Plot: The group finds their way to a strange factory where the only focus seems to be on putting strange parts together then taking them apart. While Taichi and the others meet a Black-Geared Andromon, Koushiro discovers a strange power source and an even stranger program that seems to have the power to react to the Digimon. When Andromon proves to be too much for Garurumon, Greymon and…why is Birdramon not helping?….It’s up to Koushiro to figure out how to save the day.
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Title Change: There is no real change this episode. It’s just Electric Shock! Kabuterimon to Kabuterimon’s Electro Shocker.
Title Card: 
Matt: “Check it out. Izzy’s trying to email the aliens.” No, he’s not, but thanks for bringing up that dumb dub plotline again.
Koushiro says his computer is somehow running with no power whereas Izzy says his computer just needs recharging. I know it sounds like a nitpick, but a computer running on no power is far odder than a computer running on low power.
Jo says that finding Andromon is just another sign that there are no humans around. In the dub, he says he shouldn’t help move Andromon because his mom told him not to move heavy objects since he has bad knees.
In the original, Koushiro is merely examining the battery by running over it with his hands. In the dub, he claims he’s trying to tap into the power source….with his hands?
I wouldn’t be bothered by this if he had his power cord or something in his hands and he was running over it to find a power outlet, or even if he said he’s trying to find a power outlet, but here he is literally trying to access the power with his hands. Good thing he’s wearing gloves….for no reason. In fact several of them wear gloves for no reason. Actually the only two of them who don’t wear gloves are Joe and TK. Especially strange considering they were at a SUMMER camp when they came to the Digital World.
Jo originally berates Agumon and Taichi for trying to hit Andromon to wake him up. In the dub, Joe asks them if they remember watching a movie or something where the robot came to life and ate everyone. Not sure why robots would eat but I didn’t see the movie.
Tentomon’s narrating the Digimon Index screen for Andromon in the dub even though he’s not even in the same room with the others.
Also, Andromon calls the group ‘intruders’ in the original, whereas he calls them ‘alien intruders’ in the dub. This show really had a thing for aliens in the beginning, didn’t it?
I find it hard to believe that Andromon’s known as being one of the most powerful Digimon in existence in both versions. In the four minutes we’ve known him he’s been disabled by machine gears and falling rails twice.
While the line is roughly the same, the thing you’re telling Agumon to aim at, Tai, is the ceiling not the roof. There’s a big difference.
Sora: “No doubt!” Heh, I like that group too…..Oh crap, I just dated this show even more than before.
Takeru asks again what the machines are building. Mimi says it’s probably something really amazing like a time machine or something that makes adults and children switch bodies. In the dub, TK says nothing and Mimi says she thinks this place would be more interesting with a tour guide to explain it and then talks about what the tour guide should wear.
Izzy: “I’ve located an access panel to the internal operations!”…..It’s called a door Izzy. Just a door. Koushiro called it a door, you don’t need to show off. It’s just a door. Calm your brain, sweetie.
Taichi originally says that, since it’s dark, Andromon might not be able to see them and that they should be perfectly still and silent just in case. In the dub, Tai says it’s best to probably run away then makes a joke about how none of them are moving by saying “Or we could just stand here frozen until the monster gets us!”
Attack Name Change: Andromon’s Spiral Sword is changed to Lightning Blade.
Dub!Mimi: (once the power is restored) “They didn’t pay their power bill, is that it?”
Matt: “Ya know, you have no imagination.”
…She has no imagination because she doesn’t give an explanation as to why the power went out other than not paying the power bill? In the original, Mimi just points out that the power’s back on and Matt says they should explore further.
While the conversation between Koushiro and Tentomon about learning who you are is kept roughly the same, Tentomon merely asks Koushiro if he has any desire to learn who he is instead of spending his time trying to figure out who Tentomon and the other Digimon are. (Tentomon has no desire to know who he is or where his world came from, whereas Koushiro is incredibly interested in it) In the dub, Tentomon straight out asks if there’s some deep dark secret in Izzy’s past.
Tentomon doesn’t mention anything about the others being in trouble in the original.
Izzy: “And I’m about to abandon my alien theory as well!” Thank God!
Originally, Yamato tells Mimi and Takeru that the factory has no point. It’s just a perpetual cycle of building pieces of machinery to take them apart again. In the dub, Matt does explain this, but he concludes by acting like nothing that is within the factory can leave and that they’re trapped. How he deduced that from the production line is beyond me.
Tentomon originally says after Koushiro activates the program that he feels power surging through him and he follows up by asking if Tentomon’s okay. In the dub, Tentomon says nothing and Izzy just says they cracked the program.
Kabuterimon’s voice in the earlier episodes of the dub is awful. He sounds so monotone and bored. In fact….that may or may not be Izzy’s dubbed Dad’s voice…which also sounds awful. Luckily his voice changes to something more fitting in the later episodes or his actor changes up his style.
Another post-evolution vocal song is removed.
This next change makes no sense. Originally Jo asks if Andromon has a weakness, which gives Koushiro the idea to look for any weak spots on his body. Conveniently, despite the fact that his leg wasn’t sparking before, his right leg is shown to be spouting electricity. Thus Koushiro knows that’s his weak spot.
In the dub, Joe asks if Andromon ever runs out of gas, which gives Izzy the same idea, but I don’t understand how. Running out of gas and having a weakness are two completely different things. “Run out of gas? That gives me an idea! Aim for his right leg!” They try to justify this by acting like his leg is somehow his power source and that hitting it will disrupt his energy, but that still doesn’t make any sense.
Attack Name Change: Kabuterimon’s Mega Blaster is changed to Electro Shocker, which sounds way better.
Tai: “That’s wicked!” And tubular, and bodacious and other dated terms!
Originally, Andromon just said “The evil has subsided” when the gear was destroyed. In the dub, he says “That Black Gear reprogrammed my systems somehow.” You can probably see the problem here as it is, but basically there weren’t enough mouth flaps to match the new dialogue, thus he hangs his mouth open during the end of his sentence as we fade to the next scene. This tends to happen a lot, but this is one of the more apparent examples.
How did the kids even get to the factory anyway? And why were they trapped? I mean, the scene where Andromon tells them how to leave is the first indication in the original that they were trapped at all and we’re not shown how they’re trapped. Can’t they just evolve Piyomon or Tentomon and fly out if there really is something keeping them there?
Andromon tells the kids that he got stuck under the machinery because he was trying to free an odd gear from the machine and got trapped, which is how the gear must’ve got stuck in him. Then Sora and Jo look to each other mentioning another Black Gear. None of this is included in the dub, and Sora was just telling Joe that she was right about him being a Digimon and not an android….Not sure why that’s necessary. Gomamon already told him that when they first saw him.
Takeru doesn’t refer to the act of evolution as turning the Digimon into superheroes in the original.
Sora originally says that it’s too bad that you can’t fix Taichi and Agumon’s attitudes by hitting them in the head. Dub!Sora says now that they have holes in their head, maybe their brains will get some oxygen. Because whacking each other in the head put holes in their head?
The narrator gives us a little something extra in the original. He says that Koushiro’s laptop stopped functioning properly outside of the factory, and little did they know that Koushiro’s laptop would be the key to discovering the secrets of the world in the future. Since we have no narrator in the dub outside of Tai sometimes, this is omitted.
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Like I said, I find this episode to be a bit hokey. I can believe that altering data and stuff around Digimon might cause reactions and evolution, but the entire time we’ve been working on the premise that the Digimon only evolve when one of the kids is in danger, and now they say inputting a program, as long as they’re in the factory for some unknown reason, a Digimon can evolve no problem?
Also, why was Tentomon acting like he was in great pain the first time that Koushiro typed in that program yet later when he does the same thing there is no pain? In fact, he claims he feels like he’s full of power and he evolves right away. In addition, I’m not sure why Koushiro would be so willing to try and evolve Patamon in the sewer. He has no clue what Patamon evolves into at this point. For all he knows, Patamon could’ve evolved into something huge that would’ve caused the whole tunnel to collapse in on them.
Next up is Togemon’s debut…you know what that means….our first Mimi-centric episode….hoo…..rah.
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The Anime Madhouse 