Plot: It’s summer break, and a new revelation about the aliens has been brought to the surface that makes the girls sympathize with them. But as long as they’re still hurting people, the battle rages on, even if Ichigo has an important date with Aoyama.
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Ichigo has a flashback in class about a meeting with the Mews, Shirogane and Akasaka. They explain that Masha was able to get some information from the enemy while he was captured a couple episodes ago. They look in shock at the data before Ichigo is snapped out of the flashback/dream by the teacher.
In the dub, they remove this scene and instead use the beginning of the island fantasy Ichigo had last episode that was removed in the dub. She also narrates how summer’s going to be awful because she has to work at the café instead of spending time with Mark. Because why think of plot-related matters when you can daydream about your boyfriend like a good female?
The ending to this daydream, where Aoyama enjoys weird food and grosses Ichigo out is officially removed.
Ichigo is talking when she turns around and blushes. In the dub, they freeze the shot and give her inner monologue instead.
The girls say simultaneously that it’s the season of love before bidding Ichigo farewell. Ichigo repeats the line and then says she shouldn’t be thinking of such things at a time like this.
In the dub, the girls say it’s time to put on their bikinis before parting and saying they’ll see each other at the beach. Zoey repeats the line, then gets angry and complains asking why she’d ever have to be a Mew Mew. Ah, trying hard to focus on responsibilities changed to ‘Why me!? I just wanna date Mark! God, this Mew stuff sucks!’
Originally, the scene directly cuts to a continuation of the flashback. In the dub, they show a short shot of Zoey running up a hill that doesn’t come from this episode and states how the late night research sessions are killing her before cutting to the flashback. They also remove a shot of Shirogane, Akasaka and Masha from the flashback in doing so.
The flashback is changed dialogue-wise to suit the new backstory of the aliens.
In the original, they find footage of the alien’s past in Masha’s data banks. They see video footage of their ancient race that existed far before humans (which exists because reasons), but then take note of something odd. The trees and plants are remarkably similar to those that they have on earth. Akasaka takes note of one plant in particular that is an extinct plant found only in fossils. This leads them to come to the conclusion that the aliens aren’t aliens at all, they’re earthlings – just of an ancient and unknown species.
Many natural disasters caused them to flee their planet out of fear of extinction, but the planet that they decided to inhabit was much worse than the conditions on earth with nearly unbearable weather conditions. They no longer had the ability to head back to earth for some reason and earth became a dream for their race as they all longed to return there.
Zakuro states that, when these beings finally managed to return to earth, they found it being inhabited and ruined by humans. She also states that, if she were them, she’d probably hate humans too. She’s not saying this justifies them attacking humans, but she knows how they feel.
Shirogane agrees. No matter their past or their reasons, the aliens are still attacking humans and they can’t stand for that. Lettuce asks if there’s a way to reason with them, but Shirogane says no. If there was, the Mew Project wouldn’t be needed.
In the dub, the cyniclons are actual aliens from an unknown planet. They were a proud race, but the video footage of the plants somehow prove that they were polluting and destroying their environment – just like we do, as Kiki so preachily points out. Atmospheric warming, which had started hundreds of years before, caught up with them and sparked numerous explosions, fires and volcanic eruptions.
In an effort to save their race, they escaped and headed to an unidentified planet….using the shot of earth as the picture of said planet. Yeah, it’s not like that’s recognizable or anything.
The planet they landed on was even worse than their original one, suffering from horrible snow storms and harsh conditions, thus they sought out another planet to call home and eventually decided earth would be a suitable place.
Renee says she feels bad for them, knowing they watched their loved ones live in such awful environments just dreaming of a nice place to call home. Meanwhile, humans do have a nice planet that they ruin every day. She states that she understands why they’d want to take earth away from such a species.
Elliot says that it’s still no excuse to hurt innocent people. The rest of the scene plays out the same.
I don’t really understand why this was changed. At first, before I watched this scene, I thought it was to make the cyniclons much less sympathetic and their story less tragic, but the story that 4Kids came up with is fairly sympathetic and tragic. However it still paints the picture like they’re bullies who are trying to steal a planet that doesn’t belong to them instead of people who are just trying to reclaim their home from people who seemingly ‘stole’ and abused it.
It’s just really confusing. However, that’s not to say that the original backstory is perfect. It’s downright silly.
You mean to tell me that we have fossils of that same plant that Akasaka saw in the video, but there are no fossils of this race anywhere? Not a single bone? No ruins of their society? They were so advanced that they had interplanetary travel down pat, but they leave no trace of their buildings or technology behind? What about the damage that was done to the planet? All those disasters? Did they just stop? Did they leave behind no scars? They must’ve been happening all around the planet for their entire species to up and run.
Why didn’t they just try to seek out another new planet? Why return to earth? I know it was their home, but when they left it was a fiery wasteland. Who’s to say it wasn’t still a fiery wasteland?
I feel dirty saying this, but 4Kids may have made a more coherent backstory for the aliens than the original writers. The original is more sympathetic and interesting, but 4Kids, admittedly, just makes more sense.
Originally we cut back to Ichigo walking down the street with a weird look on her face when she bumps into Aoyama and squees because of it. In the dub, we cut back to Zoey on the hill and she sighs before we move on.
Taruto says that Kisshu’s really changed and that all of the fighting’s made him stronger. Kisshu replies that they all better work together and combine their powers in order to get the job done from now on.
In the dub, Tarb says it’s a dumb idea for Deep Blue to let Dren fight again and that he’s only going to mess things up. Dren eggs him on, and Tarb flies down and says he and Pai were doing just fine on their own. Dren says they really weren’t because the girls are still a problem. He asks Sardon what the plan is, and he says it’s to divide and conquer.
After that scene, we cut to Ichigo having lunch with Aoyama, but there’s another scene swap. Instead we get the scene of Ichigo walking down the sidewalk with her weird face and then bumping into Aoyama.
Because of this, the inner monologue is changed. Ichigo was initially thinking of the recent news of the aliens’ story. In the dub, she’s thinking about how it would be nice to go on a day trip with Mark.
Ichigo just states that she has no plans for summer break, while Zoey bitches yet again that she’ll be spending all summer at the café with only a few days off. Zoey, your gig at the café is part time – you do it afterschool for a few hours and maybe on weekends. It’s not a nine-to-five life sucking job like you’re making it out to be unless Elliot and Wesley make it full time on vacation days. You’ll have plenty of time for fun on summer break, especially if there are no attacks, so quit whining.
Ichigo’s eating a parfait. Zoey’s eating a sundae. They’re somewhat close, especially most American versions, but still.
Aoyama tells her that they can go anywhere that she wants to go. Mark says they can go anywhere as long as they can be alone………..I probably wouldn’t have brought this up but 1) That’s kinda creepy, 2) This is coupled with another Mark Exclusive line “I was really hoping we could get away for a little ‘us time’ if you know what I mean.” What 15 year old talks like this? He sounds like he’s in his forties trying to rekindle the romance with his wife. Makes sense given his way-too-old-voice, I guess. Also, that other line I mentioned really makes it sound like it’s innuendo.
Pudding asks why Ichigo’s running away, and Mint and Lettuce say because it’s the season of love. Why do they keep saying summer is the season of love? I thought spring was the season of love. In the dub, Kiki asks why Zoey’s acting like such a weirdo, and both Corina and Bridget say it’s because she’s a weirdo. Nice to see everyone’s back to acting like assholes again.
The original doesn’t mention anything about meeting Mark at the station at 10:00 the next day like the dub does.
After the scene with the other girls in the alley ends, we see Ichigo still backing up and rounding a corner. She lets her tail extend and then cheers. This is removed.
Shirogane asks what’s up with Ichigo, and Pudding responds that summer is the season of love. He then asks where Zakuro is, and Mint says she’s at a photoshoot. In the dub, Elliot asks if Zoey’s floating (she’s floating in mid air back and forth in a cartoony fashion) Kiki says yes, and he then asks what’s up with her. Corina responds that she’s going on a day trip with Mark.
The magazine Ichigo has is titled ‘Narab’. In the dub, it’s ‘Getaways’. Also, they paint away Zoey’s boob marks in her transformation and Dren’s groin lines yet they’ll leave that picture of that chick in a bikini alone? She’s even in an alluring pose.
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Dubbed: 
They remove the text from the back of the magazine.
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Dubbed: 
Ichigo gushes about putting on a swimsuit and swimming in the sea. Zoey gushes about kayaking.
After that scene, there’s a short scene of Ichigo at home still gushing over her day with Aoyama. Masha says she’s acting weird and she plops down on her bed and falls asleep. This is removed. Dunno why, but it could be because they spend a bit of time focusing on Ichigo’s bare and oddly detailed exposed stomach for a good chunk of the scene.
Ichigo sneezes and says that must mean someone’s talking about her behind her back. She wonders if it’s Aoyama and then laughs. Shirogane interrupts and says that’s not a good thing to think about.
In the dub, since the whole sneeze=someone gossiping about you thing doesn’t exist in America, they change it to Zoey saying that’s the tenth time she’s sneezed in the past half hour and then laughs about how she guesses Alaska’s not a viable option for their trip now. Elliot interrupts and asks if she’s done mopping.
The next few lines are the same until Shirogane talks about her getting sick. He says that, since the monsters have been appearing, she’s never been sick once. She says she knows, and Shirogane starts to walk away. He tells her to take care and then leaves. Akasaka walks in and says he wonders if he was about to say ‘if there’s any danger, I’ll protect you’. Ichigo thinks he’s crazy and then turns around and blushes. She wonders what Akasaka’s talking about before the commercial. I don’t know why Akasaka thought Shirogane would say that. It’s not like he even alluded to saying it.
In the dub, Elliot tells her that he had a weird dream about her last night where she was running from something. You too? That’s funny because Aoyama has that same thing happen way later in the series. Must be contagious. Anyway, she says it was just a dream, and Elliot tells her to be careful before leaving. Wesley then walks in and says Elliot believes a big attack is coming soon and she’ll have to be on call tomorrow. She says it’s not a problem but then she turns around, blushes for some reason and worries because she has her day out….with….Mark….tomorrow….But a day’s gone by already. I’m confused.
Looks like a later scene got swapped. In the original, we get our commercial after that scene and then cut to Ichigo sick in bed. In the dub, we get a short scene with Dren and the others before going to Zoey sick in bed. I guess this was because they had more time before their commercial and wanted a more threatening pre-commercial cliffhanger.
Ichigo has a fever of 38.5 degrees Celsius, which is 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit. In the dub, Zoey has a fever of exactly 100 degrees Fahrenheit….Nitpicking, I know, I know. I can’t help it.
And oh how I’ve forgotten how ear-bleedingly awful Zoey’s mom’s voice is. Geez.
Ichigo’s dad says if she’s sick she should rest, but she says she can’t rest because she has somewhere to be. In the dub, Zoey’s dad says he heard she’s not feeling well and hopes it’s curable….well, that’s pretty dark, Zoey’s dad. Zoey says it doesn’t matter because her life is over anyway. Your life is over because you need to cancel a date because you’re sick?…..Eh, I guess it’s typical teen drama.
After her dad asks if it’s because she has a date, he dramatically proclaims that she has outstretched her wings and is pursuing a 100 year relationship, which is odd because I thought her dad was all about complaining about Ichigo dating. In the dub, he says she’s better off staying home anyway because she’d be sneezing and hacking all over the poor guy.
He says he’s going to go out for a bit and that he’ll buy her some doll pancakes while he’s out. I’ve never heard of those, but I assume they’re just small pancakes. In the dub, he says he’s going out to mow the lawn and tells Zoey’s mom to tell her if her face turns blue or anything. Oh yeah her face turning blue, haha, that’s a thing that happens when people are dying! Hahaha!…Hah, seriously, why’s he making these jokes?
In the original, after Lettuce picks up, we cut to a short scene of Aoyama at the train station and then cut back to Lettuce where they’ve finished up their conversation.
In the dub, they repeat the shot segment of Ichigo talking over and over and over and over and over to lengthen the scene so Zoey can keep talking. She explains in a really fast and annoying fashion that she’s sick and can’t make it to her date, so she wants Bridget to keep trying to tell him that she can’t make it – something that makes the scene where Bridget relays this information pointless and repetitive. The shot of Aoyama is also removed.
While the next scene with the girls is basically the same, Corina asks Bridget if she can call Mark because, quote, “(her) dialing hand is engaged” because she’s drinking tea…..*siiiiggghhh* Originally, she asks why Ichigo had to get sick.
Pudding says they should pay Ichigo a visit, and they briefly talk about it while the shot lingers on Shirogane outside the kitchen. In the dub, Kiki just says she has a great idea and we cut to the next scene. The shot of Shirogane is removed.
The next scene with the aliens was the swapped scene from earlier so the dub jumps to the shot of the fruit basket.
Ichigo asks why she had to get sick on the day she was supposed to be with Aoyama, and Mint basically just groans. In the dub, she says she feels like her head’s going to explode and that her whole body is one big mucus membrane.
Corina: “Ew, gross.” My sentiments exactly.
Pudding tells Ichigo not to worry about how she’s dressed because pajamas are sexy too. In the dub, Kiki says she looks fine and who cares if her nose is a little crusty. EW. Stop being gross and awful, Mew Mew Power. Did you forget that your target audience is young, tweenage and teen girls who likely don’t find gross things funny?
They say nothing of giving her medicine that caused her to pass out in the original. She acts like she’s in a daze because of the sickness and sees an illusion of Aoyama. She nearly gushes about how much she likes him before Aoyama says her name and snaps her out of it. In the dub, she realizes Mark is really there and apologizes for missing the trip. Zoey says she thought it was a dream after Mark wakes her up and gets embarrassed.
After Pudding and the others leave suddenly, Aoyama blushes deeply before Ichigo starts talking. This is removed from the dub, and I have no clue why. Zoey’s been blushing all over this episode, yet Mark can’t do it once?
Aoyama continues to say that if anything should ever happen, he wants to be there for Ichigo, which prompts a short flashback to Shirogane smiling at her. In the dub, Mark says he had a weird dream about Zoey being in trouble last night. I don’t really get this whole dream thing. Are they purposely trying to make something out of this? Like making it still confusing as to who BK is by having both Mark and Elliot have the same dream of her in danger?
After the flashback, Aoyama says that, despite what he wants, there’s not much to be done about the flu. Mark says that his dream is nothing to worry about.
Ichigo’s mom comes in and says she made tea, but then she halts and asks if it’s a bad time, which makes Aoyama turn away and blush while Ichigo breaks out into a sudden coughing fit. In the dub, she says she brought Zoey some medicine and brought Mark some too. First, this makes his blushing make no sense, and further confuses me as to why they removed the first instance of him blushing. Second….why the hell would he want some medicine? He’s not sick.
There are two scenes before we continue with Kisshu and Ichigo. In the dub, we jump straight to the continuation of Dren and Zoey after the break.
Masha tells Ichigo to run, but she points out that they’re on the second floor so she can’t. In the dub, she says she has to find the others and Dren says he wouldn’t count on finding them. We then cut the scene to show the first cut scene from a few minutes ago.
Text on a sign is removed.
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Dubbed: 
Ichigo thinks to herself that sometimes it’s good to have cat-like powers. Kisshu then laughs and says that she really tries hard. Zoey says she thinks she ripped a seam in her jammies, and Dren calls her a tree-hugger…because she’s literally hugging a tree.
Oddly enough, despite Mint’s transformation being shortened in the original, they show the full transformation in the dub. Well, the full one they’ve edited anyway.
Text on the sign on the fence is removed.
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Dubbed: 
Well here’s a confusing thing. In the original, oh and spoiler alert, Aoyama, The Blue Knight and Deep Blue are all voiced by Megumi Ogata. Three guesses why. Nice range, by the way. Though you can kinda tell between Aoyama and the Blue Knight.
In the dub, Mark and Deep Blue are voiced by Scottie Ray (and it’s easily recognizable) but The Blue Knight is oddly voiced by Sean Schemmel….Elliot’s VA….Okay, so there was some question about which guy might’ve been The Blue Knight, and it’s even possible that the Blue Knight was given blond hair to further suggest that Shirogane could’ve been him, but why give him Elliot’s VA on top of that?
Maybe Mr. Ray just has such limited range that he couldn’t do the role without being so obvious that it’s Mark? I dunno. Maybe, since they didn’t have access to the second season’s license yet, they simply assumed Elliot was the Blue Knight?
They add ‘To Be continued’ on the screen since this is a two-parter.
This episode was….kinda boring. I mean, nothing really happens until the very end so it’s kinda blah. And man the dub….It’s like they’re bringing the scene swaps in full force in these later episodes. I dread what might’ve happened to this series if it continued on past episode 26.
Next episode, a continuation of the fight between the girls and the various Chimera Animals the aliens have created. However, it seems like this fight is over insanely fast because the next episode preview is more about Ichigo supposedly being torn between the Blue Knight and Aoyama.
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The Anime Madhouse 