Forum - View topicREVIEW: Pokémon Horizons: The Series
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BrazillianCara
Posts: 10 |
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Since it wasn't really mentioned, it may be worth asking: are they still replacing the original BGMs with new ones for the western release? And if they are, is the new music at least not as distractingly bad/repetitive as it was in the last few seasons of the previous show?
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FireChick
 Subscriber Posts: 2397 Location: United States |
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I've been watching fansubs of the Japanese version, and man, Horizons has been nothing but a homerun ever since the first episode, and I love the new direction it's taking! It's been a breath of fresh air, and I can only hope it continues this momentum.
Sadly yes, and I doubt that's going to change considering TPCI has been doing this for years. I've only seen the first episode in English so I don't know how it is compared to everything else, but I will say the Nidothing music in English is really different from the Japanese, nowhere near as peppy or intentionally obnoxious. |
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merr
Posts: 470 |
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They’re still replacing it, and it’s still bad. The main leitmotif they use this time sounds like a ripoff of Slipping Through My Fingers by ABBA. |
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Custom Apex
Posts: 138 |
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I'm actually enjoying Horizons on Netflix and Liko is such an cutie honesty, not to mention the Explorers are far more threatening and honest than Team Rocket especially the trio. I always found it funny that Pikachu is an sky captain.
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Juno016
 Posts: 2387 |
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I can't comment on the quality of the English dub music replacements, but I think it's an absolute shame they do it at all considering the Japanese soundtrack this season is largely composed by Conisch, the Twilight Wings artist whose music is godly and extremely memorable. In fact, this series' new direction and everything is spectacular, but I think the music might be the best partーit really captures the mood and atmosphere in the show, and the opening jingle alone discourages me from skipping the recap. Whatever the English dub does, I hope they still occasionally leave some of Conisch's music in so that someone can hear it. It's so freaking good. |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6258 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Yeah, that really baffle me given that today's anime can be watched with their original BGMs. I mean does Nintendo and Pokemon Company International not aware that kids are watching anime outside of Pokemon and also watching them in Japanese audio too. I mean you have kids watching My Hero Academia, One Piece, and other current shonen anime out there with Japanese audio and that's not stopping kids from enjoying those anime despite those anime I just mentioned have English dub in them. Hell, even Digimon Adventure (the 2020 remake/reboot) was released in Japanese first before it got an English dub meaning little kids were probably watching that Digimon reboot in it's Japanese language with English subtitles. I don't understand why is Pokemon USA still have that mentality to change the BGM track given that these same kid that watch Pokemon are probably watching other anime in Japanese audio these days. Also, no option to put Japanese voice for these Pokemon series (again, kids are watching other anime with Japanese audio these days), so have these people at Pokemon Company USA not aware of this? I'm just going to say I would love to see Pokemon USA and Nintendo to have a "uncut" Japanese audio Pokemon with their BGM intact and make it available to the audiences and fanbases in the US. I have 2 cases that show that similar anime to Pokemon where Japanese audio option are available and people including kids can watch them today: Monster Farm/Monster Rancher Digimon Adventure (1999/2000 version) Both Monster Farm/Monster Rancher and Digimon Adventure previously had English version available, and now their uncut Japanese (including Japanese audio) version have already been available in the US for sometime and yet I don't see anything for Pokemon and Pokemon Company USA has not learned anything from these releases or the way kids are watching anime outside of Pokemon today as I mentioned above. So when is Pokemon Company USA going to start taking these seriously. |
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TsukasaElkKite
 Posts: 3951 |
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They've been replacing all of it, and it's still just as badly placed and repetitive.
It was stated by Eric Stuart that the only reason why they change the BGM is so that other countries that use their dub as a base for their own can pay them royalties instead of the original Japanese composers. TPCI will NEVER take this seriously. All they care about is money. |
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merr
Posts: 470 |
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Eric Stuart never worked with TPC after they took control of the dub. His explanation was about 4Kids, who would license their own music to other countries so they got royalties instead of the Japanese rights holders. It doesn’t make sense for TPC since it is the Japanese company and has equal control over the Japanese materials. The North American branch is not producing its own soundtrack to steal royalties from its parent company. If it were truly a cost-saving measure (e.g., to avoid splitting royalties with Sony or whoever the music label for the original soundtrack is), they’d use the cheaper music in Japan too. It’s much more likely they replace the music out of tradition at this point. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6258 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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As I said, I don't understand why Pokemon Company USA are doing this when other anime are keeping their BGM intact. Does this company (that also include Nintendo) not know that the audiences that are watching any current Pokemon anime are probably also watching other anime like My Hero Academia, One Piece, Naruto, Dragonball, and maybe some niche anime with their BGM intact and also Japanese audio track. I mean that company has to know and have been aware that their audiences are also watching other anime other then Pokemon which include watching those anime with Japanese audio. And how the heck do they not make the Japanese audio track available for the same audiences given that other anime with similar theme have included Japanese audio for streaming. Hell, I got chance to watch an episode of Marvel Future Avengers on Disney+ in Japanese audio (ever since Disney+ included the Japanese audio voice). If Marvel Future Avengers is able to have Japanese audio on Disney+ in the US, then it should've been possible for Pokemon to have Japanese audio and the original BGMs. |
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Hagaren Viper
 Posts: 766 |
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TPCI is such a weird company because with only a few recent exceptions it's like they don't want people to know the Japanese version even exists. When the Mewtwo remake movie premiered at Anime Expo with Japanese subs, to my knowledge the company never even acknowledged it. Their vibes personally felt pretty weird when they had their first comic con panel as well. I'm not even that interested in the new series but they way it's been fumbled internationally really highlights the mismanagement TCPI has done.
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Nipasu
 Posts: 78 |
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Beyond Pokémon, how many other kid's shows have the Japanese audio available for Westerners? Most of the shows I've heard of only have the dubs released, and they were never given any subbed releases in the future. Granted there are exceptions, but with Pokémon I wonder if it's because the show is "for kids" and TPC don't see nay point in releasing the Japanese audio for a demographic that would just stick to the English dubs. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6258 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Several kids anime show have been released with Japanese audio for the last few years. I've already mentioned Monster Rancher/Monster Farm and Digimon Adventure 1999/2000. I even said Digimon Adventure 2020 reboot came out on Crunchyroll first in Japanese before the English dub was announced 2 years later after it's CR debut. I've already said in a above post that Marvel Future Avengers has Japanese dub audio on Disney+ and can be watched in that audio option in the US. Hell, I can named other kids anime that has gotten release in the US with their Japanese audio intact: NG Knight Lamune & 40 (When Discotek picked this up, I was surprised this anime didn't get picked up in the US earlier, I mean this could've fit Fox Kids demographic back in the early 90's) Fairy Musketeers (watched this on Crunchyroll and was surprised to see how very kid friendly it was) Shonen Ashibe GO! GO! Goma-Chan I mean I can name other children anime that has been available in the US for some quite time whether they previously had English dub or not. See, that's evidence that kids can watch anime with their Japanese voice option, then you would've known that kids in the anime can watch it in Japanese then this is where you should question like me and some other people are asking on this thread: "if kids are watching anime in Japanese, and there's been kids anime that has been released in the US with Japanese audio and no English dub, then why can't we have Pokemon in the original uncut Japanese audio if there are clear evidence of kids watching anime in Japanese audio?" That's what I already asked myself when I saw kids anime are being released with Japanese audio in the US for the last few years. Pokemon should be no exception to whatever I just talked about. Last edited by mdo7 on Sun Mar 17, 2024 4:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Nipasu
Posts: 78 |
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I guess it depends if kids are actually watching these shows or not. Most of the subbed-only releases I've seen are girls' shows that were either never licensed or had flopped dubs. I think the other kids' shows are getting dubbed, though. As for Pokémon, a subbed release would be interesting. It could be a lure for adults that grew up watching the OG series. |
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juaifan
Posts: 113 |
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I assume it's because Pokemon is strictly for kids and has done everything it can to maintain that absolutely squeaky clean image here. In the past they were more open to appeal to broader audiences on the Japanese side so if you've ever watched the Japanese version of the anime or other media for the first few generations it becomes apparent why they really don't want that stuff to ever be acknowledged ever again. Offering a subbed version of the anime would open that door up and they would have to officially acknowledge the series history outside of Japan. Even in the more recent anime there's been things they've had to cut out of the English version due to how strict standards are here. It could also just simply be appealing to a common Japanophobia sentiments among people. Recently I've seen a few reviewers and content creators bemoan whenever people use Japanese names for anime titles and insist you use the localized English names and if you don't they threaten to shove you into a locker or other bullying tactics. Some people try to frame this in a "progressive" way by using the English names for Pokemon characters to claim they're actually a non-Japanese nationality or ethnicity in an attempt to erase Japanese culture. I don't know if the dub of the anime does it, but I know in the English version of Scarlet and Violet they really like peppering in a ton of Spanish words randomly that weren't there originally and actually changing words that were already in English to Spanish like Orange/Grape Academy. Some people might get upset or disappointed if you tell them Nemona is not actually Spanish and doesn't actually speak like that originally and she's actually a Japanese girl named Nemo. I've also seen people praising Omodaka being Indian representation because her English name is Geeta which is an Indian name and that might cause issues too if you rain on people's parade of correcting that for them. This might all seem silly, but it's something I've noticed in the Pokemon fandom. While most people usually make fun of localization that try to make a Japanese game or anime take place in America like Yu-Gi-Oh or Pretty Cure's past dubs, Pokemon fans seem to be an exception where people will insist that the localization is the canon or preferable version |
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Hagaren Viper
Posts: 766 |
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Not super relevant to the thread but I've actually found this kind of interesting because it's somewhat inconsistent - there are characters like Kieran and Carmine whose original Japanese names are, well, Japanese, and can be assumed to be Japanese considering the region they live in, while there are characters like Grant and Nessa who also have Japanese names but I doubt they're supposed to be seen as such. I think there's a degree of giving characters punny/understandable Japanese names in the original regardless of presumed race for the character just like the various international versions give characters punny/understandable localized names. For better or worse I think it's left up to interpretation because I can't imagine any version of The Pokemon Company explicitly confirming a character's race beyond 'This character is from Kanto, this character is from Galar'. Also with that line of logic, the original player character in Pokemon Red/Blue/Green would canonically not be Japanese, which was no doubt not the intent they had back then. |
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