TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe Anime: Episode 7

Episode 7 is where the Viewtiful Joe anime starts really deviating from the game and gets original.  Villains of all the previous episodes, with the exception of the biker gang, all came from the game, but this one starts the first in a series of new villains for Joe to fight.  I also remember this episode airing much later than its episode number, being aired closer to when the season finale aired, but I could be remembering wrong.

In this episode, a weirdo mascot man gives away telepathic head creatures called Slugoon to all the kids in town, but of course they're actually evil mind control monsters.  This is going to be a very short post because it's almost uncut.  Almost.

TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe Anime: Episode 6

In this episode, Joe and Junior get Machine 6/6 Machine from the old farmer Cyrus Brown (first name is mentioned in a later episode, second is in Red Hot Rumble).  This is just in time, as Charles the Third aims to take advantage of Joe's flying ability with an aerial assault.

So there's no bars?  No?  No guns?  What about bombs?  They're colored green?  They don't even explode?  Ok.  Phew.

TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe Anime: Episode 5

November 5th.  One of the turning points in American history.  Newvember.  The day the greatest anime ever made graced our airwaves, starting with the 5th episode.  I'm halfway certain they started with the fifth episode because otherwise viewers would be asking who this Captain Blue Junior in the opening was.  They aired the other 3 episodes later on during its weekday block at the time except, as I detailed, episode 4.  Because of this, there were some expo dub lines that were necessary.

Like I mentioned at the end of episode 4's breakdown, this episode has a fair amount of broadcast no-nos, but it's apparent that the people editing this one for TV weren't the same people 4Kids had.  They actually work around things in very natural ways.

In this 5th episode that was the first we ever got, Joe goes to Captain Blue's favorite old western town, Blue Town, and meets his mainstay partner, previously Captain Blue's sidekick, Captain Blue Junior, who after being harassed by some bikers is stormed by Bianco Billy.

Let's get the big one out of the way first: signs.  Remember all the signs that got edited in the last episode?  Well, Blue Town is an old west town and those had bars.  Can't have that in English, although the word "saloon" is allowed in one shot, even though that's a kind of bar.

No gun shops either.

And... Pornography?!

Why does Captain Blue's town have a porn shop?  Did someone on the background team just throw that in without knowing what it meant in English?  I'd change that even if this WEREN'T broadcast television!  That's distracting!

TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe Anime: Episode 4

Viewtiful Joe episode 4 is a lost episode, in a manner of speaking.  It never aired in America.  I remember it was GOING to, but something happened with the network and it never happened.  Many episodes of the anime only had one shot to air and then never aired again and that includes this one.  It's a DVD exclusive.  The DVD was ever advertized as such, but I got hyped to buy it and watch an episode I never saw before.  The Wikipedia page giving the air dates lies about this and says it did air.

As for the episode itself, Sprocket gets the idea to make a demoralizing video to manipulate Silvia while Joe faces the Bianky Primas.  That first plot point isn't super obvious at first, which is why we have

Expo Dub: "Yes, of course.  If we can somehow turn the girl against him, she'd be an absolutely devastating secret weapon."

The plan isn't super obvious in the Japanese version.  In that, she's just looking at a film reel of Joe punching a Bianky in silence.

TV Edits of the Viewtiful Joe Anime: Episode 3

Joe lands on a small crescent-shaped cay and fights Gran Bruce, who is clearly in his element.

Joe reacting to his new surroundings is shortened a bit, cutting out him looking at the palm tree and a close-up of his face.  For time, perhaps.

The anime re-uses the footage of the Jadow trio's introductions except this time Hulk is there in person with his new steel shoes.  Just like the first time, the Japanese version is silent while the English version adds dialogue, including that voice recognition system voice.  Bruce even says "this again?"