Dance with the Mantis is the twenty-fourth (twenty-ninth in the English dub) episode of the Medabots anime.
Content[]
Summary[]
Koji and Karin's upper crust Rosewood School puts on their annual Costume Party for students. While Ikki, Metabee and Erika drool over the prospect of the fine buffet food to be served at the event, Koji has a more pressing reason to attend?
Plot[]
Metabee and Brass practicing.
Lately, Koji was dissatisfied with how close Ikki got with Karin, and has a nightmare where Karin felt in love with Ikki. Koji has a huge crush on Karin and decides that Rosewood Private School's annual costume party is the perfect time to tell her. Meanwhile, Ikki and Metabee were in a practice Robattle with Erika and Brass when Karin arrives and invites Ikki to the party, with Erika and Metabee saying that they are going with him. Samantha, Spyke, and Sloan overhear Karin and are determined to sneak into the party.
When Ikki and Erika arrive at the costume party, they are amazed at the number of people and limousines. This makes it easy for the Screws to slip in unnoticed. The Rubberobo Gang have a little more trouble sneaking in until they shed their costumes for their original rubber suits.
The party is an extravaganza with tables of delicious gourmet foods. Ikki, Erika, and the Screws are enjoying the food as Koji prepares to profess his love for Karin. Koji has instructed his steward to shine the spotlight on Karin when he gives the signal. Unfortunately, the steward slips and the spotlight is shown on Samantha, who quickly grabs Koji. When Koji runs from Samantha's clutches, he comes face-to-face with the Rubberobo Gang. They insist he hand over his Rare Medals even though he tells them he doesn't have any. Koji becomes enraged and calls for Sumilidon. The Rubberobos, knowing Koji's fear of bugs, summon their Medabot Mantaprey.
A Robattle is announced, but Koji's fear is keeping him from giving commands to Sumilidon. He attempts to flee but runs right into Spyke and Sloan, who are dressed as bugs. Koji then turns and runs right into a tree, and in doing so spills bugs on himself. At this point, Koji goes nuts. The party is now a fiasco with Sumilidon going equally crazy as he follows his Medafighter's orders.
Ikki and Erika confront Koji's steward, who explains the origin of Koji's phobia. It seems that when Koji was young, he would collect bugs and one day brought home a praying mantis nest. The nest was forgotten until one day when the insects hatched and attacked Koji.
No one is able to calm Koji until Karin approaches him with the news that she and Dr. Aki (who accompanied her) were leaving. He immediately becomes his gracious self again. As Karin drives off in her limousine, Koji regrets his inablility to tell her his feelings, but his steward comforts him.
Trivia[]
- There is a small layering error when Ikki is talking with Metabee about his beetle costume before entering the school. Ikki and Metabee are side by side, and from the camera's angle Metabee is supposed to be in the front, but Ikki is in the front, being most notable when the tail from Ikki's costume briefly appears in front of Metabee.
- The shirt from the gate's guard was miscolored in one scene with the Rubberobo Gang.
In the episode[]
Background[]
English dub changes[]
Hanazono Gakuen Costume Party invitation
Koji with his tongue out
- Two parts of the dialogue between Koji and the steward in the beginning were cut, one being Koji panicking after the steward said "creepy crawly bugs". The dialogue also has some differences, like Koji not mentioning Dr. Aki in the dub. In the original the steward suggests Koji to take the initiative, with Koji having the idea to declare his love in the party, while in the dub the steward suggests Koji to declare himself in the party.
- The 花園学園仮装パーティー (Hanazono Gakuen Costume Party) text in the invitation was translated as "The Rosewood Costume Party", with changes to the color and font.
- A fadeout was added before the Screws appear with their costumes.
- The scene where the narrator reminds viewers that it takes at least two hours to reach the school on foot from the gate was shortened, cutting the side view of the bus showing Ikki, Metabee, Erika, the Screws, and the Rubberobo Gang inside. This was likely done to remove the "Hanazono" text in the bus, although the "Hana zono" text above the school gate was not removed. The explanation was replaced by Metabee repeatedly asking "are we there yet?" in the dub.
- The part with the narrator saying that the party started was cut.
- The part with Erika complimenting the food was cut.
- A fadeout was added after the spotlight was accidentally pointed to Samantha.
- In the dub Ikki says that he always thought Koji found Samantha annoying, as this is not the first time they interacted in the English episode order. In the original Ikki says he is surprised that Koji likes Samantha, and while this is not their first encounter, this is the first time Koji is seen interacting with Samantha and Sloan in the Japanese order.
- Samantha looking to Koji with bright eyes was cut. In this part she says that they are a princess (the hime from her Japanese name, Kikuhime, meaning princess) and a prince (Koji's costume). As this comparison does not work in English, instead Spyke later says that he finds it poetic that magic happened while Samantha was wearing a witch costume.
- Samantha turning around and calling Koji an idiot after he leaves was cut.
- A small scene with the Rubberobo Gang was cut.
- The red parts from Mr. Referee's costume were changed to orange, likely to decrease his similarity with Superman. Also, in the original he talked in a way reminiscent to the Superman theme when he first appeared. The う (U) kana in place of the "S" is from Mr. Referee's Japanese name, Uruchi.
- A fadeout was added in the middle of a scene after Koji snapped, and a scene with him was repeated in the dub before resuming the scene.
- In the original, the steward specified that Koji's incident with insects was three years ago, a little before Koji entered the Hanazono Gakuen. In the dub the steward says that it goes back a number of years, and Koji had just started school.
- The duration of the scene with the steward talking about bugs while wiggling his fingers was shortened, cutting Erika's line in the end.
- Two of the parts Koji is seen with his tongue out were changed. The first part, which is part of a longer scene, was cut. The second, which repeats the second half of the former scene, was replaced by the first half.
- Mantaprey talked in his last appearance in the original. In the dub he only repeated the same word like he did before. The word he repeats is "chop" in English and "kama" (sickle) in Japanese.
- The ending was extended a bit to add the narration, the steward repeating his movements.
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Koji Karakuchi | Dressed as a prince in the party. |
|
Karin Junmai | Dressed as a Rubberobo Gang member in the party. |
|
Ikki Tenryou | Dressed as a puppy similar to Salty in the party. |
|
Robinson | First appearance. The steward from the Karakuchi family. |
|
Metabee | Dressed as a beetle in the party. |
|
Brass | |
|
Erika Amazake | Dressed as a princess in the party. |
|
Samantha | Dressed as a witch in the party. |
| Spyke | Dressed as an insect in the party. | |
| Sloan | Dressed as a caterpillar in the party. | |
|
Security guard (ガードマン) |
The guard in Rosewood School's gate. He is voiced by Norihisa Mori in Japan. There are two guards in front of the gate in this episode, with the second only appearing briefly. Although similar, it is unknown if one of them is the same guard seen in The Legendary Medafighter. |
|
Seaslug | The Rubberobo Gang tried to crash in the party with somewhat normal clothes, and only managed to get inside due to their usual clothes. |
| Squidguts | ||
| Gillgirl | ||
| Shrimplips | ||
|
Dr. Aki | Dressed as a knight in the party. |
|
Sumilidon | |
|
Mantaprey | The Medabot used by the Rubberobo Gang. |
|
Mr. Referee | Dressed as a superhero in the party. |
Gallery[]
Title Cards[]
Episode[]
