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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