bleh

Episode Review

The opening in the infirmary starts the same between both versions, with Daitokuji being more cowardly and joining Pharaoh under the bed rather than chasing him there as Banner does. (Banner also gets a cat pun, but Daitokuji ends all his sentences with the Japanese equivalent of "meow" so it's not that different.) Misawa and Asuka discuss the reality of duels of darkness, while Bastion and Alexis instead discuss Camula.

Judai/Jaden and Manjoume/Chazz's banter is about the same between both, with Chazz adding an additional running joke about Jaden losing a fight with a blanket. Bastion is very slightly more forward than Misawa, asserting that he should be next rather than Chazz instead of claiming he'll win no matter his opponent, and Alexis focuses on the Shadow Rider stakes rather than the duels of darkness Asuka talks about.

Then comes the brothers' scene. Shou is concerned for his brother’s safety, while Syrus tries to call him out for striking out on his own. Kaiser doesn't answer verbally, leaving his thoughts ambiguous...

Shou: Big Brother! Um...well, uh... You wouldn't battle people as scary as they are, right, Big Brother? (Kaiser smiles and walks away)

...while the dub fills in the space with a Zane line about doing what needs to be done.

Syrus: Wait up! Hey...Big Bro... Didn't we just decide to work together? Where are you going? What gives? Zane: (Smiling, walking away) If all that matters is protecting those keys and rescuing Crowler, you know where I'm going.

Later on, in Manjoume/Chazz's room Chazz's disdain for Ojama Yellow is more personal than Manjoume's vendetta against low-attack monsters, continuing on a minor difference established previously in his mini-arc. The dub also adds an extra Crowler line emphasizing his vanity when Chazz examines his doll.

The dub adds a Chumley fat joke to the montage of keyholders reacting to Camula's next challenge. Then it makes THREE CONSECUTIVE jokes about Chumley being cowardly and fat and lazy as people enter Camula's castle, where the sub builds tension through silence and BGM save for a few Daitokuji lines.

The sub has a lot of "Camula's opponent should be me" jockeying here similarly to the previous conversation in the dub, while the dub has people demand Crowler's soul back. When Kaiser/Zane accepts Camula's challenge, Shou just says his name in concern (hinting that Kaiser is in the wrong mentality) while Syrus wishes him luck (still concerned).

Once the duel starts, Zane has a quip in place of draw declaration and trash talks a bit while playing Power Bond. This leads into Shou/Syrus noticing something is off, and frankly I’m impressed the dub managed to circle back to using the idea of playing a card vs. using it (the dub version of his storyline):

Shou: My big brother has always tried to win a great duel by respecting his opponent. But my big brother's different today... He's really upset...

Syrus: Wow, that's not like Zane. He usually feels out an opponent before throwing Power Bond. It's almost like he's just using it instead of playing it... I hope he knows what he's doing...

For now they more or less communicate the same idea: Kaiser/Zane is uncharacteristically aggressive, and he's off his game.

When Kaiser/Zane undoes his fusion to evade a bunch of consequences, Judai and Jaden are cheeky in different ways: Judai refers to Shou's brother as his "onii-chan," a more casual version of Shou's actual "onii-san" address to Kaiser. Theoretically the dub could use slang to communicate similar ideas if they wanted to adapt that little quirk (as with "Lex" in the tennis episode), but Jaden instead ribs Syrus about knowing how to play a card. Camula is slightly more flirtatious in the sub, but the message is really communicated either way. Syrus gets an additional line leading into the commercial break.

Once Camula summons Vampire Genesis, the peanut gallery comments on its return in the previous duel from Chronos's defeat in the sub; in the dub, they comment on its ugliness. Camula taunts Kaiser about losing his ace in the sub, and when she attacks he counters saying Cyber End Dragon isn't his only trick. In the dub Camula's taunt is changed to flirting, and Zane's line is changed to  straightforwardly activating his trap. Afterward, Judai praises Kaiser while Jaden references their duel in episode 8.

Camula and Zane have another exchange about her flirtations when he summons Cyber Laser Dragon. Where it’s Judai’s turn to reference episode 8, the dub...slanders Chumley again, because four times wasn’t enough. Shou/Syrus both talk about Kaiser/Zane's perfect win record, but Shou follows up with how proud he is of his brother while Syrus makes an "I got the looks" joke.

When Camula activates Phantasm Gate/Illusion Gate, she comments on Kaiser's hatred outweighing his charm in the sub while in the dub she talks about her bringing out her "ugly side" (to match her unhinged expressions). Interestingly, Camula describes the cost in the sub as "my soul" specifically while the dub goes with needing to sacrifice a soul, leading into her hostage strategy. 

When Camula's clone abducts Shou/Syrus, the dub cuts a shot of her biting into his neck, as well as the shot of the puncture wounds afterward. RIP vampire Syrus (dub) fanfic potential. The dub adds a few lines from Camula taunting Zane leading into her ultimatum, and Zane is more talkative as he considers his options:

Kaiser: However, if I make it past this turn and find my way to victory...the price of that victory will be Shou's soul. 

Zane: Camula will be defeated. We'll be that much closer to keeping the world safe from those Sacred Beasts. And in exchange, we just lose one soul - my brother's. The choice is clear.

The dub cuts some peanut gallery commentary, including an exchange between Judai and Camula:

Judai: That's low, Camula! Why won't you make this a fair fight?! Camula: Oh, no... The mere mention of a fair battle makes me nauseous!

And then comes the key part of the episode, the conversation between the two brothers…and while the differences between sub and dub in this episode have been relatively minor up until now, once again there’s a significant difference between how the conversation goes in both versions. Shou argues that he isn’t worth saving, and Kaiser sacrifices himself to make a point to Shou that he is worth losing for:

Shou: Big Brother...win, Big Brother. You're the proud Kaiser, Big Brother - who I'm proud of and want to be like. So, don't lose this because of me... It's all right. Whatever happens, I won't hold it against you, Big Brother... I mean, it's true, isn't it? I'm the lowest of the low in Osiris Red - I'm such a failure I'd embarrass you if I told anyone that I was your little brother, Big Brother. Even my dueling...in a building, it'd be the parking lot five floors under. In a triangle, it'd be one of the bases. I'm a failure. I can try as hard as I want, but I'm a failure. It has to be wrong for you to lose for someone like me, Big Brother. Right, Big Brother? Kaiser: You've grown to be capable of dueling well - you're nothing like you were in the old days. You should have more confidence.  Shou: Big Brother... Kaiser: Keep working hard, Shou. 

In contrast, the dub has Shou argue that his life isn’t as important as the fate of the world, and this is the only way he can be a hero. Zane sacrifices himself less to make a point and more because he really does love his brother: 

Syrus: Go on, Zane...do it. You have to. My soul is a small price to pay to stop Camula. After all, if she wins this duel, Zane... She'll get your spirit key, and you know what that means. The Shadow Riders...they'll be that much closer to freeing those Sacred Beasts! Besides, Zane... If one of us has to go down, it might as well be me. Sure, I may have gotten the looks. But the truth is, you got just about everything else. The skills, the smarts - everything. Anyway, big bro... It's all right. I mean, at least this way...I'll be remembered for something other than just being your little brother. This way, Zane... I'll be the one who's the hero. The one who saves the day. After all, we both know I would've never been able to do it by dueling. It's just like you said...I never belonged here. Zane: I did say that, Syrus, but since then, you proved me wrong. You do belong here. Syrus: Hmm? Zane: I love you, Syrus. Never forget it. I'll miss you, little bro. Farewell.

The sub uses a unique music box track to emphasize the poignancy of this moment, while the dub forgoes sentimentality and uses lightly ominous background noise which kind of matches the fact that Syrus is discussing the plot stakes for a good chunk of it.

Just in case you didn't get the point, the dub edits in Zane mouthflap shots to have him say he's standing down. Afterward the duel finishes out the same.

Judai rails against the way Camula and the Seven Stars use duels...

Judai: What the hell... What the hell is this?! Dueling's supposed to be fun, isn't it? So, tell me... Why does Shou have to cry over it?! Why'd the Kaiser have to go through all of that? I'll make anyone who duels like this pay... I will beat them--I'll win back all of the souls they took! Damn... Just you wait, Camula... Just you wait, Seven Stars! You're facing me next time!

...while Jaden is instead angry about what they've done to people he cares about.

Jaden: That's it! You hear me?! No more, Camula! I'm through with you messing with my friends! Got that? What you did to Crowler, to Zane?! It stops here, and I'm gonna be the one who stops it! Sure, I may not be up to snuff, but I don't care. I'm taking you on and one way or another, I'm getting our friends' souls back! Camula! Camula, here I come! So get set to get your game on!

Also the dub sneaks in a bit of Crowler slander here, giving his doll a snide "About time" line in contrast to the sub's more hesitant "W-won't you?" 

Roll To Be Continued…in the dub at least. For one last bit of trivia, the Camula episodes are titled together as a three-parter in the dub while each episode (and duel) is titled separately in the sub.

And that's game! Gotcha!

Spoiler Zone

Empty!

Final Thoughts

Chumley slander counter: 2 fat jokes, 3 miscellaneous slander

By far the most interesting thing to talk about this episode is the Marufuji brothers, both individually and together. Much like with Chronos/Crowler’s arcs in the previous episode, it’s important to mind what has and hasn’t been established in each of sub and dub at this point.

On Shou/Syrus: This episode is the first time in the sub that the depth of Shou's self-esteem issues ("I'm such a failure I'd embarrass you if I told anyone that I was your little brother") has been so clear. In the dub they've been hammering that since early on, even rewriting Shou's moments of confidence (both earned and unearned) to be about his poor self-esteem instead, so I’m pretty surprised that the dub changes that speech to focus on the Shadow Rider stakes. 

On Kaiser/Zane: Between the end of Nightshroud two-parter and this episode, Zane feels chattier to me than Kaiser. Kaiser is cool and taciturn to a fault: he tends to leave his intentions and feelings unspoken, which leads to the whole setup in episodes 7-8 where it takes Judai challenging him to communicate his intent to Shou multiple years after their childhood incident. The same is demonstrated multiple times this episode, first with the conversation outside the hospital wing and later with his self-sacrifice as a way to tell Shou “Despite what you think, you are worth losing for.”

Zane spells out a lot of things that Kaiser leaves to implication, including telling Syrus “I love you” in as many words. (Lowkey I think this also misses out on the implication that Kaiser doesn’t care about marring his perfect win record the way Shou does, but I admit that’s a relative subtlety.) And while the Doylist explanation for this is probably the dub trying to say things out loud for easier comprehension I think it’s interesting to consider this as an actual character trait. 

On the brothers’ major scene: The combination of the dub focusing on plot over Syrus’s issues and the changes to Zane’s dialogue at the end feels a bit weird to me. If they’d just done one or the other I’d be fine: it makes sense for Zane to tell Syrus he loves him in response to Syrus talking about how he isn’t worth saving, or for Zane to tell Syrus he should be more confident in himself in response to Syrus saying he isn’t worth dooming the plot. But the order of events as actually happened feels a bit awkward to me.

I think it'd feel more equivalent if Syrus got Zane's key afterward, because then Zane trusting his key to Syrus would be the same kind of rebuttal Kaiser made to Shou. However, that violates the rules for the Seven Stars/Shadow Riders plot as established and gets into fanfic territory so I'm going to leave the thought at that.