Pokémon. Everybody's heard that name, some way or another. Maybe from the Anime series that aired in Japan on April 1, 1997, and then the US a year later on September 8, 1998. Or perhaps it was the games Pokémon Red and Green that released in Japan in 1996, and then the rest of the world in 1998, but with Pokémon Red and Blue. Or was it even Pokémon GO the massive hit Pokémon mobile game from Niantic.
For those that started on the English dub of the Pokémon anime series, have you ever stopped to think that it might not be the best version? There will always be an everlasting debate on which is better: dub or sub. But, with this list, it'll explain the differences between the Japanese original anime and the English dubbed version.
10 Heavy Editing
The English dub is heavily edited in such a way that entire scenes have been removed to make the anime more kid-friendly. In the episode Beauty and the Beach, this episode revolves around all the female characters entering a swimsuit competition.
And this includes James, who, in order to participate, buys a pair of inflatable breasts. It gets worse, as this episode is widely known because James is shown waving his fake breasts around in a comedic effort to win the contest. Any frame that has James wearing his inflatable breasts has been eradicated from the English dub entirely.
9 Background Music
The music in the Japanese anime is so much better than the English dub. Music is portrayed to give the viewers a sense of emotion, that being dread, excitement, danger, or a vast range of other emotions. It's crazy how music can alter the feelings of an episode entirely. Music affects us all in different ways, and watching something is no different.
In the English dub by 4kids, the BGM has been changed and has lost a lot of its dramatic effect. A few of the tracks really do stand out and are amazing, but that lies as part of the problem, as they get repeated an awful lot through the anime, and, of course, this loses emotional attachment, too.
8 Voice Acting
Voice acting can make all the difference between a good anime and a fantastic one. This is one of the biggest fights when it comes to which is better, dubs or subs. But everyone is different, and it's down to what you prefer; no-one is ultimately correct.
Shows in their native language are more often better, as more emotion is portrayed in how the anime was originally written. The Japanese anime is darker and more serious, whereas the English dub is very laid back and lighter in tone. As well as that, English voice actors are often replaced halfway through a season, and this happened quite often in the English Pokémon dub. Two prime examples are Meowth and James.
7 Intros And Outros
Everybody knows the original English Pokémon intro; the second someone starts singing those words, "I want to be the very best" everyone around will join in and sing their hearts out. The Japanese and English versions both use entirely different songs. For the Johto series, and 4Kids actually went as far as having the Japanese studio animate a whole new opening for the English dub.
However, it all depends on what version you watched first. Some people might hate the English outro, the "Pokérap," but others might find it fantastic and quite genius. Nostalgia plays an important part here.
6 The Tone Of The Show
This has been mentioned briefly, but the tone of the two versions is like night and day. One is a darker rendition; the emotion, the music, the characters shouting in the background makes you feel that Pikachu or some other Pokémon might actually die during a match, even though we know it's fictional.
And the other is a more goofy and lighthearted version, reminding us that Pokémon battles aren't serious at all, that no harm can ever come to them, and that it's entirely kid safe. That children watching it, know that all the Pokémon are going to be safe and sound afterward.
5 4Kids
4Kids had the original control over the English dub, and they wanted to change it as much as possible to the Japanese version. Which they did in their own way, with tiny removals and line changes, etc. Food was a massive change they made, as 4Kids really seemed to hate riceballs for some reason, so they changed every line to Jelly filled donuts.
They even went to the extreme in one episode, where James is eating ramen, and, instead of it being referred to as spaghetti or pasta, it's referred to him as having tea and crumpets instead. You know, the true English fare.
4 Banned/Removed Episodes
The English dub changes events that happen in the Pokémon world, and the Kanto Ark in the first season suffered the worst of it. As entire episodes being removed instead of censored because removing scenes would make the episode far to short to air.
For those of you who can remember that Ash just spontaneously owned 30 Tauros in the English dub, this was because the episode before which explained what happened was banned. The said episode was called "Legend of Dratina," and, in this episode, there is a person pointing a gun directly at Ash's face and threatening to shoot him point-blank. Not exactly kid-friendly.
3 Weird Content
Sexual references and questionable content have all been removed from the English dub, and, given the age of the main characters, it's perfectly understandable, as they are all pre-teens. In one episode Ash, Misty, and Brock first encounter Tommy, a little wild child. In the original Japanese version, Tommy becomes focused on Misty's breasts, which the camera zooms in on. When she notices him staring and asks, "What?" Tommy asks if he can nurse on her breasts. Misty gets very angry and hits him, saying, "how did that end up being your answer?!"
For the dubbed English version, the shot of Misty's breasts was cut, and he asks, "you people or Pokémon?" She gets outraged, hits him, and says, "I'm a person, you creep!"
2 Censorship
Censorship is a massive thing in the English dub, as not just about sexual references or stuff like that. Even in the Intro, a few frames were redrawn because of a girl's skirt being blown open. But 4kids went to the extreme to protect kids in any way shape or form and censored a lot of meaningless things.
Such as in a wedding episode where they changed the champagne into juice. It's a silly small thing, but children have seen adults drink alcohol and know vaguely what a wedding is. They're not going to watch a Pokémon episode of monsters fighting each other and then go nick a beer from the fridge.
1 The Writing
The English dub is very mellow and cannot be taken seriously at all, especially when compared to the Japanese original. Without the English dub, people all over would have never have heard the hilarious writing that 4Kids came up with. For example:
Ash: "Aw man it's raining!"
Brock: "I know! I'll use my trusty frying pan...*puts it over his head*...as a drying pan!"
Or this one:
Ash: "My name is Tom Ato."
Misty: "My name is Anne Chovy."
Brock: "And I'm Caesar Salad."
The lighter tone is not a bad thing. It's just a different perspective on the series as a whole. If 4Kids would have copied the Japanese version, then we might not have gotten the catchy theme songs we know and love today.