The Birds and the Metabees is the nineteenth (in English thirty-sixth) episode of the Medabots anime. It first aired in the United States on August 9, 2002 on ABC Family.
Content[]
Summary[]
Ikki and Metabee help to liberate a group of penguins from the Rubberobo Gang's zoo.[1]
Plot[]
Ikki, Metabee, and Erika visit a new zoo, but the only animals in the zoo are penguins, with some of them being disguised as other animals in stuffy costumes to compensate the lack of other animals. The penguins are unable to handle the heat and leave their disguises, and most people leave, finding the zoo boring as penguins are the only animals. A boy with a Pingen throws water on the penguins, and the zoo workers throw him out, with Ikki and Erika finding it strange. At night, the zoo workers have a reunion. They are the Rubberobo Gang, who opened a zoo to gather money to help them conquer the world, but giving free admission coupons for the grand opening didn't give them much return, arguing about what to do to call more customers.
Metabee enjoyed the zoo so much that he asked Ikki to visit it again the next day, and when they arrive, they see that the zoo was renovated as a monster zoo, with the penguins now dressed like monsters, and they are the only persons visiting. The zoo also got a new attraction, where Gillgirl tried to force the penguins to jump through a fire hoop. Metabee is not happy with what he sees and demands them to stop, and the kids agree with him, saying that it is animal cruelty, and the Rubberobo Gang kicks them out of the zoo for interupting their show.
Outside, the trio sees the boy with Pingen alongside Karin taking care of the penguins from the bars. Karin introduces Paco and they explain the situation. The penguins are being treated poorly and are in unfavorable climatic conditions, and if nothing is done soon, the penguins may not survive. They hide when Squidguts appears to check what is happening, and when he dropped his hat, the kids learn that the workers are from the Rubberobo Gang.
Before the situation gets worse, Ikki and his friends plan to liberate the penguins by placing them on a ship that will travel to antarctica at night. At first their plan appears to be working, but the Rubberobo Gang finds and pursues them, catching up with them at the port. Seaslug sends Aquamar to fight against Ikki's Metabee while the others attempt to catch the penguins, but Rokusho appears and stops them, buying time for the penguins to board the ship. In the end Pingen decides to leave with the penguins, which makes Paco sad, but he knows he will be happier with the penguins on Antarctica. Mr. Referee also boarded the ship.
Trivia[]
In the episode[]
- Ikki and Metabee won Aquamar's legs.
Background[]
English dub changes[]
Animal Park
Ikki and Karin
- The fireworks in the beginning were cut.
- The Happy Fun Time Zoo Land is named どうぶつパーク (Dōbutsu Pāku, "Animal Park") in the original.
- The music 1+1=∞ was replaced by other music.
- In the original, Ikki says that Pingen is a Recovery Medabot, while in the dub he says Pingen specializes in Arctic exploration. In both cases he adds that Pingen is not suited for battle due to the low armor.
- Of note, Pingen has the Revive (Fukkatsu) attribute in the games, not Recovery (Kaifuku).
- In the English dub, Pingen is refered with male pronouns, but she is a female Medabot.
- The dub added additional lines for the main characters when they see penguins leaving the fake animals, with Metabee believing they are giving birth to penguins. As Metabee does not know what a zoo is, in the original he wonders if every zoo only has penguins.
- When Paco throws water on the penguins, in the dub the Rubberobo Gang does not like it because they are mean and Paco is being nice with the penguins, while in the original it is implied that the Rubberobo Gang thinks that Paco is being mean with the penguins, unaware that he is trying to cool them.
- The ship S.S. Barnacle is named Fugaku in the original.
- The reason the Rubberobo Gang minions get sad in the dub is because Seaslug told that whoever gave the idea to hand over free admission coupons should be ashamed (which was Seaslug's idea), while in the original Seaslug agrees with Gillgirl, saying that without money they can't feed the animals nor pay the employees.
- Seaslug's panic was reduced by cutting some of the repeated frames.
- In the dub Shrimplips says that he is allergic to lions and tigers as an excuse, while in the original he asks Gillgirl if she would have the courage to capture a lion. Her reply is positive in both, showing sarcasm in the dub and saying that she would in the original.
- Squidguts says that the idea of stealing penguins was from Seaslug in the dub and from Gillgirl in the original. Due to the change, Gillgirl screaming with Squidguts was cut.
- A fadeout was added when the day changes.
- A small part before Ikki arrives in the zoo was cut.
- The Monster Zoo is named 地獄どうぶつえん (Jigoku Dōbutsuen, "Hellish Zoological Garden") in the original.
- When Metabee stands on the fence, Metabee blushes because Ikki said that the penguins are getting "a bird's view of his Medaparts" in the dub. The original has no dialogue other than Ikki's "Metabee!" in this part, with Metabee blushing due to the pleading faces the penguins made for him.
- A few scenes from the part Paco explains about the situation from the penguins were shortened or cut. Some parts of the dialogue alos changed, like Ikki saying that he doesn't like penguins in the dub and the zoo in the original (changing his mind when Karin said that the zoo appears to be interesting).
- In the bridge, Ikki seeing Karin with heart eyes and Erika's reaction were cut.
- The eyecatchers were replaced by a fadeout.
- Pingen is silent in the original. The dub added lines for Pingen in three scenes, also adding a pun by saying that Pingen and Paco will become pen pals.
- The three parts where there is a pause and the narrator explains that "at that moment, the penguins/bus driver/taxi driver understood everything" were cut. The explanation from the taxi driver also has an extra line.
- The part Seaslug is crying and tired on the floor was shortened, and has different dialogue. In the original he says that their plan to conquer the world failed again, but he tells his mother (presumably in heaven) that he gave his best, and his sweet did not felt bad as it showed how arduously he worked for it. When the others reach him, Gillgirl asked what he is doing. A fadeout was added in the dub after this part.
Characters[]
Note: All characters are listed in order of their first appearances in the episode. The time they appear is the time from the English dub.
| Image | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
|
Ikki Tenryou | |
|
Erika Amazake | |
|
Metabee | |
|
Paco | Known as Kouta (コウタ) in Japanese. A boy whose father works as a researcher on Antarctica. Pingen was originally on Antarctica with his father, but to avoid leaving his son alone, he sent Pingen to make company to Paco. Knowing about penguins more than most people, he realizes that the penguins in the zoo are not well and tries to help them. In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Rie Iwatsubo. |
|
Pingen | Paco's Medabot. |
|
Squidguts | |
|
Gillgirl | |
|
Newscaster (ニュースキャスター) |
The TV newscaster that informed about the ship that was going to Antarctica and talked a bit about the place. In the Japanese version, she was voiced by Mariko Nagahama. |
|
Seaslug | |
|
Shrimplips | |
|
Rubberobo Gang members | |
|
Karin Junmai | |
|
Rokusho | |
|
Bus Driver (バス運転手) |
The bus driver that gave a ride for the kids, their Medabots, and the penguins. In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Satoshi Tsuruoka. |
|
Taxi Driver (タクシー運転手) |
The taxi driver that gave a ride for the Rubberobo Gang. He was very polite, but when Seaslug leaves saying that the "check is in the mail", he got angry and managed to catch Shrimplips, making him pay for the ride. In the Japanese version, he was voiced by Takayuki Kondo. |
|
Aquamar | |
|
Mr. Referee |
Gallery[]
Title Cards[]
Episode[]
