TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe Anime: Episode 20

In this episode, Joe and the Jadow trio wake up on a mysterious train full of toys, run by an enigmatic kitty conductor.  It's an episode that focuses squarely on Joe and the Jadow trio with all of their allies excluded from the plot.  This one is a favorite among fans for its underlying theme of childhood innocence and feelgood nature of the whole thing in a time where so much anime is blood and violence like Bleach, Chainsaw Man and Demon Slayer.

There's a lot to like about this episode and for me one of those things is Bob Papenbrook.  I've talked him up before, but for a lot of the Viewtiful Joe anime up to this point he's been doing his Almighty Leader voice and hasn't played Captain Blue since the first few episodes.  Blue's Japanese voice sounds like he's going through the motions, but every line delivered by Paprenbrook really feels like an old-school hero.  Big ups to a voice acting legend.  If he were still around he would be the Great Old One of the West instead of Peter Beckman.

 

The movies this episode is based on are the Polar Express and Toy Story.  Joe even references the Polar Express by name in the English dub.  Considering this is an episode with toys, children and rules against violence, you can't expect a lot to be edited out for inappropriate content.

 

A minor thing, but when Hulk pauses to look down where the conductor is, the English dub adds him saying "excuse me."  In the Japanese version the cat just catches his eye.

 

The biggest cut of the whole episode happens after the conductor fights off the Jadow trio and makes them sit down.  First Charles tells Joe that fighting him is their duty, but just as it looks like they're getting ready to fight, the conductor tells them there will be no fighting, which everyone complies with by pretending to sleep.  Then after he leaves they start stomping on each other's feet and the conductor has to step in to tell them to be quiet, to which they immediately stop again.  The whole thing is about a full minute.  It's a funny sequence, but unnecessary so the English version cuts it.  The shot panning over to them is kept in to frame it as though they were sitting there waiting for a while before the Jadow trio gets up to confront the conductor.

Hit flash when the green liquid plastic monster punches Charles and Hulk in the face.

When Joe is looking into the memories of the toys, two shots are cut out.  One is of a shelf of toys and the other is of a little girl hugging a plushie.  Maybe it's for time or maybe it's because a couple of the plushies look too much like Sanrio characters.  Then again Joe was very clearly playing with a Godzilla toy earlier in the episode.

Hello Kitty?

My Melody?

Here's a really weird part.  Joe sort of projects his heroic spirit and purity into the toys and the villains to put them into something of a pensive trance that calms them down.  In the English version all Joe says is "all return to innocence", which is vague as to what he's doing.

In the Japanese version, he shouts that he's using Viewtiful Forever.  For those who don't remember, Viewtiful Forever in the games is Joe striking a pose and dazzling everyone onscreen with it for some damage.  It's also his ultimate attack in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Here, Viewtiful Forever seems to project Joe's heroic will into everyone around him, causing the Jadow Trio to remember their own childhood innocence and calming the souls of the toys.  Don't question this metaphorical power too much.  He never uses it again in the series.

 

I did not expect much editing and my expectations were met.  Just a minute long sequence that had to go for time and roughly 2 seconds of a brief montage.