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Which country does the Poké-songs the best?

I’d wager there are few members of my generation that can’t sing the original Pokémon theme song on command. Not only did the franchise define many of our childhoods, but even those who somehow escaped the grasp of “Gotta Catch ’em All!” still fell victim to their friends singing the opening theme while trading Pokémon cards at the lunch table. It’s just so catchy!

But what about in other languages? I’d always wondered what the Pokémon theme song, and other songs like the Pokérap, were like around the world. Were they just translations of the English one, or did they have their own distinct style? And, most importantly, did they still make me pumped to be a Pokémon Master?

The YouTube channel The World of Dave recently wondered just that, and they compared the songs from the Japanese, Korean, and American versions of Pokémon. You can watch the video here or scroll down for some highlights:

▼ First up is the original Japanese one. It goes from rap to pop song and is
kind of all over the place. Certainly not at all what I expected it to be!

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▼ Next is the Korean version, which has a bit more spice and beat to it, though it does seem to concentrate on Pikachu a lot!

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▼ Dave is a bit embarrassed to introduce the American version at first…

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▼ …but as soon as it starts, he gets right into it,
just like any of us would.

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▼ There’s just something about that opening that transcends language and
culture and gets Poké-fans hyped all around the world.

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Be sure to check out the rest of the video to hear the opening songs themselves and also see how the Pokéraps compare between languages. If you’ve never heard the Japanese version before, it’s really something special.

And if you want to see more of Dave’s language comparisons, be sure to check out getting yelled at by your girlfriend in different languages, and how English words are pronounced in different languages. You’ll never look at the word “transformer” the same again.

Source, images: YouTube/데이브 The World of Dave