Digimon Savers/Digimon Data Squad Episode 1 Sub/Dub Comparison | I am Masaru! Cockatrimon Attacks!

Plot: DATS is an organization dedicated to the containment of Digimon to protect humankind. A hot-headed street brawler named Masaru gets in the way of DATS agent Yoshino Fujieda’s newest mission to capture an Agumon. After an honorable fight, Agumon proclaims that he will be Masaru’s loyal follower from now on. And as Agumon’s aniki, he protects him from capture. However, everything changes when Agumon is suspected of attacking a nearby burger stand.

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Backstory time! There is none for me. Yeah, if I was faltering in my Digimon watchings when Frontier came out, I definitely never managed to watch Data Squad. I’m almost certain it never aired on TV where I was either way. I’m also not certain if this is actual SDC material, but this is just a test run. If it’s not, then I’ll just switch to a Shounen Step-By-Step.

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Series Name Change: Digimon Savers is changed to Digimon Data Squad.

Title Change: I am Masaru! Cockatrimon Attacks! is changed to THERE ARE MONSTERS AMONG US! And yeah, if the Wiki is correct, it’s meant to be in all caps.

Title Card: It should be mentioned that each title card comes with its own animation. This week has GeoGreymon blowing fire at us.

Now featuring dub title cards! The dub now includes their own title cards as opposed to just putting that familiar orange text on the screen over the beginning scene. I doubt these cards will ever change outside of the text, so just to get a taste of what they look like;

Entire Show Edit: The theme song usually comes after a cold open in the original. In the dub, it’s at the very start. This might change, but it’s here.

Entire Show Edit: The background music is all different, though it’s noticeably not as in your face or constant as it has been in past Digimon incarnations. I actually like it quite a bit.

Theme Song Changes: Absolutely everything barring a few clips are changed between versions. The original’s theme song is alright, but not very catchy or memorable. The dub’s is horribly generic in regards to lyrics and completely forgettable in melody, which is a shame as it’s coming fresh off the heels of Digimon Frontier, which had a great theme.

They cut out a shot of some pipes after showing Agumon breathing. Also, yay Agumon! Boo voice change! Though, being fair, if the voice hadn’t changed, I’d just be wishing he was with Tai. I understand that not all Agumon are Tai’s Agumon, but…Agumon. 😦

Actually, being honest, and after letting this SDC sit for a while (Hi from Editor!Twix cleaning this up after writing this several years ago!) this kinda bugs me. Didn’t Agumon get enough focus in the first series? Why not give the MC a completely new Digimon?

Name Change: Captain Rentaro Satsuma is changed to Commander Richard Sampson. Also, in English, he’s voiced by the super smooth Jamieson K. Price.

The area Agumon is escaping from is Kouan area B01. In the dub, they omit Kouan and say it’s B07.

In the original, the authorities claim there’s a bomb nearby to get innocent bystanders to flee the area. In the dub, they say it’s a gas leak.

Hi, Colleen O’Shaughnessey! Nice to hear your Sora voice again after two series of being noticeably absent from the franchise.

Also, of course the girl in the group gets a pink uniform.

Name Change: Masaru Daimon is changed to Marcus Daimon.

A non-translatable change occurs. Masaru calls himself Masaru Daimon-sama, which is a very arrogant way of addressing yourself since you’re basically calling yourself ‘Lord (name)’ In the dub, Marcus just goes on about how he’ll be the greatest ultimate fighter and people all over will chant his name. It gives the same message, but the actual dialogue simply couldn’t be adapted properly.

Masaru tells Agumon to stop talking with his big ugly mug. Agumon defends himself and says he was born that way. Marcus says he’ll knock out Agumon just like he knocked out the unconscious people around them. Agumon asks if he bored them all to sleep.

Everyone’s impressed that a human was able to land a blow on a Digimon. In the dub, they’re worried (?) because Agumon landed a hit on Marcus.

Agumon says he saw right through his punch so he won’t get him this time. In the dub, Agumon says he was waiting for Marcus to say ‘1, 2, 3, GO!’ then says it himself when he attacks.

In the original, Agumon aims his next kick towards Masaru’s crotch. In the dub, this is removed and replaced with a really poorly made impact star.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Another bit that can’t really be translated properly. Agumon starts calling Masaru “Masaru-aniki” as a way of calling him a brother since he was the first being to ever treat him as an individual. In the dub, Agumon calls Marcus “Boss” which is a bit higher ranking than what the original is saying, and he gives him this moniker because no one’s ever matched him blow for blow before. That explanation makes that title seem odd. Why would you call your equal “boss”? They really could’ve just gone the way of “Big brother” “little brother” and it would’ve made a bit more sense in the context, but I guess since this particular moniker is commonly used with gangs and whatnot, they opted for a more mob-sounding “Boss.”

Attack Name Change: Nuts Shoot is changed to Seed Blast…..I’m just gonna leave that one alone forever.

They translate and paint the sign on the door to say ‘closed.’

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Studiopolis (The dubbing company in charge of Digimon Data Squad in Lieu of Saban this time.) is 4Kidsing at the moment….and I want everyone to know that ‘4Kidsing’ is apparently a legit word according to my Word Processor’s spell check. All of the items in the grocery basket have writing on them. In the dub, it’s all removed.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Yoshino was originally eating coffee jelly (ew). In the dub, it’s chocolate pudding.

Yoshino points out that she knows Masaru’s name because he was yelling it out earlier. In the dub, she cryptically says she knows everything about him.

Yoshino explains that she’s with DATS, which stands for Digital Accidental Tactics Squad. In the dub, she says she’s with the Digimon Data Squad. This is only a slight change because her organization name and the badge remain unchanged.

Masaru says he thought Agumon was a frog. Yoshino replies asking whoever heard of a talking frog. In the dub, Marcus suggests that maybe Agumon went back to the Digital World. Yoshino suggests that he’s hiding him.

Kudamon says he doesn’t detect any special powers within Marcus. In the dub, he says, from what he can analyze, Marcus can’t fight at a high enough level to combat Agumon.

Also, Kudamon is voiced by Sam Riegel. Certainly an interesting, but fitting, choice.

Masaru asks if the turtle is a Digimon too. In the dub, when the turtle presents him with a drink, he yells that he’s not thirsty and the turtle says ‘suit yourself.’

Masaru demands the Digimon food. Marcus demands that they get on with the interview so he can leave.

See, this is why little seemingly insignificant line changes do matter. Marcus just yelled with an attitude that he’s not thirsty then 15 seconds later he’s drinking the tea.

Kudamon mentions that Agumon has also injured people (which I assume is the 15 injured people from earlier that were mentioned to have been beaten up by Marcus. Because that’s sure a logical change.) This is not mentioned in the dub.

Masaru says Agumon admired the real world because it was filled with moving things that he had never seen before. In the dub, Marcus believes Agumon came to the real world likely because the Digital World had something terrible in it that he needed to escape from.

Yoshino originally deduces from the evidence of Agumon’s disappearance that he must’ve been the one to attack the burger joint. In the dub, she says they confirmed that it’s definitely Agumon who did it.

The Digimon was originally reported as being in harbor Area B-05. In the dub, Lalamon says it’s Area 205.

Masaru isn’t a complete idiot, so he realized right when he saw Agumon that he wasn’t the one who attacked the burger stand. In the dub, Marcus is a complete idiot and asks Agumon why he attacked the burger stand.

Agumon says he thought he’d find food in the garbage bin, but his head got stuck. In the dub, they give no reason why Agumon was wandering around with his head stuck in a garbage can. He just says he didn’t attack a burger stand, but a burger sounds good.

Lalamon says there are now two Digimon signals. In the dub, she says the lone signal is to the northeast.

Agumon and Masaru get ‘fired up’ because Cockatrimon is so strong. In the dub, Agumon asks for Marcus’ help.

Masaru yells out “How dare you hurt my follower!” Marcus yells “It’s fightin’ time!” Not the biggest of changes, but still.

Can’t say I’m crazy about the appearance of this series’ Digivices. They look like retro cell phones that don’t flip out in the right direction.

The fisherman guy says to use the Digisoul in Masaru’s fist to charge the Digivice. In the dub, he tells him to use the Digivice in combination with his DNA, which is triggered by his fist……That is all sorts of what? Does Studiopolis not realize that DNA is a real thing? And that your fist is basically made up of it? That’s like saying to use wood it has to be triggered by a stick. Am I missing something? Will this be explained later? Because that really doesn’t make much sense to me.

How did Masaru know to say ‘Digisoul, Charge!’ when he was using the Digivice? Likewise, how did Marcus know to say ‘DNA, charge!’? This DNA thing is going to bug me.

Agumon also has a Digisoul, but in the dub it’s also called DNA……which makes no sense again. Digimon are digital beings. They may be real, but I doubt they have DNA. Unless, in the case of Digimon, the D stands for Digital and the NA stands for…something to make it make sense.

Hm, so we’re starting out with CGI evolutions, eh? This one doesn’t look too shabby, but I don’t think they’ve improved on their CGI use at all since A01.

A lyrical song accompanying the evolution is omitted from the dub.

It’s supposed to be a big silly reveal that Masaru was the one who beat up those guys at the beginning. Since Marcus yelled out this proclamation at the start of the dubbed episode, it’s just a pointless scene.

The ending theme is, as usual, not included in the dub. It’s a nice little song, but nothing terribly special about it. Also, surprisingly, they….kinda kept the next episode preview. I say ‘kinda’ because they do include a next episode preview, which they usually never do in dubs, but it’s completely different from the original. Different clips, they have actual dialogue instead of narration from Masaru and the focus is entirely different.

In the original, the focus is on Yoshino deciding to live with Masaru and his mom and sister to keep an eye on him and Agumon. In the dub, it’s almost entirely about recruiting Marcus for the Digimon Data Squad. Also, it’s intentionally edited to make it seem like Agumon will be sent back to the Digital World.

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All in all, I’m not sure how I feel about this series yet. I like the concept of an elite squad who partner with Digimon to combat Digimon, and it’s a welcome change of pace from the norm, but I don’t like Masaru so far, and I don’t much care for Yoshino. Agumon was fine, Lalamon’s voice irked me more than anything, and the art and animation are worse than they have been in previous series.

I will say that this show actually fares pretty well in the comparison department. Despite being about four and a half pages of comparison material, there’s not a whole lot that was seriously changed. It’s mostly minor things here and there, outside of one baffling use of digital paint to rid everything of text. Digimon is a series that has never been too shy about Japanese words or text, yet they pointlessly got rid of every bit of text in that one scene even though you never focus on any of it. Is it because they were in a store and didn’t want to get hassled for possible brand recognition even though it’s all fake? Because they left in the knock-off McDonald’s sign. (The return of Inuyasha’s WacDonalds?!)

Next episode, Yoshino moves in with Masaru to keep an eye on him and Agumon. Meanwhile, DATS tries to recruit him to their team.

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Digimon Frontier | Sub/Dub Comparison Episode 3: Don’t Allow Bullying! Evolution of Chakmon of Ice!

Plot: The group finds themselves trapped by a gang of violent Candlemon. In order to help save his friends, Tomoki needs to find inner strength and Spirit Evolve into Chakmon.

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Title Change: Don’t Allow Bullying! Evolution of Chakmon of Ice! is changed to Kumamon, Baby, Light My Fire! Which…doesn’t make sense because Chakmon’s ice-based. I know he fights fire in this episode, but it says ‘light my fire’ which means he’s the one making it.

Name Change: Chakmon is changed to Kumamon. Kuma is Japanese for bear, which makes sense because he’s a bear-like Digimon.

Izumi just points out that Junpei and Tomoki didn’t really want to leave. Zoe says she’s not going to be responsible for their safety.

Izumi doesn’t hope that her Spirit Evolution is cute, she just wonders if she’ll be able to do it too.

Tomoki only hopes that he’ll be able to Spirit Evolve. In the dub, he wonders if he’ll Spirit Evolve into the biggest, baddest, scariest Digimon ever.

The Candlemon originally believe the kids are there to take over their land. In the dub, they believe they’re going to steal their precious artifact.

Lots of candle puns that aren’t present in the original.

The Candlemon elder introduces himself as such in the original. In the dub, he says he and his tribe of Candlemon are tasked with protecting the ancient artifact.

Takuya originally asks what the giant candle with the symbols of the legendary warriors is. In the dub, he says it looks like a giant birthday party.

Eyecatch:

How did the kids wake up during the commercial break? They’re all asleep before it, then most of them are awake after it.

Junpei asks why they (or moreso Takuya) can’t just burn up the Candlemon. Tomoki says because they would be immune (being candles/fire Digimon) Takuya says he has a good point. In the dub, JP asks why they had to jump in the river, and Tommy says because Takuya said they had to or else they’d burn up.

Attack Name Change: Bomb Fire is changed to….Lava Loogie……Saban, I was going to praise you for having such a loyal adaptation so far in this episode but that change made you lose so many points. Shame. Shaaaaammmeee.

Not sure why Takuya has his goggles on underwater. I mean, I obviously do, duh, but he didn’t put them on until he had already dived underwater. They’d be filled with water, rendering them useless.

Tomoki says he wishes he could do more in order to help everyone get away. In the dub, he says he’s too slow and tells them to just go without him.

So, despite the fact that Tomoki pointed this out earlier, everyone, including Takuya, is surprised when Takuya’s attacks do nothing to the Candlemon and even makes them more powerful? Is this a continuity problem or are they just bad listeners?

Agunimon uses Burning Salamander while in the dub he ‘Summons the power of Pyro Tornado’, which is actually Salamander Break.

Why were Zoe and the others cheering at Agunimon’s appearance if it’s so obvious to them that fire attacks won’t work on Candlemon?

Junpei just says that, if Tomoki does get a spirit, it’s not going to just pop up randomly for him because he asks. In the dub, JP says that there’s no way a pipsqueak like Tommy would ever get a legendary spirit. See why I don’t like this guy?

Attack Name Change: Melt Wax is changed to Paraffin Paralyzer.

Izumi points out that a new spirit is emerging from the ice. Zoe exclaims ‘Mama mia!’ Ya know, I wouldn’t be so bothered by these random Italian phrases if she sounded like she ever visited Italy once in her entire life. But I guess she’s better about it than Chronos in Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Attack Name Change: Frozen Wind is changed to Crystal Breeze.

I actually appreciate that they didn’t bring back Wizardmon’s original VA seeing as how they’re portraying one as a bad guy now….Though I should mention that his VA here is Joshua Seth who is not doing much to differentiate his voice from Tai’s.

Attack Name Change: Thunder Cloud is changed to Electro Squall.

So this is Tomoki’s big Spirit Evolution episode yet he didn’t do much during the battle, Agnimon got the final shot and he got to absorb the data. Wizardmon also just kicked Chakmon in the face and completely ignored him in lieu of Agnimon. That’s just a big shovelful of disappointment. Evolution episodes are supposed to be that character’s time to shine. He barely got to flicker in this episode.

Originally, Takuya says he’ll purify Wizardmon’s spirit. In the dub he says he never did believe in magic…..Yeah, kid, you’re in another world made of digital data and monsters and you’ve been given the ability to turn into one of said monsters as well while you and your friends wield the power of the elements. You can’t get much more magical than that.

Izumi doesn’t insinuate that Junpei was jealous that Tomoki got his spirit before him. She just says she wondered what spirit Junpei and Tomoki would get.

Next up, Izumi finds her spirit and becomes Fairymon/Kazemon.

…Previous Episode

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Digimon Tamers | Sub/Dub Comparison Episode 4: A Tamer’s Test – Defeat Gorimon

Plot: Jianliang manages to devolve Terriermon after his evolution during his battle with Renamon and Ruki. However, he’s upset that Terriermon evolved against his wishes. When an old opponent of Jianliang and Terriermon, Gorimon, shows up with a score to settle, Jianliang will have to decide if making Terriermon evolve and fight is worth the risk.

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Title Card:

Title Change: A Tamer’s Test – Defeat Gorimon is changed to It Came from the Other Side.

Takato asks Jianliang if Terriermon has evolved in the past since he kinda implied it by believing Gargomon will devolve after standing on his head. In the dub. Takato asks if Rika would know how to do it.

Wait a damn second, now that I’m thinking about it, why can Digimon Tamers show Digimon cards on screen when Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh have to go to such lengths to edit anything even close to real merchandise out due to legal reasons? Those Digimon cards look insanely close to the ones in real life.

What the hell is Takato taking a bath in? Ecto Cooler?

Culumon originally comments on how much fun humans seem to have. In the dub, he says humans are very tamable since whole groups react to the sounds of bells, in reference to kids reacting to a school bell. In all honesty, though, he’s not wrong.

The card, Training Gibs, is changed to Training Grips. I guess because kids wouldn’t get the reference.

Hirokazu originally gives Takato the Training Gibs card because he already has a copy. In the dub, he acts like it’s a crappy card and gives it to Takato seemingly out of pity. Likewise, Takato originally wonders if the card is in any way related to evolution. In the dub, he laments over getting yet another useless card. Also, the specifics of what the card does, increases HP and attack power, is not conveyed in the dub.

Takato asks Jianliang if he believes the card is related to evolution, and Jianliang says he doesn’t know. In the dub, Takato says he thinks Kazu gives him cards like that in order to use it against him in games, and Henry says he gives him too much credit.

Dub wise, why is it a stupid time to ask questions like “What’s a digital field?” and “Why is it chasing us?” when they’re being chased by a digital field? Not like talking slows you down, and if you didn’t want him to ask what a digital field was why even mention what it is? Hell, in the time it took Henry and Terriermon to have that line exchange, they could’ve answered both of his questions. “It’s a field where Digimon move between the Digital World and the real world” and “I have no clue.”

……Just seemed rude is all…

Name Change: Gorimon is changed to Gorillamon. The Index screen is translated and changed to match this.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Also, Gorimon’s attack is ‘Power Attack’? Boy, they better put up their Blocking Defense and maybe activate Fast Speed.

They censor Gorimon stepping on Guilmon’s head…..Really? That’s censor worthy?

Terriermon yells out to Jianliang that he was the one who wanted him to fight in the first place. In the dub, he asks Henry if he wants him to sit back and let him peel Guilmon like a banana. The sudden realization/memory is lost in the dub, plus it’s really jarring how much it looks like Terriermon is yelling in the dub, yet he’s not raising his voice at all.

Minor detail, but they specify in the original that the Digimon game that Jianliang gets is an American game. They leave this out of the dub, probably because it might seem awkward to say such a thing in English even though they have no problem saying the show takes place in Japan.

Boy the way this game looks sure does date this show.

Like the Index screen, the game’s screen is painted to mirror Gorimon’s English name.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Jianliang calls Terriermon cute. In the dub, he says he’s small and smart just like him. Ego much, Henry?

In the original, the first thing Terriermon does when he’s hatched in the game is poop. In the dub, they edit this out and shift the frames to make it look like Terriermon’s dancing, and the dialogue from Jianliang is changed to reflect this. I have no clue why they changed this. Poop is far from a new thing in Digimon. Hell, there’s an actual Digimon made of poop! Who throws poop! And makes other people poop! And we’ve seen Digimon poop in the series plenty of times, like when Koromon did it in the first OVA/movie. I would say it’s because we see him pooping and hear a fart, but the previous example had that too. Not to mention that this poop is extremely pixelated and disappears from the screen in seconds after he does it. No clue why this needed to be removed.

They add a pushed screen transition before we see Henry and Terriermon fight Gorillamon, I suppose to alert the audience that they were shifting back to the flashback.

Henry takes a much bigger jump in logic than Jianliang does. In the original, Jianliang wonders how Gorimon seems to be leaving the game and entering the internet of its own volition. In the dub, Henry can’t shut off his computer and can’t close the game. He instantly jumps from ‘maybe my computer froze’ to ‘maybe Digimon have a world of their own beyond ours!’ Look, I know Henry’s right, but he had no reason to say such a thing. Who sees their computer bug out and be unable to shut it down through regular means, not including shutting off the power supply, and instantly believes it’s because the characters in the game have their own reality?

They add a split-screen transition after the shot within the computer and before we see Gorillamon again.

They add in Gorillamon yelling, throwing a beam at Terriermon, and Henry and Takato talking, Gorillamon using his beam attack, and Gorillamon slamming down a beam again towards Terriermon, but omit him slamming Guilmon into a beam and grabbing Terriermon by the ear to swing him in circles above his head.

Another pushed screen transition after Henry’s closeup.

They, again, remove Terriermon getting swung around by his ear.

In between shots of Terriermon being flung up and falling back down, they put in another shot from earlier of Gorillamon grabbing Guilmon.

They also remove the shot of Terriermon on the ground and splitscreen transition back to the flashback.

You could argue that it’s not necessary for the Tamers to say ‘card slash/digimodify’ and what the card they’re using is when in real Digimon battles besides for the sake of the audience, but it seems 100x more pointless seeing Lee/Henry do it on his computer in his room. Though, maybe that’s just a kid being excited about his game…..I know I’ve done that before when I was deep in my Digimon days. I actually made a Gen III Digivice out of cardboard and made a spot in the side to slash the cards so I could do that.

The Boost Chip card is changed to Power.

They add a flash when Terriermon headbutts Gorillamon.

Alvandale’s Arrow, the card, is changed to Targeting. So much creativity going on in this episode.

The card Stamina Seed is changed to simply Stamina.

Wait, a Stamina card made Terriermon evolve the first time?….How does that work?

Ya know, I can understand why Jianliang/Henry is reluctant to let Terriermon evolve. He’s kinda a psycho when he’s Gargomon – at least at this point. He’s laughing while shooting up Gorimon like he’s getting paid for it. And, like in Pokemon sometimes, what dictates what happens when a Digimon evolves? For the most part, unless an evolution is corrupted like with SkullGreymon, most Digimon are basically the same, personality-wise, when they evolve. Yet some change and others go nuts.

Upper left hand corner wipe transition after Gargomon goes crazy in the flashback.

They remove Gorimon kicking Terriermon in lieu of yet another recycled shot; this time of Terriermon flying through the air.

Between Guilmon setting Terriermon on the ground and Gorimon pointing his cannon at them is an inserted shot of Gorillamon running towards them.

After the commercial break, they replay the scene of Terriermon being caught by Guilmon and Gorillamon approaching, but this time they don’t add in the inserted shot and Gorillamon doesn’t say ‘Playtime’s over’.

Devil’s Chip is changed to Power….wait, again?

Fade transition for the flashback this time.

I never really thought about it before, but the manner in which the Tamers get their Digimon is another thing that this season has over the other seasons. In Adventure 01 and 02, the Digimon were just given to the Chosen Children because, well, they were chosen for such a thing. Yes, they developed close relationships with the Digimon over time, but in Tamers, they were given the Digimon because they already shared a strong bond.

With Takato, Guilmon was literally created as Takato’s dream Digimon. With Jianliang and Terriermon, he was a game character that Jianliang felt especially connected towards and one he felt guilty over for hurting him and turning him into a crazed fighting machine. He desperately wanted to protect Terriermon for real so he was given to him. With Renamon and Ruki, they both shared a strong desire to become the best and strongest pair of Tamer and Digimon in the world. While their goals and points of view may have changed, their desires coincided with one another and they developed a true bond because of it. While I won’t downplay most of the eventual relationships between the other Chosen Children and their Digimon, the ones in Tamers just feel deeper and stronger.

Takato: “You and Terriermon are a great combination!”

Henry: “Yeah, I guess we are. Thanks Takato.”

Terriermon: “What are you thanking him for? He didn’t do anything.”

He’s thanking him for the compliment, Terriermon….not that hard to understand.

Davis: “Did Gorillamon’s data really go to the other side? Do bananas really taste good with peanut butter? Find out on the next Digimon; Digital Monsters!” You find out the answer to neither of those questions next time, Davis, but of course it did and of course they do.

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Overall, this episode was really good. We’re given a legitimate and realistic reason behind Jianliang’s apprehension to letting Terriermon evolve, though I still don’t get why he goes insane when he evolves. We also get the backstory behind Jianliang and Terriermon’s first meeting. The resolution wasn’t predictable in Jianliang realizing that evolution was necessary to take down tough opponents as, in the end, he didn’t make Terriermon evolve in order to beat Gorimon. He used his wit and ingenuity to take Gorimon down, even though a legit attack was needed to finish him off. Jianliang didn’t concede on his stance, but he also didn’t decide to sit back and do nothing while Guilmon and Terriermon were attacked, as that kinda defeats the purpose of partially doing this for the sake of protecting Terriermon. He’ll eventually get into the real battle scene, but it’s a work in progress for Jianliang.

Next time……Culumon centric episode…..hooray.

…..Previous Episode

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Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 5: Destroy the Dark Tower | Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: Iori feels he must leave kendo practice with his grandfather to help Jo and the others respond to an SOS sent out by Gomamon.

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Title Card:

Title Change: Destroy the Dark Tower is changed to Old Reliable….I don’t mind this at all because both titles are equally boring. Guys, seriously, both Iori/Cody and Jo/Joe are considered some of the most boring characters in Digimon – they don’t need boring titles helping them out.

As for the title card, that’s also a big ‘meh’. The colors are boring the shot’s not interesting….just meh.

They remove a closeup shot of one of the Gizamon getting whipped as well as a few more times from further away, showing Ken.

Gomamon points out that Gizamon can’t travel well on land while dub!Gomamon replaces this line by saying someone should use the whip on Ken instead.

Ken asks why Gomamon believes he has a right to tell him about Digimon. In the dub, he tells Gomamon to never talk to him without calling him ‘sir’ and to never talk to him period.

Gomamon getting whipped is removed.

Why didn’t Ken have Dark Rings on the Gizamon before they even started working? If it does make them stronger and makes work easier…??

Wow, was Ken’s VA told by the director to sound as whiny as possible when he said “I want you to make me some hot chocolate.” I could hear a pout at the end. Also, obviously, this is a dub-only line.

I think Jo really shows how cool he is in these little moments. He’s so obsessed with good grades and school and yet he is perfectly fine skipping class and a big quiz because he thinks Gomamon is in danger. Jo may be boring sometimes, but he can also be really cool.

Iori’s grandpa asks if something’s bothering him or if there’s a girl he likes. Cody’s grandpa asks if he’s losing interest in martial arts or finds spending time with him boring.

Iori’s grandpa asks is he’d like Chu-Chu with a kissy face. Since ‘Chu’ is a word commonly used as a kissing onomatopoeia in Japan, he realizes that Iori is thinking he said something weird, so he points out that he was talking about Chu-Chu jelly with a blush on his face. In the dub, Cody’s grandpa just says prune juice will cure all of his problems with the kissy face, goofy expression and blush…..Uh….kay.

Now, as for what Chu-Chu jelly is, after some digging through endless Legend of Zelda results, I found that Chu-Chu jelly is apparently this universe’s version of an energy….snack/drink that is basically an energy drink/health drink in jelly/jello form in a drinkable packet.

The dub doesn’t include Iori telling his grandpa to tell his mother he’ll be late.

Iori’s grandpa says he’s starting to resemble his father, Hiroki. In the dub, he just says no problem is too big for prune juice.

Why exactly does Joe find it weird for the Digimon to be in the real word? Did he forget that like 1/3 of the first series took place in the real world with the Digimon? It was a pretty big thing…

Daisuke and Miyako don’t mention anything about Jo being a doctor in the original. They just greet him. Also, Kari adds a correction to Yolei and Davis saying that Joe’s not a doctor yet.

Originally, Jo says they’ll eat the snacks in the Digital World. In the dub, he says they’re for an emergency. Also, I find it a bit weird that Joe went and got snacks when Gomamon sent an SOS. I mean, it’s nice and everything, but a distress call usually means ‘Come right now, I’m totally screwed’ not ‘Take your time, it’s not a big deal, maybe get me a Snickers.’

While not a major change, Upamon tells Iori that he was just about to go into the Digital World by himself. In the dub, he annoyingly screeches ‘YOU MADE IT!’ over and over.

Originally, Iori tries to politely introduce himself to Jo. In the dub, Cody excuses Upamon to Joe stating that he’s hyperactive. I don’t really get why Upamon is such a ball of caffeine but Armadillomon is such a slow and laid back character.

Jo originally says he wonders where Gomamon is. In the dub, he says he’s always so prepared because he watches a lot of those survival shows.

Well, they sucked all the emotion out of this scene. Originally, Gomamon seems slightly surprised that Jo came, and Jo says that even if they’re far apart he still worries about Gomamon. In the dub, Joe asks him if he knows what day it is. Gomamon says Saturday and Joe says it’s Thursday, but Gomamon never understood the days of the week so he’s fine.

While the next line from Gomamon is the same, originally, Jo says that he received Gomamon’s SOS on his Digivice. In the dub, he says Gomamon’s going to wipe out his entire first aid kit. This seems weird because Joe is obviously holding up his Digivice as he says this.

Armadimon says that if he sent out an SOS, Iori wouldn’t come after him. Gatomon then asks what he’s pouting about. In the dub, Armadillomon says he always gets teary eyed in reunions and he might cry. Gatomon then tells him not to cry because his tears will turn to icicles.

While the next exchange is mostly the same, humor is added to the dub version of Joe saying Gomamon looks like he’s badly wounded. This shot is again made odd by the fact that you can clearly see Joe tearing up. I wouldn’t mind so much if he had any emotion in his voice like his Japanese VA does. It would just seem like he’s trying to make a joke as to cover up his emotions. He’s basically speaking normally and making a joke while he’s supposed to be crying over his terribly wounded Digimon.

Takeru says it will be difficult to get across the snowy tundra. In the dub, he says he now understands what Matt means when he says TK’s walking on thin ice…..What? Given the context, what does he mean by that, and how did looking at a lot of snow make you understand? Saban, if you’re going to try to make pun-ish jokes, at least have them make sense.

Attack Name Change: Armadimon’s Scratch Beat is changed to Claw Chop.

Attack Name Change: Hawkmon’s Feather Slash is changed to Beak Buzz Saw….which makes no sense because, as the original name implies, he’s using the feather on his head to cut through things, not his beak.

The Digimon say they’ll do anything to destroy the Dark Tower. In the dub, they complain about having to pull the sled.

The animation on the sled ride is just silly. Most of the time it just looks like a cardboard cut out sliding over the scene.

Very very very tiny change, but when Iori goes into the river, someone yells out ‘Iori!’ In the dub, no one yells Cody’s name. Makes it seem like no one but Gomamon either notices or cares that he went over into icy cold water.

Jo originally has cold medicine while Joe has herbal tea.

Armadimon originally apologizes to Iori for how he’s been acting like Iori doesn’t care about him as he didn’t realize that he left his kendo lesson to be there. In the dub, Armadillomon just says they should take a nap.

I honestly don’t know why this little side plot was removed. It’s not much, but it is a little bit of character and relationship development for Iori and Armadimon.

In the original, Jo says he ditched a quiz like Iori balked out on his lesson because he wanted to help out the Digimon. He made his decision to go just like they all choose to help out the Digital World. Despite being Chosen Children, they are ultimately the ones who decide to do what they do. In the dub, Joe says he always felt like he needed to be out there doing something too, but now he realizes that even staying behind can benefit them all in the end. He also peppers little jokes that really don’t work into his dialogue like saying he thought the feeling was nausea and how the big picture isn’t a wide-screen TV.

Jo expresses sympathy that he’s asking the wounded Gomamon to stall Shellmon while the others destroy the tower in the original. In the dub, he doesn’t. Also, original Gomamon doesn’t make jokes, he just distracts him by saying ‘Hey, look over here.’

Additionally, Jo internally hopes that Takeru, Hikari and the others hurry up and destroy the tower so Gomamon won’t have to fight anymore. In the dub, he just internally facepalms at Gomamon’s famous charm.

A wipe transition is added between the gang getting to the tower and Gomamon’s first distraction.

Another wipe is added after Fladramon’s first attack and before the second distraction.

Jo just yells Gomamon’s name. Joe tells him to try knock-knock jokes.

Why did Armadimon just now Armor Digivolve? Yeah, sit there and gawk while the terribly injured Gomamon tries to dodge a gigantic dinosaur in a shell.

Even though they say the same ‘I’ll protect you, Iori/Cody’ line, Digmon’s VA just completely ruins the emotion of the line. You can at least try to sound like you’re slightly in pain. Digmon’s obviously wincing.

This next edit’s a little weird in a couple of ways. First, they edit out Digmon getting pummeled while he’s protecting Iori. When they cut back to the first few frames of it, they quickly wipe transition to Fladramon’s next scene. In addition, instead of Flamedramon yelling ‘Fire Rocket’ he just says ‘Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage’ again. Yeah, Flamedramon, you said that already. We know what you are. You’re not a Pokemon.

They remove more of Digmon getting pummeled and replace it with the earlier shot of Digmon wincing.

Boy, they can’t catch a break in this episode. First Gizamon, then Frigimon, then Shellmon now Ebidramon.

Dub, that’s Pegasusmon’s Mane Wind not Star Shower….you can tell because it’s not stars….and is hair…from his mane…in the wind.

I find it a bit stupid on Ken’s part that he had two powerful Digimon handy to take out a wounded Child level Digimon that can’t evolve and one new Chosen Child when all he had was a bunch of Frigimon going against the others….one of whom has a Digimon with the power of fire….

Did they kill Ebidramon? Unlike Shellmon, they don’t show his ring being destroyed, and the last shot of him is engulfed in a huge explosion a la Harpoon Torpedo.

Originally, Jo says he’ll come immediately if Gomamon needs him. Joe says Gomamon will have plenty of time to work on his jokes when he’s in charge of this frozen wasteland.

Iori is intent of finishing what he starts. Cody’s focused on having good manners.

I love how they flat out explain how the new Digidestined are meant to be combinations of the old ones. They only do it for Iori/Cody here, but it’s apparent in them all. That’s probably another reason why Ken’s the best of the new group – he’s the only one that wasn’t made as a chimera between any of the old Digidestined.

Ken yells at Wormmon for not speaking when spoken to despite him telling him earlier not to speak. Dub!Ken asks Wormmon what plan B is. He says it’s to become friends with the Digidestined. Ken calls him a fool, and Wormmon says he can’t spell.

Hikari says she’s heard that Iori’s house has the best ohagi. Kari says she’d love to meet Cody’s grandpa.

Hikari says Daisuke can’t come because he and Chibimon (Demiveemon) would eat everything. Kari asks why he has to do everything she does. He says it’s because they’re partners, but Kari points out that Demiveemon is Davis’ partner.

Iori says his mother can make enough ohagi for everyone and then they start inviting themselves over while Daisuke laments that everyone’s muscling in on his time with Hikari. In the dub, Davis sulks that Demiveemon is his partner instead of Kari.

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Overall this episode was fine in the original, nothing particularly great or even good, but alright. Dub-wise….it was pretty bad. I do like Joe, even if he tends to get the worst jokes in the dub, and I’m pretty okay with Iori/Cody as he’s the second most interesting of the new kids, but since they seemed intent on removing every single lesson and emotion from the episode, we’re left with a hollow shell. Joe only has a small shot where he seems really concerned over Gomamon, which is when he skipped his quiz, and Iori’s subplot with Armadimon thinking he didn’t care about him was completely removed.

Plus, since the beating was removed, it didn’t seem like Digmon was really doing much to protect Cody. Yeah, he took one water blast to the back, but that was it in the dub. I kinda understand why it was removed, but it was no where near as bad as when Gabumon was getting beaten up. Plus, he has armor, a few swipes to the back can’t be hurting him that much.

Additionally, they changed the big conflict with Iori to begin with. Instead of him finishing what he starts and living up to his own responsibilities as an individual, there’s some confusing crap about being true to himself.

It’s just a big mess that didn’t need to happen at all outside of having Iori bond with one of his crest-sakes.

Next episode, a Mimi and Yolei-centric story.

…..Previous Episode

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Digimon Adventure 01 Episode 13: Angemon Awakens! | Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: The battle with Devimon is reaching its boiling point, and it seems like the Chosen Children are in over their heads. With the power they have, there’s no way they can take down Devimon once and for all. Everything appears to be hopeless, but just when the devil has the team in his grips, an angel appears to save them.

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Title Card:

Title Change: Angemon Awakens! is changed to The Legend of the Digidestined.

Takeru originally asks the baby Digimon if they need to poop. In the dub, he says “Okay, so you don’t want to play a game!”

Wow, Yamato/Matt came in from REALLY far away. How did he know Takeru/TK was in danger from that distance?

They remove Ogremon hitting Greymon in the head…..Really, Saban? That little bonk? When Greymon has a skull helmet, even? Use the stupid impact stars if you want, but that didn’t warrant a removal.

They remove Ogremon hitting Greymon with his Pummel Whack too? That’s a regular attack. Since when are those cut?

So…..more Black Gears = More evil, bigger and more powerful?….Then why doesn’t Devimon use a bunch of them by default? I’m getting Rita Repulsa flashbacks…

They remove Garurumon smashing into the cliffside.

But wait, they can show Greymon getting hit and being thrown into the wall? What is even going on right now?

Leomon keeps repeating that he has to kill the Chosen Children. Likewise, when Leomon hears Devimon talking to him in his mind, he reminds him that he was ordered to kill the Chosen Children. In the dub, they change this to ‘Take’ and implications of kidnapping instead.

Originally, they imply that Patamon is either dying or passing out, complete with Takeru yelling at him to hang in there. In the dub, TK reassures Patamon that he did a good job protecting him and Patamon just kinda….sleeps?

This goes without saying, but originally Taichi didn’t call Leomon….Booger Breath…Really, guys? Booger Breath? That’s what you put on the final draft? That gets recorded? That gets seen by dozens of individuals and no one bats an eye? Okay.

I love how they have problems with showing these Digimon taking hits that don’t even leave wounds, but they’ll leave in the rather gross shots of the Black Gears slowly leaving Leomon’s body. You can hear the flesh squishing and everything…

Tai: *after the Black Gears are destroyed* “That’s bad!”….You mean….that’s good?….Or is this another misuse of outdated slang?

Izzy: “It worked! We destroyed the Black Gear!” That should be “They destroyed the Black Gears!”

Originally, Ogremon flees because there are too many Digimon to handle by himself now. In the dub, he goes on about how the kids don’t know who they’re dealing with but they will soon enough.

Leomon: “…That would change good Digimons into bad ones.” Digimon plural is just Digimon. No need for the s.

Taichi originally says that it now makes sense that Leomon keeps calling them ‘The Chosen Children’ once he’s heard the legend of a group of children being chosen to save the Digital World. In the dub, since they change this name to Digidestined, they have Tai exclaim how awesome the legend is, but he wonders if that’s even true.

The other kids and Digimon don’t have a moment of doubt where Taichi needs to coerce them like the dub does. I guess them slightly nodding their heads for three frames lead Saban to thinking they were doing that.

Koushiro doesn’t mention it being ‘impossible’ to lose with the Digivices like Izzy does. You’re a stats man, Izzy. You should know better.

Mimi originally says that she’ll try her best even though she’s scared because she wants to go home. In the dub she says she’ll do some killer shopping when she goes home. Priorities, dub!Mimi.

Palmon originally supports Mimi and says they’ll help her. In the dub, Palmon says they need to send her back before she can shop.

The music in the original is really strange. I don’t really expect western-esque trumpet music right now, especially in an anime.

Tai: “Far out!” Oh come on, now you guys aren’t even trying to stay in the right decade.

I just realized that they seem to give zero shits where Sora and Jo are. Leomon said they need all of the Chosen Children to beat the evil, but they’re heading right into Devimon’s clutches without even mentioning Sora or Jo. This is a criticism of both versions, by the way. Either they’re being ridiculously reckless, they feel like it’s gonna be so easy that they don’t need them to help, or they don’t care….or all of the above.

It’s just weird. You’d think they’d be extra cautious considering this is the literal source of all evil in the Digital World (at the moment anyway) but nah, they can handle it with 5/7 members – one of which can’t even get his Digimon to Adult level.

Devimon…maybe foreshadowed Angemon’s appearance by saying he wanted to destroy the Chosen Children before he appeared. And considering he really wanted Takeru gone first, I’d imagine he did know about Patamon’s evolution…..so….either Devimon wasn’t the evil in the prophecy or they didn’t need any other Chosen Child besides Takeru for this battle (which, as we’ll see, is more or less true.)

They remove a shot where Devimon is kinda strangling Ogremon.

Koushiro asks if this giant Devimon could be an illusion, and Leomon responds by saying no. In the dub, Izzy says “Bad guys always seem to think bigger is better.” and Leomon says “’fraid not!”……..What?

Izzy: “My biology teacher would love this!”…Uhm…Okay I get what he’s talking about, but why did it take so long for Izzy to say that when he’s seen so many Digivolutions already? Especially when he’s talking about Kabuterimon? Also, why are you guys making stupid jokes when you’re literally fighting the source of all evil?

Mimi: “I do like the way our colors match.” Ahh….Mimi….Please.

They remove Leomon getting hit by Ogremon’s club and Ogremon taunting him for believing Devimon would leave his back exposed as well as the further shot of Leomon on the ground.

Hahaha! I love how Ogremon shot Leomon into a treeline, but it left a hole like he was thrust into a rockface.

So…yeah, Angemon is the antithesis to Devimon so, even though Devimon’s so powerful that all of the other Adult level Digimon can’t even touch him, Angemon is a threat to him. As cool as I always thought Angemon’s debut was, as much as I love Angemon as a whole, and as tragic as his ‘death’ was, in hindsight, that really is kinda bullshit. I mean, at least this is a reprieve from the typical ‘leader (and deuteragonist) get the best stuff’ trope that this series will definitely embrace as time goes on, but it was literally that they only needed to guard Takeru and ensure Patamon could evolve instead of it being a full team effort to take down Devimon.

Dub!Devimon: “They say the smallest will destroy me.” Oh thanks, Saban. For a second I thought you were going to omit all the foreshadowing and try to be subtle, but specifically adding in a line where he basically admits TK and Patamon are the key to his defeat is totally brilliant and not stupid.

Okay, so you’re telling me you can’t show Greymon, dude with a helmet, getting bonked on the head or Leomon getting bonked on the head….but you can show Greymon, Ikkakumon and Kabuterimon biting the fuck out of Devimon? They really are thinking it’s more okay to show bad guys getting hit than it is to see heroes get hit…..

Originally, Taichi weakly called out to Greymon and Greymon apologized to Taichi. In the dub, Tai says nothing and Greymon comments on how tough Devimon is.

In the original, Togemon says ‘I wanted to send you back to your world, but….’ to Mimi, who if off-screen. In the dub, she says she can’t move and even her needles are numb.

So, in the dub, was TK calling out for Matt while unconscious/passed out?

Ya know, I joked in the last episode comparison about getting out tissues, but I was joking. I didn’t really think I’d start tearing up when the finale started. Angemon hasn’t even come out quite yet and I’m getting choked up. Jeez…

Originally, Mimi says Angemon looks like an angel….Yup…..yup….that’s uh….good observation there, Mimi. Of course, she manages to be even dumber in the dub where she says “Nice hair. Good color.” You know your Digimon is lying on the ground in agony right now?

Takeru only points out that Patamon evolved. In the dub, TK says “I wanna take him home with me!” which is….I was gonna say stupid…which it kinda is, but it’s also just kinda weird. For what reason do you want to take home an eight foot tall angel with a helmet over his face?

Angemon can just summon the powers of all the Digivices and use them to attack Devimon? I’m getting Tokyo Mew Mew flashbacks now. So, really, the way that all of the Chosen Children play into this finale is only through their Digivices, not the kids themselves or their Digimon? Come on.

Devimon originally curses himself because he was so close to killing Takeru and Patamon before Angemon came to be. In the dub, he just acts as if he doesn’t know of Angemon and isn’t a threat to him, which we already know doesn’t make sense given how Saban wrote this.

Devimon tells Angemon that he won’t get off so easily either if he uses that power on him, implying that Angemon will also die along with him. In the dub, Devimon says he can’t take his power so easily and he’ll have to fight him for it….Uh…1) That’s what he’s doing. 2) He’s not trying to take your power, he’s trying to kill you.

Angemon’s responses, implying that he’s ready to die if it will stop him, is kept the same, which is weird because the dub lost the setup to that response.

Oh my god…Saban, why? They added lightsaber sound effects to Angemon’s staff when he was absorbing its power into his fist….why….why?

Angemon says “I’m sorry, Takeru.” In the dub, he says “I’ll get him, relax.” I don’t much care for that line change because it goes from a somber moment to basically Angemon telling Takeru to chill out just because he told him to be careful.

Attack Name Change: Heaven’s Knuckle is…well, it’s going to be changed to Hand of Fate, but as of this episode, he only says “I’ll stop you! AYYYEEEEEH!”

Oh yeah, and they’ll also show Devimon getting impaled by Angemon’s attack, but Greymon can’t be shown taking an energy attack to the chin.

Ugh…I know Saban redoes lines when there’s a commercial break, like 4Kids does, even if it’s a very confusing and stupid practice. Here, they’re using the same dialogue, but after the commercial break it’s like they went for a worse take on how the VA was saying it. Before the commercial, he had some decent emotion in the lines. Afterwards, it’s like he was just reading them off the script for rehearsal.

I really don’t like the way TK pronounces “Angemon” because it kinda sounds like he’s saying “Angiemon” which I think I’ve talked about before in the Adventure 02 SDC, but I feel like I should backpedal because even though that’s not the way it’s pronounced….it does make sense. When you say “Angel” you say it like “Eyn-jel” But when you say the “Ange” part in Angemon you say “Ann-jah” like in Angela, or you say ‘ahn-jah’. Still bothers me a tiny bit, but I won’t harp on it if it makes sense.

Ogremon originally wonders if the kids defeated Devimon. In the dub, he says that, with Devimon gone, he can take over now, which is obviously BS that Leomon stamps out before he even takes a step.

While both versions of Mimi say they don’t want to fight anymore, dub!Mimi adds “Oh, I think I broke a nail.” Seriously, guys? You’re going with the ridiculously overdone “I broke a nail” girl trope?

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Overall, I’ve always really loved this episode, and I still do. I was being serious when I said I was tearing up at the finale. I didn’t expect to, but it managed to get me again.

I still do believe it was a teeny tiny bit bunk that Angemon was able to defeat Devimon while absolutely none of the other Adult level Digimon could even scratch him. I get the parallels – angel vs. devil – I get that he had to use the power of the Digivices, and I get that he sacrificed his life for it, but it’s still the slightest bit bogus.

And, believe it or not, this situation is basically going to be mirrored near the end of the series, except Angemon doesn’t die there and it’s a bit more of a team effort.

As confusing as Patamon’s evolution line is, I adore it all. I own nearly all of his forms as toys. He’s always been one of my favorite Digimon ever.

His evolution scene was epic and heartbreaking at the same time. Like everyone else, he did evolve to protect his partner, but the buildup to it was quite sad because Patamon wanted to evolve so badly so he could protect Takeru. He had no chance in his Child form. Oddly, Patamon actually seems like the weakest Child level Digimon but the most powerful Adult level.

Compare that to the plotline in Adventure 02 where V-mon wanted to evolve to Adult, even though Armor evolving was seen as kinda better, all because he and Davis were jealous of Takeru and Angemon and their symmetry with Hikari and Angewomon.

Well, you can put away your hankies for now, Angemon/Patamon will return in due time. It will take quite a while, but he’ll be back. Until then, it’s off to even bigger threats.

Next time, the kids meet Gennai and learn what they must do to combat the next evil threat that is looming over the Digital World.

….Previous Episode

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AVAHS – Digimon Adventure 02 | A Very Digi Christmas Review

Plot: It’s Christmastime for the Digidestined, but the festivities are soured when Arukenimon floods the real world with a slue of Digimon and a control spire.

Breakdown: Twas the first day of December and all through the blog

Twix began writing this monologue

About all of the Christmastime posts she would write

though her self-imposed deadlines gave her quite a fright.

Each day, a review will grace this domain

Some of them cheery, some of them pain.

The year 2020 we all wanted to forget

and look forward to a new year with minimal regret

Channeling all of her holiday glee,

Twix kicked off her AVAHS jubilee

So gather around, all those seeking some fun,

AVAHS will bring cheer until day 31.

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Welcome to 2020’s A Very Animated Holiday Special! This year, I thought we’d kick things off with an anime episode. I’ve mentioned before that, despite Christmas being big in Japan too, there just aren’t that many Christmas specials in anime. However, there is one anime Christmas special that is, well, special to me: Digimon Adventure 02 – A Very Digi Christmas.

A Very Digi Christmas was the first ever anime Christmas special I ever saw, and it was pretty much the only anime Christmas special that I knew of for several years until I eventually watched the Pokemon Christmas Special. If you know me, you know I already adore Digimon, so this arrangement was made for me.

This episode occurs near the end of the series, so a lot of stuff is going down, but that doesn’t mean that Christmas is put on hold. Not only is Ken holding a Christmas party at his house, but all of the new Digidestined are bringing the Digimon of the old crew back to the real world as gifts for them.

There is a LOT to love about this special. Ken’s being a big sweetheart. He’s super shy about inviting the other kids to his house for a Christmas party, but eventually invites the whole group, even Cody, whom he believes still doesn’t like him (and vice versa.) Then we get some nice character development for him as he starts relaxing and enjoying the company of his friends at the party. He’s able to finally be his real self while also finding some semblance of happiness after all of the crap he’s been through his whole life, and that’s just great. Ken’s character arc has always been the best of the franchise, and he’s still my favorite character alongside Izzy.

The other kids getting reunited with their Digimon was also great, although I don’t really understand why the old kids don’t keep their Digimon around 24/7 like the new kids do. Before, they were protecting areas from the Digimon Emperor. Why did they choose to stay after Ken became a good guy? Am I forgetting something important?

There are several little scenes here and there that help highlight the lighter tone of the episode, at least to a degree. You even have a short discussion between TK’s mom and Davis’ dad about their kids as they bump into each other in the street, and some woman who works with Ken’s mom mentioning that she recently had a delightful conversation with Ken and he’s changed for the better a lot lately. Little notes like that make everything feel a bit homier.

Even the stuff with the main plot is really good. There’s not much of it because they’re trying to focus more on the holiday (which makes the battle seem rushed, but it’s not awful) but they foreshadow the big finale coming up very ominously. It’s clear that they’ll not only need all of the Digidestined for this fight, but they’ll also need to somehow do damage control all over the world. The biggest threat is coming, and they’re in for a massive fight unlike anything they’ve ever faced before.

That being said, this special sticks out in my mind for a…different and slightly sadder reason.

Matt’s concert.

What’s wrong with Matt’s concert, you ask?

Before the concert, we see Sora shaking in nervousness as she tries to get up the courage to give Matt some home baked cookies she made him for the event. Tai shows up, wanting to invite her to the concert as a date, but she makes it clear through (purposeful) awkward fidgety dialogue that she can’t because she wants to get backstage so she can give Matt her gift.

This was the first indication that Sora was more into Matt than she was into Tai, who, for years, had been pegged as her main love interest. I never fully understood why they shifted gears to Matt both in and out of universe, but, spoiler alert, the two end up married with two kids while Tai has a kid with someone off-screen.

This change is very controversial in the Digimon fandom. Some people find the change to be one of the most baffling and unfitting decisions they’ve made in the entire franchise, and some find it to be more fitting that she fell for Matt. Others were simply heartbroken that basically the main pairing of the series fell apart with so little in terms of explanation or closure.

Me? I was some combination of A and C.

I always supported TaixSora. TKxKari was my OTP, though, and….even they didn’t seem to end up together….*huff* I thought Tai and Sora were really sweet together. They complemented each other well and helped each other grow. To suddenly shut the door on this pairing…during the Christmas special….was just a lot to process.

Remember, this is little child me. I was used to the main pairings in shows that I liked either being completely ambiguous or ending with them together. I’m not certain, but this was probably the first time I had ever seen a main pairing fall apart like this.

Not to mention that Matt never seemed to be romantically interested in Sora, so this fully came out of left field. Don’t get me wrong, they were close friends, and their eventual romantic relationship seems healthy enough, but this is one of those pairings where one party always seemed more interested than the other. At least with Tai and Sora the feelings always seemed very mutual.

By the way, the irony that the girl with the Crest of Love unceremoniously severed her romantic link to someone who has been her main love interest for the past four years (At least. There was ship-teasing even when they flashed back to them as younger kids.) while in the process of going after a new one is not lost on me.

Looking back to this episode as an adult, though, I do have to say….it’s not perfect, but they do handle this situation a lot better than I ever gave them credit for.

Tai and Sora are older now. They’ve changed in a variety of ways. They’re not the same people they were when they were kids in the Digital World. Sometimes, people just grow apart. And other times they just fall out of ‘love’ and move on to people they believe they connect with more. It happens, especially when you’re as young as they are.

What I truly never realized about this scene was how well it showed Tai’s growth as a person. Even Agumon points this out, but I think I was always too baffled by what was happening that I didn’t put too much focus on how it was happening.

Tai didn’t get upset or mad at Sora. He understood that Sora’s eyes and heart were elsewhere now. He swallowed his pride and even encouraged her to go see Matt. It obviously hurt him, but he knew that would make her happy. One huge aspect of love is putting the other person’s happiness above your own. He’s truly grown up at this point, especially considering his once fierce rivalry with Matt. You’re a good man, Tai.

Just another reason why I’ll always love this series.

…..Now, what I DIDN’T appreciate was adding salt to the wound by having June zoom by him, knocking him down, and then listening to her gush about how all of the girls just love Matt. That was unnecessary…

Some minor notes about this episode:

– Uhm, Matt has a televised concert!? Considering his band only seems to know how to play one song, I don’t see how this happened.

– Davis nearly referenced strip poker. No, I’m not kidding. Yolei asks what card game they all want to play next and Davis says “How about strip pok–” and he’s cut off. I don’t understand how that flew by censors at all. ‘Poker’ isn’t even the questionable word in that phrase! These kids are 11!

– When the new group is about to bulk DNA Digivolve, Tai says they’ll finally get to see what all the fuss is about with these DNA Digivolutions. Funny he should say that because he’s the first person (With Matt) to ever pull off a DNA Digivolution. Does he not remember Omnimon?

– The guy backstage at Matt’s concert was hilarious.

– Ken’s mom had a funny moment. She’s tearing up because she’s so happy that her house has the laughter of children in it again, and she tries to stop herself from crying like this. “Oh I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. Quick! Think sad thoughts!”

All in all, this is a very nice holiday special and just a great episode as a whole, particularly for Digimon fans. Yes, the shipping stuff might sting even now, but I’ve grown to accept it. It wasn’t meant to be. Tai accepts that harsh reality, and so must we all. They ended up happy, and that’s all that matters.

…..Still not accepting that Kari and TK didn’t end up together, though.

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Digimon Tamers Episode 3: Renamon Vs. Guilmon – Fighting is a Digimon’s Purpose! Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: Ruki is attacking Takato and Guilmon in hopes of absorbing Guilmon’s data to make Renamon evolve. However, when Terriermon gets caught in the crossfire, he ends up evolving instead. As Gargomon, he starts getting out of control, and it’s up to Renamon and Guilmon to stop him.

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Title Card:

Title Change: Renamon vs. Guilmon: Fighting is a Digimon’s Purpose! is changed to To Fight or Not to Fight?

Takato says Child (Rookie) level is what he was thinking when he made Guilmon. Rika wonders what he means by that but brushes it off to have Renamon fight. In the dub, he just says he’s new to this.

Card Name Change: Heavy Metal is changed to Armor. It’s actually a kinda weird change because Renamon doesn’t get armor from it, she gets some kind of hydraulic arm hammer thing.

Terriermon asks Renamon if she can evolve since she’s so strong. In the dub, he asks if she felt weird rolling around in the dirt.

A very short shot of Jianliang turning around to look at Takato and Guilmon is edited for the commercial break.

Jenrya gives his full name, Lee Jianliang, and Takato asks if he’s Chinese. He says his dad is from Hong Kong and his mother’s Japanese. We don’t get this information in the dub.

Takato learns that Jianliang keeps Terriermon in his room and envies that because Guilmon can’t fit in his room and needs to be kept somewhere else. He says it’s okay though because the place he found makes for a great hideout. Jianliang says that’s great and it’s also great that he and Guilmon are actually friends.

In the dub, they talk about Henry saving Guilmon from Rika and they wonder how anyone can treat Digimon like fighting machines. Takato says Digimon really just want to eat. He goes on to say that, due to his previous adventures in the cafeteria at school, he knew it was time to find a hiding place with a lock. Henry then says Guilmon probably saved their lives because the cafeteria food probably would’ve poisoned them eventually.

Takato asks Jianliang if they’re friends now too, Jianliang says yes, and he and Terriermon have a small back and forth about leaving before actually leaving. In the dub, Takato says Guilmon could be their official taste tester. Henry says that’s a great idea but then they’d go hungry. At the mention of food, Terriermon says he’s hungry. Henry asks how he can be hungry since he just ate, but Terriermon says moumantai and they leave for dinner.

Name Change?: Takato’s last name is Matsuda. In the dub, it’s Matsuki…..No idea.

Name Change: Juri is changed to Jeri.

Juri only says Takato ditched gym whereas Jeri says he ditched school altogether.

There’s no inner monologue from either Renamon nor Rika in the next scene with them in the street.

Name Change: Lee Shaochung is changed to Suzie Wong.

Shaochung repeats over and over that they have sukiyaki (A type of soup/stew) for dinner whereas Suzie, I think, keeps saying ‘bald bunny’ over and over after Henry’s comment about her rubbing all of the fur off Terriermon’s head.

Does Jianliang/Henry not understand the concept of devolving? He seems to believe that evolution is permanent like evolution in Pokemon is.

Jianiang says he’ll bring Terriermon some manjuu (a kind of pastry) after dinner. Henry says Terriermon’s response was rude. I guess because he started with ‘How many times do I have to say it?’

The original doesn’t make a sexist comment (Though I can’t even really be sure. It sounds like he’s saying girls can’t be good at the Digimon TCG, but, if taken literally, it sounds like he’s saying a girl can’t be the Digimon QUEEN. “Comprehend this; That’s the Digimon Queen! It’s like synchronicity dude! (Yeah, for some reason Saban made these guys complete idiots with surfer dude speech styles) “Come on, that’s a girl, man!” See what I mean?)

Also, yet another poke at my theory because only the dub states this line “Yeah, she’s kinda cute too. Kinda like Kari with a punk ya know sorta edge.” There’s no way they’d know about Kari unless the first two series were either TV shows or actual people in this universe. Also, wha, Rika looks in no way like Kari. Not even if you gave Kari a ‘punk ya know sorta edge’. Also also, it’s really weird for them to be gushing over her like this and even acting like she’s not even hearing what they’re saying.

The original just has the guys gushing over how good she is at Digimon and the tournaments she’s won…which is also kinda creepy, but at least they’re clamoring over how good she is at something and not going on about how cute she is.

Option cards are called modify cards in the dub.

Well it’s nice to know both versions are sexist in the scene where they’re amazed that a girl could be a champion at Digimon. I’d say they’re equally matched in their sexist comments, but the dub probably wins out by making it seem like Kazu’s making the case that he’d be a shoe-in for the next tournament because apparently the last tournament was so easy that a human being with a vagina won it. Hirokazu also originally says that the Digimon Queen is so skilled even high schoolers are intimidated by her abilities while the dub has him all cocky about how she just hasn’t met her match yet and he’ll be it. Kazu’s cocky anyway, but coupled with the aforementioned comments, it’s just compounding the sexism.

The original has Takato asking where the Digimon Queen lives and Hirokazu says she goes to school somewhere east of the train station. He then thinks to himself that that must be why she was so familiar. In the dub, they twist his words to make it seem like Takato’s making off like he’s instantly got a crush on her, and Kazu, in awe of this, says he’s out of the club.

Juri comes in saying that she enjoys tarot cards, but Kenta says you can’t battle with tarot cards and that Digimon is a man’s game! Ya know, despite the whole thing with the last tournament winner being a girl and everything. She says that’s discriminatory, and Kazu actually offers to teach her how to play Digimon and says she may even be the next Digimon Queen. Well, that makes up for some of the earlier stuff, I suppose.

In the dub, Jeri asks, if Takato needs a girl, if she’ll do. Kenta says not unless she can beat the Digimon Queen. Jeri then says boys are so silly with their fighting. Well, it’s nice to know that the sexism at least goes both ways. But Kazu actually says he knows plenty of girls who enjoy a good fight. Getting mixed signals here.

Juri’s friend is Miki, but in the dub they say it like ‘Mickey’.

Ruki says that Digimon always seek each other out because they’re meant to fight each other. Also, Ruki doesn’t keep making fun of Takato and Guilmon like Rika does.

Since they use the word Digivolution instead of evolution in the dub, the evolution screen had to be changed to reflect this.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Attack Name Change: Gatling Gun is changed to Gargo Laser.

Renamon scratches Gargomon’s face before jumping off of him. This is removed from the dub.

It’s weird, though. They remove the scene of him getting scratched, but leave the actual wounds.

Gargomon is actually pointing his gun at Rika. In the dub this is digitally painted away.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

It’s hard to tell, but I think they also remove a front shot of Gargomon pointing his gun at Rika (and ultimately at the audience) It’s only for a split second, though.

Next time we’ll delve more into Jianliang’s past with Terriermon and learn why he didn’t want him to evolve.

….Previous Episode

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Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 4: King of Darkness, Digimon Kaiser Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: The Chosen Children are determined to free the Digimon who are under the Digimon Kaiser’s control. Gabumon, caught up in the mess, sends out an SOS. Yamato and the others arrive to help him as well as some captive Digimon, but a Redvegiemon and his Vegiemon cohorts won’t let them leave in one piece. With a control spire over their heads, Daisuke butting heads with everyone, and V-mon getting into trouble of his own, they’ll need to find some way to make Gabumon evolve to help get them out of this mess.

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Entire Series Edit: The clips for the recap are different from the original, but the recap itself is the same.

Title Card:

Title Change: King of Darkness, Digimon Kaiser is changed to Iron Vegiemon.

Taichi says they should get back to school because Koushiro and Miyako are probably worried. Tai says he can smell the cafeteria food from there, to which Davis responds that it’s the peanut butter and jelly bean sandwich he’s had in his pocket all week.

Cody: “Yuck!” My sentiments exactly, Cody.

The Dark Towers are called Control Spires in the dub.

They cut out Gabumon getting hit by Redvegiemon.

Also, everyone giggle at the fact that the Digimon Index screen shows Redvegiemon as Red Vagimon.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

And shouldn’t veggie be spelled with two g’s?

I kinda like Redvegiemon’s dub voice over the original’s. I dunno, there’s just something about him sounding like his VA is doing a Jack Nicholson impression that gets to me.

Originally, Redvegiemon says the punishment for trying to escape is 100 hits. In the dub, the punishment is smelling his rotten roots. This is to cover up the fact that Gabumon is getting pretty badly beaten in this scene. Likewise, all of the shots of him getting beaten are removed and the dialogue is merely Gabumon saying the smell is gross.

They keep in the final strike, which sends Gabumon flying, but they edit in Redvegiemon going down to the ground in the dub where he didn’t in the original.

They obviously completely change the song that Yamato sings, but they kinda sound similar. I really like both of them. However, I remember the dub song gets repetitive throughout the series since it seems to be the only song his band sings…

Needless to say, the rock puns in the next scene aren’t in the original.

Jun says she gets all the cute boys to sign her shirt, but it’s a perfectly white shirt. You can’t even see where Matt just signed it.

Jun originally doesn’t say that she hasn’t washed the shirt in two years nor does Takeru say that there isn’t much room on the, again, perfectly white shirt.

The e-mail that Takeru receives from Miyako is translated for the dub.

Subbed:

Dubbed:

Tailmon originally said that the TVs that are strewn about the Digital World can be used to send an SOS to the real world. Agumon did the same thing in a previous episode. In the dub, Gatomon asks why the things on top of the TV are called rabbit ears. She believes they should be called cat ears since rabbits don’t sleep on top of TVs, cats do.

Another instance of very clear ‘poop’ being changed to ‘digisludge’.

Daisuke berates Takeru for not having any ‘telepathy’. Iori corrects him and says he means to say ‘delicacy’ and then Hikari, Takeru and Iori laugh at him. In the dub, Davis again gets TK’s name wrong calling him TA. Cody laughs that Davis forgot how to spell TK and the others join in.

In the dub, Patamon acts like a prisoner, which he shouldn’t considering he’s wearing a fake Dark Ring.

I don’t get it. Why is it perfectly okay to show V-Mon pinning down a Vegiemon and punching him repeatedly in the face, but the earlier scene with Gabumon had to be censored and changed to him smelling gross roots? It’s basically saying ‘Good guy beating up bad guy (who is really just a good Digimon under the control of an evil being) is perfectly fine. Bad guy beating up good guy, showing the wrongness of the situation and creating deep sympathy for Gabumon, is bad.’

(Late-Stage Edit: After doing more comparisons on the other Digimon series…..yeah, it really does seem to be a double standard with Saban that the good guys are commonly censored when being hit, but the bad guys rarely if ever get the same treatment. Is it because little kids might get upset when their heroes are hit while they’ll be happy when their enemies are hit? I really struggle to understand this.)

Daisuke just says that his sister always talks bad about him behind his back. She doesn’t like him, but he doesn’t like her either so they’re even. In the dub, Davis lists off all this embarrassing stuff about him that he thinks Jun told TK, like chewing his toenails, sucking him thumb and wetting the bed.

Yamato gets mad because Daisuke is badmouthing Jun. Matt gets mad because Davis has a big mouth….but really all he said was that Jun badmouths him and then went on to explain completely embarrassing stuff about himself, so I don’t see why Matt would get that mad about it. He also only spoke with her for a minute, so for all he knows she does indeed constantly talk shit about him behind his back. At least in the original, there was the added comment of saying Daisuke dislikes his sister to help justify Yamato’s anger a little.

Takeru doesn’t add the fact that Daisuke’s younger than Yamato thus he ‘doesn’t know any better’. And TK, really, you’re using that excuse? He’s the same age as you are, and you know better than to act like that about your siblings.

V-mon just says ‘Daisuke’ before the scene cuts back to the others. In the dub, Veemon starts a knock knock joke.

The Gazimon say they’ll go find a rope as thanks for saving them. In the dub, they say they’ll hang onto each other and make a rope out of themselves so they can ‘hop down the bunny slope’. You’d think Gabumon would refuse and just say to help him get a rope, but, nope, he says it’s a great idea….

It’s very brief, but they cut a tiny sliver of the first strike Redvegiemon gives to V-mon and put a white flash in there to help censor the punch.

Attack Name Change: Red Hot Machine Gun is changed to Chili Pepper Pummel.

Attack Name Change: Hazard Breath is changed to Stink Jet.

For some reason they remove the yellow strike marks near V-mon when he gets slammed down by Redvegiemon.

They do the same ‘cut out of a bit of the strike, add a flash’ censorship when Veemon’s getting beaten.

They cut out the strike to his stomach.

They cut out two more hits to V-mon’s face.

They cut out V-mon trying to crawl to Daisuke and then getting hit in the back….Wow, that’s pretty sad.

They technically remove the shots of V-mon getting beaten, which is just reshowing the previous beatings being treated as new ones. They keep the overlaid shots of them, but they only show stillshots of each beating instead of showing the animated version like the original does.

In addition, the four-way splitscreen showing V-mon’s pained expressions is supposed to come on one piece at a time. In the dub, they all show up at once.

They remove another strike to V-mon’s stomach.

They remove recycled animation of V-mon getting beaten some more and instead just steal a stillshot of it to show him standing up against Redvegiemon.

Daisuke offers to take V-mon’s place in the torture. Davis just tries to convince Veemon that he’s happy now to……I….uh…don’t know. He got into this to cheer Davis up, but he can’t get out because Davis is saying he’s happy. He could just give up, but he’ll still keep getting beat anyway.

Again, the strike to V-mon’s head is slightly cut and a flash is thrown in to censor it a bit.

They remove more of the beating, which, again, is really just slightly altered recycled animation.

Another stomach strike censored with a little cut and flash.

Redvegiemon originally says he’ll send V-mon to hell. He obviously doesn’t do so in the dub. As a bonus, Yamato and Gabumon don’t originally tell V-mon to duck when he’s about to get hit again, he just does it on his own.

Entire Series Edit: Like the original series, there’s a vocal song accompanying every evolution in the original. It’s the same every time, though changed between types of evolution. In the dub, they also use the same song for Digivolutions, but it’s just the Digimon theme song.

Redvegiemon just screams when he’s on fire. In the dub, he says “I’ve heard of grilled vegetables before but this is ridiculous.”

Revegiemon asks what he’s been doing the whole time. In the dub, he asks, when he sees the Dark Ring, if he got married when he was asleep.

Taichi says they have to destroy the spire at the Gotsumon’s home as well. They just say they’re taking them home in the dub.

Daisuke apologizes for his behavior and the fact that V-mon got into trouble because of it. V-mon then says Daisuke’s matured quite a bit now. In the dub, Yolei says she’s happy the Gotsumon are gone because they’d scratch her CDs just by touching them. Cody then says that they’d clog the sink every time they’d brush their teeth. Davis says that they were still pretty cool.

Because the final shot of the original fades to white, they have to use a stillshot of Ken’s face taken from earlier in the scene and place it at the very end of the scene to add ‘To be continued’ and the final narration in the dub.

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This episode was….meh. Nothing really interesting happened, though this is probably the most edited episode of Digimon I’ve ever dealt with so far. Usually all I have to note in these series are dialogue edits, but they did a lot of censoring here. It wasn’t 4Kids level, but still.

Other than that, Davis was a brat, the Vegiemon and Redvegiemon weren’t threatening very much outside of the extended beatings. The story was just more ‘rescue Digimon from controlled evil Digimon’ and there was a lot more recycled footage than usual. The main revelation for this episode was the spawning of the control spires and learning that their new mission is to destroy them all, though Davis has a really good point in saying that the Digimon Emperor could just build more. The old Digimon can’t protect all those areas.

Next episode looks like basically the same episode only replace Yamato’s presence with Jo, Daisuke’s little character development with Iori’s and put snow on it.

….Previous Episode

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Digimon Adventure 01: Episode 12 – Adventure! Patamon and I Sub/Dub Comparison

Plot: Takeru and Patamon arrive at The Village of Beginnings, which houses hundreds of baby Digimon and Digieggs. As Takeru and Patamon care for the eggs and babies, slowly falling into chaos as they cry, their caretaker, Elecmon, appears to defend them. He gets into a fight with Patamon, and tensions increase. Can Takeru help them put aside their differences?

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Title Card:

Title Change: Adventure! Patamon and I is changed to DigiBaby Boom.

Truthfully, I’m not a fan of either title, but I’d say the dub’s is a bit better.

TK’s imaginary ‘Porkymon’ was originally ‘It’s-Probably-Like-This-mon.’ Saban should’ve at least removed the English text in the corner of the fake Index screen that has its literal name of TabunKonnamon.

They remove a shot of the cartoon pig turning around after it shakes its butt at the camera….Dunno why they’d remove that but not the butt shaking.

TK’s Hogmon was originally KittoKonnamon, which is ‘It-Must-Be-Like-This-mon’ Again, the English name in the corner is left alone. Also, nitpicky, but the animal Takeru is referencing is clearly a hippo, not another pig.

I know it’s excusable because they’re so far away, but the walk cycle, if you can even call it that, on Takeru when they first enter the village is horrific,

The Village of Beginnings is changed to Primary Village. As much as I’ve gotten used to the dub name, the original’s name is quite beautiful.

The first introduction to The Village of Beginnings is really quiet and sweet with only a gentle music box tune playing. In the dub, not only do we have the typical doopy travel music, but we also have TK’s obnoxious dialogue about getting cotton candy etc. over it. TK, I love ya kid, but your voice is one I’ve never been fond of, at least in little kid form.

In the original, Takeru’s first line into the village is ‘It’s so pretty!’ and he and Patamon gaze in wonder. In the dub, they’re still blathering about candy, which further ruins the moment.

Oddly, the original has a bowling ball hitting pins noise when Takeru and Patamon tumble over the hill. In the dub, this is omitted. Usually, it’s the opposite.

Takeru says the floor feels like a bed. In the dub, he says it feels like marshmallows.

I saw this joke coming. The dub has TK make a joke about Punimon being ‘Puny.’ He’s just making noises of awe in the original.

Yuramon’s voice is way too deep in the dub. It’s a baby, guys, not a ten year old.

Takeru’s comment about Devimon also starting as an egg makes me think. If Digimon never die, their information just get reconfigured, does that mean that every evil Digimon who has been defeated by the Chosen Children could, theoretically, return as eggs and then grow back up to conquer the Digital World again?

Patamon: “It’s Digicode!”

Oh come on. Digimon, I usually praise you for keeping a good chunk of the Japanese text on screen. Now you’re claiming it’s some gibberish ‘Digicode’ because you’re too lazy to throw some digital paint on this note? Don’t pull a Pokemon on me.

What’s even dumber is that there actually IS a Digimon language called Digicode (or DigiMoji or DigiLetters) and it, predictably, looks nothing like this.

Haven’t we kinda gone over this too? In Kabuterimon’s debut episode and the episode with Mimi in the maze? Unless they’re saying Japanese text looks like DigiCode just because ‘Oooh weird squiggles all look the same’ in which case, wow, way to be racist.

TK: *Rubbing a DigiEgg* “Maybe a digital genie will come out.” TK….goddammit, you’re not this dumb.

Also, nice that you guys accidentally put the background egg layer on top of Takeru’s layer while animating the second rub.

TK: “I’m gonna wish for a new skateboard!” TK…..please shut up.

Originally, he just keeps talking about rubbing the egg.

TK, you don’t need to be narrating every step of the flashback. We can easily see what’s happening for ourselves. Also, in the original, you can’t hear what kid!Yamato is saying. In the dub, he says ‘Atta boy!’

Elecmon’s Index screen is more involved in the original. The narrator states that Elecmon is a very inquisitive Digimon who loves playing pranks. He also spreads his tail feathers like a peacock to threaten enemies. In the dub, Elecmon is doing his own Index screen and he says he’s the caretaker of baby Digimon ‘so don’t cross wires with me!’

Attack Name Change: Sparkling Thunder is changed to Super Thunder Strike.

I don’t know why I’m mentioning this, but the Pabumon makes a fart noise before Takeru checks if it messed itself. In the dub, it doesn’t.

It really bothers me that none of these baby Digimon sound like babies in the dub. They’re not even trying.

Again, the baby Digimon layers in the background are overlapping on top of Takeru. Animators, wake up please.

Originally, Elecmon says Takeru and Patamon were ‘coddling’ the babies. They ask why that’s a bad thing, and he says ‘coddling’ means both ‘petting’ and ‘bullying’ and he meant the latter. In the dub, he says they were playing with the babies. TK asks why that has anything to do with him, and Elecmon explains that he’s the caretaker of all of the baby Digimon.

The way Dub!Patamon says “Now, now, don’t get all puffy!” is weird.

In the original, Takeru just says “Stop…” quietly to himself before we see the Digivice reacting slightly. In the dub, he says ‘This is very bad! He’s Digivolving!’

That line makes no sense. First of all, he prefaced the declaration with “This is very bad” meaning he can’t be implying Patamon is Digivolving because….that’d be good.

Second, how does he know either of them is even close to Digivolving? Neither is glowing, and TK can’t see his Digivice right now.

Third, if he somehow can see his Digivice reacting and is claiming a Digivolution would be a bad thing, he’s somehow inferring that his Digivice reactions are about to make Elecmon Digivolve.

The only way this would make sense is if TK were afraid of Patamon Digivolving, which we’ve proven that he isn’t.

Takeru is quietly and sadly scolding Patamon and Elecmon for fighting. In the dub, he’s yelling at them.

Dub!Elecmon’s lips are clearly not moving when he says “Hmph, my fur looks fine!” Dialogue when there originally was none should only be used when the speaking character is off-screen, guys.

In the original, Takeru is announcing the match as a traditional sumo match. He calls the corners ‘east’ and ‘west’ and gives Elecmon and Patamon titles like ‘Elecmon of the Vast Sea’ and ‘Patamon of the Large Mountain.’ He’s even doing the inflection properly. In the dub, TK basically announces this like a pro wrestling match. He just says ‘that corner’ and ‘the other corner’, and he calls Elecmon ‘the defending champion’ and Patamon ‘The most excellent Digimon’ which is funny because he chose this format specifically so they could fight fairly, but calling Patamon essentially the best is clearly playing favorites.

The dub is just weird because you lose the joke entirely. You’re left wondering why the hell TK is wearing that getup and why Patamon and Elecmon are wearing those cloths. The joke is lost even further because it’s supposed to be a tone shift from traditional and serious to a childish game of tug-of-war. But in the dub, the tone is kept consistent.

It’s also funny because this is one of those 4Kids-y moments where they’re missing the forest for the trees. “Oh no, kids! Those squiggly lines aren’t Japanese text – they’re Digicode! Now here’s TK in a gyoji outfit waving around a gunbai while Elecmon and Patamon sport custom mawashis.”

Another scene where the tone is completely ruined? Oh joy. In the original, the tone of the scene changes from tense to very gentle as feathers rain down on Primary Village before Patamon is declared winner. In the dub, they keep the tense tone, so the feathers just seem like an odd addition. The change in tone is meant to help signify the new respect Patamon and Elecmon have for each other, which makes the shift kinda awkward in the dub.

Oh good, another scene where the tone is completely ruined, and this time by a stupid and kinda terrible joke. In the original, Takeru says fighting between friends is okay as a kid because you make up quickly. Then he says ‘Fighting between adults….’ which is hinting at his parents fighting.

From this one line we can tell that Takeru was likely upset at Patamon and Elecmon fighting because it reminded him of his parents. As you’ll recall, Takeru and Yamato’s parents are divorced, and Takeru probably remembers hearing a lot of fighting, even though he was pretty young when they split.

In the dub, TK retains the line about kids patching things up quickly, but says that adults don’t forgive as easily because his parents are still mad at him for that one time when he painted their cat. Uhm, considering that can really hurt an animal, I’d say they have a right to hold a grudge, TK.

So, not only do we lose a nice subtle line that explains a great deal about why Takeru was so upset, but we also make TK out as an animal abuser who is pretty much implying that his parents are overreacting to his cat-painting actions….

In the original, as Elecmon is looking around The Village of Beginnings, he tells Patamon an old saying, ‘A grain of pepper may be tiny, but it’s still sharp on the tongue.’ Patamon mistakes ‘pepper’ for ‘pansy’ and believes Elecmon has eaten pansies before.

In the dub, Patamon messes up an idiom of his own by saying ‘You can’t judge a cover by its book’ and Elecmon tells him to forget the sayings for a minute while he tells him something. Then we get a kinda Lion King-esque reference as Elecmon claims all of Primary Village will be Patamon’s some day and acts like he’s his dad? I get that we don’t really have that original old saying in America, but you can still use it and have Patamon mishear it. It’s not like it’s one of those untranslatable jokes.

Elecmon originally gets straight to the point in saying that Devimon’s on Infinity Mountain. In the dub, he says a bunch of stuff about how the terrain is dangerous and they need climbing gear before TK interrupts by mentioning Devimon. Also, it never ceases to amaze me how the dub both expects us to believe these Digimon are clueless about human things yet they know about stuff like climbing gear.

Takeru says he knows something great will happen when their hearts become one. In the dub, TK goes on a tirade about laughing and friendship. The tone is the same, but it’s like TK’s not making a point in the dub.

This is strange. In the original, Elecmon calls the area near Pyokomon Village ‘Gear Savannah’ but in the dub, he calls it ‘Gea Savannah’ with a long A sound. You’d think at least ‘Savannah’ would be pronounced with a short A sound, though. A long one is probably correct, but short is typically the pronunciation in America.

The narrator has some time during the long shot of the sea to give a monologue about the upcoming battle that is topped off by seeing a small flurry of feathers, which is a cute nod to Angemon’s impending debut. In the dub, Devimon is talking over a good chunk of the first part, then we get a commercial break, then the rest of the scene is silent, making the feathers meaningless.

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I have to say, I’m a little torn about this episode. In the original, the episode is pretty cute and is a good prelude to what’s about to come, but I also feel it was kinda cheesy and a little boring. The baby Digimon are cute but get a little annoying, and the whole plot with Patamon and Elecmon felt slightly forced and under-written. If Patamon’s so mature, he should’ve just explained that they found a note telling them to hatch eggs and they felt compelled to care for the babies when they started crying. If it was such a problem, he should’ve offered to leave.

Elecmon, harsh as though it may be, was perfectly within his rights to attack because they were intruders touching his babies and letting them run loose all over the village. For all he knew, they really were attacking them since they were all crying. He should’ve heard them out a bit more, but that’s all.

The one being treated as the unreasonable one is Elecmon and no one else. Elecmon’s the one who has to learn a lesson, and he learns it through tug of war. It’s not like he even realized something about Patamon during the match or when he hit the block. It was literally them playing tug of war, him losing, then Elecmon’s all smiles and giving Patamon a bunch of praise before he apologizes. Patamon never apologizes even though, in my opinion, he was technically more in the wrong.

And don’t get me started on the animation. There’s no excuse for the layering thing to happen twice, and the overall animation is on the lower end of the spectrum for this show.

The dub is a mess of bad jokes and ruined tones. The whole meaning of the episode almost ends up getting lost because it’s like Saban completely missed the point or didn’t care. The dub is basically a hollow shell because of it.

Also, even though they have a decent amount of Takeru and Patamon bonding, I think the episode should’ve been more focused on their friendship, considering what’s to come, rather than focusing so much on Elecmon and The Village of Beginnings. Yamato and Gabumon had way more development in their episode than Patamon and Takeru did here.

Not to mention, now that I’m older, how glaringly obvious is the hanging thread of ‘We’ll be best friends forever!’? That’s almost as bad as telling someone you love them before heading off alone in a horror movie.

Next episode, one the preview just completely ruins from start to finish, Angemon’s debut! Ready your tissues.

….Previous Episode

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Digimon Adventure V-Tamer (Manga) Volume 9 (FINALE) + Full Manga Review

Plot: Taichi and Zero’s battle against Neo and Arkadimon is reaching a peak. Thanks to the data Hideto and Omegamon gained from Arkadimon, Zero manages to dodge the Dot Matrix attack several times, draining Arkadimon of its energy and giving Zero an edge. However, Neo isn’t done yet. He uses the power of the Digimental to evolve Arkadimon into its Super Ultimate form, which can use an even more powerful version of the Dot Matrix called the God Matrix.

Zero valiantly sacrifices himself in an effort to save his friends, but just when all hope seems lost, Zero’s ability to overwrite his lost data causes him to reform into the amazing Alforce V-dramon!

Able to rewrite his destroyed data even faster and shield himself from impending attacks, Alforce V-dramon, with the help and support of Taichi, gains the upper-hand yet again.

Incredibly angered by yet another miracle Taichi and Zero pulled off, Neo yells in rage at these ‘bugs’ seeing them as nothing but accidents that he wants to wipe clear from the world – so people like Rei will never suffer from another horrific incident ever again.

Upon hearing Neo’s words, the group tries to convince him that this isn’t the way to stop terrible events like that from happening. Rei also admits that her devastation after the accident wasn’t because she lost the ability to walk – it was because Neo changed so much after it happened.

After Rei nearly sacrifices herself to get Neo to come to his senses, Arkadimon suddenly reverts back to Ultimate form. Neo’s will to fight seems to have waned, but the battle’s not over yet.

Arkadimon suddenly speaks and reveals that it’s actually Demon, having finally been able to retake the Digimon’s body after being absorbed by him. The combined version of Arkadimon and Demon proves to be too much for Zero, and Demon moves on to his true plan – opening a portal to the real world and causing mass chaos by infecting them with his Dark Virus. With them out of the way, both the real world and the Digital World will be his to command.

In a last-ditch effort to save both worlds, Taichi grabs the Digimental and uses it to turn Alforce V-Dramon into his Future form! Powered by the support of Taichi and his friends and fueled by the light of the future of both worlds, Zero strikes down Demon, destroying Arkadimon once and for all.

With Arkadimon defeated and Neo stood down, Taichi and Zero bid farewell to the Digital World and all of their friends so they can return to the real world.

Taichi meets up with Sigma, now without his mask, Mari, Hideto, Rei and even Neo as they enter another Digimon tournament…..only for Taichi to be turned away when Zero is, yet again, not recognized as an official Digimon, thus making him ineligible to enter.

Neo declares himself unfit to be a true Tamer unless he defeats Taichi, making them friendly rivals. When Neo wins the tournament, he, Taichi and the rest of the group link up for more Digimon battles as they head for the bright future Zero and Taichi set them on.

Breakdown: Going into the final volume, I was worried about a couple of things.

1) How they’d deal with redeeming Neo, and 2) How they’d manage to defeat Arkadimon.

In regards to the latter, it was a bit on the predictable side, particularly with Zero’s sudden evolution, but it was well-written and exciting. Plus, Alforce V-Dramon is too awesome. I’m so disappointed we only got him for a few chapters.

I won’t lie, I was tearing up when Zero seemingly sacrificed himself to save the others. I pretty much knew he wouldn’t be gone for good, but that scene really got me.

The reveal that Arkadimon was taken over by Demon was….not really as predictable, and it did save Demon from being merely a footnote villain, but I feel like there wasn’t enough written into Demon for his reveal to really be all that grand. He’s about as generic as his name.

His motivations are that he’s tired of Digimon being subservient to humans despite their massive powers. He plans on taking over the Digital World with his power and taking over the real world with his Dark Virus that will manipulate everyone’s emotions and cause chaos.

It’s a far cry from the plans Neo had of just flatout destroying both worlds and making a new one.

Speaking of Neo, we have to address the Elephantmon in the room – How is Neo going to be redeemed?

I’ve said a few times now that Neo’s pretty much gone beyond the point of redemption in my eyes. He’s been so malicious and horrible to pretty much everyone, including Rei and Hideto, that any redemption for him would feel cheap.

And I wasn’t wrong.

Neo’s redemption is in the ‘reveal’ that he’s been doing all of this to create a utopia, or Arcadia, so accidents like the one that robbed Rei of her ability to walk would never happen again.

*deep sigh*

He has said several times that he didn’t even so much care about that anymore. He just wanted power and to destroy both worlds. He’s even been a dick to Rei in the meantime to achieve this, and yet his motivation circles back around to his deep love of his sister and his guilt for her condition. How does that work?

Not only that, but they imply that Demon was manipulating him the whole time with the Dark Virus, amplifying his emotions and making him so ridiculously evil, which really feels like the bigger cop-out.

I feel it’s very appropriate to compare this plight with that of Ken from Adventure 02.

Ken was a tyrant. He wanted all of the Digital World under his control and every Digimon his slave. When the Chosen Children showed up, he didn’t care who he hurt, human or Digimon alike, or even if he’d end up killing Digimon or people. He just wanted power and control. Sometimes, he just wanted to see others suffer.

In a lot of ways, it was difficult to see redemption for Ken too. However, they did a pretty good job with it. He didn’t see Digimon as living, breathing creatures – he just saw them as data. He didn’t see the Digital World as a real world – he saw it as an escape – a computer program he could run off into and do whatever he pleased.

This falls apart when he starts putting the lives of other people in peril, however, especially in that episode where he pretty much made a game out of tormenting Daisuke over saving one of his friends or watching them all die.

However, you might say that’s due to madness because of his intense self-loathing over feelings of guilt with the death of his brother, Sam. It’s even possible that, given he believes the Digital World is just a game and nothing that happens there is real, that the lives of the others aren’t really in actual danger, but that’s extremely muddy territory.

Still, no matter what he believed, those actions are things he’d have to make up for, which he did. He paid for it in the loss of Wormmon, his partner, the realization that all of the pain and suffering he was causing in the Digital World was real and not a computer simulation, falling into such deep mental shock that he was essentially in a comatose state for several days, haunted by terrible memories of his past, and gets a massive tongue lashing by the reborn Digimon in Primary Village who had felt the sting of his whip firsthand. He even took it upon himself to start taking down the Dark Towers and making amends to the Digimon, no matter how harsh the scorn was from both them and the Chosen Children.

He also eventually joined the other Chosen Children to help save the Digital World time and again.

Even though it is later revealed that Ken also has something amplifying his dark feelings with the Dark Seed, that didn’t really matter. He still took responsibility for what he did and what he was. He accepted the mistakes he made and worked towards making up for them and being a better person. He also had to work on his relationships with all of the Chosen Children because, of course, practically none of them wanted to believe or trust him right out the gate.

Neo, however, doesn’t go through the same suffering. Despite doing as much damage if not worse in this manga, his redemption amounts to him just getting a dose of reality from Rei talking to him about never giving up and her nearly getting herself killed (or killing herself? It’s never really made clear) to talk sense into him. He just suddenly realizes that he was wrong and joins the good guys.

This is an actual page.

Neo doesn’t suffer at all. Sure, he beats himself up a little for Rei’s accident, but his drive is moreso trying to wipe the possibility of tragic accidents from the world. If he sees what happened as truly an accident, he’s not guilting himself too much.

He also doesn’t own up to all of the pain and suffering he caused, both for people and Digimon. He yells when he realizes he’s been stealing the futures of others for his own means, but it only lasts about three panels.

He never feels guilt for destroying Piemon, treating Greymon like garbage and deleting him, deleting him again as MetalGreymon after he suffered so much to come back from death just to be of use to Neo, nearly destroying Omegamon, any of the other Digimon he destroyed to feed Arkadimon, wanting Arkadimon to use a slower version of the Dot Matrix so Zero and Taichi will suffer more during Zero’s death, he never apologizes for hurting the other kids or saying the terrible things he’s said – he just frowns and saves Taichi from falling off a cliff.

Never is there a moment of actual suffering or repentance. He doesn’t even stick around in the Digital World to help rebuild the place or make amends to the Digimon. He leaves for the real world and calls it a day.

There is one moment where Taichi and the others meet up before he departs for the real world, and they explain that Neo was too ashamed of what he had done to face them so he left without them….which is about a thousand times worse. Ken not only went back and faced his mistakes, he actively went into the Digital World to fix things and make up for what he had done, as much as he was able to anyway.

Neo’s such a bitch he wouldn’t even look everyone in the eye? He just lolnoped out of there and never looked back?

He did all of those terrible things and never even apologized to anyone for it. Back in the real world, Neo is just another one of the group now, even back with the friends he betrayed. The only thing he says is that he can’t be a real Tamer unless he defeats Taichi…..which is basically looping back around to his beginning motivations, only seemingly not malicious this time.

Another way they balk out on Neo’s evilness is through the Digimental. It’s only meant to activate with someone’s pure heart, so they were shocked to find that Neo could use it. His “pure feelings” of wanting to make a utopia for Rei was what fueled it…..

Pile the influence of Demon on top of that, and I guess we’re just supposed to accept that Neo’s actually a good guy and not expect him to have consequences for his actions. Bull. Shit.

He was an asshole seemingly even before he came to the Digital World, hence why Rei started becoming miserable. Even before her accident, he was a jerk. Remember when he told Hideto to just delete Wargs and Melgs because they were seen as weak in his eyes?

He also knew from the beginning that the Digital World and Digimon were real, but he didn’t care. In addition, his drive during the first few volumes was to be the best Tamer, then it evolved into him wanting to destroy both the real and Digital Worlds. I’m not sure how much Demon’s influence counts here, but I can’t imagine it’s much.

The overall battle was really great, though. Taichi and Zero’s interactions were amazing, and I love that their faith in each other never wavered for a second. They are a team of legends.

The absolute ending was good. I was bracing myself for Zero to die due to the effects of the Ancient coding within him, but I guess Zero’s going to live a long life now. I was at least expecting him and Taichi to need to part ways after everything was said and done, but I forgot that they can communicate through his v-pet device.

I was a bit upset that Piemon or at least a Digi-Egg for him was never recovered. Poor Sigma.

It’s a tad annoying that Zero STILL isn’t recognized by official sources and thus Taichi can’t enter tournaments, but he has friends to battle with whenever he wants and all he really needs is Zero by his side.

Overall Manga Breakdown: As a whole, I really enjoyed this manga. I think it’s a great read for both Digimon fans and non-fans alike. The pacing is a bit fast, but nothing too break-neck. They do slow down every now and again when it matters.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Taichi and Zero. I’d definitely rank them pretty high on my list of favorite Tamer/Chosen Children/Digimon pairings. Taichi and Zero don’t change much over the course of the series, but that doesn’t really matter. Character growth isn’t always a necessity, and I don’t think it was needed too much here. They definitely teach each other to not be so hot-headed and when to take things seriously.

Taichi and Zero pull a lot of wins out of their asses just because friendship and determination and what have you. Even Neo calls out these ‘miracles.’ I feel like this was more of a problem in the first half of the series since the second half, while still having plenty of these moments, has many more moments where they’re down and out or on the ropes. In addition, they make it clear that it’s not just Taichi and Zero winning these fights – without everyone else helping out in their own ways, hardly any of Taichi and Zero’s battles would’ve been won.

Some of the battles were really intense and creative. I especially enjoyed Taichi and Zero vs. Sigma and Piemon and the battle with Hideto and Omegamon. Despite the emotional moment getting to me, I don’t think the final battle with Arkadimon topped either, so that was a bit disappointing in that regard.

I came to really like all of the side characters, barring maybe Mari. Sigma in particular had a great story, and he’s adorable in the real world.

I loved the bonus chapters that allowed them to crossover with the anime characters in nearly all seasons. That was a fun little addition. I didn’t much care for the poop chapter, though….

My main problem really does lie with Neo as our main villain. He just wasn’t handled well at all. He was made ridiculously over-evil then we’re pretty much made to just forget every horrible thing he did and forgive him when he never even says he’s sorry for what he did just because he felt bad that his sister was paralyzed (but might be cured some day?)

The influence of Demon being a factor is way too weak for me to consider it a significant issue, and the role of Rei almost seems like a hasty mid-way rewrite since most of his motivation at the start was proving he was better than Taichi. He never thought about Rei back then.

Demon also wasn’t a compelling villain, especially as a final baddie. He’s just an evil power-hungry dude. The fact that he returned was a decent twist, but his motivations and goals are way too weak (much weaker and less interesting than Neo’s, anyway.)

Recommended Audience: There’s much more blood in this series than you’d normally see in Digimon, particularly with the Digimon themselves as Digimon typically aren’t supposed to bleed. There’s even some stuff that might constitute as gore. There’s no real swearing, nudity or sex. It doesn’t really get any worse in the final volume, and considering I’ve kept it at 8+ for most of the run, I think it’s safe to leave it that way for the entire series.

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