Digimon Tamers (Saban) Episode 7: Guilmon in Danger! An Adventure in My Town | Sub/Dub Comparison
Plot: Guilmon suddenly begins to vanish before Takato’s eyes. He asks his friends for help on what they think might be happening to him, but they offer no information that could be really useful. Just as Takato’s at his most worried for Guilmon’s fate, Guilmon vanishes completely. Can Takato, Lee and Ruki find Guilmon before he’s lost forever?
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Title Card:
Title Change: “Guilmon in Danger! An Adventure in My Town” is changed to “Now You See It, Now You Don’t”. I like the dub’s title better because, while it’s not creative at all, at least it has some style to it whereas the original’s is literally just telling us the absolutely bare bones of the content of this episode in the most boring way possible.
Dub!Takato: “No need to make breakfast!”
Takato’s Mom: “We own a bakery. That’s all we make!”
Uh….no. You make baked goods. Bread mostly but….breakfast is not inherently bread, and bread is not exclusively a breakfast food. I actually associate it more with lunch. Maybe dinner if we’re talking dinner rolls–…..this is a dumb conversation I’m having with myself right now.
Takato sure is awful comfortable walking around the streets with Guilmon in plain view.
Hey, Saban’s put in a good joke today!
Ms. Asaji: “So the town wants me to talk to you all about the tunnel under the park that’s for use when the rain causes flooding, but it seems like a useless lesson to me. I mean, we all know about the tunnel, right?”
Takato: “I don’t.”
Ms. Asaji: *without missing a beat* “So this tunnel….”
Takato is quietly relieved that Guilmon’s still there. In the dub, he’s quietly expresses disdain that Calumon’s there.
In response to being told the explanation of what loneliness is, Culumon just says that he’s never felt that way before. In the dub, Calumon adds on that it seems kinda silly to feel that way, and Guilmon agrees.
This may seem very minor, but it just seemed a bit….callous to say. I know this is Calumon we’re dealing with, he’s not exactly a master of tact, but keep in mind that Takato kinda personalizes this feeling in the dub by explaining a moment when he feels lonely – when he’s drawing cool pictures and there’s no one around to see them. Maybe I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill, but it just seemed off to me.
Yamaki’s boss or whoever that is says that a change in government will be needed if the public ever caught wind of Hypnos. Yamaki explains that he has evidence of similar programs existing in other countries and that Japan is lagging behind in its development. However, his boss still insists that Hypnos should never be disclosed to the public and that it shouldn’t exist to begin with.
I suppose Saban didn’t want to inject political talk into the show, at least not this soon, so they have the boss guy say they’ll be treated as criminals if the public finds out about the goings on at Hypnos (what with them collecting and analyzing personal data, but supposedly only if it’s criminal.) Yamaki then goes on to sarcastically comment about of course not disclosing the existence of Hypnos to the public.
Uhhh…..Takato…..hundreds of people around you right now…..What is this? How did we go from him being paranoid of Guilmon being found out to him casually walking the busy streets with him out in the open?
Originally, Guilmon asks where they’re going, and Takato asks if he wants to evolve. Guilmon says he doesn’t know how. Then Takato comments that Guilmon was just born recently. In the dub, Guilmon says that Calumon might be right about not needing a partner, which is a callous thing to say even for naive Guilmon. Takato then asks if Guilmon wants to leave him, and Guilmon responds with a no then follows it up by asking if Takato wants him to leave. Takato responds that Guilmon can be confusing.
If pronoun usage is any indication, supposedly Culumon is female whereas Calumon is male. However, whether or not you apply sexes/genders to Digimon is always questionable. A later line by Renamon seems to imply that they don’t acknowledge gender, at least in this season, so it’s up to your view on it, I suppose.
After a brief commercial break in the dub, they reverse and replay the dipping upside down shot in the alley.
Guilmon says he knew Renamon would be in the alley. Renamon states that Digimon are drawn to each other because they’re destined to battle. In the dub, Renamon asks if they were expecting their mommies. Guilmon then says he doesn’t have a mommy, reconsiders and states Takato is his mommy. Takato tells him not to call him that, but Renamon says it’s fitting because of the way he babies his Digimon.
Ruki asks when Takato’s going to stop going around town with Guilmon and says it’s embarrassing. I think it’s more reckless than anything, but yes, Takato, stop that. He then says it’s not embarrassing. In the dub, Rika asks why Takato keeps following her and asks if he’s in love with her. He says he’s not following her.
Takato originally just says that of course he’s not going to fight Ruki. In the dub, he explains that he wouldn’t fight her because she’s a girl (nice, sexist) and she’d kick his butt (that makes up for it…I guess???)
Ruki originally tells Takato to never call her Ruki-chan again or she’ll kick his butt. In the dub, since this can’t be translated, Rika tells Takato to never mention the dream he had about her again or she’ll send him to dream land for good.
Takato originally tells Guilmon that he came to him like magic and it seemed like all of his dreams came true. Guilmon says he doesn’t understand what he’s talking about, but if Takato’s happy, he’s happy. In the dub, Takato says he’s scared of Guilmon vanishing, and Guilmon says Calumon told him that being scared is pointless, like trying to ice skate on sausages.
Takato’s mom says that Takato’s probably old enough to be trusted to stay out a little late, and his dad reluctantly agrees. In the dub, she says they should eat the ice cream they saved for dessert and tell Takato it melted. He says he already ate it.
A closeup shot of the computer monitor is removed.
Ruki’s grandma is saying something about being too old for something as she types on the computer and mentions that she put a smiley face after the message. In the dub, she’s saying all of these really dated and cringey 90’s valley girl slang words, and Rika mentions that she’s on Granny Chat.
How can someone preoccupied with digital beings think that computers are ‘lame’?
Ruki originally wants to leave since she thinks avoiding that one area will solve the problem, but Lee still wants to find out what happened to Guilmon. In the dub, Rika tells Henry to never order around Renamon and he tells her he’s only trying to keep them out of danger.
Kinda late to be noting this, but I really prefer the dub’s Digivice sounds over the originals. The original’s sounds are obnoxious.
Scene swap? Really, Saban? Are you kidding? I thought I only had to deal with this with 4Kids. In the original, after Lee and Takato break into the area where Guilmon disappeared, we get the scene with Yamaki and Reika (Riley) implementing the Yuggoth program. In the dub, we get a scene with Takato’s parents worrying about him that doesn’t come until a few minutes later in the original. I have no clue why this swap happened.
Takato originally slips up and calls her Ruki-chan before coughing and calling her simply Ruki. In the dub, again since this can’t be translated, she just glares at him for being excited over her deciding to stay, and he calms himself down.
Now at the scene that was swapped, Takato’s dad says he’s thinking about taking a walk as they hear police sirens in the neighborhood. Takato’s mom softly mentions that she forgot to buy something, obviously hinting that they’re actually very worried about Takato. In the dub, he just says he’s probably almost home, and she says softly that it’s getting very late. These changes are fine and the overall tone of the scene stays very much intact, but the dub loses the slight subtly of the original.
Ruki originally says that the area they’re in makes no sense. Lee concurs and says it’s just a bunch of messed up data. In the dub, Rika just yells and Henry says that maybe the Digital World from the TV show is real and maybe they’re in it.
First of all, another poke that only the dub claims there’s a TV show about Digimon. This is also further supported by an earlier line in the original where Takato only mentions internet and card games as being part of the Digimon franchise. Second, of course the Digital World is real. Where do you think your Digimon came from?
Guilmon originally asks Takato if they can play. In the dub, he asks if he can sleep for five more minutes.
Takato calls out Guilmon’s name, and Guilmon thanks him. In the dub, he asks if Guilmon’s alright and he says he’s skating on sausages.
You’ll notice that Ruki/Rika is backsliding a bit with her views on Digimon, in case you thought she was beyond all of that ‘Digimon don’t matter, they’re just data’ stuff. I know she likes to keep up a tough attitude around the others, but no one’s forcing her to say this insensitive stuff about Digimon, especially not when Renamon’s standing right there.
Lee tells Takato that he’ll see him at school. In the dub, he tells Takato that he was really brave. Takato says there’s a first time for everything, and Henry says he should get used to it. I actually like what the dub did here. It turned a rather boring send-off into a rather nice moment between Henry and Takato.
Takato and Guilmon share a goodbye in the original with Takato looking at Guilmon very fondly. In the dub, he tells Guilmon that he was brave too. Guilmon says he was brave because of Takato, which prompts the fond look Takato gives. Again, I actually like the dub better because it adds more sentiment to the sendoff instead of just saying ‘See ya!’
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I’ve always really loved this episode and I still do. I am a huge sucker for episodes that focus on Takato and Guilmon’s friendship, especially when that friendship might be in danger. I don’t mind at all that there were absolutely no battles in this episode either.
We got some new information and theories on the Digimon and Digital world, even though I still don’t know why that field of messed up information kidnapped Guilmon in the first place. I also don’t know how Guilmon created a road in the field. The Digivices leading them to Guilmon makes sense but Guilmon making a road out doesn’t. Also, we have no clue why this messed up Digital field was created in the first place. Maybe, as Yamaki usually says, it’s just an anomaly.
Nothing was changed that much, outside of the baffling scene swap which I actually now think I can justify by saying it was probably for a more convenient commercial break placement. I also liked how we got to see Takato’s parents worrying about him so much. It’s a small thing, but it’s important in the grand scheme of his character.
Next up, an episode I half don’t like. Guilmon gets framed for pranks that Impmon is pulling, but we get his first evolution into Growlmon!
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