Digimon Frontier S01E26

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Gear’s Notes (2021): It bears mentioning that my stance on the dub has softened a bit since this was written, especially since I started comparing Data Squad. The writers, despite getting a lot of blame from me, are really not to blame for the train wreck that the dub can be. Between Nimoy & Buchholz dealing with the executive meddling in Zero-Two and the way writers like Walther created great episodes of Data Squad, it’s clear that the power to create a good dub is not always in the writers’ hands. I try to minimize how many updates these comparisons get to be true to my original feelings, but know going forward that my feelings have evolved over time to realize that some of the harshness is unnecessary, or at minimum, is misdirected.

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Gear’s Notes (2009): The title is only the start of the unbeelievably long list of bee-puns that this episode will make. In fact, just for you loyal and bee-loved readers, I will number them throughout the episode, and see how many we come up with. Today’s episode was written by: Seth Walther. I’m sorry, but this entire dub episode was a train wreck topped with a helicopter crash (but for dub purposes, it was a freight train that was automatically driven, and the pilot of the helicopter bailed out with a parachute before he crashed, and therefore managed to get to safety. Oh, and all the surrounding neighborhoods were evacuated beforehand.) We will definitely have some issues with stupid dialogue in this episode, especially since it is a Ranamon vs. Kazemon (country vs. city) episode, and bee-cause bee puns are easy to make. (At least they weren’t Egg-stravagantly egg-cellent egg puns.)

Zoey unwittingly comes across a group of HoneyBeemon, Rookie-level Digimon smitten with, and working in service of, Ranamon. They attempt to trap Zoe and steal her Spirits of Wind, but they bungle every attempt to the point where they are captured, and Zoey ends up freeing them. This goes on for a while until the HoneyBeemon realize that Zoe is a good person, and their loyalty to Ranamon is strained when she shows up to fight. Ranamon takes advantage of Zoe’s self-doubt due to her inability to make friends easily. But when the HoneyBeemon abandon Ranamon’s Fan Club to root for Zoe, the tides turn, and Zephyrmon defeats Calmaramon, scanning both her human and beast spirits to end her threat once and for all.

The others continue to battle inside Sakkakumon, but JP and Zoe are permitted to escape and rejoin Tommy and the Comic Relief Squad.

The original version seems to have randomly decided to add in this advertisement screen for Bandai, Shounen Jump, and NEC after the opening credits, having never done that before. Needless to say, this was not included in the dub.

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Both versions of the episode seem to give a direct reference to the Snow White fairy tale, in which the evil queen asks the magical mirror who the fairest in the land is. I wonder if this is a well-known story in Japan.

The dub recycled about two extra shots into the opening scene with Mercurymon and Ranamon. This was probably done, first and foremost, to add time to the overall episode length, and secondly to accommodate Mercurymon’s rather verbose manner of speaking in the dub.

Ranamon: Fairymon, Shutumon?! How dare you say those things?! 
Ranamon: She’ll go from the fairest to the foulest faster than you can whistle Dixie!

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Mercuremon and Mercurymon have slightly different characterizations between the two versions, which I should have mentioned earlier, I suppose. Mercurymon (dub) tends to be more insulting and abusive to those around him, to say the least, than Mercuremon is in the original.

A good example in this episode is right after Ranamon leaves from their conversation. Mercuremon comments on how it will be a battle between two female Digimon. Mercurymon gloats that regardless of who wins (his ally Ranamon, or his foe Kazemon), he will have one less problem to deal with.

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Bokomon: Since you got out safely, what will you do?
Neemon: What will we do? 
Bokomon: Hopefully they’ll manage to make it out in one piece.
Neemon: A piece of what?

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Izumi: Where is everyone?
Zoe: If you yell in a forest and no one is around to hear you, is there really any point in yelling at all?

No, and the same goes for asking yourself stupid questions. Then again, even if someone was around to hear that, there still wouldn’t be a point.

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Honeybeemon: That girl! Ranamon said she was going to meet her! 
Honeybeemon: I can’t bee-lieve what I’m bee-holding!

Two.

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Honeybeemon: Ranamon-sama doesn’t usually show her unchanging strength. 
Honeybeemon: It’s bee-yond me that anyone could bee so bee-astly to our bee-loved!

Six.

Narrator: Honeybeemon. Super-fast bug-type Digimon. 
Ophanimon: The Honeybeemon’s speed makes them dangerous; luckily, they’re not so swift upstairs.

In case you were wondering, Honeybeemon is the Armor Digivolved form of both Fanbeemon and Veemon using the Digi-Egg of Knowledge. That’s why Izzy/Cody’s crest is on their foreheads.

Izumi: Here you go. (Places bandage on girl’s foot)
Girl: Thank you! 
Zoe: Here, try this. (Places bandage on girl’s foot)
Girl: That feels great!

I thought after the age of six, kids stopped thinking band-aids had magical healing properties that made pain go away. Her foot should still hurt.

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Izumi: Because I came here from Italy, I never was able to have friends in school. 
Zoe: Those girls have been mean to me ever since I came back from Italy.

In the original, its implied that Izumi was originally from Italy and moved to Japan. In the dub, it’s implied that she was in Japan before going to Italy, then returned to Japan later.

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Extra inner monologue added to Zoe’s flashback where there originally was silence. It wasn’t very well done, either.

Zoe: She seemed so nice, too…oh well, time to go find the others.

It doesn’t flow well, it was smashed up together because it had to fit in a small space, and the way she changed the subject to finding the others didn’t sound natural.

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Honeybeemon: Hehe, with this cage, she’ll be captured. 
Honeybeemon: Bee prepared. When she’s bee-neath the cage…hey! She’s making a bee-line for the other path!

Nine.

In the original, the Honeybeemon’s trap wouldn’t work, and that’s why Izumi passed by unscathed. In the dub, she took an alternate path (that apparently was invisible) and the trap disengaged on its own on the Honeybeemon.

Fanbeemon: Yes, somehow… 
Fanbeemon: If you’d bee so kind!

Ten.

Zoe to Kazemon evolution sequence was lengthened.

Honeybeemon: Wow! That’s cool!! 
Honeybeemon: Unbee-lievable! 

Eleven.

Remember when Kazemon first appeared, and her Arido Anca was localized into How ’bout a little love tap? She didn’t yell out an attack name when she used the technique in this episode, so I had to use the Digimon wikia to confirm that the attack’s name was Love Tap. I think it’s possible that the dub wants to cut out this attack name altogether, however, because I bee-lieve she’s used it bee-fore without it bee-ing named. I guess they didn’t think it was all that appropriate.

And no, I’m not counting my own stupid puns towards the episode’s count.

Honeybeemon: Yes, yes! Thank you very much! 
Honeybeemon: I don’t know what would have bee-come of us!

Twelve.

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Honeybeemon: We failed!
Honeybeemon 2: What have we done?
Honeybeemon 3: Alright, this time for sure! 
Honeybeemon: Can you bee-lieve her?
Honeybeemon 2: Bee-ing all phony about caring!
Honeybeemon 3: She’ll bee sorry!

Fifteen.

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Honeybeemon: A little bad luck, and she’ll be stuck!
Honeybeemon 2: Eh? She’s here already! 
Honeybeemon: This web will catch her before she can bee-lieve it!
Honeybeemon 2: I don’t bee-lieve it! Here she comes!

Seventeen.

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Honeybeemon: Thank you for last time. Being here is a complete hazard! 
Honeybeemon: Bee-trayed by our own trap!

First of all, she can hear you. Or at least, she should be able to. Secondly, that’s eighteen.

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Honeybeemon: Sorry. Thank you for every time you’ve saved us. 
Honeybeemon: We owe you bee-yond a mere thanks!

Nineteen.

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Honeybeemon: Why does she keep helping us? 
Honeybeemon: Bee-fore long, she’ll want to enslave us!

Twenty.

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Silence 
Takuya: Where am I? And where is everyone else? Man, this world takes confusion to a whole new level.

Narrator: Parrotmon. A powerful bird-type Digimon that abruptly attacks with its sharp talons. 
Ophanimon: If he doesn’t get you with his razor-sharp claws, Parrotmon will defeat you with his Sonic Destroyer attack.

Takuya to Agunimon evolution sequence lengthened.

Parrotmon speaks in the dub, calling out his attack. He does not do this in the original.

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Silence 
Agunimon: How’s that for a hot foot?

Hot talon. Or claw. Whichever. But not foot.

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Agnimon: Impure evil spirit, this Digivice will purify! 
Agunimon: Alright, Bird-Brain! Time to put you back in your cage!

Yeah, because the bee jokes weren’t bad enough.

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Speaking of:

Honeybeemon 2: Please have some honeybee drink! 
Honeybeemon: Bee-fore that, try some honey ice!

This is bee-coming excruciating. Twenty-one.

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Honeybeemon: Is it delicious? 
Honeybeemon: It’s our most bee-loved drink!

Twenty-two.

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Honeybeemon: Please go ahead and start eating! 
Honeybeemon: Just bee sure to have some ice bee-fore you get too full, I bee-seech you!

Twenty-five.

The dub added in an extra shot of Zoe and the Honeybeemon talking before the ‘honey ice’ was stuffed in his face.

Honeybeemon: Thank goodness! Please go on ahead and keep eating! Ranamon-sama…oof!
Honeybeemon 2: We truly don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t saved us those number of times! 
Honeybeemon: Don’t bee afraid it is going to make you fat, that’s what Ranamon–oof!
Honeybeemon 2: Thanks again for bailing us out of everything that bee-fell us!

Twenty-seven.

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Honeybeemon: Please, have the honey cake, too! 
Honeybeemon: If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t even bee here!

Twenty-eight.

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Apparently, Zoe snores.

Ranamon: The others in the fan club will laugh at you when you are kicked out for failure! 
Ranamon: Just a word to the wise, Honey. Mess this up, and you’re out of the fan club!

NO! NOT THAT!!!

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Izumi’s gasp after eating the apple echoed and made the whole scene sound sinister. Zoe sounded like she just choked on the apple.

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The mean girls in Zoe’s nightmare have that same ‘valley girl’ thing going on with their voices. Are they in Japan or California?

Junpei: I can’t see a thing! Which way should I go? Where did everybody go?! 
JP: Man, I would kill for a cheeseburger! Actually, knowing this world and my luck, I’d probably get eaten by a cheeseburger…

Just because he’s overweight doesn’t mean he eats all the time, Disney!

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Junpei: I guess I’m a little hungry! 
JP: Those are better than a cheeseburger, ’cause they’re actually here!

Narrator: Jureimon. Woodmon’s evolved form. It is very wise and powerful, a professional-looking Digimon. 
Ophanimon: Cherrymon evolved from Woodmon. He’s like Woodmon’s older, bigger, and much meaner brother.

Professional? Maybe it was mistranslated? I can’t picture Jureimon in a suit, tie, and briefcase.

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Jureimon’s Cherry Bomb (which wasn’t called out in the original) becomes Cherrymon’s Cherry Blast. This is also inconsistent, because in another season (maybe Data Squad? Can’t remember), it’s localized as Pit Pelter.

I’m starting to get tired of making all these boxes, but the JP to Beetlemon evolution sequence is lengthened in the dub, as usual.

Jureimon doesn’t talk, but Cherrymon is a smart-mouth.

Aah! It happened again, and now my head hurts…this time it’s actually the Japanese version’s fault. The original had Beetlemon yelling Mjolnir Thunder (Proton Slam) when he should have called out Thor Hammer (Thunder Fist), and Thor Hammer instead of Mjolnir Thunder. The dub…tried to correct it, by changing it to Thunder Fist, which is correct, and Lightning Blitz when it should have been Proton Slam. I hope you followed all that, because I gave up halfway through re-reading it.

Blitzmon: Spirit without meaning; be purified by my thunder! 
Beetlemon: Looks like someone’s hungry for some purification pie! And I’m just the guy to pass out the plates!

Why be melodramatic when you can make fat jokes instead?

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Silence 
JP: Aw, I can’t eat that! Wait, maybe it’s a way out!

Obviously, someone at Disney has it out for heavier people.

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Junpei: Tomoki! Bokomon! Neemon! 
Neemon: That was a bad idea…

Considering how JP landed on top of Tommy and Neemon like that, I actually have to say the English line was better. With all the bad dialogue in this episode, they had to have at least one good line, statistically speaking.

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Neemon: Did you bring me a present?

All good things must come to an end, I’m afraid…

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The original had Ranamon accusing Izumi of being weak and ugly, both on the inside and outside. The dub changed it to her not having any real friends, making her internal struggle remarkably similar to JP and Tommy’s.

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Izumi starts yelling that she wants to be nicer, and it shows on her face that she’s yelling. Zoe, however, just quietly and calmly says that she will stop being cruel back to people who are cruel to her, so her words don’t match her face at all.

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Silence 
Kazemon: It’s not!

I see Kazemon has gained the ability to talk while her head is underwater. Maybe I should add that to a Digimon Analyzer box.

Hm. I fear Zephyrmon’s originally great voice from her first episode is gone for good. Now Zephyrmon, Kazemon, and Zoe all sound exactly the same.

Calmaramon: It’s time I clipped your wings for good!

And another bird joke bites the dust.

A flash impact screen blocked out Calmaramon’s attack on Shutumon.

Bokomon: They’re still in there! 
Bokomon: I’m afraid the eyes have them!