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commentaryvorg · 2 years

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Digimon Data Squad Dub Comparison Episode 32 - The Sacred City’s Last Stand!

This is a companion to my commentary on the original Japanese Digimon Savers! Reading my commentary on the original version of this episode (which you can find here) is recommended before reading this dub comparison.

Original name ~ Dubbed name

Masaru Daimon ~ Marcus Damon

Yoshino Fujieda ~ Yoshino “Yoshi” Fujieda

Tohma H. Norstein ~ Thomas H. Norstein

Ikuto Noguchi ~ Keenan Crier

ElDoradimon ~ ElDradimon

Baromon ~ Baronmon

Gizmon ~ Gizumon

Yatagaramon ~ Crowmon

BioSpinomon ~ BioSupinomon

Yashamon ~ Yasyamon

[Since several characters share the same name between the original and the dub, quotes from the dub will always be in italics, while quotes from the original will not, in order to distinguish them.]

Whoops, I’m complaining about the preview for this episode at the end of last week’s one again. It focuses entirely on the plot with the space-time bombs – to the point of basically spoiling how things turn out! – with not a single shot of Yoshi. Nah, there aren’t any girls in Data Squad, this episode couldn’t possibly prominently feature her.

Granted, maybe I’m being a little too harsh, because these previews don’t really focus on character-based stuff that much in general and prefer to show the plot; for example, the preview for episode 15 only showed MetalPhantomon trapping them in nightmares with no indication it was a Thomas-focused character episode. But come on. Focusing on the plot to the point of spoiling the ending, when they could have spent at least some of these shots showing that Yoshi fights Ivan, which is also a plot thing? That’s very suspiciously deliberate.

It's another Thomas recap, but it does make sense to be him this time when he was the focus of last episode.

Recap Thomas: “…and now the lake is flooding, threatening to wash away ElDradimon along with the Sacred City!”

Okay, first of all, ElDradimon literally is the Sacred City. And again, like I said last episode, the water washing it away is not the point. That should be abundantly apparent from this very episode; did the dubbers not even watch the rest of this episode before writing this line oh my god.

(Also, the lake is on the top end of the waterfall, so actually it’s draining, not flooding.)

Marcus: “Man, those Gizumon-XT just keep coming and coming!”

Agumon: “Whadda we do?”

Marcus: “We keep fighting!”

What do we do, Agumon? Maybe don’t devolve for no reason, that’d be a start.

Falcomon’s voice isn’t hitting me quite so hard these days, perhaps because he’s not spent as much time being a participating character in recent episodes, but it is still terrible, weekly reminder.

Yushima: “Keep the Baby Digimon in the palace while the rest of you act as their defence!”

~~~~~

Yushima: “We must send all the smaller Digimon into the palace for their protection…”

“Smaller” Digimon doesn’t necessarily mean weaker! There’s plenty of dub-Ultimate (aka Perfect) levels gathered here in this Digimon army who happen to be rather small, but they shouldn’t go inside.

They’re using the Full Charge version of the evolution theme for Yushima only evolving Kamemon to Champion level, which is not how it should work. They’ve usually been quite consistent with using the right theme for the right evolution level.

Yoshi smashing a Gizumon in the face with a barrel and then falling out of the window from the momentum gets given comedic music. I disapprove. That was an incredibly badass move and it deserves to be treated as such, not as comedy.

Lalamon: “Yoshino, you’re amazing! You took down a Gizmon: XT!”

Yoshino: “Thanks…”

~~~~~

Lalamon: “Yoshi, you were great! The way you smashed that Gizumon-XT was so brave!”

Yoshi: “It *was*, huh!”

It was! I like Yoshi being more overtly proud of herself, and Lalamon telling her she was brave, because she really is, especially given her issues. (Which, you know, we’re not otherwise going to be seeing in this episode, so take it where you can get it.)

Yoshino: “I’m getting a bad feeling about this…”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Oh no, it’s that guy who has a crush on me again…”

There’s something… more Done™ about the way Yoshino doesn’t even bother specifying that it’s This Guy again (of course she knows it is, though) and just jumps straight to the massive sinking feeling she’s getting about the fact that she’s going to be stuck dealing with this Terribleness for a while.

Ivan: “Too bad the only time we’re together is when I’m trying to massacre her and all her friends…”

The word “massacre” here might actually be one of the closest instances of the dub actually acknowledging all the murdering going on. The fact that it happens now of all times only serves to highlight how utterly unrealistically not-a-character Ivan is being. You don’t feel this way about someone you’re trying to murder. Or if you do, you actually feel conflicted about it, like a human being would, not hurr durr comedy.

Yoshino: “I knew it was you. Ivan!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “[Thinking out loud]’s a habit of his. Hi, Ivan!”

Yoshi’s greeting to him is laced with exasperation, as it should be, but I don’t really like that she’s even greeting him at all. As if they’re on remotely good terms; as if a preposterous asshole like this deserves her even giving him the time of day. He does not.

Yoshi: “Do you actually think I would fall for a guy who says everything he thinks out loud?”

…That’s your biggest issue with the idea that you’d ever be into him, Yoshi? Ivan’s thinking-out-loud thing is nonsensical and wholly unrealistic, but from an in-universe perspective it’s kind of the least objectionable thing about him as a person.

Ivan: “And what’s worse, she doesn’t share my feelings!”

Ivan doesn’t bring up this part at this point in the original, so I think it makes him slightly less terrible to be acknowledging this here? Just slightly and just in this one line, mind.

Yoshino: “You’re not even trying to hide them, are you?”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “I can *still* hear you!”

We lose out on the suggestion that maybe possibly makes more sense out of Ivan’s thinking-out-loud thing than anything else.

As there’s always been with Yoshi compared to Yoshino in general, the tone of her exasperation here is very different. Yoshino is so done and completely deadpan (that’s barely a question mark there, in terms of her intonation), whereas Yoshi is a lot louder and more frustrated about it.

Ivan: “Maybe she’s just playing hard to get?”

Yeah, so, scratch that part where he was being just slightly less terrible just a few lines ago by acknowledging she wasn’t interested, he’s completely cancelled that out with this.

Ivan: “In that case, I have no choice! In order to earn the privilege of dating you… Fight me, Honey!”

Yoshino: “What do you mean, you have no choice?”

~~~~~

Ivan: “In order to prove my worthiness… we must fight!”

Yoshi: “That won’t change my mind, Ivan!”

Is this Ivan being slightly less terrible in the dub? Because he’s not implying that he’ll be entitled to her dating him if he wins, just that he’s hoping his strength will impress her? I guess so, a little bit.

Yoshi actually outright tells him that it won’t make a difference, though, which puts him right back in terrible-town with the fact that he refuses to listen to her very explicitly-expressed opinions and take no for an answer.

The fact that his challenge wasn’t attempting to obligate Yoshi to date him if she loses also makes Lalamon slightly less unhelpfully-enabling-his-bullshit for accepting the challenge and adding that if he loses he has to stay away from her. Maybe?

Ivan: “Haha, if I win, I get a date with her.”

NEVER MIND, we’re back where we were in the original, and possibly this time it’s thanks to Lalamon that he even had the idea to present it this way.

Lalamon: “Once you see my evolved form, you’re gonna pass out from a squirting nosebleed!

~~~~~

Lalamon: “I’m warning you, once I Digivolve, you won’t be calling anyone ‘honeybun’ for a long time!”

Lalamon is not aware of her fanserviceyness in the dub, which is fair, because the dub is making a genuine, good-on-them effort to remove that aspect as much as they can.

Yoshino: “Just a second, Lalamon! Why are you accepting the match?!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “What are you thinking, Lalamon, egging him on like that?!”

Yes, Yoshi! She did egg him on, didn’t she! I appreciate that being acknowledged slightly more in the dub.

Lalamon: “Well… I was hoping for more than just ‘keeping him busy’. I wanna kick his butt!”

There’s something about the fierce way this tiny squeaky flower creature threatens to kick someone’s butt while clenching her stubby fist that’s very amusing.

Rosemon: “Now that I’ve Digivolved to the Ultimate level…”

Whoops. This was not one of those lines that needed to be translated directly, because “Ultimate level” is an entirely different level depending on the language. She just effectively called herself Perfect level. The dub usually gets this correct, but it seems this one slipped through the cracks, because it sounds fine if you’re not thinking too hard about which evolution level is which in what language.

Ivan: “Bio-Hybrid DNA… Charge!”

The new call for the Bio-Hybrids’ Mega levels was supposed to be “Bio-Hybrid DNA Full Charge”. That’s what Nanami did. Apparently someone forgot already.

I am somewhat surprised, but appreciative, that they kept the shots of Ivan’s body morphing uncomfortably into his new form. Though he doesn’t groan horribly throughout it, perhaps for censorship, but also because he’s too busy saying the added “Bio-Hybrid Digivolve to…!” line. I’m surprised he can manage it with his vocal chords physically changing, but then again, the finished BioSupinomon can still speak with that mouth, so hey.

His Digimon Analyser is trying to make out his new form to be super powerful and threatening, but his voice – even in this form – is still so goofy. It’s impossible to take him seriously as anything but terrible comic relief.

Yoshino: “What is that?”

Rosemon: “His form is different from before!”

~~~~~

Rosemon: “Okay, Yoshi… What now?!”

Yoshi: “Me?! I thought *you* were the one with the plan!”

Rosemon and Yoshi sound alarmed at seeing BioSupinomon, like they buy into his (non-diagetic…?) Digimon Analyser boasts about totally being able to beat them like this, rather than simply being surprised he has a new form. I could maybe put this down to a thing with Yoshi’s anxiety issues, but it doesn’t entirely read like that, especially with Rosemon also seeming more worried.

BioSupinomon: “I have to hand it to Kurata. That guy really knows his monsters. I guess it takes one to know one.”

Nice line about Kurata there in principle, but it really doesn’t hit as well when it’s said in that goofy voice. It also doesn’t really fit that someone who’s chosen to willingly work for someone he accepts is a monster would joke about it like this.

Yoshino: “Yours is just a fake anyway. Let’s go, Rosemon!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “It doesn’t matter how big you are. You’re goin’ down!”

Well, never mind Yoshi seeming potentially worried earlier; she’s managed to get back to some pretty generic trash-talk now. I liked the note in the original that she has faith Rosemon’s power will win out because it isn’t artificial, but that’s lost.

Rosemon: “I’ll show you that size is no indication of strength!”

~~~~~

Rosemon: “I’ll teach you that size doesn’t matter, unless you’re talking about the size of someone’s heart!”

I mean I guess that’s basically the sentiment we want to get across here, but it sounds a little cheesy when you say it in so many words, Rosemon.

BioSpinomon: “I will definitely win this battle and make you my lover, Honey!”

~~~~~

BioSupinomon: “So, where shall we go on our date? Dinner and a movie, or a long picnic walk on the beach?”

Hm, okay, another point for slightly-less-terrible; Ivan’s line in the original here is leaning in the direction of sounding outright predatory, which of course is Very Bad™. Leaning more into the comedy of it is the less-bad way to go here.

Yoshino: “I absolutely refuse.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Let’s not and say we did.”

No, Yoshi! Don’t even say you did at all! Don’t indulge this preposterous asshole in his nonsense even slightly, he does not deserve it!

BioSpinomon: “I-want-to-share-a-juice-drink-with-two-straws Bomber!”

~~~~~

BioSupinomon: “I-wanna-drink-a-smoothie-at-the-mall-sharing-one-straw Bomber!”

Ew, one straw is significantly worse than two.

Rosemon: “Not bad.”

~~~~~

Rosemon: “Are you done?!”

I honestly don’t know why Rosemon even vaguely compliments him here in the original, so points to dub-Rosemon for being so furiously done with him the whole time.

Rosemon: “Don’t worry. I’ll never hand you over to him, Yoshino. Now, come on!”

~~~~~

Rosemon: “What about the mall? Sometimes those smoothies can be very refreshing! Kidding!”

Okay, so I think I approve of the removal of the part where Rosemon appears to still be on board with the not-okay “fighting over Yoshino” thing. Not sure I entirely like her indulging Ivan’s stupid suggestions on any level, though, even as a joke. The “joke” also doesn’t really hit right, because she says the whole thing in the same angry tone – not really the right mood to be joking in – and there’s barely any pause before she admits she’s kidding.

Yoshino: “What… are you two doing?”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “This is the silliest fight ever!”

Yes, Yoshi, I’m glad at least someone realises it! Given than the dubbers who wrote this line also apparently realised this, I’m not entirely sure why they felt it’d be a good idea to make it even sillier… but then again there’s not much that could be done to salvage this, I suppose.

(Yoshi is still being a lot more loudly exasperated than Yoshino’s deadpan-ness.)

BioSupinomon: “Mind your own beeswax!”

Clearly the most tonally-appropriate thing for Ivan to be saying before he strikes down the interrupting Yasyamon and prepares to ruthlessly murder it.

The wounds on the Yasyamon’s face are edited out, because I guess that looked too brutal.

Yoshino: “Ivan, don’t!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Leave him alone!”

The part where Yoshino seems to be trying to appeal to Ivan as a person by using his name is lost here.

Yoshino: “How can you still regard yourself as a human being?!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “How could you do such a thing when you’re part human?!”

Yoshi specifying that he’s part human is a really weird way to word this sentiment. Surely, if anything, him having a Digimon part should in theory make him even less willing to murder Digimon?

BioSpinomon: “In exchange for money, I offered my body to Kurata’s will. And he gave me the strongest body that is most efficient for hunting Digimon!”

~~~~~

BioSupinomon: “Kurata pays me money to let him experiment on my body. And I’m lucky, too. Because of all his hired help, he’s given me the strongest body out of everyone.”

Ivan making a bigger point of how his body is supposedly stronger than any of Kurata’s other hires makes this sound kinda like he’s talking about his human body being way buffer than the others, as if Kurata modified that about him, too. After all, BioSupinomon isn’t any significantly stronger than Nanami or Kouki’s new forms, so it feels a little odd that he’d believe so strongly that it is.

BioSpinomon: “It is my duty to obey Kurata’s orders.”

~~~~~

BioSupinomon: “Where else do you think I’m getting’ the money to take you on our date?”

Oh my god, that is not even remotely supposed to be the point of why he’s doing this for money, ugh urgh bad terrible. At least by this part in the original, the writers almost completely stopped doing anything with the stupid crush thing and were focusing on making Ivan actually interesting (this line in the original shows the kind of unquestioningly-loyal mindset he’s forced himself to adopt). The dub making it still about the goddamn crush is Bad.

Yoshi: “You’re the worst person I’ve ever met!”

Yeah, Yoshi, I’d say you’re spot-on in that judgement. Though, given that this is partly in response to him still talking about the freaking date, it feels like her disgust is somewhat less about the genocide-for-money thing and still partly about the rest of his terribleness.

Soldier: “Only five minutes left until the operation is complete.”

~~~~~

Soldier: “We approximate that the Sacred City will fall within the next five minutes.”

What this line meant in the original: the space-time bombs around ElDoradimon’s feet have been set to detonate in five minutes.

What the dub somehow thought this meant: ehhh we’re guessing we’ll win the battle in about five more minutes? so let’s put a precise countdown timer for that onscreen for some reason, that makes sense! And who knows what these devices in the background are for, nahhh they’re probably unimportant.

The dub writers apparently haven’t watched ahead enough in this very episode to understand the really pretty simple picture of what’s going on here. How the heck even.

Yoshino: “Yet you fused with their power to use it for your own advantage… and you kill Digimon without even a second thought!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “And you said yourself you get your power from Digimon data, and yet you destroy them and call it your ‘business’!”

Ivan having fused with Digimon data to get his power is really not something that backs up the argument that he shouldn’t be murdering them. (Or, you know, “destroying” them, because dub.) That’s like arguing to someone who’s being cruel to animals, “you eat animals to live, why are you being so horrible to them?”. In the original line, Yoshino brought up the fusing thing as part of why he was awful, not as a counterpoint.

Yoshino: “That doesn’t upset you? Do you not feel anything from seeing the pain and suffering… of the Digimon that you’ve hurt?”

BioSpinomon: “Having a heart is unnecessary for business, Honey.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Don’t you feel anything from seeing all this pain and suffering?! Don’t you have a heart?!”

BioSupinomon: “Please don’t be angry with me. It’s only business, honeybun.”

Other than the annoying part in the original where he still called her “Honey” here, Ivan’s line was appropriately cold and detached, not seeming to care whether she was angry with him about this or not. But apparently in the dub, Ivan is still thinking about getting her to want to date him by explaining that actually it’s totally okay for him to murder Digimon if it’s just business, and, urgh. No.

BioSpinomon: “I won’t ask you to understand.”

~~~~~

BioSupinomon: “I wish you’d understand. I made a deal with Kurata because I need that money.”

Yep, that’s exactly where the dub’s going with this, because this line is the exact opposite from the original. It was pretty interesting how in the original he’d sold his soul out to the point that he didn’t even mind if everyone else saw him as a monster and didn’t understand his motives! But no, in the dub, he’s still totally fixated on trying to get Yoshi to date the murdering monster he is like an absolute tone-deaf moron.

There’s also the part where he’s talking about how he’s doing all this for money and “business” while still having that goofy voice of his. It does not remotely fit the character of a soulless soldier that Ivan’s finally been revealed to have. I suspect the dub voice casters did not watch ahead to realise that’d eventually be the point of him.

BioSupinomon: “When I signed that contract, I promised to do a good job!”

Yes, “do a good job”, the most appropriate way to talk about doing everything in your power to commit genocide.

Rosemon: “I feel for you. Ivan, when you signed that contract, you signed away your heart.”

…Why do you feel for him, for what was a voluntary choice he made? He’s being even less subtly somewhat pained and sympathetic about his wilful soullessness than he was in the original. And even in the original he wasn’t gaining any real sympathy points at all yet because we didn’t know he needed the money for his siblings.

The BGM that kicked in as the fight resumed almost made me think it was Probably Marcus’s Theme for a second there, but no, it’s a different piece. Which means that them using that piece for Thomas’s victory in the previous episode was definitely a deliberate choice to bring Marcus to mind, rather than them just using it everywhere. Nice.

BioSpinomon: “I have a reason for carrying through with this mission.”

~~~~~

BioSupinomon: “I now see that Yoshi wants nothin’ to do with me.”

He’s still making it about his goddamn crush! Original-Ivan hadn’t mentioned that at all (besides one lone “Honey”) for this entire scene! But no, clearly the stupid crush is far more important than having him stress how important his motivation for doing all this is.

Admittedly, he did mention earlier where the original didn’t that he needs this money, so that part’s not completely lost. But it’s more relevant for him to reference his motive here, in this moment where he forces himself to keep fighting after it looked very much like Rosemon should have defeated him.

BioSupinomon: “Fine! If she doesn’t want my heart, why shouldn’t Kurata have it?”

You sold your heart to Kurata way before you ever even met Yoshi, you moron! You shouldn’t have even had a heart to be trying to “give to her” or whatever! …Which, granted, is an original-episode problem, but this dub line highlights it even more.

BioSupinomon: “Yoshi! You will pay for turning me down!”

URGHRGHRHRH. So he’s going to try and kill her because she rejected his advances? Yeah, I don’t think I need to explain why this is Extremely Maximum Bad, all of the Badness Points going to the dub here, ending in a final score of the dub being Significantly More Terrible than the original from this alone, never mind anything else.

Rosemon: “Yoshino, run…”

Yoshino: “What are you saying?”

~~~~~

Rosemon: “Yoshi, run…!”

Yoshi: “Forget it. I’m not leaving you!”

Aww. Slightly more friend-adorableness here in the dub with Yoshi outright saying she won’t leave her.

Yoshino: “We can’t lose… I won’t… I won’t let you kill anyone any more!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “We have to get rid of his kind! I don’t want any more Digimon to suffer because of this guy!”

Yeah I was expecting this line to not hit quite as hard because the dub wasn’t going to let her use the word “kill”. There’s also the fact that Yoshi’s voice sounds purely angry and nothing else, whereas Yoshino had a lot more frantic desperation to her anger.

Kurata: “I put my hopes on the wrong man.”

~~~~~

Kurata: “I never should have let Ivan go by himself.”

Hm, no, I feel like Ivan should have gone by himself even though he ended up losing, considering that what he was doing was really just a diversion anyway, and that Kurata needs Kouki here at the camp to defend him from the incoming Marcus and Keenan.

Kouki punching a cartoon bird needed to be flash-cut, apparently.

Kouki: “I got sick of waiting for ya, Daimon Masaru!”

Masaru: “You again?!”

Kouki: “I started thinking you might’ve gotten scared and run off. That’s how frickin’ long you took!”

~~~~~

Kouki: “Never thought you’d show, Marcus! What took so long?”

Marcus: “You’re the one who ran away!”

Kouki: “Yeah, well no-one’s running away this time! I’m gonna enjoy shutting that mouth of yours once and for all!”

Marcus is presumably referring to Kouki and the other two retreating back in episode 29, after being defeated. On the one hand I kind of like him trying to return the trash-talk; on the other hand I don’t know if Masaru would care about something that happened so relatively long ago, especially since he only “ran away” because he lost and not because he was being a coward.

I am surprised (but glad) they kept in the shot of Marcus being grabbed and flung backwards by his face.

Yoshi: “It’s so… sad…”

…Is it, Yoshi? I don’t see how there’s anything sad to be found about this preposterous, objectifying, murdering-for-money asshole lying defeated, at least not before you see the part where he has siblings that he loves and misguidedly did all of this for.

When Yoshi realises the significance of the sibling photo, she flashes back to the line where he said he needed the money. This mention of his motive didn’t come at the same point in the conversation as it did in the original, so the shot used in the flashback doesn’t match the shot that we had for the dub line when we first heard it.

Yoshino: “He takes advantage of other people’s weaknesses… and makes them do things like this… I’ll never forgive Kurata for this.”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “He doesn’t even know he did anything wrong… I hate Kurata. Only a sick man would take advantage of the weak-minded!”

Wait, really? Are we really going with the angle that Ivan didn’t know he was doing something wrong? Despite all the murdering Digimon, and Yoshi passionately telling him Digimon are people, are we really supposed to believe that when he kept insisting it was “just business”, and for money for his siblings, that meant he genuinely thought it was all okay? How the hell does anyone not realise that’s kinda messed-up? By “weak-minded”, does Yoshi just mean Ivan is somehow that childishly naïve?

The point in the original is pretty clearly supposed to be that Ivan knew what he was doing was awful and wrong and made him a terrible monster of a person, and he was just so desperate for enough money to support his siblings that he was willing to turn himself into this sort of monster. He was suppressing his feelings on purpose; the “business” line was effectively a defence mechanism to try and convince himself it was totally okay to do the murders when he knew deep down that it wasn’t.

Thomas: “Wait! Hold your fire!”

Thomas says this to MirageGaogamon as they approach the city and he sees the army retreating, implying that MirageGaogamon was about to attack. But he’s still kind of far away from any of the Gizumon to have been reasonably able to do that. Is this the dub thinking that there’s no way Thomas could possibly have evolved Gaomon just for transport, and trying to handwave that actually he totally evolved him to join in the fight?

Despite the earlier punch-cut, apparently it’s okay to show Kouki kicking a bird if the bird is larger than him.

Kurata: “Time’s up.”

You know, for that vague prediction his men made that the city would lose the battle in about five minutes, right, that’s definitely what the timer was for, that definitely ever made any amount of sense.

Kurata: “Everything is just as I’d planned.”

~~~~~

Kurata: “It’s just like I imagined it to be.”

Kurata’s saying this as he flies over the city and looks down on it. In that context, it kind of sounds less like he’s talking about his plan and more just like he’s referring to the city itself, because this is the first time he’s seen it up close. Not the point here?

Oh my god, Crowmon’s voice is so deep and growly; it also kinda hits me like a truck to hear. It doesn’t appear to be British, like Falcomon’s, but honestly in some way, despite all my griping, I kinda prefer Falcomon’s voice to Crowmon’s? At least Falcomon sounds like a character, even if it’s totally the wrong character, and not just a Stock Growly Evolved Digimon like all the others.

Yoshino: “The Digital Gate…!”

~~~~~

Yoshi: “Fight, ElDradimon!”

It’s actually kinda cute that Yoshi’s trying to encourage ElDradimon to fight being pulled into the Gate, even though he probably can’t even hear her and is certainly not in a position to be able to avoid sinking no matter what he does.

I’m noticing here that the completely wordless giant turtle roars are different between versions. I guess that counted as voicework and not sound effects, so the dubbers didn’t get given the originals.

Overall differences

Apparently I only have a couple of significant changes to talk about here, but they both feel quite major to the point of the episode.

The Ivan stuff felt pretty similar overall – in that some lines were less terrible and some lines were more terrible, in about equal amounts – for the first half of it that was terrible originally. But then in the second half, in which Ivan starts being an actually interesting character in the original, the dub massively screwed that up and insisted on continuing to make half of it about him wanting to date Yoshi, like that remotely matters when he’s supposed to have sold his soul for money for his siblings. Ivan’s goofy voice did not help get the real meaningful point of him across, either.

And they especially screwed up with Yoshi’s concluding take on him. How on earth could he have possibly not known he was doing anything wrong? The point is supposed to be kind of the opposite – he knew that, and he suppressed his feelings about it on purpose for the sake of his siblings. That’s way more interesting than that we’re supposed to think he was somehow hopelessly naïve.

Meanwhile, the dub’s impressive ability to spectacularly misinterpret extremely basic plot points is on fine form again this episode. What do you mean the countdown timer was for an approximate estimate of when the city will lose the battle and not the literal timed bombs that get set off near the end of the episode, which I guess were just totally unrelated and coincidentally happened to go off at around that time, right. How do you get that wrong. What are these dub writers doing.

#digimon #digimon savers #digimon data squad

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virginiaovers · 5 years

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Nikko Travel Guide: Places to Visit and Things to do in Nikko

From the world heritage shrines and temples to the Imperial Villa, we’ll show you in this travel guide the best way to spend a day exploring places to go and things to do in Nikko.

Nikko’s beautiful scenery is reason enough to visit the area. However, there are many places to visit and things to do in Nikko as well. We’ll share our experiences with you and help you plan the best trip in this travel guide.

Nikko Itinerary

Nikko Futarasan Jinja 日光二荒山神社

Nikkosanrinnoji Taiyuin 日光山輪王寺大猷院

Nikko Toshogu 日光東照宮

Nikkozan Rinnoji Temple 日光山輪王寺

Shinkyo Bridge 日光二荒山神社神橋

Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park 日光田母沢御用邸記念公園

Kanmangafuchi Abyss 憾満ヶ淵

The first thing to keep in mind is there will be a lot of walking in Nikko so wear comfortable shoes. The historic UNESCO Shrines and Temples of Nikko are located on a hill so our recommendation is to start Futarasan Jinja at the top of the hill and make your way down. This way it’s easier on your legs.

You can take the Nikko World Heritage Loop bus from Nikko Station to take you to Futarasan Jinja. If your goal is to take lots of pictures without too many people in them, then start at Toshogu first and then make your way to Futarasan Jinja. Our recommendation is regardless of which one you start at, begin your day early if you are going to follow our suggested itinerary.

Nikko Futarasan Jinja 日光二荒山神社

Nikko Futarasan Jinja dates back to 782 and is dedicated to the mountain gods. It was established by monk Shodo Shonin who founded the nearby Rinnoji Temple and Shinkyo Bridge.

On the shrine grounds, there are a number of smaller shrine buildings and special trees for praying and worshiping. Each of the shrines or trees for worshipping has a different purpose, from the relationship with children or between the couple to friendship.

The majority of the shrine building are all recognized as part of UNESCO World Heritage.

The main shrine was under repair during our visit so we couldn’t enter.

Nikkosanrinnoji Taiyuin 日光山輪王寺大猷院

Right next to Nikko Futarasan Jinja is Nikkosanrinnoji Taiyuin. It is the grave of Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光), the third ruler of Tokugawa Shogunate. He was responsible for transforming Toshogu into a grand shrine.

Even though Taiyuin isn’t mentioned as much as Futarasan Jinja, Toshogu, or Rinnoji, it is absolutely gorgeous (Taiyuin is administered by Rinnoji). The layout of the gates and path leading to the tomb closely resemble Toshogu but not as grand or ornate. This is by design as Iemitsu wanted to pay respect to his grandfather.

Niomon 仁王門

Stone lanterns

The layout of the gates and walking path are similar to Toshogu. As you head to the main shrine you’ll go further and further up the hill.

Nitenmon Gate 二天門

View from the top of the shrine

The gates are not as elaborate as Toshogu’s but nonetheless still breathtaking and amazing works of art.

Yashamon 夜叉門

Gate to the main shrine

Main Shrine 本殿

Unlike Toshogu, visitors are not allowed to view the actual grave area behind Koukamon Gate.

Koukamon Gate 皇嘉門

Nikko Toshogu Shrine 日光東照宮

We did a detailed write up on Toshogu Shrine so please check it out here. When visiting Nikko, expect the most crowds at Toshogu.

Nikkozan Rinnoji Temple 日光山輪王寺

As you stroll down the hill, head into the Rinnoji Temple. It was founded by the same monk (Shodo Shonin) who founded Futarasan Jinja. The main shrine is currently under repair until 2021 but visitors can still head inside to view the three giant Buddha statues. Each one is over 8 meters (25 feet tall) representing the three mountain gods. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside the temples so we can’t share them here.

Sourinto 相輪塔

Nikkozan Rinnoji under repair

Shinkyo Bridge 日光二荒山神社神橋

Continue to head down the hill and walk to Shinkyo Bridge. The beautiful vermillion bridge crossing Daiya River is considered one of the most beautiful in Japan. The original build date of the bridge is unknown but a major renovation happened in 1636 by Tokugawa Iemitsu (the same shogun laid to rest in Taiyuin).

Shinkyo Bridge

The legend has it that monk Shodo Shonin came to Nikko to teach Buddism but was unable to cross the river. He prayed for divine help and a god appeared on the other side of the river. God threw two snakes which turned into the bridge for Shodo to cross. The bridge was washed out by a flood in 1902 but rebuilt 2 years later with the same method and materials. For a fee, visitors are allowed to cross the bridge and back.

Shinkyoan Soba Shop 神橋庵

By now you’re probably getting hungry from walking around. For lunch, we had duck soba noodles at Shinkyoan right next to the bridge. It was quite tasty and in addition to duck soba they also have yuba soba, ramen, and tempura.

Duck soba noodles

Kanaya Hotel Bakery

If you just want to grab some pastry and continue exploring Nikko, the historic Kanaya Hotel Bakery is just off to the right of Shinkyoan soba noodle shop. They are known for their pastry and Royal Bread. We tried some of their pastry as a snack and they were delicious.

Kanaya Hotel Bakery

Kanaya Hotel Bakery Royal Bread

Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa 日光田母沢御用邸記念公園

Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park 日光田母沢御用邸記念公園

Hop back on the World Heritage Bus at Shinkyo Bridge and get off at Tobukanko Center Zen Bus Stop. Continue walking west for about 5 minutes and you will arrive at Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa. The large villa was constructed in 1899 for Emperor Taisho as a retreat and used by the Imperial family until 1947.

Plan to spend a bit of time here as there are over 106 rooms in the villa. However, it’s easy to self-guide through the various rooms and exhibits.

Imperial Family crest

Exhibits inside the villa

Kanmangafuchi Abyss 憾満ヶ淵

One of the places in Nikko we visited off the beaten path was the Kanmangafuchi Abyss and the stone jizo statues. It about a 15 min walk from the villa but it’s worth it as you can see beautiful scenery and 80 jizo statues by the river bank.

Kanmangafuchi Abyss 憾満ヶ淵

Jizo statues

Nikko Castella 日光カステラ

As it’s getting late in the day, stop by Nikko Castella to pick up some tasty treats. Among all the castella shops we’ve tried in Japan the quality and taste of Nikko Castella is among the best. Stop by to pick up some souvenirs for the trip or bring some back for friends.

Nikko Castella 日光カステラ

Honey castella with gold flakes

Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa 奥の院ほてるとく川

After a long day, it’s time to rest the legs and relax in the onsen. We stayed at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa and highly recommend the hotel based on our experience.

Exterior of Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa

When we first arrived, we were a bit concerned since the front of the hotel didn’t look like a ryokan and had an industrial feel. Guests also had to walk up steps to enter. To be honest, compared to other ryokans we’ve stayed at the exterior wasn’t welcoming.

Garden at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa

However, as soon as we enter we could see that the interior of the hotel was beautiful and updated. The lush garden was well manicured and relaxing to look at. While guests are checking-in, the hotel also invites them to sit in the lounge for a complimentary drink while waiting.

For those of you who aren’t comfortable bathing nude in public onsen, many of the rooms at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa have their own private onsen on the outdoor deck. The room we had was surprisingly large and spacious, with a dining table and four chairs (our only time to see one), a Japanese sitting room area, a western sofa seating area with a massage chair, and an outdoor deck.

Private onsen tub on the balcony

You can order room service sake to sip on while soaking in the private onsen tub. The deck in the back looks out onto the garden with greens and flowers.

Sake set

The meals at Okunoin Hotel Tokugawa were served in a dining room and the quality of both dinner and breakfast were both high. Dinner was kaiseki ryori and breakfast was Japanese style. We loved our stay and the hotel was better than we had expected in every way.

Sashimi dish

Helpful Links for Visiting Nikko

Thank you for reading our recommended itinerary for visiting Nikko. It is a beautiful place to visit surrounded by rich green forest and makes one feel at peace when they’re there. We’ll see you soon in the next post at Kegon Falls. Here are some helpful links for visiting Nikko.

Visit Tochigi

Niko Kinugawa Travel Guide

Tobu Sightseeing Bus Map

Nikko Travel Guide

Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura 日光江戸村

Kinugawa Onsen 鬼怒川温泉

Tobu World Square 東武ワールドスクウェア

Nikko Tosho-gu 日光東照宮

Places to visit in Nikko 日光

Kegon Falls 華厳の滝

Lake Chuzenji 中禅寺湖

Oya History Museum 大谷資料館

Nikko Travel Guide: Places to Visit and Things to do in Nikko published first on https://zenramensushi.tumblr.com/

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