marchionessofmustache (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marchionessofmustache) wrote2024-02-05 04:47 pm
marchionessofmustache) wrote2024-02-05 04:47 pm
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[12] Enter, the Zenigame Corps!
So, when this episode started there was a part where a Zenigame and Pikachu stared each other down for a LONG time and I was like "Oh, geez, they're filling time... is this going to be another Fushigidane episode disaster?"
Well, it wasn't!
Oh, before I forget, I want to mention that I recently talked about on discord that I always watch the opening to animes/shows even when binging them back to back, because I just really like them and think they set the stage for each episode. But with Pocket Monsters, I not only watch the opening, I even watch the ending, too! Sometimes I just listen to it while I start up these entries, but often I'll sit and watch Pikachu bounce the ball and sing along with the on-screen lyrics. It's just such a fun song.
Anyway, the episode. A lot of crazy stuff went down this episode...
Basically there are these troublemaker Zenigame five known as the "Zenigame Gang." The word they use here is dan (the episode title uses 'gundan' which specifically refers to a military corps, and we'll cover why that's a different word at the end) which is also what they use for Rocket Co. (Rocket-Dan and Zenigame-Dan). I translate them differently because Rocket is like an entire mafia-like corporation, while this is a street gang of five guys that does petty crimes like graffiti and minor theft. I also like "Rocket Group" for Rocket, but Co. just looks a little better for some reason...? Group sounds a little generic, albeit professional. Team is fine, but I don't think it really encapsulates everything that there is to the group, but it does have a nicer "ring" to it, so I can see why they chose it for the English version.
ANYWAY ANYWAY
The Zenigame Gang captures the Rockets, who convince them that Nyarth is the leader so they'll trust them. (They won't trust humans, probably because as Junsa told Satoshi and friends, they are a group of abandoned Pokemon who came together. These backstories are kinda sad O_o) So Nyarth convinces the Zenigame Gang to capture Satoshi and friends, which they do successfully. Prior to being kidnapped, Pikachu got poked in the butt by a Tosakinto. For some reason this is a GRAVE INJURY -- and I mean LITERALLY grave, as Takeshi points out that if he doesn't get strong medicine soon, he will die. They use the literal word for death multiple times to refer to Pikachu's condition, and Satoshi even cries over it. Dang.
So they agree to let Satoshi go search for medicine, but the deal is that he has to be back by noon of the next day or they will kill Kasumi. Again, literal meanings here, they actually threaten to murder her. And for some reason everyone seems perfectly fine with this and agrees to it, no one even doubting if the idea is good or not or if they can trust the Zenigame Gang. You know, let's just BET KASUMI'S ENTIRE LIFE on Satoshi being able to find medicine. Great idea. No discussion necessary.
For some reason the path to the nearest town is covered in dangerous pitfalls and stuff, including yet another rickety bridge that collapses (and Satoshi, yet again, is able to climb all the way up it). Before getting to the town, though, Musashi and Kojiro get there first and hold up the shop at gunpoint to steal all their bombs (why a little shop in the middle of nowhere has a huge supply of bombs, I don't know...)
And yeah, they have actual guns. Well, Musashi has a bazooka which I guess is comical enough to be in a kids' show, but Kojiro has like, an assault rifle or something. IDK, I don't know guns that well and already can't remember exactly what it looked like, but yeah. A very real gun. Musashi does shoot the bazooka off which ends up just raining flower petals down and stunning everyone, so maybe they weren't real guns after all, but after that...
The store people pull out what are assumedly VERY REAL guns and hold Satoshi back, thinking he's part of the Rockets, too. He's bailed out by Junsa, though, who clears his name, helps him get the medicine, and rushes him back to where the Zenigame Gang and Nyarth had Kasumi, Takeshi, and Pikachu held up.
But no one is there, so Satoshi assumes they killed Kasumi, but in reality they just... let everyone go? And everyone is all casual about it and Kasumi's just like "hahaha they may be a gang, but they wouldn't actually commit a CRIME!" and it's like... they've been shown already committing assault, kidnapping, retail theft, and defacing public property, and it's like... pretty sure those are crimes. IDK. Maybe those things are just normal in the Pokemon World and the only REAL crime is murder. Well, it was a crime when the Rockets stole stuff in the past, so... maybe it's just okay if Pokemon do it. IDK!!!
It also brings me to a topic of discussion -- who do the police work for? How are they funded? There doesn't seem to be any form of government in the Pokemon world. The police actually seem to be a private entity, so maybe what's considered a crime is different in each individual police jurisdiction, so maybe theft is OK in this town and wasn't in Hanada for example...? Because there's no actual national law or anything, just... police.
A lot of people seem to think "there are police so there must be government" but I don't believe this is necessarily true. I'm not sure how the police are funded, but it doesn't seem to be through taxation. Maybe donation? Maybe the police ALSO run other businesses on top of the police force. It could also be all-volunteer like some fire departments. It's very interesting. But I definitely view them as a private entity, just like Pokemon Centers and the Pokemon League do not seem to be governmental. It really does seem to be an eclectic anarchist society, with cultures and rules and norms even ranging vastly between neighboring cities sometimes.
... Anyway anyway anyway, I'm really wondering what they did with the guns in the English version?? I know they cut out an entire episode later because of guns being used in it, so surely they cut out these scenes, too, right? But how did they explain Ash getting the medicine? And as far as the 'killing Kasumi' part goes, I'm pretty sure they threatened to dye Misty's hair purple or something, and then when everything is just fine at the end, she's like "Squirtles aren't horrible enough to mess with a girl's natural hair color!" or something like that lol.
Oh, and at the end, after saving the forest from being burned down and saving the town from the Rockets, the Zenigame are awarded a new title of protectors of the town, thus the birth of the Zenigame Corps. Very cute.
But yeah, references to Pikachu dying, people being held up at gunpoint, pointing guns at a child even, and threatening to kill Kasumi (and everyone being OK with it), this is really an episode of questionable content, hahaha.
After the slow start, the excitement really picks up and the episode is pretty interesting. It's a really different feel from the Hitokage episode, and I'm not really sure which I can say is my favorite of the two. But I can easily say that they're both better than the Fushigidane one! Hitokage's episode REALLY went hard on the suspense, but this episode went a bit more for the action/adventure side. Both have their own vibe and are very good.
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no subject
One consistent throughline to these episodes is that there are a lot of asshole trainers who abandon their Pokemon.
Squirtle (I'mma have to refer to it as Squirtle) is kind of a bad boy in here. It's easy to forget, because I recall later on it's protective and friendly with other Pokemon, but here it's like... pretending to be willing to murder a preteen girl lol.
(why a little shop in the middle of nowhere has a huge supply of bombs, I don't know...)
They're in Tennessee.
Y'know, I never really considered this before, but like... why all the subterfuge? The Squirts (... let's not call them that...) threaten to murder Kasumi, but apparently never intend to. In fact, they let her go pretty quickly. Why not let her and Takeshi go from the beginning and take Pikachu to somewhere where medicine is? I mean, I get they probably don't trust the humans not to abandon him on the side of the road or whatever, but him dying in their lair doesn't really serve anyone either. I'm not sure they thought this one through.
... Then again, they're tiny water-bending turtles who started an organized gang. Hard to get a good read on their actual thought comprehension.
Now to break my navel gazing by reading your query about the police. It's hard to imagine no form of government whatsoever. Feels like there'd be a lot more chaos. Government seems like an essiential evil. But as for the police? I think they're basically a private security firm run by the Jenny family, which is why the main police officer is a Jenny everywhere. And they're all named Jenny. Ergo, I'm thinking clones.
I think they might've showed the guns in the English release. I could be 100% mistaken, so I'll add that to my "go check later" list, but I remember seeing the guns when I watched. Maybe because it's a blink and miss it kind of deal? (I'll never forget the way Misty is like "they'd never change a girl's hair color!" with a tone like that's the most horrific thing anyone could ever do in the history of crime)
ACAB but Jenny be cool.
The end where Squirtle takes off his super rad glasses to reveal GIANT MOE EYES always gets me. They basically did the same thing with Barret in the FF7 Remake. Squirtle and Barret also both shoot at things. WHAT IS THE CONNECTION (x-files music)
no subject
Clones. Makes sense.
Now I need to know if they had the guns in the English version too. I expect you to report back to me whenever you get around to checking it out hahaha.