MovieChat Forums > Meitantei Conan (1996) Discussion > Question about episode: The Stalker (Spo...

Question about episode: The Stalker (Spoilers)

posted 19 years ago by MacFlux
4 replies | jump to latest

This question is for those who have the DVD "The Truth About Revenge".

In this episode: The Stalker, a man named Cary Mantle had been stalking a woman name Quinly. He died after drinking from a poisoned soda bottle, and after investigating, Conan figured out it was Quinly who killed him by poisoning the soda bottle and using dried glue to keep her fingerprints off the bottle. She felt threatened, thinking Cary was going to kill her, which in fact he was. Conan(using Richard again) has Maguire look into Cary's bag(they found it near Quinly's home) and they found a knife, some rope and other accessories for murder. Maguire says it proved intent, but nothing more. Conan points out to Quinly that while she did have the right to protect herself, poisoning Cary before he could commit the act later on made him the victim in the eyes of the law since he had not attacked her yet. While consideration would be given to her defense, the bag of murder tools would be seen as circumstantial evidence, and Quinly would be charged with premeditated murder.

Now that was the way the English dub ended.

The original japanese version had a different ending which went like this.

After Maguire looks into the bag, he realizes Cary was going to kill Quinly. Conan(using Richard) said that while the act will not hold up as self-defense in court(since Cary was not attacking Quinly), she was likely to get off on mitigating circumstances. Conan tells Quinly to atone for her sin so she could still fulfill her dream of opening a bakery, and she thanks him.

My question is, why was the ending changed in the English dub from us being lead to believe Quinly will be let off, to where we believe she will go to prison?

-Serpent

[–] le052383 19 years ago

Good question. Is this one of the eps that is only on the DVD? I think, most likely, the ending is altered since it deals with different political systems. Clearly I believe this is the reason since in America, the laws of justice is different from Japan. Japan is an asian society where having shame is worse than anything else(I should know being asian and all and that my sociology teacher did mention about this before in class,) while in the U.S. atoning for one's sins isn't going to cut it. Also, in the U.S.(again learn it in socology)laws are more strict in terms of breaking the law, hence why there is so much arrestes in the U.S. However, the crime rate and murders in other countries isn't as bad as the U.S.

I am trying my best to explain it to you yet I am not sure if I doing a good job. Well, to make it simple, let's see Japanese laws are more lenient than America. also, have you seen the Simpson's where Homer and Bart were arrested in Japan and had to atone or pray for their sins while in a low security jail cell? I don't know how much truth that scene has, but it pretty much explains that praying and atoning for one sins work in Japan.

Overall, I think they wanted to localize the political system in the anime as well so not to confuse others and such.

[–] MacFlux 19 years ago

Oh, really? Well, in case you're wondering, yes, you did explain the whole thing to me very well. I guess it would make sense to change the dialogue to fit with the U.S. system.

And yes, this is one of the episodes that is only on the DVD, The Truth About Revenge.

Thanks a bunch.

-Serpent

[–] le052383 19 years ago

No problem. I think the producers want to localize the whole series into american,hence the character's name. However, it is funny that the story takes place in Japan, even in the dubbed. So, changin the politicial system to that of our own makes sense if they are trying to localized it.

[–] MacFlux 19 years ago

I hear you there.

-Serpent