Digimon Data Squad S01E04

Marcus and Thomas’ first outing as a team ends in disaster as they fail to coordinate to capture a rogue Numemon, and Lalamon must come to their rescue. Commander Sampson refuses to budge from his order, and the two come into conflict over a Drimogemon that has bonded with a pair of bank robbers, who are using him to break into vaults and ATMs. Thomas and Marcus both attempt to fight Drimogemon, but their attacks cancel each other out, allowing the Digimon to escape back to the Digital World. Frustrated by his inability to work with Marcus, Thomas sneaks into DATS headquarters in the middle of the night and uses the Digital Dive to enter the Digital World himself to hunt down the rogue Digimon.

Agumon: Numemon like dark places.
Agumon: Wow, nothing gets past you, does it Boss?

Inserted humor, whereas in the original, Agumon was making a legitimate observation.

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Yoshino: Cleaning up after this will be tough…
Yoshi: Can the chatter and move in. We have a job to do!

I think the dub is trying to make Yoshi out to be the leader of the team. She’s four years older than Marcus or Thomas, so it makes sense. Unfortunately, it proves to not be easy to give Yoshino a purpose.

The entire premise of this episode is a little shaky. Commander Sampson made Marcus and Thomas “partners,” meaning they have to work together… except there are only three field agents in DATS Japan, and Yoshi still goes with them on missions. So how exactly does this change the dynamic?

That also raises the question of why they allowed Thomas to leave DATS Japan in the first place. If Thomas and Yoshi were the only two field agents they had, and Yoshi is the most easily defeated Tamer in Digimon history, how did the organization survive for two months?

Tohma: Velocity at +2 with a movement rate of 0.6.
Thomas: Picking up movement. It’s heading this way.

Lord, Tohma talks like Izzy from Adventure. Velocity at +2? Is that with the Helm of Velocity, or was that bonus from a feat he took at level 12?

But seriously, velocity is speed with direction calculated in. So… why is his speed 0.6 (and I ask, 0.6 what) and his velocity +2… what, degrees? Latitude/Longitude? In which direction? I hate expospeak gag, and I’m pretty surprised it was the original doing it, while the dub corrected it.

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Tohma: Gaomon, move three meters to the left and await orders.
Thomas: Take a forward position and await orders.

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Marcus and Thomas have to know they screwed up if Lalamon’s the one who saves them.

Tohma: Are you just going to keep insulting me?
Masaru: So what if I do?
Marcus: I know how to take you down!
Thomas: Don’t make me laugh! You couldn’t take down notes!

XD

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Masaru: Stop flirting with him!
Marcus: GO.

…maybe that’s an error in the subs, but did Masaru really think his baby sister was flirting with Tohma?

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Thief 2: Okay, I’ll get this door open real quick!
Thief 2: Wow, can it get me a date, too?
Thief 1: It doesn’t do the impossible! Just open the door.

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That was not a particularly good digi-paint job.

In the original, Thief 2 calls Thief 1 “Aniki,” much like Agumon does to Masaru. This isn’t included in the dub.

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In the original, Drimogemon repeats random words the thieves say. In the dub, he forms complete sentences on his own. His dub voice is really unpleasant to listen to.

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Tohma: I think while they were hacking the bank’s security system, a gate to the Digital World opened up by pure coincidence.
Thomas: Hacking into the bank’s security system must’ve accidentally opened a gate to the Digital World, and the Digimon simply came through it.

Weird change. The plot of Savers is that the wall between the Digital and Human worlds is breaking down, allowing for more movement between the two. Tohma thinks the gate was random, while Thomas thinks the device opened the gate. It seems like a more significant change than it actually is, though.

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Gaomon’s Rolling Upper is retained.

Lalamon’s Sing a Song is retained as well.

Yoshino: Please take care of the transportation arrangements so they can have their memories erased at HQ.

You have the Men in Black ripoff portable memory eraser. Why do you have to drag them back to base just to OH MY GOD TOHMA IS GOING TO BEAT THEM TO DEATH.

Gaomon’s Gao Rush becomes Speed Bag in the dub.

Gaogamon’s Dash Double Claw is retained.

Both versions seem to portray the disagreement between Marcus and Thomas as being balanced, that Marcus’ lack of discipline and Thomas’ strict adherence to strategy are equally to blame for the debacle. And while it’s possible that if one of them wasn’t involved the other could have handled the situation, I gotta say I sympathize more with Thomas. It’s a little frustrating how the show treats their problem.

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Wait, Yoshino is working overnight, too? DATS has to be staffed 24 hours? No wonder she’s so useless in battle. She’s the only one old enough to work the night shift, and she’s working the day shift, too?!

Does Japan have a Workforce Commission or something? Seriously, DATS needs to be reported to every watchdog agency in the country.

Yoshino: I’ve been working since early morning yesterday, too. Being on-duty is rough.
Lalamon: At least I’m here with you!
Yoshi: Man this has been a dull shift. Not that I’m complaining about having a little downtime.
Lalamon: Sounds like that’s exactly what you’re doing!

Yoshi’s shadiness is rubbing off on her partner, apparently.

How long was Tohma just lying in wait for Yoshino to fall for the door trick? And why wait so long, anyway?