Digimon Adventure S02E11

As the group discusses their upcoming plan, Matt sends Tentomon out on a mission to find Garurumon. Davis and TK grapple with each other’s clashing philosophies until they come across the Digi-Egg of Friendship. Everyone tries to lift it to no avail, and Davis puts in no effort to try at all. The Digimon Emperor shows up with MetalGreymon, and captures Patamon, ready to put a Dark Spiral on him and turn him into a laundry service. Davis refuses to allow Flamedramon to attack out of fear of hurting Patamon, but TK shouts him down, arguing that they have to do everything possible to save Patamon. Luckily, Garurumon appears and frees Patamon. The team tries to destroy the Dark Spiral, but it doesn’t work, especially since Davis is still holding back.

Flamedramon reverts to Veemon in protest after Davis says he’s not sure if he’d be willing to risk his own well being for Veemon’s. With the battle going poorly, and TK and Matt scolding Davis for not helping his friends, Davis realizes what he’s been missing and is able to activate the Digi-Egg, evolving Veemon to Raidramon, the Storm of Friendship. Together with Garurumon, they break the Dark Spiral and free Agumon. The Digimon Emperor retreats.

TK: Yolei didn’t want to go, so she stayed behind.

Wow, way to sublimate that story byte down to such a simplistic level that it makes her look like a complete jerk.

Actually, TK’s entire recap is super rushed and they seem to have intentionally omitted the fact that Matt punched Tai out of his mindset, something the original version put special emphasis on in their recap.

I think my former disdain for this series overall is why it took me so long to get to this point, but I realized today that I adore the Japanese opening to Zero-Two. Koji Wada FTW, as the kids say.

May he rest in peace.

Kaiser: Nothing can get in my way now.
Emperor: With these new and improved Dark Rings, not only will I control MetalGreymon, but all other Digimon as well.

They’re called Dark Spirals, Ken. You should know, you invented them.

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I’m sure it goes without saying (which incidentally seems to be the antithesis of the dub’s philosophy), but Ken exposits aloud a lot more in the dub than he does in the original.

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The Kaiser calls MetalGreymon a “good boy” because he wants to fight. The dub (amusingly, I’ll admit) interpreted this as having Derek Stephen Prince act like he’s talking to a puppy when he delivers the line.

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Tentomon: Sounds like you had a hard time…
Tentomon: I love riding trains! Where’s the dining car?

Knowing you, it’s whatever car TK’s in.

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Tentomon: We’re on the right track!
Tentomon: Well, actually Matt, we’re on the only track.

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Yamato: Tentomon, I have a favor to ask.
Tentomon: What is it?
Matt: Just in case… Tentomon, I need your help.
Tentomon: Now? I was just about to have my shell waxed!

Both Daisuke and Davis react with surprise when he realizes they’ll be fighting MetalGreymon. That doesn’t square with the last episode when they all announced loudly that they would do so and not pull any punches.

Daisuke: But I wonder if I’ll be able to attack Taichi-san’s Greymon…
Davis: I’m not so sure, guys. What makes you think we’ll be able to defeat Ken and MetalGreymon?

Davis is all over the place in this scene. His initial concern is being capable of defeating MetalGreymon due to its power, but then throws the track switch (ba dum tiss) and says he’s worried about hurting Agumon. Then he calls TK “TS” which only further detracts from an otherwise important scene.

Daisuke goes on to say they can’t destroy Agumon (out of respect and friendship), and Takeru points out they just need to destroy the Evil Spiral. Daisuke counters that they weren’t able to before, and if destroying Agumon is the only way to destroy the Spiral, he wants no part of it. It’s almost like the episode was written in a way to show why Daisuke gets the Crest of Friendship later.

The dub is just a general argument with name calling that matches the original script about half the time. The other half of the time they’re either toning down references to death, or going off-script entirely, calling each other “Goggle Head” and referencing TK’s “fancy hat.”

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Miyako: Let them fight? What’s that supposed to mean?
Iori: I don’t know, but there must be a meaning to it.
Yolei: Leave it to boys to think they have to fight to become friends!
Cody: Well, I think the best way to make friends is over a good game of checkers!

Lord, Cody’s hobbies are even more geriatric than his voice.

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The scene ends with Matt telling everyone to blow into the sail to try and make the rail car go faster, and everyone apparently complying.

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Tentomon: So the Kaiser has made it this far.
Tentomon: That’s either the biggest sundial I’ve ever seen, or that’s one of the Digimon Emperor’s Control Spires!

Have you never seen one before in all this time? I thought you lived in that tree where SkullGreymon blew one up.

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Yamato: That Crest…
Daisuke: Should we check it out?
Miyako: Let’s do it.
Yolei: Who could have carved that?!
TK: Someone with a really big chisel?

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Matt: It kinda looks like my Crest of Friendship…

“Kind of”? I know it’s been a while, but jeez.

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Matt: …but why would someone go through the trouble of carving it into the side of a wall?

Well, what else were they going to use that really big chisel for?

But seriously, Cody just said the Digi-Egg was nearby. You can’t put two and two together?

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[Regarding the Digi-Egg of Friendship]
Kari: It looks like a flip-flop with a bent nail in it!

That’s still a better description than an egg.

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The original continues the theme of Taichi and Yamato defining their friendship through the fights they’ve had that made them closer. In the dub, they make jokes about the egg being part of a popularity contest, where the number of friends you have may make you more or less worthy of the Egg’s power.

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Miyako wonders if there are more Chosen Children out there, since there’s an extra egg, and all of the new kids have one. Yamato wonders if it’s for him, putting him in the same position as Takeru and Hikari. Yolei thinks it’s a trap by the Digimon Emperor, an idea Matt dismisses because it has the Crest of Friendship on it (okay?).

The montage of the kids trying to lift the egg always gave me anxiety when I was watching it for the first time because of how careless they were. If the thing managed to move, that spike would go straight through their eye.

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Daisuke: The Digimental of Friendship, huh?
Taichi: Daisuke, your turn.
Daisuke: I don’t think it’s mine.
Yamato: Why?
Daisuke: Because, this is the Digimental of Friendship, right? And I have no idea what Friendship is!
Davis: I think you guys are going about this all wrong.
Tai: So, you think you can lift it up?
Davis: Yeah, you just have to use physics!
Matt: What do you mean?
Davis: You see, in physics, there’s this little thing called “equilibrium.” When you have two “libriums” that weigh the same, you have equilibrium!
Tai: That makes perfect sense to me!

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Daisuke goes on to explain that he didn’t understand why they were willing to fight Agumon, or why Taichi and Yamato fought in the name of friendship, and this is why he didn’t feel like the Digimental could be for him. Which makes sense.

Davis backpedals, saying he doesn’t actually understand physics and usually leaves it to professors, scientists, and Izzy, which explains why he doesn’t understand physics.

JEEZ!

You’re gonna put an eye out, you two!

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Flymon’s wings make a screeching sound in the original. In the dub, it’s just a loud flapping.

Narrator: Flymon! Adult level virus. Flies at high speeds with its large wings and uses its Howling Noise to numb sense of hearing. Its special attack is Deadly Sting!
Armadillomon: It’s Flymon! The only thing worse than his Deadly Sting attack is the noise he makes when attacking! When I hear him coming, I usually just dig a hole until he blows over.

Weren’t you just born?

The dub retains the Japanese attack name Deadly Sting when it had been localized as Brown Stingers in the first season.

Holy crap, they actually used Fire Rocket correctly for once!

What’s with that goofy kata Miyako does before evolving Hawkmon?

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The screeching noise starts up again when Flymon wills it in the original. In the dub, nothing changes, so it’s not immediately clear why the kids are suddenly holding their ears. Same thing happens when the sound fades away and the kids stop holding their ears.

Half done.

Apparently Takeru is amazingly fast. He’s almost outrunning Fladramon and Holsemon while chasing after Patamon.

Flymon doesn’t speak in the original. In the dub, he sounds like a clown.

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TK calls the Dark Spiral “more Dark Rings.”

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[The Emperor holds up a Dark Spiral while Patamon is captured nearby, while also standing on the still-captured MetalGreymon]
Taichi: What’s he going to do with that?!
Kari: What has he got planned?!

I HAVE NO EARTHLY IDEA, VERY SMART SIBLINGS. NOT A CLUE AT ALL.

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Dub Ken says he plans to enslave Patamon so he can do his laundry one piece at a time.

He’s going to capture a Digimon that can Digivolve into one of the three Celestial Digimon, and he’s going to use a Dark Spiral to do it… so he can make the Rookie Patamon do laundry.

Okay.

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Takeru and Daisuke fight again at this point, and the dub’s earlier change compounds here. Takeru yells at Daisuke for not taking action, implying that even if Patamon is hurt, that’s a better outcome than his being enslaved by Ken. In the dub, TK says Davis should use himself as bait to help separate Patamon from the Emperor (not sure how that’s supposed to work, but whatever…), meaning more of the core story of this episode is lost. Davis argues back that TK’s hat is more expendable than he is.

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Most of Garurumon’s dialogue is left out of the dub, replaced by other characters’ lines, or just random growling. But then they give MetalGreymon lines he didn’t have in the original.

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Holsmon: Damn it!
Taichi: It’s alright, Holsmon! Don’t worry!
Tai: You hurt him!
Halsemon: Sorry.
Tai: You did what you had to do. Don’t worry about it.

If he shouldn’t be worried, then why did you so accusingly shout “You hurt him”?

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V-Mon: Are we just going to run away from MetalGreymon?
Daisuke: No… at this rate, we’ll all get killed!
Veemon: How can you just stand there and let him try to hurt me?!
Davis: Lay off! What do you want?! I don’t want to hurt anybody!

JERKWAD SUPREME. Jeez Davis is such a tool.

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The dub keeps referring to the Dark Spiral as multiple Dark Rings, like when Matt says, “We’re going to try one more time to remove those Dark Rings from your arm!” Even though they’ve all seen that it’s one single object, not multiple ones.

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The fact that Davis says “TK” in his internal monologue shows he gets the name wrong on purpose.

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All the dialogue in the dub is more confrontational and angry than the original.

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Daisuke’s dramatic proclamation of “I’m so pathetic!” is changed to “Veemon, I’m your friend!” This activates the Digimental of Friendship, which means it’s 250% cheesier in the dub when it happens.

Lighdramon becomes Raidramon in the dub. The title Storm of Friendship is retained.

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Narrator: Lighdramon! A Beast Digimon who faces his opponents with lightning speed. His special attacks are Lightning Blade and Blue Thunder.
Raidramon: I am Raidramon! As Veemon, I use the Digi-Egg of Friendship to Armor Digivolve! My Blue Thunder and Electric Bite attacks annihilate my enemies!

Lightning Blade was already taken and Andromon threatened to sue, so…

The text in the evolution sequence was altered to reflect the American names.

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Holy crap, that gasping wheeze noise Ken made in the dub when Raidramon showed up. Dude, see a doctor! Get an inhaler!

Is it too soon to make COVID-19 jokes?

Davis’ hesitation takes longer to resolve in the dub by a few lines, so they end up cramming his entire epiphany into a much shorter space, making it sound Speed Racer-esque rushed.

Change into Power starts playing, but it’s so abrupt it caught me off guard. That said, it is one of the better songs they made for the series, so I’m not mad about it.

Raidramon doesn’t call out “Electric Bite!” when he attacks the Dark Spiral, while his counterpart in Japanese called the attack name out.

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Agumon: That [hug] hurts!
Taichi: Agumon… it’s great to have you back!
Agumon: I came back to you, Taichi!
Taichi: Yeah! Be careful from now on, okay?! I was really worried about you!
Agumon: Taichi!
Tai: I’m sorry we attacked you, Agumon!
Agumon: I’m sorry, too!
Tai: I’m sorry that you’re sorry!
Agumon: Well, I’m sorry that you’re sorry that I’m sorry!
Tai: I’ll tell you what. I won’t be sorry anymore… and you don’t be sorry either, okay?
Agumon: Sorry!

No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I watched this episode.

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Daisuke’s paralysis as he processes what happened is changed to his apparently being sick in the dub, complete with noises coming from him that sound like he’s trying to pass a gallstone.

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Wormmon points out in the original that its the Chosen Children’s friendship that led to the new evolution and their victory, an observation that enrages Ken. In the dub, Wormmon whines that he wants to drive (the Airdramon?), and Ken shouts at him for talking while he’s thinking, and adds that he’s always thinking, so he should never talk.