natasha on Pokemon.com.

I had a long review, but my computer just deleted it. In short, I liked most of it, even though this wasn't the best day for any of the voice actors.

Here's a short rundown:

1. I love how they show Ash's kindness and patience. He puts up with "Such a kid", helps Cameron(such as Unova League Registry), and now encourages Nanette.

2. I hate Team Rocket's Blast offs- they're sad. I like how good they are at battles now, though. Tricky combinations and an OHKO by James and Amoongus.(who has a lisp??) I wish that they had used their BF motto, which is a little more fun (James and even Kojirou both got a line wrong?? "Unite the Peoples within our nation"), but it is fun to have nogalstia intermixed with something very new.

 

[Dogasu]

Actually they don't. The video game all use terms like "Day Care Man", etc - referring to the egg-making stuff as "breeding" is fan terminology with no origin in the games.

Well, that tells you how long it's been since I've played any of the video games in English

 

[Sakuraa]

I also was dissapointed that the English dubbed Tepig and Oshawott had the same voices as Ash’s, while in Japanese they all had different voices. But I kind of expected it anyway.

I think Tepig's voice was little different than the one Ash had before it evolved: it sounded little lighter and not so rough to me.

It sounded exactly the same to me. It's even the same voice actor.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

I also was dissapointed that the English dubbed Tepig and Oshawott had the same voices as Ash’s, while in Japanese they all had different voices. But I kind of expected it anyway.

I think Tepig's voice was little different than the one Ash had before it evolved: it sounded little lighter and not so rough to me.

It sounded exactly the same to me. It's even the same voice actor.

Yeah, it's obviously Marc Thompson. It sounded a BIT lighter than it did at the beginning of BW. Subtle difference, but I noticed it too.

 

[SammyW27]

Never thought I'd say this, but...Team Rocket, oh thank Arceus!

(and they even bought they're OM with 'em! Mmmmm...Nostalgia...)

 

[Ambipom666]

Not a big fan of this episode. In the last episode Bianca runs off to her hometown of Nuvema Town, a.k.a. the location of this episode. Why couldn't she come back with Ash and co? Or at least appear in this episode, and we see her visit or her dad? Or visit Professor Juniper again? I don't believe Ash planned on returning to Nuvema Town in the last episode, so I guess he decided to do so in the wonderous land of off-screen-dom?

The CotD was, uh, quirky. At least she's not as dumb as Cameron. If the writers wanted Ash and Nanette to fight off Team Rocket as a team, they surely could have found a better way then having Iris and Cilan seemingly cease to exist during the attack. Speaking of Team Rocket, it's kinda jarring seeing them portrayed as serious threats, battle-wise. This brand-new Pokémon James has can somehow take out Pikachu with one hit? Jessie and James being legitimate opponents in battle was done a few times in the past pre-BW but then Team Rocket had personality. Now they're just so empty and boring.

I used to get tired of goofy Team Rocket but seeing the alternative in this episode really makes me want them back.

Also, about the dub title, I can kinda see what TPCi was getting at, but since Ash is in a place he's already visited, and since we get a new CotD plus Team Rocket's new Pokémon, wouldn't New Faces... Familiar Places! be a better title? None of the new places Ash will visit are actually in this episode.