Digimon - Digital Monsters

[StratusAsterion]

Same at being more a Digikid for me, Curious to see if the new project with the adventure cast again does a better job than Tri did, also Survive looks pretty cool and the toys have been pretty good, so overall decent time to be a digmon fan again

[Mega]

Does anyone else wish we'd get an uncut, faithful dub like what Viz did with Sailor Moon? I'm probably in the minority, but having watched all the series up to Xros in sub, I feel like there's a lot that was lost in translation, even if the older dubs have their own charm.

The Xros dub was awful, though. WAY too dumbed down due to network regulations. x_x

[Marcello]

If they kept the Digidestined's voices at least to the extent of Tri, preferably more, then I'd love it.

[Big Panda]

I’d like them to go back and redo the first three movies (“Digimon Adventure”, “Our War Game”, etc.) to make them more faithful, without those nonexistent narrative connections to eachother, and less abridge series-y.

[PC the Hedgehog]

On 12/8/2018 at 6:09 AM, Mega said:

Does anyone else wish we'd get an uncut, faithful dub like what Viz did with Sailor Moon? I'm probably in the minority, but having watched all the series up to Xros in sub, I feel like there's a lot that was lost in translation, even if the older dubs have their own charm.

The Xros dub was awful, though. WAY too dumbed down due to network regulations. x_x

I'd be cool with a redub. Adventure is certainly old enough, and with the cast having reunited for Tri, they hopefully wouldn't have much problem getting back into their characters.

[Big Panda]

One of my Christmas presents this year where the first two Digimon boxsets. Since I got them I’ve been slowly going through them (it has been years since I’ve watched these series’).

I honestly never realised as a kid, compared to Pokemon, just how much more mature the English dub actually was. In the first series, the kids talk about the Greymon and Parrotmon fight from years before and openly talk about how people thought the destruction was actually caused by terrorist bombings.

In another episode, Matt jokingly says that MaloMyotismon looks like he's on steroids.

And when we learn about the time Kari got severe pneumonia, the dub gives absolutely no fucks in saying she straight-up nearly died.

Overall, I’ve made my way to about halfway through Adventure 02 now, and I’m having a blast revisting it all. Once I’m finished, I may just look into picking up the Adventure Tri sets, and then maybe Tamers after that.

By the way, I love how the dub is perfectly open about the fact the Digidestined are all Japanese, and yet they still make them use US dollars.

[PC the Hedgehog]

The Adventure dub is a weird one. One second they sugarcoat death by saying a character is condemned to a dungeon, the next they show characters smoking, mention the demon underworld, or talk about the significance of 666. The dub is one of the most inconsistent dubs I've ever seen.

[GentlemanX]

It really depended on who was writing the English script. The dub's sense of humor can be an acquired taste, but I honestly think it's part of the charm of Digimon for me. I've seen a decent chunk of Digimon Adventure subbed as well, and while it's enjoyable in its own way, it can sometimes veer into being a bit on the generic side. The quirky tone of the dub though gave the show an identity that I personally enjoy quite a bit. The dubs for Tamers and Frontier will go serious more often than Adventure and 02 did, but still have enough of that humor to have a similar feel. Tri's dub actually plays things straight early on, but eventually finds a nice balance between accurate and playful. I haven't seen Data Squad or Fusion enough to judge them.

[Big Panda]

Data Squad is pretty good. The differing art direction from the previous seasons is jarring at first, but it’s got the same quirkiness you’ve come to expect from the dub.

I dunno why, but Fusion just doesn’t do it for me somehow.

[Salamander]

In retrospect, the Adventure dub's approach to character names actually strikes me as a pretty elegant compromise between making them familiar and memorable to western viewers whilst still respecting the Japanese original.

Fusion I never saw the dub of, but from what I've heard it sounds like the absolute nadir of kid-friendly dumbing-down.  Apparently the localisers weren't allowed to mention battles and darkness?

[QuantumEdge]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 8:53 PM, Ernest the Panda said:

One of my Christmas presents this year where the first two Digimon boxsets. Since I got them I’ve been slowly going through them (it has been years since I’ve watched these series’).

I honestly never realised as a kid, compared to Pokemon, just how much more mature the English dub actually was. In the first series, the kids talk about the Greymon and Parrotmon fight from years before and openly talk about how people thought the destruction was actually caused terrorist bombings.

In another episode, Matt jokingly says that MaloMyotismon looks like he's on steroids.

And when we learn about the time Kari got severe pneumonia, the dub gives absolutely no fucks in saying she straight-up nearly died.

Overall, I’ve made my way to about halfway through Adventure 02 now, and I’m having a blast revisting it all. Once I’m finished, I may just look into picking up the Adventure Tri sets, and then maybe Tamers after that.

By the way, I love how the dub is perfectly open about the fact the Digidestined are all Japanese, and yet they still make them use US dollars.

I went through a rewatch a couple years ago.  I only got more than halfway way through Adventure before somehow falling off, but even then you just made me recall tonnes of hilariously jarring tone and maturity shifts.  Honestly, I think that's one of the big reasons why it still holds up for me.  The old Pokémon seasons have a similar charm with how much creative license the dub writers were willing to employ (before the dub writers decided to suck out most of the wit later down the line).  Point is it's strangely enjoyable and bizarrely reflective of real life with how moments can go from light and wittily humorous to downright grim and dour. 

[Big Panda]

The different dub writers from one episode to the next do lead to a few inconsistencies. The ones in 02’s first few post-Emperor episodes have it particularly bad (from what I’ve watched up to so far).

Besides characters randomly referring to Arukenimon by name a few times before they even find out who she is, there’s also the DigiDestined kids constantly flip-flopping on how they feel about Ken. In episode 25, T.K. is the first of the kids to start agreeing with Davis that maybe Ken really has changed and that he deserves a second chance, and Yolei goes through the episode being indecisive about him, but ultimately comes around by the end when Ken comes to help battle Golemon, even messaging him via D-terminal to say she looks forward to the day he finally decides to join them.

Flash forward to the next episode and T.K. and Yolei have gone back to thinking he’s untrustworthy again. What...?

[QuantumEdge]

12 minutes ago, Ernest the Panda said:

The different dub writers from one episode to the next do lead to a few inconsistencies. The ones in 02’s first few post-Emperor episodes have it particularly bad (from what I’ve watched up to so far).

Besides characters randomly referring to Arukenimon by name a few times before they even find out who she is, there’s also the DigiDestined kids constantly flip-flopping on how they feel about Ken. In episode 25, T.K. is the first of the kids to start agreeing with Davis that maybe Ken really has changed and that he deserves a second chance, and Yolei goes through the episode being indecisive about him, but ultimately comes around by the end when Ken comes to help battle Golemon, even messaging him via D-terminal to say she looks forward to the day he finally decides to join them.

Flash forward to the next episode and T.K. and Yolei have gone back to thinking he’s untrustworthy again. What...?

Were the writers not talking to each other, or did they just live in different states, or something..?  It's been a while since I've heard of a "CinemaSin" as big as that one. 

Holy crap though, I suddenly remember watching the end of the Emperor arc all the way back when it was new...

[Big Panda]

I just looked up the Japanese version of one of Adventure 02’s most poignant scenes

While the dub version of the scene is pretty good, I feel like this version is miles better, for two reasons.

The first is the dialogue, particularly the bit where Ken picks Wormmon up. While I’m sure you’re right, @GentlemanX, when you say the Japanese dialogue can get a bit generic, I feel like this is actually an instance the dub dialogue is the generic one. In the dub, Ken’s dialogue is the cliched “you’re my best friend, please don’t go” stuff. In the Japanese version, the “where you always this light?” line has a bit more weight (no pun intended) because I feel it embodies Ken’s true, gentler self more.

The second, and most important of all, is the flashback. The Japanese version utilises the “show, don’t tell” technique brilliantly. I remember when I first watched the dub episode as a kid (before I knew anything about a Japanese version), I thought it was weird, even then, when Ken suddenly started talking about Sam over the footage. The way it was done almost gave it the illusion we were watching a flashback from a previous episode or something, and the way Ken talked about it made it almost feel like we were supposed to know this info already. The fact the Japanese version has no exposition and merely uses the sounds of what’s happening in that particular time and place pulls the viewer in, and makes them ask questions about this character.

[GentlemanX]

I really do need to watch more of the Japanese version at some point, I got to shortly after the defeat of Etemon in the Japanese version and then got busy with other things, not helped by the fact I've largely switched to only watching stuff if there's a domestic release in some form; begging for Discotek to pick up Digimon since they have a history of releasing both the Japanese version and edited only dubs (Samurai Pizza Cats, Monster Rancher, hopefully Beyblade soon, rip Sonic X).

[Big Panda]

Aren’t Funimation currently dubbing Tri? I’d love if they could do a full-on redub or something.

[GentlemanX]

Tri's dub was produced by Toei themselves, as they've largely stepped up since Saban bowed out after the first two seasons of Xros Wars. Shout Factory got the home video rights from them and have put all six movies out on home video (a box set of all the films is also coming soon). Given Toei continues to work with Funimation on Dragon Ball and even Viz with Sailor Moon, any major region 1 distributor could be viable for Digimon in theory. Toei could also continue to handle everything themselves, but who knows.

[PC the Hedgehog]

The inconsistencies of the Digimon dub could be amusing one minute and irritating as heck the next. Attack names probably had it the worst. Poor WarGreymon never could figure out the name of his Terra Force attack.

5 hours ago, Ernest the Panda said:

I just looked up the Japanese version of one of Adventure 02’s most poignant scenes

While the dub version of the scene is pretty good, I feel like this version is miles better, for two reasons.

The first is the dialogue, particularly the bit where Ken picks Wormmon up. While I’m sure you’re right, @GentlemanX, when you say the Japanese dialogue can get a bit generic, I feel like this is actually an instance the dub dialogue is the generic one. In the dub, Ken’s dialogue is the cliched “you’re my best friend, please don’t go” stuff. In the Japanese version, the “where you always this light?” line has a bit more weight (no pun intended) because I feel it embodies Ken’s true, gentler self more.

The second, and most important of all, is the flashback. The Japanese version utilises the “show, don’t tell” technique brilliantly. I remember when I first watched the dub episode as a kid (before I knew anything about a Japanese version), I thought it was weird, even then, when Ken suddenly started talking about Sam over the footage. The way it was done almost gave it the illusion we were watching a flashback from a previous episode or something, and the way Ken talked about it made it almost feel like we were supposed to know this info already. The fact the Japanese version has no exposition and merely uses the sounds of what’s happening in that particular time and place pulls the viewer in, and makes them ask questions about this character.

One area I think the dub of 02 totally rocked was the one where Ken reconciles with his parents and accepts his brother's death. Besides the ending of Tamers, that's the one scene in the Digimon franchise that never fails to make me cry.

[Sapphirine Wind]

at least we never got what finland had in terms of dubbing

Spoiler

 

 

[Big Panda]

I heard Finland just outright stopped dubbing it halfway through and changed to Japanese with subs. I can see why.

Speaking of which, it’s interesting to me how the vast majority of the non-Asian dubs use the Japanese version as a base (unlike Pokemon, where almost every non-English dub is based on the English one).

[Mania Pipe]

I've only been watching the Japanese subs of Digimon since I feel like the English dub has had problems getting their shit straight with consistency with the characters between the two versions.

[Big Panda]

So I recently discovered this is a thing:

 

Hot off the heels of the Adventure saga’s grand movie finale comes... a complete reboot.

The plot, according to Wikipedia:

Quote

In the year 2020, a series of cyber-attacks across Tokyo are the result of catastrophic events in another world within the internet, the Digital World, where creatures called Digimon roam. While getting ready for summer camp, Taichi Yagami and seven other children are transported to the Digital World where they acquire Digivices and Digimon partners while learning that they have been chosen to stop the unknown threats to their worlds.

It began early last month and is currently on hiatus, just three episodes in, due to the pandemic. It can be viewed on Crunchyroll.

[GentlemanX]

I was watching it weekly until the hiatus hit. It's hard to tell what my early thoughts are on it. The first episode was okay while the second episode

is a sort of adaptation of Our War Game.

The third episode ended with them reaching the Digital World proper, so I imagine the series will be heating up going forward whenever things restart (word is One Piece - which went on hiatus at the same time - is moving to have everything produced from home soon, so hopefully Toei will be able to get their other series like Digimon and PreCure up and running not too long after). Easily the best thing about the reboot has been the animation, which has been really high quality so far. The plot I'm finding a little boring, but hopefully that changes soon. Part of the charm of Digimon for me is the quirkiness from the old English dub, so if you're like me watching the Japanese version of either the original or this it comes off a little bland. But I also appreciate it for what it is.

[Big Panda]

Speaking of the dub, I can’t help but think this series would be the perfect opportunity to try getting the franchise going in the west again.

The original series caught on and became popular in the west back in the day. Maybe introducing the original gang to a whole new generation of young viewers could spark that flame again?

[batson]

Digimon has a special place in my heart as it was one of the very last of my childhood cartoons. I think it started airing here in Sweden around 2000 or 2001, at which point I was 13 or 14. I didn't watch it religiously, but what I saw of it was entertaining, and I could tell that it was objectively a better show than it's rival Pokémon. Pokémon was fun as a phenomenon (I loved trading the cards, playing the games, ect) but as a show it was very bland.