ThePokémonanime’s 4Kids dub is notorious for changing dialog and scenes around for no good reason. While it’s not usually a huge problem, one scene that suffered a major change actually ended up hurting Misty’s character.
Localization changes are a fact of life in just about every anime series, but it was especially common in the ’90s. Ash Ketchum’s name, for example, was changed from Satoshi, and food items were frequently altered,such as the infamous “Jelly Donuts"that were originally rice balls. Standards for what is appropriate for children are different in Japan, and some things that aren’t a big deal there can occasionally cause problems in the US. 4Kids, the company responsible for dubbingPokémon’s first few seasons, was particularly vicious in making changes to dialog for this reason, sometimes changing lines entirely.
Pokémon Erased a Surprisingly Progressive Line from Misty
Misty’s Comments Were Quite Bold for the 1990s
In episode 7, “The Water Flowers of Cerulean City,” Ash and Misty have a gym battlefor the Cascade Badge. Misty sends out her Staryu, prompting Ash to use his Pokédex to identify it. In the English version, the Pokédex comments on the gem at the center of Staryu’s body, but the Japanese Pokédex entry is extremely different. Instead, the Pokédex describes Staryu as a “hermaphrodite” species, and then proceeds to say that this “means they are male and female, and able to have passionate relationships with anyone.” Ash is grossed out, but Misty says, “People’s preferences are their own. What does it matter?”
Misty’s comment can easily be read as supportive of LGBTQ+ relationships, something that would’ve been far more controversial to say at the time than it would be now.It’s not hard to see why the overly cautious 4Kids censored this line of dialog; instead, Ash comments on “girls and their jewelry,” prompting Misty to chastise him for stalling. It’s particularly ironic that this progressive line from Misty was changed to give Ash something misogynistic to say, completely flipping the scene from a progressive one to a regressive one.
Misty Has Always Been a Fan of Love
Even With This Line Removed, Misty’s Perspective Shines Through
Despite this line of dialog being erased, and thus changing Misty’s characterization, there’s still a sense throughout the series that Misty is a big fan of love and romance of all kinds.In “Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?”, for example, Misty says that love is “very important to her as a woman” and spends the episode playing matchmaker for two Nidoran.Misty also waxes poetic about love on a few other occasions, and is always excited to hear about romance.
Misty is far from the only character to fall victim to 4Kids' censorship, but this is definitely one of the more extreme examples. Even today, such a scene would likely be changed for the English dub, which is a shame. If fans are interested in watching the Japanese version ofPokémon, a subtitled version can be found available for free onArchive.org.
