Digimon Frontier S01E14

Rock Breaking Thunder! Bolgmon’s Do-or-Die Challenge (JP)
No Whamon (EN)

Original Writer:  
Dub Writers: Steve Blum

Original Airdates:
July 14, 2002 (JP)
November 18, 2002 (EN)

Section: Summary

No Whamon. Ugh, another lousy episode title pun. But I have to give it some credit. First, it’s not yet another pop-culture reference. Secondly, it doesn’t give any indication of what the episode is about. Usually that’s a bad thing, but I think it’s nice at times to watch an episode that isn’t titled JP Digivolves to MetalKabuterimon and Destroys Grumblemon For Good! or something like that. The Japanese titles have a bad habit of doing that.

Today’s episode was written by: Steve Blum. In case you don’t know, this guy’s got one heck of a resume, and that’s if you look at Digimon alone. He’s been Flamedramon, Raidramon, BlackWarGreymon, Magnamon, Guilmon, Yamaki, Kenta, J.P., Beetlemon, MetalKabuterimon, and Falcomon. I’m pretty sure he’s done other miscellaneous voices for Digimon as well. Time to see how well he writes.

Dialogue Deviation

In the original, Takuya asks if Izumi is okay during the Trailmon ride. In the dub, he asks Zoe if everyone in the back is okay. Guess they don’t want to hint at any affection between the two yet.


The Trailmon has an irritating low voice and speaks in rhyme in the dub. In the original, he talks normally.


Kouji: Are we really going to be okay?
Trailmon: You kids just trust me. 
Koji: Hey, bud, can you go any faster?!
Trailmon: Hey, no problem! Just hold on to your bandanna!
Group: Koji!!!
Koji: What?!
Group: Whoa!
Koji: I was being sarcastic!

They shifted and duplicated a bunch of scenes to make this joke possible.


Kouji: There’s a fork in the road ahead! Hey, which way are you going?
Trailmon: You’ll see when I go there. 
Trailmon: One way is fun, the other way we’re done!
Koji: Oh, man! There’s two of ’em!
Takuya: What?!
Koji: How do you tell which is the right way?
Trailmon: Don’t know. The direction of the trails is up to the rails.

The dub seems to imply the train tracks themselves determine the Trailmon’s destination but… why?

Side Note

Believe it or not, the motherly behavior Bokomon exhibits with Seraphimon’s egg was not a dub invention, nor was the whole “germs” scene. But it is a tad funnier in the dub with Bokomon’s goofy voice saying, “Don’t worry, Baby, Mommy will keep you safe from them!”

Dialogue Deviation

Silence 
Trailmon: I always say, one good track deserves another.

Great, now he sounds like Arbormon. 


Trailmon: It’s the end of the line! 
Trailmon: It’s the end of the line, and all is fine.

And bad puns that rhyme should be a crime.


Junpei: Hey, what is this place? 
J.P.: Hey, this doesn’t look like ‘outside’ to me! Does this look like ‘outside’ to you?!

I mean, it’s got rock… water… plants… it’s definitely not an indoor venue.


Izumi: If this light is from outside, then the cave can’t be completely separated from it! 
Zoe: Well, duh, it’s an underground cavern!

Like, omigosh, I can’t believe you didn’t know that! *scoff* Ohmygod JP, you can’t just ask people why they don’t have Beast Spirits!


(After Junpei/J.P.’s speech about getting Zoe’s spirit back.) 
Izumi: If you can…
Junpei: Izumi-chan! 
Zoe: Well, it’s your funeral!
J.P.: Wait, can I change my mind?

God everyone one of these kids is a dick.


Arbormon: Time waits for no mo(ro)n, right?

Sorry, I’ve always wanted to do that. XD


Duskmon: What fools these mo(ro)n can be…

And I got to do it twice in a row!


Takuya: Beans!!!

CHEESE AND CRACKERS, HOW DARE YOU?!

Section: Digimon Analyzer

Whamon is retained, as always. Oddly enough, his Japanese and English voices sound remarkably similar, though the voice actor is significantly more whiny with his interpretation than the seiyuu.

Section: Cut or moved footage

The dub separated Takuya and Kouji’s evolutions instead of doing them side by side, adding about 29 seconds of material.

Side Note

In the original, Grottomon attacked the beach because he was searching for Digicode. In the dub, he was hungry, and Fractal Code is apparently his source of nourishment.

Section: Digimon Analyzer

Grottomon’s Snake Eye Break is now Grumblemon’s Seismic Slam, which is the same name the dub gave Earthquake in a previous episode.

Dialogue Deviation

In the original, Wolfmon tries to make a trade-off with Grumblemon: in exchange for the Gigasmon spirit, Grottomon would not attack them, and would also return the spirit of Fairymon. In the dub, they just exchange random insults.

The pentagrams in Grumblemon’s spell were censored and replaced with the same orange circles as before.

Dialogue Deviation

Arbormon: You have to watch everything that’s happening, if you don’t want to get caught. 
Arbormon: Prevention is always the best medicine, right?

And silence is golden. So shut up.

Side Note

That “knowing” look Neemon gives Bokomon when he’s hiding makes a lot more sense in the original, where Neemon’s IQ is at least in the two-digit range.

Dialogue Deviation

Bokomon:As much as you want to do this, stop! This isn’t the time to be rash! 
Bokomon: He’s just egging you on! Get out of there!

Ugh, I knew the egg-celent egg puns would start. They came along egg-strodinarily quick. I was sure they would hit us with so much egg-stravagance before too long. And as far as bad puns go, the dubbers are egg-sperts. In fact, if any of us tried to make such egg-stremely bad puns, the yoke would be on us, for sure!

Okay, I’ll stop.

Section: Cut or moved footage

Tommy and J.P.’s spirit evolution sequences were played separately here as well, adding about 27 seconds of footage.

Dialogue Deviation

Arbormon: Alright. 
Arbormon: I’m on it. But first I have to change…into something more comfortable.

ohgodwhy
Side Note

Here’s an interesting little oddity. When Whamon attacks Grottomon, he yells “shoot!” However, this attack is actually called Jet Arrow. This is corrected in the dub where they call it by the localized name, Blasting Spout.

Either way, that attack did some serious damage to Grottomon/Grumblemon. Now follow my logic: human-level hybrid (spirit) Digimon like Agnimon/Agunimon are considred to be Adult/Champion-level, whereas Beast-level spirits are said to be Perfect/Ultimate level. So considering Grumblemon barely gets scratched by the kids’ human spirits, and Whamon’s attack smashed the guy into the wall pretty hard, I’d have to say Whamon was an ultimate-level Digimon. (Whamon comes in two forms: Whamon, which is an adult/champion, and Whamon Perfect/Whamon Ultimate, which is the next level up.)

So if you want my opinion, the Whamon in this episode was a Whamon Perfect. And now that you’re sick of my rambling, let’s get back to the comparison!

Dialogue Deviation

Junpei: Whamon… 
Tommy: No way!
J.P.: Way…mon!

Almost as bad as the egg puns. Almost.


Whamon: That is… 
Whamon: Oh, so that’s what it was! It did taste a little gamey for a plant!

Didn’t you just get through saying it was delicious a little while ago? And why would a legendary spirit modeled after a military tank taste gamey?


Junpei: Beast Spirit! 
J.P.: Not today! It’s my turn to play!

What did I say earlier about rhyming puns?

Section: Digimon Analyzer

Bolgmon (bolg being Irish for thunder) is now MetalKabuterimon. Though he isn’t bug-like in appearance, he technically is part of the Kabuterimon family, as the combination of Blitzmon/Beetlemon and Bolgmon/MetalKabuterimon create a Digimon called RhinoKabuterimon.


Bolgmon’s Ultimate Thunder is now MetalKabuterimon’s Bolo Thunder. (The attack resembles a bola.)

Dialogue Deviation

Petaldramon: The cave ceiling is coming down on me! 
Petaldramon: In every life, a little ice must fall, right?

He said poignantly as he was buried in rock that had no ice in it whatsoever.

Just before Bolgmon uses his final attack, Grottomon’s reflection can be seen on the power gauge screen, holding his hands up in either surrender or defense. In the dub, this is removed.

Section: Digimon Analyzer

Bolgmon’s Field Destroyer is now MetalKabuterimon’s Electron Cannon.

Dialogue Deviation

(The Human Spirit of Wind returns to Izumi/Zoe)
Izumi: Commozione! (100 years ago when I wrote this comparison, I checked Babelfish, which said it means “Commotion” in Italian. Today, I checked Google Translate, and I got “emotion” which makes a bit more sense.)
Zoe: Hey, welcome back!

Like, we should so get our nails done and talk about all the hot guys you saw while you were away! — Sorry, but Zoe’s voice gets on my nerves a bit. Though I can’t say I understand why she said “commotion” in the original.

Side Note

I gotta say, though, that look on Izumi/Zoe’s face when she’s talking to J.P. is cute in a touching kind of way.

Awwwww…
Dialogue Deviation

Tomoki: We survived? 
Tommy: Did we die?

Hey, don’t worry kids, I’m sure he meant, “Were we condemned to Myotismon’s dungeon?” Haha! Haha… ha… hm.


Bokomon: I don’t know how you saved us, but thank you!

He ate you. How can that possibly be unclear?

Side Note

Don’t get me wrong, Frontier’s dub music is the best we’ve gotten so far in the series, but the ending theme in the original, Koji Wada’s Innocent is a fantastic track. If you haven’t heard it, you should find it on YouTube and give it a listen.

Final Verdict

Total Footage Kept: 100%

You know, I’m impressed. They managed to not damage one of my favorite episodes too badly.

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