Review S16 EP31: To Catch a Rotom!

[Dogasu]

It's nice to see that TPCI isn't as xenophobic as 4Kids was.

That Katakana and Kanji on the TV!; how long has it been since we've seen that? Sinnoh Now?

The Sinnoh Now! logo was not Japanese. Just gibberish

The last time the show had Japanese in it was the 王 symbol on the back of Kurotsugu's jacket. The time before that? The 一 symbol on the drums that the Plusle and Minun had in that one cheerleading episode of Advanced Generation. Before that? Sometime during the early Orange Islands.

Wow. To think that some people were worried about what could probably be the first TPCi paint edit and they just went and didn't do anything.

Actually, their first paint edit was in the first episode of Diamond & Pearl where they changed the town names on the Route 201 sign.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

I did laugh at the "To Catch A Predator" reference in the title.

- Sarah started off good as Ash in the first half of the episode, and started regressing to her DP Ash (aka her voice was too deep) in the second half of the episode (e.g. "I hear you!"). She still needs to work on her consistency, but she did an average performance all around today.
- Eileen had the same problems Sarah had today: consistency. All around average from her today.
- Jason, as always, does good work as Cilan. No problems with him: great work today.

Nearly everyone regressed in the voice department in some point today.
James was better than usual, Cilan was okay. Ash sounded better on the boat than the rest of the episode. Jessie was...Jessie. Meowth sounded TERRIBLE in the submarine, sounded okay when he said "Yeah, that's hot!". Never liked Eileen as Iris.

Carter was the WORST. Why is he still allowed to voice Professor Oak when Stuart Zagnit IS RIGHT THERE?!?

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Carter was the WORST. Why is he still allowed to voice Professor Oak when Stuart Zagnit IS RIGHT THERE?!?

Probably has to do with the word that starts with G, follows up with R, has a double E in the middle, ends with a D,
and doesn't have any other letters in between.

I can't think of any other reason other than they don't want to pay him (yet they're fine with paying Zoppi for three people?), so that must be it.

 

[Neo Blaze]

For some reason, I just couldn't keep my attention that much while watching this episode. I had this problem with the original version too. My thoughts wandered off sometimes. I guess I just didn't find the events taking place interesting enough.

Some other complaints with this episode: The greatest Pokémon researcher of all time using a Poké Ball on a Pokémon without weakening it first -.- Furthermore, Oak's horrible dub voice, it just doesn't fit him IMO, and makes him sound much older than he really is (Oak is supposed to be around 50, he sounds much older to me nowadays). And James's voice, which sounds like he has a cold. I know this has been like this for a long time, but for some reason it really bothered me in this episode. Especially during the motto.

Well, I'll be mild and give it a 6/10. It wasn't a spectacular episode and not really fulfilling my interests, but it was better than some others I've seen. I think it's cool though Oak has a Rotom now and hopefully we'll see it some more when Ash visits Pallet Town.

 

[Team Gaara]

It's nice to see that TPCI isn't as xenophobic as 4Kids was.



The Sinnoh Now! logo was not Japanese. Just gibberish

The last time the show had Japanese in it was the 王 symbol on the back of Kurotsugu's jacket. The time before that? The 一 symbol on the drums that the Plusle and Minun had in that one cheerleading episode of Advanced Generation. Before that? Sometime during the early Orange Islands.

Wow. To think that some people were worried about what could probably be the first TPCi paint edit and they just went and didn't do anything.

Actually, their first paint edit was in the first episode of Diamond & Pearl where they changed the town names on the Route 201 sign.

Oh really? My mistake. I could have sworn the logo was in Japanese. But looking at it, now I see.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

:boom: Another review thread that's almost exclusively about voice actors and color changes... Oh my God, that so unnecessary and I don't care about it one single bit as long as the voices are not completely awkward! The Anime is all about the battles and the plot itself, so don't get me wrong but don't you have anything better to do when watching the show?

In my opinion this was a rather standard episode in which nothing special or exciting happened (If you may, you can call it a filler).
I'd like to concentrate on two aspects:
First, I bet you that in any other town, the Rotom eating electricity would have been considered a serious threat because they "steal" people's electrical devices and, to make things worse, they cause blackouts that are dangerous for the Pokemon Center (it's not that we didn't have that in the past already). So, how come everybody is so happy about the Rotom doing mischief? That's pretty inconsistent writing f you ask me.
Second, this is Professor Oak and he apparently didn't know that you must weaken a Pokemon before catching it?? Totally unbelievable! I mean, we're used to inconsistencies but this terrible mistake made Professor Oak look like a rookie, something this authority on Pokemon clearly doesn't deserve!:nono::nono:

Well, again, this episode wasn't anything special. The plot was not all too exciting and we once again saw the old, goofy Team Rocket. I want them to be competent again so badly!
OK, Oak has his desired Rotom, now let's move on.

 

[Karamazov]

Second, this is Professor Oak and he apparently didn't know that you must weaken a Pokemon before catching it?? Totally unbelievable! I mean, we're used to inconsistencies but this terrible mistake made Professor Oak look like a rookie, something this authority on Pokemon clearly doesn't deserve!

I think he was trying to take a non-violent approach. Even after it broke free, he let the Pokemon shock him as a sign of good faith. Battling it would have been much easier, but I guess he wanted to show Rotom that he can be trusted.

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

:boom: Another review thread that's almost exclusively about voice actors and color changes... Oh my God, that so unnecessary and I don't care about it one single bit as long as the voices are not completely awkward! The Anime is all about the battles and the plot itself, so don't get me wrong but don't you have anything better to do when watching the show?

Uh voices are a part of the viewing experience. If you can tolerate Cathcart as Professor Oak, good for you, but I hate him. You can't expect no one to ever comment on voices, especially seeing as they have the original voice actor of Professor Oak!. Also, I'm sure people have better things to do than worry about "inconsistencies".

 

[Kelleo]

...Yeah, I noticed that this episode used the wrong intro. xP

Anyway, not the greatest episode ever, and I'm surprised Oak didn't battle the Rotom before trying to catch it, but those Rotom were adorably funny. XD Especially when they went and trampled on Stunfisk. lol

 

[Aamir]

8/10 I liked the episode overall, but a lot of questionable things happened. First off, Ash was pushing a lawn mower and said it was fun(?). Team Rocket put tape on the machine to keep Rotom in....

 

[Gabo2oo]

:boom: Another review thread that's almost exclusively about voice actors and color changes... Oh my God, that so unnecessary and I don't care about it one single bit as long as the voices are not completely awkward! The Anime is all about the battles and the plot itself, so don't get me wrong but don't you have anything better to do when watching the show?

I couldn't disagree more with you. The experience of watching any series or movie not only comes from the plot and writting, but from the voice acting, the music editing, the animation and pretty much everything you can analyze from it. It's as weird as if I say that you shouldn't be commenting on the plot because I don't care how is an episode written as long as it isn't terrible, and that you should stop ignoring the realism or unrealism the characters' voices had because that's what the anime is all about.

Not to mention some of us comment about the dub itself on here, while our comments about the writting and plot is on the original review threads. In these threads, there's not only people who first watch the dub, but there's also people who watch the dub to see how they handled the original version, as well.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

:boom: Another review thread that's almost exclusively about voice actors and color changes... Oh my God, that so unnecessary and I don't care about it one single bit as long as the voices are not completely awkward! The Anime is all about the battles and the plot itself, so don't get me wrong but don't you have anything better to do when watching the show?

I couldn't disagree more with you. The experience of watching any series or movie not only comes from the plot and writting, but from the voice acting, the music editing, the animation and pretty much everything you can analyze from it. It's as weird as if I say that you shouldn't be commenting on the plot because I don't care how is an episode written as long as it isn't terrible, and that you should stop ignoring the realism or unrealism the characters' voices had because that's what the anime is all about.

Not to mention some of us comment about the dub itself on here, while our comments about the writting and plot is on the original review threads. In these threads, there's not only people who first watch the dub, but there's also people who watch the dub to see how they handled the original version, as well.

Give the man a gold medal because he is absolutely right. Everything's important. From the editing, to the voices, to the acting, to the music, to the dialogue, to the characters, to the plot, to the writing. There is no exception to that. If you can't enjoy what you're watching, then what's the point, right? The show is just supposed to be fun and enjoyable, but things like all of those factors can and do affect people's perception of the series.

For the record I thought Carter Cathcart did do better then I was expecting this time around as Professor Oak...I was actually expecting him to do so much worse. Sure, he definitely blew it sometimes (as expected), but other times he did a surprisingly decent job with the role this episode. James sounded better than usual as well. Even Meowth was okay for once, although I've gotta agree in the submarine, and in the "That's hot" scene(s), he blew it.

 

[Muur]

That would be a rubbish Island to live on. You're mid way through a game on the Xbox, the Rotoms turn the power off.

 

[Moe]

Carter was the WORST. Why is he still allowed to voice Professor Oak when Stuart Zagnit IS RIGHT THERE?!?

Because the voice actors who replaced the 4kids ones didn't do anything wrong by taking up those positions and shouldn't lose out because the 'original' one is back in the picture - ignoring that we're nearing the point where there will be more dub episodes with the current cast than the old ones.

I certainly prefer Oak's original voice actor, but the current one doesn't do a bad enough job that he should be dropped from the role.

---

It's nice to see the dub not bothering to paint over things - I've said before that the symbols they use instead of Japanese look just as 'foreign' as to mean it may as well just be Japanese, I can't imagine if I was a kid watching this I would notice the difference.

I liked this episode, a Team Rocket appearance that didn't detract from the episode and it had some funny moments particularly with Stunfisk, with no Oshawott!

 

[Misty Calls Masquerain]

Carter was the WORST. Why is he still allowed to voice Professor Oak when Stuart Zagnit IS RIGHT THERE?!?

Because the voice actors who replaced the 4kids ones didn't do anything wrong by taking up those positions and shouldn't lose out because the 'original' one is back in the picture - ignoring that we're nearing the point where there will be more dub episodes with the current cast than the old ones.

Carter being dropped isn't about him being bad (though it plays a role), it's about him unfairly keeping the original actor, who is right there, from playing him. Not to mention that he plays 2 other characters already, why not give back Professor Oak to Stan Hart?

 

[Ishida]

"Oh yeah you can't help here"

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

Carter was the WORST. Why is he still allowed to voice Professor Oak when Stuart Zagnit IS RIGHT THERE?!?

Because the voice actors who replaced the 4kids ones didn't do anything wrong by taking up those positions and shouldn't lose out because the 'original' one is back in the picture - ignoring that we're nearing the point where there will be more dub episodes with the current cast than the old ones.

I certainly prefer Oak's original voice actor, but the current one doesn't do a bad enough job that he should be dropped from the role.

---

It's nice to see the dub not bothering to paint over things - I've said before that the symbols they use instead of Japanese look just as 'foreign' as to mean it may as well just be Japanese, I can't imagine if I was a kid watching this I would notice the difference.

I liked this episode, a Team Rocket appearance that didn't detract from the episode and it had some funny moments particularly with Stunfisk, with no Oshawott!

As Ash used to say, "I go for quality, not quantity." TPCi can dub more episodes than 4Kids, and it wouldn't change my opinion of their voice cast being inferior to the original English cast. Heck, it wouldn't change my opinion their dub is lower quality than 4Kids' was overall. Add to that the TPCi actors were hired as "sound-alikes" to the originals in the first place, for one thing. Why deny the original English actor their role in lieu of someone who's doing a, quite frankly, terrible imitation of him? I don't get it in all honesty. Most prefer the original English voice actor's portrayal, so I'm baffled why Zagnit has to be second fiddle to the actor who tried to do his best to replace said actor in the role.

I disagree: Carter Cathcart has always been severely miscast in this role to me. I respect his efforts over the years, and this is really the first time I've seen any remote signs of him being tolerable in the role, but I would honestly like to see another actor in the role if Stuart Zagnit cannot reprise the role.

Paint Edits didn't bother me then, and they don't bother me now. Honestly listening to Cathcart's Oak voice for 30 minutes bothers me more than kanji being erased on a sign for a 2-5 second scene.

 

[Karamazov]

Let's stop this discussion now before it becomes another 4Kids/TPCi debate.

 

[Pokémon Master Ash]

Let's stop this discussion now before it becomes another 4Kids/TPCi debate.

*sigh* Sure, that wasn't my intent. I apologize. I guess I'm just personally upset that Ted Lewis still got to play Giovanni again when Craig Blair was still around and actually before he departed the franchise in Season 12, but Stuart Zagnit really isn't being given the same opportunity with Professor Oak. I guess they want to be more consistent with their actors. I don't know what else to say.

 

[Iteru]

How about say nothing? Contrary said to stop it yet now you've just moaned about how upset you are about a further voice decision and that its different.

Stop means stop. It's not hard to grasp; it's failure to want to. This change happened years ago and its time to move on or take it elsewhere because we won't tolerate it weekly in our dub threads.