May Rant Ack! The Flower...?! (and) Ack! That Face...?! (A look at the Beast Wars Metals Episode 6 and 7)

The pre-episode "Remember to watch the show in a well-lit room at a good distance from the TV!" message is done in tandem by Malerazor and Tigatron, who keep finishing each other's sentences. They note that they're perfectly in sync with each other, and on that ominous (?) note the episode begins. (Incidentally, it appears that I didn't taken nearly as many notes on this episode as I'd thought. What follows will be a compendium of brief "quotes of the day" and general impressions I got from these two episodes.) As this may be a sensitive topic, I'll proceed with caution. In the English Original Version of Beast Wars, Tigatron and Airrazor were male and female, respectively. They, ah, seemed very fond of each other. Some would go so far as to say that they were romantically linked. In the Japanese translation of Beast Wars, Tigatron and Airrazor were both male. Tigatron was a stoic, faithful samurai/servant of a young feudal lord, and Airrazor acted like, well, a young callow samurai or lord. Things... seem to shift slightly in "Ack! The Flower...?!" The pre-episode banter has Airrazor affectionately calling Tigatron "Tai-chan". An English equivalent might be "Tiggie" or "Tigsie". Now, technically speaking, people who have been friends since childhood may call each other by such nicknames. And younger relatives may call their older, big-brother-type relatives by a "-chan" nickname. So this by itself proves nothing. Moving right along, a flying Airrazor is seen cooing "Where's Tai-chan? Where are you, Tai-chan?" Upon spotting Tigatron in the Valley of the Freaky Plant Things, Airrazor swoops down, with a loving "Oooh! I found you, Tai-chan!" He then links arms with Tigatron, happily saying "Tai-chan... you're so warm and soft..." and snuggling close. Any response that Tigatron may have had was obliterated from my mind by the sheer... not horror, as such... confusion? panic? bewilderment? that was engendered in my mind as... The Somewhat Freudian Tentacle-vines start to snake around Tigatron and Airrazor's lower limbs. Blushingly, Airrazor stammers: "Tai-chan... I... I was never able to say this before, but, Tigatron, I..." And the profession of affection is cut off by Airrazor screaming as the viney-tentacly things attempt to separate them. As in the English version, they hold hands and effectively swear eternal fidelity to each others sparks. The rest of the episode felt rather anticlimactic in comparison, I'm afraid. So I'll attempt to address what's going on in that scene (and leave the rest of the stuff as a series of Quotes of The Episodes. You can skip to those by clicking here). The way that Airrazor's line is phrased in Japanese, it is clear that Airrazor has some sort of feeling towards Tigatron. Grammatically speaking, it's impossible for the rest of the sentence to be anything other than "I [emotion-verb] you" or "I've always [emotion-verb] you." There is still the possibility that it's "I hate you", "I dislike you", or "I think of you as a very good friend but nothing more and this is meant in a strictly platonic sense". However, the part about their sparks seeking each other out no matter where they go rather dashes that hypothesis. Although it's never explicitly stated, it... appears that Tigatron and Airrazor were a homosexual couple. Although homosexuals aren't exactly uncommon in Japanese pop-culture, they're usually more prevalent in girls' comics (where they may be idealized in the form of beautiful young men who have dalliances with other beautiful young men) or adult comics, where they may be either comic relief, villains, or people agonized by their non-standard sexuality. A show aimed at young, predominantly male children, like Beast Wars Metals, might have one stereotypically "gay" or flamboyant, effeminate "okama" character, but an (implied) healthy, happy, consensual homosexual couple is fairly unusual. Of course, the Tigatron/Airrazor thing didn't exactly escape the attentions of others. At the end of the episode, Rattrap begins to say something to Cheetor, who is dejected at having been unable to save Airrazor and Tigatron. Primal interrupts, saying: "Yes, Rattrap. I'm sure we'll see them again." Rattrap replies: "No, what I was going to say was... what was WITH those two, anyways?!" Apparently the Little Kiddies had similar questions to ask: my Japanese contact (Kudos to Codah for sending me these videos! And answering my tedious JBW questions!) notes that TeleMaga (TV Magazine, IIRC)'s Question Corner had just such a query. The editor's response was supposedly: "Some people are just like that." Quote of the Episode: Tarantulas shows off his TM Robot Form. (In the valley, to an semi-conscious... Cheetor? Rhinox? I forget.) Tarantulas: "Look! My hands turn into electric chain-saws! Aren't they HAND-y?!" Second place: Tarantulas, on Megatron. Tarantulas: "I'm tired of being bossed around by the likes of you... AND of listening to your stupid jokes and puns!" [Amen, brother. Amen.] Third place: Quickstrike in the Alien Vessel. No specific lines, but he parodies various popular documentaries on mystic ancient ruins. e.g. "Our intrepid explorers go deeper in to the heart of the mysterious site... Find out what shocking discovery they made, right after these commercials!" Honourable Mention: Megatron is peeved to find Rattrap in the Alien Vessel. Megatron: "I have no time to waste, playing with gutter-rats!" Rattrap, pouting: "Awww, won't you play wiff me?" Random Observations: When Megatron, Quickstrike, and Tarantulas venture into the Alien Vessel, Megatron begins singing off-key and tunelessly. Apparently, his threat to sing at Blackarachnia wasn't an idle one... This concludes my ramble on "Ack! The Flower?!" and "Ack! That Face...?!", aka episodes 6 and 7 of Beast Wars Metals. . . . Characters Gallery Library The Nexus

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