AG 179
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| Episode Comparisons | Battle Frontier
Japanese Episode AG 179: "The Battle Pyramid! (Satoshi) vs. Rejirock!!"
American Episode 449: "Battling The Enemy Within!"
Japanese Air Date: May 25th, 2006
American Air Date: December 6th, 2006
Important Characters: Jindai (Brandon), Soutarou (referee), Pokelantis-Ou (The King of Pokelantis)
Important Places: Pokelantis (Pokelantis)
Satoshi and his friends have finally found the Battle Pyramid! As the quartet makes their way to the entrance, they fall into a pit and end up in some underground ruins! Our heroes pick themselves up and start searching for an exit, setting off traps along the way. Eventually, Satoshi comes across a man named Jindai, who tells the young trainer about an ancient civilization known as Pokelantis. The king of Pokelantis' plan to control the world was thwarted by the legendary pokemon Hou'ou, so he sealed the pokemon in a Monster Ball which Jindai believes may be hidden somewhere in the ruins. Satoshi eventually stumbles across a chamber where the Monster Ball sits, but when he touches it, an evil energy begins to emerge! Before long, it becomes apparent that the King of Pokelantis' spirit has taken over Satoshi's body! The king demands Jindai and the others to hand over their pokemon, but Jindai comes up with a plan. He tells the king that he's the Frontier Brain of the Battle Pyramid and challenges him to a battle; if he wins, Pokelantis-Ou has to leave Satoshi's body, but if he loses, he will give the king all of his pokemon. The one-on-one battle pits Jindai's Regirock against Satoshi's Jukain inside the Battle Pyramid. The king uses a number of merciless tricks to weaken Regirock, but the legendary pokemon is able to win by using a combination of Lock-On and Hyper Beam. Jukain is defeated, but the king refuses to leave Satoshi's body, so Haruka and the others begin to call out to Satoshi's spirit. Eventually, a shock from Pikachu brings Satoshi back to his senses long enough to enable Jindai to seal the king back in the Monster Ball. Later, Satoshi challenges Jindai to an official Frontier battle, but the Pyramid King declines, saying he has to leave to go to another ruins site. Satoshi vows he will eventually defeat Jindai and obtain the final Frontier Symbol needed to conquer the Battle Frontier.
Thoughts
Satoshi's multi-part with Jindai begins with this episode, and for once, the anime's able to actually spread a multiple-episode arc out without fudging up the pacing. While we do get some stinkers between now and the time Satoshi actually defeats the final Frontier Brain (*cough*Perrap episode*cough*), the series goes up from here, for the most part. The scope of this episode alone is pretty epic, and the anime producers could have easily turned this into a full-fledged movie. They could have given Pokelantis this rich, Alto Mare-esque history and have Haruka and the others star in their own adventure to rescue Satoshi from the king's evil spirit.
But, we end up with the "Masato Haruka befriends Jirachi Manaphy" movie instead.
I'm not a fan of Brandon's English voice. It's bad enough that it's not a good voice for the character at all, but it's made even worse by the actor's wooden performance. Some actors are able to go into the recording booth cold, but Brandon's voice actor, apparently, is not one of them. I will give PUSA props, however, for not editing Regirock's Lock-On attack. 4Kids would have painted that bulls eye away, but PUSA had the balls to keep it as-is.
There's a pathetically low three pieces of Japanese music kept in the dub. While it's nice to hear the two non-title screen pieces in the dub since they're almost never used, it's still far from being acceptable. The Japanese version used a lot of the music from the Lugia movie and non-battle music from the video games, and it's a shame that you all didn't get to hear it.
Regirock, Bohmander, Hou'ou, and Hoho keep their Japanese voices.
Cut--1 second
The first shot of the episode is shortened by one second.
Dialogue Edit
There's a bunch of these in this episode:
The reason Haruka gets upset is because Satoshi calls his group the Satoshi Tankentai, which is the same terminology she used throughout Houen (Haruka Tankentai). 4Kids translated that as "May's Expedition Team" back when they still had the show, so Ash should have said "Ash's Expedition Team." But I guess PUSA didn't pick up on that.
Later, Team Rocket starts delivering the most awful puns:
Ugh. They repeat this pun about a half a dozen times, and before long they start to do variations of it too (like Jessie's "Heave Ho-Oh!"). It wasn't funny the first time, and it sure as hell isn't funny the eighth time.
PUSA, where'd this arrogance come from? Satoshi never said anything that bold in the original - he just stated that he would like the chance to challenge Hou'ou to a battle.
A lot of people have been saying that Ash has gotten a lot more arrogant and rude since PUSA started dubbing the series, and it's lines like this that show this to be true. Pokémon USA, the main character of the show may have a tiny over-confidence problem once in a blue moon, but it's supposed to be done in a subtle way that doesn't make him look like a complete ass. Sheesh.
Finally, this one was just too funny to not bring up:
You're just now noticing this, PUSA?
Music Edit
From the time Pikachu shocks Satoshi into his senses until Pokelantis-Ou is sealed, Pokemon Symphonic Medley can be heard in the Japanese version. In the dub, this is replaced by instrumental music.
Side Note
When the Rocket-Dan blast off at the end of the episode, Musashi mentions how all the pokemon they mistook for Hou'ou all had names beginning with characters in the ho family. Notice how the first characters are very similar:
It wouldn't have made sense for Jessie to make a similar comment because these pokemon in the English version don't have this same thing in common. So, Pokémon USA had no choice but to make her talk about running into all these different pokemon.
Added Footage--3 seconds
Three seconds are added to the TO BE CONTINUED screen. PUSA actually does a good job with editing the background music (which was in the Japanese original) to make sure it continued playing during those last three seconds.
Japanese Episode AG 179: "The Battle Pyramid! (Satoshi) vs. Rejirock!!"
American Episode 449: "Battling The Enemy Within!"
Japanese Air Date: May 25th, 2006
American Air Date: December 6th, 2006
Important Characters: Jindai (Brandon), Soutarou (referee), Pokelantis-Ou (The King of Pokelantis)
Important Places: Pokelantis (Pokelantis)
Satoshi and his friends have finally found the Battle Pyramid! As the quartet makes their way to the entrance, they fall into a pit and end up in some underground ruins! Our heroes pick themselves up and start searching for an exit, setting off traps along the way. Eventually, Satoshi comes across a man named Jindai, who tells the young trainer about an ancient civilization known as Pokelantis. The king of Pokelantis' plan to control the world was thwarted by the legendary pokemon Hou'ou, so he sealed the pokemon in a Monster Ball which Jindai believes may be hidden somewhere in the ruins. Satoshi eventually stumbles across a chamber where the Monster Ball sits, but when he touches it, an evil energy begins to emerge! Before long, it becomes apparent that the King of Pokelantis' spirit has taken over Satoshi's body! The king demands Jindai and the others to hand over their pokemon, but Jindai comes up with a plan. He tells the king that he's the Frontier Brain of the Battle Pyramid and challenges him to a battle; if he wins, Pokelantis-Ou has to leave Satoshi's body, but if he loses, he will give the king all of his pokemon. The one-on-one battle pits Jindai's Regirock against Satoshi's Jukain inside the Battle Pyramid. The king uses a number of merciless tricks to weaken Regirock, but the legendary pokemon is able to win by using a combination of Lock-On and Hyper Beam. Jukain is defeated, but the king refuses to leave Satoshi's body, so Haruka and the others begin to call out to Satoshi's spirit. Eventually, a shock from Pikachu brings Satoshi back to his senses long enough to enable Jindai to seal the king back in the Monster Ball. Later, Satoshi challenges Jindai to an official Frontier battle, but the Pyramid King declines, saying he has to leave to go to another ruins site. Satoshi vows he will eventually defeat Jindai and obtain the final Frontier Symbol needed to conquer the Battle Frontier.
Thoughts
Satoshi's multi-part with Jindai begins with this episode, and for once, the anime's able to actually spread a multiple-episode arc out without fudging up the pacing. While we do get some stinkers between now and the time Satoshi actually defeats the final Frontier Brain (*cough*Perrap episode*cough*), the series goes up from here, for the most part. The scope of this episode alone is pretty epic, and the anime producers could have easily turned this into a full-fledged movie. They could have given Pokelantis this rich, Alto Mare-esque history and have Haruka and the others star in their own adventure to rescue Satoshi from the king's evil spirit.
But, we end up with the "Masato Haruka befriends Jirachi Manaphy" movie instead.
I'm not a fan of Brandon's English voice. It's bad enough that it's not a good voice for the character at all, but it's made even worse by the actor's wooden performance. Some actors are able to go into the recording booth cold, but Brandon's voice actor, apparently, is not one of them. I will give PUSA props, however, for not editing Regirock's Lock-On attack. 4Kids would have painted that bulls eye away, but PUSA had the balls to keep it as-is.
There's a pathetically low three pieces of Japanese music kept in the dub. While it's nice to hear the two non-title screen pieces in the dub since they're almost never used, it's still far from being acceptable. The Japanese version used a lot of the music from the Lugia movie and non-battle music from the video games, and it's a shame that you all didn't get to hear it.
Regirock, Bohmander, Hou'ou, and Hoho keep their Japanese voices.
Cut--1 second
The first shot of the episode is shortened by one second.
Dialogue Edit
There's a bunch of these in this episode:
Ash:
"OK! Ash's Detective Agency is on the move!"
Pikachu: "Pika!"
May: "Hey! No fair! I hate when people copy me!"
Pikachu: "Pika!"
May: "Hey! No fair! I hate when people copy me!"
The reason Haruka gets upset is because Satoshi calls his group the Satoshi Tankentai, which is the same terminology she used throughout Houen (Haruka Tankentai). 4Kids translated that as "May's Expedition Team" back when they still had the show, so Ash should have said "Ash's Expedition Team." But I guess PUSA didn't pick up on that.
Later, Team Rocket starts delivering the most awful puns:
James:
"That little Ho-Oh's worth a lot of dough-oh!"
Ugh. They repeat this pun about a half a dozen times, and before long they start to do variations of it too (like Jessie's "Heave Ho-Oh!"). It wasn't funny the first time, and it sure as hell isn't funny the eighth time.
Ash:
"...I've worked hard for every one of them. I swear, I can even
beat a Ho-Oh."
PUSA, where'd this arrogance come from? Satoshi never said anything that bold in the original - he just stated that he would like the chance to challenge Hou'ou to a battle.
A lot of people have been saying that Ash has gotten a lot more arrogant and rude since PUSA started dubbing the series, and it's lines like this that show this to be true. Pokémon USA, the main character of the show may have a tiny over-confidence problem once in a blue moon, but it's supposed to be done in a subtle way that doesn't make him look like a complete ass. Sheesh.
Finally, this one was just too funny to not bring up:
Scott:
"Sounds like Ash has a sore throat."
You're just now noticing this, PUSA?
Music Edit
From the time Pikachu shocks Satoshi into his senses until Pokelantis-Ou is sealed, Pokemon Symphonic Medley can be heard in the Japanese version. In the dub, this is replaced by instrumental music.
Side Note
When the Rocket-Dan blast off at the end of the episode, Musashi mentions how all the pokemon they mistook for Hou'ou all had names beginning with characters in the ho family. Notice how the first characters are very similar:
ポッ
ポ (Poppo)
ボーマンダ (Bohmander)
ホーホー (Hoho)
ホウオウ (Hou'ou)
ボーマンダ (Bohmander)
ホーホー (Hoho)
ホウオウ (Hou'ou)
It wouldn't have made sense for Jessie to make a similar comment because these pokemon in the English version don't have this same thing in common. So, Pokémon USA had no choice but to make her talk about running into all these different pokemon.
Added Footage--3 seconds
Three seconds are added to the TO BE CONTINUED screen. PUSA actually does a good job with editing the background music (which was in the Japanese original) to make sure it continued playing during those last three seconds.
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on September 20th, 2010
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