Stan discovers why the Japanese hunt whales and dolphins.
Tropes:
- 0% Approval Rating: Stan's argument against killing whales and dolphins with the Japanese prime minister - telling him that the entire rest of the world is against what the Japanese are doing - has this.
- Animal Nemesis: The entire Japanese hunt against whales and dolphins were depicted as revenge campaigns against whales and dolphins for supposedly bombing Hiroshima with nuclear weapons.
- Artistic License – History: Akihito tells the boys that, out of gratitude for America's "proof" of whales and dolphins bombing Hiroshima, Japan surrendered the next day, two days after the bombing. In reality, Japan didn't surrender until six days after a second city, Nagasaki, was bombed.
- Blatant Lies: When Stan angrily reminds Kenny and Cartman that they weren't interested in saving "stupid ass whales", Cartman claims he meant the country Wales.
- Boom, Headshot!: Paul Watson gets killed by one of these from a whaling harpoon.
- Captivity Harmonica: Cartman plays one while in a Japanese prison.
- Censored Title: Some versions of this episode on cable guides edit the title to "Whales" or "Whale W....."
- Dramatic Irony: Amazingly, Kenny survives the Suicide Attack that kills almost everyone else on the ship except for him, Stan, and Cartman.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The crew of the crab fishing show, Deadliest Catch, who start blocking the Whales War ship with their faster and more maneuverable ship, out of jealousy over their superior ratings and views.
- Historical In-Joke: America gave Japan "proof" of whales and dolphins being responsible for the bombing of Hiroshima, and the Japanese were so grateful that they surrendered, thus ending World War II.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Stan was able to fire a flare gun from one ship into the fuel storage room of another. Before that, a Japanese whaler sniped Captain Paul Watson with a harpoon gun.
- It's All About Me: Cartman, and, to a lesser extent, Kenny, as they only join Stan after Whale Wars becomes successful and make no bones about the fact they're only there to be on TV. Cartman also manages to finagle himself into the scene at every opportunity.Stan: Admit you just want to be on TV, then I'll consider it!Kenny: I just want to be on TV.Cartman: Kenny! [beat] I deserve to be on TV.
- Jerkass: Cartman openly laughs when told what those who survived the bombing of Hiroshima went through.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Stan is about to tell the Japanese official who was really responsible for the bombing of Hiroshima, but Cartman stops him and reminds Stan that the Japanese vowed to never rest until those responsible are completely wiped out.
- Moral Myopia: Everyone is horrified by the Japanese killing whales and dolphins (except Cartman and Kenny, who find them gay). No one is horrified when they start brutally slaughtering cows and chickens, likely because cows and chickens are domesticated, easily bred, and are made into food.
- No Listening Skills: All Stan cares about is fighting the Japanese to protect whales and dolphins, but everyone else seems to think he's out to make a hit reality show. Even when Stan tells Larry King and his other guest Sid that making a hit show isn't his priority, they behave as though he didn't say anything.
- Psychopathic Manchild: The Japanese prime minister responded to inquiries about Japan's popular opinion on killing whales and dolphins by Flipping the Bird and cursing at the whales and dolphins.
- The Scapegoat: It turns out that the reason the Japanese are killing whales and dolphins was because they believed that a dolphin and a whale were responsible for the bombings of Hiroshima. Stan knows the truth but tells the Japanese that the bombing was done by a chicken and a cow, both so they would leave the dolphins and whales alone, and so they wouldn't start another war with the United States.
- Shout-Out: Stan and the gang during their montage of fighting against the Japanese and defending an aquarium, they ended up building a literal fake model of Godzilla to scare them off. It works!
- Speak Ill of the Dead: As an in-universe example, after Captain Paul Watson was killed, no one has any compunction about levelling insults against him.
- Suicide Attack: The Japanese eventually perform kamikaze attacks against the whales and the Whale Wars boat.
- Take That!: Paul Watson gets impaled by a spear and is later called an "incompetent media whore". The episode revolves around the show Whale Wars' uneventfulness.
- The entire Miami Dolphins team gets completely slaughtered by the Japanese during a live NFL game in Miami. note
- Took a Level in Badass: Stan manages to turn the Whale Wars crew from whiny environmentalists into a competent team of fighters who protect whales and dolphins.
- Understatement: "Japanese people really do not like whales."
- The Unreveal: Stan tells the Japanese prime minister that a chicken and a cow bombed Hiroshima, not a dolphin and a whale. The Japanese believe him. He was planning to tell them the truth, but then Cartman reminded him that they won't stop killing until they annihilate all those responsible.
- With Friends Like These...: Cartman and Kenny openly don't care about Stan's concerns, with the former insulting Stan. When the show becomes a success, though, they sign up for the crew and insist they've always cared about whales and dolphins. Then when they get captured by the Japanese, Cartman blames Stan for getting him into this.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: Stan wants to save the whales and dolphins, but he can't tell the Japanese the truth without Americans everywhere (including himself) suffering. He quickly gets the idea to have Kyle Photoshop the Enola Gay photo to "prove" that the perpetrators were really a chicken and a cow.
