AG 116
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Japanese Episode AG 116: "Konsen Konran! Pokemon Kontesuto - Kinagi Taikai (Zenpen)"
("A Disorderly Melee! The Pokemon Contest - The Kinagi Convention! (Part One)")
American Episode 387: "Mean with Envy"
Japanese Air Date: February 17th, 2005
American Air Date: April 1st. 2006
Important Characters: Eriko (Erika), Toshiki (Joshua), Musashinski (The Jesster), Yuta (Juanita)
Our heroes have arrived in Kinagi Town, where Haruka is training for the upcoming Pokemon Contest. As Haruka trains, Satoshi also begins to teach his Yukiwarashi how to control its Ice Beam attack. The ice pokemon's attack causes a disruption that causes everyone in the area to start running, including an Aipom that's caught Eneko's attention. Haruka's pokemon begins to chase after the pokemon, leading its trainer toward a house occupied by a Coordinator named Toshiki. Haruka and Toshiki start to get to know one another when a girl named Eriko interrupts them, angry because she thinks a compliment from Toshiki meant for Eneko was directed toward Haruka instead. She doesn't like how Haruka is getting close to "her" Toshiki and declares that only she and Toshiki are allowed to win the Pokemon Contest. The Rocket-Dan appear and try to steal everyone's pokemon, but Haruka's Wakashamo and Toshiki's Hellger work together to defeat them. Seeing the two Coordinators working so well together infuriates Eriko even more, so she resorts to insulting Haruka by telling her that her Eneko's Cat's Hand attack ("Assist") is too random to rely on. Haruka takes offense to this and decides to use Eneko for the Contest while Eriko will use her Rougela. The Contest begins, and after a long Appeals round, the final four are announced: Musashinski (Musashi in disguise) and Eriko will face off in the semifinals while Haruka will face Toshiki. Haruka's final chance to earn her fifth ribbon is coming to a close; will she be able to defeat her rival? To be continued!
Thoughts
So here we are. Kids' WB! finally airs the infamous skipped episode. And I'm still in shock.
For those of you who don't know, this episode (and the ones before and after it) were skipped during the season's initial run on Kids' WB!. Many fans were surprised with the apparent ban, but the cause quickly became clear: Jynx. The character had become the center of a controversy due to allegations that it resembles a racist stereotype, and episodes featuring the character in the past (such as "The Ice Cave") were banned from the U.S. So fans assumed that the episodes were skipped because of that.
To put it lightly, the fans were pissed. These were important Contest episodes, and banning these would be like banning one of Ash's Gym Battles. In addition, the controversial character's skin had been recolored from a jet black color to a light purple, so the continuation of a ban based on its skin color seemed ridiculous now. Despite fan outcry, the episodes continued to be skipped until about two months later, when Kids' WB! would air them after the conclusion of the Hoenn League.
However, it looks like 4Kids has used the extra two months to do some radical editing to the episode, altering it to replace Jynx with Glalie. Seriously, 4Kids, WTF? How long are you going to keep letting Kids' WB! boss you around like this? The pokemon's skin isn't even black anymore!
As far as the episode itself goes, it was another good one. Eriko is like the second Coordinator in a row to hate Haruka (after Harley), and the triangle with Haruka and Toshiki is amusing to watch. We also get some great Nyasu/Persian rivalry here, and Nyasu's Appeals round is funny as well. Good stuff, good stuff.
It's odd that Eriko is called Erika in the dub since that's also the name of a Kanto Gym Leader. Other that that, the only remarkable thing about the dub is that 4Kids keeps a piece of Japanese music that they've never kept before, even if it's only for a few seconds (it happens right before the Rocket-Dan perform their motto). Interesting.
Toshiki's Hellger keeps its Japanese voice. I don't remember if the pokemon's always had its Japanese voice, so that's why I'm mentioning it here.
Cut--4 seconds altogether
Two seconds are trimmed from the first shot of the episode.
Then, two seconds are removed from the episode's title screen.
Various Edits
The great Jynx cover up begins!
So 4Kids wanted to remove Jynx from the episode, and to do that, they had to perform a number of edits.
First of all, Erika's line "Go Jynx! I choose you!" is redubbed as "Glalie! I choose you!"
Then, the two-second shot of Jynx coming out of its PokéBall is cut and replaced with a shot of Glalie coming out of its PokéBall from one of the later episodes.
The next shot is cropped to remove Jynx from the picture, and May's "Wow! So that's a Jynx!" is changed to "Wow! That's a Glalie!"
In the next shot, Jynx is painted out and replaced with Glalie. The PokéDex's entry is replaced by Glalie's Pokédex entry from "Rhapsody in Drew."
Erika's "Check out that beautiful hair and those soft eyes and its cute lips! No way a judge'll be able to resist falling in love with my Jynxie!" is changed to "Check out those long horns and those soft eyes and its beautiful voice. No way a judge'll be able to resist falling in love with my Glalie!"
In the very next shot, Jynx is painted away. Oddly enough, Glalie isn't painted in in its place.
Later, when Joshua's introducing everyone to Ash and his friends, the shot is zoomed-in and Jynx is painted out. Also, Jynx's cry is replaced with Glalie's cry after Erika's "Nice to meet you."
Jynx is painted out again and replaced during the start of Team Rocket's motto. I've posted enough pictures, but I'm sure you get the idea.
After the motto, Jynx is painted away, again.
Joshua's "Uh!? May!" is cut out, probably because Jynx's in the shot.
Commercial Cut--14 seconds
In the Japanese version, the shot of Musashi and Kojirou ordering their pokemon to attack, followed by a shot of Haruka covering her face as smoke billows in the background, is shown twice. Once before the commercial break, and once after.
In the dub, the repeated footage after the commercial break is cut.
Various Edits
More Jynx to Glalie coverups.
Erika's "Go Jynx use Hyper Beam!" is changed to "Go Glalie use Ice Beam!"
The four second shot of Jynx using Hyper Beam is replaced with a shot of Glalie using Ice Beam, taken from a later episode.
After that, the shot of Hyper Beam heading toward Team Rocket is recolored so that the beam is white and blue instead of orange and red.
Music Edit
Another vocal song edit!
When Yukiwarashi starts its Ice Beam training, we hear Ready Go! play in the background of the Japanese version. Bla bla bla, the dub replaces it, bla bla bla.
Cut--20 seconds
Erika's appeal round is completely cut from the dub. Guess 4Kids thought kids would assume that she made it through to the next round without actually seeing her do it.
And guess what? No TO BE CONTINUED... cut!
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