Digimon Adventure 01 Episode 2 Sub/Dub Comparison

CUBONE–I mean, GREYMON!

Plot: The kids are still trying to find their way back to camp when they come upon some odd phone booths on a beach. The phones are utterly useless, but while Jo tries to make them work, the others try to get some food in them since they haven’t eaten all day. While separating rations, an angry Shellmon attacks the group. All of the Digimon are too hungry to fight except Agumon who ate some food with Taichi earlier. Since they’re the only ones with strength to fight, Agumon must evolve to beat Shellmon.

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Title Screen:

Title Change: Originally, the episode was called Explosive Evolution! Greymon! In the dub it’s The Birth of Greymon.

The dub inserts flashbacks of the Digimon’s Digivolving sequences when they’re re-meeting their newly Digivolved Digimon.

In the original, Digivolution is merely regarded as evolution. I wanna go out on a limb here and say it was changed to avoid butting heads with Pokemon’s evolution and/or the backlash from religious groups who put all sorts of hate on the fact that evolution was being used in kids shows like that.

In the original, Takeru asks if their evolving means that they can’t change back, and Pataman answers that he doesn’t know. In the dub, TK says that he helped Patamon Digivolve and that it’s cool. Patamon says “Yup it is.”

After that, Jo says that he’s having difficulty understanding it all, and Gomamon says that it’s okay because they don’t understand it all either. In the dub, Joe says his parents doesn’t let him talk to strangers, and Gomamon says he’s not a stranger, he’s his friend.

In the original, Jo says that they should find a nearby road. In the dub, Joe says that they should stay put. Matt’s the one who suggests that they find a road.

Koushiro says that the local vegetation indicates they’re in the subtropics. Tentomon agrees, and Koushiro asks in a surprised tone that Tentomon knows what subtropics are, but then Tentomon says he doesn’t and Koushiro sighs. In the dub, Izzy says that it’d be easier if they had a compass to find out which way is north. Tentomon says that he knows, Izzy asks where, and Tentomon says its the opposite of south.

Jo continues to talk about finding a road in the original. In the dub, Joe says he shouldn’t have worn those pants because they ride up when he does too much walking.

Yamato originally says that he doesn’t want to put anyone in undue danger by going back. Matt says that he’s not scared of any monsters.

As they’re walking along, Jo says that the trees really make him think that they’re not in Japan anymore. Yamato responds by saying that the Digimon should’ve been enough to tip him off that this place wasn’t Japan. In the dub, Joe says that the trees are aggravating his hay fever. Matt responds by asking if there’s anything Joe isn’t allergic to.

In the original, Mimi asks Palmon if she’s some kind of plant. Palmon says yes and she can even perform photosynthesis. Mimi says that’s great and asks her to do it for her. Palmon asks her if she even knows what photosynthesis is, and Mimi says no. Palmon responds by saying that she doesn’t know either.

In the dub, Mimi asks Palmon where she gets her hair done (which is a dumb question, she just recently became Palmon. Even if hair salons were in the Digital World, when would she have had the time to go to a hair salon? Also, her ‘hair’ is a FLOWER.) Palmon says that it’s natural. Mimi says that she should let her do her hair for her sometime and Palmon asks her if she thinks she puts too much emphasis on appearance. Mimi responds that she’s never really thought about it much. Palmon responds by saying that she likes her flower/hair the way it is.

Taichi originally asks Agumon if Kuwagamon is a Digimon too. He keeps saying yup to his questions. In the dub, Tai’s just talking to himself about how it’s such a cool story, but no one would ever believe him. Agumon has no dialogue in this scene. It’s slightly weird because you can still point out where he talks in the dub, but there’s no sound.

And thus begins Izzy’s weird short-lived obsession with aliens. Koushiro just says that phone booths randomly positioned in the middle of a beach is irrational. Izzy says he believes aliens set out the phone booths as traps. I never understood this thing with Izzy and aliens in the beginning of this season, but it’s dropped completely later on, so yeah.

Yamato and Mimi originally don’t talk about ordering a pizza with the phones. They say that those phones are just like the ones back home. Jo concludes that these phone booths are proof that they’re still in Japan. Gomamon asks what Japan is, and Jo slowly stares at him, slowly turns around and says “maybe not.”

In the dub, Joe says that the purpose of the phones is for them to call their parents for a ride home. Gomamon asks what “a parents is” and Joe slowly stares are him, turns around and says “That’s it, I’m outta here.”

Izzy again brings up aliens by saying that the aliens can bill his phone card.

All of them simply want to call their parents in the original. In the dub, Izzy wants to connect to the internet and TK wants to look for loose change in the slots while the rest just say that they want to use the phones.

I have to admit, they made Mimi’s line better here. In both versions, Mimi’s phone says that tomorrow’s weather will be mostly sunny with a chance of ice cream. Original!Mimi just says that something’s wrong with the phone. Dub!Mimi says “What do you wear for that?” I know I can’t really stand Mimi, but it’s lines like these that make her tolerable in the dub. Her ditzy sounding VA makes the line that much funnier. Only Mimi…

The weird phone messages are again blamed on aliens by Izzy in the dub while Koushiro just wonders what’s going on.

Original!Mimi says her Digivice is on her bag. Dub!Mimi says, if anyone has a pink Digivice, she’ll trade. Kinda funny seeing as how, in future installments, there are pink Digivices. However, in this season they’re all a very pale green/blue color.

In the original, after Takeru shows everyone his food (Why exactly did he have a backpack full of food on him during summer camp when he was just lounging around?) Mimi points out that he’s not from their school. Takeru says that she’s right. He’s visiting his ‘onii-chan,’ Yamato, for the summer and Yamato confirms.

Taichi asks Izumi why Takeru calls Yamato ‘onii-chan’ since they have different last names. Izumi responds by saying, since ‘onii-chan’ is also a common phrase for cousins or close male friends that he might be his cousin.

In the dub, this obviously doesn’t work the same way. English doesn’t really have one phrase that encompasses cousins, brothers, and close friends. Mimi simply asks TK if he’ll be a good little boy and share his food with her. TK says she doesn’t even have to ask and follows it up by telling Matt that she’s cute. Matt disagrees. Tai then tells Izzy that he could eat a small cow.

Originally, Yamato asks Mimi where she got all of that survival stuff in her bag. Mimi responds by saying that it’s been a while since she last camped so she borrowed her dad’s camping stuff secretly.

In the dub, Matt asks why Mimi didn’t tell them that she had a compass back when they said that they needed one. Mimi responds by saying that she thought it’d be fun to see how far they’d get without one. Plus it’s broken.

The stupidity of that statement is of sheer brilliance. Seriously. They make her seem like a dick for saying “Yeah I had this important piece of survival equipment that we needed but didn’t say anything about it for funsies.” then they make her seem like a moron by making her say “Not like it would’ve helped if I did say something anyway, it’s broken” Just wow. Wow.

The way that the rations are divided is different from the original. Let’s just leave it at that because I’d have to rewatch that scene like four times to get exactly the differences.

Might I say that the song that comes on when Shellmon appears in the original kicks so much ass?

Attack Name Change: Mega Flame is changed to Nova Blast (Well, in this episode, it’s Digi Nova Blast, but it’s just Nova Blast for the rest of the show) And, again, better name with the dub.

Next episode is Garurumon’s debut!

……Previous Episode

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30DAC: Day 14 – Anime that Never Gets Old No Matter How Many Times You’ve Rewatched It

I’m surprised I actually chose a fairly long show/franchise for this prompt, but I’m choosing Digimon.

Matt’s spitting right in his face, yet he’s not putting on his goggles.

A gentle mix of nostalgia, cool monsters, likable characters, that thing I mentioned before about themed powers, some actually complex storylines, fun and cheesiness meld together so well that it’s so easy for me to just coast through old episodes of any of the first three series and enjoy it just as much as the first day I watched it. To be specific, though, I’m choosing Digimon series 1 or Adventure 01 since it was the one that started it all.

My Sub Dub Comparisons for the show (which I hope to get back to posting soon) have also introduced me to the awesome original version, so I can enjoy it in both languages. Sadly, it also highlighted just how awful some of the dialogue is in the dub, but I still enjoy every minute.

In essence, it usually is just a tried and true tale of good versus evil, but the setting of the Digital World and the aspects of the Digimon are pretty unique and interesting. Plus, some of the storylines, especially in Adventure 02 and Tamers are much more complex than that. I always thought it’d be awesome if it was real, but alas even with today’s technology there’s still no Digivice for me.

POURQUOI??!

Digimon Adventure 01 Episode 1 Sub/Dub Comparison

They told me this would happen if I flushed bubblegum down the toilet…or am I thinking of alligators? Eh whatever.

Plot: Seven kids at summer camp are somehow transported to a mysterious place called the Digital World, where they meet strange creatures called Digimon. They have supposedly been waiting for their arrival, but there’s no time to get acquainted with new friends because a fierce Digimon called Kuwagamon has targeted them for attack.

Preface: I am a huge fan of Digimon. This is one of those anime that I could watch over and over and never get tired of it. The characters are lovable, the story is great, and it never felt like it overstayed its welcome.

The dub definitely doesn’t fare nearly as bad as some of the other shows I compare, but there are still plenty of script changes and stuff of note that make this a worthy show for comparison. Digimon was dubbed by Saban, who you may recognize from every Power Rangers series ever. They also dubbed DBZ once upon a time and Samurai Pizza Cats. The show was distributed by Fox Kids, which is now Jetix. As much as it pains me on occasion, let’s start comparing Digimon Adventure 01.

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The opening theme song was changed to a completely different song. I like the dub song. No, it doesn’t have many lyrics, and yes it’s repetitive, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be catchy and awesome. The original song is okay, and I know it’s beloved, but it never clicked with me much.

Surprisingly, all of the background scenes of the opening theme were kept exactly the same barring the title screen. Some slight edits may have occurred for time reasons.

In the original, a traditional narrator is narrating the opening scene. In the dub, Tai is. We also get no specification on what areas are being showcased when the explanations of the weather phenomena are given.

In the original, the paddyfields in southeast Asia were drying out. In the dub, it was just “the rainforests.” In the original, the middle east was getting flooded. In the dub, “other places” were getting flooded. In the original, America was becoming insanely cold. In the dub it was “cities that were blazing hot in the summer were becoming freezing cold.”

Entire Show Edit: A lot of the background music also seems to have been changed.

Some kooky kid jokes have also been added. The tone is a more serious in the original.

Name Change: Tai’s full name in the original is Taichi Yagami. In the dub, this is changed to Taichi “Tai” Kamiya…I have no clue why. Usually when names are changed in English dubs it’s to Americanize the name. Why change the name to another Japanese name?

Also, something kinda funny just occurred to me. Yagami is Light’s last name from Death Note. Kari is Tai’s younger sister, so her last name is also Yagami. Kari’s short for Hikari, which is Japanese for Light. In addition, if you switch the A and the I in Kari, you get KIRA! Screw L and Near, I solved that crap no problem.

In the original, the narrator is simply listing off their names as they appear in the same black borders as seen in the dub. In the dub, Tai’s still narrating and he’s giving slight opinions about each of the characters/character descriptions.

Name Change, Though Not Really?: In the original, Matt’s real name is Yamato. In the dub, his name is listed on screen as being Yamato, with Matt in quotes as his nickname. TECHNICALLY, this still makes sense since YaMATo, but I guess it still counts as a change since that’s not how he’s addressed in the original.

Name Change, Though Not Really?: Izzi is originally Koushiro Izumi. In the dub, his name is also listed as Koushiro Izumi but with Izzy in quotes as his nickname. Same circumstances as Matt with it ‘counting’ since his name is still displayed, he’s just being addressed differently.

Name Change, Though Not Really?: TK is originally Takeru, but they do the same thing with his name as with the others.

Name Change in Spelling: Joe’s original name is spelled Jo. It isn’t written in katakana, so I don’t think they were trying for “Joe” so I’m counting it, It should also be noted that, for some strange reason, Joe’s name in the dub is written in a different font from everyone else’s. Maybe it was changed last second.

Font for everyone else –

Joe’s Font –

In addition, the original name boxes included their school name and what grade they were in. The dub just has their names.

Title Change/Title Cards: The dub doesn’t use the title screens from the original, which are cool, so that sucks. Also, the name of this episode is Adrift? The Island of Adventure! in the original. In the dub it’s And so it Begins…. I like these title screens since they change every episode, so I’ll do you guys a solid and post each one.

After the commercial break in the dub, they replay the footage right before the Digivices burst out of the sky. They add a line to Mimi in doing so.

In the original, no mention of what Koromon means is given. In the dub, Koromon says it means “brave little warrior” I don’t understand how that can be. Koro, to be extent of my knowledge, usually means some point in time such as “When” Mon is short for monster, hence Digimon: Digital Monsters. Saban must’ve thrown that in to point at his later crest of courage? None of the other Digimon get name explanations, so this just seems kinda weird. If anyone has another explanation, feel free to share.

The Digimon Index screens, which is what I call it when the Digimon’s information comes up on the screen, is entirely in Japanese in the dub barring the English version of the Digimon’s names in the corner, which were there to begin with. Maybe it was too much editing, but I gotta say, all that Japanese text was scary. I wish 4Kids was here right now 😦

OH! IT’S CALLED FILE ISLAND…BECAUSE THEY’RE DATA!….I never got that until now. Wow.

Dub Izzy: “I believe those miniature remote digital gadgets took on physical form.” You mean that Digivice on your backpack strap took on a physical form that is on the ground next to you? That makes sense. In the original, Izzy just says Motimon’s been following him since he woke up.

In the original, the narrator from before gives detailed information about Kuwagamon. In the dub, Koromon gives it. In the future, Izzy will usually be the one doing this. In fact, I rarely ever heard a narrator in Digimon in the dub, but it sounds like the original has him everywhere.

Name Change?: In the dub, Sora calls Pyokomon “Yokomon.” I’m not sure if Saban thought the P was silent or Sora’s VA goofed or they fully changed the name. I’m also fairly certain I’m not mishearing it either. For the record, in this episode anyway, Pyokomon’s Digivolution screen says ‘Pyocomon’ in the background (it’s sometimes spelled with a ‘c’ for whatever reason), not ‘Yokomon.’

Ya know, in a debate I had long ago about weird Digivolutions, I never brought up Pyokomon…She goes from a radish to a bird line….how does that make sense?

Name Change?: It sounds like they say Pukamon as Bukamon. In both Digimon’s Index screens, again in this episode anyway, they have it spelled right, they’re just saying it weird.

In the original, no mention of what the creatures are (Digimon) or where they are (The Digital World) is given until after all of the characters have reunited. In fact, where they are is never even mentioned in this episode. In the dub, they say it quite often after Motimon makes his appearance. Thus, the big reveal of what they are is fairly lost in the dub.

The commercial break eyecatches are edited out, which is also very common of practically any dubbed show. The eyecatches here are basically Digimon cards of each of the In-Training Digimon combining together to make their Rookie forms in a group shot. After the commercials, the Rookie cards join together to make a Champion group shot. I’m not sure if Ultimate and Mega will be added, but I’ll post them if they change.

In the original, the Digimon all restate their names after the commercial. In the dub, they give awkward explanations like Digimon are cute, loyal, have nice hair etc.

When Tai’s introducing everyone in the original, he follows up everyone’s name with what grade they’re in. Taichi, Sora and Yamato in fifth grade, Jo in sixth, Koushiro in fourth and Takeru in second.

In addition, the original’s dialogue is somewhat awkward. Taichi introduces everyone and each character follows up by introducing themselves. For example, “This is Ishida Yamato” “I’m Ishida Yamato”

The dub is no better. It basically sounds like a video game character selection screen. You select one character and they say something that of course their characters would say. Like Matt “No autographs please” and Izzy “Do you have Internet access?” Tai also makes a weird note to stereotype some of the characters such as Matt, the self-proclaimed cool one and Izzy our computer expert.

They don’t seem to dislike Mimi in the original. In the dub it’s all “Hey, where’s that girl with the silly pink hat?” “Hey now, her NAME is MIMI. *verbal eyeroll*” “Maybe she’s picking flowers or going on a nature hike.”

As the kids are running in the dub, Izzy says “Okay, so maybe she’s not picking flowers” he’s not speaking in the original, and you can clearly see that his mouth isn’t moving.

Kuwagamon doesn’t roar in the original. Barring his wingflaps, he’s totally silent.

The original has sad harmonica music playing when the kids gather their wounded Digimon. The dub has decent sad music for it, but I prefer the original. Can’t beat sad harmonica music.

Though Mimi is annoying, you have to give her credit for being the only one in the group who knows that Tanemon and the others have no other choice but to fight.

In the original, a vocal song is playing as the Digimon evolve for the first time. In the dub, regular Digimon background music plays. Basically a more instrumental and softer version of the dubbed theme, which will usually be used from here on out. In addition, in the original, the Digimon say (Digimon’s name), evolve! (Evolved version’s name) In the dub they say (Digimon’s name) Digivolve toooooooooo (Digivolved version’s name)

Name Change?: Biyomon is originally Piyomon. I still have no idea why these very minor changes are happening.

Attack Name Changes: Patamon’s Air Shot is changed to Boom Bubble.

Tentomon’s Petite Thunder is changed to Super Shocker (Which sounds better IMO)

Agumon’s Baby Flame is changed to Pepper Breath (Again, better)

Gabumon’s Petite Fire is changed to Blue Blaster (Eh)

Biyomon’s Magical Fire (Geez so much fire.) is changed to Spiral Twister (at least it adds variety)

And screw Gomamon’s attack, because they don’t even do it. Yeah, Gomamon needs to be near water, I think, to use his Marching Fishes attack, but still.

Palmon’s Poison Ivy is the only attack left alone.

Dub!Izzy: “They made vaporware out of them.” Vaporware is software that is announced but never released or died off somehow. How is Kuwagamon like that? Just because you know a fancy term kids wouldn’t get and it sounds technical doesn’t mean you should use it in places it doesn’t belong.

In the original, the music when everyone’s celebrating suddenly cuts out when Kuwagamon reappears. In the dub, the song properly ends, so it doesn’t sound as dramatic.

The dub gets rid of the ending theme song and replaces it with the same opener. Fairly common of dubbed kids shows. The original song is pretty good. They also lose the next episode preview, which, again, is also very common.

Next episode, we get our first Adult/Champion evolution/Digivolution with Agumon becoming Greymon!

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