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| Episode Comparisons | Orange Islands
Episode Stats:
Japanese Episode 099: "Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings! The Icy Battle!!"
American Episode ???: "The Mandarin Island Miss Match"
Pokémon Dare Da? Parshen (Japan), Machop (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course: Okorizaru
Japanese Air Date: June 3rd, 1999
American Air Date: April 15th, 2000
Important Characters: Prima (Kanna)
Important Places: Mandarin Island (Mandarin Island), Yuzu Gym (Trovita Gym)
Thoughts
Every now and then I like to I look back at these older episodes and try to imagine what it must have been like to be one of its writers, trying to create a TV show based on a pair of video games that have, and let's be honest here, pretty threadbare stories and characterizations. Kanna's an important character in those first Pocket Monsters video games -- she's essentially one of their final bosses -- and so you kind of have to use her at some point, but when you look through the actual games themselves this is literally all you have to work with:
Like, what do you even do with that? How do you turn these fairly generic statements into a 22-minute episode of television? The Pocket Monsters Special manga kind of got around all this by turning her into a villain, randomly, but I can't imagine the TV series would have been allowed to take such liberties with an actual character from the video games. So what do you do?
The answer they came up with is similar to what they did with Shiba; make her seem like a complete space case on the outside but then surprise! she's actually this cool and calculating battle master on the inside. I generally like this approach. I really enjoy how the character has this really calm, but at the same time stern way of talking (well, in the Japanese version at least); she's nice, but she also doesn't just sit there and put up with any of Satoshi's foolishness. The man who wrote the script for this episode, Mr. Atsuhiro Tomioka, had this to say about writing her dialogue in The Memorial Book of Orange Islands guide book printed in late 1999:
The way the episode used the other characters to help set up Kanna as a character in the world of this TV show was also really well done, like having Kasumi fangirl over Kanna the way Takeshi fanboyed over Shiba back in Kanto. Sure, Kanna's being drawn off-model with those huge breasts (something none of the other adaptations had been doing at that point) is a...well, it was certainly a choice, but I guess it's a pretty harmless change in the grand scheme of things.
If there's one thing I actually don't like about this episode (well, other than the blackface) is how it did this thing this show sometimes does where it makes one of the characters (usually Satoshi) act really, really out-of-character in order for them to work within the confines of the plot of that particular episode. Satoshi's had a healthy amount of confidence up until now, sure, but it's never gotten anywhere near the point where he becomes the stuck up little brat we're suddenly confronted with in this episode. It's just so abrupt, especially if you're marathoning the show! In my opinion, at least, if the story you've come up with requires you to make one of your main characters act like a completely different person in order for it to work then maybe, just maybe, you should choose another storyline? Or swap out some of the characters for others? Or something...?
I have so many things to say about the English version of this episode (it's a fucking dumpster fire LOL) that I say we forego this usual introductory paragraph and just jump right in.
Persian and Kentauros keep their Japanese voices.
Side Note
For one reason or another, there are multiple, multiple versions of this episode, both on the Japanese side and the English dub side of things. Keeping track of which version is which can be a bit of a headache and so I put together a page on The Different Versions of Japanese Episode 099 to help keep it all organized.
When I first started working on this page the intention was just to cover this in a paragraph or two within this essay you're reading right now but the more I got into it the more I realized that no, this actually needs its own page. And so there it is!
If you haven't checked it out already, I suggest you take a look at that page first before continuing.
Side Note
As of around the year 2014 or so the Pokémon episode "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" has, for all intents and purposes, been de-existed by The Pokémon Company International. An official reason has never been provided, of course, but the most likely explanation for its removal from rotation is that the episode is so terrible, the dub of it so incredibly rotten, that TPCi feels too embarrassed to allow an episode like this continue to exist out in the wild.
Haha just kidding, it probably got removed because it features the blackface Pokémon Jynx.
Just like with "Stage Fight!", I suppose it would be possible to edit around the Pokémon in question, or to sync the dub audio to the purple edit of the episode that Japan made a bunch of years later, but nope, TPCi decided to just ban it outright and then call it a day. Some of the older DVDs from the early 2000s have the episode but anything released after 2014 skips over it entirely.
Luckily for us, this is the final episode in the series to get the axe because of this blackface Pokémon. Starting with Season 3, 4Kids will either make sure to cut out any and all footage with Jynx moving forward or will use digital paint to remove he, ensuring that no other episode shares the fate that the Season 2 episodes like this one did.
Music Edit
I know this preamble is a bit long but I want to talk about the background music for a moment.
A lot of Pokémon fans love to keep track of how much is kept in the English dub, with some of them even compiling amazing lists like this one to actually count how many pieces of Japanese music are retained. These same fans then calculate a "percentage kept" based on those numbers. If you scroll down to "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" in the link above you'll see that 13 out of 13 pieces of Shinji Miyazaki's music is left in-tact, bringing the total to 100%. And if you want a breakdown of which tracks get kept when, Pocketmonsters.net has you covered.
OK great, so the dub keeps all the music in this episode. And we all lived happily ever after, right? If only it were that simple! The lists you see online, as fantastic and meticulously compiled and genuinely impressive as they are, usually skip over key pieces of musical moments when calculating those "amount kept" percentages. The opening and ending themes aren't typically included, for example. The title screen music and the eyecatch music usually aren't factored in either. The other key thing they lack? Silence.
Now I know not everyone is going to agree with me, but I absolutely, 100% count an English dub of an anime replacing silence in the soundtrack -- moments where no background music is playing, and where all you hear are sound effects and the sounds of the characters' voices -- to be just as disruptive to an episode's audio profile as swapping out one piece of music with another. And why wouldn't I? I've said this before but I'll repeat it here, if the show's original sound director had wanted to have triumphant trumpets playing when Satoshi's bragging about his wins, or a "womp womp" little ditty playing whenever Ash says something stupid, then, well, he would have put those in there. I'm not the only one who thinks this.
If we want to be really honest here, the lists you see online would have to look a lot more like this:
When you think of it this way, you'll see that "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" actually only keeps about 14/30 musical moments throughout the episode. So yes, while the Shinji Miyazaki instrumental music is all kept (something that absolutely, 100% is worth celebrating, as bare minimum of a requirement as that should be) the episode still manages to have 4Kids' "filler music" playing throughout nearly half the episode.
That's not nothing.
For some reason the English dub removes the narrator's opening line of the episode, right before Ash's "OK, Razor Leaf now!"
I'll also point out that 4Kids dub' has already used the name "Mandarin Island" earlier in the season (that island was called Kinkan Island in the original) and so now we have two Mandarin Islands in the dub canon, for some reason! The island in this episode actually is called Mandarin Island (マンダリン島) in the original, though, and so it's the other one that should have been renamed.
After the battle ends:
The dub narrator's first line of the episode starts with the word "but," making it seem like the line is actually a continuation of a previous sentence. But, as you saw above, there was nothing there. Did 4Kids originally have Rodger Parsons record an opening line, just like its Japanese counterpart did, but then forgot to actually put it in the episode itself?
After Ash's latest victory:
Kasumi's line piggybacks off Kenji's previous line in the Japanese version, but in the English dub they just have Misty deliver an unprompted insult to her friend instead!
The Japanese narrator tells us that Satoshi has won multiple battles in a row; he doesn't tell us an exact number the way the dub does.
Misty apparently had no idea why Tracey's been gone for a while, something her Japanese counterpart actually does.
Let's skip Tracey's line here for a second (don't worry, it gets its own section below) to think about how Ash just kind of...knows who "Prima" is? And he has this really familiar tone about him when he says it......?
Side Note
So the big elephant in the room regarding the English version of this episode is Prima.
4Kids may not have edited the character, visually, but it sure did mess up when it came to actually getting her name right. In the Japanese version, this episode's featured character is identified as Shintennou no Kanna, or "Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings" (if you want to know more about the "kings" part of her title check out the little write-up I did a while ago) If you translate all that into dub-ese and you should get "Lorelei of the Elite Four" and yet 4Kids decides to say screw all that noise, we're just gonna call her "Prima" instead.
Now I've seen a lot (and I mean a lot) of people over the years defend 4Kids' change by saying that it was done to match the mouth flaps. The argument goes that "Lorelei" is three syllables (and thus three mouth flaps) but "Kanna" is only two syllables (and thus two mouth flaps), and that in order to make everything fit with the animation her name had to get shortened to something with the same number of syllables as her Japanese name. The problem is, that explanation doesn't actually make any sense.
First of all, that is just not how anime dubs work. There has never has been, nor will there ever be, a rule in anime dubbing that states that a character's name in one language has to have the same number of syllables as their name in the original. Two, everyone in the episode only ever refers to this woman as either Kanna-sama (Kasumi) or Kanna-san (everyone else) and so Lorelei would've fit the mouth flaps better anyway. And three, there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of characters in this show who break this so-called "syllable rule." Satoshi (three) to Ash (one). Takeshi (three) to Brock (one). Kasumi (three) to Misty (two). Musashi (three) to Jessie (two). Fushigidane (five) to Bulbasaur (three). Zenigame (four) to Squirtle (two). Hitokage (four) to Charmander (three). Purin (two) to Jigglypuff (three). Masaki (three) to Bill (one). And so on, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Are we really to believe that 4Kids changed "Lorelei" to "Prima" because they were that worried about the lip sync, while at the same time having absolutely no issue with James' mouth just bla-bla-bla-ing nonstop whenever he has to say his name during the Team Rocket motto?
Bulbapedia used to have note on its page for this episode that "4Kids have claimed that this [name change] is due to "Lorelei" having an extra syllable over her Japanese name, "Kanna"" but this was removed when it was pointed out that hey, no one's able to actually produce any evidence of the company allegedly saying this. The man who was a major part of the show's adaptation, Michael Haigney, doesn't seem to remember why they changed it either. For years fans have been convincing themselves that the mouth flap explanation is the reason for the change when there's absolutely zero evidence to support this.
Dialogue Edit
Tracey explains "Prima":
The timeframes here are completely different depending on which version you're watching! In the original version Kanna gives her lecture once a year while over in the English dub she's apparently a resident of the island who does exhibition matches every single week.
Tracey notices that Misty's a fan:
The dub removes any mention of Kanna using Ice-Type Pokémon as well as the fact that she's part of the Elite Four, something else that warrants its own section:
Side Note
As mentioned above, the English dub also removes every reference made in the original about "Prima" being a member of the Elite Four. I guess 4Kids didn't even realize that, either? Every single line in the Japanese version that refers to Kanna as a member of the Four Heavenly Kings (I counted about nine, including those not brought up in this comparison) is rewritten to dance around this fact, for seemingly no reason whatsoever. James does call her "Miss Elite" at one point but I honestly think that's a happy coincidence more than anything else.
The only time the English dub will ever explicitly refer to "Prima" as a member of the Elite Four won't even be until about a year later when the Pokémon Johto Journeys episode "Wired For Battle" debuts on Kids' WB! During Ash's battle in the second half Misty utters the line "Yeah... Prima from the Elite Four told us you have to rely on the strength from inside!"
But as for the character's actual debut episode? Nope, all those references get removed.
This is also as good a time as any to bring up the book Extreme Pokémon: The Guide for the Ultimate Fan and its completely baseless claim that Lorelei is a "Pokémon Master" rather than just a member of the Elite Four. Neither the Japanese version nor the English version of this episode ever even implies this so I have no idea where this "fact" came from, though judging from all the other really basic errors this book apparently makes I'd say the people who wrote that book had no idea what they were talking about to begin with. I think it's better to just discount it altogether.
Dialogue Edit
Tracey and Misty fawn over "Prima":
Well, I guess Misty's second line is kind of similar...? All the rest of it, as you can see, is completely rewritten.
Cut - 38 seconds
If you're watching this episode on any of the Orange Islands DVD that was released in the US in the early 2000s then there's a rather long scene missing from the version on your disc! Right after Misty's "You must be kidding" in response to Ash's boast that "Prima" is scared of him, over half a minute's worth of footage gets removed:
I cover the cut extensively in my page The Different Versions of Japanese Episode 099 so check that out if you want more details!
A lot of fans have known about this scene for years and assumed the dub dialogue (as seen in a bunch of the non-US releases of the show) is heavily rewritten to cover up some kind of perverted joke but it's actually fairly similar...?
I suppose Satoshi's "Kasumi wouldn't be much of a challenge" line could be interpreted as a double entendre joke about chest sizes, maybe...? But I'm not really super convinced one way or the other..
Also, Kasumi's "Sa-to-shi" being turned to "Ash...is...so...," as well as the removal of Kanna's name from the line, are both great examples of how English anime dubs like this one work their characters' names into the show's dialogue even if they don't share the same number of syllables. See, this is how anime dubbing works, people!
Dialogue Edit
Ash challenges a random unnamed guy to a Pokémon battle, during which his opponent's Persian uses Thunderbolt on Squirtle. Just then:
The attack name "Withdraw" is kara ni komoru (から にこもる) in Japanese, a phrase that, as you can see from the transcript above, is not uttered in the original.
Next up is Tauros vs. Charizard:
The shoehorned-in "ash" pun at the end is the main event here, of course, but every other line is slightly rewritten here as well.
Side Note
After the battle's decided:
The actual dialogue itself is pretty accurate but the delivery here is all off. The Trainer in the Japanese version was angrily scolding Satoshi for sending out a Pokémon like Lizardon while the English Trainer sounds more annoyed than anything else.
Dialogue Edit
Charizard's rampage begins:
The last time Lizardon was in a Pokémon battle was...literally one episode ago? Against the Rocket trio? If Kenji's talking about an official Pokémon battle then yeah, it's been a while, but in any case it seems like 4Kids didn't want to bother one way or the other so they just rewrote the line and called it a day.
"Prima" goes over Ash's loss:
Originally Satoshi brags about getting lots of badges but the dub decides to have him mention his performance in the Indigo Conference instead. While it's tempting to write this off as another 4Kids rewrite, it is worth noting that 4Kids' line is actually pretty close to what Satoshi says in the film manga version of this episode:
This brings up a lot of different questions. Was the line in the original Japanese script him bragging about being in the Top 16, just like the dub, but then got changed to him talking about badges by the time Rica Matsumoto stepped into the recording booth? Was the film manga version of the episode based off an older version of the script? And was 4Kids working off that same older version? Or is this all just one weird coincidence?
By the way, the rest of the film manga matches up with what's actually said in the episode itself; this line here is literally the only one that matches the 4Kids dub rather than the Japanese version of the episode.
Our heroes get an invitation to...whatever it is "Prima"'s doing.
The dub removes the reference to Kanna's lecture, maybe because the episode itself actually skips it and so they thought it wouldn't matter?
An announcer gets the demonstration started:
The Japanese version never specifies that the place they're all in is the "Mandarin Island Stadium," nor that Kanna is "one of the Orange Island's best." These are both 4Kids additions.
The Rocket trio hatch a plot:
The English dub really doesn't want to use the phrase "Elite Four," huh?
Eyecatch
The two genders:
Machop, by the way, won't make its next appearance for another nine episodes.
Dialogue Edit
Tracey and Misty fawn over "Prima" back at her, um, "house":
This came up in a previous rewrite as well, but the house our heroes are visiting in the second half of the episode is Kanna's vacation home, not her actual home home. It kind of sounds like the English dub is implying that "Prima" actually lives in the Orange Islands when there's no such implication in the original.
Ash finally breaks his silence:
In the Japanese version there's a neat little callback to "The Four Heavenly Kings' Shiba Enters!", the other episode to feature a member of the Kanto Four Heavenly Kings that'd aired by this point. In that episode, if you remember, Satoshi spends a significant amount of the episode trying to figure out the ougi, or "esoteric technique," that he believes Shiba holds the key to. If I can just figure this out, he decides, he can become a truly great Pokémon Trainer. Well it turns out that there wasn't really any such thing and that the key to being a great Trainer is friendship with your Pokémon and believing in the Heart of the Cards or whatever, but it seems like this little adventure he had back then left on impression on our young hero because he brings it up again here.
In the original dialogue, Satoshi thinks that everything Kanna's been doing up until now has been an attempt to teach him her ougi, or "esoteric technique." That's the thing that all members of the Four Heavenly Kings have, right? Kasumi then looks over at him and wonders if he ever actually found out what that word means.
The dub didn't seem to catch this reference, but on the other hand kudos to 4Kids for finding a way to sneak the word "perverse" into an episode referencing a cartoonishly big breasted woman!
"Prima" responds:
The final line here in the English version is a fairly decent rendering of what's said in the original but everything leading up to it has enough little changes here and there that I thought it was worth bringing up.
”Prima" tries to teach Ash a lesson:
So this entire section is more or less completely rewritten, huh! The original advice is for Satoshi to become more in tune with his Pokémon since, as we saw with Lizardon in the last battle, Satoshi still has a ways to go in that department. It's all about the bond between Trainer and Pokémon, basically. The English dub, meanwhile, seems to almost entirely ignore the "Pokémon" aspect of all this and instead focuses more on Ash tapping into the power he has within.
Ash challenges Prima to a battle:
If you're watching the English dub you might wonder what in the world Misty's talking about here. For whatever reason, 4Kids decided to rewrite Kenji's line where he sets up the idea that Satoshi is "fire" but then decides to leave Kasumi's "ice" line as-is, creating this weird non-sequitor in the dub that wasn't there originally.
Also, the term "Elite Four" is still forbidden, apparently.
Soon after, Ash and "Prima" have a Pokémon battle. After Ash gets beat, his opponent approaches him:
I swear every time Kanna opens her mouth to give some kind of advice 4Kids is like "nope, can't use that, we'll just make up our own dialogue."
More rewritten advice:
A lot of this dialogue is actually fairly close, by this episode's standards anyway, but it's Kanna's second line here that catches my attention. In the original, Kanna's lesson is that Satoshi, as a Pokémon Trainer, didn't get to where he is today all by himself, and that sometimes you need to suffer devastating losses to remind yourself of that. "Prima," on the other hand, words the lesson so it's less about Ash depending on his teammates and more about him using their power to help dig him out of a slump. The differences are subtle but they are there.
Prima explains the Orange League:
It's amazing how literally every single line in this exchange contains some kind of rewrite.
I'd also like to point out that the "Honorable Trainer Trophy" Ash mentions here will eventually get renamed the "Winner's Trophy" in the episode "Enter the Dragonite." So much for consistency! The Japanese version, as you may assume, will keep the name the same from episode to episode.
After Team Rocket makes their entrance:
At the time this episode came out cassette tapes were basically already on the way out in the US, with the "compact disc" being the preferred method of delivering audio to consumers. So while "Prima" here might be a great Pokémon Trainer she's an absolutely terrible businesswoman!
The Rocket trio reveal they've been eavesdropping this whooooooole time:
The Rocket trio pick up on the ougi ("esoteric technique") discussion from earlier to guide this entire exchange but 4Kids does everything they can to avoid bringing it up at all.
Prima orders Jynx to attack:
So what's the reason for this change, hmm? Lip flaps again?
Right after Jynx freezes Jessie's lipstick right off her face:
The Rocket trio make a reference to Kanna's previous line in the original but the dub has the trio make a bunch of unrelated cold puns instead.
We're at the home stretch now! Prima gives our heroes somewhere to go:
Prima tells Ash and his friends that Trovita is "straight across the bay," suggesting the gym's not on the same landmass they're currently on right now. Kanna, meanwhile, simply states the gym's in a place called Big City.
Prima bids our heroes farewell:
Ash's line here is the only one there that even slightly resembles the original, huh? I can maybe see why 4Kids would change Kenji's line (what "mystery" is he talking about...?) but the rest? Could've easily been kept as-is.
And finally (!!!), the closing narration:
Well, if nothing else 4Kids is very thorough; if they're going to rewrite an episode then they're going to rewrite the entire thing, huh?
This page was last updated on March 1st, 2024
Episode Stats:
Japanese Episode 099: "Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings! The Icy Battle!!"
American Episode ???: "The Mandarin Island Miss Match"
Pokémon Dare Da? Parshen (Japan), Machop (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course: Okorizaru
Japanese Air Date: June 3rd, 1999
American Air Date: April 15th, 2000
Important Characters: Prima (Kanna)
Important Places: Mandarin Island (Mandarin Island), Yuzu Gym (Trovita Gym)
Satoshi and
his friends have arrived on Mandarin Island, the largest island in the
Orange Archipelago! The area is currently experiencing an influx of
Trainers due to a visit by Kanna, one of the Kanto Region's Four
Heavenly Kings. Satoshi's been on a bit of a winning streak lately and
doesn't think much of the elite Trainer, instead turning his attention
to young man and his Kentauros. During their ensuing match Satoshi
calls out his Lizardon who predictably starts to run
amuck, so much so that Kanna has to step in with her Yadoran to stop
its rampage. Later, Kanna invites our heroes to her
villa where she soon realizes that beating Satoshi on the battlefield
is probably the only way to knock him down a peg or two. Satoshi
thinks he'll have an easy victory when he pits his Electric-Type
Pikachu against Kanna's Water-Type Parshen but the Four Heavenly Kings'
Pokémon is just too strong for the young Trainer. After her easy
victory, Kanna helps Satoshi realize that his real strength actually
comes from his Pokémon and the love they have for him as their
Trainer. She also explains that if he's able to become more in tune
with his Pokémon and defeat the
rest of the Southern Cross then he'll earn the right to compete in a
battle tournament! The next Gym Leader is apparently over in Big City,
on the other side of the island, and so Satoshi and his friends set off
for their next adventure.
Thoughts
Every now and then I like to I look back at these older episodes and try to imagine what it must have been like to be one of its writers, trying to create a TV show based on a pair of video games that have, and let's be honest here, pretty threadbare stories and characterizations. Kanna's an important character in those first Pocket Monsters video games -- she's essentially one of their final bosses -- and so you kind of have to use her at some point, but when you look through the actual games themselves this is literally all you have to work with:
| "Welcome
to Pokémon League! I am Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings! No one
can best me when it comes to icy
Pokémon! Freezing moves are powerful! Your Pokémon will
be at my mercy when they are frozen solid! Hahaha! Are you ready?" |
Like, what do you even do with that? How do you turn these fairly generic statements into a 22-minute episode of television? The Pocket Monsters Special manga kind of got around all this by turning her into a villain, randomly, but I can't imagine the TV series would have been allowed to take such liberties with an actual character from the video games. So what do you do?
The answer they came up with is similar to what they did with Shiba; make her seem like a complete space case on the outside but then surprise! she's actually this cool and calculating battle master on the inside. I generally like this approach. I really enjoy how the character has this really calm, but at the same time stern way of talking (well, in the Japanese version at least); she's nice, but she also doesn't just sit there and put up with any of Satoshi's foolishness. The man who wrote the script for this episode, Mr. Atsuhiro Tomioka, had this to say about writing her dialogue in The Memorial Book of Orange Islands guide book printed in late 1999:
| "What
is a Pokémon
Master? And what is a Pokémon battle? I really tried to think
about those questions
seriously. Kanna's dialogue has been the most difficult I've had to
write for Pokémon
thus far." |
The way the episode used the other characters to help set up Kanna as a character in the world of this TV show was also really well done, like having Kasumi fangirl over Kanna the way Takeshi fanboyed over Shiba back in Kanto. Sure, Kanna's being drawn off-model with those huge breasts (something none of the other adaptations had been doing at that point) is a...well, it was certainly a choice, but I guess it's a pretty harmless change in the grand scheme of things.
If there's one thing I actually don't like about this episode (well, other than the blackface) is how it did this thing this show sometimes does where it makes one of the characters (usually Satoshi) act really, really out-of-character in order for them to work within the confines of the plot of that particular episode. Satoshi's had a healthy amount of confidence up until now, sure, but it's never gotten anywhere near the point where he becomes the stuck up little brat we're suddenly confronted with in this episode. It's just so abrupt, especially if you're marathoning the show! In my opinion, at least, if the story you've come up with requires you to make one of your main characters act like a completely different person in order for it to work then maybe, just maybe, you should choose another storyline? Or swap out some of the characters for others? Or something...?
I have so many things to say about the English version of this episode (it's a fucking dumpster fire LOL) that I say we forego this usual introductory paragraph and just jump right in.
Persian and Kentauros keep their Japanese voices.
Side Note
For one reason or another, there are multiple, multiple versions of this episode, both on the Japanese side and the English dub side of things. Keeping track of which version is which can be a bit of a headache and so I put together a page on The Different Versions of Japanese Episode 099 to help keep it all organized.
When I first started working on this page the intention was just to cover this in a paragraph or two within this essay you're reading right now but the more I got into it the more I realized that no, this actually needs its own page. And so there it is!
If you haven't checked it out already, I suggest you take a look at that page first before continuing.
Side Note
As of around the year 2014 or so the Pokémon episode "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" has, for all intents and purposes, been de-existed by The Pokémon Company International. An official reason has never been provided, of course, but the most likely explanation for its removal from rotation is that the episode is so terrible, the dub of it so incredibly rotten, that TPCi feels too embarrassed to allow an episode like this continue to exist out in the wild.
Haha just kidding, it probably got removed because it features the blackface Pokémon Jynx.
Just like with "Stage Fight!", I suppose it would be possible to edit around the Pokémon in question, or to sync the dub audio to the purple edit of the episode that Japan made a bunch of years later, but nope, TPCi decided to just ban it outright and then call it a day. Some of the older DVDs from the early 2000s have the episode but anything released after 2014 skips over it entirely.
Luckily for us, this is the final episode in the series to get the axe because of this blackface Pokémon. Starting with Season 3, 4Kids will either make sure to cut out any and all footage with Jynx moving forward or will use digital paint to remove he, ensuring that no other episode shares the fate that the Season 2 episodes like this one did.
Music Edit
I know this preamble is a bit long but I want to talk about the background music for a moment.
 |
 |
A lot of Pokémon fans love to keep track of how much is kept in the English dub, with some of them even compiling amazing lists like this one to actually count how many pieces of Japanese music are retained. These same fans then calculate a "percentage kept" based on those numbers. If you scroll down to "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" in the link above you'll see that 13 out of 13 pieces of Shinji Miyazaki's music is left in-tact, bringing the total to 100%. And if you want a breakdown of which tracks get kept when, Pocketmonsters.net has you covered.
OK great, so the dub keeps all the music in this episode. And we all lived happily ever after, right? If only it were that simple! The lists you see online, as fantastic and meticulously compiled and genuinely impressive as they are, usually skip over key pieces of musical moments when calculating those "amount kept" percentages. The opening and ending themes aren't typically included, for example. The title screen music and the eyecatch music usually aren't factored in either. The other key thing they lack? Silence.
Now I know not everyone is going to agree with me, but I absolutely, 100% count an English dub of an anime replacing silence in the soundtrack -- moments where no background music is playing, and where all you hear are sound effects and the sounds of the characters' voices -- to be just as disruptive to an episode's audio profile as swapping out one piece of music with another. And why wouldn't I? I've said this before but I'll repeat it here, if the show's original sound director had wanted to have triumphant trumpets playing when Satoshi's bragging about his wins, or a "womp womp" little ditty playing whenever Ash says something stupid, then, well, he would have put those in there. I'm not the only one who thinks this.
If we want to be really honest here, the lists you see online would have to look a lot more like this:
| Time | Track
Title |
Kept? |
Scene |
| 01:08 |
1997-1998-M01
~Opening~ 1997-1998-M01 ～オープニング～ |
Yes |
Satoshi
battles Trainers on Mandarin Island |
| 01:23 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Satoshi
is happy with his recent winning streak |
| 02:02 |
1997-1998-M52
Title Card |
Yes | Kanto
Title Card |
| 02:09 |
(No Background Music) | No |
Satoshi
and his friends talk about Kanna and then actually get to meet her |
| 03:52 |
1997-1998-M26B
The Rocket-Dan's Secret Strategy B 1997-1998-M26B ロケット団隠密作戦 B |
Yes | The
Rocket-Dan spies on the group and Kanna |
| 04:15 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Satoshi
tries to get Kanna to battle, but she refuses. Satoshi challenges a
random Trainer instead. |
| 06:40 |
1997-1998-M15
Charge! 1997-1998-M15 襲撃! |
Yes | Satoshi
begins another battle against a Trainer |
| 07:38 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
The
Trainer recalls his Persian. |
| 07:46 |
1997-1998-M14
Rocket-Powered Disaster! |
Yes | The
Trainer sends out Kentauros against Satoshi's Zenigame |
| 08:24 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
After
initially refusing to battle, Lizardon defeats Kentauros before flying
away. |
| 09:16 |
1997-1998-M17
Desperate Situation 1997-1998-M17 絶対絶命 |
Yes | Satoshi's
Lizardon launches Flamethrower uncontrollably |
| 10:03 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Kanna's
Yadoran disables Lizardon. Kanna points out what Satoshi did wrong
before inviting them to her lecture. |
| 11:00 |
1997-1998-M21
~Ending~ 1997-1998-M21 ～エンディング～ |
Yes | Kanna
of the Four Heavenly Kings makes a demonstration of her skills in a
stadium |
| 11:47 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Kasumi
and the others marvel at Kanna's battling abilities |
| 12:05 |
Eyecatch
A |
No |
Eyecatch
(before the break) |
| 12:11 |
Eyecatch
B |
No |
Eyecatch
(after the break) |
| 12:18 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Our
heroes gather in Kanna's villa to talk about battling |
| 13:13 |
The
Storm Clears Up 晴れゆく嵐 |
Yes | Movie
1 BGM - Kanna tells Satoshi that everyone has a different way of acting
in and out of battle |
| 14:08 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Satoshi
challenges Kanna to a battle. On the battlefield, Kanna calls out
Parshen. |
| 15:03 |
The
Copy Pokémon Wake Up! コピーポケモン目覚める! |
Yes | Movie
1 BGM - Satoshi starts the battle with Kanna by ordering Pikachu to use
100,000 Volts against Parshen |
| 16:24 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Satoshi
wonders why Pikachu lost |
| 17:01 |
Toward
the Hopeful Sky ~希望の空へ |
Yes | Movie
1 BGM - Kanna lectures Satoshi |
| 18:14 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
The
Rocket-Dan introduce themselves |
| 18:28 |
1997-1998-M20
If You Ask Us About This or That... 1997-1998-M20 なんだかんだと聞かれたら… |
Yes | The
Rocket-Dan's Motto |
| 18:51 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
The
Rocket trio makes it clear they've come to steal Pikachu |
| 19:33 |
1997-1998-M01B
~Opening~ 1997-1998-M01B ～オープニング～ |
Yes | Kanna
sends out Rougela against the Rocket-Dan to use Ice Punch against them |
| 19:47 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
The
Rocket trio gets frozen in ice |
| 19:55 |
1997-1998-M01C
~Opening~ 1997-1998-M01C ～オープニング～ |
Yes | Kanna
orders Rougela to use Blizzard, sending the Rocket-Dan blasting off |
| 20:11 |
(No
Background Music) |
No |
Our
heroes admire the snowfall |
| 20:22 |
1997-1998-M04
Meetings and Partings 1997-1998-M04 出会いと別れと |
Yes | Kanna
tells the group that the next Gym is on Yuzu Island and they depart |
When you think of it this way, you'll see that "The Mandarin Island Miss Match" actually only keeps about 14/30 musical moments throughout the episode. So yes, while the Shinji Miyazaki instrumental music is all kept (something that absolutely, 100% is worth celebrating, as bare minimum of a requirement as that should be) the episode still manages to have 4Kids' "filler music" playing throughout nearly half the episode.
That's not nothing.
Dialogue
Edit
As I worked on documenting this episode's rewrites, one after the other
after the
other, I seriously started to wonder if it'd be easier to just
transcribe the
entire episode beginning to end because you cannot go more than 30
seconds
without yet another 4Kids rewrite rearing its ugly head. After the previous episode's fairly light dusting of
rewrites this episode feels like a kick in the teeth. Why is the script
for this episode so unfaithful!?
Let's get this started
with the opening narration:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「サトシたちはオレンジ諸島マンダリン島に来ていた」 |
Narrator: "Satoshi and his
friends have come to Mandarin Island in the Orange Islands." |
Narrator: "..." |
For some reason the English dub removes the narrator's opening line of the episode, right before Ash's "OK, Razor Leaf now!"
I'll also point out that 4Kids dub' has already used the name "Mandarin Island" earlier in the season (that island was called Kinkan Island in the original) and so now we have two Mandarin Islands in the dub canon, for some reason! The island in this episode actually is called Mandarin Island (マンダリン島) in the original, though, and so it's the other one that should have been renamed.
After the battle ends:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「彼らを待ち受けていたのは挨拶代わりにポケモンバトルを挑んで
くるトレーナーたち」 |
Narrator: "But instead of
hellos, our heroes are greeted with challenges from other Trainers." |
Narrator: "But Ash isn't taking any time out to enjoy the balmy breezes today." |
The dub narrator's first line of the episode starts with the word "but," making it seem like the line is actually a continuation of a previous sentence. But, as you saw above, there was nothing there. Did 4Kids originally have Rodger Parsons record an opening line, just like its Japanese counterpart did, but then forgot to actually put it in the episode itself?
After Ash's latest victory:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「でもこんなに次々とバトルを申し込まれるなんて」 |
Kenji: "But why does everyone
keep challenging him to a battle?" |
Tracey: "I can't believe how many battles Ash has had since we got here." |
| カスミ 「この島いったいどうなってんの？」 |
Kasumi: "Just what's going on
on this island anyway?" |
Misty: "I can't believe he won 'em all." |
Kasumi's line piggybacks off Kenji's previous line in the Japanese version, but in the English dub they just have Misty deliver an unprompted insult to her friend instead!
The narrator's next line:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「続けざまのバトルにぶっちぎり連勝のサトシ」 |
Narrator: "We can see
Satoshi's having a bit of a winning streak." |
Narrator: "Ash is pretty confident after three straight victories." |
The Japanese narrator tells us that Satoshi has won multiple battles in a row; he doesn't tell us an exact number the way the dub does.
But also, this dub rewrite makes our heroes' reactions to the current situation so much more campy than it was originally. Ash is super cocky after winning three battles? Tracey goes "I can't believe how many battles Ash has had since we got here" when the answer is...three? You can't believe Ash has won three whole battles? Is that...is that supposed to be a lot?
After the title screen, Tracey has a report to make:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「お待たせ！リサーチ完了！」 |
Kenji: "Sorry to keep you
waiting! My reconnaissance mission's all done!" |
Tracey: "Hey guys! I solved
the mystery." |
| カスミ 「どうだった？」 |
Kasumi: "So what'd you find
out?" |
Misty: "What mystery?" |
| ケンジ 「この辺りがポケモンバトルで盛り上がってたのはこれが原因なんだよ」 |
Kenji: "The reason so many
people around here are so fired up about Pokémon battles is
because of this
right here." |
Tracey: "The mystery of why
everybody we meet here wants to battle. The answer's right in this
flier." |
Misty apparently had no idea why Tracey's been gone for a while, something her Japanese counterpart actually does.
And the flier he reads
from:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「四天王カンナ ポケモンを語るカンナの華麗なるバトルのすべて…だっ
てさ」 |
Kenji: "Kanna of the Four
Heavenly Kings. She'll talk about Pokémon, show off magnificent
battles, and more!" |
Tracey: "Attention Trainers.
Pokémon lecture...and battle demonstration by the one and
only...Prima." |
| サトシ 「四天王のカンナ？」 |
Satoshi: "Kanna of the Four
Heavenly Kings...?" |
Ash: "So, Prima's here, huh?" |
| カスミ 「ええ～っ！カンナ様がここに来てるの？」 |
Kasumi: "Seriously!?
Kanna-sama is
coming here!?" |
Misty: "Prima is really here?!" |
Let's skip Tracey's line here for a second (don't worry, it gets its own section below) to think about how Ash just kind of...knows who "Prima" is? And he has this really familiar tone about him when he says it......?
Side Note
So the big elephant in the room regarding the English version of this episode is Prima.
First of all, let's all
take a moment to think about how there's not a drop of digital paint in
this episode despite the fact that Prima has a much bigger chest than
what we were normally used to seeing on Saturday morning cartoons back
in the early 2000s. Viz
was reducing chest sizes left and right over in their Dengeki! Pikachu adaptation and
yet this version of Kanna, who wouldn't have looked even the tiniest
bit out of place in Mr. Ono's manga, gets to air on Kids' WB!
uncensored.
It's hard to believe
that,
years later, edits like this
would start to become the norm:
 |
 |
4Kids may not have edited the character, visually, but it sure did mess up when it came to actually getting her name right. In the Japanese version, this episode's featured character is identified as Shintennou no Kanna, or "Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings" (if you want to know more about the "kings" part of her title check out the little write-up I did a while ago) If you translate all that into dub-ese and you should get "Lorelei of the Elite Four" and yet 4Kids decides to say screw all that noise, we're just gonna call her "Prima" instead.
Now I've seen a lot (and I mean a lot) of people over the years defend 4Kids' change by saying that it was done to match the mouth flaps. The argument goes that "Lorelei" is three syllables (and thus three mouth flaps) but "Kanna" is only two syllables (and thus two mouth flaps), and that in order to make everything fit with the animation her name had to get shortened to something with the same number of syllables as her Japanese name. The problem is, that explanation doesn't actually make any sense.
First of all, that is just not how anime dubs work. There has never has been, nor will there ever be, a rule in anime dubbing that states that a character's name in one language has to have the same number of syllables as their name in the original. Two, everyone in the episode only ever refers to this woman as either Kanna-sama (Kasumi) or Kanna-san (everyone else) and so Lorelei would've fit the mouth flaps better anyway. And three, there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of characters in this show who break this so-called "syllable rule." Satoshi (three) to Ash (one). Takeshi (three) to Brock (one). Kasumi (three) to Misty (two). Musashi (three) to Jessie (two). Fushigidane (five) to Bulbasaur (three). Zenigame (four) to Squirtle (two). Hitokage (four) to Charmander (three). Purin (two) to Jigglypuff (three). Masaki (three) to Bill (one). And so on, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Are we really to believe that 4Kids changed "Lorelei" to "Prima" because they were that worried about the lip sync, while at the same time having absolutely no issue with James' mouth just bla-bla-bla-ing nonstop whenever he has to say his name during the Team Rocket motto?
 |
| Literally
in this very same episode |
Bulbapedia used to have note on its page for this episode that "4Kids have claimed that this [name change] is due to "Lorelei" having an extra syllable over her Japanese name, "Kanna"" but this was removed when it was pointed out that hey, no one's able to actually produce any evidence of the company allegedly saying this. The man who was a major part of the show's adaptation, Michael Haigney, doesn't seem to remember why they changed it either. For years fans have been convincing themselves that the mouth flap explanation is the reason for the change when there's absolutely zero evidence to support this.
No, the real "reason"
Lorelei got changed to Prima is probably because 4Kids just screwed up,
plain and simple. I don't think it's really any deeper than that. The
writer(s) of this episode didn't realize
that this "Kanna" woman was a character from the video games (and
therefore already
had a localized name) and so they approached her as if she was just
another
anime exclusive. We know the people at 4Kids
didn't really know much about the video games this TV show was based on
(check out the
2:43 mark on Episode 7 of Michael Haigney's podcast "Original
Pokéman"), and the show's made so many other goofs like this
over the years that them not realizing that Kanna = Lorelei is not even
the tiniest bit out of character for the company. I mean in
this episode alone, we get a
Machamp during
"Prima's" exhibition
battle saying "Machop," a Kadabra saying "Alakazam," and Prima
commanding her
Jynx to use "Ice Beam" when the animation is clearly showing the
Pokémon using
"Ice Punch." The show will go on to mislabel other game characters in
the future (Eusine/Eugene, Harlan/Tabitha, Isabel/Shelly) and so
Lorelei/Prima
is just the first major example of this.
It does seem as though
the character was correctly labeled in the Nintendo 64
game Pokémon Puzzle League
that came out about five months after this episode debuted on Kids' WB!
so at least that's something...?
Dialogue Edit
Tracey explains "Prima":
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「近くに別荘があるんだって。今年は講演会のあと特別にバトルを見せて
くれるらしいよ」 |
Kenji: "I heard she has a
vacation house out here somewhere. And after this year's lecture she's
apparently going
to show us all a special battle." |
Tracey: "I heard she has a house on the island and trains here in the off-season. Once a week she shows off her different battling techniques." |
The timeframes here are completely different depending on which version you're watching! In the original version Kanna gives her lecture once a year while over in the English dub she's apparently a resident of the island who does exhibition matches every single week.
Tracey notices that Misty's a fan:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「もしかしてカスミってカンナのファンなの？」 |
Kenji: "It seems like you're a
huge Kanna fan, huh?" |
Tracey: "Sounds like you're a
really big Prima fan, Misty." |
| カスミ 「もちろんよ！四天王の中でも氷系、水系ポケモンを使わせたらピカイチ
なんだから」 |
Kasumi: "Of course! If you're
talking about using Ice or Water Pokémon then she's an absolute
pro, even
within the Four Heavenly Kings!" |
Misty: "Who wouldn't be? She's
one of the very best and she uses Water-Type Pokémon, too.
Prima's my hero." |
| カンナ 「私がどうかしたの？」 |
Kanna: "What is that about me?" |
Prima: "I'm a hero, am I?" |
The dub removes any mention of Kanna using Ice-Type Pokémon as well as the fact that she's part of the Elite Four, something else that warrants its own section:
Side Note
As mentioned above, the English dub also removes every reference made in the original about "Prima" being a member of the Elite Four. I guess 4Kids didn't even realize that, either? Every single line in the Japanese version that refers to Kanna as a member of the Four Heavenly Kings (I counted about nine, including those not brought up in this comparison) is rewritten to dance around this fact, for seemingly no reason whatsoever. James does call her "Miss Elite" at one point but I honestly think that's a happy coincidence more than anything else.
The only time the English dub will ever explicitly refer to "Prima" as a member of the Elite Four won't even be until about a year later when the Pokémon Johto Journeys episode "Wired For Battle" debuts on Kids' WB! During Ash's battle in the second half Misty utters the line "Yeah... Prima from the Elite Four told us you have to rely on the strength from inside!"
But as for the character's actual debut episode? Nope, all those references get removed.
This is also as good a time as any to bring up the book Extreme Pokémon: The Guide for the Ultimate Fan and its completely baseless claim that Lorelei is a "Pokémon Master" rather than just a member of the Elite Four. Neither the Japanese version nor the English version of this episode ever even implies this so I have no idea where this "fact" came from, though judging from all the other really basic errors this book apparently makes I'd say the people who wrote that book had no idea what they were talking about to begin with. I think it's better to just discount it altogether.
Dialogue Edit
Tracey and Misty fawn over "Prima":
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カスミ 「カンナ様！あたしファンなんです。サインください」 |
Kasumi: "Kanna-sama! I'm a huge fan! Could I get your autograph?! | Misty: "This is such an honor...just to see you!" |
| ケンジ 「カンナさん！どうしてここに？」 |
Kenji: "Kanna-san! What are you doing here?" | Tracey: "I'm Tracey. This is Misty." |
| カスミ 「どうやったら水系ポケモンを使うのうまくなりますか？」 |
Kasumi: "How can I become better at using Water-Type Pokémon?" | Misty: "I can really use some pointers on training my Water-Type Pokémon." |
| ケンジ 「毎年この島にいらっしゃるんですか？」 |
Kenji: "Do you come to this island every year?" | Tracey: "Maybe I could sketch you and your Pokémon?" |
| カスミ 「ねえカンナ様！」 |
Kasumi: "Hey, Kanna-sama~!" | Misty: "You're my hero." |
Well, I guess Misty's second line is kind of similar...? All the rest of it, as you can see, is completely rewritten.
Cut - 38 seconds
If you're watching this episode on any of the Orange Islands DVD that was released in the US in the early 2000s then there's a rather long scene missing from the version on your disc! Right after Misty's "You must be kidding" in response to Ash's boast that "Prima" is scared of him, over half a minute's worth of footage gets removed:
I cover the cut extensively in my page The Different Versions of Japanese Episode 099 so check that out if you want more details!
A lot of fans have known about this scene for years and assumed the dub dialogue (as seen in a bunch of the non-US releases of the show) is heavily rewritten to cover up some kind of perverted joke but it's actually fairly similar...?
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「あ～、笑ったな！オレ気分はもうポケモンマスター射程距離に入ったっ
て感じなんだよね。さあカンナさん！勝負勝負！」 |
Satoshi: "Hey, don't laugh at
me! Oh, I get it...you can tell I'm basically just a stone's throw
away from being a Pokémon Master, is that it? Alright then
Kanna-san!
Let's battle!" |
Ash: "Hey! What's so funny?
Not only am I an undefeated champion on this island but I'm practically a Pokémon
Master! Come on, Prima! One battle!" |
| カスミ 「射程距離って意味分かってんの？」 |
Kasumi: "Do you even know what
"a stone's throw away" means?" |
Misty: "The only thing you're
a master of is disaster." |
| サトシ 「うっさいな！だったらお前が俺とバトルするかうん？でもカスミじゃ勝
負にならないな」 |
Satoshi: "Be quiet! Or would
you like to go up against me instead? Oh but wait...I guess Kasumi
wouldn't be much of a challenge, huh?" |
Ash: "Who asked you? Maybe you
want me to teach you a lesson instead of Prima? Hey, I guess I could
use another easy win..." |
| カスミ 「ちょっと！それどういう意味よ！」 |
Kasumi: "And just what is that supposed to mean!?" | Misty: "Whaddya mean 'another
easy win'?" |
| サトシ 「あ～あ。カンナさんはびびッちゃうし。どっかにもっと強い相手いない
かなあ…」 |
Satoshi: "Sigh...Guess Kanna's too scared to go up against me...aren't there any stronger Trainers out there?" | Ash: "Oh well. If the great
Prima's scared of me, I guess I'll find somebody who's not afraid to
lose." |
| カスミ 「き～！あ・い・つ！カンナ様、あんなヤツやっつけちゃってください
よ！」 |
Kasumi: "Urgh! Sa-to-shi...Kanna-sama, please kick that guy's butt!" | Misty: "Ugh! That...
Ash...is...so... If he ever did battle you he'd see he's not as great
as he thinks he is." |
I suppose Satoshi's "Kasumi wouldn't be much of a challenge" line could be interpreted as a double entendre joke about chest sizes, maybe...? But I'm not really super convinced one way or the other..
Also, Kasumi's "Sa-to-shi" being turned to "Ash...is...so...," as well as the removal of Kanna's name from the line, are both great examples of how English anime dubs like this one work their characters' names into the show's dialogue even if they don't share the same number of syllables. See, this is how anime dubbing works, people!
Dialogue Edit
Ash challenges a random unnamed guy to a Pokémon battle, during which his opponent's Persian uses Thunderbolt on Squirtle. Just then:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「あぁ ゼニガメ！」 |
Satoshi: "Ah! Zenigame!" |
Ash: "Squirtle, Withdraw!" |
The attack name "Withdraw" is kara ni komoru (から にこもる) in Japanese, a phrase that, as you can see from the transcript above, is not uttered in the original.
Next up is Tauros vs. Charizard:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カスミ 「ええ～っ！リザードンなんか出して大丈夫なの？」 |
Kasumi: "Eh!? Are you sure
it's OK to bring out Lizardon!?" |
Misty: "No, Ash! You know you
can't handle Charizard yet." |
| サトシ 「当たり前だろう！オレはもうリザードンを使いこなせるレベルになって
るさ！なあ、リザードン」 |
Satoshi: "Why not? I'm now at
a level where I've mastered using Lizardon. Right, Lizardon?" |
Ash: "Don't worry, Misty. I
think I have enough experience as a Trainer to handle anything now.
Right, Charizard?" |
| The Fire-Type uses
Flamethrower on its Trainer |
||
| サトシ 「うう…」 |
Satoshi: "Uhhh..." |
Ash: "Guess not." |
| カスミ 「ほ～ら、言わんこっちゃない」 |
Kasumi: "Well you can't say I
didn't warn you." |
Misty: "Now you really look
like ash." |
The shoehorned-in "ash" pun at the end is the main event here, of course, but every other line is slightly rewritten here as well.
Side Note
After the battle's decided:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| トレーナー 「こら坊主！自分の手に負えねえようなポケモンをバトルに出すん
じゃねえ！」 |
Trainer: "Hey kid! Don't send
a Pokémon out to battle if you know you can't handle it." |
Trainer: "Nice work. Never send a Pokémon into battle if you don't know how to handle it." |
The actual dialogue itself is pretty accurate but the delivery here is all off. The Trainer in the Japanese version was angrily scolding Satoshi for sending out a Pokémon like Lizardon while the English Trainer sounds more annoyed than anything else.
Dialogue Edit
Charizard's rampage begins:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「リザードンのやつ、久しぶりのバトルで興奮してるぞ」 |
Kenji: "It's been so long
since Lizardon's been in a battle it's getting all riled up!" |
Tracey: "This is bad. Charizard's just getting warmed up." |
The last time Lizardon was in a Pokémon battle was...literally one episode ago? Against the Rocket trio? If Kenji's talking about an official Pokémon battle then yeah, it's been a while, but in any case it seems like 4Kids didn't want to bother one way or the other so they just rewrote the line and called it a day.
"Prima" goes over Ash's loss:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「トレーナーはポケモンしだいなのよ」 |
Kanna: "A Trainer's only as
good as his Pokémon." |
Prima: "A Trainer is as good as his Pokémon." |
| サトシ 「それぐらいのこと分かってるよ！」 |
Satoshi: "C'mon now, I know at
least that much!" |
Ash: "You don't have to tell me! I know that!" |
| カンナ 「いいえ、分かってないわ」 |
Kanna: "No, I don't think you
do." |
Prima: "Are you sure? I don't think you do." |
| サトシ 「分かってるって！オレバッジだっていっぱいゲットしてるんだぜ」 |
Satoshi: "I do too! And I've
got lots of badges to prove it!" |
Ash: "Of course I do! I was in the Top 16 in the last Pokémon League." |
| カンナ 「ほらね、やっぱり分かってない」 |
Kanna: "You see? You're not
getting it
at all." |
Prima: "It's too bad. You just don't understand." |
Originally Satoshi brags about getting lots of badges but the dub decides to have him mention his performance in the Indigo Conference instead. While it's tempting to write this off as another 4Kids rewrite, it is worth noting that 4Kids' line is actually pretty close to what Satoshi says in the film manga version of this episode:
This brings up a lot of different questions. Was the line in the original Japanese script him bragging about being in the Top 16, just like the dub, but then got changed to him talking about badges by the time Rica Matsumoto stepped into the recording booth? Was the film manga version of the episode based off an older version of the script? And was 4Kids working off that same older version? Or is this all just one weird coincidence?
By the way, the rest of the film manga matches up with what's actually said in the episode itself; this line here is literally the only one that matches the 4Kids dub rather than the Japanese version of the episode.
Our heroes get an invitation to...whatever it is "Prima"'s doing.
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「一緒にいらっしゃい。キミたちを講演会に招待するわ」 |
Kanna: "Come with me. You're
all invited to sit in on my lecture." |
Prima: "If you're not busy,
why don't you come to my demonstration this afternoon?" |
| カスミ 「本当ですか？カンナ様やったあ！」 |
Kasumi: "Really!? Kanna-sama,
you're the best!" |
Misty: "This is like a dream
come true. Yay!" |
| カンナ 「キミに私のバトルを見てもらいたいの」 |
Kanna: "And I want to show
you, Satoshi, how I battle." |
Prima: "I'd like it if you came along with your friends
too, Ash." |
| サトシ 「オレに？」 |
Satoshi: "Me?" |
Ash: "OK." |
The dub removes the reference to Kanna's lecture, maybe because the episode itself actually skips it and so they thought it wouldn't matter?
An announcer gets the demonstration started:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンス 「さあ会場の皆さん、お待たせしました！いよいよ四天王カンナのポ
ケモンバトルデモンストレーションの開始です。明日のポケモンマスターを目指すトレーナーの皆さん、四天王カンナによる華麗なるポケモンバトルとくとご覧
ください」 |
Announcer: "Ladies and
gentlemen, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! It's the start
of Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings' battle demonstration extravaganza!
Tomorrow's Pokémon Masters should take an especially close look
at Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings' magnificent battle." |
Announcer: "Welcome,
Pokémon fans, to Mandarin Island Stadium. Now it's my pleasure
to introduce to you one the Orange Island's best, the one and only
Prima! Her Pokémon battle demonstration is about to begin.
Future Pokémon Masters watch closely and you may learn
something." |
The Japanese version never specifies that the place they're all in is the "Mandarin Island Stadium," nor that Kanna is "one of the Orange Island's best." These are both 4Kids additions.
The Rocket trio hatch a plot:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| コジロウ 「どこかで見たと思ったらあのおねえさん四天王のカンナだったんだ」 |
Kojirou: "So that's why she
seemed so familiar. She's Kanna of the Four Heavenly Kings." |
James: "I knew she looked
familiar. I must have seen her in the newspaper or on TV." |
| ニャース 「四天王のポケモンニャンて捕まえたら高く売れるニャ」 |
Nyarth: "If we were to capture
some of those Four Heavenly King Pokémon we'd be able to sell
them for a high price." |
Meowth: "And of course the
best Trainer's Pokémon are in tip-top fightin' shape." |
| ムサシ 「カンナのポケモン必ずゲットするわよ！」 |
Musashi: "Then it's settled.
We're getting Kanna's Pokémon!" |
Jessie: "There's an idea. Why
don't we try to take hers?" |
| コジロウ & ニャース 「おう！」 |
Kojirou & Nyarth: "Right!" |
Meowth: "I wish!" |
The English dub really doesn't want to use the phrase "Elite Four," huh?
Eyecatch
The two genders:
 |
 |
Machop, by the way, won't make its next appearance for another nine episodes.
Dialogue Edit
Tracey and Misty fawn over "Prima" back at her, um, "house":
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「それにしてもさっきのカンナさんすごかったなあ」 |
Kenji: "...even so, you were
really amazing back there Kanna-san!" |
Tracey: "That was really an
awesome demonstration, Prima." |
| カスミ 「相手を全部一撃でノックアウトしちゃうんだもんね」 |
Kasumi: "And to think you
knocked out
all your opponents with just one hit." |
Misty: "You took out all your
opponents with just one attack." |
| ケンジ 「うん ボク、カンナさんのバトルを見てますますファンになりました」 |
Kenji: "Yeah! Seeing you
battle made me an even bigger Kanna-san fan than I was before." |
Tracey: "I learned a lot about
choosing Pokémon and attacks just from watching you." |
| カスミ 「別荘にも招待してもらえたし感激です！」 |
Kasumi: "And then to even be
invited to your vacation home...it's just too good to be true!" |
Misty: "And it was really
super nice of you to invite us to your house." |
| カンナ 「喜んでもらえて私もうれしいわ」 |
Kanna: "I'm happy that you're
happy." |
Prima: "I'm glad you could
come. It's nice to have company." |
This came up in a previous rewrite as well, but the house our heroes are visiting in the second half of the episode is Kanna's vacation home, not her actual home home. It kind of sounds like the English dub is implying that "Prima" actually lives in the Orange Islands when there's no such implication in the original.
Ash finally breaks his silence:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「あっ！分かった」 |
Satoshi: "Oh! I get it!" |
Ash: "I figured it out!" |
| カスミ 「何よ？いきなり」 |
Kasumi: "What? What's this
sudden..." |
Misty: "Figured what out?" |
| サトシ 「カンナさんはオレにポケモンバトルの…ええ～っと何だっけ？」 |
Satoshi: "Kanna-san was trying
to teach me about the...um...eso...eso...?" |
Ash: "Prima's trying to teach me using that...uh, what do they call that again?" |
| ピカチュウ 「ピカ？」 |
Pikachu: "Pika?" |
Pikachu: "Pika" |
| サトシ 「そう！奥義を教えようとしてくれてるんだ」 |
Satoshi: "Got it! Esoteric
techniques of Pokémon battling!" |
Ash: "Oh yeah, she's using perverse psychology on me." |
| カスミ
「あんた、ほんとに意味分かって言ってんの？」 |
Kasumi: "Do you have any idea
what you're saying?" |
Misty: "You know, you sound smarter with your mouth shut." |
In the Japanese version there's a neat little callback to "The Four Heavenly Kings' Shiba Enters!", the other episode to feature a member of the Kanto Four Heavenly Kings that'd aired by this point. In that episode, if you remember, Satoshi spends a significant amount of the episode trying to figure out the ougi, or "esoteric technique," that he believes Shiba holds the key to. If I can just figure this out, he decides, he can become a truly great Pokémon Trainer. Well it turns out that there wasn't really any such thing and that the key to being a great Trainer is friendship with your Pokémon and believing in the Heart of the Cards or whatever, but it seems like this little adventure he had back then left on impression on our young hero because he brings it up again here.
In the original dialogue, Satoshi thinks that everything Kanna's been doing up until now has been an attempt to teach him her ougi, or "esoteric technique." That's the thing that all members of the Four Heavenly Kings have, right? Kasumi then looks over at him and wonders if he ever actually found out what that word means.
The dub didn't seem to catch this reference, but on the other hand kudos to 4Kids for finding a way to sneak the word "perverse" into an episode referencing a cartoonishly big breasted woman!
"Prima" responds:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「奥義かどうかは分からないけど私なりにルールをもってやってるわ」 |
Kanna: "I don't know if this
is the esoteric technique you're talking about, but I do have a
personal rule." |
Prima: "Everyone has a
personal style, their own particular way of battling." |
| ケンジ 「ルール？」 |
Kenji: "Personal rule?" |
Tracey: "What's yours?" |
| カンナ 「水と氷になるの」 |
Kanna: "To become like water
and ice." |
Prima: "I try to behave like
water." |
| サトシ 「水と氷に？」 |
Satoshi: "Water and ice?" |
Ash: "What do you mean, Prima?" |
| カンナ 「ふだんは流れるままの自然体な水。バトルの一瞬に氷の厳しさをもって
挑むけどすぐに解けて流れ出す…ってね」 |
Kanna: "I try to go with the
flow like water in its natural state. In the moment of battle I'll go
at it with the rigidity of ice, but as soon as it's over I melt right
back and flow on." |
Prima: "When I'm not battling,
I try to go with the flow. But as soon as the battle begins I become as
unforgiving as ice. Then, I melt right back and flow on." |
The final line here in the English version is a fairly decent rendering of what's said in the original but everything leading up to it has enough little changes here and there that I thought it was worth bringing up.
”Prima" tries to teach Ash a lesson:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「ポケモンたちはトレーナーの真剣な心を感じ取ったとき、共に歩んでく
れるわ。手を抜いたり慢心したりするとすぐに見抜かれてしまうの」 |
Kanna: "When a Pokémon
can sense just how serious their Trainer is they'll follow suit. But
when that Trainer starts cutting corners or getting too arrogant then
they'll sense that too." |
Prima: "A Trainer can be
successful with any number of styles but the most important thing, the
most important thing, is knowing, really knowing where your true
strength lies." |
| サトシ 「オレ、真剣だよ。いつだって」 |
Satoshi: "Well that's good
because I am serious.
Every single time." |
Ash: "Good, 'cause I'm strong.
Real strong." |
| カンナ 「ポケモンマスターには、トレーナーの力だけじゃなれないのよ」 |
Kanna: "But being a
Pokémon Master takes more than just being strong." |
Prima: "That's good, but to
become a Pokémon Master you need a different kind of strength. |
| サトシ 「そんなこと分かってるさ！」 |
Satoshi: "I know that!" |
Ash: "Yeah? What kind of
strength is that?" |
| カンナ 「もっとポケモンを感じるの。心を開いてもっとポケモンを感じてごらん
なさい」 |
Kanna: "You need to get more
in tune with your Pokémon. Try opening your heart and putting
yourself in your Pokémon's shoes." |
Prima: "The strength that
comes from inside. And with that strength you can share your heart with
your Pokémon." |
| ケンジ
「ポケモンを感じるか…」 |
Kenji: "In your
Pokémon's shoes..." |
Tracey: "I can almost...feel what you mean." |
So this entire section is more or less completely rewritten, huh! The original advice is for Satoshi to become more in tune with his Pokémon since, as we saw with Lizardon in the last battle, Satoshi still has a ways to go in that department. It's all about the bond between Trainer and Pokémon, basically. The English dub, meanwhile, seems to almost entirely ignore the "Pokémon" aspect of all this and instead focuses more on Ash tapping into the power he has within.
Ash challenges Prima to a battle:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「オレ、ちゃんと四天王と戦いたいんだ！」 |
Satoshi:
"I wanna have a real battle with a member of the Four Heavenly Kings!" |
Ash: "I want to have the
chance to prove how good I really am." |
| カンナ 「ハァ…分かったわ。ついてらっしゃい」 |
Kanna:
(sighs) Alright, fine. Follow me." |
Prima: (sighs) "OK, let's
battle." |
| サトシ 「やった！」 |
Satoshi:
"All right!" |
Ash: "All right!" |
| ケンジ 「あれじゃサトシは火だな」 |
Kenji:
"Seems like Satoshi's all fired up." |
Tracey: "This should be a good
one." |
| カスミ 「氷対火ってわけね」 |
Kasumi:
"So I guess that'll makes this fire vs. ice, huh?" |
Misty: "Yeah, fire versus ice." |
If you're watching the English dub you might wonder what in the world Misty's talking about here. For whatever reason, 4Kids decided to rewrite Kenji's line where he sets up the idea that Satoshi is "fire" but then decides to leave Kasumi's "ice" line as-is, creating this weird non-sequitor in the dub that wasn't there originally.
Also, the term "Elite Four" is still forbidden, apparently.
Soon after, Ash and "Prima" have a Pokémon battle. After Ash gets beat, his opponent approaches him:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「頑張ったわね、ピカチュウ。痛かった？ごめんね」 |
Kanna: "You did really well,
Pikachu. Does it hurt? I'm sorry..." |
Prima: "I'm sorry I had to do that, Ash. Are you alright, Pikachu?" |
| ピカチュウ 「ピーカ…」 |
Pikachu: "Piika..." |
Pikachu: "Piika..." |
| カンナ 「キミは力任せに突進しちゃうタイプなのね」 |
Kanna: "Satoshi, you're the
type of
Trainer who relies on brute strength to charge ahead." |
Prima: "You're very confident
in your skills as a Trainer. " |
| サトシ 「えっ？」 |
Satoshi: "Eh?" |
Ash: "Huh?" |
| カンナ 「ポケモンバトルはトレーナーの独り相撲になっちゃいけないの」 | Kanna: "But you can't allow
Pokémon battles to become all about you, the Trainer." |
Prima: "But you don't become a great Pokémon Trainer just by using your skills." |
I swear every time Kanna opens her mouth to give some kind of advice 4Kids is like "nope, can't use that, we'll just make up our own dialogue."
More rewritten advice:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「そう。キミがポケモンマスターを目指すのなら負けることも大事だと知
りなさい」 |
Kanna: "That's right. If you
want to become a Pokémon Master then you need to learn that
losing
is a vitally important part of that." |
Prima: "That's right. And
remember that losing is a very important part of becoming a
Pokémon Master." |
| サトシ 「負けることも？」 |
Satoshi: "It is?" |
Ash: "But why is that?" |
| カンナ 「いっぱい負けて、いっぱい悔しい思いをするの。そのとき自分一人の力
ではどうにもならないことが仲間の力が必要だということが分かるはずよ」 |
Kanna: "You need to accumulate
losses and experience frustration. Once you do that you'll realize
there are some things you simply can't do by yourself, things you
need your teammates' power for." |
Prima: "You need to experience
the pain and disappointment of defeat. It's easy to win, but when you
lose you have to rely on your real strengths - the people and the
Pokémon you love and who love you back." |
| サトシ 「仲間の力…みんなの力が！」 |
Satoshi: "My teammates'
power...so you're saying...we're all in this together!" |
Ash: "People and
Pokémon. I'll remember that." |
A lot of this dialogue is actually fairly close, by this episode's standards anyway, but it's Kanna's second line here that catches my attention. In the original, Kanna's lesson is that Satoshi, as a Pokémon Trainer, didn't get to where he is today all by himself, and that sometimes you need to suffer devastating losses to remind yourself of that. "Prima," on the other hand, words the lesson so it's less about Ash depending on his teammates and more about him using their power to help dig him out of a slump. The differences are subtle but they are there.
Prima explains the Orange League:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「今キミが挑戦してるオレンジリーグはポケモンとトレーナーが心を一つ
にする絶好の場なのよ」 |
Kanna: "The Orange League
you're competing in right now is the perfect place for Pokémon
and Trainers' hearts to become one." |
Prima: "I know how much you
want to compete in the Orange League but if you want to get there you
have to become closer to your Pokémon than ever before." |
| サトシ 「オレンジリーグが？」 |
Satoshi: "The Orange League
is...?" |
Ash: "How do I do that?" |
| カンナ 「技を磨いたり仲間との友情を確かめ合ったり共にバトルをしたり。さま
ざまな局面でトレーナーのキミ自身が試されるの。そしてすべてのジムと決戦リーグを制覇したときオレンジリーグの名誉トレーナー認定トロフィーがもらえる
わ」 |
Kanna: "Polish your skills,
reaffirm your friendships with your teammates, and battle together...as
a Trainer you'll find yourself being challenged from all directions.
But, once you've conquered all the Gyms and the
Battle League you'll be able to receive an Honorary Trainer
Certification Trophy." |
Prima: "You'll do that by
battling side by side with your Pokémon. As time goes on, I
think you'll learn almost as much about your Pokémon as you do
about yourself. And when you've conquered all the gyms in the league
you'll be presented with an Honorable Trainer Trophy for your
accomplishments." |
| サトシ 「名誉トレーナー認定トロフィーか？」 |
Satoshi: "An Honorary Trainer
Certification Trophy?" |
Ash: "An Honorable Trainer
Trophy for me?" |
| カンナ 「それこそがポケモンとトレーナーの心の証しよ」 |
Kanna: "And that, right
there, will be the symbol of the hearts of the Trainer and his
Pokémon." |
Prima: "That's if you prove
you have the heart of a true Pokémon Trainer." |
| サトシ 「オレ、そのトロフィー絶対ゲットする！ポケモンたちのためにも頑張る
よ」 |
Satoshi: "I'll make sure to
get that trophy! I'll do it not just for me, but for my Pokémon
as well!" |
Ash: "I'll prove it, and I
won't forget what you said. Thank you, Prima. Thank you very much." |
It's amazing how literally every single line in this exchange contains some kind of rewrite.
I'd also like to point out that the "Honorable Trainer Trophy" Ash mentions here will eventually get renamed the "Winner's Trophy" in the episode "Enter the Dragonite." So much for consistency! The Japanese version, as you may assume, will keep the name the same from episode to episode.
After Team Rocket makes their entrance:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| コジロウ 「あんた偉いのねぇ」 |
Kojirou: "Well look at you,
Miss High and Mighty!" |
James: "Bravo!" |
| Jessie: "Very inspiring!" | ||
| ムサシ 「鼻につくったらありゃしない」 |
Musashi: "It's talk like that
that makes my skin crawl." |
James: "So sorry to interrupt the pep rally." |
| Jessie: "We'd love to hear the rest of your lecture." | ||
| ニャース 「偉すぎてイヤな感じ」 | Nyarth: "You're so up there it
makes us want to blast off." |
Meowth: "Is it available on CD?" |
| カンナ 「あなたたち！どなたでしたっけ？」 |
Kanna: "You guys again!
Waitaminute...do I know you?" |
Prima: "Tape only! (whispers) $18.95." |
At the time this episode came out cassette tapes were basically already on the way out in the US, with the "compact disc" being the preferred method of delivering audio to consumers. So while "Prima" here might be a great Pokémon Trainer she's an absolutely terrible businesswoman!
The Rocket trio reveal they've been eavesdropping this whooooooole time:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「あ～ららやる気？」 |
Musashi: "My my, still wanna
fight?" |
Jessie: "I forgot. You'd
rather battle." |
| コジロウ 「でも負けろって言われたんだろう？」 |
Kojirou: "But didn't she just
tell you to you needed to lose more?" |
James: "Losing is very
important, isn't it?" |
| ニャース 「ニャ―たちなんか負けまくってるから奥義を極めてるニャ！」 |
Nyarth: "The three of us have
lost so much we've basically mastered that esoteric technique Nya." |
Meowth: "Yeah, losing is so
important it's what we based our whole career on." |
| ケンジ 「う～ん なるほど」 |
Kenji: "Well...that's one way
to look at it." |
Tracey: "Hm. They're weird." |
| コジロウ 「よって！お前たちに敗北の奥義を伝授してやるぜ」 |
Kojirou: "We'll be happy to
help you learn the esoteric technique of defeat!" |
James: "Call us names if you
like but we're not leaving without Pikachu." |
| サトシ 「そうはいくか！」 |
Satoshi: "That's what you
think!" |
Ash: "That's what you think!" |
| カンナ 「待って！」 |
Kanna: "Wait!" |
Prima: "Don't fight." |
| サトシ 「えっ？」 |
Satoshi: "Huh?" |
Ash: "Huh?" |
| カンナ 「奥義を極めているのならより高みを目指さなきゃね。いけ！モンスター
ボール」 |
Kanna: "Since you're mastered
that esoteric technique so much I think you'd better aim for something
higher.
Go Monster Ball!" |
Prima: "There's no reason to
argue. Maybe I can cool them down. I choose Jynx!" |
The Rocket trio pick up on the ougi ("esoteric technique") discussion from earlier to guide this entire exchange but 4Kids does everything they can to avoid bringing it up at all.
Prima orders Jynx to attack:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「れいとうパンチ！」 |
Kanna: "Ice Punch!" |
Prima: "Ice Beam attack!" |
So what's the reason for this change, hmm? Lip flaps again?
Right after Jynx freezes Jessie's lipstick right off her face:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ニャース 「も…もしかして…」 |
Nyarth: "When...when she
said..." |
Meowth: "I can't move my
Meowth." |
| ムサシ 「より高みというよりは…」 |
Musashi: "...something higher,
I didn't think she meant..." |
Jessie: "..." |
| コジロウ 「よりさぶい所に行ったりして」 |
Kojirou: "...a freezing
mountain top." |
James: "I got the cold shoulder...and everything else." |
The Rocket trio make a reference to Kanna's previous line in the original but the dub has the trio make a bunch of unrelated cold puns instead.
We're at the home stretch now! Prima gives our heroes somewhere to go:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「ここから一番近いジムはビッグシティにあるわ」 |
Kanna: "The closest gym from
here is in Big City." |
Prima: "The nearest gym is
Trovita." |
| サトシ 「ビッグシティ？」 |
Satoshi: "Where's that?" |
Ash: "Trovita?" |
| カンナ 「マンダリン島を横断した反対側にある街よ」 |
Kanna: "It's a city on the
other side of the island." |
Prima: "Go to the other side
of the island and straight across the bay." |
| サトシ
「よーしピカチュウ！ビッグシティへ行くぜ！」 |
Satoshi: "Alright Pikachu!
Let's head for Big City!" |
Ash: "OK, Pikachu, ready for
Trovita?" |
| ピカチュウ
「ピカ！」 |
Pikachu: "Pika!" |
Pikachu: "Pika!" |
Prima tells Ash and his friends that Trovita is "straight across the bay," suggesting the gym's not on the same landmass they're currently on right now. Kanna, meanwhile, simply states the gym's in a place called Big City.
Prima bids our heroes farewell:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カンナ 「みんなの旅はどんなことだって無駄にならないわ。頑張ったね」 |
Kanna: "I hope you have a
journey where none of what you experience goes to waste. Good luck." |
Prima: "It's been a pleasure
meeting you all. And I hope I've helped you at least...a little." |
| サトシ 「はい。オレ迷ったら風や波の声を聞いてカンナさんの言ったことを思い
出すよ」 |
Satoshi: "Thank you. And
whenever I feel lost I'll be sure to listen to the wind and waves and
remember what you taught me." |
Ash: "You have. And if I ever
get into trouble, I'll listen to the wind and think about all the
things you taught me, Prima." |
| カスミ 「あたしも水系ポケモンマスター目指して頑張ります！」 |
Kasumi: "And I'll do my best
to aim to be a Water Pokémon Master!" |
Misty: "And I'm gonna try my
best to go with the flow just like you do, Prima." |
| ケンジ 「ボクもいろんなポケモンに出会っていつかはその謎を解き明かしてみせ
ます」 |
Kenji: "And I'll be sure to
meet lots of different Pokémon and solve that mystery someday." |
Tracey: "And no matter what
I'm always gonna remember that my Pokémon and I are partners and
friends." |
Ash's line here is the only one there that even slightly resembles the original, huh? I can maybe see why 4Kids would change Kenji's line (what "mystery" is he talking about...?) but the rest? Could've easily been kept as-is.
And finally (!!!), the closing narration:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「決意も新たに再びポケモンマスターへの道を歩き出すサトシた
ち。第３のジムがサトシたちの挑戦を待っている」 |
Narrator: "With newfound
determination, Satoshi and his friends set out on the path to become a
Pokémon Master. The challenge of the third Gym is waiting our
heroes." |
Narrator: "So, with new
insights into the world of Pokémon, Ash moves closer to his
dream. Another gym and another adventure is just around the bend." |
Well, if nothing else 4Kids is very thorough; if they're going to rewrite an episode then they're going to rewrite the entire thing, huh?
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