Review DP092: Back to Basics, Rocket-dan!?

[Yash]

That weird instrumental of Advanced Adventure that technically has vocals (with the singer yelling "Ooh... HA!!!" at the beginning, 4Kids used it a lot) was used in the clip show.

 

[Jorah]

I wonder if they'll ever use Ok! or Advance Adventure past their respected regions

I'm sure I haerd someone say OK! Instrumental was in the Bibarel episode as well. Japanese, not dub, sadly...I think the last time OK! Instrumental was heard in the dub was Ash's gym battle against Roxxane in AG

 

[Geodude]

Nice, amusing episode. Didn't expect to hear the original motto back, that was a neat surprise. Hopefully the dub uses the original dub motto as well. (It'll be nice to hear "Meowth, dat's right!" again.) And Brock's Joy-fantasizing was hilarious.

 

[Sketch]

I was very uncomfortable watching this episode...Fat Team Rocket is not very pleasing to the eye....didn't like it.

Also, the art for the episode as a whole was...sub par in most parts.

 

[Rosakai]

Transformers, Robots in disguise...

Sorry, but that's what Team Rockets latest mecha made me think of.

Chubby Team Rocket and their old motto were the only real highlights of this episode. Everything else was just...meh.

Maybe after seeing her precious Piplup collapse from overtraining, Dawn will get the hint that training only one Pokemon isn't a good idea, and remember that she has four other Pokemon on her team. I'm tired of Dawn shoving Piplup's beak in where he's not wanted. I wish the writers would hurry up and evolve the darn thing, just so we won't have to deal with Dawn going "ZOMG! Everyone look, I gots a Piplup!" every single episode.

 

[pikachu123]

what was pro. oak saying in the middle of the episode anyone know?

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

The Kanto Battle Frontier ring a bell? Especially the Nibi Gym episode where, apparently, Takeshi's mom was somehow able to un-chisel the name of the gym off the building.

As we've seen time and again, gyms suffer severe structural damage on a regular basis. Changing the sign would be no problem.

 

[Crankyman]

Alternatively, they could have filled in the "Nibi Gym" engraving with plaster. Also, Team Rocket's disappointment in being called nice young people was hilarious.

Also, the dishwashing scene could be because much like hostels, PokeCenters don't charge, and residents have to pitch in to do work.

 

[Geodude]

Alternatively, they could have filled in the "Nibi Gym" engraving with plaster.

An idea that is just as ridiculous as the animators erasing the text, so what's your point?

 

[Crankyman]

I DUNNO. I'm pretty sure that detail was glossed over in the intervening seven years anyway.

 

[PDL]

So I really don't understand the Piplup subplot's purpose. Is it just to show that Piplup is apparently the only Pokémon on Dawn's team that matters?

 

[Cybersai]

So I really don't understand the Piplup subplot's purpose. Is it just to show that Piplup is apparently the only Pokémon on Dawn's team that matters?

Its so we have yet another Dawn/Piplup bonding moment to watch, as if we don't have enough of them already.

Ash/Pikachu have those bonding moments in every single season, like every 30 episodes or so, and now they're doing it with Dawn/Piplup.

I really wish Dawn wouldn't make it so obvious that she likes Piplup more than her other Pokemon. She should like them equally.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

At this rate, Buneary will learn Frustration. Which could be interesting if done right.

 

[Dogasu]

Didn't they use a bit of kanji here and there in AG? Like the A B C islands, which weren't changed in the dub?

The only non-title screen instances of Japanese text showing in Advanced Generation were the drums in "Cheer Pressure" and the aforementioned ABC islands. Also, if you want to count the movies, Butler's poster in the Jirachi movie (the text on which was erased for the dub).

Other than that, all other text was English or Tajiran.

There were a lot of instances where fans thought that a sign was written in Japanese, but it was actually written in Tajiran. Really, the Japanese producers could just reinsert Japanese text into the show since a lot of fans assume that the text that's there now is Japanese anyway.

As we've seen time and again, gyms suffer severe structural damage on a regular basis. Changing the sign would be no problem.

"Oh no! That fierce battle between the challenger and the little boy who runs the gym was so fierce that it blew a hole right through the solid rock ceiling, making the sign outside illegible!! I know! Let's have the Gym Leader's eager-to-redecorate-everything mother spend an enormous amount of money to restore the rock to exactly the way it was, minus the text!!"

I'm sorry, but that's more than just a little far fetched. Especially coming from someone who believes that 4Kids asking the Japanese producers to cut down on the Japanese cultural stuff is unlikely.

I really wish Dawn wouldn't make it so obvious that she likes Piplup more than her other Pokemon. She should like them equally.

You know how we have those episodes where all of Satoshi's pokemon get kidnapped, but the only one he calls out for is Pikachu?

I fully expect Hikari to do the same thing with Potchama some day.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Especially coming from someone who believes that 4Kids asking the Japanese producers to cut down on the Japanese cultural stuff is unlikely.

Given that that guy WPM interviewed said that the decision to do so was NOT influenced by the dubbers? It's not so much a "belief" now after a confirmation.

 

[Dogasu]

I've just re-read that interview and can't find where that was stated at all.

 

[Doctor Oak]

I don't understand why it's even sightly a remote issue that random text that serves no purpose other than to be part of the background happens to just be gibberish symbols. It'd be gibberish text of whatever language it was in in the first place and by making it of no actual language it means it isn't detracting from what the focus of the scene actually is.

My God, people whine about the most pointless of things.

Concerning the episode - t'was good and pretty much typical Team Rocket episode fare. It was nice to see them actually being competent criminals for once. Even if it only lasted as far as getting in the door.

 

[Okido-Hakase]

Kojirou's fat man voice was kinda weird, sounded quite different and was a bit hard to hear. It was sort of...wow. Musashi's fat voice wasn't as dramatic and different. Also, Rocket-dan didn't spend much time being fat.

It's kind of strange when Rocket-dan are running away from the restaurant and Sonans shouts out, because he isn't even in the scene (not visible), lol.

Concerning the episode - t'was good and pretty much typical Team Rocket episode fare. It was nice to see them actually being competent criminals for once. Even if it only lasted as far as getting in the door.

Yeah, they were actually pretty serious at the beginning of the break-in. Lots of grunting. Kojirou's rose/key gadget thing was pretty high-tech and cool. I suppose it was Muskippa's fault later on...

 

[Dogasu]

I don't understand why it's even sightly a remote issue that random text that serves no purpose other than to be part of the background happens to just be gibberish symbols. It'd be gibberish text of whatever language it was in in the first place and by making it of no actual language it means it isn't detracting from what the focus of the scene actually is.

How in the world is a sign or a label on something "distracting?"

In the scene with Musashi standing up on that stage, for example, the main focus of the scene is...Musashi standing up on the stage. Having the sign above her head being written in Japanese or Tajiran or English or whatever wouldn't distract anyone from that fact.

My point is that having Tajiran is pointless and that the show should just switch back to using a real language anyway. It's nothing that's ruining the show or anything, but it's still something that I notice whenever it pops up.

 

[Doctor Oak]

How in the world is a sign or a label on something "distracting?"

Human nature, when we see text, is to read it. It can be complete and utter gibberish - but we'll still read it, because it's there. It's a common issue in many design media because often you need placeholder text for what will be genuine text at a later date (or what would be genuine text if it wasn't an example/demo). If you put actual text in there, the focus would naturally be on that and it would detract from what the entire presentation is about.

The most common solution to THAT issue is Lorem Ipsum. But unfortunately, because it's still READABLE using familiar characters in a realistic structure of language, it's still able to detract the human eye from what it's MEANT to be looking at.

The obvious solution to this, thusly, is to avoid using recognisable symbols at all and just use literal visable gibberish. It still serves the purpose of placeholding text, but it does the job properly by just being part of the background.

Seriously - it's a completely editorial decision made to avoid detracting focus from the scene and moaning about it just because it isn't japanese characters when it could be (and thus would completely ruin the point) is extremely fucking stupid and pointless.