With the most heavily edited episode out of the way, we now move onto episode 22, titled Cleanliness is Next to Escape-liness in English, named after the line "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." They had to come up with a title that has to do with the plot and this one doesn't consistently reference a particular movie.
This episode mostly centers around Silvia sneaking around Jadow's HQ after the Biankies carelessly let her go get a bottle of cleaner. Meanwhile Joe fights the Jadow trio in less-focused-on battles. Since it's in Jadow HQ it means there's going to be editing around Sprocket, but not as much as you'd expect.
Something I notice in this episode between versions is some of the music in the Japanese version. I already pointed out that the English version uses different music in several scenes, but it uses the same soundtrack. The Japanese version in this episode uses music that isn't on the anime's CD soundtrack at all, which makes me think that there was some kind of restriction on the use of certain music in English or something.
Hulk's tank has a lazer sound edited to the firing of its shells for some reason, even though everything else in the scene is untouched.
As usual, Sprocket zipping her shirt is cut in the English version, but the first scene with her has close-ups and shots from behind so that's all that was needed. I notice that in the Japanese version Sprocket is yelling at the Jadow trio even though her face is cold and expressionless. The English version changes the acting to make it fit better.
In the Japanese version, when the Biankies are done cleaning Silvia's room, there's a sequence of one of the cleaners wringing a wash rag, pantomiming wiping sweat (aren't they robots?) and then looking around before it cuts to a panning shot of the room sparkling with cleanliness. The English version cuts right to the panning shot, likely for time.
After admiring their work, the Biankies look at the nearby empty cleaner bottle and realize Silvia is gone. In the Japanese version, it cuts to outside the room, the screen shakes to indicate panic and then the Biankies walk out of the room to look for her. Again, for time, the English version only has them audibly realize she's missing and cuts the rest.
Expo dub: "Wooow! So this is where it all comes from!"
Silvia finds the place they get her food from.
When Charles gives the Biankies their orders, they stand to attention and nod their heads in the Japanese version. The English version cuts that.
The lazer sound effect is added to Charles' missile shot. I don't get why they keep doing that.
When Silvia goes into the nearby storage room to hide from Gran Bruce, there's a shot of her observing her surroundings and then hearing Bruce say to get moving. This is cut from the English version. It could be for time or because one of the crates has missiles in it and makes it look like weapons storage, which might've been considered risky for American TV.
I like that in the English dub Joe wonders if the enemy saw where the giant cheeseburger went. It ties the otherwise unconnected events going on together by implying that the reason he went in the water is because he went after the giant cheeseburger that fell in the river. There's so many stock phrases in the Japanese version that the English version makes much snappier and more natural.
When Silvia wears Sprocket's clothes in the Japanese version, she zips up her shirt like Sprocket does in all the parts that get edited out of the English version. Just like with Sprocket, it's edited around to not show that part in the English version by using carefully selected parts of the footage.
After that, Silvia hears the Biankies being called away. In the Japanese version she stands there in silence for a few seconds before crying out, but the English version shortens the scene and has her audibly exasperated before crying out.
It's not expo dub, but the English version adds the line "and the giant cheeseburger? It was a fake!" In the Japanese version their introduction is dead silence, like the writers didn't know what to put there, and then Joe just says "I won't lose, Jadow." Again, it's moments like this that make the English version better. It wasn't even fake. He just wanted to make Joe mad.
The ship in the scene, by the way, is clearly modeled after Space Battleship Yamato.
There is an entertaining, but also out of place part that's cut from the English version. After some of Joe's initial poses in the Japanese version, he jumps in the air and poses in the same way he did in the Box art of the original Viewtiful Joe game. Then Junior and Charles slide onscreen one by one doing the same pose, followed by a cool pose from Hulk and Bruce. Right after that Joe flashes his hand sign at the trio. That was way too much hand sign to edit out so that sequence is cut from the English version.
The cut does makes the English version flow a little better. In the Japanese version the Jadow trio is right in front of Joe for their posing and then after one quick shot of Joe they're suddenly in the ship's cockpit as if nothing happened. I don't think this was the right place to insert that little skit in the Japanese version.
Expo dub: "Hmm. Good question."
The dub makes it more clear that Alastor is also thinking about where Sprocket is.
Joe telling Junior that he's hungry is a few seconds longer in the Japanese version, where Junior does a face fault at Joe revealing that he's acting weakened out of hunger.
The beginning of the Bianky's little charade show for Silvia at the end is cut in the English version because one of them does the hand sign.
Meh. Lots of small cuts in this one and a handful of notes are observations rather than outright cuts. A lot of it is trimming the fat and superfluous moments from the Japanese version.
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