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Digimon Tamers | Sub/Dub Comparison Episode 4: A Tamer's Test – Defeat Gorimon
January 17, 2022 January 17, 2022 fiddletwix Sub Dub Comparisons	anime, comparison, digimon, dub, dubbed, English, Gargomon is awesome but it must be really inconvenient to have your hands become guns., Japanese, review, saban, season 3, sub, subbed, tamers
Plot: Lee manages to devolve Terriermon after his evolution during his battle with Renamon and Ruki. However, he's upset that Terriermon evolved against his wishes. When an old opponent of Lee and Terriermon, Gorimon, shows up with a score to settle, Lee will have to decide if making Terriermon evolve and fight is worth the risk.
Title Card:
Title Change: A Tamer's Test – Defeat Gorimon is changed to It Came from the Other Side.
Writer's Note: So, I had trouble deciding what I should call Henry in the original. Takato refers to him as Lee-kun because that's his last name and he's being a bit formal, but Jenrya is his actual first name in the Japanese version….However, that's a Japanese rendered version of his actual Chinese first name, which is Lianjiang.
I've settled on just calling him Lee from now on. Sorry for any confusion regarding previous episodes.
Takato asks Lee if Terriermon has evolved in the past since he kinda implied it by believing Gargomon will devolve after standing on his head. In the dub. Takato asks if Rika would know how to do it.
Wait a damn second, now that I'm thinking about it, why can Digimon Tamers show Digimon cards on screen when Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh have to go to such lengths to edit anything even close to real merchandise out due to legal reasons? Those Digimon cards look insanely close to the ones in real life.
What the hell is Takato taking a bath in? Ecto Cooler?
Calumon originally comments on how much fun humans seem to have. In the dub, he says humans are very tamable since whole groups react to the sounds of bells, in reference to kids reacting to a school bell. In all honesty, though, he's not wrong.
The card, Training Gibs, is changed to Training Grips. I guess because kids wouldn't get the reference.
Kazu originally gives Takato the Training Gibs card because he already has a copy. In the dub, he acts like it's a crappy card and gives it to Takato seemingly out of pity. Likewise, Takato originally wonders if the card is in any way related to evolution. In the dub, he laments over getting yet another useless card. Also, the specifics of what the card does, increases HP and attack power, is not conveyed in the dub.
Takato asks Lee if he believes the card is related to evolution and Lee says he doesn't know. In the dub, Takato says he thinks Kazu gives him cards like that in order to use it against him in games, and Henry says he gives him too much credit.
Dub wise, why is it a stupid time to ask questions like "What's a digital field?" and "Why is it chasing us?" when they're being chased by a digital field? Not like talking slows you down, and if you didn't want him to ask what a digital field was why even mention what it is? Hell, in the time it took Henry and Terriermon to have that line exchange, they could've answered both of his questions. "It's a field where Digimon move between the Digital World and the real world" and "I have no clue."
……Just seemed rude is all…
Name Change: Gorimon is changed to Gorillamon. The Index screen is translated and changed to match this.
Also, Gorimon's attack is 'Power Attack'? Boy, they better put up their Blocking Defense and maybe activate Fast Speed.
They censor Gorimon stepping on Guilmon's head…..Really? That's censor worthy?
Terriermon yells out to Lee that he was the one who wanted him to fight in the first place. In the dub, he asks Henry if he wants him to sit back and let him peel Guilmon like a banana. The sudden realization/memory is lost in the dub, plus it's really jarring how much it looks like Terriermon is yelling in the dub, yet he's not raising his voice at all.
Minor detail, but they specify in the original that the Digimon game that Lee gets is an American game. They leave this out of the dub, probably because it might seem awkward to say such a thing in English even though they have no problem saying the show takes place in Japan.
Boy the way this game looks sure does date this show.
Like the Index screen, the game's screen is painted to mirror Gorimon's English name.
Lee calls Terriermon cute. In the dub, he says he's small and smart just like him. Ego much, Henry?
In the original, the first thing Terriermon does when he's hatched in the game is poop. In the dub, they edit this out and shift the frames to make it look like Terriermon's dancing, and the dialogue from Lee is changed to reflect this. I have no clue why they changed this. Poop is far from a new thing in Digimon. Hell, there's an actual Digimon made of poop! Who throws poop! And makes other people poop! And we've seen Digimon poop in the series plenty of times, like when Koromon did it in the first OVA/movie. I would say it's because we see him pooping and hear a fart, but the previous example had that too. Not to mention that this poop is extremely pixelated and disappears from the screen in seconds after he does it. No clue why this needed to be removed.
They add a pushed screen transition before we see Henry and Terriermon fight Gorillamon, I suppose to alert the audience that they were shifting back to the flashback.
Henry takes a much bigger jump in logic than Lee does. In the original, Lee wonders how Gorimon seems to be leaving the game and entering the internet of its own volition. In the dub, Henry can't shut off his computer and can't close the game. He instantly jumps from 'maybe my computer froze' to 'maybe Digimon have a world of their own beyond ours!' Look, I know Henry's right, but he had no reason to say such a thing. Who sees their computer bug out and be unable to shut it down through regular means, not including shutting off the power supply, and instantly believes it's because the characters in the game have their own reality?
They add a split-screen transition after the shot within the computer and before we see Gorillamon again.
They add in Gorillamon yelling, throwing a beam at Terriermon and Henry and Takato talking, Gorillamon using his beam attack and Gorillamon slamming down a beam again towards Terriermon but omit him slamming Guilmon into a beam and grabbing Terriermon by the ear to swing him in circles above his head.
Another pushed screen transition after Henry's closeup.
They again remove Terriermon getting swung around by his ear.
In between shots of Terriermon being flung up and falling back down, they put in another shot from earlier of Gorillamon grabbing Guilmon.
They also remove the shot of Terriermon on the ground and splitscreen transition back to the flashback.
You could argue that it's not necessary for the Tamers to say 'card slash/digimodify' and what the card they're using is when in real Digimon battles besides for the sake of the audience, but it seems 100x more pointless seeing Lee/Henry do it on his computer in his room. Though, maybe that's just a kid being excited about his game…..I know I've done that before when I was deep in my Digimon days. I actually made a Gen III Digivice out of cardboard and made a spot in the side to slash the cards so I could do that.
The Boost Chip card is changed to Power.
They add a flash when Terriermon headbutts Gorillamon.
Alvandale's Arrow, the card, is changed to Targeting. So much creativity going on in this episode.
The card Stamina Seed is changed to simply Stamina.
Wait, a Stamina card made Terriermon evolve the first time?….How does that work?
Ya know, I can understand why Lee/Henry is reluctant to let Terriermon evolve. He's kinda a psycho when he's Gargomon – at least at this point. He's laughing while shooting up Gorimon like he's getting paid for it. And, like in Pokemon sometimes, what dictates what happens when a Digimon evolves? For the most part, unless an evolution is corrupted like with SkullGreymon, most Digimon are basically the same, personality-wise, when they evolve. Yet some change and others go nuts.
Upper left hand corner wipe transition after Gargomon goes crazy in the flashback.
They remove Gorimon kicking Terriermon in lieu of yet another recycled shot; this time of Terriermon flying through the air.
Between Guilmon setting Terriermon on the ground and Gorimon pointing his cannon at them is an inserted shot of Gorillamon running towards them.
After the commercial break, they replay the scene of Terriermon being caught by Guilmon and Gorillamon approaching, but this time they don't add in the inserted shot and Gorillamon doesn't say 'Playtime's over'.
Devil's Chip is changed to Power….wait, again?
Fade transition for the flashback this time.
I never really thought about it before, but the manner in which the Tamers get their Digimon is another thing that this season has over the other seasons. In Adventure 01 and 02, the Digimon were just given to the Chosen Children because, well, they were chosen for such a thing. Yes, they developed close relationships with the Digimon over time, but in Tamers, they were given the Digimon because they already shared a strong bond.
With Takato, Guilmon was literally created as Takato's dream Digimon. With Lee and Terriermon, he was a game character that Lee felt especially connected to and one he felt guilty over for hurting him and turning him into a crazed fighting machine. He desperately wanted to protect Terriermon for real so he was given to him. With Renamon and Ruki, they both shared a strong desire to become the best, strongest pair of Tamer and Digimon in the world. While their goals and points of view may have changed, their desires coincided with one another and they developed a true bond because of it. While I won't downplay most of the eventual relationships between the other Chosen Children and their Digimon, the ones in Tamers just feel deeper and stronger.
Takato: "You and Terriermon are a great combination!"
Henry: "Yeah, I guess we are. Thanks Takato."
Terriermon: "What are you thanking him for? He didn't do anything."
He's thanking him for the compliment, Terriermon….not that hard to understand.
Davis: "Did Gorillamon's data really go to the other side? Do bananas really taste good with peanut butter? Find out on the next Digimon; Digital Monsters!" You find out the answer to neither of those questions next time, Davis, but of course it did and of course they do.
Overall, this episode was really good. We're given a legitimate and realistic reason behind Lee's apprehension to letting Terriermon evolve, though I still don't get why he goes mental when he evolves. We also get the backstory behind Lee and Terriermon's first meeting. The resolution wasn't predictable in Lee realizing that evolution was necessary to take down tough opponents as, in the end, he didn't make Terriermon evolve in order to beat Gorimon. He used his wit and ingenuity to take Gorimon down, even though a legit attack was needed to finish him off. Lee didn't concede on his stance but he also didn't decide to sit back and do nothing while Guilmon and Terriermon were attacked, as that kinda defeats the purpose of partially doing this for the sake of protecting Terriermon. He'll eventually get into the real battle scene, but it's a work in progress for Lee.
Next time……Calumon centric episode…..hooray.
Space-Time Detective Genshi-Kun/Flint the Time Detective Sub/Dub Comparison | Episode 16 (15 for the Dub): Monarisu's Smile
January 15, 2022 fiddletwix Sub Dub Comparisons	anime, review, subbed, Japanese, dubbed, English, comparison, sub, dub, saban, flint the time detective, space time detective genshi-kun, Monarisu is Smeargle if it were cute.
Plot: Genshi, Sora and Tokio head to 16th century Italy to retrieve the art-based Space-Time Monster, Monarise, who is already in the clutches of TP Lady. She intends on using Monarise to force Leonardo da Vinci into painting her portrait and replacing the Mona Lisa.
Title Change: Monarisu's Smile is changed to Plumella. Which means….
Name Change: Monarisu is changed to Plumella….Why? I have no clue. Monarisu is obviously a play on Mona Lisa, and plenty of kids know about the Mona Lisa. I don't even understand what this new name means. I don't think anyone else did either because her fandom page doesn't explain it.
They add an establishing shot of the Land of Time before we see Old Timer.
This next change is odd, but also fixes something in the original. Tokio laments that he has the Space-Time Monsters as models and Sora comments that they're kinda cute. Suddenly, the monsters all jump at Tokio and he says he'll draw more seriously. I feel like there was a missing line in there somewhere because, if the monsters were offended by Tokio's very, very slight jab to the point where they'd gang up on him and yell at him, certainly they'd do it immediately and not wait for Sora for finish her comment. Also, he was trying to draw seriously beforehand, which is why he was muttering about the Space-Time Monsters giggling and moving around.
In the dub, Saban replays the bit with Tokio talking from before in order to give him a line after Sarah talks. While his previous line stays about the same, they add Tony saying it'd be easier to draw a dancing octopus and that working under these conditions is insane, which makes the Time Shifters yell at him. His comment still isn't really worth yelling at him, but it's better than them just randomly jumping him.
There was originally no cutaway to Rei speaking before Yamato speaks to her.
Like usual, the departure sequence is extended to show the kids going to the basement and Goodman talking to them before they go. This time, he yells out to bring back some fresh pasta. They also add in an exchange where Goodman asks Ms. Grey out for coffee, which she refuses, and then Goodman happily proclaims that she's crazy about him. Can someone please write him up for sexual harassment? She's not interested in you, dude, and she keeps telling you to knock it off.
As they leave, Genshi just says his typical line as they go. In the dub, Flint says he hopes they had cheeseburgers back then.
When they start walking, Genshi asks if renaissance is food, to which Tokio says it's not. In the dub, Flint asks where everyone is.
Sarah neglects to mention Michelangelo when mentioning famous renaissance artists when Sora mentioned him.
A sign is digitally painted from 'EiRuLE' to 'Trattoria.' To Saban's credit, a trattoria is an actual thing in Italy – it's basically an informal ristorante or a place to get take-out. However, I really don't know why they changed it. I don't know what an EiRuLE is, but that just means I really don't know why it would warrant being removed. Unless Saban was concerned it was a real trademark or something.
When we zoom in on the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the screen cuts to black whenever we jut towards TP Lady's mark. In the dub, they removed these cuts.
Name Plate Removed.
Monarisu is super adorable. Just thought I'd let you all know that.
I actually have an issue with the original here. Original TP Lady tells Leonardo da Vinci to paint her instead of Mona Lisa because she wants to be known as the world's most beautiful woman. First of all, the Mona Lisa or Giocondo is not a person, like she seems to be implying. It's just the title of the painting. The (most likely) model for the Mona Lisa was Lisa Gherardini/del Giocondo, whose husband, Francesco di Zanobi del Giocondo, commissioned a painting from da Vinci meeting the specs of the Mona Lisa. Da Vinci wasn't really making money at the time and needed a source of income, which is what many people assume was the reason why da Vinci, who typically refused to do portraits, decided to do this one.
Secondly, the woman depicted in the Mona Lisa isn't really known for being the most beautiful person in the world. While many people praise the painting for its overall beauty, and beauty is subjective, most historians agree that she was painted very faithfully and that, even by that era's standards of traditional beauty, the model wasn't really that far up above average. As I'll discuss later, she's a romantic icon, but that's for reasons beyond beauty.
Third, if they're messing with history here, then even if da Vinci chose to paint her instead of the Mona Lisa, it still wouldn't work to make her a famous beauty. Not because the replacement of the image would, by default, cause issues, even though that's also a factor and one we'll have to deal with soon enough, but because the Mona Lisa's fame is attributed moreso to it being stolen in 1911. Before that, the painting was more or less overlooked in terms of importance or value. It being a da Vinci painting, of course it was valued, but it wasn't really something of any high status until it was stolen. As this CNN article explained;
"If a different one of Leonardo's works had been stolen, then that would have been the most famous work in the world – not the Mona Lisa," said Noah Charney, professor of art history and author of "The Thefts of the Mona Lisa."
"There was nothing that really distinguished it per se, other than it was a very good work by a very famous artist – that's until it was stolen," he added. "The theft is what really skyrocketed its appeal and made it a household name."
In fact, ironically given that I just cited one of their articles and I'm, not kidding, getting this next bit of information from a Washington Post article, The Washington Post ran the wrong image when they reported the theft. Instead of the Mona Lisa, they instead ran an image of the Monna Vanna, which was a nude charcoal sketch that some believe was made by da Vinci to prepare for painting the Mona Lisa.
So even if TP Lady did get him to paint her, and that MIGHT make the painting famous to a degree, she'd have to hope that her painting also got stolen in order to skyrocket it to the levels of fame the real Mona Lisa has. But, again, we'll have to address this more later.
Onto da Vinci's reply, he tells TP Lady that, no matter how much she pays him or threatens him, he won't paint her because he only paints things he likes.
As I discussed, the original Mona Lisa was a commission that he only agreed to do because he desperately needed the money. In fact, he stopped working on it a year after starting it because he was commissioned by the Florence government to paint the Battle of Anghiari and they paid much more money. It was a job, not a passion project – at least at the outset. Granted, he was famous for not finishing paintings and working on them insanely slowly. It's assumed that the Mona Lisa may have been his favorite painting that he continued working on in bits in pieces throughout his lifetime in order to get it just the way he wanted it, or maybe he just held onto it because he was never happy with it and wanted to get it to the point he believed it looked acceptable before selling it, but the initial prompt to paint it was a commission.
In the dub, da Vinci is a much more rude. He tells Petra that he'd rather paint a slop bucket in the king's royal pig sty than a "beauty" like her.
When TP Lady falls over and hits her face, she says she can't be painted with her face looking like that. In the dub, she says her pancake makeup fell flat.
In the original, Tokio and Sora says there's no way even Genshi could move the Leaning Tower of Pisa to its correct position, but his willingness to give it his all to try is something to be admired. In the dub, at least Sarah says that Flint will definitely move it, but they'll just have to help him move it back later.
Uh….how about no? Do you kids know how much work went into making the Leaning Tower of Pisa stable after so many years of it sinking and deteriorating? If you correct the slant, assuming it would survive that, trying to make it slant again and keeping it stable after that would probably be impossible.
……He's….he's still going to do it, isn't he?
*10 seconds later*
Yup. Yup. He did it. Why, exactly, didn't any of them stop him? They know how crazy strong Genshi is. Even if it was a long shot, he's a very destructive kid. He'd definitely damage the thing beyond repair.
Saban has them cutting to Petra saying "What a show off!" as Flint is pushing the tower when that wasn't there in the original.
Tokio originally comments about how Genshi isn't different at all after having been turned into a painting. Tony says "Pictures that talk? Is this what inspired the invention of television?" which doesn't really make any sense. He's already seen these talking pictures so he shouldn't be saying something like "Pictures that talk?" now. And of course they didn't, Tony. I get that it's a joke, but it's not a good one.
Originally, Sora says "Excuse me…" and da Vinci asks who they are. In the dub, she asks "Are you alone?" And da Vinci responds "Never have I felt more alone, my child."
Tokio asks who the man is. Sora explains that they learned about him in school – Leonardo da Vinci. In the dub, Tony says it's weird to see a cave man explaining time travel to a renaissance man, and Sarah exclaims that they have the honor of helping out the great Leonardo da Vinci.
I can't really comment too much on this next part because I don't really know how da Vinci thought or felt on this matter, but in the original da Vinci says he can't paint for money or fame any longer. He did paint for money, of course, but he wasn't really all that famous in life. He did gain a reputation among artists as being incredibly skilled and was even considered an artistic prodigy as a child, but his works didn't garner enough commercial attention to keep his head above water. Even as an inventor and writer, he struggled quite a bit to sell any of his works.
For some really weird reason, it seems that Plumella doesn't actually talk. Like in the original, she just says her name over and over. I can't make heads or tails of this. Every other English Time Shifter has been given the ability to actually talk. Why is Plumella the exception?
I'm not going to say this isn't factual, again, considering I don't know da Vinci's concrete feelings on the subject, but I will ding the dub a bit for this. In both versions, the entire focus on da Vinci here is how much he loved painting and art, which he did, but the dub also says that he loved nothing more than painting, which, as far as I've read, isn't true. He seemed to enjoy science and inventing a bit more than art.
Genshi says he now has the urge to paint, and Sora says they can paint together when they get back to the lab. In the dub, Flint says he remembers painting pictures of buffalo on their cave walls back home.
Da Vinci tells Monarisu that being honest is best, in regards to painting what she wants to paint. In the dub, he comments on the depiction of Sarah's enigmatic smile – alluding to the actual Mona Lisa, which at this point hasn't been painted yet. The Mona Lisa's smile is considered enigmatic because it's just barely there, is asymmetrical and seemingly changes depending on which angle from which you're viewing the painting and, to some degree, how you're reading her body language. Some say it's a smirk, others say she's happy because she's pregnant, others say she's sadly smiling, still others think it's because she's keeping a secret or lying, some people say she's not even smiling at all. Her entire expression is hard to read when you really look at it.
Now, compare that with the portrait of Sarah….
Yeah, it's, uh, not nearly as ambiguous or enigmatic. She's clearly happy. She was laughing when Plumella painted her. I don't know if Saban knows what enigmatic means. I think they just heard that's a common comment on the real Mona Lisa so they thought they should reapply it for Sarah's painting.
Name Change: Warulise is changed to Plumella-con.
Also, wow, Warulise is definitely one of the weirdest Bad Transformations so far. It legitimately looks monstrous.
Putera explains exactly what happened to Yamato – that Genshi had been turned into a painting. Yamato thinks that Horurun would be perfect since it is basically the opposite of Monarisu. In the dub, Pterry makes a pun saying that Flint's been framed and it's not a pretty picture. Based on this, somehow, Goodman knows exactly who to send.
TP Lady just says to get Horurun. In the dub, she tells Plumella-con to 'Petra Bash' him.
In the original, they just give Horurun encouragement. In the dub, Sarah demands that Artie shape shift, Genshi says "Hurry up!" and the only one actually giving genuine encouragement is Rocky, who tells Artie to use his courage. Sarah in particular is being really rude. She's about as bad as Tony has been with this same issue in the past.
Name Change: Super Horurun is changed to Artie Master.
Tokio just remarks that the giant globs of paint Warulise is shooting are super sticky and they can't break free of it. In the dub, Tony says "This stuff's clammier than cold oatmeal!"
Tony: "Don't wimp out!" Tony, Monarisu is mind-controlled right now. It's not being a wimp because it can't break free of that control.
They insert a shot of Flint yelling out to Plumella-con between when we see her claws and when da Vinci holds up the painting.
Dyna and Mite go on about finally getting their turn to take down Genshi. TP Lady gets mad and points out that they were napping before she smacks them in the head. In the dub, Petra whines about not getting her painting. Dino and Mite say they'll make her a better painting, a velvet one, and then Petra smacks them in the head saying they have no idea about real art.
In the original, TP Lady only says she's going to destroy the Leaning Tower of Pisa now. In the dub, she says "One Pisa with everything on it, coming up!" I get it, haha, Pisa sounds like pizza, and I guess 'everything on it' means she's going to shoot at it a bunch, ha haaaaa.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa returns to its leaning state by an explosion happening in the sky near it. I guess it's as good an explanation as any.
In the original, da Vinci tells Monarisu that no matter where she is, as long as she paints with her true heart, she'll be able to paint amazing things. In the dub, he tells Plumella that he had lost his faith and passion in painting and didn't enjoy it anymore until his spark was reinvigorated by her painting. He tells her that her paintings reminded him of his talent and his better self. Why did da Vinci lose his passion for painting in the first place? Just because Petra forced him to paint a picture that he didn't even paint? That thing that went on for all of ten minutes?
Genshi tells Monarisu that they can go home and paint a picture together. In the dub, because they're in Italy, they have to talk about going home to get a pizza pie.
And now we're at the ending…..which is…..boy, it's an ending alright.
So they erase everyone's memories like always and leave that era to go back to their time. Da Vinci doesn't remember anything but still has the painting of Sora in his hands. Then we see the painting resting on the floor, leaned on the wall next to da Vinci as narration explains that the Mona Lisa, one of the greatest pieces of the renaissance, is still adored even in the 25th century even though no one knows who the mysterious model was, heavily implying that this painting of Sora is now considered the Mona Lisa.
*deep sigh*
Ohhhhh boy.
Where do I even begin?
First of all, isn't it a HUGE Time Detective no-no to effectively erase a priceless piece of art from existence? The Mona Lisa, as we knew it, no longer exists. It's now a picture of a pink-haired anime girl.
Also, Sora's look is pretty damn distinctive. Wouldn't people in the future bring it up to her that she looks EXACTLY like the woman in the Mona Lisa?
Second of all, saying that this picture of Sora is so good that it somehow managed to match the popularity and mystique and everything else that the actual Mona Lisa had is pretty damn insulting to the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci. No matter if it was a personal favorite piece of his or it was a painting he never felt was up to snuff, he put a lot of work and care into that painting, touching it up for years and years to try to bring it up to his standards of perfection. And even after all of that, he never even managed to finish it. He stopped working on it after over 14 years because his hand suffered from nerve damage that left it mostly paralyzed.
For those wondering, the unfinished aspect wasn't in the lack of eyebrows and eyelashes. The reason the painting doesn't have visible eyelashes and eyebrows is because those details had been lost after either fading or restoration/cleaning efforts over the years. It's still considered unfinished purely because da Vinci never declared it finished.
Compare that to Monarisu who brushed a canvas with her tail for 14 seconds in order to paint this picture of Sora. I get that Monarisu loves painting, which is great, but that's really, really, really insulting.
What's even more insulting is that this change basically ignores everything that's special about the Mona Lisa. I already explained how they don't understand what the mystery about her smile is, but they also don't seem to properly recognize that she was a highly romantic figure for many years and continues to be one, to some degree anyway.
Napoleon was obsessed with the painting to the point where he developed a crush on Lisa Gherardini's descendant. Tons of men have brought flowers, poems and other gifts to the Louvre or sent love letters to the painting so often that they gave the painting its own mailbox. You're telling me all of this still happened, but the attention was aimed towards a depiction of a preteen girl instead of the 24 year old woman the painting was originally based on? And then we have to reapply the whole thing about the fame mostly being attributed to it being stolen. Did that still happen? I guess it must have if everything else is the same. Guess they were right. Literally any da Vinci painting could have been stolen and gotten famous from it.
How is this painting even being called the Mona Lisa anymore? The title Mona Lisa, which should actually be Monna Lisa, comes from the words Monna, which means "My Lady" (Ironically, the more well-known spelling for the painting, Mona, pretty much means the exact opposite as a it's a vulgar term for a woman's genitals. Woops.) and Lisa as in Lisa Gherardini/del Giocondo. Why would da Vinci randomly give this painting of this girl he's never seen or met before the name 'Lisa'? For that matter, why would he call a very young girl 'My Lady'?
This is also completely ignoring that there are other aspects of the Mona Lisa besides just the model that intrigue people. The perspective, the landscape, the style, the various sometimes drastic changes that da Vinci made to the painting over the years and more are all things that art lovers find fascinating about this painting.
What of the other details of the painting of Sora?
There are none.
It's just Sora smiling against a background of spotty blue and white. There's nothing to catch the eye or pique your interest.
Finally, they turned da Vinci into an art thief. Considering the memory erasure, da Vinci just randomly found himself standing on top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with a painting of a random strange pink-haired girl that wasn't done in his style even a little bit and just assumed it was his, claimed it as such, and earned endless praise and fame from it. I'm not saying da Vinci doesn't deserve endless fame and praise, he did a hell of a lot in science, engineering, inventing and art, plus he never earned a dime from the Mona Lisa or saw real fame for it when he was alive, but at the end of the day you're still saying da Vinci flippantly stole credit for art he didn't make. How did historians in the future not realize that da Vinci didn't paint that?
Historian: "Ah yes, the great works of Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper, the Vitruvian Man, and who could forget this fanart of an old canceled 90s anime character?"
The dub fixes this a tiny bit by saying Sarah's portrait was used as a model for da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but that's not much better, because, without seeing the portrait he made, it just sounds like he was copying the painting Plumella made. Plus, the rest still makes no sense. I don't even really think you can claim he was using that painting as a reference or model because, when he's seen painting during this narration, the Sora/Sarah painting is on the floor to his side, almost behind him. It'd be in front of him, behind his canvas if he was using it as a reference.
The dub seems behind the original in the next scene. Yamato is turned into a painting by Monarisu. Sora calls in Horurun to help by reversing the effects (can't Monarisu reverse her own power?), but he misunderstands and brings Genshi's painting to life. In the dub, Sarah says how awful it is that Uncle Bernie has been turned into a painting and asks how long he's been like that. Artie randomly brings a painting to life right before Tony tells Artie to help Dr. Goodman.
And that's that for this episode. I realize that I was edging along the line of thinking about this episode too much, but, again, if you're going to make a series rooted in history, even if it's a comedy, I feel like you kinda have a responsibility to think things through about as a much as a nerd on the Internet with no life who compares anime dubs for a hobby would, especially since this is a history show for kids.
I don't much care that they didn't bring up that da Vinci was much more than only a painter or that they got little details inaccurately, but I do care about the blatant retconning of the Mona Lisa from existence in the manner of acting like the painting itself doesn't matter. Even if it does herald back to that idea that the Mona Lisa could have been any da Vinci painting and it would have gotten famous under the same circumstances it went through – it's still just a front profile shot of a little girl with absolutely nothing impressive about it. There's saying that other da Vinci paintings are so impressive that they would have reached Mona Lisa level heights of popularity if they were stolen and then there's saying literally ANY painting would have achieved that status if it was stolen and had da Vinci's name on it.
They also treat the Leaning Tower of Pisa like it's a crooked picture on a wall. That I'm more forgiving of because that's just a joke, it's not part of the plot, but still.
Also, what did the kids even accomplish today, timeline-wise? If they were trying to stop TP Lady from erasing the Mona Lisa from existence with her own painting, then, well, they didn't do that entirely because the Mona Lisa still doesn't exist. It was replaced with a painting of Sora.
The highlight of this episode is Monarisu being one of if not the most adorable Space-Time Monster we've seen so far. She is just a delight, and I love that she's art-based. I'm a bit irked that her painting ability is so simple, though. She literally just brushes her tail on a canvas and instantly has a finished piece within seconds.
The fact that this episode puts a bit of focus on how great it is to have a passion for art was also nice. I feel like Horurun and Auguste Rodin had a stronger episode in that regard, even if that story did have a very sloppy final message. While we're on the subject of the Horurun/Rodin episode, that one also had a better friendship. We barely got to see Monarisu and da Vinci bond at all, and what we did see of it was kinda lame. Da Vinci was really so impressed by Monarisu's abilities in painting a pink-haired little girl that it set off a huge burst of inspiration within da Vinci and returned his love of art back to him, even if we never really understand why he lost it to begin with. They have a couple of legitimately sweet moments, but I felt that Rodin and Horurun's relationship was better.
Overall, this episode was okay, leaning towards bad almost purely on what they did to history here. We got Super Horurun, who looks kinda cool, although he didn't get to do much in this episode besides return Genshi back to normal. I'm not even sure what his super power is. It's implied in the end that Horurun can reverse Monarisu's powers without using a super transformation, so what exactly can Super Horurun do that normal Horurun can't, besides just be bigger and stronger?
I loved Monarisu, I love having any excuse to learn more about art, and the problems I had with the episode, while definitely being significant, probably wouldn't ruin the experience for anyone just very casually watching. I can't imagine it would negatively affect any kid either. Not many kids would see the Mona Lisa and be disappointed that it doesn't look a thing like Sora/Sarah. I think the one thing I will definitely put a red mark on there would be implying that da Vinci is an art thief. I'm not sure what's worse – Implying that Rodin's skill came from a Space-Time Monster's powers or implying that one of da Vinci's most beloved paintings wasn't actually done by him and he just found it and claimed it for himself – or at the very least copied it.
Next time, we meet the Wright Brothers and the flying Space-Time Monster, Wing!
Digimon Adventure 02 Episode 5: Destroy the Dark Tower | Sub/Dub Comparison
January 5, 2022 January 5, 2022 fiddletwix Sub Dub Comparisons	adventure 02, anime, armadillomon, cody, comparison, digimon, dub, dubbed, English, gomamon, Gomamon's such a sweetheart. I need a plushie of him., iori, Japanese, joe, review, saban, sub, subbed
Plot: Iori feels he must leave kendo practice with his grandfather to help Jyou and the others respond to an SOS sent out by Gomamon.
Title Change: Destroy the Dark Tower is changed to Old Reliable….I don't mind this at all because both titles are equally boring. Guys, seriously, both Iori/Cody and Jyou/Joe are considered some of the most boring characters in Digimon – they don't need boring titles helping them out.
As for the title card, that's also a big 'meh'. The colors are boring the shot's not interesting….just meh.
They remove a closeup shot of one of the Gizamon getting whipped as well as a few more times from further away, showing Ken.
Gomamon points out that Gizamon can't travel well on land while dub Gomamon replaces this line by saying someone should use the whip on Ken instead.
Ken asks why Gomamon believes he has a right to tell him about Digimon. In the dub, he tells Gomamon to never talk to him without calling him 'sir' and to never talk to him period.
Gomamon getting whipped is removed.
Why didn't Ken have Dark Rings on the Gizamon before they even started working? If it does make them stronger and makes work easier…??
Wow, was Ken's VA told by the director to sound as whiny as possible when he said 'I want you to make me some hot chocolate'. I could hear a pout at the end. Also, obviously, this is a dub-only line.
I think Jyou really shows how cool he is in these little moments. He's so obsessed with good grades and school and yet he is perfectly fine skipping class and a big quiz because he thinks Gomamon is in danger. Jyou may be boring sometimes, but he can also be really cool.
Iori's grandpa asks if something's bothering him or if there's a girl he likes. Cody's grandpa asks if he's losing interest in martial arts or finds spending time with him boring.
Iori's grandpa asks is he'd like Chu-Chu with a kissy face. Since Chu is a word commonly used as a kissing onomatopoeia in Japan, he realizes that Iori is thinking he said something weird, so he points out that he was talking about Chu-Chu jelly with a blush on his face. In the dub, Cody's grandpa just says prune juice will cure all of his problems with the kissy face, goofy expression and blush…..Uh….kay.
Now, as for what Chu-Chu jelly is, after some digging through endless Legend of Zelda results, I found that Chu-Chu jelly is apparently this universe's version of an energy….snack/drink that is basically an energy drink/health drink in jelly/jello form in a drinkable packet.
The dub doesn't include Iori telling his grandpa to tell his mother he'll be late.
Iori's grandpa says he's starting to resemble his father, Hiroki. In the dub, he just says no problem is too big for prune juice.
Why exactly does Joe find it weird for the Digimon to be in the real word? Did he forget that like 1/3 of the first series took place in the real world with the Digimon? It was a pretty big thing…
Daisuke and Miyako don't mention anything about Jyou being a doctor in the original. They just greet him. Also, Kari adds a correction to Yolei and Davis saying that Joe's not a doctor yet.
Originally, Jyou says they'll eat the snacks in the Digital World. In the dub, he says they're for an emergency. Also, I find it a bit weird that Joe went and got snacks when Gomamon sent an SOS. I mean, it's nice and everything, but a distress call usually means 'Come right now, I'm totally screwed' not 'Take your time, it's not a big deal, maybe get me a Snickers.'
While not a major change, Upamon tells Iori that he was just about to go into the Digital World by himself. In the dub, he annoyingly screeches 'YOU MADE IT!' over and over.
Originally, Iori tries to politely introduce himself to Jyou. In the dub, Cody excuses Upamon to Joe stating that he's hyperactive. I don't really get why Upamon is such a ball of caffeine but Armadillomon is such a slow and laid back character.
Joe originally says he wonders where Gomamon is. In the dub, he says he's always so prepared because he watches a lot of those survival shows.
Well, they sucked all the emotion out of this scene. Originally, Gomamon seems slightly surprised that Jyou came, and Jyou says that even if they're far apart he still worries about Gomamon. In the dub, Joe asks him if he knows what day it is. Gomamon says Saturday and Joe says it's Thursday, but Gomamon never understood the days of the week so he's fine.
While the next line from Gomamon is the same, originally, Jyou says that he received Gomamon's SOS on his Digivice. In the dub, he says Gomamon's going to wipe out his entire first aid kit. This seems weird because Joe is obviously holding up his Digivice as he says this.
Armadimon says that if he sent out an SOS, Iori wouldn't come after him. Gatomon then asks what he's pouting about. In the dub, Armadillomon says he always gets teary eyed in reunions and he might cry. Gatomon then tells him not to cry because his tears will turn to icicles.
While the next exchange is mostly the same, humor is added to the dub version of Joe saying Gomamon looks like he's badly wounded. This shot is again made odd by the fact that you can clearly see Joe tearing up. I wouldn't mind so much if he had any emotion in his voice like his Japanese VA does. It would just seem like he's trying to make a joke as to cover up his emotions. He's basically speaking normally and making a joke while he's supposed to be crying over his terribly wounded Digimon.
Takeru says it will be difficult to get across the snowy tundra. In the dub, he says he now understands what Matt means when he says TK's walking on thin ice…..What? Given the context, what does he mean by that, and how did looking at a lot of snow make you understand? Saban, if you're going to try to make pun-ish jokes, at least have them make sense.
Attack Name Change: Armadimon's Scratch Beat is changed to Claw Chop.
Attack Name Change: Hawkmon's Feather Slash is changed to Beak Buzz Saw….which makes no sense because, as the original name implies, he's using the feather on his head to cut through things, not his beak.
The Digimon say they'll do anything to destroy the dark tower. In the dub, they complain about having to pull the sled.
The animation on the sled ride is just silly. Most of the time it just looks like a cardboard cut out sliding over the scene.
Very very very tiny change, but when Iori goes into the river, someone yells out 'Iori!' In the dub, no one yells Cody's name. Makes it seem like no one but Gomamon either notices or cares that he went over into icy cold water.
Jyou originally has cold medicine while dub Joe has herbal tea.
Armadimon originally apologizes to Iori for how he's been acting like Iori doesn't care about him as he didn't realize that he left his kendo lesson to be there. In the dub, Armadillomon just says they should take a nap.
I honestly don't know why this little side plot was removed. It's not much but it is a little bit of character and relationship development for Iori and Armadimon.
In the original, Jyou says he ditched a quiz like Iori balked out on his lesson because he wanted to help out the Digimon. He made his decision to go just like they all choose to help out the Digital World. Despite being Chosen Children, they are ultimately the ones who decide to do what they do. In the dub, Joe says he always felt like he needed to be out there doing something too, but now he realizes that even staying behind can benefit them all in the end. He also peppers little jokes that really don't work into his dialogue like saying he thought the feeling was nausea and how the big picture isn't a wide-screen TV.
Jyou expresses sympathy that he's asking the wounded Gomamon to stall Shellmon while the others destroy the tower in the original. In the dub, he doesn't. Also, original Gomamon doesn't make jokes, he just distracts him by saying 'hey, look over here.'
Additionally, Jyou internally hopes that Takeru, Hikari and the others hurry up and destroy the tower so Gomamon won't have to fight anymore. In the dub, he just internally facepalms at Gomamon's famous charm.
A wipe transition is added between the gang getting to the tower and Gomamon's first distraction.
Another wipe is added after Fladramon's first attack and before the second distraction.
Jyou just yells Gomamon's name. Dub Joe tells him to try knock-knock jokes.
Why did Armadimon just now Armor Digivolve? Yeah, sit there and gawk while the terribly injured Gomamon tries to dodge a gigantic dinosaur in a shell.
Even though they say the same 'I'll protect you, Iori/Cody' line, Digmon's VA just completely ruins the emotion of the line. You can at least try to sound like you're slightly in pain. Digmon's obviously wincing.
They make dub Wormmon go 'hrmmm' when he looks at Digmon protecting Cody when he's silently admiring the scene in the original. It just makes it seem like Wormmon's more jealous of what he's seeing instead of silently wishing Ken would be like that with him.
This next edit's a little weird in a couple of ways. First, they edit out Digmon getting pummeled while he's protecting Iori. When they cut back to the first few frames of it, they quickly wipe transition to Fladramon's next scene. In addition, instead of Flamedramon yelling 'Fire Rocket' he just says 'Flamedramon, the fire of courage' again. Yeah, Flamedramon, you said that already. We know what you are. You're not a Pokemon
They remove more of Digmon getting pummeled and replace it with the earlier shot of Digmon wincing.
Boy, they can't catch a break in this episode. First Gizamon, then Frigimon, then Shellmon now Ebidramon.
Dub, that's Pegasusmon's Mane Wind not Star Shower….you can tell because it's not stars….and is hair…from his mane…in the wind.
I find it a bit stupid on Ken's part that he had two powerful Digimon handy to take out a wounded Child level Digimon that can't evolve and one new Chosen Child when all he had was a bunch of Frigimon going against the others….one of whom has a Digimon with the power of fire….
Did they kill Ebidramon? Unlike Shellmon, they don't show his ring being destroyed and the last shot of him is engulfed in a huge explosion a la Harpoon Torpedo.
Originally, Jyou says he'll come immediately if Gomamon needs him. Dub!Joe says Gomamon will have plenty of time to work on his jokes when he's in charge of this frozen wasteland.
Iori is intent of finishing what he starts. Cody's focused on having good manners.
I love how they flat out explain how the new Digidestined are meant to be combinations of the old ones. They only do it for Iori/Cody here, but it's apparent in them all. That's probably another reason why Ken's the best of the new group – he's the only one that wasn't made as a chimera between any of the old Digidestined.
Ken yells at Wormmon for not speaking when spoken to despite him telling him earlier not to speak. Dub!Ken asks Wormmon what plan B is. He says it's to become friends with the Digidestined. Ken calls him a fool, and Wormmon says he can't spell.
Hikari says she's heard that Iori's house has the best Ohagi. Kari says she'd love to meet Cody's grandpa.
Hikari says Daisuke can't come because he and Chibimon (Demiveemon) would eat everything. Kari asks why he has to do everything she does. He says it's because they're partners, but Kari points out that Demiveemon is Davis' partner.
Iori says his mother can make enough ohagi for everyone and then they start inviting themselves over while Daisuke laments that everyone's muscling in on his time with Hikari. In the dub, Davis sulks that Demiveemon is his partner instead of Kari.
Overall this episode was fine in the original, nothing particularly great or even good, but alright. Dub-wise….it was pretty bad. I do like Joe, even if he tends to get the worst jokes in the dub, and I'm pretty okay with Iori/Cody as he's the second most interesting of the new kids, but since they seemed intent on removing every single lesson and emotion from the episode, we're left with a hollow shell. Joe only has a small shot where he seems really concerned over Gomamon, which is when he skipped his quiz, and Iori's subplot with Armadimon thinking he didn't care about him was completely removed.
Plus, since the beating was removed, it didn't seem like Digmon was really doing much to protect Cody. Yeah, he took one water blast to the back but that was it in the dub. I kinda understand why it was removed, but it was no where near as bad as when Gabumon was getting beaten up. Plus, he has armor, a few swipes to the back can't be hurting him that much.
Additionally, they changed the big conflict with Iori to begin with. Instead of him finishing what he starts and living up to his own responsibilities as an individual, there's some confusing crap about being true to himself.
It's just a big mess that didn't need to happen at all outside of having Iori bond with one of his crest-sakes.
Next episode, a Mimi and Yolei-centric story.
Hell Girl: Three Vessels | Episode 23 – Twilight Hills Review
January 3, 2022 January 3, 2022 fiddletwix Anime Reviews	anime, anthology, hell girl, horror, jigoku shoujo, mitsuganae, review, So distracted by Tomohide's eyebrows. What is happening there?, three vessels
Plot: While Yuzuki continues to refuse to be the next Hell Girl, another client shows up – Fumio. He is constantly bullied by Tomohide and his cronies for seemingly no reason outside of the fact that he has nice things and his family is higher class. There are always two sides to a story, however.
Breakdown: Lets enter the new year by getting things back into action with Hell Girl: Three Vessels!
It dawns on me that I have been reviewing this season of Hell Girl for over a year. Part of that has been my erratic posting schedule as of late, but part of that has just been a complete lack of motivation to just plow through the rest of it. It says something when I'm more motivated to finish "Let's see how many ways we can torment poor Takuma" Two Mirrors than I am "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn" Three Vessels.
Typically, this doesn't have much to do with the story of the week. While this season hasn't really been the strongest, it's more or less been fine in the episodic story department.
The problem, yet, again, continues to just be Yuzuki – the protagonist who is so dull and forgettable that I keep forgetting her name and have to look it up half the time. We're at episode 23.
Like I said the past two or three episodes, you'd think things would finally start heating up with her story at this point, but nope. She spends this entire episode ghosting Ai and her associates because she's determined to not be the next Hell Girl. And that's it. She just ignores them and barely says a word until the ending. She even completely ignores the case of the week.
At the end, Ai allows her to hear the ringing bells of the people around her again, indicating that many of them are either current Hell Girl clients, targets or have already pulled the string. Then she lashes out at Ai, refusing to be Hell Girl, saying she just wants to be a normal girl and go to school with her friends. She doesn't even think Hell Correspondence has a point. Her lashing out prompts Ai to claim that she now feels hatred and, thus, hell in her heart as well.
Yes, congratulations, Yuzuki. You've been annoyed into hatred.
At least it looks like the next episode will finally be centered on her and the main story, if you can even call it that, of this season, but I really just feel like anything they come up with won't have been worth the frustration and boredom that comes with watching Yuzuki over this entire series.
As for the story of this episode, sorry to say, but it's one of the weakest, most confusing and unsatisfying stories we've had so far. First of all, we're back to the good ol' reliable bullying setup, which is fine, really, but they act like Tomohide has this secret reason for hating Fumio or that Fumio did something to Tomohide or someone related to him to make him hate him to such a ridiculous degree, but they never actually give one.
Instead of focusing the majority of the episode on Fumio, much of the episode actually focuses on Tomohide. Fumio comes from a borderline rich family, though he himself isn't a snob or anything – he's actually rather meek and polite. Tomohide, on the other hand, is lower middle class. I wouldn't say he's technically poor, but he definitely doesn't live in luxury. His mother is always working, and his father is "gone." It's implied that Tomohide sent his father to hell, given that he does have a curse mark, his father was clearly pointed out as having just up and left, and he grasps his shirt at the curse mark when talking to his little sister about their father, but they never give the specifics. Was his father abusive? Does his mother know what happened? We never find out.
When he's not bullying Fumio, Tomohide's a rather likable and hard working young man. He's a baseball star at school with a dream of going to high school and playing baseball there to hopefully become a professional baseball player. However, he's decided to give up his dream so he can immediately go into the workforce after middle school and help his family. In addition to his constantly working mother, who is never seen on screen, you have Tomohide's little sister, Suzumi, who is extra cute because she has jammies that make her look like a cow. Not in a mean way – they're literally cow pajamas.
Suzumi's, like, four, but she talks like she's an older teen or adult, fussing about the water bill and chastising Tomohide for doing the dishes incorrectly. She's already baking bread and is rather good at it. She wants to be a baker in the future but is willing to give up her dream so she can stay at home taking care of the house while their mom works and Tomohide goes to high school to become a baseball star. Tomohide won't let her do that because he's vehement about working so he can give up his dream.
The first half of the episode is some of the clunkiest dialogue and exposition I've ever seen in this series, which is kinda ironic because they exposit so much without actually saying much of worth. Like Fumio's rich, has a watch that was a gift from his still-alive rich father, which is why he wears it to school when his teachers tell him it might not be a good idea, he really wants to make movies and has a sweet entertainment center in his room and got a brand new video camera, but we don't know why he wants to make movies so badly. Tomohide's father is gone for some reason, he sent him to hell for some reason, Tomohide is playing "No, I'll give up MY dream" hot potato with his little sister, he loves baseball, but can't play it in high school for no real reason.
Make no mistake – Tomohide really is giving up his dream for no reason. Everyone around him, including his sister, is telling him to go to high school and become a pitcher because he can easily go pro, and becoming a pro baseball player would make his family a lot of money. But he insists on working. When he's at a local factory getting a tour for prospective employees, he starts muttering to himself "Work…work" like he's being forced into work, but no one is doing that.
Don't get me wrong. His decision is logical. Getting a steady factory job immediately to help out his family isn't nearly as risky as trying to become a professional athlete, but I really can't see why he absolutely has to skip high school entirely and not even give it a shot before entering the workforce. His family really doesn't seem that badly off with just their mother's income. I'm not sure why either he or Suzumi feels the need to give up their dreams to make money for the family (or in Suzumi's case, take care of the house) when they're not struggling that much financially from all I see. Their apartment is pretty spacious and clean, they have plenty of food, fresh water, nice clothes, the aforementioned awesome cow pajamas, a rather large bedroom, they're both in great health, etc. If they are really struggling that badly, they didn't convey that well enough for me to sympathize with Tomohide at all.
Speaking of sympathizing with Tomohide, that's quite the task considering he has the biggest hate boner for Fumio for seemingly no other reason besides he's rich and Tomohide's not. They were hinting that there was more to the story. Ai even asked Fumio, when he asked why he was the only one so unlucky as to be targeted like this, "Are you sure you haven't scarred anyone?" Fumio looks up in shock, as if there is something terrible he's done….but it never pays off. We never learn if Fumio really did do anything bad besides be rich.
Tomohide overhears that Fumio made it into a good high school on recommendation, so he gets pissed and bullies him. He sees that Fumio got a nice watch from his dad, so he gets pissed and bullies him. Fumio gets a new camera and goes off by himself to use it in the woods, so he gets pissed and bullies him. And when Fumio offers to give him the camera or the watch, Tomohide smacks them away and gets even angrier.
At one point, Tomohide, in a seeming change of heart, decides to return Fumio's camera to him (guess he took it anyway) but decides against giving it back when he overhears Fumio say that high school is just a path to college. It's a place where you figure out what you want to do in life, and he's already figured out what he wants to be, so he's not that concerned about high school.
Tomohide got so pissed at him saying this when he's being 'forced' to not go to high school and immediately go to work that he grabs Fumio later and completely flips out this time. Before, the bullying was actually rather tame for this show. He took his money and pushed him around, but the main point of contention was his focus purely on bullying Fumio. They don't bully anyone else, even if their classmates are afraid of the boys and choose to not help Fumio. Tomohide hates Fumio so much that he tells him repeatedly that it doesn't matter if he goes to a school in another city or if he sends him to hell (he now knows that Fumio called Hell Girl) he'll never escape, he'll never let Fumio go and Fumio will never be happy.
All of this ire because he's jealous that Fumio has rich parents.
You can have negative opinions on rich adults as much as you like, but rich kids can't control who their parents are. All things considered, Fumio's a pretty good and kind kid for a rich kid in any form of media. The worst things he does are use the nice things his parents buy for him and kinda imply that he doesn't think all that much about high school, but that was only because he saw it as a means to figure out what you want to be as an adult, and he already has that figured out. It's not like he went "Pfft, high school? A mere way to waste my time until I go to the most prestigious college money can buy me into. *snooty rich person laugh*" He obviously cares somewhat about high school because he was really excited when he learned he got into the one he wanted.
Even if he had said that, that's not enough reason to hate him nearly as much as Tomohide does.
But this brings us to the big moment – the string pull. After Tomohide snaps and attacks Fumio with a metal pole, Fumio whips out the straw doll, but hesitates. Tomohide, who knows exactly what Fumio's doing because he's also a Hell Girl client, notices it, and then…..
……He berates him into pulling the string until he does.
The last thing we hear from Tomohide on his ferry ride is "I'm sorry, Suzumi."
What the hell is wrong with you, dude? You knew the doll was for you. You knew what it was. You knew the power was real….and yet, you just goad Fumio into pulling the string, basically committing suicide? When you know full well that you'll be leaving your mother and your sister all alone, basically damning your sister to taking care of her four-year-old self until the day she has to give up her dreams to help support her mother because her brother decided to be a dumbass and get himself killed for absolutely no reason when one of the reasons he was choosing to go into the workforce immediately in the first place was so she didn't have to give up her dream of being a baker?
Is there any brain cell in your skull that is functioning?
At the end of the day, as Fumio takes a tour around the high school he chose, he sees some other boy being bullied and realizes that Tomohide was right, he'll probably never escape from being bullied. At least, I think that's what they were trying to say. I mean, just because some other kid is being bullied doesn't mean he has to.
Also, Tomohide's friends watched him get Hell Girl'd and they tell their entire class what happened in a huge panic. They even turn on the class in paranoia and claim they're all probably Hell Girl clients sending people to hell.
Overall, this episode is very, very sloppy. I kinda like the idea of having a bullying story where the script is flipped and we are meant to sympathize more with the bully than the victim, but they did such an awful job executing that idea. You don't sympathize with Tomohide nearly enough, and the victim is too meek and marshmallow-esque that you can't even dislike him a little. If you dislike him, it's probably because he's kinda whiny, but he has a bit of a right to be. There's not enough details given for any of the important factors of the story, despite the clunky exposition-y dialogue, and the details they do give just aren't good enough and/or feel stupid.
I don't even want to talk about Yuzuki's part again.
Onto the first of the final three – let's see if Yuzuki's story is really up to snuff.
December 25, 2021 fiddletwix Site Updates	animation, anime, blog, cartoons, Christmas, happy new year, holiday, Love you guys!, Merry Christmas, update
Merry Christmas to all my beloved readers! And a Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Solstice and just an overall happy holiday season to everyone!
I know things have been pretty slow at the ol' Madhouse, and I want to thank you all for being so patient and still reading/liking/commenting on what I have been able to put out while I've been dealing with all the hecticness this past several months. I was finally moved in just this last weekend (moving around Christmas is not recommended in case you're wondering.) and we're mostly settled in, though these are still various things that need to get done and some problems to deal with. I wasn't able to do nearly as much for Christmas as I usually do, and moving just sucked all the Christmas cheer out of me, but I'm trying to make the best of it. My Internet is workable, and hopefully I'll be back to a more regular posting schedule after the holidays while still squeaking out one or two more things for AVAHS.
Through all the stress and headaches, you guys continue to make things so much more bearable, and I couldn't be more thankful to you all. Have a very merry and safe holiday, and I hope next year is awesome for you. 🙂
~Twix 💚❤
The Anime Madhouse Made Feedspot's Top 100 Anime Blogs List
December 11, 2021 December 11, 2021 fiddletwix Site Updates	anime, blog, feedspot, manga, reviews, top 100, whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, wordpress
Hey all you people whose brains are consuming my words right now! I have some good news for a change! Prompted by the D&A Anime Blog's recent announcement about making it onto Feedspot's Top 100 Anime Blog list, I decided to give it a go myself and submitted The Anime Madhouse for consideration. I honestly didn't think it'd make it, but lo and behold IT DID! We were placed as 60th, and I am tickled purple, which is better than pink, fight me. This was such a nice surprise in what has been a very rough handful of months (and few years…) Thank you all for reading, liking, commenting and being overall awesome people over the years. You guys keep the lights on in the Madhouse, and I love you all bunches. Hope you continue having a great holiday season! 🌟
Blog/AVAHS Update | 11/27/21
November 27, 2021 November 27, 2021 fiddletwix Site Updates	*sigh*, anime, blog updates, cartoons, Christmas, holiday, review, wordpress, You can't kill my christmas spirit
Greetings and happy holidays to anyone directing their attention to this little blog of mine.
I have a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that I am going to finally, actually for real this time moving within the next couple of weeks. I'm excited, but also just completely burned out on all the stress that this has caused me over the past many months. It's not over yet, there's still a LOT of work to do, but the finish line's there.
The bad news is that the place I'm moving to doesn't have internet and won't until frickin' February. Because apparently every single task you need to have done for anything will be put off for months now.
I live out in the middle of nowhere, so I can't get any other internet provider to come out and do the work required to set up the internet besides the lovely and ever so frustrating, coming straight from the pits of hell, Spectrum. SO, I will be entirely reliant on my mobile hotspot and regular data plan for internet for the next 2+ months, which will be kinda frustrating. I have no idea how this will affect my ability to watch anything that is required for me to do my bloggin'. Maybe it won't really affect me that much, maybe I'll have to deal with slow af speeds. I don't really know because I am also switching my cell phone provider very soon too. Hopefully, this won't affect much and I'll still be able to come out with content on the somewhat regular, BUT I wanted to give you fair warning because, as much as it pains me to say this, A Very Animated Holiday Special might be very sparse this year.
I will do my damnedest to come out with holiday reviews this December, especially since making the reviews will be a good dose of holiday spirit for me as I try to get things settled down, but I most likely won't be able to do the one-review-a-day format that I typically have in December. It sucks that I have to do that because I just gypped you guys out of a lot of Halloween content, but I can't really help the circumstances. I can't even do much IRL Christmas stuff at this point.
Anyway, enough rambling and pity parties. I still wish every single reader of the Madhouse a very happy holiday season. I hope it's merry and jolly and ho-ho-hopefully leads to a much better new year. 🙂
Digimon Adventure 01 Episode 13: Angemon Awakens! | Sub/Dub Comparison
November 19, 2021 fiddletwix Sub Dub Comparisons	.....will be back after this death., adventure 01, angemon!....., anime, comparison, digimon, dub, dubbed, English, Japanese, review, sub, subbed
Plot: The battle with Devimon is reaching its boiling point, and it seems like the Chosen Children are in over their heads. With the power they have, there's no way they can take down Devimon once and for all. Everything appears to be hopeless, but just when the devil has the team in his grips, an angel appears to save them.
Title Change: Angemon Awakens! is changed to The Legend of the Digidestined.
Takeru originally asks the baby Digimon if they need to poop. In the dub, he says "Okay, so you don't want to play a game!"
Wow, Yamato/Matt came in from REALLY far away. How did he know Takeru/TK was in danger from that distance?
They remove Ogremon hitting Greymon in the head…..Really, Saban? That little bonk? When Greymon has a skull helmet, even? Use the stupid impact stars if you want, but that didn't warrant a removal.
They remove Ogremon hitting Greymon with his Pummel Whack too? That's a regular attack. Since when are those cut?
So…..more Black Gears = More evil, bigger and more powerful?….Then why doesn't Devimon use a bunch of them by default? I'm getting Rita Repulsa flashbacks…
They remove Garurumon smashing into the cliffside.
But wait, they can show Greymon getting hit and being thrown into the wall? What is even going on right now?
Leomon keeps repeating that he has to kill the Chosen Children. Likewise, when Leomon hears Devimon talking to him in his mind, he reminds him that he was ordered to kill the Chosen Children. In the dub, they change this to 'Take' and implications of kidnapping instead.
Originally, they imply that Patamon is either dying or passing out, complete with Takeru yelling at him to hang in there. In the dub, TK reassures Patamon that he did a good job protecting him and Patamon just kinda….sleeps?
This goes without saying, but originally Taichi didn't call Leomon….Booger Breath…Really, guys? Booger Breath? That's what you put on the final draft? That gets recorded? That gets seen by dozens of individuals and no one bats an eye? Okay.
I love how they have problems with showing these Digimon taking hits that don't even leave wounds, but they'll leave in the rather gross shots of the Black Gears slowly leaving Leomon's body. You can hear the flesh squishing and everything…
Tai: *after the Black Gears are destroyed* "That's bad!"….You mean….that's good?….Or is this another misuse of outdated slang?
Izzy: "It worked! We destroyed the Black Gear!" That should be "They destroyed the Black Gears!"
Originally, Ogremon flees because there are too many Digimon to handle by himself now. In the dub, he goes on about how the kids don't know who they're dealing with but they will soon enough.
Leomon: "…That would change good Digimons into bad ones." Digimon plural is just Digimon. No need for the s.
Taichi originally says that it now makes sense that Leomon keeps calling them 'The Chosen Children' once he's heard the legend of a group of children being chosen to save the Digital World. In the dub, since they change this name to Digi-Destined, they have Tai exclaim how awesome the legend is, but he wonders if that's even true.
The other kids and Digimon don't have a moment of doubt where Tai needs to coerce them like the dub does. I guess them slightly nodding their heads for three frames lead Saban to thinking they were doing that.
Koushiro doesn't mention it being 'impossible' to lose with the Digivices like Izzy does. You're a stats man, Izzy. You should know better.
Mimi originally says that she'll try her best even though she's scared because she wants to go home. In the dub she says she'll do some killer shopping when she goes home. Priorities, Dub!Mimi.
Palmon originally supports Mimi and says they'll help her. In the dub, Palmon says they need to send her back before she can shop.
The music in the original is really strange. I don't really expect western-esque trumpet music right now, especially in an anime.
Tai: "Far out!" Oh come on, now you guys aren't even trying to stay in the right decade.
I just realized that they seem to give zero shits where Sora and Joe are. Leomon said they need all of the Chosen Children to beat the evil, but they're heading right into Devimon's clutches without even mentioning Sora or Joe. This is a criticism of both versions, by the way. Either they're being ridiculously reckless, they feel like it's gonna be so easy that they don't need them to help, or they don't care….or all of the above.
It's just weird. You'd think they'd be extra cautious considering this is the literal source of all evil in the Digital World (at the moment anyway) but nah, they can handle it with 5/7 members – one of which can't even get his Digimon to Adult level.
Devimon…maybe foreshadowed Angemon's appearance by saying he wanted to destroy the Chosen Children before he appeared. And considering he really wanted Takeru gone first, I'd imagine he did know about Patamon's evolution…..so….either Devimon wasn't the evil in the prophecy or they didn't need any other Chosen Child besides Takeru for this battle (which, as we'll see, is more or less true.)
They remove a shot where Devimon is kinda strangling Ogremon.
Koushiro asks if this giant Devimon could be an illusion, and Leomon responds by saying no. In the dub, Izzy says "Bad guys always seem to think bigger is better." and Leomon says "'fraid not!"……..What?
Izzy: "My biology teacher would love this!"…Uhm…Okay I get what he's talking about, but why did it take so long for Izzy to say that when he's seen so many Digivolutions already? Especially when he's talking about Kabuterimon? Also, why are you guys making stupid jokes when you're literally fighting the source of all evil?
Mimi: "I do like the way our colors match." Ahh….Mimi….Please.
They remove Leomon getting hit by Ogremon's club and Ogremon taunting him for believing Devimon would leave his back exposed as well as the further shot of Leomon on the ground.
Hahaha! I love how Ogremon shot Leomon into a treeline, but it left a hole like he was thrust into a rockface.
So…yeah, Angemon is the antithesis to Devimon so, even though Devimon's so powerful that all of the other Adult level Digimon can't even touch him, Angemon is a threat to him. As cool as I always thought Angemon's debut was and as tragic as his 'death' was, in hindsight, that really is kinda bullshit. I mean, at least this is a reprieve from the typical 'leader (and deuteragonist) get the best stuff' trope that this series will definitely embrace as time goes on, but it was literally that they only needed to guard Takeru and ensure Patamon could evolve instead of it being a full team effort to take down Devimon.
Dub!Devimon: "They say the smallest will destroy me." Oh thanks, Saban. For a second I thought you were going to omit all the foreshadowing and try to be subtle, but specifically adding in a line where he basically admits TK and Patamon are the key to his defeat is totally brilliant and not stupid.
Okay, so you're telling me you can't show Greymon, dude with a helmet, getting bonked on the head or Leomon getting bonked on the head….but you can show Greymon, Ikkakumon and Kabuterimon biting the fuck out of Devimon? They really are thinking it's more okay to show bad guys getting hit than it is to see heroes get hit…..
Originally, Taichi weakly called out to Greymon and Greymon apologized to Taichi. In the dub, Tai says nothing and Greymon comments on how tough Devimon is.
In the original, Togemon says 'I wanted to send you back to your world, but….' to Mimi, who if off-screen. In the dub, she says she can't move and even her needles are numb.
So, in the dub, was TK calling out for Matt while unconscious/passed out?
Ya know, I joked in the last episode comparison about getting out tissues, but I was joking. I didn't really think I'd start tearing up when the finale started. Angemon hasn't even come out quite yet and I'm getting choked up. Jeez…
Originally, Mimi says Angemon looks like an angel….Yup…..yup….that's uh….good observation there, Mimi. Of course, she manages to be even dumber in the dub where she says "Nice hair. Good color." You know your Digimon is lying on the ground in agony right now?
Takeru only points out that Patamon evolved. In the dub, TK says "I wanna take him home with me!" which is….I was gonna say stupid…which it kinda is, but it's also just kinda weird. For what reason do you want to take home an eight foot tall angel with a helmet over his face?
Angemon can just summon the powers of all the Digivices and use them to attack Devimon? I'm getting Tokyo Mew Mew flashbacks now. So, really, the way that all of the Chosen Children play into this finale is only through their Digivices, not the kids themselves or their Digimon? Come on.
Devimon originally curses himself because he was so close to killing Takeru and Patamon before Angemon came to be. In the dub, he just acts as if he doesn't know of Angemon and isn't a threat to him, which we already know doesn't make sense given how Saban wrote this.
Devimon tells Angemon that he won't get off so easily either if he uses that power on him, implying that Angemon will also die along with him. In the dub, Devimon says he can't take his power so easily and he'll have to fight him for it….Uh…1) That's what he's doing. 2) He's not trying to take your power, he's trying to kill you.
Angemon's responses, implying that he's ready to die if it will stop him, is kept the same, which is weird because the dub lost the setup to that response.
Oh my god…Saban, why? They added lightsaber sound effects to Angemon's staff when he was absorbing its power into his fist….why….why?
Angemon says "I'm sorry, Takeru." In the dub, he says "I'll get him, relax." I don't much care for that line change because it goes from a somber moment to basically Angemon telling Takeru to chill out just because he told him to be careful.
Attack Name Change: Heaven's Knuckle is…well, it's going to be changed to Hand of Fate, but as of this episode, he only says "I'll stop you! AYYYEEEEEH!"
Oh yeah, and they'll also show Devimon getting impaled by Angemon's attack, but Greymon can't be shown taking an energy attack to the chin.
Ugh…I know Saban redoes lines when there's a commercial break, like 4Kids does, even if it's a very confusing and stupid practice. Here, they're using the same dialogue, but after the commercial break it's like they went for a worse take on how the VA was saying it. Before the commercial, he had some decent emotion in the lines. Afterwards, it's like he was just reading them off the script for rehearsal.
I really don't like the way TK pronounces "Angemon" because it kinda sounds like he's saying "Angiemon" which I think I've talked about before in the Adventure 02 SDC, but I feel like I should backpedal because even though that's not the way it's pronounced….it does make sense. When you say "Angel" you say it like "Eyn-jel" But when you say the "Ange" part in Angemon you say "Ann-jah" like in Angela, or you say 'ahn-jah'. Still bothers me a tiny bit, but I won't harp on it if it makes sense.
Ogremon originally wonders if the kids defeated Devimon. In the dub, he says that, with Devimon gone, he can take over now, which is obviously BS that Leomon stamps out before he even takes a step.
While both versions of Mimi say they don't want to fight anymore, Dub!Mimi adds "Oh, I think I broke a nail." Seriously, guys? You're going with the ridiculously overdone "I broke a nail" girl trope?
Overall, I've always really loved this episode, and I still do. I was being serious when I said I was tearing up at the finale. I didn't expect to, but it managed to get me again.
I still do believe it was a teeny tiny bit bunk that Angemon was able to defeat Devimon while absolutely none of the other Adult level Digimon could even scratch him. I get the parallels – angel vs. devil – I get that he had to use the power of the Digivices, and I get that he sacrificed his life for it, but it's still the slightest bit bogus.
And, believe it or not, this situation is basically going to be mirrored near the end of the series, except Angemon doesn't die there and it's a bit more of a team effort.
As confusing as Patamon's evolution line is, I adore it all. I own nearly all of his forms as toys. He's always been one of my favorite Digimon ever.
His evolution scene was epic and heartbreaking at the same time. Like everyone else, he did evolve to protect his partner, but the buildup to it was quite sad because Patamon wanted to evolve so badly so he could protect Takeru. He had no chance in his Child form. Oddly, Patamon actually seems like the weakest Child level Digimon but the most powerful Adult level.
Compare that to the plotline in Adventure 02 where V-mon wanted to evolve to Adult, even though Armor evolving was seen as kinda better, all because he and Davis were jealous of Takeru and Angemon and their symmetry with Hikari and Angewomon.
Well, you can put away your hankies for now, Angemon/Patamon will return in due time. It will take quite a while, but he'll be back. Until then, it's off to even bigger threats.
Next time, the kids meet Gennai and learn what they must do to combat the next evil threat that is looming over the Digital World.
Animating Halloween: Noctober/Episode One-Derland | Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun
November 17, 2021 November 15, 2021 fiddletwix Episode One-derland (Anime)	animating Halloween, anime, comedy, episode one-derland, first impressions, ghost, Halloween, review, supernatural, Toilet-bound eh? Sometime something Taco Bell something., toilet-bound Hanako-kun
Plot: Nene longingly yearns for love. She's so desperate to tell the boy she likes about her feelings that she seeks out a wish-granting ghost in the girl's bathroom. The ritual summon him – yes, him – works! But Nene has to face the reality that sometimes what you wish for most isn't what you truly want.
Breakdown: While I had flitted around checking this series out for a while, it wasn't until GlitterInformer suggested I check it out for Animating Halloween that I finally decided to sit down and watch it, and I'm glad I did.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun isn't technically a horror show, but it is supernatural, is a ghost story and has some really interesting visuals that come off as horror-esque.
Overall, however, it's a comedy show, and pretty funny one at that. Hanako is funny and sweet, and Nene was…..tolerable. She had some funny moments, but she was pretty annoying a good chunk of the time.
The setup was kinda cliché, but I like how Hanako was more about helping her confront her problem than it was just granting her wish. I also thought it was interesting for Nene to realize that she was more concerned about getting a cute boy to like her than it was that she was in love with that specific boy.
We do get a kinda scary interaction with a 'mermaid' who is summoned because of Nene's mistake and insistence on getting her crush to like her, plus we get a glimpse of a slightly creepier Hanako and a fight between the two.
I really love the art for this show. It's very sharp and stylistic with some amazing shots. I adore the gorgeous colors. It has a very manga-esque style to its animation, if that makes any sense. Lots of panels appearing on screen and intersections.
The music was alright, but nothing really stuck with me so far. The OP was the best of it all.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun is definitely a lot better than its crappy (pun intended) name would suggest. I had a lot of fun with it, and I look forward to watching more.
Cardcaptor Sakura/Cardcaptors (Nelvana) Episode 13: Sakura and the Elephant's Test of Strength | Sub/Dub Comparison
November 8, 2021 November 7, 2021 fiddletwix Sub Dub Comparisons	anime, Cardcaptor Sakura, cardcaptors, comparison, dub, dubbed, magical girl, mahou shoujo, nelvana, Power be so cute tho, review, sub, subbed
Card(s) of the Day: Power: Power is a card that makes the user more, well, powerful. Usually in terms of physical strength. Kero stated that Windy might be the counter to it, but that might just be from what she has.
Plot: Sakura's class is going to the zoo, but a strange seemingly invisible Clow card is causing havoc all over the place. It's the Power card, and Sakura must challenge its pride in order to capture it. Can she overpower Power?
In the original, Toya mocks Sakura a tad by saying since she got up on her own for a change that it will probably rain today, but Sakura argues by saying the weather person claimed it'd be sunny. In the dub, he says he heard Sakura's going to the zoo today and mocks her by asking if they're going to put her in a cage. Sakura responds by saying his brain's turned to mush.
Sakura's dad doesn't say what's in the lunch box, he just says it's full of her favorites. In the dub he says it's a meatloaf sandwich with chocolate chip cookies.
Sakura explains that she's going to meet her class and then they're going to take the bus to the zoo. Toya says to be careful if she goes to the park, then he points to the TV to show that the giant penguin slide at the park was completely flipped upside down. In the dub, Toya mocks her some more by asking if she's planning to be a weightlifter with the lunch she has. Sakura mock laughs before Tori suggests she might be the King Kong of Penguin Park. He then points to the TV.
Yukito shows up as Sakura's rollerblading. She asks why he's not with her brother, and he responds that he has to go in early to do chores at school. Sakura, lucky that her brother's not there to mess with her age-gap-ish game, gets goo-goo eyes and celebrates internally. Yukito asks what's wrong, and Sakura shakes off her embarrassment. All of this, barring Yukito showing up, is removed. We cut straight from him meeting with Sakura to the shot of the park that comes after.
The reporter, who is oddly still talking about this on live TV even when it's just a penguin slide, is just talking about how weird it is that this happened in the original. In the dub, it's almost the same, but she makes this statement; "Some suspect the radical group the "Pals of Penguins" organization is behind this…" Pbbbttt…Nelvana, stop being silly.
They edit out a short scene of a conversation of Yukito and Sakura as they're going to school. I guess this is to make the Yukito time even shorter. Also, Sakura blushes once while talking with him even though he's just inquiring about her backpack.
Because that conversation was edited out, the final line that they actually kept the visuals for is changed. Yukito mentions that her dad's a great cook since she mentioned the lunch he made for her and she agrees. In the dub, he tells her to have fun on her field trip and 'beware the penguin tippers.'
More Yukito cuts: Like he's done several other times, Yukito throws a small candy to Sakura before he leaves. Sakura gets all gushy again and goes on about how great her day has been and is going to be. She spins around in front of the school when she hears a noise. She tries to listen for it again, but shrugs it off before we cut to the zoo. All of this is removed.
I try not to nitpick TOO much with the dialogue because I'd be here all day, but when the teacher is explaining to the groups about their report, he says their reports are due on Monday and they have to meet back at that same location at two o'clock, which is why the teacher holds up two fingers. In the dub, he makes no mention of the deadline and when he raises two fingers he says the report is about two things, teamwork and observation. Also, the original mentions nothing of the penguin incident.
They edit out Sakura slightly freaking out in fear when one of her friends mentions that whatever flipped over king penguin was a ghost.
Tomoyo says the ghost is so strong it must be the ghost of a sumo wrestler. Madison says she'd probably win a Pulitzer if she took a picture of the ghost.
Minor nitpick – the classes are assigned specific animals for their report, they don't get to choose like in the dub.
Bunch of shots removed – shots of the boys looking at the sloths, one of the boys talking about them, Syaoran inquiring more about them, a shot of their backpacks, the boys picking up their notebooks, the boys taking notes, and Syaoran snapping one pic are all removed.
The parts of the scene that they do keep are changed. Syaoran's amazed by the sloth whereas Lee's bored/frustrated by it. Zachary also talks about how intelligent it is when originally he was talking about how fast it can run.
Another short scene is cut of the other boys talking about how Yamazaki always lies and it's nice to see someone gullible enough to believe his lies.
Originally the girls were talking about the neat tricks that elephants can be taught to do. In the dub, they're talking about how much an elephant can pick up and talking about how they should observe the elephant's natural strengths in their unnatural environment. While I don't like changes, at least this one is educational. Plus, it leads me to believe someone at Nelvana is a big elephant fan.
Well, here's something new. Syaoran's on the eyecatch this episode.
Sakura's friend ask if she finished her report. She says she has a little more to do, and her friend wishes her good luck before watching the elephants some more. In the dub, Sakura's friend asks if it's lunchtime yet. Sakura says yes, and her friend says she and the other girl will meet them later before she returns to watching the elephants.
Sakura doesn't bring up the suspected Clow card in the original. She just keeps going on about how she's surprised that Kero's there.
Rika follows her teacher and gives him a bento box that she made for him. He accepts it, thanks her and she smiles. All of this was removed.
Another scene removed. Syaoran takes a picture of the sloth and they mark down that it moved, but the other boys are complaining that they've been watching it for an hour and they've only seen it move three times. Despite this, Syaoran's still excited as ever. I really like Syaoran when he's happy and excited about learning. Even if he does get deceived by Yamazaki, he's a lot more likable this way. They only keep the very end of the scene when Syaoran tries to take another shot.
Syaoran, Sakura and Kero all sense the Clow card in the original, but in the dub Syaoran seems to be the only one who senses something while both Sakura and, surprisingly, Kero don't sense anything. Kero asks why he thinks this huge booming noise is a Clow card.
Kero says it's one thing if the penguins escape, but quite another if the larger animals get out. In the dub, he says penguins don't just escape on their own and that the only logical conclusion is a Clow card. Right, no animals ever got loose at a zoo without a Clow card breaking them out.
Kero says Sakura has to tell Power exactly what the test of strength shall be. The dub just has him tell her to run. Surprisingly, though, they leave in her funny faces during this entire scene, but it was likely unavoidable.
A shot of Sakura from the back with a sweat drop is removed.
Also, Power is indeed really adorable.
Not as cute as Rain, but still.
In the original, it's a bit unclear as to why Syaoran decided to help Sakura secretly instead of trying to capture Power on his own after she lost. In the dub, Lee says there's no chance she'll win at the tug of war and decides to basically cheat for her just to get the card caught….even though she technically was cheating anyway with the elephant helping her.
Also, why the hell is Power hers anyway? Syaoran's technically the one who stopped Power with Time. If he hadn't interfered, it's fairly likely she would've lost. Under the rules of the cards, Power should be Syaoran's.
They keep bringing up that Sakura's magic has gotten more powerful, but there's nothing in this episode that really indicates that, in the dub anyway. She's actually getting slightly better at sensing cards in the original, but this was removed in the dub.
Also, Syaoran originally wonders if the sloth has decided to do anything before running off. In the dub, he says Sakura's going to need to get a lot more powerful if she's going to be a Cardcaptor.
Sakura asks Kero what Power's effect is on her when she uses it. Kero says that it makes you more powerful, of course, and Sakura derp-faces. Surprisingly they left the derp-face in but Sakura says they have unfinished business and Kero responds by saying they do – lunch.
I have no clue why, but they remove the shot of Sakura standing in front of the now right-side up king penguin slide.
They also shorten the scene with Yukito a bit here and there. Not really that noticeable.
A shot of Sakura getting nervous that Yukito will find out about her powers is removed.
Leave it to Kero-Chan!/Kero's Corner: The dub's logo ends up staying over Kero's face as he appears on screen during Kero's Corner for a couple of seconds, just like last episode….
While both segments are showing off Sakura's uniform, the dub fails to mention that the reason they're showcasing this uniform when they've already done a segment on it is that this is the summer version. The colors are inverted, black on white instead of white on black, and the school insignia is on the back instead of the arm.
Next time, Mist's debut! Sakura is invited to Yukito's school fair. Will there be age-inappropriate romance or heartache?
Digimon Tamers | Sub/Dub Comparison Episode 4: A Tamer's Test - Defeat Gorimon