A New Departure is the fifteenth episode of Season 1 of the Monster Rancher anime series. It aired in Japan on July 24, 1999.
Synopsis[]
The Searchers arrive at the ocean, and encounter Horn, the self-proclaimed righteous pirate. They try to get him to give them a ride across the ocean, and fight Gali's Zuum troops at the same time.
Full Recap[]
A pair of Jells in company of four Weeds are seen standing on one of the horizontal extensions of Moo's floating castle. One of the Weeds tells the others to send word of the Searchers (especially the humans) to Gali, Graywolf and Naga, and they extend their arms to be carried by the wind to their destinations. Inside, Master Moo is standing silently, looking into the horizon, before a Weed approaches and warns him about a gigantic thunder cloud ahead, but he dismisses it, insisting that they keep going North. After Weed agrees and leaves, Moo rejoices, laughing, at the anticipation of finding his real body and merging with it to become, once again, the devil monster he is.
The Searchers are taking rest in a forest, waiting around the small fire where Holly is preparing a pot of soup. Genki wonders what Moo meant by "the real power of the Magic Stone" on their last encounter, and they speculate that it might be able to find the Phoenix's body just like it found Moo's. Holly is insecure in her powers to make that come true, but Golem and Genki reassure her, making her feel better, confident in company of her friends and their combined teamwork. Once the soup is ready though, they all (except for Golem, who's calmly eating some rocks) start desperately fighting for it, leaving her to wonder if their teamwork was that good to begin with.
At Gali's castle, he receives the message from Weed about the Searchers and claims to have heard about them already, laughing at their audacity to defy Moo. Weed comments that they managed to get Pixie on their side, through some "miraculous power", making him wonder if it's a kind of magic. Gali promises to eventually catch Pixie and interrogate her about it and, when asked about pursuing the rebels, mentions that he's already sent a troop of Zuums their way.
Back in the forest, Holly uses the Magic Stone to ask for the location of the Phoenix but fails. After mentally asking her father to grant her strength and touching his dagger on her side, she tries again, getting a response from the stone, leading them straight forward. The group rejoices but Holly remains insecure about the Phoenix actually being where the stone pointed, but Genki tells her that they should at least try. Tiger pesimistically asks what they'll do if it's not there and Golem simply says they'll laugh it off, prompting Genki, Mocchi and Hare to mimic him in a fake laugh that embarrasses Holly, Suezo and Tiger. Genki gets curious all of sudden about Holly's dagger, inquiring about it along with Suezo, and she brushes it off saying she took it from the flying castle because it was the perfect size for her, convincing Genki not to keep asking about it before they all start walking again. Holly stays behind, still looking back and grasping the dagger reflectively before Suezo calls her name.
Hare claims to hear the sound of waves, Genki wonders if there's an ocean ahead and Tiger confirms it by saying that he can smell the sea. Genki's excitement about it confuses Mocchi, who had never seen or heard about it before, so Genki has to explain it, describing it as "very big, large and vast", though Suezo complains that those are all synonyms. Genki says that they should just go see for themselves and hurriedly carries Mocchi over his shoulders. When they reach a cliff, they see the ocean ahead, with seagulls flying around. Mocchi seems to like it and Holly mentions that she and Suezo had never seen the sea before starting on their journey. Hare and Genki ask Golem what the problem is when they see him staying far behind them in a defensive stance. Everyone else is in awe of the ocean, and Hare even wonders if there's a way to turn all that water into money, which makes Tiger complain. Hare retorts claiming that he worries about that because somebody (referring to Tiger) eats meat like a pig, making him threaten to eat him as well, and Mocchi is forced to stop them from fighting. Genki asks Holly to use the Stone again and it once again points ahead, making her and everyone worry because they can't cross the ocean on their own. Hare proposes finding a ship and Genki wonders if there's a harbor anywhere before everyone looks at Suezo, silently telling him to use his sight to find one. Golem throws him up high to help him see from above and Suezo manages to locate a harbor, though Golem gets distracted and lets him fall and make a crater on the ground, apologizing afterwards. Suezo then tells them that he'll stay in that hole and the group agrees and starts walking away before he runs to join them.
When they reach the town, they're surprised to find it looking deserted without a single ship on sight. Tiger wonders if the baddies had been there already and a voice from above confirms it. When they look upwards, they find captain Zuum and his troops surrounding them on the roofs of the buildings around them. Captain Zuum introduces them as servants of Sir Gali of the Big Bad Four before they jump down to meet the Searchers with the intention of conquering them for defying Master Moo. The group readies themselves to fight the baddies before they hear the sound of a cannon shooting at them. A cannonball lands between them and the Zuums, most of which are knocked out as a result. Looking at the ocean, they find the source of that attack: a pirate ship whose captain excitedly makes his entrance from afar, dubbing himself captain Horn, a "great, strong and righteous pirate". Suezo is fascinated by him although Genki isn't. Horn tells his crew, a group of Rockies to heat things up. When they do, the explosions of their cannonballs scare the Zuums, forcing them to retreat. Horn orders his men to smash every single one of the monsters and Golem catches one of his cannonballs before it hits the ground, flinging it back at them but falling on the ocean, causing some water to splash the captain, who gets angry and tells his crew to shoot their special cannon.
They're seen happily loading a cannon with a bright red-coloured cannonball and firing it at them. Although Golem planned to catch it like the last one, the projectile explodes midair, revealing a huge net that tightly traps and immobilizes the Searchers. The pirate ship then reaches land and the captain descends from it with a few Rockies following him, saying that he'll take care of the trapped monsters and humans later. Horn rushes decidedly at a building in particular, kicking down its door, only to find it completely empty, much to his disappointment. He confronts one of the Rockies who had told him that there were loads of treasure there, getting mad about the amount of cannonballs he wasted for nothing. The Searchers break free from the net (which Golem discards) and prepare to fight captain Horn and his crew. After some careful inspection, one of the Rockies says that they're not baddies, so Horn asks them who they are. Genki returns the question and the captain repeats that he's "the pure and righteous pirate, Captain Horn", before he notices Holly. His eye scans her from bottom to top as a rosy, bubble-filled background surrounds her and his pupil becomes a huge heart as he exclaims how cute she is. After everyone cringes at his behaviour, he closes his eye and leans forward to kiss her, but Holly takes Suezo and uses him as a shield, resulting in the two kissing. Horn gets disgusted when he notices whose lips he kissed and Suezo scolds him, saying he's the one who wants to throw up and they start arguing. When they prepare to fight again, Holly stand inbetween trying to get them to listen to her, but upon seeing her again, Horn gets mellow again and tries to get a kiss again, only to be met with her fist as she insists that he listens to her.
Captain Horn, his Rockies and the Searchers get inside the bar to have a conversation and the captain keeps drinking from a bottle throughout it. He can't believe that the seven of them claim to be able to defeat Moo together but Genki confirms it, saying that they need to get to the other side of the ocean, Hare supporting him, mentioning that the Phoenix must be lying asleep beyond it. Holly asks him, with her fingers intertwined, that he lets them aboard and he agrees, but only if she agrees to marry him. She blushes and everyone is shocked at this offer; Hare laughs it off as a joke and asks how much he want to be paid to take them across the sea. He replies that he doesn't work for money and when asked, says he prefers a gamble. He explains that they'll bet on a card game and if he loses, he'll let them on board, but Holly will be his if he wins. Everyone remains surprised at his proposals, unsure what to do, but Tiger gets exasperated, wishing to beat the Suezos up and take over the ship. Captain Horn drops his bottle, spilling it all over the floor, telling them not to underestimate him, "the kind and righteous pirate". Suezo approaches and gives him a big lick, leaving him with a strange look on his face before it switches to an angry frown, scolding Suezo, saying that he ahd already told him not to lick him. Suezo rejects his offer but Holly accepts it, much to everyone's surprise. Genki reminds her that she'll become Horn's bride if they lose but she's nervously willing to take that risk.
Horn's threat.
At sunset, they all get ready to play inside the bar. Horn asks for his opponent and Suezo steps forward, burning tension between them both. Then he asks captain Horn what game he wants to play, guessing poker but being corrected, saying he prefers Old Maid. Hare decides to shuffle the cards and Horn tells one of his men to hand him the deck. As he does, Horn repeats to Suezo that they're "kind and righteous pirates", so if he cheats, he'll face the consequences. Not a second passes after he finishes his sentence and he jumps up and attacks one of the wooden beams in the building, but gets his horn stuck, and asks to for help to get back down. Afterwards, Hare deals out the cards, and both Suezo players start throwing out their pairs. When play starts, Horn draws the old maid, which looks like a donkey, out of Suezo's hand. Suezo immediately draws the old maid back though.
Horn starts cheating.
After this happens again, Horn notices he can see the card's reflections in Suezo's eye. Using this to avoid the old maid, Horn is soon down to one card (an ace), and Suezo down to two (an ace and the donkey old maid). Suezo now notices he can see the ace reflected in Horn's eye, and figures out what he's been doing. He puts the cards down on the table, mixes them up, and then has Horn pick one. Horn picks the old maid, but then does the same thing to Suezo. Suezo grabs for a card, but it gets picked up by Horn first, who flips it with his tongue, and shows it to be blank. This surprises everyone, but Hare quickly sees through the trick. Hare pulls Horn's tongue out, showing everyone where he licked off the ink. Suezo yells at him, reminding him of all the times he claimed to be kind and righteous while also lecturing him for cheating.
Before they can fight each other over this, captain Zuum breaks through the ceiling and lands on their table, causing the glasses, bottle and cards to fall over. The rest of his troops get inside through the door, forcing the Searchers and Horn's group to find an exit to escape. Golem breaks through one of the walls, allowing the others to run away and momentarily blocks the hole to prevent the Zuums from getting them. As they run, Suezo calls Horn out on his hypocrisy for running away like a coward after claiming to be kind and righteous, though he counters that he's no match for them on land. Holly desperately asks him to let them on board, and he concedes her wish, saying that then they'll be off on their honeymoon, though his plans get thwarted when Genki and Mocchi exclaim that they'll be going too.
As he reaches his ship, he tells the Rockies to lift anchor and hoist the sails. After everyone gets on the ship, Tiger notices Golem's absence. Then they see him still fighting the Zuums on land. Genki calls him to meet them, but he refuses, saying that he'll keep them there, telling them to leave without him. They insist, but so does him and the ship departs. Suezo then loudly realizes that he's afraid of water, exposing his secret. Hare mocks him, but Holly scolds him and everyone starts encouraging him to get over his fear and just laugh it off. Tiger exaggeratedly tries to help, doing a loud, fake laugh that only unsettles everyone else. Golem stops fighting and stares at his friends, deciding to give it a try. He delivers one last blow at the Zuums to keep them away and runs along the small bridge where the ship sailed from, destroying it in the process due to his weight. He jumps a long distance, reaching them but almost causing the ship to flip over. Horn struggles to stabilize everything but they manage to leave the Zuum troops far behind them. The Searchers sigh in relief, congratulating Golem for his achievement. When Genki uses his catchphrase in the end ("We're off on another heart-pounding journey"), receiving cheer from his friends and the Rockies, Horn gets upset, reminding him that he's the captain there.
Featured Characters[]
Featured Monsters[]
Trivia[]
- In the English and Latin American Spanish versions:
- A couple seconds of the sequence of cannonballs landing in between the Zuum troops was deleted
- Horn's motives for visiting the deserted town were modified to finding "the best chocolate milkshakes", not treasure.
- When Horn falls in love with Holly, instead of remarking on her cuteness, he starts singing "I'm Horn the righteous pirate..."
- Suezo and Horn's subsequent kiss was censored.
- Horn's first proposal of Holly marrying him is deleted and replaced with Hare telling Horn that "as businessmen, (he) knows that everything has a price", asking how much to be taken across the sea, with the Suezo proposing a card game in which he'll take them there if he loses but he'll sail away with Holly if he wins.
- The negotiation and card game scenes were severely altered because of Horn's bottle of liquor: every frame that included it was removed and the order of some segments of that scene had to be changed to show a card game with no alcohol involved.
- When Horn's ship arrived at the docks, it was facing inwards. Later, during the escape, it was facing outwards.
- It is unknown how they managed to rotate the ship without damaging the docks.
