I get the feeling I’ll be in the minority here lol, but I prefer the English to the Japanese.
Now of course since I collect English, that has something to do with it. Why would I collect the one that think is worse? Haha, the thing that English has going for it is the texture. It’s very glossy and much more rigid and raised, and the feeling of it gives it an almost three dimensional artwork that can’t be expressed by the Japanese versions.
However, I also know that this is the reason why people like the Japanese versions more. They are partial to that type of texture and I totally get that. It looks so much more different than English. It’s more detailed than the English counterpart. Like, there’s a lot more of a pattern to their texture.
In terms of overall art, it’s hard for me to put one ahead of the other, as the texture seems to be what I end up looking at because I feel that it’s the biggest difference. The art on both look good either way in my opinion. I think people will generally support the one that relates to the language they collect.
I could argue that the English versions are usually worth more but I’m not one to let value determine what’s best. Artwork is key.
I like both equally, but they each have their unique qualities. Japanese Full Arts seem more fine and delicate with extreme luster to the effect it’s more of a shine rather than a holo effect. English full arts have a deeper embossment feel to them and an actual Holographic effect. Sometimes I feel like comparing Japanese full arts to Gold and English Full Arts to Titanium in terms of looks and aesthetic, if that makes any metaphorical sense to any of you! But to say one is better than the other is kind of stupid, because to each their own.
I like both equally too…which isn’t very much. Most ended up looking like an old used painters pallet. Just a confusing blur. In many cases indistinguishable. Reminds me of the psychedelic pictures of the late 1960s.
Are there any full art cards you do like?
Personally I like the ones from Noble Victories the best. They have simple and complementary backgrounds and nice artwork. Especially the N, as far as I know it’s the only Sugimori full art. I also like a select few from the following sets, mainly the Next Destinies Mewtwo. Some of the trainers are nice but the new ones are kind of eh. The aforementioned N, Juniper, Colress, and the original Skyla are some of the better ones. I know what you mean though, they go a little crazy with the backgrounds for no reason sometimes. Contrarily, the new SM ones feel way too bland with the plain backgrounds. I don’t know what to think about the full arts anymore, just that the gold border/embossed symbol/shiny Pokémon are the better collectibles from the BW era. XY lacks a distinguishable identity to me so I suppose the full arts are the ones to look for and I suppose the Hyper Rares are it for Sun and Moon. I just wish we got Pokémon as secrets instead of fucking lawn care tools.
As @missingno has eluded to, they both have very different things going for them.
The Japanese cards (which I personally collect) are amazing because they feel so premium and elegant. The card stock is superior and thinner. The downside is these cards don’t have as good of a shine as English.
As for English, they just pop so much better. They really deserve the name of holo compared to the Japanese. This comes at a price though, they feel less premium.
Both Japanese and English are beautiful in their own ways. I prefer Japanese slightly more as Japanese has more clean look. Also, Japanese FAs usually have some really beautiful details when you look at them closely.
For example these Latios & Latias FAs have amazing details on their textures:
The Lati’s are so perfect in japanese. Latias and the english Mew full art were the very first psa cards i sent off to be graded, so they have a special place in my heart.