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whereyoursoulresides · 6 years

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DiC Dub vs Sub Episode 19/23 - “Molly’s Folly” / “Wish Upon a Shooting Star! Naru’s Pure Love”

Oh boy I’m really enjoying rewatching both sets of episodes again. Honestly at this point I’m doing these almost for archival sake - if I don’t, I fear one day I might forget and there’s just so much of a difference between the two that I feel like I must document it! And now, without further ado:

I mostly do this for KZ so let’s just skip straight to as close to them as we can get. Beryl(s) are mad, perfect.

Both Zoycite/Zoisite show up laughing and giggling. As usual, Zoycite’s malevolence has been amped up a notch, while Zoisite is still very soft-spoken and coy.

I actually really like how poetic Zoisite is in this frame? How lovely <3.

Y’know, while it’s obvious Zoycite is being clearly sarcastic here, because it’s so clear she’s a meanie, Zoisite says this with the same kind of gentle quietness that he uses in the episode with Nephrite’s death. It’s a nice consistent contrast in his character- that his mannerisms are soft and polite and quite unassuming, but then he’ll say such dark things so casually and gracefully. As Yumeni Yumeno says, “beautiful but frightening”.

But cutting ahead to the next bit with Zoy/i:

I’m not going to lie, if there is only one thing I quite like about the Dub, it’s how the voice actors really just embraced their characters and 110% all in. Neflyte and Zoycite especially have a great range in the emotion and relish in their voices (although then it does edge into hammy territory), but unfortunately I can’t express it in the captions accurately. But like, seriously, omg, Zoycite is such a bitch right now! “Oh, just to offer you a bit of good advice.”

Conversely, this scene in the Sub goes down surprisingly quietly. Zoisite speaks pretty much with the same note he used in the episode with the twins, almost conversationally mild in comparison to Zoycite. Also, he does say “My” in English, which I find quite cute. It’s almost like a bored-gossip voice.

!!! What IS HAPPENING? All this sudden reference to their relationship that DiC squished in there! “My good friend” WHAT.

Again, while Zoycite is basically both heckling and threatening Neflyte, Zoisite is actually just being informative. Like in previous episodes, it’s implied that Zoycite sort of acts like a bit of a teacher’s pet, ready to out Neflyte to Beryl at a moment’s notice. However, the dynamic with Zoisite and Nephrite is slightly different - despite knowing where Nephrite is, Zoisite never outs him, or even threatens to out him explicitly to Beryl, nor does Nephrite even worry that’s a possibility. In fact, Nephrite thinks of a completely different suspicion:

WHOA SO MUCH GOLD in these two panels!!

FIRST - Neflyte, referring to Zoycite quite bitterly as not being a good friend - he seems quite fucking pissed about this reference. And in this episode, it’s the second (out of three) that imply some kind of history between the two of them, that they’ve known each other longer and have had a relationship of sorts before we see them on screen. This, most definitely, is to set up Zoycite as a foil for Neflyte’s redemption...just as the previous episodes have been consistently building. DiC is using these moments to underline the possibility that if Neflyte can be good, then Zoycite must’ve once possibly been good, and turned quite bad. Can’t have all your villains have redeeming qualities, apparently, because kids might not get the message then!

SECOND - WHOA NEPHRITE WHAT’S WITH THE DRIVE-BY?! ALSO, HOW well-known is Kunzite and Zoisite’s relationship that this can just CROP UP SO CASUALLY in conversation?? Or was that meant to be a hit of some sort, like hmph, you’re Kunzite’s lapdog again? OR...does Nephrite know that the real concern isn’t Beryl coming down with his own undoing, that it might be Kunzite orchestrating it? OR OR - weirdly - is Kunzite checking up on him as an echo of how the Shitennou once worked? ‘Cause I mean, not going to lie, Kunzite asking someone to check up on Nephrite to make sure he doesn’t fuck himself up seems like a job he was probably doing back in the Golden Kingdom.

Continuing, the DiC dub is really playing with this suggestion that they once had a friendship that turned sour. Could be DiC’s explaination as to why Neflyte puts up so much with Zoycite, or seems to have more patience with her than Nephrite does with Zoisite.

Also, GOOD FOR YOU ZOISITE, way to completely keep your composure and totally bypass Nephrite’s zinger! Look at that sweet poker face, I’m so proud!

!!! Once again, DiC really building this idea that Zoycite is pretty much Beryl’s - well, basically what Nephrite had been jabbing at Zoisite. If Zoisite is doing all the legwork for Kunzite and earning Nephrite’s contempt, then Zoycite is definitely doing it (or priding herself upon doing it) for Beryl. An emissary, good grief!

Interestingly, Zoisite again sounds pretty informative. He’s not necessarily threatening to go back to Beryl at all. It’s almost as if he checked into make sure Nephrite was drowning, and then gave him a dignified, quiet way out so he’d possibly make less trouble for Plan KZ if he wasn’t.

Ok, while Zoycite sounds hella pissed, Zoisite sounds genuinely upset. Like he’s utterly flabbergasted that Nephrite would do something like this (why???!), which continues to solidify my theory that Zoisite hadn’t always necessarily intended him total destruction - just enough failure so that he and Kunzite could do their thing. But Nephrite playing the game back and playing it more meanly - whoa, the rules have broken and Zoisite’s mad! He’s like the little brother who poked and bothered and heckled as part the play, except Nephrite punched him back instead.

(So Zoisite actually says “kuyashii”, which can also mean awful, terrible, mortifying, etc. He’s legit shocked and utter galled that Nephrite would stoop this low.)

As for Zoycite - DiC I think was really pushing this idea that she knew she could get away with pushing Neflyte so far, and when he finally pushed back (notice, again, that Neflyte pushing back is still roughly within the rules of fair play in the DiC version, while in the Sub Nephrite basically fucks up his own assignment and decides to take over Zoisite’s), she hates the taste of her own medicine. And she’s going to make him pay for that.

God I’ve always loved this line in the DiC dub. Who was Zoycite before??? What kind of relationship did these two have?? Clearly Neflyte didn’t think she was that terrible to begin with, so what was Nice!(?)Zoycite even like? Were they in the Negaforce military academy together? GUH, so many questions, I wish there were more randon in-universe personal references like this with all the characters, sub or dub!

And look! Nephrite’s not even upset at Zoisite, he’s annoyed with himself that he even wasted his energy getting mad at someone as inconsequential as Zoisite. He completely underestimates Zoisite, and that’s where his whole egotism-is-his-demise comes in. Didn’t Naoko’s notes say that his arrogance would be what would do him in? I think the anime took that very literally.

Skipping over to the garden scene now:

Again, subtle difference, but Zoycite’s complaints are always explictly about how much she hates Neflyte personally. Zoisite’s just upset - again, ambiguously, it could be about anything. Nephrite himself, Nephrite not playing the game fairly, Nephrite taking his job and putting his life at risk, how the plan has gone awry, some of his anxiety seeping in from the fact that the plan has gone awry, etc. I guess my point is, I’m usually hesitant to characterize Zoisite as explicitly hating Nephrite, because I do genuinely think that’s more of a DiC hangover.

A little tangent, but I do love how both Malachite and Kunzite have a little chuckle at first before they comfort their significant others. <3.

Y’know, I do wonder with Kunzite’s response if it is actually Zoisite worrying that Nephrite is deviating off their plan, rather than Nephrite personally. “Kunzite-sama, we didn’t think he was going to try to take my job!! What are we going to do!?” “Hush now, yes, it’s a bit of a surprise, but we’ll make it work.” That’s basically the conversation that’s happened twice now.

Again, subtle difference, but in the DiC dub, this whole conversation Malachite has with Zoycite basically shows he comforts her by having total confidence in her. He’s so very clearly on her side and supportive of her 110%. It definitely makes their dynamic much different than that of Kunzite and Zoisite, which we will see in later episodes. Even though Malachite is her mentor (her teacher, explicitly, by his own words), his commitment and love for her (combined with her much more assertive personality) basically evens their power dynamic out. Not quite the case in Kunzite’s and Zoisite’s relationship, though Zoisite definitely isn’t shy about his affections.

Y’know, overall Zoycite is such a harder character than Zoisite is, so I generally find it a bit odd when she does adulate Malachite. Like, she doesn’t need his approval or respect by far, and certainly Malachite doesn’t strike me as needing his ego stroked when he spends most of his screentime advising her. His suggestion also wasn’t particularly eye-opening (I mean, Kunzite’s might if you consider the context that maybe things are going Out of Plan and that worried Zoisite, so having Kunzite reassure him that they can capitalize on any deviances from said plan becomes basically brilliant). So generally I chalk it up to Zoycite just relishing in the confidence that he’s always got her back.

Hm, I’m reading too much into this but I am curious why following Nephrite has now been delegated to a youma (especially when it was implied he ordered Zoisite to personally check up on Nephrite to begin with). I think Kunzite’s readying them for some couple snuggle time.

GoDs I love how this ending implies so much for both the Sub and the Dub. Okay first, Yasha is Zoisite’s youma and basically follows him everywhere?? Even in private moments in the garden?? Again, do he and Kunzite share those youmas? Do they know them so personally that Zoisite is just like “yep you heard the man” and all of his subordinates are aware Kunzite has as much jurisdiction over them as Zoisite does because they’re together? And again Zoisite is so much more softly-spoken than Zoycite, and his youma’s answer reflects that respect.

Whereas in the DiC version, you can tell they’re really squeezing in every moment to make Zoycite as hard to like and power-hungry as possible. “Obey Lord Malachite!” Zoycite’s basically gunning for queenship of her own and is already practicing - and even her youma kind of resents her a little for it!

Anyways that’s my summization of today’s episode. TLDR; Zoycite and Zoisite have very different management styles and work strategies - one hard power, and the other soft. One’s clearly and quite well on her way to becoming a shark in the DK corporate atmosphere, and while the other takes it carefully and precisely and is going to surprise us with just how deadly he can be. We’re not even in Zoy/i’s character arc completely and already we can see the two diverging into two very different stories with very different character growth milestones ahead. More to come soon!

#DiC Dub Analysis #dub vs. sub #DiC dub #character analysis #zoycite #zoisite #kunzite #malachite #kunzoi #90s dub sailor moon #Classic BSSM #headcanons and theories

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