Pokemon Episode 18 "Holiday at Acapulco" Flashback

[Netto Azure]

Oh well for those who already watched Episode 18 "Holiday at Acapulco."

For those who need a refresher:

Well as Dogasu had recently said: Episode 18

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]feels like a random, throw-away fanservice-y episode instead of the logical progression from a three-episode arc to Satoshi's next Gym Battle. When I watch this episode, I get the same feeling I would get if someone took a volume of Pokemon Special and then crammed an uncensored Dengeki Pikachu chapter into the middle of it. Really weird and out-of-place.[/SIZE][/FONT]

Most Pokemon Anime Fans have heard of this episode by now. But a scene popped up on the episode "Hypno's Naptime" my sisters were watching from the Pokemon VHS "Fashion Victims."
It showed Ash wondering how his mother was going to worry if he disappeared. Yet at the same time it showed a flashback of the ending scene of Episode 18! (You know the one with the out of place trophy in which you can't even know who won the beauty contest)

I was wondering did you guys noticed this. Like most Western fans back in the day didn't you wonder where this scene came from? (Like after watching all of the episodes "Hey I don't remember this scene" but eh, they did remove Episode 19 after 9/11 which they surprisingly showed the 4Kids version in the Philippines so I was able to watch it.) Also didn't you wonder what happened after Episode 17 "Island of the Giant Pokemon" in which the ending scene showed them arriving at "Puerta Vista" aka "Acapulco" and then all of a sudden we find them at another location at the next episode. (Oh, please correct me if I have the US Schedule for the episode show times. And this episode was just at the beginning of Pokemon so maybe kids didn't pay attention as much?)

Also if you want to talk about this episode go ahead. Nothing special really except for the reasons Dogasu brings up, the fact that it was first banned then released in the middle of Johto and never seen again after that. (Oh and the fan-service, don't forget about that!)


​

 

[Charaxes]

For the record, I do plan to deal with the Beauty & the Beach episode, but that won't be for quite a while. So, I'll let this one go.

Well, it is fan-service-y, as it dealt with breasts (give Misty a break, since she's 10). Other than that, it was ho-hum. And, yes, the Hypno episode did address it, so feel free to address the episode and its flashback (though, you may have to backtrack).

 

[nickstr]

I would not call the thing wth James fan service but rather just plain disturbing. About the only characters I would say had fan service during this episode would be Misty who was of course wearing a bikini through out the majority of the episode, Ash who had a brief bit toward the beginning along with Brock, and Jessie during the portion that was cut out of the episode in the English dub. The fact that a flash back to this episode occurred during Hypno's Naptime justified it being dubbed I guess even though it was cut significantly.

 

[Vernikova]

Well, it is fan-service-y, as it dealt with breasts (give Misty a break, since she's 10).

Have you seen May?:P

On topic: That old hag old woman was really scary. Also, for some reason, James actually looked like a girl, which really disturbs me. Of course, it was overall a nice episode that had a few entertaining parts. Personally, I think Gary's cheerleaders were the best. :D

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

I would not call the thing wth James fan service but rather just plain disturbing. About the only characters I would say had fan service during this episode would be Misty who was of course wearing a bikini through out the majority of the episode, Ash who had a brief bit toward the beginning along with Brock, and Jessie during the portion that was cut out of the episode in the English dub. The fact that a flash back to this episode occurred during Hypno's Naptime justified it being dubbed I guess even though it was cut significantly.

(looks around nervously to see if PS is lurking behind a corner.)

Well, yeah, though if you want to get technical, Misty wasn't fanservicy in that episode (as she didn't exactly like having to pose in a bikini to several guys like some sort of playboy model. Believe me, she does actually dislike that, as she said "I don't like having to do this, but I need the money". I mean, well, you know how... ahh... May was acting when she... well "Stripped" on the beach in a certain AG episode, well that's fanservice, by my POV.).

Anyways, that's all for now. And, yeah, James' disguise was disturbing.

 

[Charaxes]

(looks around nervously to see if PS is lurking behind a corner.)

Well, yeah, though if you want to get technical, Misty wasn't fanservicy in that episode (as she didn't exactly like having to pose in a bikini to several guys like some sort of playboy model. Believe me, she does actually dislike that, as she said "I don't like having to do this, but I need the money". I mean, well, you know how... ahh... May was acting when she... well "Stripped" on the beach in a certain AG episode, well that's fanservice, by my POV.).

Anyways, that's all for now. And, yeah, James' disguise was disturbing.

Well, I thought the fanservice was more on Jessie. And, James, I might argue as a humorous jab on fanservice (a breast suit, which makes him look rather attractive, so why wouldn't that be funny?). Or maybe they did it to poke at the fans that think, "he's gay!" So, here he is with breasts (since that's one of the more obvious signs on femininity, particularly in anime).

I wish I knew what the writers were thinking on that scene.

 

[PorygonSquared]

Alas, the insect tempted me into this. Unfortunately, I can't mention a certain word that I got infracted for saying, so I'll just say this: Money + Fetish fuel outfit = forbidden word. For another hint, it's Ditto's only purpose in the games (something to do with "breeding" with a lot of other creatures).

And once again, Wikipedia comes from the cosmos (since I can't say the other forbidden word on account of me being atheist) to save the day, or not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanservice

"Fan service (ファンサービス, fan sābisu?), fanservice, service cut (サービスカット, sābisu katto?), or simply service (サービス, sābisu?), is a vaguely defined term primarily used for Japanese anime and manga to refer to elements in a story that are unnecessary to a storyline and are designed to amuse or excite the audience with sexually-derived content. The term can be applied more generally to something that is done solely to please fans."

Hmm, nowhere in the article does it mention anything about the character liking it being a requirement. The only requirement is that it be done mainly to arouse the primal senses (for lack of a better clean word). In fact, this episode does fit with the "holiday episode" example the article brought up. In conclusion, this episode was indeed fanservice, with Misty taking a huge part in it by wearing a fetish outfit for almost the entire episode.

Anyways, too bad the hairy insect beat me to it, but I'll say it anyways. Take that, "Misty is not a female anime stereotype!"

As for the James thing, I believe "fan disservice" is a better term to use. Good thing it's banned, because I think my childhood was scarred enough with all those Western cartoons portraying naked prepubescent boys.

 

[003]

I would not call the thing wth James fan service but rather just plain disturbing.

Thats what I would call it.

I never knew they dubbed this one over though...Someone at the 4kids "We must destroy all the artistic value of a series in fear of it permanently scarring our children and turning them into promiscuous, gun toting, sword in the mouth wielding vagabonds department" must have been sleeping on the job...

 

[PorygonSquared]

They didn't cut out the "stripping" scene either, and yet the Fan Dumb Moral Guardians are still whining about it, which makes 4Kids look liberal in comparison.

 

[Trap-Eds]

I never knew they dubbed this one over though...Someone at the 4kids "We must destroy all the artistic value of a series in fear of it permanently scarring our children and turning them into promiscuous, gun toting, sword in the mouth wielding vagabonds department" must have been sleeping on the job...

Yeah, they dubbed it and aired it like, once. :\ Which frankly I don't get, seeing as the dubbbed version isn't all that..."bad".

They didn't cut out the "stripping" scene either, and yet the Fan Dumb Moral Guardians are still whining about it, which makes 4Kids look liberal in comparison.

You mean the scene in that one AG episode when May ripped off her outfit at the beach? :laugh:That's probably because she said that she was wearing her bathing suit underneath.

 

[PorygonSquared]

You mean the scene in that one AG episode when May ripped off her outfit at the beach? :laugh:That's probably because she said that she was wearing her bathing suit underneath.

Yep. Still, that kind of joke is indeed prevalent in many Western cartoons, but this is 4Kids we're talking about. These are the people that replaced any mentions of death with "Shadow Realm"!

 

[Charaxes]

Well, I'm still sticking with my "jab on fanservice." Was it fan-disservice? Sure. Besides, in the Japanese dialogue, Kojirou said his "beauty transcended gender." So, I think the scene was a take on that, or, at least, on a more realistic portrait of women in bathing suits (as Dogasu is now claiming). Though, I think it's more on age, which is the bottom line (more so, whenever you think on Ryuu's comments, the "if you were 8 years older" line).

And whatever you two have, PS and weedle, let's not go there or settle it outside. Okies?

Edit: As for May's 'stripping on the beach,' I'll go with the caveat of times and censors changing, there.

 

[PorygonSquared]

I'm sorry, but I don't quite get the meaning of "realistic portrayal of women in bathing suits". I'm kind of stupid in that respect.

 

[Charaxes]

I'm sorry, but I don't quite get the meaning of "realistic portrayal of women in bathing suits". I'm kind of stupid in that respect.

That not every girl in anime has giant breasts (that's insane, despite what the animators may want). It was also a commentary on age, since Kasumi is simply too young to have the Kojirou-sized breasts (unless there's something I'm missing). Meanwhile, we have Musashi, who is quite ample in that area, as well. So, Kasumi's ego got hit hard in a nice one-two punch in a more realistic manner, as she can't refute her own body, at the time.

So, that's what I mean.

 

[weedle_mchairybug]

Well, guys, if it's any consolation, at least Misty was able to beat them fair and square in that competition (though it's by default, since I think JJM would have been disqualified due to the chest inflations on James, and the attack on Porta Vista.).

Speaking of winning, It should also be noted that Misty and one of Gary's cheerleaders are two very likely candidates of having won that swimsuit padgent (In the original version, I mean).

Before anyone mentions that Delia won the competition in question, that's actually proven to be wrong. from the episode redo comparison on Dogasu's backpack:

The Japanese writing says "The Suntanned Beauties and Pokemon Masquerade Contest - Winner." Which is different from what the banner on the actual contest stage says (the word masquerade is only present on the trophy). Anyway...it's not really clear who the recipient of the award really is...we can't really assume that Satoshi's mom won the competition because she didn't seem to even enter. So maybe Kasumi won it and she's just holding it for her? Maybe one of Shigeru's girlfriends won it and she's holding it for Orchid-Hakase, who will eventually be taking it home? It's really hard to tell.

You see, Delia never even entered the competition, so that throws that conventional wisdom out of the window. So far, from the evidence provided, it's either Misty, or one of Gary's girlfriends.

From the evidence laid out (note, I haven't watched the episode in question, so I may be of little help), Misty seems to be the winner (No, I'm not saying this because I'm a Misty fan.). Here's the hints as to who won:

Delia was holding onto it (If it was Gary's girlfriends, assuming one of them won it instead of the entire pep squad, Oak would probably have been holding onto it.)

Misty was seen making her act. (Correct me if I'm mistaken, which I most likely am, but did any of Gary's Girlfriends try and do their thing before JJM tried to attack?).

And, the most important detail:

The dock was repaired using the prize money. Now, the reason why Misty entered the swimsuit competition in the first place was to gain enough money to repair the dock at Moes (she wouldn't have dared entered otherwise, as she made it absolutely clear that she didn't like having to be a contestant.), as she promised to pay for all the damages. As it was repaired via the prize money, who do you THINK won the pagent?

Anyways, yes, I know this isn't a "Beauty and the Beach" discussion thread (of the regular sort, I mean), but this is the closest thing to one as I can get (since Charaxes didn't exactly start on that one.). Speaking of which, Charaxes, is there a reason why you skipped Ditto's Mysterious Mansion and Pikachu's goodbye?

Anyways, that's all for now.

 

[Charaxes]

Anyways, yes, I know this isn't a "Beauty and the Beach" discussion thread (of the regular sort, I mean), but this is the closest thing to one as I can get (since Charaxes didn't exactly start on that one.). Speaking of which, Charaxes, is there a reason why you skipped Ditto's Mysterious Mansion and Pikachu's goodbye?

I thought about it. And then, I figured, "the original airdate was in June," so what's a few more months (due to my posting on the anniversary airdates)? Which is why I didn't say boo on this one, so I let it go.

For the record, I did Ditto's Mysterious Mansion, which got bumped (people post prolificly on the forum, y'know). Pikachu's Goodbye actually didn't air until late-November, so I'll cover that when the time comes.

Okies?

 

[Netto Azure]

Oh my.... I abandoned a thread I created for the US Elections...Anyways that was great analysis weedle. Another non-essential plot-hole in the Anime....=P

 

[Charaxes]

I had stuff to say, too, y'know. Heh. By the way, do you actually have something to say, beyond "oh, that wacky thread"?

Anyone like the Master Ball "cameo"?

 

[Netto Azure]

=P

I had stuff to say, too, y'know. Heh. By the way, do you actually have something to say, beyond "oh, that wacky thread"?

Anyone like the Master Ball "cameo"?

LOL...That episode wasn't that "wacky"....But the fact that the "old man" was eyeing Kasumi from the beginning was surprising since this was a "Kids" show....I think this was one of the only episodes when the writers tried to pull in the "teenage" viewers XD why can't they do such bold things nowadays =/ Because the Porygon Episode banned all creativity *shot* X_x

Anyways we rarely even see ANYTHING about the Master Ball now (Except for that Whishcash episode....Even then the use of it was a disgrace. To hackers XD) And also since Master Balls were available as "Beach Balls" does that mean the PW public knows about this "experimental research" capture ball? Then if yes why does not the general public demand mass production? (Which drives down cost XD Yeah I know it's off-topic but these philosophical questions always pops out on my head.)
Anyways did Haruka also donned the Master Ball at another "Swimsuit" episode? =/