Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode AG 008: "Habuneeku VS Kimori!  Hissatsu no Hataku Kougeki!!"

(Habunake VS Kimori!  The Strike Offensive of Certain Kills!!)

American Episode 280:  "A Tail with a Twist"
Orchid-Hakase Pokémon Lecture:  Togepi
Pokémon Dare Da?  None (Japanese), Gligar (American)
Japanese Air Date:  January 16th, 2003
American Air Date:  December 6th, 2003

It's time for lunch in the Forest of Touka, so everybody lets their pokemon out to enjoy a meal.  Kimori, the group's newest pokemon, is greeted enthusiastically by the other pokemon, but the gecko pokemon isn't the type to be chummy with complete strangers.  As everyone's eating, a Habunake appears and threatens to harm Achamo, but thanks to the efforts of Kimori, the snake pokemon is chased off.  The Rocket-Dan notice the power of the serpent pokemon and decide that they just *have* to have it, so they set up a number of traps in order to catch it.  Everything they try fails until Habunake inadvertently chops off Musashi's hair, causing her to go into a rage during which she KO's the snake pokemon.  Musashi throws the Monster Ball and captures her first Houen pokemon!  Meanwhile, Kimori has gone off by itself to train, and Takeshi guesses that it's doing so because it wants to prove itself in a rematch against Habunake.  Right as Kimori finishes its training, the Rocket-Dan appear to kidnap Pikachu and show off their new pokemon.  Kimori faces off against Musashi's Habunake, and its training seems to have paid off as it quickly defeats the Rocket-Dan's newest pokemon.  Pikachu is rescued and sends the trio blasting off as the group congratulates Kimori.  Kimori finally accepts the other pokemon/humans as its friends and is now a true member of the team.

---

Thoughts
So...how long are the kids gonna be stuck in this forest?  What's that?  This is their last episode in this place!?!?  Woohoo!!

That's only one of the good points about this episode.  Kimori got to become part of the group, even if he was trying to rip off Fushigidane's "tough pokemon" attitude in the process.  And then there's the Habunake vs. Musashi battle--absolutely classic.  It's one of those segments that, no matter how many times you watch it, it never gets old.  Everything about it is perfect, and it's a great sign that the show has finally gotten back on track after years of crap. 

The dub's pretty standard.  While they seemed to have kept more of the music than they usually do (like the music during Musashi's attack against Habunake and the Advance Adventure instrumental), there are still a number of questionable edits.

Habunake keeps its Japanese voice...sort of.  While they replaced its "Habunaaaaaaa~ke!" with "Serviper~!" (it sounds like "Sir Viper" to me), they kept its little raspberry-like cries.  So Habunake is the first Houen pokemon to get two separate voice actors in the dub.

And by the way, thanks to Murgatroyd for correcting my translation of the Japanese episode title.

Side Notes
There were quite a few odd lines of dialogue throughout this episode:

*sigh* I'm a little disappointed that they didn't do anything with that great joke...

Did anyone else think that Jessie's delivery of that line sounded slightly pornographic?  Maybe my mind's just in the gutter (I mean, just look at where Kojirou's hand is during this shot!) but it just sounded really funny to me..

Oh look, what are they calling onigiri this ti--what?  They called them RICE BALLS!?!?!  Repeatedly!? 

Actually, I think this is the only time any term for the Rocket-Dan's favorite food is called the same thing in two separate episodes.  I'm actually somewhat disappointed.  I've come to expect odd and illogical names for these treats, and then they have to go and call them by their REAL names...it just sounds odd to hear them called by something other than sandwiches or onions or whatever else. 

This line is spoken right when Jessie goes into her angry mode.  The thing is, in the Japanese version, Nyasu is saying that Musashi is using her "Scary Face" technique.  I wonder why they translated all her other attacks (including calling Mega Kick by its Japanese name, Megaton Kick) while neglecting to name this one?

Video Edit
Here's an odd edit:  when Musashi is using her "Disturbed Scratch" ("Fury Swipes") attack, she just slashes and slashes and slashes at Habunake, right?  Well, in the dub, the first couple of swipes are replaced by some random full-screen impact stars.  The thing is, the entire sequence is really just the same three or four pictures being shown over and over and over, so it's not like the footage that was replaced was any more graphic than the exact same footage that was shown for the rest of the sequence.  It's all the same, but I guess 4Kids thought that the animation of first few swipes were somehow more graphic than the exact same animation used for the later swipes.

Cut--3 seconds altogether
When we first see Kimori on top of the waterfall (did anyone else think "Oh my God it's gonna kill itself!!") we see it stare over the waterfall for a few seconds.  The scene of it looking was two seconds longer in the Japanese version.  Then, the very next shot, the one with the rock at the bottom of the waterfall, is shortened by a second.

Side Note
Did anyone else notice that Brock's line "Not you again!" (said right after the Rocket-Dan kidnap Pikachu) sounded a lot like his Seto Kaiba voice?  Seems like a case of Eric Stuart forgetting what show he's on for a minute...

Cut--2 seconds
Two seconds from the TO BE CONTINUED screen is cut.   

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