Japanese to English Episode Comparisons
This section is dedicated to pointing out differences between the English dub most of us can easily watch, and the original Japanese production which many of us don't have access too. First, I want to mention DBZ Uncensored the site that inspired me to do this. I also thank Meowth346 who helped me with some of the comparisons. Before we begin, some things that won't be brought up in each comparison. Firstly, the music. When dubbed, 4Kids adds it's own music, and on occasion even replaces the original music. They were really bad for keeping music at the start, but it got better as the season progressed along. They dipped downhill again at the start of 2nd season, and again bounced right back. Episodes 1-37 were dimmed during certain scenes to reduce flashing, this happens a lot, these were done in Japan so 4Kids played no part in it. Each change or cut is listed in order of it happening, modifications using digital computer retouching are colored blue, actual cuts are colored red, and any other things I must mention aren't colored at all. If there is anything missing tell me, or if I stated something wrong.
Below each of the starter
Pokémon Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, there
were little signs in Japanese saying each of there names,
all painted away because they were in Japanese. Actually
when the scene is more distant as Professor Oak is
explaining them beforehand, you can see them, but they are
too small to really notice much. When Ash is in Professor Oak's lab
and he is going through each of the Pokéballs all of
them empty, each Pokémon's name in Japanese was
originally visible on the balls. Again, before this paint,
you can actually see this, but more distant. It seems
Japanese is okay with 4Kids, but only if it is from a
distance. The big sign that they are holding
up in the crowd that says "Go Ash Go!" This was obviously
painted on by 4Kids, but I just thought I'd mention it
anyway. Just to note that whenever Pikachu
sounds abnormally high pitched, that is when Rachael Lillis,
the voice actress for Misty, Jessie, and some of the
Pokémon is filling in Pikachu's voice for when 4Kids
couldn't salvage it from the Japanese version because
Satoshi was talking over him, or someone was talking that
prevented them from taking the original voice sample
cleanly. Cut-(2 seconds)-Misty slaps Ash
when he answers "I'm okay" mistaking Misty for being
concerned about him, as opposed to Pikachu.
I have no clue why they
had to cut this, Characters slap each other around all the
time in this show and it isn't cut. I guess they were just
being more cautious about regulations, not wanting the
series canceled because of this sort of thing. Now that
Pokémon is so popular, it allows them to take more
risks, I suppose.
There was no cutting or painting in
this one, but they did handle the flashing in a very unique
way for this episode. Note that all the dimming is done in
Japan, they used the four-box technique for each frame as
Pikachu zapped Team Rocket from the bike. This is the same
thing they did for the Japanese intro when various Pokemon
flashed by originally, they then appeared in alternating
boxes taking up exactly a quarter of the screen, for all
airings after the seizure incident.
When Caterpie is suddenly upset
because of what Misty says to him in an attempt to get him
to go away, in the English version the background suddenly
turned this patterned purple color. In the original
version there a big red word in katakana that floated by on
top of this same purple patterned background. I think it
symbolizes how upset Caterpie is, *and I'm right!* I
received an e-mail confirming that this "Gaahh" represents
sadness. Thank you Kali. Cut-(3 Seconds)-Misty slaps Ash
again after he wins the battle with Pidgeotto and proclaims
that he is the greatest. Misty is angry because of how
dangerously stupid he was, in that he put Caterpie's life in
danger by choosing it to battle Pidgeotto at
first.
I previously stated in this box
that there wasn't any changing to this episode at all. Well,
after checking over the entire Japanese version, I found
'mika' written on Jessie's Kakuna costume. I have no idea
why it's there, of course it was painted away by 4Kids. But,
I'm still quite satisfied with this episode's English
version, only one dab of paint near the end.
When we first see Flint and his
merchandise there's a sign painted to say "For
Sale" The big Pokémon League
poster. 4Kids did a pretty good job of this one, the English
sign looks pretty good. Although, they missed a scene where
you see it side on. I guess they don't bother if the
Japanese is not legible. When Ash looks down at the
restaurant bill, a number of things have been simply erased,
the title of the bill, the Yen symbol next to the price, and
also the name of the restaurant "Restaurant Nibi" was
erased. It's a shame, because 4Kids could've had a little
fun here designing a Pewter City restaurant logo.... oh
well. ^_^ Whenever the Nibi Gym is shown, of
course the words are painted to read "Pewter
Gym". Small sign along side Flint's
cabin, says "Rocks for Sale" in English, the Japanese
version has a large kanji that means "stone" and then some
words below it that are too small for me to see.. -_-
probably says 'for sale' in Japanese, but I can't make it
out.
The Kanji floating behind Seymour
as he describes himself have been digitally removed.
Also, his two main points
aren't 'knowledge' and 'research' but rather 'love' and
'bravery'. The sign pointing towards Cerulean
city. Also, 4Kids was a bit lazy about the "Gary was here,
Ash is a loser" bit, because in the original, as Satoshi
read it, he fades in sticking his tongue out.
I can't believe I missed this
at first, I guess I just wasn't paying attention, at all.
The sign again, in the preview from
yesterday's episode. The big sign on the Machine shop
that was burglarized by Team Rocket. As well as another
unimportant sign in the background. The sign for the Hanada Gym, it now
reads Cerulean Gym.
The Sign in front of A.J's
(Akira's) gym is entirely different. The numbers are
originally orange colored, the sign is simply white, and it
doesn't look so fancy and modern as 4Kids makes it
look. The big sign inside Akira's gym
that in the English version had a banner graphic with a
Pokéball on it was painted on.
Cut-(4 Seconds)-After Brock
attempts to brake up Ash and Misty's arguement about the
bike, and after the hole closes in on Pikachu waving,
suddenly, Misty whacks Brock on the head real hard with a
big tall log. Even in the
Japanese version, we don't see him being hit, but one of
those full-screen cover up things, frequently used in this
series intended for comic effect. And then, Brock on the
ground in pain with a lump on his head... ^^; The prune juice and spring water
labels. It always seems that 4Kids is replacing Japanese
text with simple graphics. The Pokémon Tech flyer.
4Kids really did something interesting here, they took a
picture of the school, made it black and white, then for the
text, they took some blurred out French thing, and stuck it
below. It's only shown on screen less than a second and it
fools you into thinking the header reads 'Pokemon Tech' and
although it's too blurred out for me to figure out what it
reads, the 3rd word is 'les' or 'the' in English. A little Japanese writing on
Gizelle's picture, also because of it, 4Kids had to
reconstruct the girl beside her who was originally scrawled
over with this writing, and in the process they ended up
making her hair color somewhat lighter. Just after the commercial, they
arrive in the part of the school where they have computers
to simulate the battles. Two things here, first the
elevator, in the English version you see an indicator
showing them approaching the floor, as the pokéballs
light up, in the Japanese version it reads 'Training Room'
and when he plays the simulation, a 4Kids added HP bar is
added to cover up the Japanese behind it.
Various messages and signs on the
green strips on TR's floating stadium.
This is the first episode where
there is really nothing to report. Actually, I'm finding
this dub isn't as bad as people pretend it is, and that
besides the occasional change in music and different
dialogue, there really is little wrong with the dub. All the
reports above are mostly painting over background Japanese
signs, not really important. There have been only three
short things cut so far. This section has been sort of
boring, with no thrilling differences to report, and I guess
that's a good thing, ne?
A 'Ze' on the Squirtle Squad's
flag, as Jenny discusses their past. 4Kids got really lazy
and painted nothing in the middle. An 'S' would've been more
appropriate. Jelly donuts and eclairs? This
one's obvious, but my guide isn't complete here unless I
remind you all about the rice ball thing. They got the
sandwich and lemonade right, but that's all American anyway
so they don't mind. When the Squirtle's have everyone tied up, and after they
let Ash go to get the medicine for Pikachu, in the dub the
Squirtles' threat through Meowth is that 'Misty get's her
hair dyed purple' but, the original threat in
the Japanese version was lots more serious. They
threatened to kill Misty if Ash didn't return soon
enough. Several 'Ze' inside the little
white circles on the back of the firemen jackets, they did
seem a little blank, didn't they?
Comparisons for eps 13-36 currently unavailable. I am working on trying to get those episodes, and as soon as I do, I'll be posting comparisons for them.