Isn't Nastina generous?
—Nastina
Japanese Title: Menokurage Dokukurage
Original Air Date: August 5th, 1997
US Air Date: October 1st, 1998
The one where... The series channels Godzilla.
Tropes
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Tentacruel is kaiju-sized.
- Bullying a Dragon: The old lady continues to antagonize the giant Tentacruel despite the fact that it’s over 100 feet taller than her.
- Character Catchphrase: "Isn't Nastina generous?" Lampshaded by Jessie, who answers "Yes, we heard you the first time."
- Comically Missing the Point: Misty, who is furious at Nastina for wanting to exterminate the Tentacool, asks Ash and Brock if they're not disgusted at her, but Ash thinks she's talking about Nastina's physical appearance.Misty: Doesn't that old woman make you sick?Ash: Well, she's not really my type, but...
- Dub-Induced Plot Hole: With the previous episode skipped internationally, the Running Gag of our heroes and Team Rocket confusing Nastina for her cousin Brutella are cut, replaced by jokes about Nastina's Gonk appearance instead. Brutella is only given an offhand reference and is seen repairing her restaurant for some unexplained reason (unless you include the one-off airing of the
Missing Episode) at the end before Nastina crashes right on top of her. - Early-Installment Weirdness: For the dub, considering 4Kids usual censorship policies. Many would be shocked to see many realistic firearms being used throughout the episode, completely unedited. What further compounds this is later episodes that feature guns would end up becoming Missing Episodes altogether in the dub; a fact that would cause later episodes of the anime proper to completely get rid of the existence of (non-cartoony) guns altogether.
- Eye Catch: The Who's That Pokémon is Horsea in both the original and dub versions.
- Foreshadowing: Subverted—Meowth being used as a Meowthpiece by the Tentacruel was likely foreshadowing to Takeshi Shudo's intended ending for the series, with the Pokémon revolting against humanity, Pikachu leading them and Meowth translating their Pokémon Speak for them. Obviously, this never actually came to be.
- Green Aesop: The reason why the Tentacool and Tentacruel attack the boats and later the city is because of Nastina's unfinished ocean hotel, which is literally built upon their coral reef home. After Misty apologizes for the actions of everyone in Porta Vista, they are warned by Tentacruel if they forget this lesson they've learned, the Tentacool and Tentacruel will attack again and no amount of apology will fix it.
- Humiliation Conga: Nastina's construction is sabotaged, all the buildings she was constructing are demolished, she gets blasted with Horsea ink, and ultimately gets sent flying.
- Karma Houdini: Tentacruel and the Tentacool destroy the city and return to the sea, receiving no punishment.
- More Dakka: Nastina tries to kill the giant Tentacruel with two semi-automatic rifles. It was not very effective.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Nastina.
- Pun: While at Tentacruel's mercy, James whips out a rose and quips, in a suave tone, "It's a Tenta-cruel world!"
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!: Nastina offers Ash, Misty and Brock a full year of free all-out-can-eat fancy dinners, one million dollars in cash, and free stays at her hotel if they manage to exterminate the Tentacool that are plaguing her business. While Ash and Brock are clearly interested, Misty, who's a Water-type Pokémon enthusiast, is furious and disgusted at her offer.Nastina: There's a girl who can't be bought!
- Shout-Out: The entire plot of this episode is a tribute to Japanese Kaiju movies.
- The scene where Meowth is mind controlled to speak for the Tentacruel is a reference to Independence Day.
- This Means War!: After seeing what Tentacreul did to Horsea, Pikachu essentially says this.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Nastina is the cousin of Brutella, and she looks exactly the same down to the wrinkles, hairstyle, and voice. It goes even further in the Japanese version where turns out they even have the same name (Obaba). However, do not confuse her for Brutella.
- Verbal Tic: In the Japanese version, Nastina and Brutella would both often add "baba" to the end of their sentences, referencing their Japanese name, Obaba. This does not occur in the dub, as the joke would not have translated well.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Brutella, in subsequent airings. This is the only episode she appears in.
- What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: Misty is the only person who thinks Tentacool are cute. Everyone else finds them disgusting, and therefore has no qualms about exterminating them.
