Beast Or Famine/Beast or Famine (sources vary) is the 39th episode of Dinosaur King, in Series 1.
Summary[]
In Yokohama Chinatown, the D-Team, Taylors, and Reese are waiting in line for a restaurant featuring the traveling chef Johnny Cook; tired of waiting, their chibi dinosaurs sneak inside and have to be quickly rounded up. As the group sits at their table to be served golden crab and egg fried rice, Johnny Cook accidentally breaks open a Card Capsule sitting among the eggs in the kitchen and the stove flames activate a Mapusaurus card. It stomps through the restaurant, flattening the D-Team's table, and starts shooting off Fire Cannon blasts as it walks around town. The D-Team send their dinosaurs at it, but Chomp and Ace get distracted by nearby food storage rooms, as they hadn't had a chance to eat at the restaurant, but a blast from Fire Cannon scorches all the food.
Meanwhile at Zeta Point, Seth dispatches Rod and Laura to the scene in the Alpha Jet. Dr. Z's back is still recovering and he's giving his "caretakers" a hard time, criticizing fairy tale characters for not using dinosaurs and refusing to eat the same old porridge again, until Helga adds a radish. The A-Team discovers Seth watching a live feed of Mapusaurus, and he quickly claims it only just now appeared; they assign themselves the mission to escape Dr. Z and so Ursula can get some squid jerky. Dr. Z also discovers from Helga that Rod and Laura have been going after dinosaurs, telling Helga he never gave them those missions.
Back in Chinatown, Chomp and Ace relentlessly attack Mapusaurus for burning their food, Rod and Laura are distracted from entering the battle by an enticing scent, and Dr. Taylor has lost everyone; Reese and Aki were in the restroom when Mapusaurus appeared, and are now in another restaurant for tapioca, not noticing Mapusaurus walk by the window behind them. Helga is also running across the ocean to get to Chinatown…as one does. The A-Team arrives via substitute jet and starts searching for squid jerky; Ursula finds a giant piece, but Mapusaurus passes by and snatches it. The scent leads Rod and Laura to Johnny Cook making crab and egg fried rice, but Helga arrives and tries puling them away before being challenged by Johnny for saying she could cook better than him. They start the cook-off, but the stove flames start running low; then a stray Fire Cannon from the dinosaur battle reignites the stoves, Johnny and Helga cooking harder despite being engulfed in flames.
Max tries finishing the cornered Mapusaurus, but his Dino Holder ejects all of his Move Cards instead. The cook-off dishes are served and judged, and Helga's is decided as the better; with a taste of her cooking, Johnny surrenders his spatula. Before Rod and Laura can board the Alpha Jet back, however, Seth arrives in another Alpha Jet and sends them back after the dinosaur. Back at Zeta Point, Dr. Z has been abandoned by everyone except chibi Terry, who's as hungry as Dr. Z is. Rod and Laura arrive at the battle, but upon revealing that they ate what Max wanted before him, Chomp defeats both their dinosaurs in one hit. Helga confronts Seth, who tries lying that Rod and Laura are being dispatched by Dr. Z, but Helga knows better; she is programmed to protect them and will be taking them back now, but Seth stuns her with an electric prod, shutting her down. The D-Team finally manages to defeat Mapusaurus and claim its card, reuniting with the adults to return to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant has been demolished down to only a doorway and is now closed until next year.
As the Alpha Gang groups return to Zeta Point aboard the Jets, a small piece of squid jerky Zander managed to grab is snatched by a seagull. Seth tells Rod and Laura that Helga had business in Chinatown and will be gone a bit; in actuality, she is lying inactive in the cargo hold of a cruise ship heading who knows where.
Battles[]
D-Team vs. Mapusaurus (vs. Rod & Laura)[]
Mapusaurus is rampaging in Chinatown, and Max, angry his lunch was stepped on, summons Chomp to attack, but Chomp instead runs to a pile of cabbages in a nearby broken building, as hungry as Max. Rex summons Ace to attack instead, but Ace runs to a room full of hanging meat, also hungry. Zoe summons Paris to attack, but Mapusaurus counters with Fire Cannon; Paris dodges, but the attack scorches the food Chomp and Ace were distracted by, sending them into a rage. They charge and leap at Mapusaurus relentlessly until it manages to knock them away, sending Chomp into the Goodwill Gate. Rod and Laura almost enter the battle, but are distracted by a delicious scent and leave.
Mapusaurus leads the D-Team on a chase through Chinatown, walking by the window behind Reese and Mrs. Taylor, then passing by the Alpha Gang and snatching up the piece of squid jerky Ursula found. Paris and Chomp split off to cut off and surround Mapusaurus, prompting it to shoot off Fire Cannon but missing Paris and Ace. With Mapusaurus cornered, Max tries using a Move Card to finish it, but his Dino Holder ejects all of the cards, and Mapusaurus muscles past Chomp and escapes as he tries picking them up. Zoe uses Metal Wing to hit Mapusaurus, and Max tries using Thunder Bazooka, but Rod and Laura distract him, summoning Spiny and Tank. However, upon saying they'd eaten crab and egg fried rice before Max had a chance to, he uses Thunder Bazooka and Chomp defeats both Spiny and Tank in one hit.
Max uses Lightning Strike, and Chomp finally defeats Mapusaurus.
D-Team wins
New Cards[]
- Mapusaurus dinosaur card
Quotes[]
to be added
Transcript[]
Trivia[]
- Despite being spelled "Beast Or Famine" on the title card, it is spelled "Beast or Famine" on at least two TCG cards.
- During the scene when Mapusaurus snaps up the giant squid jerky Ursula is holding, it has no lower teeth (it has them everywhere else in the episode, though).
- This is the second time a wild dinosaur had a Move Card that has been seen before, the first being Lightning Strike, though it is the first time that the Move had first been seen being used by another wild dinosaur (in this case Carcharodontosaurus).
- Jonathan's disguise: famous chef "Johnny Cook" (not recognized, as the D-Team never directly met him).
- When it malfunctions, Max's Dino Holder ejects no fewer than 14 Lightning Moves, far more than are ever featured or identified in the anime by this point (or even in the arcade game at all). Most are likely card-folio cards from episode 13, though why he only ever uses four if he has all of these others is unclear (they may merely all be repeats).
- This "card storm" also gives the first quick view of the Thunder Bazooka card's image, though a clearer view is seen later.
Dub Edits[]
- The text on Ed's book was erased in the dub.
- "IN" was replaced with a marking in the dub.
- The sign in the wrecked restaurant was given appropriate writing in the initial US airing of the dub. In other versions, all text was erased.