By AnimeGirl64
04-25-2000

Okay, you know why some people bash Poketto Monsutaa? Because of the horrible, TERRIBLE English dub. Let's start with the voice acting: The biggest comparison would have to be between Veronica Taylor (Does she still do Ash's voice?) and Rika Matsumoto, aka Satoshi.

Everyone knows that I'm into Pokémon, so sometimes they tell me their opinions about it. Almost every single one is: "Ash sucks!" So I have to reply: "Satoshi doesn't." The thing is, Ash sounds like a woman is acting out his voice, probably because she is. But Matsumoto-san, you can't even tell it's a woman at times! So what I like to do is let my friends borrow Japanese episodes and let them make the comparison themselves. You won't believe how many people come screaming up to me the next day asking why the voices are so different. Satoshi's voice is also done by a woman, but it has the perfect boyish deepness to it. Viz obviously tried the same approach, but... I don't mean to insult Mrs. Taylor or anything, but Ash's voice REALLY makes the dub of that Anime one of the worst in alot of otaku's opinions. I think Satoshi is alright, though. Really boyish, it's cute at times.  A lot of the rest of their voices are the same... I'd say the best acting is by Rachel Lillis and Eric Stuart, aka Jessie and James. Of course, that still does not compare to Megumi Hiyashibara's Musashi and Miki Shinichirou's Kojirou.

Then there's the draining of the Japanese background behind the story.  Viz's excuse? "Culture shock". How lame!!! One of the worst things would have to be the whole doughnut gig. In the "Primeape goes Bananas" episode, the onigiri (rice balls) that Takeshi is making for the rest, are referred to as "doughnuts" too many times to count. Later they changed this to "rice balls", which is much more logical. Oh yes, even the Pokémon manga are not safe.  In Toshihiro Ono's "Pikachu Shocks Back" issue #3, where Musashi and Kojirou are introduced, they call the bowls of rice "cereal" and canned fish and stuff "canned fruit". There are countless episodes of just small acts of violence being cut out, what's the big deal? One part I couldn't help but laugh at is when Satoshi goes to Guren Taunni (Cinnabar Island) to fight Katsura, and he's looking for an inn to stay at: and all the inns are VERY Japanese. I mean, women with kimonos and sitting on mats on the ground and slide open doors- can it become more obvious? That was one thing Viz couldn't cut out. And there are numerous times where Brock just happens to have a nice view of a girl's chest, but of course that couldn't be left in. Those poor five-year-olds! They're going to die because of the bad influence! (Come ON! Even lame South Korea keeps all that sexual stuff in...)

Another thing that I find annoying are the english Pokémon names. If they didn't keep it in Japanese, they usually stink. Scyther is one of my favorite English names. Even Nintendo of America tries their hardest... I mean, Squirtle? The name Charmander gets on my nerves, too. At least the Japanese names have meanings!!! Hitokage (Charmander), means Shadows. And Fushigidane (Bulbasaur) means mysterious bulb. Why couldn't they keep certain names like Lucky (Chansey) and Koiking (Magikarp)?! Sure they kept important things like Mew and Mewtwo and Pikachu... But that explains why their names are so cool.

There are just some things that even Nintendo of America and Viz can not destroy. In Mato and Hidenori Kusaka's manga "Pokémon Adventures", there are some pretty gruesome things that I found guys enjoyed. Like Arbok being chopped in half? A Suriipu (Drowzy) being attacked by Erika and killed with sharp petals in its flesh? A lot of my guy-friends seemed to enjoy this, so I'm glad Viz kept those parts in. And in Toshihiro Ono's manga, many times there are strong forms of sexual innuendo that are kept in the English translation. (They still do cut alot of that out, though)

One time I read an email letter from the translator that works at Viz. He says he argues with them, saying to keep certain Japanese customs, but they always manage to find a way to hide it. He has no power to fix these things, and I don't really blame people like him for it. There is quite a difference between the Japanese Poketto Monsutaa and America's Pokémon- the Japanese one is better. That's all there is to it.