Digimon Data Squad S01E24

Keenan fights off Agumon to stop the fight between Marcus and Merukimon. He explains that he now understands that he is human, and that through his connection with Falcomon and the Data Squad, he believes humans and Digimon can coexist. Kurata reveals himself at this time, brushing off Keenan’s assertion as a joke, saying that a Digimon’s only purpose is to kill humans. Merukimon recognizes Kurata and accuses Marcus of betraying him by bringing in the man who killed Keenan’s Digi-mother, Frigimon. He explains that Kurata brought shock troops that deleted Digimon data permanently in an unprovoked invasion.

Kurata counters by saying they were attacked when they first arrived. His own account includes Spencer Damon claiming that Kurata was the one who instigated the event, but his attempts to shoot a Lynxmon with his gun spooked nearby Gomamon, one of which evolved into Ikakkumon on the spot and attacked, nearly killing the team. They fled to the Infinite Ice Ridge, only to be attacked by SaberLeomon. Cornered in a cave, Kurata activated the Space Oscillation Device to force open a Digital Gate. He claims that this was the only way to escape the vicious SaberLeomon… but also that all Digimon are vicious, and must be destroyed.

Merukimon continues the story, saying that Spencer Damon stayed behind as the others escaped, battling SaberLeomon with his DNA-charged punches. Once the latter was defeated, Merukimon stepped into fight. When their fight ended with a draw, the two explained their positions to one another. Merukimon sent Spencer to seek out King Drasil for help in his plan to unify humans and Digimon. Merukimon built his throne where the Digi-Gate was to keep Digimon from falling through into the human world. Kurata would later attack, bringing his Gizumon – artificial Digimon that can delete a Digimon’s data to the core, leaving no egg behind. He launched a full scale invasion, killing unknown numbers of Digimon before Merukimon intervened, destroying the Gizumon in a single strike. Kurata fled in terror through another Digi-Gate. Frigimon was killed in the attack, galvanizing Keenan’s hatred of humans (despite Frigimon pleading for him not to).

With the Data Squad surrounded by his gun-wielding troops, Kurata summons a Gizumon: AT (a more advanced model of Gizumon), which fires a shot that kills Merukimon.

Narrator: Yukidarumon – an Adult Level Digimon made up of snow and ice. Although appearing cold on the outside, she actually has a warm, gentle personality, and dislikes fighting.
Miki: Frigimon – A Champion Level Digimon made entirely of snow and ice. But don’t let her frosty exterior fool you – inside, this pacifist has a warm and gentle heart.

That might be one of the most exact analyzer readings we’ve ever had.

In the dub, Agumon makes fun of Keenan’s unique speech patterns. This is absent in the original.

Keenan: Me don’t care!
Agumon: Well me do!

---

Ikuto: I wasn’t really a Digimon, right? I’m human, right?
Keenan: Me not afraid to stand up to you! Me not let you fight friends!

Bear in mind that I still can’t tell if Ikuto’s Japanese has actually improved, or if the subs just don’t reflect his earlier bad grammar, so try not to judge the line based on that. I’m listing it because Keenan seems to be a lot more aggressive than Ikuto when talking to Merukimon.

---

In the original, Merukimon recognizes Kurata on sight. In the dub, he demands to know who “all these intruders” are until after the flashback.

The exploration squad, save for Keenan’s parents and Kurata, are introduced on screen. The dub version leaves some of the more detailed information about their titles.

Two scenes of Kurata firing his gun at a Lynxmon (and I want you to appreciate how long it took me to find this otherwise unnamed and very obscure Armor Level Digimon for you) are cut from the dub.

The dub kept the first off-screen gunshot sound, and referred to Kurata’s gun as a “weapon” out loud.

Kurata’s Space-Time Oscillation Bomb is localized as the Space Oscillation Device in the dub. At least it didn’t become a Space Oscillation Orange.

…but it would have been better if it did.

A slash-impact screen is used to cover Spencer’s eyeball punch on SaberLeomon.

Mercurimon: Why have you stepped onto the sacred grounds of the Digital World?
Suguru: Because an unknown wind was blowing here.
Merukimon: Now tell me, human, why have you and your kind come and invaded the Digital World?
Spencer: We’re not invading, we’re here to study and look for a lost child!

Suguru, there’s a time and place for metaphor. This isn’t it.

---

In the original, Suguru says he has a son Masaru, and that’s it. In the dub, he mentions both Marcus and Kristy. Since Suguru never returned from his expedition, Chika would already have to have been conceived by this point. That means he didn’t mention Chika because she wasn’t born yet, or he just forgot he had a daughter.

The “god” of the Digital World, Yggdrasil, is localized as “King Drasil” in the dub. This controversial change was upheld in future English adaptations, including the Cyber Sleuth series.

Mercurimon calls Yggdrasil “God,” saying “You can feel God, but cannot see His form.” The dub keeps the latter part, saying that King Drasil cannot be seen, but only felt, but all references to a god are removed.

---

Mercurimon says that Digimon who entered the human world were turned into Digi-Eggs and sent back to the Digital World by DATS, but he does so as a matter of fact. In the dub, he says that it’s “unfortunate” that DATS did this, and that the Digimon were attacked even if they weren’t a threat. It’s a weird change, since it kinda conflicts with the story – the treaty the humans and Digimon put together was that DATS would do this, since reverting a Digimon to an egg doesn’t kill it.

A few shots were reordered and removed, mostly to avoid letting the audience directly see the flamethrowers being used in the dub.

Also, the dub added laser sound effects to the flamethrowers for some reason.

Then a few shots of Deputymon are cut.

The beam was painted over so it didn’t look like it went through Frigimon. Weird change.

In case you were curious, that actually IS a lollipop Kurata’s got, not a censored cigarette.

In Japanese, the artificial Digimon Kurata creates is called Gizmon, but it’s pronounced Gi-Zu-Mon. The dub spells it Gizumon.