Tokyo Mew Mew/Mew Mew Power Episode 6 (5 For the Original) Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: After seeing Ichigo make an amazing jump due to her cat powers, the school rhythmic gymnastics team recruits her to help them win an upcoming tournament. Everything you expect to happen happens.

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You see a truck coming at you from pretty far away, like not even close to hitting you even a little, so you decide to stop in the middle of the crosswalk and gawk like a moron instead of continuing to run across the street to SAFETY? Well, okay. Also, why is Ichigo so much slower than her friends? If she’s really as catlike as we’re supposed to believe, then she could be able to, at the very least, keep up with them.

Her friends don’t compare her to a cat in the original. They just say that she’s been doing more and more impossible stuff lately and that she seems superhuman.

By the way, while looking up the captain’s name for comparison purposes, I found that 4Kids did title the episodes, they just don’t have title cards for some reason.

So check out these MEWTASTIC titles.

“The Mew Kid in Town”

“Mew Two” (Oh that’s REAL cute, 4Kids, real cute.)

“Pooltergeist”

“Gymewtastics” (This episode, and wow could they have stretched a little more for that pun? If it even is one)

“Party ’til You Mew”

“Spa Blahs”

“Butterflies are Freaky” (I don’t know how to respond here)

“A Girl with a Porpoise” (Because Lettuce is a finless porpoise GET IT?)

“One Flew Out of the Mew Mews Nest” (Okay, first of all, if you’re trying to reference what I think you’re referencing, it’s ‘One Flew OVER the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ not ‘out of’. Second of all, isn’t that kind of a heavy movie to be poking fun at in a title for a kid’s show?)

Surprisingly, some of the titles are actually good and fitting (not these, obviously). It’s like 4Kids picks and chooses when it wants to be stupid.

Name Change: The gymnastics captain whom I don’t think is given a name is called Mary Lou in the dub….Mary Lou? Really? Did she hop on a TARDIS and travel from the 1940’s?

The girls don’t harp on the gymnastic squad’s lack of pants (they’re wearing leotards and jackets) in the original. I guess 4Kids wanted to assure kids that the girls weren’t in their panties, but that’s still a little dumb.

Originally the girls really wanted Ichigo to join their squad because they needed one more person to make up a legit squad for some competition that they have to enter or else their club will be disbanded. In the dub, they act like they’re not good enough to win on their own and they need Ichigo’s skills (or lack thereof) to help them win. Also, isn’t that the cliché of cliches to have a club that needs to win some competition in order to stay as a club?

Mary Lou’s voice is awful. She also sounds way too old for the role, like she’s in her thirties. Not as bad as Mark, but pretty damn bad.

Ichigo says she shouldn’t join the team because she’s never done rhythmic gymnastics and starts to say that she either needs to work at the café or do Mew Mew stuff after school. In the dub, she says she shouldn’t join because her balance sucks so much that she loses her balance if a cute boy walks by.

The captain just calls Ichigo’s jump a high jump, not a triple rotation pivoted whatchamajigger.

What a weird thing 4Kids did. After Ichigo turns around, she says to herself that they saw her jump earlier. In the dub, they freeze her mouth and make her think “That was my secret power” First of all…what? Second, what is the point of this? Why freeze this shot and make her think to herself instead of having her talk softly instead? Does Zoey’s VA not possess the ability to whisper?

The blond haired girl tells Ichigo that she might be a star with her superhuman techniques, and Ichigo responds by saying they’re trying to think for her. In the dub, Moe builds on what Miwa was saying about Aoyama being in the gym a lot during Kendo by saying he’ll get a crush on her for sure when seeing her do gymnastics (Aren’t they already kinda dating-ish, though?) and Ichigo responds by saying she’d never want him to see her a leotard.

Ichigo rejects the offer because she’s busy. In the dub, she rejects because she doesn’t think she’d be good at it.

Ehhhh, does it count as sexual assault if three girls forcibly rip off your clothes and make you dress in a leotard?

I know they’re saying “And lean, and reach and crack” in the dub but it REALLY sounds like they’re saying “And lean, and reach and crap!” Which, given the position, is completely viable too.

Akasaka says rhythmic gymnastics are great because they celebrate the female form and promote expressionism, like bouncing the ball is an expression of the feeling of being in love. In the dub, he just says extracurricular activities are great because of energy and exercise and whatnot.

Ichigo says she can’t keep up with the gymnastics training unless she transforms and uses her Mew powers since she can’t seem to control when she uses the moderate powers she has when she’s not transformed. Then she wonders if there’s a way to control her powers outside of transformation. Akasaka wonders about that idea, and Ichigo says she should ask Shirogane about it.

In the dub, most of this is relatively the same, but she’s really wondering why she can’t just be in Mew form the entire time and says that her life is full of secrets; secret powers, secret crushes, secret diaries. Wesley then inquires about the diaries, and Zoey tells him to forget she said that.

Originally, Ichigo thinks that Shirogane’s room seems kinda lonely since he only has a bed and a computer. Then she wonders why he lives in such a small, empty room when he has so much money. She then thinks about Shirogane and how he’s always with her.

In the dub, screw any sort of emotional development. Zoey sees Elliot standing in his room and she thinks it’s ridiculous that he’s ‘posing for himself’. Then, as she looks around his room, she realizes that it’s pretty empty, but probably rightfully so as it has to have room to fit his ego (her words, not mine). Then she goes on an inner tangent wondering stuff about rooms and what people would think if they saw her room.

The X on Shirogane’s bottle of water is edited off….because…kids don’t know what X is? Well, they haven’t started algebra I guess. Or maybe 4Kids thought that X meant he was drinking poison.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

So 4Kids erases Kisshu’s groin lines on his stomach, but Shirogane can stand there shirtless with his pants unbuttoned and no one bats an eye?

Several shots are edited out of the end of this scene before Shirogane spots Ichigo. Her opening the door further, Shirogane standing looking at the bottle, taking a drink, Ichigo watching him and Shirogane slowly noticing her as well as Ichigo realizing that he’s noticing her are all edited away. Ichigo’s such a peeping tom…….or….Is it still peeping tom if she’s a girl? Peeping…Tom….antha?

Elliot doesn’t accuse Zoey of being a peeper like Shirogane did. Instead, he calls her a spying little sister.

Ichigo’s not mad at Shirogane in the original – she has no reason to be. She just thinks it was a mistake trying to ask him about the powers. In the dub, Zoey is mad at Elliot I guess because he accused her of spying on him, which she was, so she has no right to be mad.

Masha tells Ichigo that Aoyama is coming. Mini-Mew tells Zoey “Crush Alert, crush alert.” *sigh*

In the original, Ichigo’s obsessed with the ribbon again due to her cat nature. In the dub, she’s doing so well on her routine because she’s obsessed with Mark. In both versions she got more motivated because of Aoyama/Mark, but the dub is entirely focused on Mark with no mentions of the cat stuff.

Hold on to your underwear everyone – 4Kids actually translated a sign instead of erasing it. I have to say, the sign actually looks pretty damn good.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

In the original, Ichigo’s wondering when/if Aoyama will show up. In the dub, she’s worried that people she knows might be there to see her compete because it would be so embarrassing….Wait, this makes no sense in the dub. She’s excited about Mark being there, but would be so embarrassed if other people that she knew were there? When Mark is like one of the most important people in her life? What?

Well, they butchered this next scene. In the original, Ichigo is actually very happy to see Mint, Lettuce, Akasaka and even Shirogane. Mint tells her that they came to cheer her on, and Shirogane, now with the knowledge that she’s involved in rhythmic gymnastics, says that it’s great and wishes her luck. She genuinely thanks them for coming and we go to the next scene.

In the dub, since the line about being SO EMBARRASSED if other people, besides super important crush Mark, were to see her there was muscled in, this next scene is terribly awkward. Corina greets Zoey with a tone dripping of “I can’t wait to see you make an ass out of yourself.” Zoey responds with a forced greeting, and Wesley says they came to cheer her on. Zoey replies by feigning happiness. Elliot says he was dragged there by them and says not to blow it to which Zoey forces out a thanks to them. Awkward, unneeded, unnecessarily stupid and somewhat mean. That’s 4Kids for you.

Daikan Junior High is changed to Mountain Valley High School.

Text on a banner behind the stage is edited out.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

More banners behind Ichigo are de-texted.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

What is with this weird thing that Mary Lou has in the dub about thinking Zoey’s super close to her? A scene ago she was acting like Zoey was working hard to impress Mary Lou and now she’s telling her to focus on her in order to calm down.

4Kids changes all music, but this made me laugh. In the original, when Aoyama enters the stadium, cute music box music is playing. It’s not a new song, but it’s still cute and endearing.

In the dub, this is changed to—I don’t even know if I can describe it accurately. You know that lame super cheesy dreamy music they use when they want to over-dramatize love scenes? The kind of music that would play when two people are running across a beach into each other’s arms? That’s what 4Kids decided to use. It’s not cute or endearing at all, it’s hilariously lame.

The sign above the emergency exit is completely gone instead of just wiped clean of the small picture and nearly microscopic text.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Sure hope no one needs to know where the EMERGENCY EXITS are.

Oh hey we FINALLY get to see Lettuce’s full transformation. Let’s get it on!

– it…..

Oh, false alarm. The transformation is full in the original but only partial in the dub, so I can’t do it. Hmph.

Also, they screwed with the transformations even further. Originally, Mint transformed first, Lettuce second and finally Ichigo. In the dub, Zoey goes first, then Corina then Bridget, but only Zoey’s is full and the others are cut. Also, they a poppy vocal song to the dub transformation sequence called ‘We’ve Got the Animal Instinct.’ Like many 4Kids’ fare it’s very lame lyrically but catchy musically.

Yet another instance where all three of them are saying the motto, yet the shot only focuses on Ichigo. Why bother doing that if all of the spotlight is on Ichigo? They put so much emphasis on Ichigo sometimes I really wonder why the other characters even exist besides more storylines.

Guys, I’m not kidding, I’m going to go insane if I have to listen to 20 more instances of Mew Mew power in my face. I just can’t.

Where did Kisshu get an otter to corrupt? Did he stop off at the zoo?

Hongo Junior High School, the team that won over Ichigo’s, is changed to Carmell High School.

I guess we can call this a change. Mint originally points out that the team likely only placed second because Ichigo made so many mistakes. Akasaka then points out that it couldn’t be helped since she was so tired after the battle.

In the dub, Corina says second place seems lame after Zoey helped save everyone, and then Wesley says it can’t be helped because other people have no idea what she did. To be fair, she shouldn’t really want to win because she saved everyone. She should want to win because the team earned it.

Zoey also doesn’t mention anything about making misses in the dub whereas Ichigo apologizes for making mistakes.

Originally, Ichigo just asks what the otter is doing there. In the dub, Zoey says she hopes it doesn’t blow her cover….what? How the friggety hell would it do that? Write “Zoey’s a Mew Mew” on a ball and bounce it on his nose?

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What an utterly pointless filler episode. The characters of the day didn’t even get names (in the original anyway), the plot was forced, and it seems hard to believe that Ichigo trained enough to be good enough at something she’s never done before to enter and place in a regional competition.

The chimera animal was also forced. It seems like they went the whole episode writing a slice of life show and then BOOM, oh crap we’re a magical girl show. Better throw in an enemy. I still don’t know where the otter came from. And to make matters worse, 4Kids robbed me of my Lettuce transformation comparison again. Urgh.

Pudding is not up next, it’s more filler. But wait, it’s the episode that has the American woman. Yay!

…Previous Episode

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