Digimon Fusion S01E06

Surrounded by an army of Seadramon, the Fusion Fighters are faced with a difficult decision: turn over the Code Crown and DigiCards, or Archelomon dies. They debate among themselves before Mikey decides to agree to the terms, and prepares to throw the items to the Seadramon in exchange for the elder Digimon’s life.

Before he can, a portal opens. MailBirdramon and Christopher blast several of the Seadramon to prove their power before offering Mikey an alternative deal. He’ll defeat Neptunemon and his army in exchange for the DigiCards. Mikey turns down the offer, and instead turns to the DigiCards for help. He summons the power of MarineAngemon, who enraptures and paralyzes all the enemy Digimon. Then with the Syakomon’s help, he, Jeremy, and Shoutmon X2 race to Neptunemon’s ship to free Archelomon. But before they can get away, the entire group is thrown into the water. The Seadramon freeze the water, trapping the group.

Before they’re killed, Dorulumon appears, knocking Neptunemon back and freeing the others. Mikey DigiFuses him with Shoutmon, Ballistamon, Starmon, and the Pickmonz to become Shoutmon X4. Using his own spear against him, they defeat Neptunemon and prepare to head to the next Zone.

All the dialogue is spot on in the opening scene until this:

Kiriha: DigiMemories? Those cards that contain the data of Legendary Digimon?
Christopher: DigiCards? He really found some of the disks that contain the data of Legendary Digimon?

I realize this is nitpicking, but while those DigiCards could technically be called disks in the most broad sense, we don’t typically call what amounts to SD Cards “disks.” They’re solid-state, so there’s no actual disc inside that… you know what? Whatever. Aside from this, the scene is really spot-on in dialogue, which I appreciate.

If you couldn’t tell, DigiMemories are localized as DigiCards. It’s an interesting change, especially since the last episode’s title, Thanks for the DigiCards! is a play on the English phrase, “Thanks for the Memories.” Not sure why this was changed.

I love Melissa Fahn in this role, too. Honestly, I think I like her in every role she’s had so far, from Rika to Kristy, and now Nene.

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Somehow, Christopher is a bigger jerk to his Digimon than Kiriha.

Remember, I’m watching this series for the first time in both languages.

In the original, Taiki notices that Leviamon’s image is blacked out on the DigiMemory, and wonders aloud if he can only use a DigiMemory once. He doesn’t get a definitive answer, leaving you to wonder if that’s true, or if there’s just a cooldown time.

In the dub, Jijimon tells Mikey that a DigiMemory could only be used once, leaving him to lament that no one told him that before he used Leviamon. Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t keep it ambiguous like the original, if only so they could have Jeremy make a comment like, “Maybe it’s like a spell in Mage Warriors V, and you it has to cool down for a while after you cast it!” since they’re fond of doing stuff like that.

In the original, after Archelomon’s speech about being willing to sacrifice his own life for the greater good, Neptunemon tells him to shut up and hits him with his trident.

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The dub has him shout, “Can we speed this up already?!” and just pose with the staff, pulling the footage from later in the episode.

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In the original, Taiki is very conflicted about the choice between Archelomon’s life and escaping to save the rest of the Digital World. In the dub, Mikey is very sure he would rather let the Digital World fall than let Archelomon die which is both very not-heroic of him, and also doesn’t really make sense considering he barely knows the guy.

Granted, Taiki comes around to Mikey’s way of thinking a little bit later, but the point stands. He frames it as saving himself, apparently forgetting the bigger picture of the Digital World’s safety. Or maybe I’m just a jaded adult now who doesn’t fall for these tropes anymore.

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Shoutmon says he’ll go with whatever Taiki decides because he’s their general. In the dub, he says he’ll do whatever Taiki decides because they’re friends, and also adds “Don’t doubt the Shout!”

Because shut up.

The dub adds in an extra shot of the situation, presumably to fill for cut footage time. Then more footage of Neptunemon talking.

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[scene didn’t exist in the original]
Neptunemon: Come ON, I mean I’m speaking English here, aren’t I? These kids today, they never listen!

English? So… we’re back to pretending none of this is Japanese?

Though credit where it’s due, Neptunemon’s delivery of that line was very well done.

The dub is using comic relief music and I do not know why. They’re being threatened with the death of an important figure in exchange for tools needed in the war… and the dub decides this should be a plucky, fun scene, apparently.

Akari: I’ll go with whatever you think is right.
Zenjirou: So will I.
Taiki: Akari… Zenjirou…
Angie: Mikey, whatever you decide to do, I’ll back you up 100%.
Jeremy: …yeah, me too…
Mikey: Really? Are you sure?

Jeremy sounded really tired of this episode, which is probably what prompted Mikey to question his actual commitment to it.

Jeremy: No victory could ever make up for turning your back on a friend in need! Not even saving the world!

…but if the person you saved is now doomed because you failed to save the world, isn’t that even worse? Am I really just too old and jaded, or does this not make sense to anyone else?

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And then Kiriha/Christopher shows up, and offers to defeat the Army (and presumably save Archelomon) in exchange for just the DigiCards (meaning Mikey gets to keep the Code Crown) and he turns him down! After taking Neptunemon up on his offer!

This is getting super confusing. I’m grouping all of this under one banner instead of breaking them up, but it technically is an Inconsistency, Digimon Analyzer, Dialogue Deviation, and a Mistranslation.

Taiki/Mikey decides to activate MarineAngemon’s DigiCard.

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While MarineAngemon is retained, the card says “Shell Shock” in place of where “Ocean Love” is written in Japanese. Then Mikey, when activating it, calls out “Perfect Storm Go!”

Then, when the memory is activating, this exchange happens:

Taiki: DigiMemory! Ocean Love, Activate!
Angie: Love?
Zenjirou: Instead of being loved, you give love…
Mikey: Perfect Storm, Go! Upload MarineAngemon!
Angie: What is that?! [referring to the display floating around Mikey]
Jeremy: A giant digital doughnut you can’t eat?

First of all… it’s a Dialogue Deviation because Jeremy, you’re an idiot. It’s an Inconsistency since the two of them saw this process last episode, but act like it’s never happened before. Maybe they couldn’t see it, but we get no such comment in the original that would indicate this is the first time they’ve seen it happen.

It’s a Mistranslation because they keep getting the name wrong. It’s called Ocean Love in Japanese, and in English, they call it both Shell Shock and Perfect Storm. The original English localization is Kahuna Waves which we saw back in Tamers, as well as in games like Cyber Sleuth.

A shot of Mikey reading information about the attack is cut.

I’m gonna ask all of you at home to help me confirm this. In the last four episodes, I noticed that the quality of the video in the dub drops when the DigiFuse sequence plays, and after seeing it, I’ve come to the realization that it’s only happening during the DigiFuse animation.

The dub keeps reusing one of the sets of stock footage, even when the original switches it up, and it seems to be of lower quality than the rest of the episode, or anything the Japanese version uses.

So tell me, those of you who own copies of this season, does this happen with you too, or is it a 1-in-a-million fluke?

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Because, like I said, the footage looks just fine before and after this sequence.

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Mind you, this is only the Shoutmon X2 sequence. We get a DoruluMegaShoutmonZord Shoutmon X3 sequence later that looks just fine, as does his immediate next upgrade to Voltron Shoutmon X4.

Neptunemon: Fools!
Neptunemon: That was my best rope!

And you wasted it on that dotard, Archelomon? You probably could have put a square of tape on the floor and he would have thought he was stuck in an invisible box!

So… the dub put a flash impact screen that doesn’t censor anything.

I’m serious. The scene shows no direct contact, no attack heading toward the camera, and the scene impact covers an otherwise still shot, while allowing the shot to finish, so nothing is lost.

Best guess? The impact screen was designed to make the fight look more comical. And that makes sense, because as we all know, impressionable children can’t handle seeing serious violence on TV–

…you know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything.

Neptunemon: Should I run you through with this spear, or wait for you to freeze to death?
Neptunemon: Enjoying a cool dip, are we? A nice ice bath?

Normally, I’d make a joke here, but honestly, this is a perfectly encapsulating example of the dub trying to remove all the tension from the show out of the misguided belief that children can’t watch tension on TV.

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Paradoxically, Dub Neptunemon says he’s going to leave them to freeze after taking the Code Crown and DigiCards, but then proceeds to try and skewer them anyway.

Neptunemon’s Vortex Penetrate becomes Vortex Infiltrate in the dub.

His King’s Bite spear is retained, but it goes from being a “sentient spear” in the original, to being a “smart spear” in the dub, since it probably has its own app store and voice recognition software.

I’m sorry, but it sounds so damn goofy when characters refer to Shoutmon’s DigiFused modes. They so casually say “Shoutmon Times Four!” which just sounds ridiculous (and Shoutmon Xros Four doesn’t sound any better, so don’t get any ideas about slamming the dub specifically for this). It’s one thing to refer to MetalGarurumon instead of Gabumon, but “Hang on, Shoutmon Times Three!” just sounds stupid.

[Taiki/Mikey tells Shoutmon X4 to jump into the water]
Shoutmon Xros 4: Without ChibiKamemon?!
Shoutmon Times 4: But I don’t have my floaties…!

…cool.

Due to Taiki’s plan, The King’s Bite pierces through Neptunemon. The original shows this. The dub just skips ahead to a close-up and has Neptunemon make a joke about how the Bite bit him.

But then they keep the shot of him holding it while it’s still in his chest, so this cut is, like many others, completely pointless.

A little bit of Fridge Logic here, but I just realized (one day after writing most of this comparison) that “Smart Spear” makes more sense than calling it a “Sentient Spear.” The damn thing couldn’t recognize Neptunemon and was so focused on its goal, it tore straight through its owner and killed him in its pursuit.

As opposed to a sentient being, who would know better than to do that, a smart machine could, since we all have smart devices that occasionally do odd things.

Neptunemon’s Wave of Depths becomes Waves of Depth in the dub. No, you didn’t read that wrong. Just a slight change in pluralization, but otherwise it’s retained.

This shot:

is replaced in the dub with this shot:

…for no reason.

Anyway…

In the original, Archelomon forgets Taiki’s name. He tries to help him remember by saying “Tai…” and Archelomon suddenly remembers. “Taiyaki-dono!” Akari then says that Taiyaki sounds delicious.

In the dub, Mikey straight out says his name is “Mikey,” and Archelomon says that he’s close, but should keep guessing. Angie tells him to forget about it or they’ll be here all day, and Archlomon says “Susan’s right.”

It was actually pretty funny in both languages, so no complaints here. XD

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In the original, Zenjirou performs a “Bon Dance,” which is a traditional dance to guide the spirits of the dead. Akari says that it’s not appropriate, but Shoutmon joins in, saying it’s fun.

In the dub, Jeremy says he’s a great dancer, to which Angie says, “Since when does ‘great’ mean ‘terrible’?” Shoutmon then criticizes Jeremy for looking like he’s trying to swat away a bug… despite doing roughly the same style of dance.

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MailBirdramon: Aren’t you going to take what he has?
Kiriha: I can do that any time. More importantly, I want his power even more now. His strength that can overcome adversity, and his daring…
MailBirdramon: I don’t get it. Just take what you want from them.
Christopher: I can do that anytime I want, no problem. But first, I’m gonna let Mikey do all the work for me. He’ll collect the Code Crowns and DigiCards, and I’ll take them away from him.

That’s pretty significant as far as recharacterization goes.

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Taiki: Please join Xros Heart and become friends with us!
Mikey: Please join us! We could use your help against the Bagra Army!

It’s weird to see an Anime dub in reverse: the friendship/love/heart of the cards/believe in yourself stuff is in the original, and it’s toned down in the dub in favor of more realistic dialogue.

Cutemon’s analysis at the end is pretty much retained from the original.

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