I was holding off on this one because I already knew this was going to be one of the most, if not the most, edited episodes. In this episode, Joe and Junior are on the run from Biankies and the returning Bianco Billy and Junior gets help from the old man that found Machine Six and his friend Gina.
The episode is a reference to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There's a bit with Junior referencing the scene where Sundance says he can't swim and the English dub even references the characters directly.
The episode name, Bianco Billy Rides Again, is probably named after the McCloud episode titled Butch Cassidy Rides Again, which is about a bank being robbed by guys who look just like the famous outlaw himself. A fitting reference, since Billy is the villain in this scenario.
It's another western-themed episode and you know what that means: guns. Guns weren't a big problem in Billy's first appearance because Billy was the only one who had them and he used his quick draw skills so the camera didn't linger on them. Unfortunately, this episode has a lot of close-ups and stick-ups, which means the guns had to be edited around constantly.
I'm going to frontload some of the changes to the guns right now. Instead of editing around the guns, they are replaced in the English version with more TV-friendly blue ones in every single shot they're in, if they aren't removed entirely. They have a subtle lazer sound effect in the English version again, but the bullet ricochet sound is untouched.
All of these are painted onto still shots and, with one or two exceptions, couldn't be animated, which means several parts in which the guns move are cut from the English version. They're often very small cuts lasting only a second, but there are a lot of them and while I'll point them out, I'm not going to have a screenshot of every single one because they're insignificant. You are not missing a pivotal moment in which a faceless mook turns his head.
Before we get to the guns though, there's a scene with Sprocket with a lot of small, single second cuts.
A moment of the camera panning out and Sprocket laughing harder is cut from the English version so as not to animate around the zipper.
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| I don't know what is up with the Spanish name subtitles in this upload. |
For the same reason, a moment of her looking around to read the room is cut.
Her taking a step to the side when Billy calls in is cut too.
After Hulk's remark, Billy's video screen flips around to face him, which implies that he somehow has control over which way it's facing. This is cut from the English version.
After Joe lands his log, the Japanese version has him assess the situation and wonder what Junior's doing. This is cut from the English version, probably for time.
Expo dub: "Hey. Wait a minute."
Good to subtly remind viewers that Junior knows the place, since it was last seen 15 episodes ago. The old guy living there is given the name "Cyrus" this time when in his first appearance he was never given a name. In Japanese his name is "Brown" and in Red Hot Rumble they name him "Dr. Brown" so I always assumed his name is Cyrus Brown.
Expo dub: "Jumpin' jehosefat! It's Bianco Billy and his gang!"
For that one it's been 16 episodes since he appeared. Considering Jadow is a well-known criminal organization in Movieland, it makes sense Billy might be recognized in some parts and besides that, his friend Gina knows Billy so recognizing him makes even more sense. In the Japanese version he just reacts with confusion, possibly not even knowing who it is. It's at this point Billy brings the censored guns out.
In the Japanese version, after Gina comes in, she starts to walk toward the gunfire, but Cyrus tackles her to take cover as another shot hits a Captain Blue figure on the shelf. Gina says something about how they used to fight together with Captain Blue and gets back up to continue on as she planned. In the English version, that part is cut out so she walks on uninterrupted. It was probably cut for time, because the scene flows better without it and because of the somewhat suggestive position Cyrus is in afterward, not that any attention is given to that.
There's a small animation of Billy visibly reacting to Gina coming out, but since that would've meant animating the gun, the English version keeps him still.
The English version re-uses a previous shot from behind Gina to add a small bit of dialogue.
When Billy is commenting on Gina's looks, he's holding a gun in the Japanese version, which the English version edits out. There's also a hit flash on the corn connecting.
Billy falling down is a little bit longer in the Japanese version because as he's falling the Biankies begin shooting, something the English version won't show onscreen.
When Gina disarms the Biankies, the guns are edited out of the shots.
After Billy spits the corn out of his speaker mouth, he turns his head to see Cyrus driving toward them in the Japanese version. In the English version, a previous shot of him is used and he does not visibly react to Cyrus. That would mean editing the shot with the gun.
In the Japanese version, Billy raises his gun upward. In the English version it's changed to a still shot with the edited guns.
After tossing Junior his gadget, Cyrus makes the Viewtiful Joe sign in the Japanese version, but the English version cuts that out. The English dub guys later edit the hand sign when Junior makes it, but I guess they wanted to give themselves a break.
After Junior and Gina crash land, in the Japanese version Junior lifts his head up. The English version cuts that out to make the shot start from when his head is up, probably because it was potentially suggestive.
A sweeping shot of Biankies before they shoot at Joe is turned into a still shot because again again again, the English version's editors aren't animating guns.
The biggest cut in the episode comes when Gina tells Junior that she used to be Captain Blue's partner. In the Japanese version, Gina has a flashback to her being with Blue and monologues about Captain Blue would always protect her and lays on heavy implications that the two were romantically involved. Junior images such a scenario where both of them are older and the heavier-set Gina initiates making out with Blue by tackling him with an audible thud. It's not explicit, but the punchline it leads up to was probably too risque for American TV so that whole sequence is cut.
When Junior pulls out his unknown weapon, the Biankies react in the Japanese version, but since that would require animating guns, the English version uses only the last part of the animation, when the guns are offscreen. Then when it cuts back to them after Junior's device doesn't seem to work, they barely move in the English version because they were raising their guns in the Japanese version.
After the Biankies are flicked in the head, they all wobble a little in the Japanese version. Once again, that had their guns in their hands so the English version cuts to the very end of that shot, when the guns are offscreen.
A very smooth edit happens in the English version after Gina and Junior drive away from the diner. In the Japanese version, after looking at his weapon(?) Junior confidently makes the VJ handsign before a bullet hits the windshield. In the English version, Junior continues looking at the weapon in that shot before the bullet hits. This is done while the road is animated and the screen is shaking from the car. Someone with the English version must've overlayed Junior looking at the weapon into the animated, moving scene without it sticking out.
A shot of Billy pointing his gun before shooting out the tires is cut from the English version, instead replaced with a close-up of his face followed by a hit flash added to the shot of the tire to simulate a shot from a muzzle or lazer.
When Junior is thinking about what Joe would do in their situation, an image of Joe making his handsign is superimposed on the shot. Editing out the middle finger of that would be difficult. Then after Gina asks what they should do, Junior responds by flashing the handsign at her. The only thing the English version keeps is the shot of Junior thinking.
After the car submerges, Junior makes an affirmative VJ handsign at Gina in the Japanese version that is also cut from the English version.
After the car is beached, the English version cuts out a panning establishing shot of the beach's stores and facilities. I don't know why. There's nothing that would cause a problem for broadcast television on the signs. Nothing needed to be edited.
For once the English version's editors animated the replacement gun when Billy pulls it out, although it's easy to notice the animation of him getting it out is sped up.
Joe's handsign at his arrival edited the middle finger out. It was probably easier with the solid blue background. Soon afterward, as Joe is about to henshin, the camera pans down to show Junior doing the handsign at the same time. The English version cuts the panning shot so they can keep the shots still to edit the handsigns.
After his transformation is done, Joe and Junior make the handsign at each other. That's cut from the English version.
To finish things off with Billy, there's more editing because of his guns. In the Japanese version, the camera pans over from Joe fighting Biankies to Billy taking cover with his gun at the ready. He then comes out dual-wielding them, ready to fire.
The English version edits it in such a way that he implicitly got the jump on them. The animation of him coming out from behind cover is cut and the reaction shots of everyone reacting to it is played more dramatically with a flash effect.
The beautiful shot of 's weapon flying into the gun's barrel is kept in the English version, but if you look closely you can see that Billy's guns are unedited until they're closer.
After that, Billy gets hit with a sign in the Japanese version, calling back to his first defeat. For reasons I can't explain, that part is cut from the English version. Why? It's not because they'd have to animate the guns. Because they're so damaged and darkened, the English version doesn't need to edit the guns in that shot. "I heart Sea" isn't problematic text either. There's a scene with Sprocket after that, but it's unedited.
The reason this post took so long is because this is hands-down the most edited episode in the anime and it's in large part because of the constant use of guns. They had to cut this thing to pieces to let it air on American TV, but I do still prefer the English version. Gina and Junior have a lot of great dialogue in the English version and the English editors were still able to keep the guns as threatening weapons, even if they couldn't show said guns as much. I don't think this episode having an uncut English dub version would change very much.
The hardest one of these posts is out of the way and it should hopefully be smooth sailing from now on, since Bianco Billy never comes back.
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