Japanese
72
"METAREKUSU no Shoutai!?"
(The Metarex' True Identity!?)
Production: 1/11/05
French
72
"Qui sont les Metarex?"
(Who Are the Metarex?)
4/12/05
English
72
"Zelkova Strikes Back"
3/11/06

Lots of big cuts, of which I knew 4kids was going to cut because of their past history.
I fear for Episode 77 and 78...

See the pre-air comparison here.


- SCENE-SHORTENERS (second count per each)/(time of cut [original Japanese version; one episode is usually around 24:09 long]):

6/21:52 - Shadow's face as Leon talks to him

- 75 second cut (1 minute, 15 second)...the first 75 seconds of the episode are cut. This shows Rouge and Shadow at a bar, the bartender telling them that his place is the last civilized area, has been spared many times, but life isn't always pleasant with the Metarex. The barkeep advises them not to continue their mission. Outside the bar, Shadow says that Rouge doesn't have to accompany him on their adventure, Rouge saying she brought him here, Shadow saying he'll find his own transportation if he needs to, and then (at least in the French version) thanks Rouge for helping him.

- 9 second cut of Amy talking to Chris, Chris saying four Metarex ships are right behind them, Amy saying "What, [they're] already [coming back]? We just destroyed many, didn't we?" No real scene loss here.

- 10 second cut of Knuckles in the engine room, activating the Master Emerald

- Dub Amy alludes to something that is even more wrong with the increasing Metarex violence, but in the original Amy wonders if they're anticipating their moves

- 12 second cut of Cream talking, saying that its possible the Metarex know what they're planning at that moment, Chris saying they're ready to take off, and Tails allowing them to

- 23 second cut of Narkissus and Bay Leaf talking about Zelkova going off on his own without Dark Oak's permission, and that he's a total idiot

- As the Typhoon is spiraling toward the lava planet, 4kids adds dialogue that wasn't there before from Tails: "Pressure's dropping by the second!", which can make sense, since the Typhoon was descending into a storm, and pressure is usually lower inside storms. The lower the pressure, the stronger the storm is.

- Dub minipun by Amy after the Typhoon crashes on the planet: "Well, this looks like a real hotspot"

- Originally, Zelkova asks the crew of the Typhoon: "What is the place we are scared to go at night but where we rest in peace?", Amy thinks it's a hotel (XD), Tails says it's not a hotel, and Cream correctly says it's a graveyard. In the dub, Zelkova goes "Prepare to meet your doom! Prepare to perish! Prepare to succumb to the evil that is Yellow Zelkova! Prepare to...prepare to...", Amy says "Prepare to...battle?", and Tails says "I dunno, 'battle' just seems kinda weak to me, doesn't it?" (which sounds out of character)

- 14 second cut of Cream's face as she guesses the right answer (a cemetary), a shot of Cream walking in a graveyard with skeletons and bones below, and a shot of Zelkova going "Bingo! That's the correct answer!" (tying in when Zelkova says "And I will take this opportunity to tell you that this planet will be your cemetary!")

- Zelkova's "Super Plasma Shield" to block Sonic is changed into "Illuma shield", which I thought was "Illu-machine" due to a combination of bad pronounciation by the dub VA and the odd/loud music in Episode 71's Next Episode Preview

- The dialogue about the "Eggman temporary tattoo" when Zelkova holds up the card with Eggman's insignia on it from last week's Next Episode Preview, which I thought was a joke, is sadly not in this episode. It's real dialogue, as well as Amy's response dialogue: "You geek! That big yellow hunk of junk is gonna be sorry he ever met me!"

- The dialogue where Zelkova calls Knuckles a hedgehog and Knuckles gets mad, saying he's an echidna, is not in the dub

- Something is wrong with 4kids' dubbing job (other than the obvious)! After Knuckles insults Zelkova by telling him he's too scared to fight him with his own two hands, Knuckles' mouth moves, but VERY QUIET dialogue comes out, making it look like Knuckles' mouth is moving with no dialogue coming out! This is most definitely a dubbing error, because 4kids' music is playing normally as this happens. In addition, when the normal volume dialogue comes back, it plays over the ending of the quiet dialogue! The quiet dialogue sounds something like "Let's see if that shield helps you...", and after "you" is cut off by normal volume dialogue, or it's all one sentence.

- A little dialogue change, but I'm going to note it anyway: Shadow says the tree-planet they land on is a "dead world/planet" (shin-no-sekai) and Rouge gasps, but Dub Shadow says the planet is cold (temperature), and Rouge "shivers"

- 6 second ADDITION of Knuckles hanging on the rock wall above the lava pit, after the dub commercial

- Dub Knuckles minipun after climbing out of the lava pit: "Not so fast, Yellow-Belly!"

- Cut of Chris looking forward for one second after Sonic's spin attracts the lightning, but no time loss

- Right after the above note, Knuckles is running forward...or at least I THINK he is...the animators forgot to animate the ground moving! This is not fixed in the dub version.

- Dub Zelkova pun, before electrocuting Knuckles: "You are in for a SHOCK, my tiny friend!"

- 5 second cut of organic-form Zelkova saying he'll take them all into the afterlife with him, and Knuckles gasping...this is right around another dub commercial break

- Here's 4kids' lie of the episode: In the original, Knuckles jumps in to the lava pit and tries to help Zelkova after he falls in, but Zelkova declines.

- 53 second cut from 4kids' Lie of the Episode and its associated scene-transition. Dub Zelkova just says "Dark Oak will be VICTORIOUS! He will have REVENGE!!!" as he slides into the lava.

- Another bad dubbing job by 4kids, this time after Zelkova dies, Dub Chris says "He thought he was..." at the VERY QUIET volume. Again, 4kids' music is the same, normal volume.

- YET ANOTHER bad dubbing job, this is of Eggman at the Metarex computer, I think he says "Interesting...after having..." in the VERY QUIET VOLUME, but once again, the music is the same.

- AGAIN, ANOTHER ONE. This time, only part of a word is messed up. Bay Leaf says "Zel...", quiet volume etc, etc music normal etc.

- ...can you guess what this note is for? "It seems your..." when Bay Leaf is talking about Eggman's shield failing.

- After re-analysis, the audio volume problem appears once in the beginning of the episode, but I will list it here as all of the information about it is already established: Cream says this about the Metarex ships following them in quiet volume "They're going to..." and then "attack again!" in normal volume.

- 4kids keeps the Leon/Resistance tree scene, but originally Leon said "It's what happens when we want to resist them but stay alive...this is what they call 'Order and tranquility in space'...They turn you into something harmless..." Dub Leon says "Metarex...they fooled us all...they told us...we could be one of them...but they lied...destroying us all...already happening...", and Dub Leon's VA does a good job here.

- When Dub Leon says "My pocket...look in...side" to Shadow and Rouge, the "look in..." part has that quiet volume thing.