Digimon Data Squad S01E25

In the wake of his suckerpunch on Merukimon, Kurata explains his motivation: he sees all Digimon as violent, destructive beasts, and he believes that if he doesn’t eliminate them all now, they will conquer Earth. Marcus, RizeGreymon, MachGaogamon, and Lilamon rush into battle, but Kurata’s Gizumon-AT wipes the floor with them without any effort. Marcus calls Kurata out for being a coward which upsets the normally cool-headed scientist, as Marcus’ father said the same thing of him ten years ago. Enraged, he Digivolves Gizumon-AT into Gizumon-XT, which is only an even more unfair fight. Just when hope seems lost, Merukimon damages Gizumon-XT with his dying breath, pleading for Keenan to not hate all humans – just the evil ones. With his resolve returned, he Digivolves Falcomon to Ultimate level – Crowmon. Crowmon dispatches the damaged Gizumon-XT and Kurata retreats to set his trap for the Data Squad in the human world.

Everything in the first few minutes of the episode is the same, except Kurata says his goal is the “elimination of all Digimon” in the dub. In the original, he calls it genocide.

Honestly though, that change makes some sense. Most people wanting to commit genocide who believe they’re in the right wouldn’t use the word “genocide” because of the negative connotation. But really, it’s to soften the blow for American kids, per usual.

Like the last episode, the flashback sequence censors the actual firing of the gun, but the gunshot sound and the gun itself remains in the scene.

Kurata: I realized that Digimon will only bring destruction to humans and that they must be destroyed.
Kurata: Now, some resist the impulse better than others, but sooner or later, they all attack.

Okay, that dub line scares me a little. Interestingly where the dub softens the blow of the dialogue sometimes, here the subtlety makes it worse. Kurata’s dub line indicates that he’s acknowledging the appearance of peaceful Digimon while also indicating that they’re all, in the end, still the same. It’s a tactic that’s been used by awful people throughout history to justify genocide. “Sure, some of them seem nice, but eventually they will kill us all, so we must fight back.” Also, the line delivery was spot-on and creepy as hell. Kurata truly believes this, and it will be impossible to change his mind.

Narrator: Gizmon:AT – Adult Level. Nothing else is known about it beyond its name.
Kurata: Gizumon-AT, the Champion level of Gizumon, the Digimon I created.

I wondered for a moment why the dub wouldn’t change the letter to match the English evolution tiers, but I quickly realized that Gizumon-CT just sounds weird.

The dub cut the shot of RizeGreymon firing toward the camera, lengthening the next shot of Gizumon-AT a little to make up for it.

Masaru: You modified Digimon?!
Marcus: You Frankensteined it?!

Honestly I’m just surprised Marcus ever read that story. Or heard of it.

Holy cow, I forgot about the theme song in the JP version. We’re nine minutes in and it’s just now playing.

Lilamon’s Lilac Dagger is retained.

A shot of Spencer putting his hand on Kurata’s gun 10 years prior was cut, though his waving it around beforehand and the sound of his hand touching the gun were retained.

This cut is repeated at the end of the speech Marcus gives in the next Dialogue Deviation box.

Masaru’s dialogue gets changed a lot in this episode, but in more subtle ways I don’t always note. Usually it’s changing his “I am a man and we talk through our fists” speeches to speeches that seem at least a bit more logical to Western audiences. Example:

Masaru: When you exchange fists with someone, you’re not just delivering pain! Your heart hurts much more than the pain they receive! The way you’re punching them one-sidedly just shows that you’re a coward who’s afraid of pain!
Marcus: Digimon scare you, so you’d rather just destroy them rather than dealing with them fair and square! I may be fast to use my fists sometimes, but I see every battle through to the end without cheating. You only know how to hand out pain and run away. And that makes you a coward!

Honestly I like it, because a man like Kurata would easily dismiss Masaru’s words as some kind of bizarre philosophy that only applies to him. But Marcus gets more to the point – Kurata is a coward through and through, and he uses violence and genocide to abate his fears.

Granted, the result is the same either way, but I feel like Marcus’ words have – no pun intended – more punch to them than Masaru’s.

Gizumon is a Predator. Good to know.

Narrator: Gizmon:XT – A Perfect-level Digimon that has evolved through pseudo-evolution using an artificial Digisoul. Its real identity is shrouded in mystery.
Kurata: But the fake DNA I installed makes it feel a connection to me which allows Gizumon-AT to become… Gizumon-XT, an Ultimate-level Digimon! If you thought Gizumon and Gizumon-AT were powerful, wait until you get a load of this baby!

Yeah, that’s Marcus in a nutshell.

The flashback to the shower scene has Marcus’ digital towel in it in the dub.

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The piercing effect is censored in the dub.

Yatagaramon is localized as Crowmon, but the animation for the evolution looks really bad in the dub. They use a flash of light to switch to a static image of the Digimon with only the words behind it still animated. A far cry from older series with bigger budgets.

Narrator: Yatagaramon. A Perfect-level Digimon with three legs. His special attack is Mikafutsu-no-kami. The energy produced in the cobalt pestles on both wings is fired from his forefeet!
Thomas: Crowmon, Ultimate level! His Black Feather and Savage Emperor attacks can stand up to any Digimon! During battle, he can shoot high-energy beams from the tips of his talons.

The Yatagarasu is a three-legged crow god from Shinto mythology.

Also, from the subs I’m watching, the origin of Mikafutsu-no-kami, which is localized as Savage Emperor:

Mikafutsu-no-kami, according to Shinto mythology, is the name of a divine sword that Japan’s founder and first emperor, Jinmu, used while he was assisted by the three-legged crow, Yatagarasu.

When Digivolving from Rookie to Ultimate, all the other Digimon have used the phrase “Warp Digivolve.” Falcomon, however says, “Falcomon digivolve to Peckmon! Peckmon digivolve to Crowmon!” Oddly, this inconsistency stays consistent, as Falcomon always uses this phrase and never “Warp Digivolve,” while the others continue to Warp Digivolve.

Kurata in the original is outraged by this development. In the dub, he just says, “Big deal. Digivolve all you want, it won’t help you!” The dub line makes more sense, but it doesn’t match his facial expression as well.