The Pokémon Anime is a rare exception these days, with episodes often featuring major changes when dubbed and broadcast internationally. Most modern anime have seen very little change, perhaps aside from a little advertising or tweaks made to dialogue for greater clarity in their new language. But what changed the Pokémon anime the most was not the change to the dialog, but what was underneath the dialog: the soundtrack.
Music can play an integral role in the viewing experience, shaping audience expectations and arousing emotions that match the content of a scene. Music is often chosen or created very deliberately to match scenes, even in a series like Pokémon that often have a tight budget for each episode. However, a problem that existed from the very first episode of the dub was that the music used in the Japanese version was barely available. Instead, the dub uses new original music, which many fans feel makes the story less relevant and the entire show less enjoyable.
Pokémon’s Dub adds a soundtrack not included in the sub
There are many reasons why the soundtrack can be changed in a movie. Perhaps the dub team didn’t have access to the original soundtrack and couldn’t use the track from the final Japanese episode because of the spoken dialogue at the top. For example, it could also be because intense music was perceived to make a scene feel too dangerous, and so the music was changed to make the scene feel eccentric rather than serious. A 2019 fan Q&A with Eric Stuart, the original voice of Brock and James, stated that 4Kids changed the soundtrack to get higher royalties by not paying for the music. the copyright owner of the original Japanese track and gets paid in turn when the English Dub is broadcast elsewhere or a local dub is created from the English version. There has never been an official answer as to why the music is so frequently altered; such as the first episode only includes two scenes using original Japanese music, and especially in the 4Kids era of anime, episodes will have up to 70% of the music replaced.
These new 4Kids tracks aren’t necessarily bad; many are considered favorites these days. However, purists feel that these changes radically change the mood of the series, and many of them blame the changed soundtrack for making the film so popular “young”. children” than in the West. Much of the original Japanese soundtrack is also taken from the game so the music helps tie the anime more closely to the games inspired by it. While the problem was lessened in severity when The Pokémon Company International took over the dubbing in 2005, episodes still frequently saw the soundtrack changed or completely replaced. In fact, many of these fans consider TPCi’s music to be the worst of the three, completely lacking emotion and flair.
If ever there was time to put the voice-over replacement of Pokémon’s music to rest, the opening of the newly rebooted series is it. Fans can only fold their arms and wait for the official dub of Pokémon Horizons, hopefully history won’t repeat itself.