Ojamajo Doremi/Magical DoReMi Episode 11 (4Kids) Early Bird Marina and a Bouquet from the Heart/You Don’t Bring Me Flowers | Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: Hazuki befriends a girl names Marina when they meet each other before school hours. Hazuki’s there to use the music room for violin practice, and Marina’s there to put out fresh flowers and clean up the classroom. When a boy named Kimura accidentally ruins some of her flowers and then insults Marina, calling her a teacher’s pet, Marina decides to stop coming in early, bringing in flowers, cleaning up the classroom, and tending to her beloved garden. Hazuki does everything she can to convince her to return to what she loved while Kimura slowly deals with his guilt of hurting Marina.

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Once again, the entire opening scene is removed. Marina is watering plants.

The H on the side of Hazuki’s violin case is removed.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Name Change: Marina Koizumi is changed to Amanda.

3-2 is removed from the bucket. Numbers are bad, say 4Kids.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

A shot of the other students is removed.

The dub doesn’t mention that Marina/Amanda is in the gardening club.

The same establishing shot as before is removed before the repeat shot of Marina wringing out a cloth.

The Music Room sign is painted.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Reanne’s Spell:

So that my stage fright finally ends,

Appear before me an audience filled with veggie friends!

That last line is way too wordy.

Hazuki says she doesn’t feel very enthusiastic and then hints that the audience should applaud her to get her started, which they do. In the dub, she sighs that this isn’t the same as a real audience but at least it’s a good start. Then she awkwardly introduces her set as a piece she made herself on solo violin. I actually like the dub better, and it makes a little more sense.

Okay, 4Kids, you could at least try to have your replacement violin music look like it’s kinda matching her movements. The speed is way off.

Originally, the students were told to turn to page 32. In the dub, it’s page 45. *shrugs aggressively*

Seki says the flowers are lovely and points out that they’re sweet peas. In the dub, in response to Stewart grumbling about reading, Miss Cooper says it’s okay and to just start where it says flowers. Again, I kinda like the dub better because she’s very randomly noticing the flowers she should have seen long ago in the original. Plus, the dub has her being an understanding teacher.

Both versions have him reading something about flowers, but the dub adds in a mention of an author like this is a story.

Text on all the books is removed.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

In the original, Marina says the flowers that are about to bloom are “Daisies, they’re chrysanthemums.” which I didn’t quite understand, but apparently there are flowers called daisy chrysanthemums, which are mums that look like daisies, and both flowers belong to the same plant family, asteraceae….Dunno if that’s what she meant, but okay. In the dub, she says they’re pansies. You had two options, 4Kids, and you took neither. And just to be petty, those don’t look anything like pansy buds because they point downward or sideways, not straight up.

In the dub, Marina says daisies….or chrysanthemums….or both mean innocence in flower language. In the dub, she says pansies are very delicate and you can make tea from their petals.

Marina says these flowers are her favorite. In the dub, she says she loves flowers because they make everything peaceful.

Name Change: Takao Kimura is changed to David.

The boys ask what the big deal is since they’re just flowers. In the dub, it’s kinda the same, but the boy says he didn’t realize Dorie liked flowers as much as food, which…she didn’t say or imply that.

The reaction from Doremi is removed.

They also remove Yuji swinging his butt as he mockingly apologizes.

Aiko says so what if Doremi isn’t that bright. In the dub, she asks so what if Dorie eats more than two hungry cows and a billy goat………This exchange is confusing in both versions.

Hazuki actually stops Marina and tells her to not mind what Kimura said because no one thinks she’s a teacher’s pet, though Marina clearly doesn’t believe this. All this is removed for some reason, maybe due to the commercial break.

So Marina was bringing flowers to school every day, and now there aren’t any…..Does Seki throw them away after every school day? Also, Marina’s said to be part of the gardening club, but she seems to be the only person who tends to the garden.

Kimura counts upwards from 55 as he bounces a soccer ball on his knee. In the dub, he counts upwards from six….which, honestly, is probably more realistic for his age.

Aiko thought Marina was a teacher’s pet like Kimura said. I don’t know why she’d get so mad at that comment before if she agreed with him. In the dub, Mirabelle says it’s not a big deal if Amanda’s mom made her do all those things in the first place. I like the dub better again because, come on, Aiko. That’s just rude.

I don’t quite agree with Hazuki’s logic. It’s basically saying if your parent makes you do something you hate, you probably actually enjoy it, at least you will eventually. Granted, the imagery of her smiling while she was doing it does support Hazuki’s theory, but it could have been worded better is all.

Dodo even backs this up by saying it was the same for her and making items for the magic shop.

There is definitely something to that. But I don’t like that it’s being conveyed like the rule rather than the exception.

Doremi groans and says Dodo should’ve waited until she was better at making magical goods. In the dub, she says too bad she didn’t hate her steak the first time Dodo stole it off her plate.

The dub is a little better because Doremi’s a bit of a jerk in the original (and she’s inadvertently suggesting that it doesn’t matter if you start liking something you were forced to do if you suck at it.) but it also makes Dodo’s outburst afterward confusing.

Aiko just immediately turns into a customer-pleasing employee at the sound of money. Doremi then says that is to be expected of a Naniwa personality. The dub could have just said that was expected of Mirabelle, but instead they had her yell out that they need to make money or else the shop will close, and Dorie changes her tune and welcomes David to buy their goods. The fact that Mirabelle’s smiling as she yells that makes it seem weird.

Doremi originally just asks if he wants to be better at soccer. In the dub, she asks if he wants to be good enough at soccer to win the World Cup. The original is obviously making fun of him, the dub seems to be an actual question.

Originally, the charm was five yen, which is, comically, around five cents in American but more like three cents at the moment. In the dub, it’s $5.00, and the cash register is altered to reflect this. ($5.00 for that piece of crap?)

Dubbed:

They definitely shortened the exterior shot of Hazuki’s house as she plays the violin. I don’t quite mind because it was a tad too long if you ask me.

Okay, now the original isn’t trying to have the music match Hazuki’s animation.

The name plate on Marina’s house is completely removed.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Marina’s mom thanks Hazuki for being such a good friend to her before going to get her. The dub doesn’t include this.

Marina tells Hazuki to mind her own business. In the dub, she asks if her mother put Reanne up to this.

Okay…why are these kids doing math this advanced? Aren’t they like eight?

I think I’ve already covered these books in previous episodes, but obviously all the books have the text removed from their covers.

Hazuki wants to lift Marina’s spirits. Reanne wants Amanda to know how nice her flowers are. That’s not the problem, Reanne. She knows her flowers are pretty. She just doesn’t want to be known as a teacher’s pet.

Although, admittedly, I don’t know why she seems to be giving up on flowers entirely.

One of the boys says the weather report said it would rain. In the dub, he says his mother told him they’re getting a thunderstorm. I kinda don’t mind the minor change because kids don’t typically watch the weather report.

Originally, the first person to approach Kimura was Marina. She told him he didn’t have to protect the flowers, and he responded that he wasn’t doing it for her. She then storms off off saying the garden has nothing to do with her anymore. Even after she leaves, Kimura tries to keep the tarp from flying away. This is all removed, and I have no idea why.

Hazuki points out that Kimura is all wet. Reanne asks David why he’s out there.

Reanne: “I’m sorry!” You didn’t do anything.

Seki-sensei was going to take Kimura home in the original. In the dub, his mother’s coming to pick him up.

They omit Yuki-sensei saying it’s odd to see such a bad storm in Spring.

Originally, Marina was shown bringing in her flowers from the rain. She looks up to the sky and has brief flashes of Kimura trying to save the garden at the school. Then she scrunches up her face and runs back in the house. This is all removed, again, for some reason.

Hazuki thinks that Kimura tried really hard to save the flowers. In the dub, she thinks he didn’t mean to hurt the flowers in the first place.

Dub spell:

Sun as gold as lion’s mane,

Come out and stop this rain!

A mention of her being a level 9 witch is omitted.

Dub spell 2:

So their petals don’t get bent,

Give these flowers a great big plastic tent!

Kinda clunky at the end there, 4Kids.

Also, originally, it was a greenhouse not a tent.

So you’re telling me Doremi can conjure a giant panty washing station that seemingly stays around for a long time but Hazuki can’t conjure a small greenhouse for longer than three seconds? Also, she conjured a room full of living vegetable people this morning to listen to her play violin, but apparently a small plastic greenhouse is too much?

THAT’S the solution? A bunch of tiny umbrellas? When there has been two separate incidents of normal sized umbrellas being pulled inside-out from the wind?

The girls didn’t consciously do this, so I’m not blaming them, but what the heck, writers?

Also, those umbrellas A) won’t protect them from the wind, and B) won’t protect them from being waterlogged if the entire garden gets flooded since they’re only keeping the rain off of the flowers specifically.

A lyrical song is replaced by regular background music.

Hazuki says the flowers are beautiful. In the dub, she says they smell good. Also, because they removed showing Marina talking with Kimura as he tried to save the flowers earlier, they have to have Reanne tell Amanda that David didn’t mean what he said because she saw him trying to save the flowers.

They add Amanda saying she heard David got sick from being out in the rain.

Marina says she didn’t get a chance to say it yet. Hazuki asks what she’s talking about, and Marina says “Good morning!” then they laugh. In the dub, Amanda says it’s kinda like they’re sisters, and they laugh.

Doremi….I dunno kinda randomly starts listing off things she likes – a warm futon, breakfast without pressure, but she loves thick and juicy steaks more. I think she’s trying to complain about having to get up early…..Why is she getting up early with Hazuki now? Aiko just says “Right, right…” Dorie says all her mom does is make her get up early, and she definitely hasn’t grown to like it. She likes to sleep late and eat her breakfast in bed. Mirabelle says “Yeah, I know.” The dub may actually be a little better just because it’s a bit clearer what she’s talking about.

The Kimura name plate is removed, which just makes you wonder why they randomly zoom out from the wall of his house.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

David is interrupted in the dub when he wasn’t in the original…..I kinda don’t mind because it fits the awkwardness of the moment.

Once again, Kimura says the flower is beautiful but the dub has him say it smells good.

We don’t hear Kimura or Marina saying anything in the original whereas they say the names of the girls in the dub as they run off.

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This episode was pretty okay. It was a cute episode. It captures the awkwardness of a little boy trying to deal with having feelings for a girl without being too in-your-face or making him too mean. Kimura said something stupid and kept closing himself off, but he wasn’t bullying her or anything.

Being fair, they never say he has feelings for Marina, but the subtext is there, and they do canonically start dating later on.

Hazuki is….a bit nosy in this episode, but her heart’s in the right place.

The use of magic in this episode was a bit eh. Hazuki conjuring a room full of vegetable people (why’d they have to be vegetable people?) was interesting, but everything else was eh. The little umbrellas were cute, but they just weren’t practical at all.

Comparison-wise, the biggest issues here were those scenes that got removed for no reason. Some of the dialogue edits they did this time were actually for the better, if you ask me, but there were also some odd changes that deduct points back.

Next time, one of Pop’s friends visits the magic shop with hopes of making his older brother better at soccer.

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