Shinneth

Shin used ROSE-TINTED NOSTALGIA GLASSES! But it failed!

, 29th November 2011 at 07:31 PM (279 Views)

So I just watched Viva Las Lapras! on Boomerang. It reminded me of something that greatly annoyed me about the 4Kids dub... besides the obvious things that annoyed me about the 4Kids dub.

You know how some people think the "Let's go!" that's inserted at the end of battle commands now and then in the TCPi dub is super-annoying? I think that's overblown. It's slightly grating for me, but it feels natural enough and it's just a matter of matching lip flaps anyway, so it doesn't really bug me that much.

After seeing various Kanto/Orange Islands/Johto episodes, I realize there's a trend in their dialog that REALLY bugs the hell out of me:

Using the word "attack" for nearly every single move used by a Pokemon. If it's a traditional battle, I'll hear a "Squirtle/Staryu, use your Water Gun Attack!" every other line. Just in this episode, when the group of Lapras used Mist to evade Ash & Co., I heard Tracey say "That was a Mist attack!"

... Uh, it's a stretch to call it an "attack" if it doesn't actually hurt you.

My memory of the entire series of old times is fuzzy because I'm 25 and virtually senile, but I think it's safe to say they abuse that "attack" phrase for their lip flap solution. And it sounds absolutely ridiculous to hear "<Insert Pokemon Here>, use your <Insert Move Here> attack!" over and over and over.

At least with the "let's go!" thing, it wasn't used EVERY OTHER LINE. They had variations, and honestly, "let's go!" feels like a more natural thing to say. Is it overused? Sure. But it isn't the ONLY lip flap solution TCPi has; I'd know, as I've written out full scripts for quite a few of their DP episodes before.

It literally feels like "Use your _____ attack!" is used every other line in a battle or used in situations where it can't really be called an "attack". It sounds so stilted and distracting. I'm honestly glad they changed that. Can you really keep a straight face if BW Ash always said "Snivy, use your Attract attack!"?

So... stupid.

In closing, screw y'all, "let's go!" is A-OK to me if it means we don't have to hear "attack" tacked on at the end of every move. So... there.

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Updated 24th December 2011 at 12:55 PM by Shinneth

Categories: Pokemon Anime Babbles

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Comments

Sonic Boom - 29th November 2011 07:42 PM
Considering some Pokemon have a natural tendency to use certain moves when out of battle, or use certain techniques in a casual way (Bulbasaur using Vine Whip to carry things around, Squirtle using Water Gun to cool things off, etc.), it is a little justified to proclaim when something is intended to be used as an attack.

Saying "...attack!" at the end of a move helps set the tone of the moment; it's meant to imply that there is a confrontation at hand, and it's being "attacked," if you will. Just little words like that can help set moods in animated series like this.

Or at least that's how I view it. ^^'
matt0044 - 29th November 2011 07:52 PM
Yeah, I don't like it either. They should've done something better to fit the lip flaps better.
Karis - 29th November 2011 07:56 PM
"Poison Needle Attack"
^ Perfect example. Seriously, what!?
Shinneth - 29th November 2011 08:02 PM
I can see what you're saying, though it's redundant as hell to say attack over and over and over for a single battle. One or two times, I could deal with. Every other line, though? It's just stilted. It would be one thing if it was used in the context of a specific stategic battle cry, but here they're basically tacking on "attack" to every single move name for no reason. Unless the move already has "attack" in its name, it's just... really pointless.
Bouffalant Herdier - 29th November 2011 08:07 PM
Pokemon Stadium 2 had this problem as well.

"Crobat's Wing Attack attack!"