I want to defend Pokemon localization.

I've read a lot of stuff on the Dogasu's Backpack website.  It's a great site if you want to see all the differences between the American and Japanese versions of the early season of the Anime documented.  However I can't always agree with their opinions on the matter.

People like Dogasu are often people who were already Otaku before Pokemon came to the West, which they say as much when talking about the Polygon episode.  So my perspective is different, I'm a part of a generation who grew up on the 4Kids Dub of Pokemon, for whom Pokemon, Sailor Moon and DBZ were our first exposure to Japanimation.  Pokemon was I think the first one I knew wasn't an American Cartoon because I was a Nintendo fan first and so knew all about the N coming from Japan.

For most westerners this month is the 20th Anniversary of Pokemon not back when GO launched, though I personally was a year late, my 20th Anniversary with the franchise will be a year from now.  Literally the first episodes of the series I saw the day they first aired on Kids WB were Clarify Tales and Battle for The Badge on September 25th 1999.  So I certainly can't relate to already being aware of Pocket Monsters before Sting fought Hollywood Hogan at Starcade.

The first thing I want to point out is Nintendo made the decision to change various names for localization just as they do for all their other franchises.  In North America the Anime started a few weeks before the games were released, but I'm certain the Games localization was much longer in the making.  So like when people mock the Ninja Gym Leader's name being changed from one Japanese name to a different one, know that Nintendo not 4Kids should be given the Credit/Blame for that.  Other Nintendo franchises don't have such a vocal crowd of Japanese purists because they never made such a mark in the Anime community.

Now de Nipponizing a game who's map directly mimics Kanto can seem more inherently wrong then one named after an Italian Plumber, or a Tolkeneisque Fantasy. But lots of creatures in the Mario games had Japanese names originally.  And at the end of the day Pokemon Kanto isn't real world Kanto anymore then Westeros is England, Tokyo for example is split into two separate cities one of which is walled off.  And the Anime never cared about following the Games map to begin with, having our heroes encounter lots of non Japanese places.  So really when Purists talk like the show is literally set in Japan I can't help but roll my eyes. Thing is I'm sometimes unsure how serious Dogasu is being in the outrage they express, a good example is the Hollywood rant when discussing Mewoth's origin story episode, they can't possibly really be that offended by adding the word California?

Also one thing many people overlook is most of the Censorship decisions were made by the network/distributor, Warner Bros, not 4Kids.  They decide which episodes to skips because they had to much gun-play or fake boobs.

A lot of Dogasu's complaints are things about Anime dubs in general, that Cartoon Cipher and Explanation Point have been doing YouTube videos on. Mother's Basement also has a video defending 4Kids.

I am also unusual in that I love Pun based Humor, every single Pun associated with the 4Kids Dub of Pokemon I love.

Every time Kami is translated something other then "god" people talk about it like it's more censorship.  When it comes to the discussion of "God" in the First Movie I agree.  However I also know many actual linguists think it's problematic when Kami is nearly universally translated as "god".  Yes the word is used of the Judeo-Christian God as well as Beings analogous to the Olympians.  But it's also used of spirits more analogous to the Nymphs.  The Pokemon Anime at some points used Kami even of the first Gen's Legendary Birds, but in my opinion no Legendaries are truly godlike, even in the Polytheistic sense, till the third Generation.

Much of the crux of hating on the Pokemon Dub revolves around the first two movies.  I don't quite care about Pokemon 2000 enough talk about it.  But I have a lot to say about the first movie, since it is the only one I have seen in Japanese.

First of all, Dogasu's page on Mewtwo Strikes back actually confuses me on if they're under the common misconception that the Ambertwo sequence was originally part of the movie in Japan.  It's consistency added to the film in Japan for all TV broadcasts and Home Video releases, but as Bulbapedia makes clear it was not in the original theatrical release.  And that I'm pretty sure is why it wasn't in the American release, 4Kids clearly wasn't afraid to Dub it since they did for the Mewtwo Returns DVD.  But the fact that this sequence would consistently be in any bootleged Fansub has caused people like the late Jewario when he joined Suede and Linkara's review to think it was part of the original release.

A similar issue exists with Hypno's Naptime, the Dogasu page on that is unaware that originally in Japan it flashed back to the Beach Episode, but rebroadcasts changed it, 4Kids was given the original, they didn't change anything.

Dogasu is under the impression that in the Dub Mewtwo remembers Ambertwo.  I think this is because of the "was it all just a dream" line.  But I always saw that as being Mewtwo having vague memories of the life of the Mew he was cloned from.

Now I agree that the more nuanced dialog script of the original Japanese is better, and I would not oppose a Redub someday following it more closely.

But the thing is, the impression I got of Mewtwo's character when I first watched the film in 1999 was not that different from how people like Dogasu describe Japanese Mewtwo.  Yet these massive critics of the 4Kids Dub act like they turned Mewtwo into a mustache twirling Super Villain.  Watching a Dub with the intent of over-analyzing every difference kind of hurts the ability to just experience what a Normie sees watching it.  And in the rest of the franchise this is by no means the only time Dub haters describe a Dub character as one note simply for not being identical to what they wanted.  Marina in Legend of Thunder is described as having "no redeeming qualities" in the Dub which I find odd since she has no qualities I dislike.

Now let's talk about the anti-violence message.  I find the notion that there is some inherent hypocrisy here really aggravating, ya know Linkara's "NOT LIKE THIS" meme.  The fighting in that scene IS different from normal Pokemon battles, the same way a sanctioned refereed Boxing Match is different form two people trying to kill each other in a back alley.  The Japanese was not trying to give that specific moral at this time, but I still do not consider it out of place, it certainly doesn't take away form the all life matters message.

Now Dogasu says this distinction I just discussed is implied in something Nurse Joy says but is then thrown out by some lines Brock and Misty say.  No, what Brock and Misty say don't overrule what Joy said, they are meant to be understood in the context of what Joy explained.  Honestly at this point it's like how Atheists grasp at straws to say The Bible contradicts itself.

Now I agree the execution of this in the Dub is cheesy and ham handed.  But that's kinda how a lot of dialogue in this franchise is in any language.

However my biggest area of disagreement with Dogasu is on the score.  When I did watch Mewtwo Strikes Back in Japanese, I found the score rather bland and underwhelming.  And I'm not the only person who feels that way, here are some comments from a YouTube upload of The Birth of Mewtwo from the Dub score.

Mewtwo's theme from the Dub Score is to me an iconic Theme on par with Danny Elfman's Batman theme or John Williams Superman theme.  In later movies (from the 4th through the B&W era the scores mostly weren't changed for the Dubs) the Music does get better.  But Dogasu talks about the Japanese scores of these movies like they're on par with the Music in a Ghibli film or Star Wars, but they really aren't.  What I enjoyed most musically in Pokemon Heroes is stuff Yuki Kajiura does better in the Soundtrack for Noir.

Now the Music in the Dub of the First movie can be split into two categories.  The praise in those YouTube comments is for the Score.  While those who'd laugh at the idea of defending the Dub's music are probably mainly thinking of the Pop Soundtrack.  The Pop Soundtrack only intrudes on the film when Brother my Brother plays, mostly they're used in the Pikachu's Vacation short and the end credits.

The Britney Spears song never made it into the film at all.  Soda Pop is the only song of her's I've ever listed to that isn't a Music Video, solely because of it's association with Pokemon.  It wasn't recorded for the movie like most clearly were since it was on her album released earlier in the year, and doesn't seem to fit at all.  But I in my overreaching nerdiness like to point out that in the Games you can buy a Soda Pop from the Vending Machine on the roof of the Celadon Department store, it costs 200 Yen.  Basically I do kinda like the song and so feel compelled to justify it's association with Pokemon.