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| Episode Comparisons | Kanto Region
Japanese Episode 018: "Holiday in Aopulco"
American Episode ???: "Beauty and The Beach"
Pokémon Dare Da? Obaba (Japanese), Pidgeotto (American)
Japanese Air Date: July 29th, 1997
American Air Date: June 24th, 2000
Important Characters: Obaba (Brutella), Ryuu (Moe)
Important Places: Aopulco (Porta Vista), Obaba's Shop (N/A), Ryuu's Beach Hut (N/A)
Thoughts
It's summertime, and so Pocket Monsters does what every other Japanese cartoon was doing back in 1997 and made a naughty little beach episode. Pocket Monsters' take on the trope is a lot more tame than what other shows were doing at the time -- this is still a show for grade schoolers, after all -- but its animators still manage to fill this episode with enough lovingly rendered drawings of young women in bikinis to let us know that yes, this is an episode made for a very specific demographic.
Thinking back, this was probably one of the first episodes of Pocket Monsters a lot of us older fans would have seen in its original Japanese. Back in the 90s there wasn't really anyone out there translating the show week after week -- fansubbing groups back then were more focused on what they considered the "edgy" series than they were with the comparatively tame shows like Pocket Monsters -- but because of this episode's status as a "banned episode" it got picked up and subbed by people who were just jumping on a bandwagon, not having enough knowledge of the show or the video games to do that good a job. The fansubs back then were rough, and every time I see this episode I'm reminded of a time when fans' options for seeing this show in its original language were really, really limited.
We know that this isn't what actually happened. Now we can't say for sure when exactly this episode went into production, but there are a number of telltale signs that this was definitely not dubbed back in 1998 along with the rest of Season One:
My guess is that this episode was also probably ordered as a standalone special instead of as an episode belonging to any one season. Based on the lack of streaming or home video re-releases "Beauty and the Beach" doesn't seem to be a part of either the Season One or Season Two packages, and so in the U.S. the episode seems to exist in the same realm as, say, those direct-to-video Pikachu's Winter Vacation videos, or "Mewtwo Returns." It was dubbed and even aired on TV, but unless Viz were to make a separate contract specifically to include "Beauty and the Beach" on a DVD box set, for example, they don't have the rights to release it.
There's also evidence to suggest the dub of this episode was probably a bit of a rush job, with the easiest tell being the lack of digital paint in the English dub. By my count there are 59 shots in this episode that contain Japanese writing in them, and of those 59 shots 4Kids leaves a whopping 58 of them as-is.
Another telltale sign that this episode was a rush job is, oddly enough, its script. There are still rewrites, sure, but there are also entire conversations in this episode that are pretty much 1:1 with the Japanese version, something that almost never happens with the 4Kids dub. Now I don't have any proof for what I'm about to say, but what I think happened is, 4Kids probably did their first pass at the script, where they take Paul Taylor's translations and adapt into something they can use in the recording booth. But then didn't have the time to take a second pass and "punch up" the dialogue with the unnecessary rewrites and bad jokes and other shenanigans 4Kids tends to do with this show, and so they just went with the more faithful "first pass" version of the script and called it a day. This is just a theory that I have absolutely no way of verifying, but as I was going through this episode and seeing how faithfully it was adapted I couldn't help but think how I wish 4Kids had maybe rushed through a little bit more during their tenure on the show.
Based on all this, I think it's safe to say that "Beauty and the Beach" was an episode that was rushed into production, as a standalone special, sometime in the year 2000.
Dialogue Edit
Now that that's out of the way let's dive into the episode itself. First up is the recap:
The English version manages to be longer than the Japanese original by adding in a lot of extra details -- the name "Pokémon Land," a mention of the roller coaster, the part about a "last second leap of faith" (timed to the shot of Pikachu jumping toward the screen) -- that simply weren't there in the original.
Misty appears in her bathing suit:
A lot of this is actually pretty close, though Kasumi's line where she introduces herself using the title she has in the video games, "tomboyish mermaid," is a rewrite.
After crashing the boat our heroes meet Old Man Moe:
Haha, it's funny because this gross old pedophile is shamelessly hitting on a ten-year-old girl in a bathing suit!
In the past I've complained about how bland and boring Pocket Monsters (1997) becomes once it mutated from a Japanese cartoon made for Japanese audiences into a flavorless sludge made to appeal to Westerners, but I will say that at least one silver lining of all that is that we don't have to suffer through "humor" like this anymore.
Anyway, I'm surprised 4Kids didn't just cut this scene out altogether since the look on this old man's face is a dead giveaway that he's not actually comparing Misty to any of his relatives.
Brutella offers to let the Rocket trio work at her store:
James brings up (and subsequently insults) his teammate directly in the English dub while Kojirou seems to be talking more about how tough their life is in general.
This is also as good a time as any to bring up the fact that Obaba (whose name simply means "old woman" or "hag") has this speech quirk in the original where she tacks on the word -baba to the end of all her sentences, not unlike Nyarth and his "Nya" quirk. 4Kids ignores this and just has her speak normally, a decision that kind of ruins a joke in the second half of the episode.
The kids advertise food:
In the English dub Moe's place is referred to as a restaurant, hence all the food talk, but that's not quite the same in the Japanese version. Originally, the place our heroes are working at is an Umi no Ie (海の家), a term that roughly translates to "beach house" but is different from the type of vacation home you're probably thinking of when you hear that term. In Japan, an Umi no Ie is a small cabin-like structure on the actual beach itself that, for a fee, provides a number of convenient services for folks out on a day at the beach. These services can include lockers to store your valuables, private changing rooms, private showers, places to sit, and light meals. They often also provide rentals of items like beach chairs, beach umbrellas, and lifesavers. The general idea is that everything you might need for a day at the beach is provided right there, negating the need to leave the beach and trek all the way out to a hotel room or something whenever you need something.
An alternate translation of Umi no Ie is "beach hut," which does seem to be a thing in Europe but is also a bit different from the ones they have in Japan.
In any case, we only ever see the restaurant portion of the hut, and translating Takeshi advertisement of its showers would be confusing for the show's American audience, and so 4Kids just goes with "restaurant" and calls it a day.
Moe's place isn't very popular:
Brock is famously not attracted to Jessie from Team Rocket, and so seeing the dub have him compliment her in this moment is a bit off-putting.
A rivalry begins:
The blue-haired guy's insult goes from "nobody will ever visit your restaurant" to "only the worst of the worst will ever visit your restaurant," which isn't any more or less mean than the original but is still different enough to deserve a mention.
Ash and his friends fight back:
There are a lot of small differences here and there but the overall idea's still the same. Still, I can't help but wonder why Pikachu, of all characters, gets a line change here.
Paint Edit
When Meowth commits "sabotagé" the cans that say "GAS" and "OIL" on them get their text removed.
If you actually freeze frame the English version of this scene you can see the original text appear for less than a second at the very, very beginning of this shot before suddenly switching over to the edited shot.
Anyway, I find it very fascinating this episode took the time to edit out the only English words to appear in the whole episode. This must have been a BS&P note, right? Because I don't think the presumably resource starved 4Kids would have bothered otherwise.
Dialogue Edit
The rest of the first half of the episode is actually pretty good, script-wise! There's only one more exchange worth bringing up:
I checked, and I'm pretty sure this is the very first time Satoshi's ever called Musashi and Kojirou by their actual names in the Japanese version. I guess Ash, meanwhile, still isn't quite there yet.
Eyecatch
The Japanese version does something it's never done before by having the eyecatch Pokémon be...a human!? Yep! And on top of that, they even do a rather elaborate animation to celebrate!
The English dub, meanwhile, just goes with Pidgeotto.
The very same eyecatch was used for the episode "Holiday Hi-Jynx" so I'm betting 4Kids just grabbed the footage from that episode and put it here instead of bothering to create a new one of these.
Dialogue Edit
Ash tells an old man about his dream:
Satoshi talks about how his Pokémon helped him believe in himself, which is why he's looking directly at them while he's delivering this monologue. Ash, meanwhile, isn't really addressing anyone other than Moe.
Professor Oak appears with a suggestion:
So the big change in this episode, dialogue-wise, is about who's actually running the beauty contest.
In the Japanese version the contest is an event local groups have to actually organize and put on themselves. This isn't made clear in the episode itself, but I'm guessing the magazine article Dr. Ookido's showing our heroes goes over the concept of these contests and explains how local communities can put one on themselves. So really, the contest in this episode is "The Sun-Kissed Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest, sponsored by Ryuu's Beach Hut." A store employee (Takeshi) acting as its sole emcee seems to support this interpretation.
In the English dub, meanwhile, this contest is changed to being an annual event being run by some outside group. Like maybe the Porta Vista chamber of commerce or something...? I guess 4Kids thought the way it's all set up in the Japanese version was a bit absurd, which...yeah, that's fair. The English dub version of this contest apparently "attracts thousands of people each year" and even has a cash prize, all details not found in the Japanese version at all.
It's not a big deal either way, but it's still a fairly major change in an episode that's otherwise fairly faithful to the source material.
Music Edit
As our heroes start passing out flyers for the contest the Japanese version plays Track 029 from the TV series' CD release of the show's soundtrack, "The Bicycle Delinquent Gang" (チャリンコ暴走族). The English dub, which has already played this song in the past, decides to replace this with...an instrumental version of the second season's opening theme.
I've mentioned this before, but this edit right here is one of several telltale signs that this episode was dubbed way later than its contemporaries.
Dialogue Edit
Brock, who as far as the English dub canon goes has somehow weaseled his way into being the emcee for this event, makes an announcement:
The "$1,000 prize for the winner in each category" thing is an invention of the 4Kids dub.
Ash, Ash's Mom, and Professor Oak wait for the show to start.
This is pretty similar, but Professor Oak debuts a new nickname for Ash ("pumpkin") that does not exist in the Japanese version in any way whatsoever.
The costume contest begins:
That's a Starmie, 4Kids, not a Staryu.
Cut -- 30 seconds
The first of the infamous "James with inflatable breasts" scenes occur at this point in the episode. Here's the scene in question:
Now let's look at the scripts of the two versions, side-by-side, to see just how 4Kids edited this all together.
Eric Stuart, the voice of Brock, James, and man others, was asked about this episode in particular in an interview he did with the website Journey of a Frontman back in 2015. In the interview he pretty much confirms that this scene is the reason this episode got skipped over in the first place.
I get that this scene is the reason given as to why this episode was skipped, but the question remains...why didn't 4Kids just remove it the first time around? "Beauty and the Beach" could have been a part of the regular rotation if they had just done in 1998 what they eventually ended up doing in 2000, right? Removing this 30 second shot (and then a seven second one a bit later on) makes your episode's runtime come up a bit short, sure, but all you'd have to do to make up for that lost time is to tack on a few more clips to the recap at the beginning of the episode and BAM! you've got yourself a 22 minute runtime again. Waiting two years to do something that could have been done in 1998 just seems really odd to me.
Dialogue Edit
Gary arrives on the scene:
Shigeru's not traveling together with his grandfather in the Japanese version the way he apparently is in the English dub.
The taunting begins:
The idea that Shigeru sits in his room and writes out these absolutely terrible cheers to hate on some kid from his hometown, and then hands those cheers over to the women who follow him around and tells them "here, memorize these," and then they actually do that, is all an invention of the English dub.
The Japanese version also has Shigeru refer to this "army of beauties" as his "girlfriends" (ガールフレンドたち) while in the English dub he refers to him as his "fanclub members." Which means I guess there's a Gary Oak fanclub now. How much are membership dues? What do you get for joining? Is there a Gary Oak fanclub store? We need to know more!!
Brock oggles Gary's fanclub:
A fifteen year old boy having a thing for older women was probably seen as too problematic for American television and so 4Kids changes it to Misty worrying about them stealing the spotlight instead.
Cut -- 7 seconds
The second of two Rocket bikini scenes also gets the axe:
And here's the dialogue, by itself:
The reasons for this scene being removed from the English dub are obvious, but an unfortunate side effect is that it is now a lot less clear how Brutella knew that Jessie and James were members of Team Rocket in the first place. In the Japanese version this scene lets us know that Obaba was watching the contest and figured out that the duo calling themselves the "Rocket Ladies" were members of the Rocket-Dan, but it's a bit less clear as to how Brutella figured out the same thing in the English dub.
Dialogue Edit
The Rocket trio gets its new orders:
Here, Kojirou uses the phrase hi no naka mizu no naka (火の中 水の中), which literally means "to go through fire or water for you" but is also often translated as "come hell or high water." I'm choosing the former for my translation here because 1) some readers might see Kojirou saying the word "hell" as an example of him cursing, something that doesn't really happen in the original, and 2) because Kojirou's line might also be a reference to the show's opening theme Mezase Pokémon Master and its opening line tatoe hi no naka mizu no naka kusa no naka mori no naka (たとえ 火の中 水の中 草の中 森の中).
The Rocket trio gets into its sub:
4Kids' refusal to replicate Obaba's speech quirk means this scene, in which Musashi catches herself tacking the word -baba to the end of her sentence, doesn't make sense anymore. I guess Rachel Lillis is trying to do her best Kayzie Rogers-as-Brutella impersonation in the hopes that this will be enough to make the scene work, but the line is too short (it's only three words!) for that to really come across.
The Rocket trio prepare to go ashore:
The English dub of this episode doesn't "punch up" too much of the dialogue this time around, thankfully, but there are still little scenes like these where the "boring" dialogue from the Japanese version gets rewritten just for the hell of it.
The Rocket trio fires a missile:
The fact that Takeshi knows so much about missiles in the first place is kind of weird, but the English dub adding onto that by having him be able to identify whether a missile hurtling his way has infrared homing or not just takes this to a whole new level of absurdity.
But also, this being a heat-seeking missile makes no sense because if that was the case then why does Ash's Charmander using Flamethrower on it make it reverse course? Wouldn't the Fire-Type's flames actually make the missile come toward them even more aggressively!?
The missile's incoming:
The fact that the (non heat-seeking) missile was bought second hand gets removed from the English dub in favor of the trio reciting the first part of its motto.
Delia and Professor Oak watch Ash and his friends walk away:
The "I'm proud of my little boy" thing the dub's doing is nice and all, but I really like the Japanese version's "look how much Satoshi's grown up" thing a bit better.
Also, I guess Delia calling her son "pumpkin" is a thing now! Except, we will never hear her use this nickname ever again.
Paint Edit
The trophy Delia's holding gets the second of only two Paint Edits this entire episode:
The text on the trophy in the Japanese version says "Sun-Kissed Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest Winner" (日焼け美女と仮装ポケモンコンテスト 優勝), which tells us that Satoshi's mom actually ended up winning the beauty contest being held by Ryuu's Beach Hut, somehow. I guess she must have entered it off-screen at some point, probably some time after the Rocket trio's attack, though that's really only speculation.
The English dub, meanwhile, has it so that a ten year old boy wins a trophy from whoever's running the "Porta Vista Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest," though the "in our hearts" part of the inscription there also implies this is just an honorary trophy. And that whatever group's putting on the contest was so impressed by Ash's bravery that they had someone whip up a trophy for him right there on the spot? Personalized engraving and all?
The trophy didn't really make much sense in the original, and unfortunately for 4Kids their change only makes this scene even more baffling.
Japanese Episode 018: "Holiday in Aopulco"
American Episode ???: "Beauty and The Beach"
Pokémon Dare Da? Obaba (Japanese), Pidgeotto (American)
Japanese Air Date: July 29th, 1997
American Air Date: June 24th, 2000
Important Characters: Obaba (Brutella), Ryuu (Moe)
Important Places: Aopulco (Porta Vista), Obaba's Shop (N/A), Ryuu's Beach Hut (N/A)
Our heroes
have arrived at the beach resort town of Aopulco! Satoshi and his
friends “rent” a boat but their little joy ride gets cut short when
they crash into the Rocket-Dan and its Gyarados submarine! In order to
pay for the repairs, Satoshi and his friends decide to get part time
jobs at a beach hut run by the boat's owner, an old man named Ryuu. The
Rocket-Dan, also in need of some extra cash, decide to work at a rival
beach hut owned by an old woman simply known as Obaba. The Rocket trio
sabotages Ryuu's shop in order to drive customers away, preventing him
from being able to earn the money he needs to pay back an outstanding
debt he has with Obaba. As Satoshi and the others try to figure out
another way to make money, Dr. Ookido and Satoshi's mom suddenly arrive
on the scene to suggest they hold a beauty contest to help attract
customers to the area. As the “Sun-Kissed Beauty and Pokémon
Costume Contest” gets underway Obaba orders the Rocket-Dan to destroy
both the contest stage and Ryuu’s beach hut. The trio set out to do
what it’s told but Satoshi and his Pokémon are able to defeat
the Rocket-Dan’s Gyarados mecha and send it crashing into Obaba's
store. With Ryuu’s rival out of the picture the old man is now free
from his debt and so Satoshi and his friends say goodbye to everyone
before setting off for their next adventure.
Thoughts
It's summertime, and so Pocket Monsters does what every other Japanese cartoon was doing back in 1997 and made a naughty little beach episode. Pocket Monsters' take on the trope is a lot more tame than what other shows were doing at the time -- this is still a show for grade schoolers, after all -- but its animators still manage to fill this episode with enough lovingly rendered drawings of young women in bikinis to let us know that yes, this is an episode made for a very specific demographic.
Thinking back, this was probably one of the first episodes of Pocket Monsters a lot of us older fans would have seen in its original Japanese. Back in the 90s there wasn't really anyone out there translating the show week after week -- fansubbing groups back then were more focused on what they considered the "edgy" series than they were with the comparatively tame shows like Pocket Monsters -- but because of this episode's status as a "banned episode" it got picked up and subbed by people who were just jumping on a bandwagon, not having enough knowledge of the show or the video games to do that good a job. The fansubs back then were rough, and every time I see this episode I'm reminded of a time when fans' options for seeing this show in its original language were really, really limited.
It's also really
interesting to think
how different this episode is seen in Japan vs. how the rest of the
world sees it. In Japan, "Holiday in Aopulco" is just a regular
episode, an early Kanto episode that always has been a part of the
show's regular rotation. Every streaming
service that has Pocket Monsters
on it in Japan includes this episode, and it exists in the same space
as every
other Kanto adventure out there. If you point out Kojirou's inflatable
breasts to your average Japanese viewer they'll be like yeah, that was
wild, but Kanto was filled with all sorts of bizarre things like that
and so it's not all that
strange when you really think about it.
Kojirou dressing up like a woman the way he does in this episode isn't
really any more "weird" than, say, Natsume turning Satoshi's friends
into dolls, or people using Pokémon to cure their insomnia, or a
Tarzan-like boy whose parents dropped him from a helicopter when he was
a little boy, or any of the other really absurdist stuff for which
Kanto is famous. It's all the same genre of weird, y'know? A lot of
Americans tend to view this episode as "worse" because of that
country's aversion to anything it considers to be even the tiniest bit
sexual, but at the end of the day the content of this episode isn't all
that bad.
There's a lot to comment on when it comes to
the English version of this episode and so let's get right into it.
"Beauty and the Beach" as a "Lost Episode"
When Kids' WB! was getting ready to air "Beauty and the Beach" they
decided to promote it as a "Lost Episode." Now, "lost episode" is a
term you typically hear used for shows from the early days of
television to refer to TV episodes that aired once or twice, maybe, but
that were then considered of such low commercial and historical value
that the networks that aired them destroyed the tapes in order to make
room for their newer shows. "TV preservation," as a concept, really
wasn't a thing back then.
 |
 |
We know that this isn't what actually happened. Now we can't say for sure when exactly this episode went into production, but there are a number of telltale signs that this was definitely not dubbed back in 1998 along with the rest of Season One:
- It didn't debut until
the tail end of Season Two.
- In this episode Meowth
is voiced by Maddie Blaustein, his second voice actor. If "Beauty and
the Beach" had been dubbed in order along with the rest of Kanto then
the character would still have been portrayed by his original voice
actor, Nathan Price.
- Veronica Taylor would have still been playing Ash with a somewhat lower voice at this point in the series, but in this episode she plays him using the comparatively higher pitch she would develop throughout Season Two.
- The song "Pokémon World," the opening theme to the Orange Islands portion of Season Two, is used as a piece of background music at one point in the episode. That song would not have even existed back in 1998.
- The following
episode "Tentacool and Tentacruel" removes all references to the
characters and events of this episode, something that wouldn't have
been necessary if a dub of "Beauty and the Beach" had existed back then.
My guess is that this episode was also probably ordered as a standalone special instead of as an episode belonging to any one season. Based on the lack of streaming or home video re-releases "Beauty and the Beach" doesn't seem to be a part of either the Season One or Season Two packages, and so in the U.S. the episode seems to exist in the same realm as, say, those direct-to-video Pikachu's Winter Vacation videos, or "Mewtwo Returns." It was dubbed and even aired on TV, but unless Viz were to make a separate contract specifically to include "Beauty and the Beach" on a DVD box set, for example, they don't have the rights to release it.
There's also evidence to suggest the dub of this episode was probably a bit of a rush job, with the easiest tell being the lack of digital paint in the English dub. By my count there are 59 shots in this episode that contain Japanese writing in them, and of those 59 shots 4Kids leaves a whopping 58 of them as-is.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| If this
had been any other episode all of these signs (and more) would have
been altered for the dub. |
|
Another telltale sign that this episode was a rush job is, oddly enough, its script. There are still rewrites, sure, but there are also entire conversations in this episode that are pretty much 1:1 with the Japanese version, something that almost never happens with the 4Kids dub. Now I don't have any proof for what I'm about to say, but what I think happened is, 4Kids probably did their first pass at the script, where they take Paul Taylor's translations and adapt into something they can use in the recording booth. But then didn't have the time to take a second pass and "punch up" the dialogue with the unnecessary rewrites and bad jokes and other shenanigans 4Kids tends to do with this show, and so they just went with the more faithful "first pass" version of the script and called it a day. This is just a theory that I have absolutely no way of verifying, but as I was going through this episode and seeing how faithfully it was adapted I couldn't help but think how I wish 4Kids had maybe rushed through a little bit more during their tenure on the show.
Based on all this, I think it's safe to say that "Beauty and the Beach" was an episode that was rushed into production, as a standalone special, sometime in the year 2000.
Dialogue Edit
Now that that's out of the way let's dive into the episode itself. First up is the recap:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「離ればなれになったサトシとポケモンたち。ジャングルを迷い、
さまよい。どうにかこうにかやっとの思いで再会を果たす。でもって ジャングルを抜けるとそこは一大リゾート地アオプルコだ」 |
Narrator: "Satoshi and the
Pokémon had all gotten separated from one other. They wandered
around lost in a jungle but somehow managed to find each other. And
now, they've made their way out of that jungle and have arrived at the
big resort town of Aopulco." |
Narrator: "Last time, Ash and
his friends ended their exploits in Pokémon Land with a
breathtaking roller coaster ride. But Trainers and Pokémon were
happily reunited in a daring last second leap of faith. Now our heroes
have arrived at the beautiful resort island of Porta Vista, where their
adventure continues." |
The English version manages to be longer than the Japanese original by adding in a lot of extra details -- the name "Pokémon Land," a mention of the roller coaster, the part about a "last second leap of faith" (timed to the shot of Pikachu jumping toward the screen) -- that simply weren't there in the original.
Misty appears in her bathing suit:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カスミ 「なぎさのアイドル、おてんば人魚カスミ様、登場！」 |
Kasumi: "The idol of the sea,
the tomboyish mermaid Kasumi-sama's here!" |
Misty: "I thought you guys
were gonna wait for me by the snack bar. How's the water?" |
| サトシとタケシ 「あ…」 |
Satoshi and Takeshi: "Ah..." |
Ash and Brock: "Uh..." |
| ピカチュウ 「ピカ…」 |
Pikachu: "Pika..." |
Pikachu: "Pika..." |
| カスミ 「何よ、ポカンと口開けて」 |
Kasumi: "What's going on?
Why're you standing there with your mouths wide open?" |
Misty: "What's wrong? Why are
you looking at me like that?" |
| サトシ 「カスミも女の子だったんだなあと思ってさ」 |
Satoshi: "I was just thinking
how I guess you are a girl
after all." |
Ash: "It's just weird to see
you looking like a girl." |
| カスミ 「えっ？当たり前でしょ！」 | Kasumi: "Eh? Of course I am!" |
Misty: "Ah! Well see how weird
this looks!" |
| サトシ 「うわあ！」 | Satoshi: "Uwaa!" |
Ash: "Waaaugh!" |
A lot of this is actually pretty close, though Kasumi's line where she introduces herself using the title she has in the video games, "tomboyish mermaid," is a rewrite.
After crashing the boat our heroes meet Old Man Moe:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| リュウ 「おお～ ８年後が楽しみじゃ」 |
Ryuu: "Oh wow! I'll bet you'll
be a real knock out in about eight years or so." |
Moe: "You remind me of my granddaughter." |
| カスミ 「船の修理代はアルバイトして弁償しますから」 |
Kasumi: "We're willing to take
on part time jobs to pay for the repairs." |
Misty: "We don't have any money, but we'd be happy to work to pay for any damages." |
Haha, it's funny because this gross old pedophile is shamelessly hitting on a ten-year-old girl in a bathing suit!
In the past I've complained about how bland and boring Pocket Monsters (1997) becomes once it mutated from a Japanese cartoon made for Japanese audiences into a flavorless sludge made to appeal to Westerners, but I will say that at least one silver lining of all that is that we don't have to suffer through "humor" like this anymore.
Anyway, I'm surprised 4Kids didn't just cut this scene out altogether since the look on this old man's face is a dead giveaway that he's not actually comparing Misty to any of his relatives.
Brutella offers to let the Rocket trio work at her store:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| オババ 「うちの店はきついババ。それでもいいかえ？」 |
Obaba: "My store can be really
tough baba. Will that be OK?" |
Brutella: "Workin' for me
ain't no picnic. I can be brutal." |
| コジロウ 「はい！ きついのは ヘヘッ結構 慣れてますから」 |
Kojirou: "Sure! We're...heh
heh...used to things being tough." |
James: "Hahahaha! We work with
Jessie so we know all about brutal." |
James brings up (and subsequently insults) his teammate directly in the English dub while Kojirou seems to be talking more about how tough their life is in general.
This is also as good a time as any to bring up the fact that Obaba (whose name simply means "old woman" or "hag") has this speech quirk in the original where she tacks on the word -baba to the end of all her sentences, not unlike Nyarth and his "Nya" quirk. 4Kids ignores this and just has her speak normally, a decision that kind of ruins a joke in the second half of the episode.
The kids advertise food:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「さあ いらっしゃい！シャワー完備でラーメンもおいしい海の家
リュウですよー！」 |
Takeshi: "Come on in to the
Beach Hut Ryuu! We have showers and delicious ramen!" |
Brock: "French-fried flounder! Seven layered crab cakes! Get 'em while they're cold!" |
| サトシ 「ひと休みしていきませんか？」 |
Satoshi: "How about stopping
in for a rest?" |
Ash: "Try our new squid on a stick!" |
| タケシ 「かき氷もありますよ！」 | Takeshi: "We also have shaved
ice!" |
Brock: "And our clam juice snow cones!" |
| ピカチュウ 「ピカピカー！」 |
Pikachu: "Pika Pika~!" |
Pikachu: "Pika Pika~!" |
In the English dub Moe's place is referred to as a restaurant, hence all the food talk, but that's not quite the same in the Japanese version. Originally, the place our heroes are working at is an Umi no Ie (海の家), a term that roughly translates to "beach house" but is different from the type of vacation home you're probably thinking of when you hear that term. In Japan, an Umi no Ie is a small cabin-like structure on the actual beach itself that, for a fee, provides a number of convenient services for folks out on a day at the beach. These services can include lockers to store your valuables, private changing rooms, private showers, places to sit, and light meals. They often also provide rentals of items like beach chairs, beach umbrellas, and lifesavers. The general idea is that everything you might need for a day at the beach is provided right there, negating the need to leave the beach and trek all the way out to a hotel room or something whenever you need something.
An alternate translation of Umi no Ie is "beach hut," which does seem to be a thing in Europe but is also a bit different from the ones they have in Japan.
In any case, we only ever see the restaurant portion of the hut, and translating Takeshi advertisement of its showers would be confusing for the show's American audience, and so 4Kids just goes with "restaurant" and calls it a day.
Moe's place isn't very popular:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「ハーイ！ビーチハウス・オババに
ようこそ！２名様ですね。階段で上へどうぞ～。ベーだ！」 |
Musashi: "Hi! Welcome to Beach
House Obaba! Table for two, right? Please head right up these stairs
here. Beh da!" |
Jessie: "Welcome to Brutella's
Ocean Chateau. Come up to our terrace. Enjoy our sea-food and sea-views. Beh!" |
| サトシ 「ロケット団！」 |
Satoshi: "The Rocket-Dan!" |
Ash: "What's she doing here?" |
| タケシ 「なんで あいつらがバイトしてるんだ？」 |
Takeshi: "Why are they working
there?" |
Brock: "Jessie looks pretty
good in that uniform too." |
Brock is famously not attracted to Jessie from Team Rocket, and so seeing the dub have him compliment her in this moment is a bit off-putting.
A rivalry begins:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「おっしゃれな浜辺にはおっしゃれな お店よ」 |
Musashi: "A fancy beach calls
for a fancy store." |
Jessie: "A top quality
restaurant attracts top quality people." |
| コジロウ 「お前たちの店なんかに客が来るもんか」 |
Kojirou: "But it's not like
any customers'll bother going to your
place." |
James: "And a no quality dive
attracts the bottom feeders!" |
| ニャース 「いい気味ニャ！」 |
Nyarth: "Serves ya right Nya!" |
Meowth: "Yeah you losers!" |
The blue-haired guy's insult goes from "nobody will ever visit your restaurant" to "only the worst of the worst will ever visit your restaurant," which isn't any more or less mean than the original but is still different enough to deserve a mention.
Ash and his friends fight back:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「ピカチュウとゼニガメは割引券のビラ配りだ」 |
Satoshi: "Pikachu and Zenigame
will pass out flyers with coupons on them." |
Ash: "Pikachu and Squirtle can
pass out flyers." |
| ピカチュウ 「ピカチュウ」 |
Pikachu: "Pikachu" |
Pikachu: "Pika Pika!" |
| ゼニガメ 「ゼニゼニ」 |
Zenigame: "Zeni Zeni!" |
Squirtle: "Squirtle Squirtle!" |
| サトシ 「ピジョンはかぜおこしでトウモロコシ焼きだ」 |
Satoshi: "Pigeon can use its
Gust to help with the grilled corn on the cob." |
Ash: "Pidgeotto can use its
Gust to keep the charcoal hot." |
| ピジョン 「ピジョーン！」 |
Pigeon: "Pigeo~n!" |
Pidgeotto: "Pigeo~n!" |
| サトシ 「ヒトカゲは厨房で料理の手伝い」 |
Satoshi: "Hitokage can help
with the cooking in the kitchen." |
Ash: "Charmander can help out
with the flame broilin'..." |
| ヒトカゲ 「カゲー！」 |
Hitokage: "Kage!" |
Charmander: "Char~!" |
| サトシ 「フシギダネはカスミと一緒に店内を」 |
Satoshi: "And Fushigidane will
help Kasumi out in the store." |
Ash: "And Bulbasaur will help
Misty wait on customers." |
| フシギダネ 「ダネダネ！」 |
Fushigidane: "Dane Dane!" |
Bulbasaur: "Bulbasaur!" |
There are a lot of small differences here and there but the overall idea's still the same. Still, I can't help but wonder why Pikachu, of all characters, gets a line change here.
Paint Edit
When Meowth commits "sabotagé" the cans that say "GAS" and "OIL" on them get their text removed.
 |
 |
If you actually freeze frame the English version of this scene you can see the original text appear for less than a second at the very, very beginning of this shot before suddenly switching over to the edited shot.
Anyway, I find it very fascinating this episode took the time to edit out the only English words to appear in the whole episode. This must have been a BS&P note, right? Because I don't think the presumably resource starved 4Kids would have bothered otherwise.
Dialogue Edit
The rest of the first half of the episode is actually pretty good, script-wise! There's only one more exchange worth bringing up:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| リュウ 「オババ」 |
Ryuu: "Obaba!" |
Moe: "Brutella!" |
| サトシ 「ムサシ コジロウ！」 |
Satoshi: "Musashi and
Kojirou!" |
Ash: "And Team Rocket!" |
I checked, and I'm pretty sure this is the very first time Satoshi's ever called Musashi and Kojirou by their actual names in the Japanese version. I guess Ash, meanwhile, still isn't quite there yet.
Eyecatch
The Japanese version does something it's never done before by having the eyecatch Pokémon be...a human!? Yep! And on top of that, they even do a rather elaborate animation to celebrate!
 |
 |
| The
eyecatch starts with a silhouette that doesn't really look like any
Pokémon we know... |
When
the show comes back from the break, the kids recite the character's
name with a sense of disappointment in their voices. |
 |
 |
| They
then start throwing stuff at the old lady from off screen in protest.
First, a
beach ball... |
Then
an empty sake bottle. |
 |
 |
| Obaba
looks stunned at the next item being hurled her way... |
...A
small cushion with animation studio OLM's logo on it. |
 |
 |
| The
object throwing seems to have stopped, so Obaba sticks her tongue out
as if to say "haha, you missed me!" |
Suddenly,
a tin washbasin falls out of the sky and onto her head. |
 |
 |
| The
very frame she's in starts to tilt over... |
...and
the segment ends with Obaba sprawled out on the floor. |
The English dub, meanwhile, just goes with Pidgeotto.
 |
 |
The very same eyecatch was used for the episode "Holiday Hi-Jynx" so I'm betting 4Kids just grabbed the footage from that episode and put it here instead of bothering to create a new one of these.
Dialogue Edit
Ash tells an old man about his dream:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「自分の夢を捨てたりしないで。オレは
こいつらと出会ってから世界一のポケモントレーナーになるっていう夢が本当にかなうような気がしてきてるんだ。リュウさんは自分の夢がかなう寸前なんで
しょ？諦めたりしたらもったいないよ！」 |
Satoshi: "Don't give up on
your dreams. Ever since I met these guys I've started feeling like my
dream of becoming the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer is
actually within my reach. Ryuu-san, you're so close to achieving yours,
right? It'd be a waste for you to give up now!" |
Ash: "You have to follow your
dream no matter what! It's always been my dream to become the world's
greatest Pokémon Trainer. And even though it isn't that easy I'm
going to do everything I can to make it come true. Please Moe, please
don't give up. You can't give
up. Not when your dream is so close to coming true." |
Satoshi talks about how his Pokémon helped him believe in himself, which is why he's looking directly at them while he's delivering this monologue. Ash, meanwhile, isn't really addressing anyone other than Moe.
Professor Oak appears with a suggestion:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| オーキド博士 「これを見ろ。日焼け美女と仮装ポケモンコンテストじゃ」 |
Dr. Ookido: "Have a look at
this. There's this thing called a 'Sun-Kissed Beauty and
Pokémon Costume Contest.'" |
Professor Oak: "Look at this.
The annual Porta Vista Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest." |
| カスミ 「日焼け美女…」 |
Kasumi: "Sun-Kissed Beauty..." |
Misty: "It's happening today!" |
| タケシ 「仮装ポケモンコンテスト？」 |
Takeshi: "...and
Pokémon Costume Contest?" |
Brock: "A Beach Beauty Contest
sounds excellent." |
| サトシ 「こんなのでおカネが もうかるの？」 |
Satoshi: "Will we be able to
make money from this?" |
Ash: "But how is this going to
help us, Professor?" |
| オーキド博士 「人を集めるためには魅力的なイベントを開くに限る。幸いここは リゾートビーチじゃ。美女は たくさんおる。それにお前はポケモンに関しては自信があるじゃろ？」 | Dr. Ookido: "To
draw in the big crowds you have to hold a flashy event like this.
Luckily for
us, this is a resort beach already teeming with beautiful women.
And as for the Pokémon part of this, you all have faith in
yours, right?" |
Professor Oak: "The contest
draws thousands of people each year, and most of those people get
hungry. They'll all be looking for a place to eat so why not advertise
this place? You'll clean up... and you'll have the money you need by
the end of tomorrow." |
| サトシ 「うん！」 | Satoshi: "Yup!" | Ash: "Mmm-hmm." |
| カスミ 「美女はここにいるわよ」 | Kasumi: "And you've got your
beauty right here!" |
Misty: "I'd like to enter the
beauty contest." |
| オーキド博士 「ああ。イベントを開けばこの店にも客がドカドカ来るという計算 じゃ」 | Dr. Ookido: "Now you're
getting it. If we can put on an event like this we'll be sure to get
customers
flocking to this place." |
Professor Oak: "Mmm. You
should, Misty. There are cash prizes for both the beauty and the
costume contests." |
| サトシ 「よーし！ やってみようぜ」 | Satoshi: "Alright! Let's try
it!" |
Ash: "Well, our money worries
are over!" |
So the big change in this episode, dialogue-wise, is about who's actually running the beauty contest.
In the Japanese version the contest is an event local groups have to actually organize and put on themselves. This isn't made clear in the episode itself, but I'm guessing the magazine article Dr. Ookido's showing our heroes goes over the concept of these contests and explains how local communities can put one on themselves. So really, the contest in this episode is "The Sun-Kissed Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest, sponsored by Ryuu's Beach Hut." A store employee (Takeshi) acting as its sole emcee seems to support this interpretation.
In the English dub, meanwhile, this contest is changed to being an annual event being run by some outside group. Like maybe the Porta Vista chamber of commerce or something...? I guess 4Kids thought the way it's all set up in the Japanese version was a bit absurd, which...yeah, that's fair. The English dub version of this contest apparently "attracts thousands of people each year" and even has a cash prize, all details not found in the Japanese version at all.
It's not a big deal either way, but it's still a fairly major change in an episode that's otherwise fairly faithful to the source material.
Music Edit
As our heroes start passing out flyers for the contest the Japanese version plays Track 029 from the TV series' CD release of the show's soundtrack, "The Bicycle Delinquent Gang" (チャリンコ暴走族). The English dub, which has already played this song in the past, decides to replace this with...an instrumental version of the second season's opening theme.
I've mentioned this before, but this edit right here is one of several telltale signs that this episode was dubbed way later than its contemporaries.
Dialogue Edit
Brock, who as far as the English dub canon goes has somehow weaseled his way into being the emcee for this event, makes an announcement:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「まもなく
アオプルコビーチ日焼け美女と仮装ポケモンコンテストを開催します。優勝者には豪華な賞品が用意されていますのでどしどし参加してください！」 |
Takeshi: "We'll soon be
holding the Aopulco Beach Sun-Kissed Beauty and Pokémon Costume
Contest. We've prepared some fantastic prizes for the winners so come
on and sign up!" |
Brock: "Ladies and gentlemen
we're happy to announce that the Porta Vista Beach Beauty and
Pokémon Costume Contest will soon begin. There's $1,000 prize
for the winner in each category. It's not too late to sign up so hurry
and enter!" |
The "$1,000 prize for the winner in each category" thing is an invention of the 4Kids dub.
Ash, Ash's Mom, and Professor Oak wait for the show to start.
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| オーキド博士 「久々の親子の対面だ。思う存分甘えちゃいなさい」 |
Dr. Ookido: "It's been a while
since the two have seen each other, hasn't it? You go ahead and let her
spoil you rotten while she's here." |
Professor Oak: "Your mother's
been worried about you, Ash. She says she still thinks of you as her
little pumpkin." |
| サトシ 「そんなことできないよ」 |
Satoshi: "Ew, I can't do a
thing like that!" |
Ash: "That makes me sound like
a baby." |
| ハナコ 「毎日ちゃんと ごはん食べてる？」 |
Hanako: "Are you eating well?" |
Delia: "You'll always be my
baby, won't you?" |
| サトシ 「うん」 |
Satoshi: "Yeah." |
Ash: "Yeah." |
This is pretty similar, but Professor Oak debuts a new nickname for Ash ("pumpkin") that does not exist in the Japanese version in any way whatsoever.
The costume contest begins:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「おおっ！これは UFO
に乗った宇宙人だ！演じますはスターミーとゼニガメでーす！」 |
Takeshi: "Oh! It's a pair of
aliens riding a UFO! And they're being played by Starmie and Zenigame." |
Brock: "Well, this is a very imaginative costume. It's Staryu and Squirtle as extra terrestrials in their flying saucer!" |
That's a Starmie, 4Kids, not a Staryu.
Cut -- 30 seconds
The first of the infamous "James with inflatable breasts" scenes occur at this point in the episode. Here's the scene in question:
 |
 |
| The
sequence starts with a full screen impact star. |
Kasumi's
knocked onto the ground as Musashi and Kojirou slide into the frame. |
 |
 |
| Musashi: "We'll be taking that
victory for ourselves now, thank you very much." |
Kasumi: "Wait...Kojirou!? You're a guy, aren't you?" |
 |
 |
| Kojirou: "Don't worry about
that. My beauty can't be contained by any one gender." |
Musashi: "You're in our way,
brat girl. Shoo, shoo!" |
 |
 |
| Kojirou: "I think it's about
time to give 'em what they want." |
Kasumi: "Eh!" |
 |
 |
| Kojirou: "That's more like it." | Takeshi: "A pair of adult
women have suddenly burst onto the scene. I don't not like them,
personally, but let's see how the audience'll react." |
 |
 |
| This
shot of the crowd cheering is the only part of this actually left in
the dub. In the original they're cheering for the Rocket duo, but in
the English dub this is changed to them cheering for Misty. |
Musashi: "But of course!" |
 |
|
| Kojirou: "You're far too young
to compete with these girls I've got right here." |
|
Now let's look at the scripts of the two versions, side-by-side, to see just how 4Kids edited this all together.
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「おおっ！これは UFO に乗った宇宙人だ！演じますはスターミーとゼニガメでーす！」 | Takeshi: "Oh! It's a pair of aliens riding a UFO! And they're being played by Starmie and Zenigame." | Brock: "Well, this is a very imaginative costume. It's Staryu and Squirtle as extra terrestrials in their flying saucer!" |
| ゼニガメ 「ゼニュ～！」 |
Zenigame: "Zenyu~!" |
Squirtle: "Squirtle Squirt!" |
| (歓 声) | (the
crowd cheers) |
Brock: "Great job, Misty!" |
| カスミ 「あっ！」 |
Kasumi: "Ah!" |
Cut (26 seconds) |
| ムサシ 「優勝はあたしたちが頂くわ」 |
Musashi: "We'll be taking that
victory for ourselves now, thank you very much." |
|
| カスミ 「コジロウ！何よ？あんた 男でしょ！」 |
Kasumi: "Wait...Kojirou!?
You're a guy, aren't you?" |
|
| コジロウ 「いいの。あたしの美しさには男も女もないの」 |
Kojirou: "Don't worry about
that. My beauty can't be contained by any one gender." |
|
| ムサシ 「コジャリはおジャマり。あっちへお行き」 |
Musashi: "You're in our way,
brat girl. Shoo, shoo!" |
|
| コジロウ 「さーてと サービス サービス」 |
Kojirou: "I think it's about
time to give 'em what they want." |
|
| カスミ 「ええっ！」 |
Kasumi: "Eh!" |
|
| コジロウ 「あっそ～れ」 |
Kojirou: "That's more like it." |
|
| タケシ 「突然 乱入した大人のお姉さん二人組。自分は
決して嫌いではありませんが果たして観客の反応は…」 |
Takeshi: "A pair of adult
women have suddenly burst onto the scene. I don't not like them, personally, but
let's see how the audience'll react." |
|
| (歓
声) |
(the
crowd cheers for the Rockets) |
(the
crowd cheers for Misty) |
| タケシ 「おっと！受けています！みんな
うれしそうです！」 |
Takeshi: "Wow! They're a big hit! Everyone seems to really like them!" | |
| ムサシ 「当然」 |
Musashi: "But of course!" |
Cut (4 seconds) |
| コジロウ 「10年早いのよん ボヨヨン」 |
Kojirou: "You're far too young
to compete with these girls I've got right here." |
|
| タケシ 「この二人は…資料には“ロケットレディース”とありますがパートナー
のポケモンは何をやってくれるのでしょうか？」 |
Takeshi: "According to this
paper these two call themselves the "Rocket Ladies." But what will
their partner Pokémon be dressed up as?" |
Brock: "And next we have...two
Pokémon calling themselves the Rocket Boosters, dressed as a
legendary Pokémon." |
| サトシ 「あいつら！」 |
Satoshi: "Those rotten..." |
Ash: "They're from Team
Rocket!" |
Eric Stuart, the voice of Brock, James, and man others, was asked about this episode in particular in an interview he did with the website Journey of a Frontman back in 2015. In the interview he pretty much confirms that this scene is the reason this episode got skipped over in the first place.
| Alex Obert: I found it really
interesting that a banned episode from season one was dubbed a couple
years later and randomly aired during season two. This being Beauty and
the Beach, the one that was banned because of the scene with James’s
implants. Eric Stuart: I remember the banned episode, but I don’t remember dubbing it. It’s interesting because I was also a staff director for ten years as well, so I directed a lot of the shows that I worked on from Yu-Gi-Oh! to Viva Piñata to Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. There’s such a difference between what’s accepted in one culture and what’s accepted in another. Not that one is right and one is wrong, but there’s certain jokes and visuals and things they could get away with in Japan that we couldn’t get away with here. <truncated> The thing with the breasts was a transgender kind of thing, they thought it was promoting the wrong thing. That was an American problem. The American networks had a problem with the breasts being shown in a bikini. How many American movies have had men in drag, especially for comedy, in disguise? Mrs. Doubtfire, go back even further, Some Like It Hot with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. There’s Tootsie, which won an Academy Award. There are so many movies where men dressed up like women, especially in disguise. And that’s all that James was doing. But that’s where that all comes from. I do remember the banned episode, but it wasn’t as bad as the one that gave everyone seizures. I think that only aired once. But yes, the breasts were very real. If anyone knows anime, you know that a lot of Japanese culture seems tame and conservative on the surface, but you just go one notch underneath that and so much of the anime is very dirty. It’s very pornographic. I think they snuck a little bit of that into the drawing of James with the breasts. I thought he looked good in the bikini! He’s in great shape! (laughs) |
I get that this scene is the reason given as to why this episode was skipped, but the question remains...why didn't 4Kids just remove it the first time around? "Beauty and the Beach" could have been a part of the regular rotation if they had just done in 1998 what they eventually ended up doing in 2000, right? Removing this 30 second shot (and then a seven second one a bit later on) makes your episode's runtime come up a bit short, sure, but all you'd have to do to make up for that lost time is to tack on a few more clips to the recap at the beginning of the episode and BAM! you've got yourself a 22 minute runtime again. Waiting two years to do something that could have been done in 1998 just seems really odd to me.
Dialogue Edit
Gary arrives on the scene:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「美女軍団を従えて特別出場してくれたのはポケモントレーナーとして売
り出し中のシゲル君です！」 |
Takeshi: "Making a special
appearance accompanied by an army of beauties is the up-and-coming
Pokémon Trainer Shigeru-kun!" |
Brock: "And now we have a
surprise guest appearance by Gary Oak, the up-and-coming Pokémon
Trainer. Accompanied by a squad of his adoring and adorable fans!" |
| オーキド博士 「シゲルもたまたまビーチに来ておってな」 |
Dr. Ookido: "Oh yeah,
sometimes
Shigeru happens to come to this beach too." |
Professor Oak: "I, uh, forgot
to mention that my grandson came along with us." |
| サトシ 「ライバル～！」 |
Satoshi: "My rival!" |
Ash: "That's...great." |
Shigeru's not traveling together with his grandfather in the Japanese version the way he apparently is in the English dub.
The taunting begins:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| シゲル 「この会場のどこかにいるサトシ、まいったか？お前なんか相手にしてる
わけじゃないけどオレのガールフレンドたちを見せてやろうと思って 来てやったぜ」 |
Shigeru: "Satoshi, are you out
there somewhere? I didn't come here to face off against you today, I
just came here to show off my girlfriends." |
Gary: "Ash, I know you're out
there in the crowd somewhere. But I didn't come here to make you
jealous of me, Ash. I came here so some of my beautiful fanclub members
could make you jealous of me!" |
| 美女軍団 「いいぞ いいぞ シゲル！頑張れ 頑張れ シゲル！」 |
Army of Beauties: "That's it!
That's it! Shi-ge-ru! Hang in there, hang in there, Shi-ge-ru!" |
Fanclub Members: "Gary! Gary!
He's our man! He'll trash Ash, we know he can!" |
| シゲル 「やあ ありがとう ありがとう！サートシ君、見てる？」 | Shigeru: "Ah, thank you, thank
you! Did you get all that, Sa~toshi-kun?" |
Gary: "Thank you fans! Great
cheer! I wrote that one myself, Ashy." |
The idea that Shigeru sits in his room and writes out these absolutely terrible cheers to hate on some kid from his hometown, and then hands those cheers over to the women who follow him around and tells them "here, memorize these," and then they actually do that, is all an invention of the English dub.
The Japanese version also has Shigeru refer to this "army of beauties" as his "girlfriends" (ガールフレンドたち) while in the English dub he refers to him as his "fanclub members." Which means I guess there's a Gary Oak fanclub now. How much are membership dues? What do you get for joining? Is there a Gary Oak fanclub store? We need to know more!!
Brock oggles Gary's fanclub:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「おお～っグレート！
ファンタスティック！１人より２人、２人より６人。この美女軍団の登場で美女コンテストのほうは勝負あったって感じです」 |
Takeshi: "Wow great!
Fantastic! Not one, not two, but six
beautiful women! With the arrival of this army of beauties it seems
like this contest is about to have a winner." |
Brock: "Not one, not two, but
six beautiful girls on stage all at once! Choosing the most beautiful
is going to be tough, but it's a good kind of tough." |
| カスミ 「ハア… タケシったら年上の女性に弱いんだから」 |
Kasumi: "(sighs) That Takeshi
and his weakness for older women." |
Misty: "(sighs) With a
build-up like that none of the judges will give me a second look." |
A fifteen year old boy having a thing for older women was probably seen as too problematic for American television and so 4Kids changes it to Misty worrying about them stealing the spotlight instead.
Cut -- 7 seconds
The second of two Rocket bikini scenes also gets the axe:
 |
 |
| Musashi: "Those six are more
beautiful than me? You've gotta be kidding!" |
Kojirou: "I'm prettier than
all of them!" |
 |
 |
| Obaba: "Baba!" |
Musashi & Kojirou: "Ack!" |
And here's the dialogue, by itself:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「あんな女たちがあたしより美しいですって？冗談じゃないわよ！」 |
Musashi: "Those six are more beautiful than
me? You've gotta be kidding!" |
Cut (7 seconds)
|
| コジロウ 「あたしのほうがきれいよ」 |
Kojirou: "I'm prettier than
all of them!" |
|
| オババ 「ババ！」 |
Obaba: "Baba!" |
|
| ムサシ・コジロウ 「ああっ！」 |
Musashi & Kojirou: "Ack!" |
The reasons for this scene being removed from the English dub are obvious, but an unfortunate side effect is that it is now a lot less clear how Brutella knew that Jessie and James were members of Team Rocket in the first place. In the Japanese version this scene lets us know that Obaba was watching the contest and figured out that the duo calling themselves the "Rocket Ladies" were members of the Rocket-Dan, but it's a bit less clear as to how Brutella figured out the same thing in the English dub.
Dialogue Edit
The Rocket trio gets its new orders:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| オババ 「うまくいったらバイト代は弾んでやるババ」 |
Obaba: "If you do a good job
I'll even give you a little pay bump baba." |
Brutella: "Now go wreck that
beauty contest and destroy Moe's restaurant." |
| コジロウ 「任せてください！たとえ火の中 水の中」 |
Kojirou: "Leave it to us! We'd
go through fire or water for you!" |
James: "You can count on us!
Destroying things is our specialty." |
| ムサシ 「潜水艦だから水の中は お任せよん」 |
Musashi: "This sub'll take
care of the water part!" |
Jessie: "We're so good we
destroy things without even trying." |
| ニャース 「張り切るニャン！」 |
Nyarth: "We're happy to do it
Nya!" |
Meowth: "We'll give it our
worst shot!" |
Here, Kojirou uses the phrase hi no naka mizu no naka (火の中 水の中), which literally means "to go through fire or water for you" but is also often translated as "come hell or high water." I'm choosing the former for my translation here because 1) some readers might see Kojirou saying the word "hell" as an example of him cursing, something that doesn't really happen in the original, and 2) because Kojirou's line might also be a reference to the show's opening theme Mezase Pokémon Master and its opening line tatoe hi no naka mizu no naka kusa no naka mori no naka (たとえ 火の中 水の中 草の中 森の中).
The Rocket trio gets into its sub:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「発進ババ！イヤだ ダッサ。うつっちゃったじゃない」 |
Musashi: "Let's go baba! What!
Gross! She's rubbing off on me!" |
Jessie: "Alright let's go! Oo!
She's rubbing off on me!" |
4Kids' refusal to replicate Obaba's speech quirk means this scene, in which Musashi catches herself tacking the word -baba to the end of her sentence, doesn't make sense anymore. I guess Rachel Lillis is trying to do her best Kayzie Rogers-as-Brutella impersonation in the hopes that this will be enough to make the scene work, but the line is too short (it's only three words!) for that to really come across.
The Rocket trio prepare to go ashore:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「フフフフッ。目標補足 右15度。距離30ｍ！」 |
Musashi: "Heh heh heh heh.
Target sighted! Fifteen degrees right! Distance 30 meters!" |
Jessie: "Hahaha! Target
sighted! Fifteen degrees right. Now we'll teach those tourists!" |
| コジロウ 「全速前進！」 |
Kojirou: "Full speed ahead!" |
James: "We'll scare the tans
off 'em!" |
| ニャース 「上陸準備ニョーソロ！」 |
Nyarth: "Get ready for
landfall soon Nya." |
Meowth: "I can't wait 'til we
crash their beach bash!" |
The English dub of this episode doesn't "punch up" too much of the dialogue this time around, thankfully, but there are still little scenes like these where the "boring" dialogue from the Japanese version gets rewritten just for the hell of it.
The Rocket trio fires a missile:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| タケシ 「ミサイルだ！」 |
Takeshi: "It's a missile!" |
Brock: "It's headed this way!" |
| シゲル 「お手並み拝見といこうかサトシ」 |
Shigeru: "Are you gonna show
us what you can do, Satoshi?" |
Gary: "So now what are you
gonna do Ash? Freak out?" |
| サトシ 「ああ いいぜ」 |
Satoshi: "Sure, no problem." |
Ash: "Just watch me." |
| タケシ 「ミサイルの航行装置は熱に弱いはずだ」 |
Takeshi: "The navigation
system on that missile should be sensitive to heat." |
Brock: "Ash, I think that
looks like one of those heat-seeking missiles." |
| サトシ 「よーし」 |
Satoshi: "Got it!" |
Ash: "No sweat." |
The fact that Takeshi knows so much about missiles in the first place is kind of weird, but the English dub adding onto that by having him be able to identify whether a missile hurtling his way has infrared homing or not just takes this to a whole new level of absurdity.
But also, this being a heat-seeking missile makes no sense because if that was the case then why does Ash's Charmander using Flamethrower on it make it reverse course? Wouldn't the Fire-Type's flames actually make the missile come toward them even more aggressively!?
The missile's incoming:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「どうなってんのよ！」 |
Musashi: "What's going on?" |
Jessie: "Prepare for trouble!" |
| コジロウ 「中古で買ったミサイルはダメかあ」 |
Kojirou: "Guess that's what we
get for getting that missile second hand." |
James: "From the way things
look I think you can make that double!" |
| ニャース 「そんニャ～」 |
Nyarth: "You're kidding Nya~!" |
Meowth: "Meowth that's right." |
The fact that the (non heat-seeking) missile was bought second hand gets removed from the English dub in favor of the trio reciting the first part of its motto.
Delia and Professor Oak watch Ash and his friends walk away:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「じゃあ元気で」 |
Satoshi: "Well, take care." |
Ash: "I'm gonna make you proud
of me." |
| (mother and son stare
at each other a bit before the young boy and his friends walk away) |
||
| オーキド博士 「とうとう振り返りませんでしたな、サトシ君は」 | Dr. Ookido: "There he
goes...Satoshi-kun didn't even turn around and look back, did he?" |
Professor Oak: "I think you
should be very proud of your...little pumpkin." |
| ハナコ 「いいんです これで。いい思い出が出来ましたもの。頑張ってね サトシ」 | Hanako: "That's for the best.
And besides, I have some great memories now. So good luck out there,
Satoshi." |
Delia: "I am proud, professor.
Proud of my...young man." |
The "I'm proud of my little boy" thing the dub's doing is nice and all, but I really like the Japanese version's "look how much Satoshi's grown up" thing a bit better.
Also, I guess Delia calling her son "pumpkin" is a thing now! Except, we will never hear her use this nickname ever again.
Paint Edit
The trophy Delia's holding gets the second of only two Paint Edits this entire episode:
 |
 |
The text on the trophy in the Japanese version says "Sun-Kissed Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest Winner" (日焼け美女と仮装ポケモンコンテスト 優勝), which tells us that Satoshi's mom actually ended up winning the beauty contest being held by Ryuu's Beach Hut, somehow. I guess she must have entered it off-screen at some point, probably some time after the Rocket trio's attack, though that's really only speculation.
The English dub, meanwhile, has it so that a ten year old boy wins a trophy from whoever's running the "Porta Vista Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest," though the "in our hearts" part of the inscription there also implies this is just an honorary trophy. And that whatever group's putting on the contest was so impressed by Ash's bravery that they had someone whip up a trophy for him right there on the spot? Personalized engraving and all?
The trophy didn't really make much sense in the original, and unfortunately for 4Kids their change only makes this scene even more baffling.
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