Digimon Data Squad S01E14

Before Marcus, Thomas, and Yoshi can make a plan to go to the Digital World, Commander Sampson stops them, saying he has information they need to know… not just about the Digital World and Merukimon, but about Marcus’ father and his disappearance a decade ago.

Marcus’ father Spencer was the leader of an expedition into the Digital World to investigate the disappearance of humans into another dimension. They faced intense danger, and the rest of the team only escaped with their lives because Spencer stayed behind to give the others a chance to escape. Since then, his fate is unknown.

Marcus confronts his mother, who admits to having known about Spencer’s trip to the Digital World and about the existence of Digimon. She kept it a secret from Marcus to prevent him from trying to go there himself, but Marcus is set on this plan, determined to defeat Merukimon and find his missing father. He promises he will return.

The next day, the group travels to the Digital World and are immediately attacked by a young boy and the Falcomon from before. The boy destroys all their equipment and rations, then Digivolves Falcomon to Peckmon. The guardian of the forest Cherrymon orders everyone to stop fighting, but neither side is listening. Gotsumon shows up and begins to drop rocks on everyone, and Cherrymon, who is sheltering a small group of Fresh-level Digimon beneath his roots, can’t protect them. DATS works together to stop the falling boulders and protect the Digimon. Seeing RizeGreymon and the Nyokimon’s response to him, Peckmon convinces his partner to retreat.

To thank them, Cherrymon tells DATS that Merukimon can be found in the Infinite Ice Ridge, and points them in that direction. He also tells them that Merukimon controls a Digi-Gate, which they could use to get home. The group sets off, not sure what to expect.

If you were to miss the previous two episodes and go straight off the recap, both versions would have you believe that RizeGreymon was a response to Merukurimon, not Aquilamon. The entire Biyomon plot is omitted from both recaps.

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In the original, the team that traveled to the Digital World ten years prior to the start of the series were experts in various fields gathered by Japan’s Ministry of Confidentiality. In the dub, they’re described as the first DATS agents. Both are technically correct in the long-term, but the team wasn’t DATS when they first journeyed to the Digital World; DATS would eventually spawn from them.

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Satsuma makes it clear he was part of that team from the beginning, using the first person collective (words like “we,” “us,” and “our” but in Japanese) to describe how “Our group met with severe difficulties,” and how the government “sent us to investigate the Digital World.” Sampson always refers to the agents in third person, not revealing his personal involvement until later in the conversation.

Masaru’s father Suguru Daimon becomes Marcus’ father Spencer Damon in the dub. He’s referred to as a Professor in the original, but not in the dub.

The conversation in the Damon home goes very differently in the two versions, and I can’t discern exactly why, since this series has been very faithful to the script so far.

Sayuri: Yes. It’s true that Suguru-san was the leading man in Digimon research. He was always looking for a way to allow humans and Digimon to live together in peace.
Masaru: So you knew. You knew everything.
Agumon: That’s why you weren’t surprised when you saw me.
Sayuri: I never had any intention of hiding it. But I thought if you knew the truth, Masaru, you would also disappear into the Digital World…
Masaru: I’m not going anywhere! I’m sure Dad will come back someday too, got it?
Sarah: Marcus… so you found out about your father’s mission into the Digital World, huh? I don’t know what else to tell you… except that I miss him.
Marcus: So you knew about this? All along?
Agumon: Trapped in another world without any way of getting home!
Sarah: You can see why I was worried about you, Marcus. I just don’t want to end up losing you like I lost him, and that’s why I hope that you’re not entertaining any notions of going to the Digital World.
Marcus: If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it! Dad’s still stuck over there somewhere, and I want to get him back! Don’t you?!

The rest of the conversation goes the same in both versions. So the dub doesn’t mention that his father was a researcher or a professor, they don’t acknowledge that Sayuri’s calmness around Agumon was foreshadowing, and Masaru is more concerned with his mother’s feelings, while Marcus wants to do what’s right by his father. Strange minor changes that don’t seem to have any real impact yet.

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[When discussing the classified files and events surrounding Suguru/Spencer]

Gaomon: This smells dangerous.
Tohma: Still… it’s worth checking out.
Gaomon: He was such a great man… why didn’t they try harder to help him? It seems strange.
Thomas: Let’s dig deeper.

The dub goes down the rabbit hole of conspiracies… that doesn’t really go anywhere.

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Yoshino’s mom can’t be heard on the other line in the original. In the dub, it sounds like she’s voiced by Melodee Spevack, who voiced Birdramon in Digimon Adventure. She’s such a minor character though, she’s not listed on the Wikis. The credits don’t list her either, and she might be the only voiceover artist in two worlds not to have a Twitter so I can’t ask directly.

But trust me, it sounds like Melodee Spevack.

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So the devices Miki and Megumi give the DATS team are different in the dub… and dumber.

Megumi: This is a Digimon Radar, which will be sent with everything else in one container. It’ll tell you the general area where Merukurimon is.
Megumi: We have some super cool gadgets for you guys to take with you on this mission. This smaller one will capture a Digimon’s data!

Capture it… how? There’s no fractal code to scan like in Frontier, and Digimon don’t absorb each other’s data like in Tamers.

Megumi: This one is a long-range communicator. Use it to give us regular updates.
Megumi: And this one emits a shock, which should help keep Merukimon away if you run into him!

…uhm? There’s a lot wrong with that.

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1. That’s a phone. We can all see it. It’s very clearly a large phone.
2. Merukimon blew everyone off their feet with the wind from his hand sweeping. And you think they can just… shock him. With a phone.
3. THAT’S A PHONE.

The next device, called “Transmission Markers” by Miki in the original, are called something like “Denso Markers,” or “Dencil Markers,” which I’m not sure about, only because no such thing exists. However they serve the same purpose: to notify DATS of their location when they’re ready to return to the Human World.

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Upon arrival, Masaru starts acting smug because this was his second trip to the Digital World, thus making him an “expert” compared to Yoshino. The dub tones this down a bit, with Marcus saying that even though the Digital World is weird, they deal with weird every day, so this is nothing special. Yoshi’s annoyed response was adorably funny in the dub.

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Earlier, Satsuma specifically refers to the DATS field team as children with boundless potential. The dub avoids calling them children, but in both versions they act goofy and childish, particularly when it comes to the lunches Marcus’ mother made for them.

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Less than two minutes in the Digital World and Yoshino gets eaten by a plant. USELESS.

The previously mentioned “Ikuto” character is this kid in rags jumping around throwing boomerangs at fried eggs. In the dub, his name is Keenan, which was an unpopular choice with a lot of fans. Most of the other names are at least close to their original counterparts (Masaru -> Marcus, Tohma -> Thomas, etc.), so I’m surprised they didn’t call him Isaac or something like that.

So here’s a major plot hole from the original that the dub doesn’t address. I kinda get why, since it’s a really big change, and perhaps Toei would have gotten mad, or maybe even fans would have whined about it, but… Ikuto and Keenan both speak their respective languages… badly. Ikuto speaks broken Japanese, and Keenan speaks broken English… meta-wise anyway, for all we know they’re all speaking Japanese and we’re allegedly listening in Japanese too, idk.

Point is, Ikuto and Keenan both can’t probably speak their own languages which is problematic, as everyone else around them, from Merukimon to Falcomon, speak the language just fine, so there’s no indication of where he picked this up from, or why it continued. It’s even a little worse in the dub because his Digimon partner Falcomon not only speaks fluent English, he does so in a very prim and proper manner, echoing Hawkmon from Zero-Two. So if anything, Keenan should be snooty and fluent.

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Keenan is voiced by Brianne Siddall. While many, if not most English dubs of anime tend to cast grown men to play boys with bizarre results, Siddall is very commonly cast as little boy characters. In Digimon, she’s best known as Calumon from Tamers, Tommy Himi (and all his evolutions) in Frontier, and of course, Keenan in Data Squad.

There’s a pun… kinda in the dub. Keenan refers to humans as “humon,” which I guess makes sense if your entire species (or at least what you think is your species) follows a specific naming pattern, then other species with similar names might get rolled in under that linguistic pattern.

Or I’m overthinking this and need to just get back to the comparison.

Couldn’t decide if this was a cut or a censor, so it’s… really both?

2 seconds: The scene where Masaru is screaming at Ikuto got looped to make the dialogue longer in the dub. This was done to cut a shot of multiple shuriken flying in the air toward Masaru.

…which is dumb because they kept the part where the shuriken hit the dirt.

I’d love to know what the specific mandate was to censoring the episode, because it seems completely inconsistent.

In the dub, Marcus and Falcomon speak at the same time during the cut, making it hard to hear what Marcus is saying.

Falcomon’s Uchitake Drop goes unspoken and unnamed in the dub for now.

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Lalamon’s Lala Screw becomes Lala Spiral.

Jureimon: Leave this forest at once!
Cherrymon: And if you don’t leave immediately, you’ll find my bite is much worse than my bark!

I don’t remember for sure, but I feel like they use that joke every time Cherrymon is in a season.

Consistent with previous seasons, Jureimon is now Cherrymon.

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Narrator: Jureimon! A Perfect-level Digimon that sends out a mist showing illusions. He grabs opponents with his ivy and eats them for his own nourishment.
Gaomon: Cherrymon – an Ultimate-level Digimon. He isn’t very fast on his feet, but he makes up for it with the swiftness of his lightning-fast vine attacks.

Masaru asks if Jureimon works for Merukimon. Jureimon responds that he is the master of the forest, and makes no outside alliances.

Marcus says he’ll leave if Cherrymon tells him where Merukimon is. Cherrymon then calls Merukimon the “Guardian of the Forest.”

Getting some mixed signals here, is all.

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The changes are compounding. Jureimon looks over to Ikuto and Falcomon and orders them to leave as well, and Tohma figures that if Jureimon isn’t on either side of the fight, then maybe Merukurimon doesn’t control all Digimon like they’d previously assumed.

In the dub, Cherrymon says that Merukimon’s fortress is nearby, but well-hidden, and tells them to leave, even if Merukimon himself directed them there. Then Thomas leaps to the bizarre conclusion that Merukimon is more than just a Digimon, and might control the entire Digital World, which is the exact opposite of what Tohma said.

In both versions, Ikuto/Keenan’s evolution cry is AaaAAaAAaaAAaaaAAAaaAaaaAa! Beautiful.

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Narrator: Peckmon! An Adult-level Digimon with indefatigablePersisting tirelessly walking power. His special attack is Spiral Claw. Spinning his entire body at high speed, he can pulverize the enemy with his enormous claws.
Gaomon: Peckmon – a Champion-level Digimon. This fearsome fowl can attack with its powerful legs, sharp beak, and its blisteringly-fast Spiral Claw strike!

I wish dub Gaomon had more lines in the series. His voiceover artist is superb.

Masaru: Since you don’t know, I’ll tell you…
Marcus: Listen, you grammatically challenged little brat…

XD

Masaru: …you just picked a fight with Japan’s number one street fighter!
Marcus: …you’re about to learn what happens when you challenge the best Ultimate Team in not just one world, but two!

DX

A new song plays when Masaru is evolving Agumon in the original. Lots of trumpets.

Can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but GeoGreymon’s Horn Impulse is retained.

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Peckmon’s Kunai Feathers becomes Kunai Wing in the dub.

In the original, Gotsumon calls Ikuto “bratty” and implies he’s being impulsive and defying orders. In the dub, Gotsumon just says he’s going to teach the humans a lesson.

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Narrator: Yanmamon! An Adult-level Digimon whose body is covered in a hard shell. He flies freely in the sky with the wings on his back.
Yoshi: Yanmamon, a Champion-level Digimon whose wings allow him to strike from above without warning, using his knifelike talons.

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Jureimon’s Cherry Bomb becomes Cherrymon’s Pit Pelter. I get why, but it’s a shame. Cherry Bomb is a great attack name for, you know, Cherrymon.

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Tohma: Nyokimon? They’re a Baby-level seed-type Digimon.
Thomas: Nyokimon! These guys are even below Rookie level!

It’s like the dub is trying to avoid calling them “Fresh-level” or “Baby-level.” Yes, Thomas, they’re actually two levels below Rookie.

In the original, Gotsumon is primarily trying to kill Ikuto, and everyone else in the area, to include DATS and Cherrymon, is just a bonus. In the dub, he’s after “the humans” which you’re led to believe means DATS, but it’s later revealed that he wants Keenan gone, too.

In the original, Peckmon convinces Ikuto to retreat because the Nyokimon are in the line of fire. In the dub, he says with annoyance and anger that the Nyokimon are cheering for the DATS team, so they should just get out of there.

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Masaru: Don’t worry about it. It’s true that a lot of humans are stupid, like you say. But y’know, because they’re stupid, they can get passionate about things. They can even rush forward to save strange Digimon without a second thought!
Marcus: Well, not anymore! There are some new humans in town, and we’ll help anyone who needs it, human or Digimon! …I mean us, by the way, and I guess we’re in the forest, not in town, but… we’re just here to help, okay?!

Didn’t think I’d need that in this series, but here we are.

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The DATS team knows the name Ikuto in the original, but have no idea who he is in the dub. Marcus says he doesn’t care what his name is, he just wants to know where he lives. XD

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Yoshino brings up that all their equipment is gone, so they have no way of locating Merukurimon or getting back home. In the dub, she says that getting to know the boy (Keenan) could help them understand human-Digimon relations better, and potentially could lead them to Marcus’ missing father.

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Marcus: I’m looking, but I’m not seeing!
Cherrymon: Train your eyes on the peak, the one that stands above everything else!
Marcus: *actually turns and looks for the first time*

This is another one of those things where it could just be translated differently because of the language barrier, but the subs I’m watching refer to Merukurimon’s palace as being in the Infinity Ice Ridge. The dub calls it the Infinite Ice Ridge so I’m not even sure if that’s really a change, or just a translation issue.

Gaomon: Things have become quite bothersome.
Gaomon: Sir, we still have the Denso Markers.

No you don’t. They were destroyed when Keenan attacked.

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In the original, Lalamon says walking all the way to the Infinity Ice Ridge will make “our calves fat.”

Lalamon YOU DON’T HAVE CALVES.

The dub replaces it with Yoshi complaining that Marcus will get them into trouble, with Marcus retorting, “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

I love that in the preview for the next episode in the dub, Thomas shouts, “Whatever you do, don’t get caught in their webs!” Then the sequence immediately cuts to Yoshi being dragged off by a Dokugumon, wrapped in webbing.

Because she’s USELESS.