Reviews & Ratings for
"Pokémon" More at IMDbPro »"Poketto monsutâ" (original title)

14 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
The best version!, 2 July 1999
Author: Jenova Synthesis

Too bad they did not release the Subtitled version of Pocket Monster (aka.Pok&eacutemon)in North America,because this is WAAAAAAAY better than the corny re-edit that is played on Saturday morning Television.

Sure the animation maybe a little crud(except the cute critters),but the cute story about raising monsters like children and interesting plot twists make this one well worth it.

8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
The Japanese version and the English version are the same, in the beginning, 21 September 2007

Author: Shanqio from United States

I think it's a misconception about Pokemon being extremely better in Japanese. That's partially true, but here's how it really is.

Pokemon, in the beginning, is slightly better in Japanese everything's translated well,(apart from names of Pokemon and characters being changed), but the story is not hurt as the same plot points are kept and even the same words from the Japanese version are repeated in the English version. The voices aren't bad either, for the people in the main cast, the side characters and guest stars have horrible voices in English. The only out of place Main charter voices in the English version I would say are Meowth's, Officer Jenny's and Gary's. The Japanese version makes Meowth sound like a talking cat with fits more to me, since his a cat and not a New Yorker. Officer Jenny's and Gary's English voices are just bad in comparison to Japanese though. The original music is kept for the most part. There are times when the music breaks in the Japanese version. The English version fills those in with "in-house" music. The "in-house" music is decent but you can tell the difference between the original music and the in-house music because the quality is drastically different. The original music would be anything that you hear in the Pokemon video games. There are a few originally made musical pieces for the anime too, and they are left in the English version too,(minus the vocal songs). The sequences where they say, "Who's that Pokemon" are really in the Japanese version. They are called, "Dare Da?", which means, "Who is it?". The only things that are different about them are that the video is different and they make them English. The video is also uncut in the beginning too(minus the paint edits). And there are a large handful of episodes that could have been dual-audio(Japanese language & English Language selectable) because everything is shown.

However, Once you start getting into the era where, Pokemon the Movie 2000 comes out, everything the English version does a 180 degree turn and gets embarrassing to listen to. They add way too many silly puns and jokes and the Japanese version overtime gets a bit more serious but the tone in the English version is still "comical". I know that this show is marketed for kids, but this same show was doing so well with keeping the original plot line and tone and was still marketable to kids, but it makes the Japanese version look bad past a certain point. That certain point would be after the Orange League. After the Orange League, in both versions, it seems like every episode's goal is to, "show the Pokemon from the game in the anime", rather than story, but the English version handles that a lot worse.

Pokemon overall is still slightly better to watch in Japanese though. You really could watch the English version for the first two seasons once Johto happens then you're screwed if you liked the English version. The Japanese version is better in the presentation and voices, but for you're one of those people who think, "The Japanese version's gonna p*** over the English version because the dub is crappy", that's not going to happen.

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Repetitive annoying anime, 31 December 2010

Author: langsts21 from Sioux City, IA

I gave this 3 stars because of the first season. After the first season, I was bored with this show. The show is very repetitive. The basic plot of most episodes in this long running series is Ash and friends travel to a new place, meet a new person or people and their Pokémon, have a battle (the Pokémon are idiots for participating in battles just so they can get hurt and help their owner's dream which hasn't happened even for Ash Ketchum yet), Team Rocket comes and gets defeated, and then they say bye to whoever they met. The main thing that changes are the people that travel with Ash each season. I bet it's very annoying for people who haven't watched Pokémon for a while to turn the channel to it or watch one of the movies and be like who the heck is this?. Pokémon in its 13 year long running history offers nothing new besides main character changes.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Not so great, 28 January 2010

Author: Shaker Saba from Lebanon

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I grew up with the Pokémon video games and TV show as well. I watched a lot of episodes, but after a while, I grew bored of it. The thing is, the TV series grew very monotonous and repetitive, always having Ash defeat Team Rocket just like he has several times before in every other episode.

I also noticed that as the series progressed, it tried to get more kid-friendly. I didn't really mind that, but it seems hypocritical when characters always go on about how fighting is wrong when they usually solve all their problems by fighting.

Another disappointment I had was how it did not have any likable characters. Most of them were just stock personalities, be it the rash protagonist or the spunky sidekick.

Now my opinion only is based off of the English dub, so I may be missing out on whatever Japanese viewers got, but I don't think there might be much of a difference between the two. I still like Pokémon, and I am a die-hard fan of the games, but the TV show didn't really get me that excited.

Besides, everyone knows the manga is much better.

4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
best version... but worst anime, 26 February 2011

Author: es121 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

i absolutely hate this show. the characters are annoying, the story just keeps repeating itself, and the story is absolute bull.

i will however give them credit for it being original idea, some decent animation, and some at least realistic looking creatures, but thats about it. each episode is the same as the last episode. they all follow this pattern:

1. they go the some town.

2. they meet a person who has a problem involving the pokemon.

3. team rocket comes and tries to steal their pokemon.

4. they get into a fight.

5. that yellow mouse blows up team rocket and sends them somewhere far away.

6. that annoying guy tells us that there will be an "exciting adventure next time" even though we all know that it will be the same as the last episode.

people, do yourself a favor and stay away from this show. it will bring you nothing but misery.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A cartoon that created a phenomenon, 16 November 2008

Author: Angelus2 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I remember watching the first episode during the summer and then being captivated by Ash and Pikachu and then went to school...And suddenly Poke'mania began, everyone was buying anything that had remotely anything to do with the cartoon...

The show is focused on Ash, a ten year old who leaves home to become a Pokemon master. Now Pokemon is short for 'Pocket Monster'....In this world there are animals that can be captured for sport...well...the fight...Animal cruelty..I know... But along the way Ash meets Misty and Brock, who help him become the greatest of them all.

I loved the show and the different pokemon that came along with it, the hilarious dialogue the pokemon battles that took place...I watched the show avidly until Ash lost against Richie....That was unexpected...Even as a child I knew the lead character wasn't going to lose but still feared the possibility and then he lost....I was heart broken....

However this show is still one of the greatest anime cartoons to rule the West...

3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
The First Season Was The Best, 1 August 2009
Author: rumblinglove from Bahrain

I remember watching the pokemon anime back at 2002, it was first when I saw the show and it's first season. The first season is till now the best; I loved most of the episodes in season 1 and after finishing from watching the entire season, I was more then excited to watch season 2. But season 2 wasn't good as i expected neither are the rest of the seasons. This show should've had one season only; till now i'm trying to like this anime again but can't. Except for season 1 each season afterwards is just worst then the other.

A word of advice: don't waste your time watching this anime's second season and onwards.

Amazing :), 4 June 2012

Author: southpark835 (southpark835@hotmail.com) from Las Vegas

This is my favourite TV series, Films, And games.

The thing I love about Pokémon is that it sucks you into a new world. And you really feel the emotions the characters are feeling in the show. In this review ill list every major thing Pokémon does and say why its amazing.

TV Show.

The TV show is amazing because in every episode, something new happens. Whether it be a Pokémon evolving, or a new gym leader to fight there is always something new to discover. Also I like the fact that you can pretty much watch them for ever as they are making up to 12-13 seasons. Season 1 has 81 episodes which are 20 Min's long. You never get bored :)

Video Games.

The video games are AWESOME. They are long and keep you entertained for HOURS. Its so fun, and its for all ages. Its got a feeling to it which is impossible to describe, you just have to play them for yourself. I also like the video games because it takes half a year to fully complete them. There is always something to do.

Films.

The films are magical. They involve a legendary Pokémon and they really get you sucked in to the storyline. You cant beat the films, no matter what age or how bad ass you are you will never be able to watch the end of the first movie without crying.

END.- Review by Mike Delaney

1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
I'll be a fan for Life!, 28 May 2005
Author: Wmill22069 from Reading, Pennsylvania

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

No matter how bad some episodes might be, no matter how bad the animation gets, no matter how goofy the movies might get, I'll be a fan of this show for the rest of my life! I think the first, second, third, fifth, and seventh seasons are the best so far. The sixth season was just.....kinda boring, it didn't have a great plot, and it was short compared to most of the seasons. Anyway, I hope they do release Pokemon uncut one day, I've been wondering about it for a few weeks, but I don't think there are any plans yet! How come Yu-Gi-Oh! gets released uncut and Pokemon doesn't? Maybe they're afraid it'll harm tape and DVD sales....NOT! I think it would INCREASE sales, I would buy an uncut subtitled DVD if it ever came! I wish they would hurry up and get an uncut disc here already! How long have people been waiting? I only started waiting a two months ago, but that's long enough! Anyway, watch this if you know what's good for you, this is a more kid safe show (I'm talking about the edited version), unlike InuYasha, which has many things that are not for small kids.

3 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Good little anime series, 18 March 2002
Author: Alexander Doenau from Sydney, Australia

Pokémon...

This is the original Japanese version of the show, and it is definitely far superior to the version available in the West (which is one of the few dubs that I can actually tolerate). There has been much bad press about this program. Ignore the people who claim that "This show makes people sick"- there was one episode which contained a sequence mistakenly causing seizures in some people. That episode was never shown again, and there were no lasting effects. If Pokémon was actually hazardous to the health, it would not have been on for five years. Pokémon is the tale of Satoshi and his partner Pikachu. Satoshi aspires to be the best Pokémon trainer in the world. With the help of his friends Takeshi and Kasumi, he learns many lessons about himself, Pokémon and other people. Satoshi's main stumbling block is Rocket Dan- the evil trio of Cojiro, Musashi and Nyasu. They frequently hatch hilarious plans to catch Pikachu which invariably fail. Pokémon holds many lessons, and is quite enjoyable to watch. It is frequently funny and there is never a dull moment contained with in. There appears to be a rule about Pokémon in Japan- if you are a popular seiyuu, then at one point or another you will have a role in it. The permanent cast is particularly good- Hayashibara Megumi shines as Musashi, and Ueda Yuji provides a hilarious portrayal of Takeshi. Pokémon is definitely recommended. Hopefully in the future, the Japanese version will be made available to the Western World. Until then, the American version is still of very high quality- just not as high as this ultimate version. Please allow the Pokémon into your heart.

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