Japanese Episode
AG 100






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Dogasu's Backpack | Episode Comparisons | Houen Region

Episode AG 100
Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode AG 100: "Tokusane Jimu!  Sorurokku to Runatoon!!"

           ("Tokusane Gym!  Solrock and Lunatone!!")

American Episode 372: "Solid as a Solrock"
Orchid-Hakase Pokémon Lecture:  Guraena
Japanese Air Date:  October 28th, 2004
American Air Date:  November 5th, 2005

The battle between Satoshi of Masara Town and the Tokusane Gym Leaders Fuu and Ran has begun!  Satoshi decides to use his Pikachu and Ohsubame to face off against Fuu and Ran's Solrock and Lunatone, and for a while it seems like he has the upper hand since the twin Gym Leaders can't stop bickering amongst themselves.  A few minutes into the battle, the Rocket-Dan suddenly burst through the gym's roof and steals Fuu and Ran's pokemon!  The Gym Leaders work together with Satoshi to retrieve the pokemon and send the Rocket-Dan blasting off, but they're unable to resume the gym match since the Rocket trio destroyed the gym!  Fuu and Ran's mother, who's been acting as the referee the whole time, suggests they just resume the battle outside, so everyone decides to pick up where they left off.  This time, however, Fuu and Ran seem to have better teamwork, and for a while Satoshi can't land any attacks!  Suddenly, Satoshi gets the idea to have Pikachu use an electric attack on itself and Ohsubame!  The electricity gives the pokemon a sort of power up that enables the pokemon to shatter through Solrock's and Lunatone's defenses and earn Satoshi a victory.  Now that Satoshi has the Tokusane Gym Mind Badge, he only needs one more badge before he can qualify to compete in the Houen League!  


Thoughts
Y'know, I could have started this comparison out any number of ways.  I could have started
by quoting a definition from dictionary.com

deus ex ma·chi·na
n.
  1. In Greek and Roman drama, a god lowered by stage machinery to resolve a plot or extricate the protagonist from a difficult situation.
  2. An unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot.
  3. A person or event that provides a sudden and unexpected solution to a difficulty.
or with a line from the dub that sums up my feelings about the battle

Liz:  "I can't believe that worked!"

but either way, the message would be the same:  this battle sucked.  The Saint Seiya rip off golden armor power-up is the biggest load the anime producers have pulled out their ass, plain and simple.  I've seen people try to explain the whole thing by saying that Ohsubame is using its "Guts" characteristic or that it somehow makes sense for a tough pokemon like Ohsubame to get a friggin' power up from a bolt of lightning, but I honestly think these people are full of crap.  It's just wrong for so many reasons, and I seriously hope the anime producers don't try to pull any more shit like this in the future.

On the other hand, the first half of the episode was good.  If you pretend the last part of this episode doesn't exist, you're left with a pretty interesting Gym Battle.  Some people don't like the fact that Fuu and Ran act so out of character in the anime (bickering and all that), but I don't really mind, especially since they straighten up during the second half.  This is also one of the few gym episodes where the Rocket-Dan's interruptions weren't annoying and a waste of time, so this episode has to get some props for that.

The dubbed version doesn't really have much to report.  It's pretty awesome that 4Kids played the battle music from the fifth movie during the power up scene since they don't usually keep any of the movie music when it's used in the TV series.  Another interesting thing is that a shot of Pikachu using Iron Tail in this episode will eventually be the shot used to replace Lucario and Mew in the Advanced Battle opening theme.

Cut--5 seconds
The first shot of the episode is shortened by three seconds.

Then, the episode's title screen is shortened by two seconds.

Music Edit
You know the Rocket-Dan motto in this episode?  Well, there wasn't any music playing in the Japanese version of this episode; all we heard were Musashi and Kojirou performing the motto in that ridiculous way they do.  The dubbed version, of course, fills the scene with about three or four different musical cues

Side Note
You know Team Rocket's giant robot, the "Globo Robo Extendo-Arm Green Meany Cage Claw?"  Well, in Japanese, that mecha is known as the Kagome Kagome Kago no Naka no Tori wa Ichi-Gou, and it's based on a famous Japanese children's song about a bird in a cage. 

The mecha is then used to put Solrock and Lunatone in their own cages, so I think the name fits rather nicely.  Pokeani gets the credit for pointing this out to me.

Cut--3 seconds
Two seconds are cut from the shot after Kids' WB!'s final commercial break.

A second is cut from the TO BE CONTINUED... screen.

Side Note
After this episode aired in Japan, a preview for AG 102, "The Man of the Sea!  The Four Emperors' Genji Appears!" was played instead of the preview for AG 101.  It would take a few days before we find out why this was the case...

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This page was last updated on September 20th, 2010

 

 

 

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