Comparison between the American Version (represented by the German DVDs released by Anime House) and the Japanese Version included in the limited Seijushi Bismark DVD box-sets 1 and 2 released by Pioneer LDC.

Runtime of the American Version: 00:21:39:21
Runtime of the Japanese Version: 00:24:08:09


Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs is a 52-episode American TV series with a Japanese origin. The series combines Mecha-Anime and western-elements.
The theme song (performed by Dale Schacker) has a cult status and alwaysw brings back childhood memories every time you hear it.

Naturally, the series was also licensed for other countries: England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, Russia, China, and others just to name a few. The series was also very popular in southeast Asia. It was pracically marketed and released all over the planet so you can really say that it was a huge success.

The Story of Saber Rider

In a remote future humanity lives on the planet Yuma. Soon, they start to colonize other planets. The Galaxy soon is called "New Frontier". To maintain all the laws and regulations, humanity created the Cavalry Command to protect all the planets. The peace is disturbed when aliens known as Vapor Beings or Outriders attack the planet Alamo. Unfortunately, the Cavalry Command's intervention comes too late - the battle of Alamo ends in a tragedy. Both the Outriders and the Alamos lost heavily. The Outriders fall back and planet Alamo breaks contact with Yuma. 15 years later, the Outriders strike again. The humans are heavily ountnumbered and seem to have no chance. Their last hope is a secret project which is called Ramrod - a huge battleship which is capable to transform into a giant robot. The project is planned under the direction of Commander Eagle - leader of the Cavalry Commando's special unit "Star Sherrif". When a spy named Vanquo finds out everything about Ramrod they face a race against time. Star Sheriff agent Saber Rider is supposed to catch Vanquo before he makes Ramrod's secret location public. When his mission fails, Saber Rider forms an alliance with race driver Fireball and headhunter Colt. In company with Commanrer Eagle's daughter April they're able to save Ramrod and use to obtain and keep peace for the New Frontier.

The Origin of Saber Rider

The series is based on the anime series Sei jûshi Bismarck produced by the Japanese company "Studio Pierrot.CO LTD". In Japan, the series bombed, therefore it was sold to the American company "World Events Productions"(WEP) in 1986. WEP wanted to create a child-friendly series for afternoon television in the tradition of other Sci-Fi-western series such as Galaxy Rangers or Bravestarr. Therefore, they had to change a lot of things.

The Story of Seijûshi Bismark

It's the year 2069. Humans have left the earth to colonize other planets of the solar system. However, the peace they wanted to achieve recedes into the distance - the aliens "Deathcula" attack the planets of the solar system. The humans mobilize against the offenders and form a confederation to fight against the Deathculas. However, some sectors refuse to be a b part of this confederation and choose to fight on their own. One of these "mavericks" is planet Ganymed. While the confederation is already able to defend itself against the attacks, there's a decisive battle between the Deathculas and the army of planet Ganymed. The battle is lead by General Domes. Domes asked the earth for help but didn't get any. The battle seemed to become a shellacking when susdelny pilot Shinjiro Hikari steps in the battle. Thanks to the spacepilot's brave behavior they were able to beat the Deathculas. However, Shinjiro pays for his fame with his life. The following time of piece is characterized by the cold-hearted relationship between Ganymed and the earth since general Domes lost any trust in the humans living on planet earth. The Deathculas had to return to their home planet Meteus and then tried to rebuilt their army. 15 years later in the year 2084 the enemy strikes again and starts to attack all the peoples (who now live in peace with each other) of the solar system. The solar system cofederation can't protect all the humans on all the planets who are unable to defend themselves against the enemies. Scientist Dr. Charles Louvre develops a new battle group which is called "Bismark". It is a special unit which is capable to transform into a giant robot. With this weapon they now have the strength to fight back. The team consists of 4 high qualified and very different persons: 17-year-old Japanese Shinji Hikari, 16-year-old American Bill Willcox, 18-year-old Richard Lancelot from Scotland on his Majesty's service, and 15-year-old Marianne Louvre from France who is Bismark-designer Charles Louvre's daughter.

This information was taken from the German "Seijûshi Bismark" webpage.

Editing the Series

Names

• The series (obviously) was renamed from "Seijûshi Bismark" to "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs".
  
• Almost all the persons, places, planets, organizations, and vehicles were changed / Americanized (for this, take a look at the chart below).
  
• Many of the places/vehicles/etc. were named after American words/cities such as Eagle, Yuma, Colt, New Dallas, Dakota, Alamo, and so on. Thus, they eliminated all the Asian-sounding names.
  
• By changing the names they also blanketed any connection to the real world. In the Japanese version the series takes place in our solar system. Because of the different names for the planets, the American version takes place in an unknown galaxy far away.
  
  Intro and Credits
  
• The intro as well as the credits are completely different. For further details, look at the main report of the first episode.
  
  Music and Sounds
  
• All the music for the American version was composed by Dale Schacker and has a "Wild West" feel to it.
  
• All the sounds were (gunfire, engines of space ships, and so on) were edited / added by the American company.

Story

The central topic of the Japanese original is an unadorned war where innocent people die.
Thus, the Japanese version is rather violent and (despite the humor) has a very serious and aggressiv undertone.
To form this into a childrens TV series they had to change this undertone as well as reduce the violence.
They also changed a lot of other things (either for the different American notion or other reasons), resulting in a completely different series in terms of story as well as mood and style.

• Different Background Story
  The background story of the series was completely changed (for this, read the paragraph "Outriders").
  
  
• Different Story of the Episodes
  The crucial course of the episodes stayed intact but had to be adapted to the American mentality as well as the American TV standards (some characters stayed alive even though they were killed in the Japanese version). This sometimes changes the whole story of the episodes.
  
  
  
  
  

  Shortened Scenes

  
  
• Violent Scenes
  They mainly cut out violence against human beings (especially if the scens show humans being shot, hit, or blown to bits). However, they also cut out drastic violence against the alien Outriders.
  
  
• Morally Alarming Scenes
  Morally alarming scenes (e.g. the consuming of alcohol, bad/aggressive behavior, violence against kids, kids carrying guns, ...) had to be cut out.
  
  
• Humor and Emotional Scenes
  Funny scenes (including weird facial expressions) as well as emotional scenes were cut out.
  
  
• Dialogues
  For each episode they shortened numerous dialogues. They did this in order to fit the dialogues to the American dialogues (which were more or less rewritten) in terms of length, timing, and lip synch.
  
  
• Various Scenes
  For all the episodes thes deleted various scenes (e.g. pan shots of buildings and places).
  These scenes probably didn't quite fit in the American storyline or were just not needed there.
  However, they mainly cut such scenes away to achieve a consistant runtime for every episode.
  
  
• Framecuts
  There are numerous cuts that only cut away a few frames and that would fit into the above-mentioned category. Lots of these cuts are probably a result of a faulty master or something like this.
  Every now and then they cut a few frames away to eliminate minor mistakes (e.g. a black screen in the middle of a scene).

The Characters

One of the major changes of the series are the characters. Especially the "leader issue" has far-reaching consequences for the whole series.

• Alteration of the Ages
  The main characters are older. In the Japanese version they're aged between 15 and 18. In the American version they seem to be way older.
  
  
• The Leader Issue
  The "leader issue" is one of the main differences of the series and concerns the characters Saber Rider and Fireball.
  
  While in the Japanese version Fireball (Shinji Hikari) is the leader of the Star Sherriffs (Team Bismark), the American version made his older brother Saber Rider (Richard Lancelot) the leader of the team.
  He's the leader because he's the oldest, most experienced and most balanced characters of the bunch; Fireball is a little younger and hastier.

They had to change several things in order to make Saber Rider the leader of the troop.

• Saber Rider now is the name giver of the series.
  
• Saber Rider also is the narrator of the story. In the first episode he introduces the series like a story by telling the audience what the series is all about. In the individual episodes he always introduces and ends the story. This makes him a person of authority which makes it easier to accept him as the leader.
  
• Whenever Fireball gives orders or commands, they tried to cut these out as often as possible or just replaced them by orders/commands given by Saber Rider.
  
• Even though Saber Rider often rather stays on the sideline, he still very often is a conversational topic and gives orders.

Even though they really tried to cover up Fireball's position as the leader of the group, it still doesn't work every time.
Fireball still is a way too dominant character. He mostly assumes control and almost constantly gets the final word for important decisions. Additionally, he's always standing in the front while Saber Rider can rather be seen in the far right.

Additional Changes of the Characters

• In the Japanese version, April Eagle (Marianne Louvre) is 15 years old and therefore acts more childlike and emotional than the other characters. In the American version she seems to be a little more mature.
  
  
• Archenemy Jesse Blue (Perios) is not a human being in the Japanese version, he's an Outrider (Deathcula) and also their security chief.
  In the American version he's an arrogant ex-cadet of the Star Sherriffs who fell in love with April Eagle. Because of injured pride and rejection he leaves the team and defects to the Outriders. He wants to prove to April that he's a good fighter. This background story is told in 2 additional episodes that were exclusively produced for the American version.
  
  
  
  
  The Outriders (Japanese: Deathcula)
  
• In the Japanese version, the Outriders are an intelligent and brutal alien race who want to conquer the human galaxy.
  
• In the American version teh Outriders are rather stupid. They often have sily conversations along with dumb-sounding voices (one example would be a scene where one Outrider asks another one what time it is. The other Outrider replies that he doesn't know the time since he doesn't know how to read a clock.).
  
• The Outriders are said to be "phantom beings" who don't die but rather jump back to their own dimension every time they're wounded/shot. The American version underlines this fact by several dialogues that talk about this ability.
  This change suggests that the Outriders can't die. This also means that it doesn't matter how many Outriders are killed in each episode. This makes the American version a little less menacing than the Japanese version.
  
• The reasons to why the Outriders attach the humans is rather ridiculous:
  
• In the Japanese version, the Outriders want to conquer a new habitat since their home planet was completely destroyed and exploited. Additionally they want revenge for their critical defeat.
  
• In The American version the Outriders attack the humans just for fun.
  Since the Outriders neither have feelings nor fun they want to win a war against the humans in order to find out what fun is.

The Dubbing

The dubbing is the key element of the changes as well as the censorship of the series. Due to the change of names and the plot as well as the censorship, most of the dialogues had to be re-written. Some dialogues were just rephrased, while several were mitigated / changed in order to make them funnier than in the Japanese version. Other dialogues were completely changed. The American version also offers dialogues where the Japanese version is just silent. Most of these additional dialogues are just for the sake of fun.


Censorship via Dubbing
With the help of the dubbing the characters sometimes say things that are included to censor the series. These dialogues are mostly very conspicuous and one of the series' trademarks.

• One of the best examples are the stupid dialogues of the Outriders (for a more detailed description, read the paragraph "Outriders").
  
• Humans are never killed but shot with capture guns (they often switch their guns to a torpidity-mode).
  
• If any secondary characters die in the Japanese version, the American version usually contains dialogues that "save" them from death (such as "He's just unconscious but not heavily injured.").
  
• Every time the Outriders attack, they only destroy remote-controlled cars or emptiy / evacuated buildings.
  
  
  
  
  

  Miscellaneous

  
  
• Deleted Episodes
  5 Japanese episodes were completely deleted since they didn't fit in the concept / idea of the American producers. Two of these episodes include a character named "Captain Holiday" who's constantly drunk.
  
  
• Added Episodes
  6 episodes were exclusively produced for the American version. The drawings are a little worse than those of the original episodes and are include a very stereotypical Wetern community by e.g. also including native Americans.
  
  
• Inserted Scenes
  A regular method was to include scenes from other episodes. Most of the time they added some dialogue-scenes to feature characters that were originally not included at this point in the Japanese version of the episode. Many of these scenes are rather irrelevant for the story and often just inlcude funny dialogues.
  
  
  
• Altered Order
  For the American version they altered the order of the episodes. One can only spaculate to why they did this. Maybe the storyline was the main reason for this akteration. In the first two thirds of the episodes, Commander Gattler is the opponent of the Star Sheriffs. In the last third you only have Jesse Blue as the main villain. By changing the order of the scenes, the series seems to have a little more variety, however, this also carries problems. During the episodes with Jesse Blue, Commander Eagle originally was taken hostage - not so in the episodes with Commander Gattler.
  Additionally, there are episodes including Gattler that take place after his last appearance in the episode "Gattler's Last Stand". Even though they could explain this inconsistency by saying that the Outriders don't die but just warp back to their own dimension - then again, if that's the case, why did they call the episode "Gattler's Last Stand"? This just causes confusion.
  
  For the German version (which is the main source of this report) they used the original Japanese order of the episodes. Only the 6 episodes that were exclusively produced for the American version were not included in a sensible way but rather just included after the last epsiode. For the DVD they remedied this mistake.
  
  
  
• Inserted Transitions
  The American version regularly fades from one scene to the next one. In the Japanese version this happens way less frequently / not at all.

Animated Transitions
In the American version there are 2 types of transitions:

• Sword-Transition

A transition-effect that pays tribute to the titular character.

• Transition

This type of transition moves fast from right to left / left to right. Depending of the direction of the movement, the transition is either green or brown. This type of transition originates from the Japanese version, however, there it occurs way less frequently.

• Non-Animated Transitions

Most of the transitions are just regular transition effects that you know from movies.

Examples:

The DVD

Saber Rider

• In the years 2003/04 the complete season was released as a DVD box-set with 10 DVDs. In april 2007 they also released a limited collector's edition that included pewter figures of the main characters.
  After this limited box-set was (almost) out of print, they released yet another edition of the series in september 2009. It was released in 2 different boxes (each including 5 DVDs).
  
• In the USA they at first released a "Best Of" DVD, including 10 episodes of the series. Then in november 18th, 2008, they startet releasing the complete series in 3 different box-sets. Finally, in October 2009, they also released a complete box-set (including 6 DVDs) with all the episodes in 1 box.
  
• In the UK they momentarily just sell a DVD that includes 4 episodes.

Seijûshi Bismark
The Japanese original was released in 2 seperate DVD-boxes as a limited edition in Japan.
Unfortunately they don't include any subtitles and have so far only been released in Japan. By now, these DVD-boxes are very rare and unbelievably expensive. So far, there are no future plans to release the series in any other country.

Comparison of the Names

You now will see a list of the most important characters along with their names in both versions.

Japanese Version:	American Version:
Deathcula	Outrider
Team Bismark	Star Sheriffs
Solar System Confederation	New Frontier
Planet Earth	Planet Yuma
Planet Ganymed	Planet Alamo
Shinji Hikari	Fireball
Richard Lancelot	Saber Rider
Bill Wilcox	Colt
Marianne Louvre	April
Chales Louvre	Commander Eagle
General Domes	King Jarred
Hyuza	Nemesis
Perios	Jesse Blue
Zatora	Gattler
Bismark	Ramrod
Road Leon	Red Fury Racer
Donatello	Steed
Arrow Striker	Broncobuster

Comparison of the Images

The Japanese version has a better image quality than the American version.
For this comparison, the images come from the German and the Japanese DVD. Generally, the image of the German DVD is more blurred and paler. Additionally, the German DVD includes interlace flickers (resulting from a bad transition from NTSC to PAL) which are very apparent when you watch the DVDs.

Japanese DVD:	German DVD:

Conclusion

It's not easy to say which of the versions is the better one. The Japanese version is more complex, more serious and more realistic than the American version. The American version tones down the violence and pretty much erased death from the series. There are a few plotholes which most of the time result from all the alterations from the American version. However, the great dubbing of Saber Rider as well as the music are a great advantage of the American version. Still, the Japanese version has quite a good soundtrack as well.

So, it pretty much is a matter of your own taste, so check out both versions and make up your own mind.

If you want to have more information on Saber Rider and Seijûshi Bismark, there are plenty of webpages to choose from.


We would like to thank the following webpages for supplying us with background information about both of the series, covers, and translations for this report:

• Yuma City
  
• Seijushi Bismark
  
• Saber Rider Kreativ Portal

Note:

• The time designations refer to the Japanese version.
  
• To ensure a comparison that is frame-exact, the version was converted from NTSC to PAL.
  
• The Japanese titles of the episodes will be translated - therefore, they might not be 100% accurate.
  
• Framecuts up to 5 frames will be ignored for the reports - after all, they're already very extensive; including every single difference would just simply break the mold. However, if any of these cuts include important footage, they (of course) will be mentioned.
  
• Both versions always include a little preview of the following episode. These previews won't be mentioned in the reports.

Story Episode 8

A bunch of robot horses paints the areas of settlement red and destroys one village after another. The Star Sheriffs are suppposed to stop them. On the chase, they meet an old shaman named Castor. The horses belong to him and he can controll them with his banjo music. Colt is convinced he sets the horses to fight the villages. But Saber Rider has spotted a computer chip which probably lets him take control of the horses. Looks like the Outriders are calling the shots one more time. While the Star Sheriffs are setting a trap to catch the horses, Fireball asks Castor for help. But Castor doesn't want to cooperate with the Star Sheriffs.
Meanwhile the horses get caught by the Star Sheriffs. The next day, Castor frees the horses and destroys a military base. The Star Sheriffs get an Outrider signal and tail the Outrider to a ghost town where they get attacked by the robot horses and a renegade. Suddenly Castor shows up. He uses his banjo to take influence on the horses to help the Star Sheriffs. Unfortunately the strings of his banjo tear apart and Castor is helpless. Nevertheless the Star Sheriffs can reach Ramrod because of Castor's support, so that they can destroy the renegade, the robot horses and the Outrider base.

Plot differences in Episode 8

Please note: Due to the SJB HP being down, I can't say anything about the story differences but I'm gonna add that information asap.

The Intro

00:00:00
Running time Japanese Intro approx. 1.43 min
Running time US Intro approx. 1.29 min
A detailed comparison of the intro can be found in the comparison of the very first episode.
14 sec

Title of the Episode

The Japanese Version shows the title of the episode in an additional scene after the intro. In the US Version, the title pops up at the very beginning of the episode. The Japanese Version is 5 sec 24 frames longer.

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

5 sec 24 frames


01:49:03 - 01:53:03
5 frames are missing here. Strangely enough 2 frames of the beginning plus 3 of the end. Pretty weird. Furthermore the title of the episode pops up in the US Version.
5 frames

Attacking the village

Additional scene
02:14:09
The shot of the horse legs has been added here.
+2 sec 9 frames

Recut
02:14:10 - 02:21:09
Changed order of two sequential scenes. The shot of the horses is 17 frames shorter in the US Version and the other 3 frames.
20 frames

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

02:33:07 - 02:35:06
One of the robot horses fires off some missiles into a barrier build by two trucks.
The following is missing: the last 3 fraqmes of the impact of the missile and the explosion of which many people die. The following shot lacks 3 frames as well. The explosion, missing because of the cut, is audible during the following shot in the US Version.
1 sec 24 frames

02:36:22 - 02:39:10
The robot horses jump over the barrier. A guy's shooting and screaming in the foreground, a dead guy lies on top of a truck in the background.
2 sec 13 frames

02:41:18 - 02:44:09
The robot horse kills a guy.
2 sec 16 frames

02:50:06 - 02:51:01
The missiles on their way to the guys.
20 frames

Follow the horses

The Star Sheriffs reach the village destroyed by the robot horses, their assignment is stopping the horses. The Star Sheriffs locate the horses and chase them. Finally the Star Sheriffs can catch one of them. Suddenly it detonates by self-destruction. The Star Sheriffs barely survive.

03:21:09
Saber's dialog is shorter.
10 frames

03:48:00 - 03:49:06
The Japanese Version contains a shot of April talking in the background. That's why Fireball's appearance is longer here.
1 sec 7 frames

04:20:07 - 04:20:16
The scene has been shortened.
9 frames

04:20:17 - 04:22:08
When one of the robot horses escapes, Colt gets the order to stop it. In the Japanese Version, he gets the order from Fireball. In the US Version, it's Saber Rider who gives the order. Furthermore an order from Fireball has been replaced by a dialog from Saber Rider. This scene emphasizes that Saber Rider is the leader. The Japanese Version is slightly longer.
1 frame

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

05:27:11 - 05:29.02
Saber Rider's dialog is slightly longer in the US Version whereas another dialog from Colt has been removed.
6 frames

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

05:29:03 - 05:36:14
Missing pan shot of the hole where the horse was standing. Now a short dialog from Colt and a shot of him looking sideways before Fireball and April appear.
7 sec 11 frames

Castor

After the horse self-destructed itself, the Star Sheriffs are being shot at by a guy named Castor. He believes the Star Sheriffs had destroyed the horse and wants them to stay away from the horses. It turns out that Castor is a shaman who can influence the horses with his music.

Recut
06:01:02 - 06:02:02
Now we have a recut. Or, to be more specific, the order of two sequential scenes has been changed (the first one has been replaced by the second one and the other way around).

Seijushi Bismark
When the Star Sheriffs are watching the horse on the cliff, the audio track of the Japanese Version contains a "noise of a vizor" (sun reflexion on the vizor). Saber Rider looks irritated (as if he heard that noise) and says "Eh?". Now a shot of a guy loading a gun.

Saber Rider
Here, the noise is missing when the Star Sheriffs are watching the horse. The shot of the gun getting loaded follows immediately. Now the shot of Sabr looking irritated. In the US Version, he says "What?" (refering to the gun sound). The scene with the gun and Saber Rider's look are slightly shorter.

7 frames

06:23:15 - 06:24:08
Missing dialog of the old man.
18 frames

06:45:15 - 06:51:00
In the Japanese Version, Castor knees in front of a stone and says a few words before he folds his hands for a prayer. The US Version shows him with folded hands immediately.
5 sec 10 frames

07:53:13 - 08:21:23
The camera pans over the horses while Castor keeps playing his banjo. Colt aims at the horses with his gun but April can stop him. Fireball gives the order to leave. While the others are leaving, Colt shouts after his buddy, followed by one of his monologs. Then a distance shot of Castor and his horses.
27 sec 15 frames

Added transition
08:21:23
The Japanese Version contains a transition (screen 3) between the two scenes (screen 1+2) between the cut before.
1 sec 10 frames

The briefing

Aboard the Ramrod, the Star Sheriffs are talking about Castor and his robot horses. According to Colt, Castor makes the horses destroy the villages because he's the one who can controll them wit his music. But Saber Rider noticed kind of a computer chip, which is being used by the Outriders to manipulate the horses. Fireball proposes to ask Castor for help. I can't say whether the differences in the conversation are big or not but I guess not. Conspicuously Colt is much more agressive in the Japanese Version. As a result of that, the Saber Riders almost argue. In the US Version, everyone stays chillaxed.

08:27:14 - 08.29:23
Colt's dialog is longer.
+1 sec 14 frames

08:45:15 - 08:46:08
This time his dialog is shorter.
18 frames

08:49:16 - 08:50:14
Extended shot of Saber talking in the background in the Japanese Version.
23 frames

08:50:15 - 08:51:02
Fireball turns around to Saber Rider. In the US Version, the shot after the cut is longer instead. That's why the difference is only 2 frames here.

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

2 frames

09:02:18 - 09:03:08
The zoom of Fireball's hand is shorter.
15 frames

09:05:05 - 09:05:08
Fireball's dialog is slightly shorter.
3 frames

09:18:07 - 09:20:17
Missing shot of Fireball speaking in the background while Colt is talking. Now Colt looks slightly confused to Fireball and says sth.
2 Sek 10 Frames

Exchanged scene
09:36:09 - 09:52:09
The end of the conversation has been entirely exchanged. In the US Version, other scenes from this episode have been used a second time.

Seijushi Bismark
Colt talks insistently to Fireball in an agressive way (2 shots). Fireball comments that and turns his head away from Colt. Then a zoom to Fireball's face, accompanied by a voice over of his.

Saber Rider
In the US Version, Colt surrenders. Saber Rider replies Fireball's idea wasn't bad and they were going to talk to Castor.
That dialog emphasizes Saber Rider's leading role in the team, who has to make the final decisions.

The Japanese Version is 9 sec 19 frames longer.
9 sec 19 frames

Added Sword Transition
09:52:09
A sword transition has been added here. Because of that, 20 frames of the following shot (screen 2) get lost. The US Version is longer.
+25 frames

09:59:14 - 09:59:18
Extended shot of Castor talking to the horse.
1 sec 4 frames

10:37:07 - 10:38:02
Castor's dialog is longer.
+15 frames

Added Transition
10:52:12
The US Version contains a transition (screen 3) between the two scenes (screen 1+2) between the cut before. The Japanese Version contains a rough cut between these two scenes.
no difference

11:10:07 - 11:10:12
Extended shot of Castor.
5 frames

11:15:07 - 11:16:09
Slightly extended shot of Castor because Fireball is talking in the background.
+1 sec 5 frames

11:18:12 - 11:20:15
Fireball's dialog has been removed before he gets up from the table.
2 sec 3 frames

11:21:04 - 11:21:08
This shot is slightly shorter.
4 frames

11:21:10 - 11:23:22
The first 4 and the last 14 frames of Fireball's dialog have been removed. The footage is equal at both cuts.
19 frames

Exchanged scene
11:49:01 - 11:55:01

Seijushi Bismark
In the Japanese Version, Castor is speaking and Fireball only says one single word after Castor's finished.

Saber Rider
In the US Version, Fireball says he wished Castor hadn't been that stubborn.

The Japanese Version is longer.
3 sec 6 frames

11:59:14 - 12:01:17
The Japanese Version stops down here. A black screen follows
2 sec 3 frames

12:01:18 - 12:12:18
Missing eyecatch scenes.
11 sec

12.12:19 - 12:24:15
A couple of robot horses get destroyed by military vehicles.
11 sec 21 frames

Exchanged scene
12:37:20 - 12:38:15
After Fireball got in his Red Fury Racer, the versions continues differently.

Seijushi Bismark
Fireball hits the road. The scene has a length of 20 sec.

Saber Rider
Fireball's departure is different. He says "Red Fury Turbo on". He engages the gear and starts in a close-up. The scene has a length of 4 sec and 3 frames.

The US Version is longer.
+3 sec 8 frames

12:38:16 - 12:39:00
Fireball's ride is slightly shorter.
9 frames

12:40:15 - 12:44:23
The last 7 frames of the dust cloud left behind by Fireball and his car are missing. Then a missing zoom to Castor, he watches Fireball passing by.
4 sec 8 frames

Added Sword Transition
12:44:23
A sword transition has been added here. The following scene (screen 2) is 15 frames shorter in the US Version.
The US Version is longer in total.
+1 Sek 6 Frames

The Chase

12:51:17 - 12:57:14
The robot horse destroys two military vehicles.
5 sec 22 frames

14:22:15 - 14:24:18
Shortened tracking shot of Ramrod.
2 sec 3 frames

14:27:17 - 14:28:17
Colt's dialog is shorter in the middle.
1 sec

Added Transition Effect
14:53:01
The US Version contains a transition effect (screen 3) between the two scenes (screen 1+2). The Japanese Version contains a rough cut between these scenes.
The Japanese Version is longer.
18 frames

Added Transition
14:59:01
Added transition (screen 3) between the two scenes (screen 1+2) in the US Version. There's just a rough cut between the two scenes in the Japanese Version.
The Japanese Version is longer.
20 frames

Added Transition
14:59:01
Same here.
The Japanese Version is longer.
30 frames

15:20:09 - 15:21:08
Shortened shot.
24 frames

Added Sword Transition
15:43:08
A sword transition has been added here. The scene after the transition (screen 2) is 15 frames shorter in the US Version.
The US Version is longer.
+1 sec 3 frames

16:23:10 - 16:27:08
Extended shot in the US Version: Colt's dialog is longer.
+3 sec 8 frames

Added Sword Transition
17:02:02
Another sword transition. The scene before (screen 1) is 6 frames shorter, the scene after (screen 3) 15 frames.
The US Version is longer.
+24 frames

Added Transition Effect
17:27:12
The US Version contains a transition effect (screen 3) between two scenes (screen 1+2). The Japanese Version contains a rough cut instead. The first scene (screen 1) is longer and the second one (screen 2) shorter.
The Japanese Version is longer.
1 sec 9 frames

17:39:12 - 17:39:18
Slightly shortened shot.
6 frames

17:40:06 - 17:41:22
The dialog of the Commander is longer.
+24 frames

Showdown in the ghost town

Recut/shortened scenes
18:41:07 - 18:51:14
The order of two scenes has been changed (scene 1 has been replaced by scene 2 and the other way around) plus the scenes have been shortened. The scenes are coming up right after Renegade's appearance.

Seijushi Bismark
First a shot of Saber Rider on his horse with Colt's ship in the background. In panic, Saber Rider says sth. to Fireball by radio. Then a shot of Fireball. He replies to Saber Rider by radio and Saber says "OK" from the background. Presumably Fireball gives the order to return to Ramrod to destroy Renegade.

Saber Rider
First the scene with Fireball. The scene is 2 sec and 21 frames shorter. Fireball asks his boss what was up. Now the scene with Saber Rider and Colt. That scene is 8 frames shorter. Saber Rider says he'd say it was a problem, a big problem.

That recut decimates Fireball's authority as leader and emphesizes Saber Rider's leading position one more time.

3 sec 4 frames

Added scene
19:43:09
Before Fireball hits the transformation button, a scene from another episode has been insert here (Fireball takes a seat).
+2 sec 21 frames

The Transformation Sequence

The beginning of the sequence is shorter.
15 frames

5 more frames are missing here.
5 frames

Alternate scene

The scene of Ramrod lowering his legs is an alternate one from other Japanese episodes. In comparison to the US Version, the Japanese Version contains lighnings/electric shocks and the background is different as well. The scenes are slightly alternate here and there.
The scene is 1 sec and 3 frames longer in the US Version.

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

+1 sec 3 frames

The US Version contains a shot of the transformation of Ramrod's bridge.

+14 sec 11 frames

The end of the sequence is also different.

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

The US Version is longer.
+18 frames

20:19:07 - 20:20:05
Slightly shortened shot.
23 frames

20:20:06 - 20:23:21
While Ramrod is facing Renagade, he gets shot at by the robot horses.
3 sec 15 frames

Shortened/removed scene
20:23:22 - 20:27:00
Fireball's dialog is shorter at the beginning plus it has been removed.
24 frames

20:39:11 - 20:39:16
This shot is shorter.
5 frames

Added/removed scene
20:39:16
The removed and shortened dialog scene of Fireball has been insert here.
difference see above

21:06:13 - 21:08:11
Extended shot of the escaping Outriders.
1 sec 23 frames

Saying goodbye to Castor

21:17:11 - 21:25:23
After Renegade and the Outrider base got destroyed, the camera pans over Ramrod and shows him in an extra shot. The Japanese Version continues with a transition the to next scene with Castor, who is sitting on a stone while the camera is zooming in. In the US Version, the shot of Ramrod follows a transition to a black screen. Then the scene with Castor. The tracking shot of Castor is much shorter.

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

The Japanese Version is longer.
3 sec 8 frames

21:41:11 - 21:50:02
The last 9 frames of the shot of Colt (after his dialog) are missing. Then a missing tracking shot of wounded Castor and another missing one of Colt with the banjo. The following shot of Castor (before he gets his banjo) is 8 frames shorter. There's no missing dialog.
8 sec 16 frames

21:55:06 - 21:56:23
The last 14 frames of the shot of Castor are missing. Then two missing facial expressions of Colt. The US Version starts just before April's dialog and Colt's facial expression is different here. There's no missing dialog.
1 sec 17 frames

22:01:01 - 22:03:09
Fireball's comment from the background (1 sec 2 frames) is missing here. Furthermore the shot of Castor (before he starts playing banjo) lacks 1 sec and 6 frames.
2 sec 8 frames

22:13:05 - 22:15:03
Shortened tracking shot.
1 sec 23 frames

Saber Rider's final monolog

Saber Rider's concluding monolog is missing. It starts right after Castor started playing banjo. The monolog gets interrupted by a comment of Colt. He says Castor had lost his horses because of the Outriders but they were going to live on in his music.

Colt says there were ghost horses in the sky.

He continues Castor stayed at the prairie and found a new herd soon. He describes the horses as animals that loved his music.

The credits

A detailed comparison of the different credits can be found in the comparison of episode 1.

Running time of the credits in the Japanese Version 00:01:20
Running time of the credits in the US Version 00:01:03

17 sec