Ash's Voice????

[Poodcanine]

I have not been keeping up with th pokemon television series, but today I watched an episode from Battle Frontier and Ash's voice sounded different (no, I am NOT getting confused with Pokemon Chronicles!)
Everyone else's voice sounded the same.

Do you know what happened here?

[Poodcanine]

I have not been keeping up with th pokemon television series, but today I watched an episode from Battle Frontier and Ash's voice sounded different (no, I am NOT getting confused with Pokemon Chronicles!)
Everyone else's voice sounded the same.

Do you know what happened here?

[CyberCubed]

Uh, it isn't just Ash. The entire voice cast was changed.

What happened was PUSA took over the license of the show once 4kids' expired at the end of Season 8. Since all the previous voice actors had contracts with 4kids, PUSA couldn't use them so they hired all new people.

PUSA will be dubbing the show from Season 9 until probably the time it ends. (whenever that is)

[yoshirider13]

I have not been keeping up with th pokemon television series, but today I watched an episode from Battle Frontier and Ash's voice sounded different (no, I am NOT getting confused with Pokemon Chronicles!)
Everyone else's voice sounded the same.

Do you know what happened here?
This has been explained many many times. 4kids doesnt have the rights to pokemon anymore, PUSA has it so all the characters got new voices. I guess ash is the only one that is really easy to tell the difference.

[veemonjosh]

Uh, Pokemon is an anime, not a General Animation.

[PC!]

The thing is, all of the voice actors for the show do EXTREMELY good imitations of the original voices, especially now that they've voiced them for a while. IMHO, the only one who can't seem to come close to her original actress is Ash's, which I'm pretty sure she could if she tweaked her voice a little bit and showed more range.

Oh, and Professor Oak's VA needs work too, but granted, he hasn't been around much.

[Duke]

What happened was PUSA took over the license of the show once 4kids' expired at the end of Season 8. Since all the previous voice actors had contracts with 4kids, PUSA couldn't use them so they hired all new people.
Not everybody had a contract, just apparently the major VAs like Veronica Taylor (Ash, May), Eric Stuart (Brock, James), Rachel Lillis (Misty, Jessie), Maddie Blaustein (Meowth), Mike Pollick (Narrator), Stan Hart (Professor Oak), and Ted Lewis (Tracey, Giovanni).

All the other VAs, such as Kayzie Rogers (Wobuffet) and Jimmy Zoppi (Gary), don't have that clause in their contract, so they can work on it, though they're doing it under aliases.

[dth1971]

No wonder Kids WB (on CW) no longer has Pokemon after the voice change situation!

[clucky]

I've never really tried to watch pokemon
but after hearing this along with other stuff i tried to give it a
shot(I hated it of course) but i dont know how the old voice sounded but this one is like hes been somoking to many cigerretes

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Funny how Zoppi is now almost half the cast (James, Meowth, Gary, Professor Oak, etc.)

[CyberCubed]

No wonder Kids WB (on CW) no longer has Pokemon after the voice change situation!

KidsWb would have cancelled Pokemon even if 4kids was still dubbing it. They got rid of all their anime for a reason.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

KidsWb would have cancelled Pokemon even if 4kids was still dubbing it. They got rid of all their anime for a reason.

And what reason would that be??

[KuwabaraTheMan]

And what reason would that be??

So they can focus on their own shows, and completely control the block.

[yoshirider13]

Not everybody had a contract, just apparently the major VAs like Veronica Taylor (Ash, May), Eric Stuart (Brock, James), Rachel Lillis (Misty, Jessie), Maddie Blaustein (Meowth), Mike Pollick (Narrator), Stan Hart (Professor Oak), and Ted Lewis (Tracey, Giovanni).

All the other VAs, such as Kayzie Rogers (Wobuffet) and Jimmy Zoppi (Gary), don't have that clause in their contract, so they can work on it, though they're doing it under aliases.So will Jimmy voice gary when he shows up in the DP saga?

[dth1971]

KidsWb would have cancelled Pokemon even if 4kids was still dubbing it. They got rid of all their anime for a reason.

And Kids WB on CW no longer has Spider Riders or (it moved to FOX's 4 Kids TV) Yu-Gi-Oh. But Kids WB's Monster Allergy isn't animeish style, I guess.

[Hades]

I thought you meant Ash from FFXII.

Anyway, all of their voices are new, and thankfully, Pokemon USA picked VAs taht seem to actually have some acting skills rather than the load of crap 4Kids did.

[Duke]

So will Jimmy voice gary when he shows up in the DP saga?
I don't see why not.

And if CN continues their pace, we'll find out in February. :P

[The Overlord]

Who is in the new voice cast?

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Who is in the new voice cast?

Off the top of my head, Jimmy Zoppi (under the name Billy Beach), Kayzie Rogers (I forget her allies) and Bill Rogers as the New Brock (an improvement over previous actor Eric Stuart).

[Brent Long]

Off the top of my head, Jimmy Zoppi (under the name Billy Beach), Kayzie Rogers (I forget her allies) and Bill Rogers as the New Brock (an improvement over previous actor Eric Stuart).

And Sarah Natachiame is Ash.

[CyberCubed]

Michelle Knotz does May, Misty, Jessie and Nurse Joy.

Yeah, she does nearly every major female character on the show.

Too bad after the current season May leaves, and since Misty doesn't even appear again, Michelle Knotz will be down to just Jessie and Nurse Joy in Season 10.

I heard someone new will play Hikari, so it won't be her.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Michelle Knotz does May, Misty, Jessie and Nurse Joy.

Yeah, she does nearly every major female character on the show.

Too bad after the current season May leaves, and since Misty doesn't even appear again, Michelle Knotz will be down to just Jessie and Nurse Joy in Season 10.

I heard someone new will play Hikari, so it won't be her.

Most probably another nobody, like most of these people.

[Tay the Cat]

Anyway, all of their voices are new, and thankfully, Pokemon USA picked VAs taht seem to actually have some acting skills rather than the load of crap 4Kids did.
I'll take Taylor, Stuart, Lillis and Blaustein over the hacks that PUSA hired (excluding Zoppi and Rogers).

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I'll take Taylor, Stuart, Lillis and Blaustein over the hacks that PUSA hired (excluding Zoppi and Rogers).

I'll take Rika Matsumoto, KAORI, Shinichiro Miki, et all over all of them, thank you very much.

[Tay the Cat]

Rude much?

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Rude much?

Pardon? What was rude about that post?

[CyberCubed]

I'll take Taylor, Stuart, Lillis and Blaustein over the hacks that PUSA hired (excluding Zoppi and Rogers).

As if you aren't being rude and degrading to the PUSA voice actors here either?

The "hacks" as you call them are doing a fine job acting like sound-a-likes and getting their character roles done.

[dth1971]

What 4 Kids produced cartoons are Veronica Taylor, Eric Stuart, Maddie Blaustien, Rachel Lewis, and Ted Lewis currently working on now that they are no longer with Pokemon?

[Lutochris]

The thing is, all of the voice actors for the show do EXTREMELY good imitations of the original voices, especially now that they've voiced them for a while. IMHO, the only one who can't seem to come close to her original actress is Ash's, which I'm pretty sure she could if she tweaked her voice a little bit and showed more range.

Oh, and Professor Oak's VA needs work too, but granted, he hasn't been around much.

You have got to be kidding. Every time I see a contest episode now, it's always apparent how absurdly inferior May's new VA is compared to Veronica Taylor. I've never heard a more flat, lifeless vocal performance in my life. And none of the other ones, except maybe Jessie, even come close. I quit complaining about this after it first happened a while back, since it's no use, but it's insulting to Veronica Taylor to even suggest that May's new VA's performance can even hold a candle to Taylor's performance.

Oh and for those who think that the old dub was bad just becuase it's 4Kids, don't assume that automatically, it was one of their only good dubs. The old voices were spectacular.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Oh and for those who think that the old dub was bad just becuase it's 4Kids, don't assume that automatically, it was one of their only good dubs. The old voices were spectacular.

'Spectacular'?

Mediocre at best, and I say that only because Eric Stuart was pretty good as Takeshi, and Musashi and Kasumi's voices were decent.

Veronica Taylor was bad as both Satoshi and Haruka, Maddie Blaustein was horrendous as Nyasu, Eric Stuart's Kojiro kills babies(Ted Lews was amazing in the first 13 episodes, but he got replaced for stupid reasons), and whoever voiced Masato was pretty bad, too.

[Zeonic Freak]

I'll take Rika Matsumoto, KAORI, Shinichiro Miki, et all over all of them, thank you very much.

Ill take Satoshi Tajiri (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3902) and put Megumi Hayashibara (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=391) in defense mode!

(Yes, i have no reason to be here, just to make a random post, and AWAY I RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!)

[Duke]

I'll take Taylor, Stuart, Lillis and Blaustein over the hacks that PUSA hired (excluding Zoppi and Rogers).
I won't be taking Stuart, thankyouverymuch. His Brock became awful after he started putting more Kaiba into his performance, and his James cannot be taken seriously at all, which ruins any and all dramatic moments James has.

Veronica Taylor was bad as both Satoshi and Haruka, Maddie Blaustein was horrendous as Nyasu, Eric Stuart's Kojiro kills babies(Ted Lews was amazing in the first 13 episodes, but he got replaced for stupid reasons), and whoever voiced Masato was pretty bad, too.
That would be Amy Birnbaum (aka Tea in Yu-Gi-Oh!).

What 4 Kids produced cartoons are Veronica Taylor, Eric Stuart, Maddie Blaustien, Rachel Lewis, and Ted Lewis currently working on now that they are no longer with Pokemon?
Well, if they ever get back into their own timeline, then Veronica Taylor will likely return as April in TMNT. As for the others, here are the series they have appeared in that are still going (and are made by 4kids, so that excludes other NYC dubs):

Veronica Taylor: G.I. Joe Sigma 6 (Scarlett), One Piece (Robin)
Eric Stuart: G.I. Joe Sigma 6 (Voice Director, Hi-Tech), One Piece (Narrator)
Maddie Blaustien: None, currently
Rachel Lillis: None, currently
Amy Birnbaum: None, currently
Ted Lewis: None, currently (Are they still dubbing Doremi?)
Mike Pollock: None, currently, though he's still Eggman in the Sonic video games

[RomanMack]

Maddie was Kureha from One Piece and Waddle Doo from Kirby, but other than that, I don't think she's done anything else currently.

[Duke]

Maddie was Kureha from One Piece and Waddle Doo from Kirby, but other than that, I don't think she's done anything else currently.
I don't think Kureha appears again, and I believe Kirby's finished production, which is why I didn't list them.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I don't think Kureha appears again, and I believe Kirby's finished production, which is why I didn't list them.

Not unless Toei animates the Wapol Sidestory...

[RomanMack]

Ahh, yes. True.

[yoshirider13]

I like all the new voices better then 4kids. But thats my opinion.

I even like ash's voice better cause he actually sounds like a 13-14 year old.

[Dogasu]

The thing is, all of the voice actors for the show do EXTREMELY good imitations of the original voices, especially now that they've voiced them for a while.
I agree. I mean, compare these sound-alikes to the sound-alikes in Season 3 of Dragon Ball Z. The PUSA actors are worlds ahead of what the FUNimation actors were back in the day.

Not everybody had a contract, just apparently the major VAs like Veronica Taylor (Ash, May), Eric Stuart (Brock, James), Rachel Lillis (Misty, Jessie), Maddie Blaustein (Meowth), Mike Pollick (Narrator), Stan Hart (Professor Oak), and Ted Lewis (Tracey, Giovanni).
All the other VAs, such as Kayzie Rogers (Wobuffet) and Jimmy Zoppi (Gary), don't have that clause in their contract, so they can work on it, though they're doing it under aliases.
Actually, from what I understand, all the VA's signed the same contract.

Funny how Zoppi is now almost half the cast (James, Meowth, Gary, Professor Oak, etc.)
It's not that different from the 4Kids dub, where Eric Stuart played the roles of two of the main male characters (Brock and James) in addition to a countless number of pokemon and characters-of-the-day.

Maddie Blaustien: None, currently
She apparently does the voice of Sartorious in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX dub.

whoever voiced Masato was pretty bad, too.
Actually, I'd say that Amy Birnbaum (Max's VA) is much better than Yamada Fushigi (Masato's VA). For one thing, Masato's Japanese VA can't act to save her life.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Actually, I'd say that Amy Birnbaum (Max's VA) is much better than Yamada Fushigi (Masato's VA). For one thing, Masato's Japanese VA can't act to save her life.


Eh, I've only seen like 2 episodes in the past 3 years of the dub, but I didn't like what Masato sounded like.

His Japanese voice might not be breat, but I find it decent. Although of the main characters, its the least distinctive of the main voices.

But the dub voice just annoyed me.

[dth1971]

I forgot about 4 Kids voice Amy Birmbaum who voiced May's brother Max in Pokemon Advance/Pokemon Advance Battle/Pokemon Advance Challenge.

[dth1971]

And I still wish Cookie Jar or Cinegroupe got the rights to later seasons of Pokemon and replaced the crappy 2006-2007 voice cast with the Montreal, Canada voice cast (my guesses are as follows):
Holly Gauthier-Frankel voicing Ash and May
Jessica Kardos voicing Jessie of Team Rocket and Max
Rick Jones voicing Brock and the opening/closing narrator
Arthur Holden voicing James of Team Rocket
A.J. Henderson voicing Professor Oak
Daniel Brochu voicing Meowth
Ellen David voicing Ash's mother

[Mr. Ralph]

i think new brock sounds almost the same as old brock when he really tries

[Jacob T. Paschal]

I say screw Stuart's interperations of James and Brock. Zoppi and Rogers do much better voices, and I can actually take Brock seriously again, James too.

As a fan of Taylor's May, I give her replacement my stamp of approval.

Also, Kuwabara, get off the juice, it be killin' yo' personality. :D

[Dogasu]

My only problem with the new May is that she sounds too much like Misty at points...

[Duke]

My only problem with the new May is that she sounds too much like Misty at points...
That's my main problem with her too. Throughout most of the season I kept thinking that Misty is doing Contests now...which would probably please some people...

Now watch, Hikari will somehow sound exactly like Taylor's May. :P

[RomanMack]

I don't have much of problem with any of the new main cast... But I gotta say, I liked Veronica better as Ash than this new girl is with him.

Her Ash is pretty underwhelming...

[CyberCubed]

May does sound a tad like Misty at times, but her voice is still pretty different if you actually watch two episodes of them together and compare it.

[Tay the Cat]

Eric Stuart: G.I. Joe Sigma 6 (Voice Director, Hi-Tech), One Piece (Narrator)

He's also Bastion in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and is the voice director.

I won't be taking Stuart, thankyouverymuch. His Brock became awful after he started putting more Kaiba into his performance,
All the better.


and his James cannot be taken seriously at all, which ruins any and all dramatic moments James has.

James has had dramatic moments? Apart from a few filler episodes, James is there solely for comic relief.

[Duke]

All the better.
But Brock isn't Kaiba. He shouldn't sound harsh whenever he's not expression his love of the girl-of-the-day. He shouldn't sound evil at all, but Stuart kept putting that in.

James has had dramatic moments? Apart from a few filler episodes, James is there solely for comic relief.
There's the episode where he released Weezing. True, both Meowth and Jessie were bad as well, but James was just horrible. Then there are the James-focused episodes (such as when he captures Chimecho or competes in the Poké-Ringer competition) where he sounds like a parody instead of an actual character. And there was nothing good about James' performance in the "Training Daze" episode of Chronicles. My god, James was absolutely dreadful in that episode.

[Lutochris]

My only problem with the new May is that she sounds too much like Misty at points...

My only problem with her is that she can't act to save her life. Every line she delivers sounds like something one of those talking dolls they sell would say. She's completely incapable of expressing emotion with her voice. To say she's even comparable to, or (god forbid) better than, Veronica Taylor is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. No wait, 2nd most, the most absurd thing is saying that the new James VA is better than Eric Stuart. The new voice is far, far less capable of being taken seriously than Eric Stuart.


'Spectacular'?

Mediocre at best, and I say that only because Eric Stuart was pretty good as Takeshi, and Musashi and Kasumi's voices were decent.

Veronica Taylor was bad as both Satoshi and Haruka, Maddie Blaustein was horrendous as Nyasu, Eric Stuart's Kojiro kills babies(Ted Lews was amazing in the first 13 episodes, but he got replaced for stupid reasons), and whoever voiced Masato was pretty bad, too.

Considering your opinions on some other dubs (Bleach for instance), I'd say "mediocre" is a pretty glowing review coming from you. Either way you're obvioulsy not a big dub fan in general.

And maybe most of you people never really cared for the dub to begin with, but for me the dub voices were probably the main reason I kept watching the show after I first saw it. Their characterizations were so strong that I actually started to care about the characters despite never playing the games or being a Pokemon fan before. If the current voices had been there back then, I probably would have quit watching the show after the first season.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Considering your opinions on some other dubs (Bleach for instance), I'd say "mediocre" is a pretty glowing review coming from you. Either way you're obvioulsy not a big dub fan in general.
I love dubs, and consider myself a huge dub fan. Excluding hack dubs like Digimon and anything done by 4Kids.

I've enjoyed most of Bleach's dub, aside from Michelle Ruff's god awful Rukia voice and Micheal Lindsay's god awful Urahara voice, and have said as much. I believe I've complimented Stephanie Sheh and Derek Stephen Prince's performances repeatedly on those threads.

Either way, I'm very pro dub. If I wasn't a gigantic dub fanatic would I post long lists of fantasty dub casts for around a hundred different characters and be the guy starting Naruto and Prince of Tennis dub talkbacks every week, and then complimenting everyone who works on the dub?

4Kids dub Pokemon voices, aside from maybe Takeshi and Musashi's voices, were horrendous.

[Duke]

No wait, 2nd most, the most absurd thing is saying that the new James VA is better than Eric Stuart. The new voice is far, far less capable of being taken seriously than Eric Stuart.
The acting in Sweet Baby James > the acting in Training Daze. While I do wish the new James would just talk normally (he'd sound a helluva lot better), the actual acting is a lot more expressive than the typical "Hey, I'm goofy, but I'm trying to act serious! Please take me seriously!" performance Eric Stuart gave out. Hell, Eric Stuart himself hasn't had a good performance for 4Kids in years. His Kaiba sucked starting in Battle City, he was never good as Hi-Tech, and both his Brock and James gradually devolved into what they became in Hoenn. Kaiba should not be coming out of Brock's mouth anytime he's something other than expressing love, and James is just a naturally goofy guy, not a stereotypical gay joke gone horribly wrong. The 4Kids dub reveled in making fun of James, and the new dub thankfully takes all that extra crap out. Not to mention new James doesn't have that horrible Hi-Tech "Every. Word. I. Say. Must. Have. A. Lengthy. Pause. Between. Words. EVEN. MORE. SO. WHEN. I'M. YELLING!" inflection on his voice that Eric Stuart has fallen in love with for some odd reason.

[Pomegranate]

I've watched Battle Frontier just to see how different PUSA's VAs are from 4Kids' and I must say PUSA's VAs are even worse than 4Kids'. Nintendo should just hire Funimation or another good anime-dubbing company to dub their anime properties, if they want to be praised by anime fans.

[RomanMack]

I don't think Nintendo cares. Pokemon is such a mainstream success that I don't think they really care about anime fans. Alot of anime fans don't think too highly of Pokemon anyway, for whatever reason...

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Bah!! Stuart's last good performance was as Titan.

Zoppi's James > Stuart's James

Also, at least the voice pool TAJ uses is...fresh...

[Duke]

Alot of anime fans don't think too highly of Pokemon anyway, for whatever reason...
It's a) mainstream, b) liked by kids, c) dubbed and put on the air without any kind of fansub circle, and d) mass-marketed.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

It's a) mainstream, b) liked by kids, c) dubbed and put on the air without any kind of fansub circle, and d) mass-marketed.

F) Poorly written 90% of the time.

[Duke]

F) Poorly written 90% of the time.
You know very well that the general mainstream populace (anime fandom or otherwise) doesn't really care how well a series is written.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

You know very well that the general mainstream populace (anime fandom or otherwise) doesn't really care how well a series is written.

I suppose, althougth this is the first time I've ever been to a forum with such educated Animé fans.

But then again, when a show like Pokémon has hundreds of needless episodes of filler, I can see wy a lot of people would not like it all of that much.

Honestly, I've never really heard of those kinds of 'I hate it 'cause it's mainstream' people.

[Duke]

But then again, when a show like Pokémon has hundreds of needless episodes of filler, I can see wy a lot of people would not like it all of that much.
Well, when you're making it up as you go and buying time until the next set of games, it's kind of hard NOT to do needless filler.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Well, when you're making it up as you go and buying time until the next set of games, it's kind of hard NOT to do needless filler.

And that is why they fail. Short and sweet, progression, and of course, story arcs. They don't always have to do what they usually do, stretch out the current generation. They can always do stuff with other character. Heck, they could actually have Team Rocket as a whole do something.

I guess it's too much to hope for the kind of writting we got from Pokémon Adventures/Special.

[Duke]

And that is why they fail. Short and sweet, progression, and of course, story arcs. They don't always have to do what they usually do, stretch out the current generation. They can always do stuff with other character. Heck, they could actually have Team Rocket as a whole do something.

I guess it's too much to hope for the kind of writting we got from Pokémon Adventures/Special.
The entire POINT of the anime is to pimp the latest video games until the next batch comes out. Meaning that said arc has to last 3 or so years (Kanto had the headstart of having the games being released a year or so before the anime), and considering that Nintendo is working with the anime to make sure it advertises the games right around release date, that's not going to change. Doing stuff with other characters outside of random specials isn't what Nintendo wants.

The manga gets a pass because of how many there are, and that it gets less exposure than the anime. Unlike any random Shonen Jump anime, they don't have a manga base to work from, and unlike Digimon and other type shows, they don't have a set episode limit.

I'm sure if the writers from Adventures took over the anime, we'd still get lots of needless filler (especially since they're going to be writing a storyarc that will take 3 years or more to complete), as manga ALWAYS moves faster than anime does. Just like if somebody told you "Hey, we need you to write a storyarc for this show. We don't know how many episodes it will be, but more than likely it'll be on for longer than 3 years, probably close to 4. Oh, and when we have a big new spinoff coming out, we want you to promote it. Finally, we need you to start a new arc when the next batch of major games come out" I doubt you could create an expansive storyarc that would be devoid of any and all needless filler.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

The entire POINT of the anime is to pimp the latest video games until the next batch comes out. Meaning that said arc has to last 3 or so years (Kanto had the headstart of having the games being released a year or so before the anime), and considering that Nintendo is working with the anime to make sure it advertises the games right around release date, that's not going to change. Doing stuff with other characters outside of random specials isn't what Nintendo wants.

The manga gets a pass because of how many there are, and that it gets less exposure than the anime. Unlike any random Shonen Jump anime, they don't have a manga base to work from, and unlike Digimon and other type shows, they don't have a set episode limit.

I'm sure if the writers from Adventures took over the anime, we'd still get lots of needless filler (especially since they're going to be writing a storyarc that will take 3 years or more to complete), as manga ALWAYS moves faster than anime does. Just like if somebody told you "Hey, we need you to write a storyarc for this show. We don't know how many episodes it will be, but more than likely it'll be on for longer than 3 years, probably close to 4. Oh, and when we have a big new spinoff coming out, we want you to promote it. Finally, we need you to start a new arc when the next batch of major games come out" I doubt you could create an expansive storyarc that would be devoid of any and all needless filler.


That's where my problem is, they sacrifice length and story ideas to spread out a whole arc needlessly to three years. That's called overexposure. In the end it seems like the crew gaves weigh to corperate demand. Most of the time we get needless, boring, and formulatic episodes just for money. Money, money, money, money, money, money, and if we're lucky enough, something..exciting for a change.

I would much rather they just do away with filler, create a major plotline for the series, have it run its year or so long course, go off the air until new games come out for them to showcase, and repeat. It would certainly be better then seeing those bumbling fools JJ&M being blasted off every week. They're poor 2D villians who have about as much weight as a M&M.

[CyberCubed]

I've watched Battle Frontier just to see how different PUSA's VAs are from 4Kids' and I must say PUSA's VAs are even worse than 4Kids'. Nintendo should just hire Funimation or another good anime-dubbing company to dub their anime properties, if they want to be praised by anime fans.

Most of the PUSA voice actors sound nearly identical to their 4kids counterparts...just not as settled down into their roles. (which is understandable)

I wish people would stop whining every single time something changes in the show. When they got rid of Misty, (the smartest move the writers ever made), a bunch of whiners complained for almost the entire AG series. When the voice actors change because they were FORCED to change, people complain, despite the majority of the new voices being very good.

It's very depressing.

[Duke]

I would much rather they just do away with filler, create a major plotline for the series, have it run its year or so long course, go off the air until new games come out for them to showcase, and repeat. It would certainly be better then seeing those bumbling fools JJ&M being blasted off every week. They're poor 2D villians who have about as much weight as a M&M.
Oh, yea, because it's extremely easy to get the Thursday night at 7:30PM slot. Or hell, any weekday primetime slot in Japan. Hell, those anime NEVER go beyond 50 episodes...

I will never understand what everyone's problem with just a regular adventure series is. Ash is out traveling the world, seeing everything the world has to offer, but if it isn't part of some grand plot, it isn't worth it. Nevermind that Advanced Generation was just made of awesome or anything.

[Lutochris]

I love dubs, and consider myself a huge dub fan. Excluding hack dubs like Digimon and anything done by 4Kids.

I've enjoyed most of Bleach's dub, aside from Michelle Ruff's god awful Rukia voice and Micheal Lindsay's god awful Urahara voice, and have said as much. I believe I've complimented Stephanie Sheh and Derek Stephen Prince's performances repeatedly on those threads.

Either way, I'm very pro dub. If I wasn't a gigantic dub fanatic would I post long lists of fantasty dub casts for around a hundred different characters and be the guy starting Naruto and Prince of Tennis dub talkbacks every week, and then complimenting everyone who works on the dub?

4Kids dub Pokemon voices, aside from maybe Takeshi and Musashi's voices, were horrendous.

Sorry I meant to say you were obviously never a fan of the Pokemon dub in general. Though I do think some of your other dub criticisms were pretty harsh, I didn't mean to say you were anti-dub entirely. Believe it or not though, there actually were mature fans who liked the Pokemon dub, and the voices were the main reason.


The acting in Sweet Baby James > the acting in Training Daze. While I do wish the new James would just talk normally (he'd sound a helluva lot better), the actual acting is a lot more expressive than the typical "Hey, I'm goofy, but I'm trying to act serious! Please take me seriously!" performance Eric Stuart gave out.

I agree that Stuarts voice in general started to get pretty grating around 2002-03. But at first I really loved his characterization, gay jokes and all. I have Pokemopolis to thank for that. And James was never really supposed to be taken seriously, outside of a (very) few noteworthy episodes. Furthermore, Zoppi is just basically trying to imitate Stuart's characterization. So in addition to being grating, it also sounds unnatural, because at least Stuart had the role down. As for Brock, well I pretty much hate Brock in general so I won't even bother arguing for him.

Well you can make a legitimate arguement for James' voice, but no one in their right mind can actually tell me with a straight face that May's new voice is anything other than horrendously amateurish. If I had to guess I'd say that her VA had never worked in voice-overs before. Veronica Taylor was pretty much brilliant.

As for the series in general, Duke I'd agree that the fact that we have a ton of filler isn't a problem in itself, but rather the problem is that the filler has become extremely boring and formulaic. The filler in Kanto and Orange was fun and...less formulaic. Or rather, the formula hadn't worn painfully thin yet. They've done virtually nothing to keep the show fresh, other than adding May and her contests, and now that's even getting old.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Oh, yea, because it's extremely easy to get the Thursday night at 7:30PM slot. Or hell, any weekday primetime slot in Japan. Hell, those anime NEVER go beyond 50 episodes...

I will never understand what everyone's problem with just a regular adventure series is. Ash is out traveling the world, seeing everything the world has to offer, but if it isn't part of some grand plot, it isn't worth it. Nevermind that Advanced Generation was just made of awesome or anything.


I could very well be the bad guy here. But it very well does anger me that a series I grew up on has seemingly easyly fallen into this rut. Call me selfish, but can't we ask for less filling, more arcing??

[Tay the Cat]

but no one in their right mind can actually tell me with a straight face that May's new voice is anything other than horrendously amateurish. If I had to guess I'd say that her VA had never worked in voice-overs before.
Strangely enough, I actually like May's new voice.

[Duke]

I could very well be the bad guy here. But it very well does anger me that a series I grew up on has seemingly easyly fallen into this rut. Call me selfish, but can't we ask for less filling, more arcing??
The problem is that the games rarely have an arc big enough to make up for the filler. The first two generations had Team Rocket's assault being stopped practically mid-way through the games, and Team Magma/Aqua never really stepped up until the Cave of Origin (and we have Emerald to thank for that screw-up). I haven't played Diamond/Pearl yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the bad guys were extremely secondary to the Gym Badges and Super Contests.

And then, of course, even if you do have an arc based on the bad guys in the games, you can't extend it too far because of the Enhanced Edition game that will follow Diamond/Pearl, which will probably change things a lot.

[CyberCubed]

Strangely enough, I actually like May's new voice.

Most people do. May, Jessie and Brock are considered to be the best three voices from the PUSA dub.

I don't like her as much as Veronica's May, (who added real cuteness and enthusiasm to May's voice), but Michelle Knotz May is fine. Also it kinda fits May more at this point of the story since she's not a newbie anymore.

[yoshirider13]

At least new may doesnt sound like ash's mom :sweat:

[Lutochris]

Most people do. May, Jessie and Brock are considered to be the best three voices from the PUSA dub.

I'll agree on Jessie and Brock, but not on May as long as I live.


I don't like her as much as Veronica's May, (who added real cuteness and enthusiasm to May's voice), but Michelle Knotz May is fine. Also it kinda fits May more at this point of the story since she's not a newbie anymore.

Sure it's fine, if you're fine with a complete lack of emotion and personality.

[CyberCubed]

Sure it's fine, if you're fine with a complete lack of emotion and personality.

I sense plenty of emotion and personality from her, just not as much as from Veronica's May.

May's character herself is much more calmed down at this point of the anime, she's not as hyper-active as she was in early Hoenn.

[dth1971]

I still bet in 2007 Pokemon USA drops the cast and replaces with a Canadian voice cast from Montreal as mentioned earlier in this thread. What are the chances for that? Canadian voice casts for cartoons are cheaper to use too!

[Tay the Cat]

I still bet in 2007 Pokemon USA drops the cast and replaces with a Canadian voice cast from Montreal as mentioned earlier in this thread. What are the chances for that? Canadian voice casts for cartoons are cheaper to use too!
Not happening in a million years.

[yoshirider13]

I still bet in 2007 Pokemon USA drops the cast and replaces with a Canadian voice cast from Montreal as mentioned earlier in this thread. What are the chances for that? Canadian voice casts for cartoons are cheaper to use too!This is pUSA