Hello again. By the time
you read this, I will have returned from my father's. I had intended
to write this recap during the time I was there, but I ended up
spending more time
with my father at his
request. Apart from that, it is now summertime. Just as well, it's
time to
hit the beach and cover
another episode of Pokémon, but this episode is a little bit
different.
One of the things I wanted
to do when I started this blog was to cover the banned episodes of
Pokémon. Ones that were blacklisted from viewing in the US and
subsequently
never got a proper home
video or DVD release. I will be discussing the reasons why they
were banned, as well as the
reasons why they will not be getting official releases in our
lifetime.
The first of these
episodes is “Beauty and the Beach”. While it was just another
episode
in Japan, in the US, it was
deemed offensive enough that its intended initial airing was skipped.
It later aired in 2000 as a
“lost episode” with the offending material trimmed out. To this
day,
it has only been rerun once
and most of the official materials in the US try to pretend it never
happened.
When it first was going to
be aired on Kids' WB, the second movie was in theaters. My
parents gave me a choice of
staying home to watch the episode or to go see the movie. I chose
the movie. Given how I
found the episode circulated on YouTube and other video-sharing sites
at age 16; maybe it's for
the best that I didn't see it when it first aired. So, as the first
official
recap of the summer, let's
head for the sun and surf as we open up the very first banned episode
of Pokémon, “Beauty and
the Beach!”
We open on a flashback of
the previous chronological episode, “Island of the Giant
Pokémon;” which ended
the 3-episode St. Anne arc. It shows how Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie,
and James got reunited with
their missing Pokémon.
They then happened upon the
resort town of Porta Vista, and we get our title card.
About why it's like this:
the copy I'm using to write this recap is from a fan-made uncut
version with the English
audio over the Japanese video. You're going to find out why later.
Misty comes over in a very
slick bikini. She asks how the water is.
Ash says “it's weird to
see her looking like a girl.” Misty, not amused, throws a beach
ball at Ash. Typical, as
Misty is a tomboy; only really wanting to be a lady when she deems it
proper.
We cut to Team Rocket in
the very first appearance of the Gyarados submarine. They're
out to pickpocket the
beachgoers in Porta Vista.
The next thing we see is
that Ash has taken a boat. Everyone wonders who borrowed it.
Insert a School Days or
Lonely Island joke here.
The boat and Gyarados
submarine clip each other and go out of control. The boat even
crashes into a dock.
 |
| Well, there's another fine mess I've gotten us into. |
An old man comes up, angry
about the dock and the boat, both of which belong to him.
He notices Misty and says
she reminds him of his granddaughter. Ew. Anyway, they decide
to work for the old man to
pay off their debt.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket is on
another part of the beach. They wonder how they're going to fix
their sub when an old woman comes up.
 |
| I tell you, Angelica Pickles did not age well. |
The woman says she doesn't
want squatters on her beach. James asks if they can work
as waiters in her
restaurant. Jessie objects, but Meowth says they need money to repair
their
sub. They reluctantly agree
to work at the woman's restaurant.
Ash and Brock are trying
to attract customers to the restaurant where they're working,
to no avail. Jessie, on the
other hand, is much more successful.
Ash is surprised to see
Jessie there. Brock remarks that Jessie looks good in the uniform
of the restaurant as well
as her Team Rocket uniform. That's weird, you never expressed
attraction to her before,
Brock. Then again, her skirt and midriff-baring top are pretty
revealing;
though the skirts were a
lot shorter on Star Trek.
Team Rocket even dismisses
the restaurant Ash and crew are working at as a “no-quality
dive”. No, I don't think
it starts getting into that area until droid detectors are put up,
and
Nevertheless, this angers
them and Ash decides to send out his Pokémon to help at the
restaurant. Pikachu and
Squirtle pass out flyers, Pidgeotto helps keep the charcoal lit with
Gust,
Charmander helps flame
broil food, and Bulbasaur and Misty wait tables. Within moments,
the place is packed.
Team Rocket is not happy
with the attention that their competition is getting. Meowth
then sets out to sabotage
their rivals. Meowth uses a giant fan, an oil pump, and the old
cliché
of banana peels to wreck up
their competition. The customers are gone, quick as they came.
Everyone is down about what
happened.
Ash apologizes to the old
man, named Moe, about what happened. Moe says they at
least tried, despite all
the accidents. Misty says it doesn't feel right, and those couldn't
have been
accidents!
The woman, named Brutella,
comes in demanding the money Moe owes her by tomorrow; or she'll
take his boat. Moe says that boat means everything to him, but
Brutella
merely says she'll see him
tomorrow. Team Rocket then taunts them all.
Moe feels horrible, as he
may have to give Brutella the boat because of the money issues. Ash
asks how important the boat is to Moe. Moe says he was planning on
taking it
on a cruise around the
world. Ash encourages Moe not to give up on his dreams, as Ash will
not give up on his own. Ash
is certain they will find some way to get the money.
Just then, Professor Oak
comes in, and wearing a Hawaiian shirt no less. He also has
an idea of what to do. Way
to go, professor. Here's something to commemorate the occasion!
What do you know, Ash's
mother even shows up! The professor hands Ash a newspaper
with an advertisement for
the Porta Vista Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest later
that day. The professor
encourages them to advertise the restaurant; as there are many people
drawn to the area to see
the contest. With all the extra patrons, they will easily get the
money
they need in time. Misty
also decides to enter the beauty contest, as there are cash prizes
for the
beauty and costume
contests. With this, Ash declares that this is the end of their money
troubles.
So, word is spread of the
contest as Pokémon World plays (the dub was in the process
of airing the Orange
Islands episodes at the time this episode aired). Sure enough, Moe's
is packed; much to
Brutella's chagrin.
Delia (Ash's mom) explains
that she and Professor Oak are touring with a volunteer
patrol from Pallet Town.
Professor Oak adds that she worries about Ash. She hopes he's staying
out of trouble. Ash says
not too much, but Moe interjects that Ash helped at his restaurant;
and
that Ash encouraged him.
Ash thanks Moe for the kind words.
The contest has begun as
Misty takes the stage. Get ready folks. The reason I decided
to recap this episode and
the reason it was initially banned, and still is to this day.
 |
| Dun dun DUN! Dun dun DUN! Foxy! |
The Pokémon costume is
Squirtle and Starmie (which Brock mistakenly refers to as a
Staryu) as aliens in a UFO.
That's a pretty good costume.
So, now the subtitled part
of this episode is here, and the reason why this episode was
banned. James is in a
rubber suit with enormous fake knockers. Misty calls him out for
this,
but James simply replies by
inflating his chest at will. It's referred to as the most common
superpower.
 |
| Won't you take a ride, ride, ride, ride, on Heavy Metal! It's the only way that you can travel down that road! |
Naturally, this is because
the standards of what's acceptable for kids in Japan is quite
a bit looser. Let me
demonstrate: Death Note? Kid's show in Japan. Gurren Lagann? Kid's
show
in Japan. One Piece?
Naruto? Bleach? All the anime I just mentioned are a TV-14 at minimum
in the US. So, as you can
imagine, while this wouldn't be that big a deal to the Japanese; when
the episode aired in the
US, all the scenes with James in the suit were cut.
 |
| It's your one-way ticket to midnight! Call it-Heavy Metal! |
Next, we have Ekans and
Koffing as Omanyte, but then, guess who kicks them right
off the stage! Gary Oak.
The swaggering rival of Kanto. You know he's going to ruin your
whole day when he shows up. He is an egotistical and arrogant rival,
and he makes sure
Professor Oak sheepishly
says he forgot to mention Gary was there. Ash is not amused.
Sure enough, Gary begins
talking down to Ash like he always does. Ash decides to rise to the
Brock is really selling
Gary's fan club. It does not make Misty happy; Jessie and James
even less so. Brutella has
repaired their Gyarados sub, and gives Team Rocket a job to do for
them to get it back: wreck up the beauty contest and destroy Moe's
restaurant.
Back at the contest, Ash,
per usual, is not happy with Gary's condescending attitude.
He challenges Gary to a
match, but Gary replies that he only brought his fangirls with him.
Ash calls him chicken, but
Gary fires back by calling Ash an amateur. Ash should be more
careful of who he picks
fights with. Didn't he ever see the Back to the Future movies?
 |
| What do I have to fear? In 8 more seasons, I'll be the only one of the original cast to keep my voice actor! |
Just then, the Gyarados sub
comes on land and starts terrorizing the beachgoers. Ash
isn't fooled at all, and
calls the sub out for what it is: a phony. This ends the panicking,
and Ash
Gary asks Ash if he's going
to freak out. Yeah, he just took control of the situation, and is
continuing to do so as he
sends out Charmander and Pidgeotto to take care of the missile.
Charmander uses Flamethrower to throw off the missile and send it on
Team Rocket.
Team Rocket's reaction is
priceless. Jessie and James have the standard issue wide mouths and
sweat drops, and Meowth even derps a bit when they find out their
plans have once
again gone up in smoke.
The missile goes all the
way to Brutella's restaurant, destroys it, and sends them all
blasting off.
Moe heads off on his boat
trip around the world; and thanks Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu for
believing in him.
Ash, Misty, and Brock head
out; with Delia and the professor remarking what a fine young man
Ash has become. I love this episode, and I love Pokémon still.
“Beauty and the Beach”
is a lush seaside adventure. It is a very strange episode, and not
just because of the
mammaries on James getting it banned. Apart from some nice animation;
you can decide for yourself
if it's worthy of its infamous status. As for what I'm going to do
next: I'm not sure. My town
is facing a record heat wave, which has made it harder for me to
work on this recap. I think
I might do some more recaps of mecha series with Pacific Rim
coming out, as a sort of
alternative to that film. Sword Art Online is coming to Toonami this
month, but it's not a
series I'm interested in. I'm working on more of my backlog. I
finished
Cromartie High School,
watched a little bit more Claymore, and I'm in the process of
re- watching Trigun. So far, Pokémon and One Piece are the series
I'm most actively following;
and I haven't been
particularly impressed with most of the new series in 2013. Anyway,
that's
all for now.
