What are your favorite songs from the anime ?

[c la fet]

The Pokémon anime is full of good songs so let's share our favorites.

I love the first japanese AG opening, "Advanced Adventure", it feels very fresh and exciting

For the dub, I think "Battle Frontier" is great !

 

[cricketlaxwolvesbandy]

Japanese: XYZ/IKU Z
English: Unbeatable

 

[c la fet]

Japanese: XYZ/IKU Z
English: Unbeatable

Nice !
Iku Z reminds me of another great (much older) song : Ok!

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

For the Japanese version, although I have yet to listen to all of its opening themes, I don’t think much beats the original classic “Mesaze Pokémon Master”. Its follow-ups, “The Rivals” and “OK!” are also fine successors to that song’s legacy, getting the same point across with their own unique ways.

For the English dub, I don’t think much else beats the original either. Actually, even after listening to “Mesaze Pokémon Master”, I think that “Pokémon Theme” is superior song. Why? Simply put, I feel that the latter’s lyrics succeed at encapsulating not only the idea of “catching them all” like the former does, but also the broader themes of both the anime and the entire franchise, such as the values of trust, love, and companionship. It gives the song a more genuinely epic and sweeping feel, I think, that matches perfectly with the music (which I think is a kind of lightning-in-a-bottle moment, never to be repeated quite the same way again). Although I should note that I think the song really only works in the context of the original series, time and place; I don’t feel much whenever the dub revives it (whereas I almost never get tired of hearing “Mesaze Pokémon Master”, endless versions of it and all).

Also like the Japanese version, “Pokémon World” and “Pokémon Johto” are pretty solid successors to the legacy of the classic song before it, at least musically (lyrically, neither song really hits it like the original “Pokémon Theme” does). And while future English OPs after this kind of go deep into the lyrical rabbit hole of being the best or being unbeatable or something similarly silly, the actual music and vocals almost always continue to kick ass. “Believe In Me” (from Master Quest) and “Unbeatable” (from Advanced Battle) are probably my favorites from that particularly era of English OP music.

On a final note, many of the remixes of the above songs are pretty fire, too. Both “Mesaze Pokémon Master” and “Pokémon Theme” got great ones in the first movie, the former taking the original’s big-band aspirations to a beautifully realized reality and the latter making things a bit more exciting to go with the battle that it accompanies. I also enjoyed the remixes made for the second and third movie dubs, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent; they’re more “different” than better, befitting of a decent remix that attempts something new. On the Japanese side, meanwhile, I adore coba’s arrangement of “Mesaze Pokémon Master” featured in the fifth movie, which infuses the song with really some fun string and accordion work on top of an unusual but ultimately appealing beat (even if few other people seem to be fans of it; oh well).

@c la fet
If you enjoyed “Advance Adventure”, might I suggest taking a listen to the acoustic version of it featured on the sixth movie’s soundtrack CD? Or maybe you already have, haha.

 

[c la fet]

Spoiler

For the Japanese version, although I have yet to listen to all of its opening themes, I don’t think much beats the original classic “Mesaze Pokémon Master”. Its follow-ups, “The Rivals” and “OK!” are also fine successors to that song’s legacy, getting the same point across with their own unique ways.

For the English dub, I don’t think much else beats the original either. Actually, even after listening to “Mesaze Pokémon Master”, I think that “Pokémon Theme” is superior song. Why? Simply put, I feel that the latter’s lyrics succeed at encapsulating not only the idea of “catching them all” like the former does, but also the broader themes of both the anime and the entire franchise, such as the values of trust, love, and companionship. It gives the song a more genuinely epic and sweeping feel, I think, that matches perfectly with the music (which I think is a kind of lightning-in-a-bottle moment, never to be repeated quite the same way again). Although I should note that I think the song really only works in the context of the original series, time and place; I don’t feel much whenever the dub revives it (whereas I almost never get tired of hearing “Mesaze Pokémon Master”, endless versions of it and all).

Also like the Japanese version, “Pokémon World” and “Pokémon Johto” are pretty solid successors to the legacy of the classic song before it, at least musically (lyrically, neither song really hits it like the original “Pokémon Theme” does). And while future English OPs after this kind of go deep into the lyrical rabbit hole of being the best or being unbeatable or something similarly silly, the actual music and vocals almost always continue to kick ass. “Believe In Me” (from Master Quest) and “Unbeatable” (from Advanced Battle) are probably my favorites from that particularly era of English OP music.

On a final note, many of the remixes of the above songs are pretty fire, too. Both “Mesaze Pokémon Master” and “Pokémon Theme” got great ones in the first movie, the former taking the original’s big-band aspirations to a beautifully realized reality and the latter making things a bit more exciting to go with the battle that it accompanies. I also enjoyed the remixes made for the second and third movie dubs, albeit to a somewhat lesser extent; they’re more “different” than better, befitting of a decent remix that attempts something new. On the Japanese side, meanwhile, I adore coba’s arrangement of “Mesaze Pokémon Master” featured in the fifth movie, which infuses the song with really some fun string and accordion work on top of an unusual but ultimately appealing beat (even if few other people seem to be fans of it; oh well).

If you enjoyed “Advance Adventure”, might I suggest taking a listen to the acoustic version of it featured on the sixth movie’s soundtrack CD? Or maybe you already have, haha.

I just listened to the acoustic ver, it's really good, thanks. It seems like the two performers are actually brothers which makes it even sweeter...

I like Mezase Pokémon Master and the dub theme equally, the dub theme has really gripping guitar parts and chorus while Mezase has a more emotional feeling to it, to me (probably due to the way Rica Matsumoto sings)
Speaking of Pokémon Johto, the third movie version is a really cool remix (the intro, the beat, it's perfect)

 

[-PokemonBattleFanatic-]

-Spurt
-Battle Frontier (Japanese)
-Advanced Adventure (Instrumental BGM)
-Ok (BGM)
-This Dream
-Unbeatable

 

[c la fet]

I forgot my favorite song : Hateshinai Sekai, the unused song from the Lugia movie. If you guys have the time, check it out, it is really worth it.

-Spurt
-Battle Frontier (Japanese)
-Advanced Adventure (Instrumental BGM)
-Ok (BGM)
-This Dream
-Unbeatable

Battle Frontier's singer is so talented, it's too bad she didn't do anything else for the anime industry...

 

[InfiniteBakuphoon]

@c la fet
Are you me!? Haha… yes, “Hateshinai Sekai” is outstanding, indeed. One of my favorite Miyazaki pieces, actually. I was absolutely floored when I heard it for the first time on the second movie’s soundtrack, wondering where in the world that gorgeous song that I’ve never heard before came from. You can never go wrong with good string work, tasteful use of synths, a lovely guitar solo, and of course that wonderful Lugia leitmotif. And it demonstrates that Akiko Hiramatsu has quite the decent singing voice, too, while adding some unexpected depth to the character that she voices (Melody) via the lyrics. I can’t believe that I forgot about this one!

 

[P_S_B]

Smile (Japanese and for some welcome reason Netflix Genesect movie ending), Together, The Sky and The Voice.

 

[c la fet]

Smile (Japanese and for some welcome reason Netflix Genesect movie ending), Together, The Sky and The Voice.

Very good choices ! (That's funny because I listened to The Sky before but I didn't even know it was from Pokémon)
And which one do you like more, The Sky or The Voice ?

Also, for anyone interested, it happens that the Journeys opening intro sounds very similar to this song :

 

[R1ke]

For the dub nothing comes close to the first song for me

Otherwise my favourites are 123, XYZ and Your adventure. Each of these is great and encapsulates the tone of its respective series imo

 

[LightningTopaz]

Warning: Long list ahead!

English openings

Gotta Catch'em All (OG Kanto OP)
Pokemon World (Orange Islands OP)--both short and full versions
Pokemon Johto (Johto OP 1)--both short and full versions
Born to Be a Winner (Johto OP 2)
I Believe (Johto OP 3)
I Wanna Be a Hero (AG OP 1)
This Dream (AG OP 2)
Unbeatable (AG OP 3)
Stand Tall (XY OP 3?)
With You (Journeys OP 3?)

Japanese openings that I have heard

Mezase Pokemon Master (OG Kanto OP)
Advance Adventure (AG OP 1)
Together (DP OP 1)
V (Volt) (XY OP 1)
1-2-3 (Journeys OP 1)

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

Warning: Long list ahead!

English openings

Gotta Catch'em All (OG Kanto OP)
Pokemon World (Orange Islands OP)--both short and full versions
Pokemon Johto (Johto OP 1)--both short and full versions
Born to Be a Winner (Johto OP 2)
I Believe (Johto OP 3)
I Wanna Be a Hero (AG OP 1)
This Dream (AG OP 2)
Unbeatable (AG OP 3)
Stand Tall (XY OP 3?)
With You (Journeys OP 3?)

Japanese openings that I have heard

Mezase Pokemon Master (OG Kanto OP)
Advance Adventure (AG OP 1)
Together (DP OP 1)
V (Volt) (XY OP 1)
1-2-3 (Journeys OP 1)

I agree the 4Kids dub had the superior English openings (8/8 for you, wow!), but for me, the only two that I actually liked from TPCi's dub were Battle Frontier (AG OP 4) and Galactic Battles (DP OP 3). With You just feels generically cheesy, and Stand Tall is the very worst modern dub OP for me (DP Rap is at the very top of the worst ever- also just 2/18 so far for me, just different ones I preferred).

Japanese openings, you can add in Ready Go! for me (OG OP 5) but same exact thoughts.

 

[AndreskX]

If I had to rank the dub openings from best to worst, it would be:
1. Unbeatable
2. Pokemon Theme
3. Believe in Me
4. I Wanna Be a Hero
5. Battle Cry (Stand Up!)
6. The Journey Starts Today
7. With You
8. We Will Carry On
9. Pokemon World
10. We Will Be Heroes
11. Born to Be a Winner
12. It's Always You and Me
13. This Dream
14. Battle Frontier
15. Rival Destinies
16. Pokemon Theme (XY Version)
17. Pokemon Johto
18. Diamond and Pearl Rap
19. Stand Tall
20. Black and White
21. All remaining songs

 

[AgedVeteranofShow]

If I had to rank the dub openings from best to worst, it would be:
1. Unbeatable
2. Believe in Me
3. Pokemon Theme
4. I Wanna Be a Hero
5. The Journey Starts Today
6. Battle Cry (Stand Up!)
7. With You
8. We Will Carry On
9. Pokemon World
10. We Will Be Heroes
11. Born to Be a Winner
12. This Dream
13. Battle Frontier
14. It's Always You and Me
15. Rival Destinies
16. Stand Tall
17. Pokemon Johto
18. Diamond and Pearl Rap
19. Black and White
20. All remaining songs

For me:
1. Pokemon Johto
2. This Dream
3. Unbeatable
4. Believe In Me
5. Pokemon Theme (OG) (Yes, I don't think it was that great in hindsight, though it IS better than all of TPCi's Remixes of it)
6. Born to Be a Winner (This is the ONLY Remix I like of Pokemon Theme, I hated all of Goldfarb's passionately-- especially XY's for S17 though)
7. I Wanna Be a Hero
8. Pokemon World (Odd this is my least favorite dub OP of the original Pokemon dub, since it is probably the best handled dubbed saga of the Anime tied with Early Johto to me)
9. Battle Cry-Stand Up (Best of TPCi's OPs, but still worse than all 8, that 4Kids did to me)
10. Battle Frontier (The start of 30-32 second dub OPs!)
11. It's Always You and Me
12. Black and White

-- Don't like any of the rest of all, with the absolute worst dub OPs being S10's DP Rap, S19's Stand Tall, and S25's With You for me. A lot seemed to like S11's, but I thought it sounded like she took a quick smoke before singing "We Will Be Heroes" to me. --

The only Goldfarb Era English dub OP I don't outright despise (XY-JN dubbed consistently has the worst dub OPs/intros to me overall) is, that said...

Pokémon - The Series: XY Opening 18 English - Be a Hero

Pokémon The Series XY / Be a HeroLyrics:You're just a kid on a questTo be the best of the bestSomeday you're destined for power and gloryYou know you're up t...

www.youtube.com

Even then, it's filtered through extreme autotune, and sounded forced/scratchy sometimes. The one time Ed seems to try to not do bootlegs of Pokemon Theme or cheesy/hip songs, and still, it's very flawed IMO.

 

[kiwichu]

Definitely the bgm. From the original season. It makes the commute to work more bearable. ^~^
Not to mention brings back wonderful memories.

 

[DigitalGen6]

Theme songs. No specific order.

Japanese:

• Aim to Be a Pokémon Master
• V (Volt) (original)
• XYZ
• Getta Ban Ban
• Alola
• Together (original)
• High Touch (mainly original)
• 1.2.3.
• Dokimeki Diary
• Advance Adventure
• Be An Arrow (2013)

English:

• Pokémon Theme (OG) - The first season I have ever watched. So much nostalgia. I remember in 2014, I sat on the floor or on the couch, and had my Pikachu plush (that I still have), watching one of the Indigo episodes. It was fun.
• Pokémon Theme: XY Version - I know, not the best, but I like it.
• I Wanna Be A Hero - Hoenn nostalgia. And the third series I watched.
• Stand Tall - XYZ nostalgia. Second series I had watched.
• Be A Hero - Now don’t tell me this isn’t a literal banger.
• Under The Alolan Moon - Possibly the best SM theme in my opening.
• Journey To Your Heart - Best Journeys theme.
• With You - Final season vibes. And now I want to cry while I listen to it if I remember Ash is now a Pokémon Master.
• Battle Frontier - It should be obvious why I like this one.
• Diamond and Pearl
• Pokémon Johto
• Battle Cry (Stand Up)
• It’s Always You and Me

That’s pretty much it.

 

[Poke Trey]

Just to name a few: With You, the Gotta Catch Em All remix, A Journey To Your Heart and The Journey Starts Today. Ok, basically all the JN dub op's, they're so GOOD!

 

[snowmint]

Has anyone asked TPCi why there haven't been insert songs in the dub?

 

[Sheep]

English: The first few original dub openings, To Know The Unknown
JP: Your Adventure, Future Connection, XY&Z, and Together With The Wind (Kaze to Issho Ni). The last one makes me cry and I just love it so so much.

Future Connection gets italics because it makes me incredibly happy and no other series song has been able to replicate that. <3 There are many more, but these stand out immediately.