Sailor Moon Episode 4 (3 for the Dub) (DiC) Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: Usagi has gained some weight and becomes obsessed with dieting in order to get thinner. Meanwhile, Jadeite is using a gym to collect the energies of women (only women apparently) who are vain and obsessed with weight loss.

——————————————–

Title Change: Learn How to be Skinny From Usagi is changed to Slim City.

So today’s episode surrounds Usagi’s weight loss regimen because she’s gotten fa-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!…Ahem, sorry. She’s put on some wei—AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!….Oooohh…..Okay…Okay, I’m sorry. I just find it so hilarious that we’re supposed to buy that Usagi of all people is seen as “chubby.” Or even anything above average weight at most.

She’s like the anime equivalent to Barbie. In fact, her character is infuriating because she eats tons of junk, gets like no exercise, is lazy beyond reason and she still has a body like that. Just like Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew and Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi. It’s ridiculous. It’s not even like they’re trying to address eating disorders or bad body image – her family also agrees that she could stand to lose a few pounds.

In the original, Usagi’s parents and brother actually call her “Chubby,” but ask what the big deal is as it’s alright to be slightly chubby. Then they all point out why she might’ve gained weight (She constantly eats, she gets no exercise, she’s lazy etc.) then she cries because they all pointed that out. I can’t say I blame her. If I freaked out over a few pounds, I wouldn’t want my family making fun of me for it either.

In the dub, they basically enforce that she’s not overweight and that she’s completely overreacting. The weight will come off on her way to school…..Wait, her weight will come off on her way to school? How much does she plan to lose? 1/100th of a pound?

After we see Luna’s drawing of a fat Usagi, there’s a short shot of the house outside as Usagi yells at Luna. In the dub, they edit this shot and the yelling out.

DiC edits in a scene where Beryl has a short meeting with Jadeite before the start of the scene at school. And ya know, I really love when the dub gets preachy. No lie. It’s just gold. Jadeite’s dialogue is so lame in this scene. “They’re so preoccupied with their foolish notions of dieting and fitness.” Yeah, those things do have a purpose beyond vanity, guys. Like, I dunno, staying healthy? Also, they edit out a small scene where Usagi drools over Naru’s lunch and then Umino teases her by offering her his mostly finished lunch.

The flower emblem on the front of the school is changed to “Crossroads Junior High”

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Because the message of this episode seems slightly changed for the dub, the dialogue is mostly changed throughout the scenes. In the scene with Serena speaking with her friends at school, they’re talking about dieting. This much is kept in the dub, but some key things are changed.

First of all, what’s with that awful voice the ‘chubby’ girl in the group has? The dub is trying to a push a “you’re beautiful no matter what size you are” message, yet they give her that horrible man-ish voice? She sounds completely normal in the original.

Second, in the original, the ‘chubby’ girl is actually dieting, but she says she’s having a hard time. Then the looks her friends give her are almost insulting as they say “We know.”

Third, the girl who talks about love making you lose weight doesn’t have a boyfriend in the original. They ask her if she’s ever been in love, she says no and they answer “We know,” and that’s why she suddenly changes her tone. Then the ‘chubby’ girl consoles her and says that we can’t help the way we were born. The other girl lashes out saying that she’s the last person she’d want to hear that from and they act like they’re going to fight.

In the dub, the girl who says those things about love says she has a boyfriend named Michael and the girls call him “Motormouth Michael” which is why she freaks out. Then the ‘chubby’ girl explains that it’s because he IS a motormouth and they act like they’re going to get into a fight over that.

In the original, after Naru starts making accusations toward Umino, he starts acting nervously and tries to make excuses as Naru becomes more suspicious. Then he runs away. In the dub, he instantly runs away after Molly gets suspicious.

An outer shot of the gym is removed.

One of the reasons the girls are so entranced by the entrance is because the woman on the screen is an actress they like. In the dub….Serena just yells with enthusiasm “AEROBICS!” 8D….It’s pretty weird.

When Jadeite tells Molly to get back to work on the bike, he actually tells her to keep working in order to be beautiful. She then agrees and keeps chanting as she’s on the bike “Be beautiful, be beautiful.” The dub looks slightly awkward because Molly blushes when he orders her to get back to work. Why would she do that? Also, she’s silent beyond panting after that in the dub, which makes it look weird with the lip flaps, but DiC sucks at that anyway.

The sign for the bath area is edited out.

Usagi’s breast lines are painted over with water in the dub.

Here are your visuals PERVS!

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Forgive the blurriness for the dub screencap, it’s hard to get it clear when it’s moving.

Hm, I honestly don’t know why this next scene was changed. In the original, those pods are actually supposed to induce some BS called “Shape rays,” which allows you to lose weight insanely quickly. He tells the girls that ‘the chubby one’ could lose 10 Kg in a few minutes with the ray and that the thinner girls could lose 3 Kg. Another thing that was edited out of the dub was the mention that Haruna Sensei lost quite a bit of weight in only two days, and they believe that this is how she did it. In the dub, he says they’re in a spa and that the pods are “relaxation pods.”

The scene after this is the scene they edited in before the scene at school, so it’s condensed to just Beryl watching them from her crystal ball and laughing.

Huh…Why did Haruna Sensei look so healthy and energetic at school, but Naru and the others look like they spent half a week starving in the desert after one trip to that gym?

So we come to our very first change of Japanese food. Well, people eat dumplings in America too, so I dunno. Anyway, Usagi sees a little boy run by with a dumpling and she drools over it basically asking for it.

In the dub, Serena calls the dumpling a donut. (4Kids!!!……Oh sorry….reflex) Interestingly, she also says “You’re not going to eat all those donuts are ya?” DiC, it’s very obvious that’s not a donut. It’s also obvious that that poor kid is only holding one. I’m actually kinda surprised they left this scene in at all. DiC makes just about as many pointless cuts as 4Kids, and this scene really makes Serena look friggin’ creepy.

In the original, she dreams that Motoki is telling her that he’ll help her with his power of love. In the dub, he just tells her not eating isn’t healthy and to have a “big steak with French fries and a chocolate malt.” DiC what exactly was the message here? Yes, not eating is bad, but eating crap is also bad.

The dialogue after the dream is also drastically changed. In the original, Motoki asks Usagi what she meant by not having eaten since yesterday. Then he asks if her mother wouldn’t let her eat because of bad grades or something. She gets slightly offended then says she decided to go on a diet. Motoki then laughs at her for it and Usagi starts crying.

Motoki apologizes and says that she doesn’t need to go on a diet because she’s fine the way she is. If anything, she needs to gain weight. He then adds that he likes chubby girls over super thin girls, and Usagi gets excited because this basically gives her leeway in her diet and she goes to get a dumpling.

In the dub, Andrew says her fainting solidified his wanting to be a doctor. Then Serena’s slightly offended face doesn’t really match as she says “Oh really, you want to be a doctor? You don’t like working at the arcade anymore?” He then laughs because he wouldn’t want to work there forever. Then Serena cries because she’s afraid he might leave town to be a doctor.

He quells her fears by saying he needs to finish school and gain tuition before he quits his job at the arcade. Then he brings up the dieting stuff. However, even this isn’t without change. He basically asks if she’s dieting and tells her she’s fine the way she is. Then he says he’ll take her out for a big lunch and she cheers because of that.

The very ending to this scene is slightly changed. In the original, Motoki gets a sweat drop above his head because he doesn’t know why she’s cheering him admitting that he likes chubby girls, then we change to the scene where she’s eating a dumpling. In the dub, there’s no sweat drop and we get this weird makeshift laughing animation thrown in by DiC when he really didn’t need to be laughing there.

In the original, as Usagi’s talking to Luna, Luna tells her that maybe she misinterpreted what Motoki said. He likes chubby girls not fat ones, and eating all those dumplings isn’t the way to be at a healthy weight. Then Luna instantly switches gears and says that’s not important right now. She starts explaining that Haruna-sensei has gotten terribly thin and that Gym Shapely might be the culprit, but Usagi won’t listen and runs off to diet. In the dub, Luna mentions nothing about Andrew liking chubby girls and preaches more about dieting correctly before finally switching to negaverse talk.

In the dub, for some reason, Serena knows about the relaxation room despite never going down there or being introduced to it.

In the original, because Usagi’s obsessed with weight loss, Luna coaxes her into fighting by saying she’ll lose weight if she fights, so she does it. In the dub, Luna coaxes her into fighting to save Miss Haruna.

During the fight scene that follows, Usagi is talking during her moves. She’s basically parroting the motto the actress said when they first entered the gym. One sweat loses 1 Kg, two sweats lose 5 Kg, three sweats lose 10 Kg. She goes through each step as she attacks each of the three men. Since this wasn’t included in the dub, she doesn’t say a word in this scene, which is fine if you ask me.

In the original, Beryl is impressed that Jadeite managed to collect so much energy and praises him on at least a half-successful mission.

In the dub, Beryl berates Jadeite for failing in his mission halfway and says she’s disappointed in him. Not only is there no purpose in changing this, but it also makes his smiling at the end seem stupid. Why is he smiling if he’s being scolded and says that Sailor Moon is making him mad?

The message of the episode is fairly lost in the original due the ending, which is also changed. In the original, Usagi tells her mother that Haruna-sensei is okay and that she took a week off from school to recover. Usagi’s younger brother then tells their mother to not try any crazy diets like Haruna. Their mother says she wouldn’t and Usagi should be wary of that too. Then we hear Usagi bawling because she gained more weight due to her brother rigging the scale. Shouldn’t the moral of this episode be to not be obsessed with weight loss but it’s a good idea to eat healthy and exercise in moderation?

In the dub, Serena doesn’t mention her teacher. Her mother just tells her to get out of the tub because her brother needs to use the bathroom. Then her brother tells their mother that he’s not really waiting to use the tub, he’s playing a prank. Then Serena bawls because the scale says she weighs 300 pounds. The dub sorta loses the moral as does the original, but they always add the ‘real’ moral to the end of the story in ‘Sailor Says.’ Hey, it actually came in handy for a change!

Next up is another episode that DiC skipped that centers around Usagi’s brother, Shingo, and Jadeite using a pet shop to collect energy.

…Previous Episode

---

If you enjoy my work and would like to help support my blog, please consider donating at my Ko-Fi page. Thank you! ♥

Advertisement