Mew Mew Power Talkback 9-24-05

[Kida]

http://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/4kids.JPGhttp://www.toonzone.net/library/talkbacks/mewmewpower.jpg
Dub Title: Books of Love
Original Title: Retasu's Love - Longing in the Library

Retasu has fallen in love with a young man named Endomurasaki Norihiro. He is very kind to her, and he even gives her a photo book as a gift. The other girls are very interested in this developing romance, and though they tease Retasu they encourage her to confess her feelings to him. On that planned day, however, Pai storms the library Norihiro and Retasu had been meeting at with a horde of Chimera Animals. Besides this, will Retasu be able to regain confidence in herself if it turns out Norihiro has someone else?

Name changes for this episode:

Endomurasaki Norihiro ---> Ian
Satsuki ---> Sabrina
Fuu-Hyou-Sen ---> Ice Wind Blast

This week's episode is a sweet one focusing on Retasu. Her full transformation is shown in this episode, so hopefully 4Kids won't mess with it, as Bridget's full transformation has yet to be seen. A Retasu image song also plays in this ep, which will most likely be replaced with a 4Kids piece. I'm also hoping Retasu's personality is portrayed well in the dub today; Bridget seems a bit more assertive than Retasu is.

[Duke]

Heh, loved Corina's lines in the beginning, and all the scenes where the girls interrogate and apply pressure to Bridget are comedy gold.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite episodes, though I doubt we'll be seeing this guy ever again.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

This episode seemed to run about 1-2 minutes longer than usual, so as expected, they cut out Bridget/Lettuce's full transformation for time.

My favourite part was when the girls were all talking about their own crushes. Although the scene ran a little quick before I could fully catch it, that person in Corina's thought bubble was Renee, wasn't it? AHAHAHA!:p

[LordTerminal]

Were the animators short on ideas for monsters of the day? The dust mites looked really, really shoddy looking. Although the idea of them just stopping and just standing there reading was................completely random.

And surprise surprise, they cut out Bridget's transformation sequence. What's your deal with her 4Kids?

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Were the animators short on ideas for monsters of the day? The dust mites looked really, really shoddy looking. Although the idea of them just stopping and just standing there reading was................completely random.

And surprise surprise, they cut out Bridget's transformation sequence. What's your deal with her 4Kids?
Like I suggested, probably a time edit. The episode seemed to run a little long by U.S. standards also. That's American television for you.

I thought the book reading was hilarious. "History...can't stay awake much...longer..."

WTF? LOL!!!

[ToonKid]

This episode seemed to run about 1-2 minutes longer than usual, so as expected, they cut out Bridget/Lettuce's full transformation for time.

My favourite part was when the girls were all talking about their own crushes. Although the scene ran a little quick before I could fully catch it, that person in Corina's thought bubble was Renee, wasn't it? AHAHAHA!:pthe reason why they edit her transformation is because in her full tranformation u could see her breast & her butt! thats why they edited it out

[TnAdct1]

It's my turn to make comments about today's episode of TMM:

-Must... resist... making a... Negima crack. (If you've been following Negima in either manga or anime form, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, especially considering the library setting).

-OMG during the scene where the other Mew Mews imagine what their dream lover would be like, 4Kids actually kept in Mint fantasizing about Zakuro (yes, Mint's interest in her is definitely of the shoujo-ai variety). :anime:

-Other thing that 4Kids surprisingly kept in: having the book that Lettuce receives be read from left to right (which is how most Japanese books are read) instead of right to left a la the usual American books.

-In case you're wondering: yes, the original Japanese version of the episode did have an image song in it as well.

-Okay, what the heck's wrong with Lettuce's transformation that prevents 4Kids from showing it. A lot of TMM fans were waiting to see how that transformation would be handled (especially the music, considering how Lettuce's henshin music in the Japanese version is one of the more better henshin themes in TMM), only to discover that 4Kids decided to cut it out of the episode.

-Speaking of edits: didn't this episode of TMM feature a scene with Lettuce's family in the original Japanese version.

-Finally, for those who are disappointed that Lettuce's attempt at love didn't work out, don't worry, as she'll begin to have to a crush on Ryou later on in the series, with one episode focusing on it.

[Kida]

the reason why they edit her transformation is because in her full tranformation u could see her breast & her butt! thats why they edited it out Er, so does Zakuro's, but they painted over that. I don't see why they couldn't do the same for Retasu. It's probably a time edit, like Jojo said.

Anyway, woah! This episode was pretty mixed up scene-wise. Plus, they actually ADDED ZakuroxMinto references! 0_o; Sheesh! I was stunned o_o; There were also a lot of Shakespeare quotes added that weren't in the original. Norihiro's age was upped as well, and they played that stupid corny romance track a few times. I loved Sardon's line about needing a library card. XD Ha! Ian I found louder and lamer than Norihiro, who was sort of quiet. MMPU Comparison (http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep16.html)

- The entire beginning was switched around. In the original, it went Retasu leaves school > Narrates how she thinks she likes a boy > Flashbacks about Norihiro > A bunch of stuff > Retasu receives photo book > Minto and Ichigo walk home and have a conversation about boyfriends. In the dub, it was changed to Corina and Zoey talk about Bridget's crush and narrate the whole thing > Zoey knows about Bridget already > All the girls are interested.

During the Ichigo and Minto scene, which is later in the episode after the girls chant "Confess your love!" at Retasu, Minto pokes fun at Ichigo, saying it's more surprising that Ichigo has a boyfriend than Retasu having one. Ichigo denies it, and Minto asks if Aoyama-kun is not her boyfriend. Then..

"Um...Ahahahahaha! That has nothing to do with someone who's never had a boyfriend!" (http://tinypic.com/dy90sh.jpg)
"You know I.. I'm happy just to be with you, Zakuro-oneesama! Oh ho ho ho ho ho~!" (http://tinypic.com/dy911d.jpg)
"Uh.." (http://tinypic.com/dy91c1.jpg)

In the dub it was changed to Corina making an excuse concerning working.


-OMG during the scene where the other Mew Mews imagine what their dream lover would be like, 4Kids actually kept in Mint fantasizing about Zakuro (yes, Mint's interest in her is definitely of the shoujo-ai variety). :anime: Not exactly. That was actually 4Kids' own doing. o.o

- In the boyfriend scene, Retasu is happily wiping tables after her flashback spree. Ichigo asks if she has a boyfriend and Retasu denies it, but Ichigo figures it out anyway. Retasu spazzes and asks her not to tell, whereupon Ichigo yells for all the girls to come over. They all wonder what kind of boy Retasu's crush is.

Hmmm... (http://tinypic.com/dy9ef7.jpg)

In the dub, the girls ask if he's cute and Renee remarks that there are all kinds of cute, or something to that effect, as the girls each imagine a boy. Zakuro's guy is given a little more color and his cigarette is erased, while Corina's bubble is filled in with Renee. 0_o; Okay then.

- The book Retasu receives from Norihiro is a picture book of Tahiti. Ian gives Bridget a Fiji travel guide.

- When Retasu at her house, she thinks about how she's begun thinking positively lately and how she's been happy with her friends. She also feels that she can say clearly now that she loves Norihiro. Then her image song Umi wo Miteita (Watching the Sea) (http://www.geocities.com/kidamahou/umiwomiteita.wma) begins to play. In the dub, a song about crushes plays during Bridget thinking about everybody.


-Speaking of edits: didn't this episode of TMM feature a scene with Lettuce's family in the original Japanese version. Actually, it didn't. They don't appear until episode 34, I believe.

- When the other Mews arrive, Ichigo makes a speech, Minto says rather unseriously that they'd never forgive the enemies, Purin comments on how funny the Chimera Animals look, and Zakuro just looks serious. In the dub Corina and Kiki say heroic stuff and Renee sort of groans. ^^;

- At the end, Ian talks when proposing to Sabrina. Norihiro simply pulls out the ring and gives it to Satsuki without any words.

- Also at the end, Bridget pretends that Ian didn't appear that day. Retasu tells the girls that she's alright. Kiki and Renee have some dialouge and while Bridget is walking Zoey narrates and quotes Shakespeare. Retasu narrates herself that her love came to a sad end and though she feels pain, she knows that later she'll be glad she fell in love. Which she will again! Mwahahaha! o.o;

Next week: The appearance of the Blue Knight! The alien's backround is revealed, Ichigo catches a cold, Aoyama encounters Shirogane, and Kisshu finds himself a rival. Expect more stupid dialougue from Dren.

[Hyper Shadow X]

I wonder if next week's one where Blue Knight shows up will be any good?

[LordTerminal]

Will it be any good? Let's see, we've got all three of our "favorite" (using that word losely here. Except in the case of Kisshu/Dren. Despite bad dialog, his design has grown on me for some reason.:sweat: ) elf-eared alien lifeforms fighting in a heavy duty free-for-all AND the first appearance of the Blue Knight..............................................................................
..............................................................................
..............................................................................
....................Yeah, I'd say it's worth watching.:D

Of course, 4Kids WILL screw over the backstory for the bad guys.

[Duke]

- The entire beginning was switched around. In the original, it went Retasu leaves school > Narrates how she thinks she likes a boy > Flashbacks about Norihiro > A bunch of stuff > Retasu receives photo book > Minto and Ichigo walk home and have a conversation about boyfriends. In the dub, it was changed to Corina and Zoey talk about Bridget's crush and narrate the whole thing > Zoey knows about Bridget already > All the girls are interested. I kinda like the altered beginning, since we get Zoey & Corina arguing about the difference between "bumping" and "stalking."

[bigddan11]

Poor Bridget. She got her heart broken by Ian, but something tells me she'll be able to rebound. I did get a laugh out of the dust mites as villians, but let's see some real villians. Last time I checked the Mews weren't fighting dusty bookshelves after all.

[Bunai]

the reason why they edit her transformation is because in her full tranformation u could see her breast & her butt! thats why they edited it outi say cut for time.
they showed her transform unaltered before. and her breast and butt are not show even the jnp episodes. its very blurry.
i would have liked to hear Bridgets dub theme...only heard it once and i really liked it. but i guess the music for the attack is a good alternate really dig it. i'm actually fond of Bridgettes VA saying "Combat Castanets! Underwater Surge ATTACK!"


-Okay, what the heck's wrong with Lettuce's transformation that prevents 4Kids from showing it. A lot of TMM fans were waiting to see how that transformation would be handled (especially the music, considering how Lettuce's henshin music in the Japanese version is one of the more better henshin themes in TMM), only to discover that 4Kids decided to cut it out of the episode...she transformed in a earlier dub ep music included. and like the Japanese one her theme is quite cool in dub too XD i highly agree that Lettuce has one of the best themes. i thought i was the only one who thought that...really the themes for everyone else (the japanese ones) blargh just kind of boring, especially Puddings.

[Bunai]

not really bothering to compare the jnp to the dub. the dub should be just rated in its own right.

ANYWAY
i too think using Zo and Cori to narrate Bridgettes behavior was a good replacement and actually funny. Zo and Cori should hang out together more often...lol they make a great tag team of fun.

Sardon "We need a library card" 0_o lol okay! XD makes it more funny cause his face is so expressionless.

to be honest...i don't think i would have handled Lettuce's character filler ep too well...something about Japanese voices for quiet/shy characters that get annoying ever so often. and the constant "remain shy forever but laugh ever so often" hinders the characters growth.
i like Bridgette's personality of shy for a sec to speaking up the next. seems a bit more useful. like shes more apart of the group.

fav scene
Mew Girls "Confess your love! Confess your love! Confess your love!" XD lol Renees voice was just funny...she sounded like she was apart of the loud excited chorus...but had a mature laid back approach. lol the Chibi Zakuro was just funny.

hmm quite amused and suprised at the replacement for Mint's thought bubble. LOL having Corina think about Renee instead XD thumbs up for that! but really Mint just admires Zakuro greatly she just doesn't know what to do with herself. Which is why i think giving her a brother for the anime was truely unecessary.

the animations direction is sometimes off to me. for the fillers i mean. using Ryou, Keii, and Masha. like one second having them there to make a crack then having them completely gone the next. the stretch to use the girls is kind of awkward.
oyi what a lousy horde of Chimera >_< ACK! funny to look at i guess, but really it was like...why? lol and the girls falling to their knees. how many "I feel so weak, They're taking my energy" can mahoshoujo have?! it makes the characters seem weak and useless...like toned down from the manga.


i give this episode a rating of "so-so" it was king of good and kind of not. like certain points were well done and cute while others just fell flat. just too typical for me. "shy girl gets crush" WHOO THATS A NEW ONE!!

[Alex Toon]

I say, very funny eith the "Confess your love! Confess your love!" and the whole story about Bridgette/Retasu.
Pai/Sardon's comment about "I need a library card." just funny because of his lack of emotion.
Corina dreaming about Renee? Shoujo-ai fanfix ahoy!:p
Nice overall. This is what keeps me coming back to this show.

[Yash]

I was bored, plus I want to get back at 4Kids, so I wrote this up and sent it to the Parents Television Council:

Early yesterday morning, my 8 year old daughter was watching a show called "Mew Mew Power", which airs on the Fox block called 4Kids. While the show was rated TV-Y7, I would imagine that something of this nature would deserve a much higher rating.

A scene involved four girls imagining what they see as beauty. While three of the girls imagined a man, the fourth girl imagined the face of one of the other girls. Could this be implying that this character (who I learned to be called Corina) is indeed a lesbian?

Some research brought me this image, which makes it apparent that while this show is a cartoon from Japan, Fox and 4Kids Entertainment (the provider of the show) are indeed responsible for this. Take a look at this image comparing the "uncut" version and the "cut" version (uncut on left, cut on right): http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep16k.jpg

Are Fox and 4Kids trying to convince girls to become lesbians by having the main character appear to be one?

From a concerned parent,
Monica Johnson

[Rahxepy]

I was bored, plus I want to get back at 4Kids, so I wrote this up and sent it to the Parents Television Council:

Early yesterday morning, my 8 year old daughter was watching a show called "Mew Mew Power", which airs on the Fox block called 4Kids. While the show was rated TV-Y7, I would imagine that something of this nature would deserve a much higher rating.

A scene involved four girls imagining what they see as beauty. While three of the girls imagined a man, the fourth girl imagined the face of one of the other girls. Could this be implying that this character (who I learned to be called Corina) is indeed a lesbian?

Some research brought me this image, which makes it apparent that while this show is a cartoon from Japan, Fox and 4Kids Entertainment (the provider of the show) are indeed responsible for this. Take a look at this image comparing the "uncut" version and the "cut" version (uncut on left, cut on right): http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep16k.jpg

Are Fox and 4Kids trying to convince girls to become lesbians by having the main character appear to be one?

From a concerned parent,
Monica JohnsonOMG At first when I saw Rene's picture in Corina's Fantasy image I thought they forgot to edit out the picture, however I guess I was wrong and they chose to go another way, However being real they already stated that Corina admires Rene so It makes sense they changed it.

[TnAdct1]

I was bored, plus I want to get back at 4Kids, so I wrote this up and sent it to the Parents Television Council:

Early yesterday morning, my 8 year old daughter was watching a show called "Mew Mew Power", which airs on the Fox block called 4Kids. While the show was rated TV-Y7, I would imagine that something of this nature would deserve a much higher rating.

A scene involved four girls imagining what they see as beauty. While three of the girls imagined a man, the fourth girl imagined the face of one of the other girls. Could this be implying that this character (who I learned to be called Corina) is indeed a lesbian?

Some research brought me this image, which makes it apparent that while this show is a cartoon from Japan, Fox and 4Kids Entertainment (the provider of the show) are indeed responsible for this. Take a look at this image comparing the "uncut" version and the "cut" version (uncut on left, cut on right): http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep16k.jpg

Are Fox and 4Kids trying to convince girls to become lesbians by having the main character appear to be one?

From a concerned parent,
Monica Johnson Oh man, I'm LAMO at that letter. :D

[LordTerminal]

Congratulations, you have confirmed to me you are a soccer mom. And I LOATHE YOUR KIND!

If the show gets canned because of your letter or ends up getting even worse treatment than now, I WILL FIND YOU!!!!!!

[Bunai]

A scene involved four girls imagining what they see as beauty. While three of the girls imagined a man, the fourth girl imagined the face of one of the other girls. Could this be implying that this character (who I learned to be called Corina) is indeed a lesbian?

Some research brought me this image, which makes it apparent that while this show is a cartoon from Japan, Fox and 4Kids Entertainment (the provider of the show) are indeed responsible for this. Take a look at this image comparing the "uncut" version and the "cut" version (uncut on left, cut on right): http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep16k.jpg

Are Fox and 4Kids trying to convince girls to become lesbians by having the main character appear to be one?

From a concerned parent,
Monica Johnson
should you really call a fansub's use of the JNP broadcast of the show "uncut"? anime shown on TV in Japan then transferred to DVD have a tendency to be cleaned up after they have aired. scenes are altered and sometimes coloring is redone.
whos to say 4kids edited that in or not? they could have the DVDs from the company.

either way... *cough* I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY :anime: :p lol
power to the Renee thought bubble~!!!

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Bad idea Yaz. More likely if this letter really DID stir up anything, it would mean even stricter rules on everything in Mew Mew, which might lead to skipped episodes, edited out romances, and 40-episodes-into-1.

[Yash]

40 episodes into 1 would mean the series would end, which is fine by me.

But seriously. Jeez, it's a joke. If any controversy is stirred by this I'm sure it won't be enough to get it off the air. That'd require playing the theme backwards and claim they're talking about masturbation.

[Ultra8]

"Confess your love! Confess your love!" gotta be the best line out of the episode.:D
Your basic shy girl has a crush episode, an oldie but still very good. The dustmite monsters with the power to bore were a clever MotW.
Renne in Corina's thought bubble was a surprise, even more so when I found out about what they skipped and added. I'm guessing it's their way of making up for the scene that got cut or them having fun. Either way it was cute chuckler.

5/5

[G1Ravage]

It's odd...but at the beginning of the episode, I could tell there was useless added in dialogue over the extended flashback sequences which basically set up the plot for the episode.