#Dark Gennai

[triangulumlights]

Chosen Children Tri Heights (sort of...)

I say sort of because I did my best.

ANYWAY, as we all probably know, there were super helpful official height charts for the chosen children in 02.

This gives us nice specific heights for the older kids and several of the younger kids, although you do need to estimate for some of them (like Hikari, who looks shorter than the 150 cm line, so I personally guess 147 cm for her.) So from this, you can make a nice little height comparison chart online using your comparison chart of choice. I picked heightcomparison.com since I liked that you could choose models.

Fun! This looks about right, so it feels like a good baseline to use for then trying to figure out how to find heights in Tri.

The easiest way, or at least I thought, to do this would be to find something to use as a baseline; someone who stood next to at least one or two of the 02 kids who also stood next to the Tri kids. My first thought, of course, was Gennai, since Gennai (or one of his clones) was near several of the chosen during the world tour arc in 02, and Dark Gennai (or whatever we wanna call this guy) interacts with several of them in Tri. Sounds reasonable, right? Right.

These seemed like pretty reasonable screenshots to work with, since we have three chosen that are both in 02 and Tri. So I slapped a guess into the height comparison chart.

...Immediate issues, unfortunately. Mainly in that although Hikari and Koushirou look okay next to this height guess, Jyou seems too tall. However, when I made Gennai taller, then Kou and Hikari were too short (they're already slightly smaller than they should be here), and since the height difference was only slightly off with Jyou and Gennai I figured this was pretty good.

So onto trying to compare Dark Gennai to someone in Tri, where again, I suffered. Of course Dark Gennai is near several of the chosen, but of course he's a huge creep, so he's not just standing there like a normal person. Of course not.

However, a few things were immediately noticeable. One: he's not that much taller than Jyou, as you can see their proportions are similar. Two: he's not that much taller than Meiko, somehow, but he's also at an angle so looks shorter. Three: he stands next to the railing of the boat the kids hide out on in... Uh... Loss? I think that's the right movie. Anyway.

I thought that, of these, the railing height might be a good place to start. If there was a decent shot of one of the chosen near the same railing, it'd be easy to compare; the railing is about mid-hip on Dark Gennai, so all I'd have to do is figure out how high it is on one of the kids, and trial and error until I got a height. Then I could compare the other chosen to that kid and should be easy.

I should have known better. Alas.

We do, at least, get both Koushirou and Jyou near the railing, but the only clear good shot of one of them standing straight up next to it is at an odd angle.

From this, it looks like the railing around Koushirou's waist/bottom of his ribs, maybe slightly higher. His elbows are bent 90 degrees to use the laptop, though the laptop itself would add a small amount of extra height.

These shots he isn't standing up straight, but they all seem consistent with the railing being at his waist.

There's also a few shots of Jyou that are useful-ish.

Jyou where did the rest of your arm go it doesn't look like it's hanging over the rail it looks gone

The rail looks about belt/top of hip level on Jyou, which makes sense for how much taller he seems to be than Koushirou (Jyou sitting flat on the ground still has his head higher than the rail, while Koushirou kneeling barely comes up to it.) Since we have good-ish estimates for both Kou and Jyou next to the rail, I went ahead and plugged in Dark Gennai's height, then compared 02 Kou and 02 Jyou to him to start off with.

...Huh. This looks... Correct. Mid-hip on Dark Gennai (about 95 cm or so?) is right at waist/lower ribs on Koushirou, and at the top of Jyou's hips. But they can't just be their 02 heights, because Koushirou is now taller than Sora, Takeru, and Mimi in Tri, whereas they were taller than him in 02. So even if those three had stayed the same height, Koushirou must be at least slightly taller than he was in 02. And if you look at where Koushirou and Dark Gennai's elbows would be, it does seem like Koushirou needs to be slightly taller, so maybe we just have a case of anime proportion problems.

But before I mess with Koushirou's height, gotta figure out how much taller than Sora and Takeru he is. Fortunately he stands near both of them in various shots so it's easy to compare, just gotta find some nice shots where the animation is good so it's fair to assume they're on-model, so starting with Kou and Takeru--

That's... Not helpful... Even the still animations from the credits scenes don't match. Tri. Tri why do you do this. I am one of you animation stans (when the animation's good, anyway; I love the style is what I mean) so why must you betray me so?

But okay. Official stills and such mostly put Koushirou slightly taller than Takeru, so that's what I'm going to go with. Now, comparing Kou and Sora, in addition to the group shots above--

It's much more consistent with them; Koushirou's just slightly taller. Takeru is typically shorter than Sora in official art, making the order Takeru < Sora < Koushirou, but probably only a few centimeters between each of them. Whatever. I'm going to do my best.

In 02, Takeru and Sora are the same height, so lets bump up Sora a few cm and Kou a few more cm than that.

This looks pretty good, actually. Assuming Takeru didn't get any taller is fine by me, since he was 11 in 02 and 14 in Tri; he could easily be one of those people that shoots up in intermittent growth spurts, especially since he's pretty tall in 02 comparatively. Additionally, the 02 height chart makes it unclear if it's measuring the top of his head or somewhere in his hat, so he could've actually gotten a little taller since 02 if he was actually shorter than 160 cm.

Anyway. The comparison here between Kou and Dark Gennai still seems alright, so we can work from here. Since I decided to default to the two official credits scenes with the whole group, I'm going to base adding the others from that. The only exception will be for Mimi, since she's consistently close to Sora's height in most of the show and artwork, and one of the credits scenes makes her way shorter due to her pose. Here's what I came up with.

A few particular notes. The height difference between Taichi and Koushirou is not that pronounced in Tri; it's there, but it's not the big difference from 01 and 02. The top of Kou's head is about forehead-height on Taichi. On the other hand, Yamato is distinctly taller than Taichi most of the time, though like with Takeru his height varies. He could be slightly shorter or taller than this. Like I mentioned before Mimi is usually slightly shorter than Sora, with Meiko being slightly taller than Sora, about Koushirou's height. Hikari seems to have had the biggest growth spurt, with the top of her head usually around Sora's forehead or Takeru's eye level. Ish. Again, varies. And then, of course, Jyou is tall; he's not hugely taller than Yamato, but it's noticeable. Mimi comes up to a little higher than his chin. I would add screencaps, but I still need to add Daigo and Maki to the chart and only have one more image left in the post limit.

They're relatively easy to add, since both stand near the kids several times. Daigo is tall but not as tall as I would've guessed; Taichi comes up to his cheekbones, Maki slightly lower. Maki is also taller than Meiko by a noticeable amount, but not a large one. So with them added:

Okay. This is my best guess for heights in Tri, and it leaves them all with a little more room to grow in Kizuna, which I might try to figure out later. Maybe. This was way harder than I thought.

Anyway feel free to disagree and discuss! I just thought this would be fun (and it was, despite the struggle) and maybe useful to people, though the real takeaway from this is that Tri is super inconsistent so really do whatever you want.

[twalb-comic]

Chapter 1.13: Such Sweet Sorrow

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

So I just found out there was a continuation of the OG Digimon series so obviously I had to watch and finish that. I was obsessed with it as a kid.

But thanks for that fucking...Dark Gennai scene, guys. That's certainly one way to show a character has turned unambiguously evil. He'd better NOT get a redemption arc after that. That was gross. I mean, I always knew Digimon dealt with real things that kids experience, which is why I related so heavily as a kid, and why I need to finish the story. But *that* was a lot.

[firedragon1321]

A Digimon musical is a great idea until you remember- everyone has to sing.

Listening to Bo Burnham’s Welcome to the Internet while thinking that it would make a great song for a digimon musical where dark gennai is singing this to the digidestined.

[tobiasdrake]

Also, thinking about Devimon and Etemon.

Etemon is referred to as the King of Digimon, as well as the World's Strongest - though that latter part comes with an explicit disclaimer that it's self-proclaimed. But it hasn't been disproven prior to the Children's arrival, so he's at least up there.

Etemon is Old Power. He has an established power structure already in place when the children arrive. He has far-reaching authority across Server, with an forces at his beck and call all over the place. And his Dark Network is fucking everywhere. He's been in a position of consolidated power for what's suggested to be a pretty long time.

Like. He's been in power for long enough to have a tradition of annual concerts.

And though he's actively pursuing the slippery little kids, he's able to threaten the Chosen Children wherever they are by ringing up whichever of his forces are garrisoned over there.

Etemon is not just the World's Strongest (allegedly). Of the three villains prior to the Dark Masters arc, Etemon is the one with the most reach and political influence.

Vamdemon, the next villain, is a recluse living in an isolated castle he seemingly bulit himself, extensively studying Chosen Children lore with no influence beyond his walls. He holds no authority over DIgimon society and relies on his two minions, PicoDevimon and Tailmon, to interact with the outside world.

And Devimon?

Devimon doesn't have shit compared to them. And he knows it. He's a bottom-feeder in the hierarchy of wickedness. But on File Island, he gets to be a dark god.

"The strongest evil Digimon!" says Agumon, who later admits he's never left File Island. He doesn't know what's out there on Server, which is where this assessment of Devimon's power is coming from.

Devimon is, knowingly and on purpose, the big fish in this small pond.

File Island was supposed to be a safe place for the Isekai'd kids to be received and properly instructed. Gennai was meant to appear to them the moment they arrived in that forest.

They had the Tags over here waiting for the Children to arrive, a whole-ass temple dedicated to Digivice lore for them to study at, and Gennai was all set to meet them.

But then bottom-feeding Devimon also found File Island and realized it'd be a great place to bunker down and build up his master plan.

The Black Gears are Devimon's great equalizer against the likes of Vamdemon and Etemon. Though he's inferior to them in power, the gears - seemingly based on his Death Claw attack, which has the same effect - are capable of enslaving the minds of even Perfect-stage Digimon.

He came out here to the distant, isolated, and lowkey in power Tutorial Island, shorted out Gennai's signal, and also found the Tags that were waiting for the Chosen Children and shoved them in a hole.

Get that shit out of here. I have gear-making to do.

Then he set to work making fucktons of Black Gears and hollowing out File Island, turning the whole place into a fleet of ships to carry his Black Gears to foreign shores.

What's really interesting about this, however, is when you stop to consider his ambitions.

What is he making this huge surplus of Black Gears for?

The other side of the ocean is Server Continent. Who, exactly, is he invading?

That. Is fascinating when you stop to think about it.

The forces of darkness are not one big happy family. We know this. Vamdemon and PicoDevimon did not give one single solitary shit about what happened to Etemon, and in fact used his death as part of their own machinations.

Devimon is a weak bottom-feeder with ambitions of being king of the world, creating tools of mind control that can enslave even Digimon far more powerful than he is. Etemon is presently King of Digimon, ruler of Server, and World's Strongest (allegedly) Perfect-stage Digimon.

And there's a very real possibility that, had the Chosen Children not gotten between them, Devimon was days away from going to war with Etemon for power, prestige, and territory.

I wonder what that would have been like? A Devimon vs. Etemon war sounds really interesting as an AU.

But then he died.

And in his final moments he was like "HAHAHA You have no idea about the guy I was doing all of this to beat and you wasted this shit on me! You're all so fucked! HAHAHA!!!"

And he was almost right.

There but for the interference of Nanomon, the Chosen Children's arrival on Server would have been three minutes of bloodsport for Etemon and then right back to ruling his kingdom, never truly understanding either of the deadly forces that were knocking at his front door.

[firedragon1321]

What Digimon Adventure Timeline Thing Freaked You Out The Most?

As a kid or an adult, doesn't matter. Feel free to talk about your choice in comments, reblogs, or tags!

Explanations for things that aren't here under the cut. Please read that before complaining or clicking "I'm bald".

Character deaths are excluded because then it would be an arm wrestling match between Angemon and Wizardmon. And those are meant to be sad, not disturbing. Though if a death other than those two is your Freaky Moment, just choose whatever best applies and tell me in comments, reblogs, or tags.

Tri onwards is excluded because the Evil Gennai Lick would sweep.

Seasons after Adventure are excluded because the D-Reaper would sweep.

Dark Ocean is not here because it would sweep. I'm sure you're picking up a pattern here.

The reboot is excluded due to personal lack of familiarity.

The Digimon controlling stuff and the Dark Spores are separated specifically because the latter controlling human children is a different type of unnerving.

[digitalgate02]

The differences between Kizuna and 02TB styles

Yes, you read it right: There are subtle style differences between Kizuna and 02TB. I'll talk about them in this post.

02TB and Kizuna might share most of their staff (I didn't see a list of the staff for 02TB so far, correct me if I'm wrong please) and both had been animated by the same animation studio, Yumeta Company.

Although the art style is still the same, what changes is that 02TB adds a lighting effect to the characters..

you see it immediately when you place Daisuke's artwork from Kizuna next to his artwork from 02TB. Kizuna's style is a solid color with shading and subtle light effects (on hair, in this case) -- But 02TB has not only solid colors + shading but also lighting effects! And the hair gets also lighting effects alongside the subtle highlights from Kizuna style.

Both Kizuna and 02TB have different light and shadow effects depending on the environment in which the scenes take place, and this is where you can see the differences between the two when you put them side by side.

I'M GOING TO PICK SCENES OR FRAMES FROM BOTH MOVIES WITHOUT GIVING AWAY ANY MAJOR SPOILERS, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN BOTH YET.

Starting with this scene. Notice how in Kizuna the lighting is only on the boys' hair and on Daisuke's sunglasses, while in Kizuna there's a lighting effect on all their bodies + the hair has the subtle Kizuna-esque highlight in everyone's hair.

Kizuna and 02TB have sunset scenes, which is my next pic. Note how the lighting in Kizuna is different from 02TB:

In which Kizuna lacks the "lighting effect" and works more with ambient light, while 02TB keeps the lighting effects under different ambient light.

Said effect is still present in dark rooms/ambient, unlike in Kizuna:

Yes, Taichi's, Agumon's and Gennai's "light effect" here is their solid color. Meanwhile with Rui... His hair presents lighting effects.

The only place to not have the lighting effect on everything on a character in 02TB is the Imperialdramon Space scenes, but even there there's a difference from Kizuna's OWG-esque scene:

Yes, the hair and the shades. Also the eyes. I love that scene so much, sorry. And again, Kizuna does not show lighting effects on the characters.

BUT! Kizuna does have a scene where it has lighting effects on the characters a la 02TB style. For example, the Neverland scene:

I love both movies and their artistic takes~ By the way, I think it's funny that both movies seem to invoke what happened with Adv'99 and 02, in which their styles are also not the same if you look closely!

@shihalyfie had written a little post about it, and I added some details from my artist POV. So if you're curious, I highly recommend reading both posts.

See ya (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

[call-me-noa]

Digimon Adventure Tri has a lot of issues ranging from minor annoyances (the only words ever out of Agumon's mouth are about food) to really egregious plot holes (nobody caring or even noticing that the 02 kids are missing, nobody reacting to Ken apparently being the Emperor again or Imperialdramon being an enemy and dying, etc).

However it also has several ideas I'm quite fond of: featuring the DigiDestined before Tai's group, having the kids struggling to stay true to their Crest traits, showing what happens when a DigiDestined is desperate to get their partner back, Homeostasis becoming an enemy to the kids because it's so focused on balance above all else.

So despite it's flaws both minor and major, I can't bring myself to really hate Tri. I'm more sad about it than anything, sad about the lost potential for what we could have gotten if the execution of its ideas had been better.

Also I'm annoyed that all its loose plot threads concerning Dark Gennai's plans will probably never be picked up again. Dude ends the series saying "I'll try again with Daemon and Diaboromon next" and then he's never mentioned again.

[atsoraasayoma]

My newest head cannon is Homeostasis is actually Ygdrassil and is using the Ygdrassill persona to get what she wants.

She had the Digidestined as deterrents and pawns for the Digital world she but doesn’t need them anymore.

So what does she want? She wants balance. But what is balance? Endless conflict. The good defeats the evil and keeps repeating the process. Birth and destruction over and over again as long as she is the one in command,

When the reboot happened in Tri even all the viral Digimon came back. That’s when she was like ‘you remember what you did before defeating these challenges?’

Well I’m letting them loose. And I am erasing your save file. Also I’m hijacking Hikari and merging two mega felines to make my siren and use her negative emotions to destroy your world.

Also the Digital World wants to cause the Digidestined as much discomfort as possible.

I think Homeostasis truly hates humanity. She loves using them as discardable tools and letting all those she possesses deal with the psychological torment after.

Remember how messed up Maki Himekawa got? Remember how disillusioned and devastated Hikari got? And then by proxy Rui. That poor kid.

Also the sadistic dark Gennai is Homeostasis mocking the human race with carnal murderous desires. Licking Sora, Choking Meiko, and just trolling the others especially with Ken’s persona.

Also remember that dangerous metal dragon you only beat with the light boost from Hikari? Well now he’s hunting you down for sport.

The Digidestined are nothing but clowns! Because they are nothing without their partners. But don’t tell that to Jou who straight up pins Gennai to the ground while Gomamon flopped them fishes around.

Wasn’t aware the darkness could possess Hikari to. Or maybe that’s what Homeostasis Wants us to think and it’s still her the whole time.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Time Saver - a Taishirou Fanfic, Chapter 4: Calling It A Night

Summary: The strange girl requests to talk to Koushirou about a bug in the network that may cause trouble - but her whereabouts and the source from which she gets her information remain a mystery. Thus, Hikari tries to approach her in more gentle ways.

Word Count: 1937

Chapter POV: Hikari Yagami

Chapter List: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Upon hearing that revelation, every person – and mon – in the room had gone silent, staring at the girl in the hospital bed with different variations of surprise. Thanks to his steady media presence in the past years due to his company and “Digimon related PR work”, Koushirou’s name wasn’t exactly unknown to the public. However, it was still unusual for a, presumably, middle school aged girl to get in touch first.

Hikari could still remember the steps Koushirou and Taichi had discussed for one of the latter’s internship speeches; whenever a new person would get partnered with a Digimon in Japan, Koushirou’s network – supported by Gennai’s connections – would be able to locate it first. The program was by no means finalized yet, since there were still too many factors they couldn’t properly take into account yet – and least that was what Hikari had gathered. Children usually had to be found by them first, as they obviously didn’t know how the process worked. But Koushirou had also talked about getting contacted personally by young adults who had formed partnerships, asking for guidance.

Nevertheless, even with the increasing presence of social media, it usually took Gennai’s meddling first and foremost for younger people to “get initiated” into the existing group. This case was truly strange.

“Wait, wait, wait, can we slow down for a second?” Jyou was the first to find his voice again, not daring to take another step towards the bed, since the little bug Digimon already seemed back on the fence again. “The last time a young woman appeared out of nowhere and wanted to talk to Koushirou, the outcome wasn’t actually the best…”

“Jyou-san, don’t be rude!”, Hikari cut in, giving him a scolding look. Even if she herself couldn’t help but make a mental note to talk to Taichi about whether he had been in touch with Menoa in the last months. Right now, she knew there were different priorities though, so she moved towards the bed, facing the girl with a gentle smile. “I do agree that we should slow down and talk for a bit. May you tell us your name first? And of course it’d be unfair if we didn’t introduce ourselves first. The man in the white coat is a doctor in-training here at the hospital we are at, Kidou Jyou-san. He’s with his partner, Gomamon.”

Jyou bowed in response, smiling awkwardly as well, whereas Gomamon just chirped a happy “Hi!”

“This is Takaishi Takeru-kun and his partner, Patamon. My name is Yagami Hikari, my partner here is Tailmon. The four of us found you lying on the ground after Takeru-kun saw a lightning strike and we just want to figure out what happened, so we can try our best to help you.”

While talking, Hikari had observed each and every of the girl’s reaction and her calm voice at least seemed to have helped to keep her attention on herself. She didn’t appear as directionless anymore, not as timid, but – and this was the weirdest part – avoided eye contact with Takeru…

Her glance was resting on Hikari herself instead, who had eventually sat down on the edge of the bed, mustering the younger girl very closely; despite her eyes being so dark, her expression was open and softened even more once Hikari had ended her speech. It was actually pretty similar to how a lot of her care children in kindergarten reacted to her whenever she was talking eye-to-eye with them and Hikari always brightened up herself whenever she felt like she had reached through to them. It wasn’t always easy, not all children were ready or capable of letting her in when they had problems after all. Sometimes talking and reasoning didn’t help, no matter how hard she tried. But just like with some Digimon, Hikari’s sense of empathy didn’t allow her to give up on them.

And in this case, she could sense a connection, a similarity. Whatever she had gone through, Hikari’s words must have resonated with her. Not only that; Tentomon had joined Hikari at the corner of the bed, looking up to the girl. Which seemed to have soothed her even more.

“Oh, and this is Tentomon. You may have heard of him already if you know about Izumi Koushirou-san too?”

“Pleasure to meet you!” Putting his claws onto the sheets to get better access, he just waited for her to respond – whereas the girl didn’t move for a good while, simply returning the gaze as if to analyze his entire being.

“The pleasure’s on my side”, she eventually said softly, accompanied by the hint of a smile – and without hesitating, she reached out for the red ladybug, patting his head. It almost felt like she simply had a natural affinity for bugs, Hikari mused to herself.

“My name is Hotaru and…” She abruptly pulled her hand back, as if she had gotten an electrical shock. Judging by the increasing redness of her cheeks, Hikari sensed that she got nervous again. As contrasting as her behaviour was, Hikari couldn’t help but to keep smiling at her – even if the blush was cute, complementing the colour of her maroon hair, she wanted to make sure she could feel safe with them.

“I came here because I have obtained information about a dangerous bug in the network, so… After doing some research about the Chosen Children residing in this area around Odaiba, I wanted to discuss the possible fixes with Izumi-san. I know he’ll be capable of finding it, so we may prevent quite some damage. That is… All I can tell you.”

Another moment of silence followed. Just a low “Huh…” sound by Tentomon broke through the quiet of the room. Maybe there really was a thing about bugs…

“… See, I’d say that sounds very familiar. Including the loss of consciousness.”

“Jyou-san!”, Hikari scolded him again – but couldn’t help but wonder about it all as well. Hotaru knowing about the term “Chosen Children” probably should not have been very surprising at this point either, but she simply appeared to be… Shockingly informed.

“I’m telling the truth!”, Hotaru raised her voice, sitting up a little more in bed while the bug Digimon clung to her arm. “I have no memories of a lightning strike or whatever it may have been, all I know is that the bug needs to be eliminated or terrible things could happen!”

“Hotaru-chan?” Hikari was still maintaining her kind demeanour, trying her best to keep the situation peaceful. So she peeked over to the little bug. “Is this Digimon your partner?”

“Hibismon…? Yes, she is.”

As if she had waited for the call, the Digimon jumped back into Hotaru’s arms.

“So you know who we are and you’re a Chosen Child yourself…?”, Takeru asked this time, after having remained quiet for a while. Hearing that, Hikari turned towards him. They had gone through a similar routine with Rui three years ago and at this point, it had become quite a pattern. The main difference back then was – that Rui hadn’t known any of them, including Koushirou. Despite all that, Takeru simply faced Hotaru with a stern look. “Where do you come from, since you said you got here after doing research?”

“This… This is a little bit more complicated…”

In this moment, the hospital room door got opened quietly – and if Hikari had perceived Hotaru to be tense and nervous before, she absolutely had not expected the young girl to just completely freeze up upon seeing Koushirou – similarly and yet way more intense than how she reacted to Tentomon approaching her. Round eyes, stiffed up, tense shoulders and – which surprised Hikari the most – lips that were pressed together so tightly that it looked almost painful. Seeing this, she suppressed the urge to sit down on the bed to simply wrap her arms around her…

“Sorry, it took a little longer…”, Koushirou apologized as he closed the door behind him, blissfully unaware of why everyone looked rather puzzled. “Taichi-san will be on his way here as soon as he can. I already told him roughly what happened and he insisted on taking the earliest train back home.”

He took a look around – and even he must have noticed Hotaru making a small gasping sound as he had mentioned Taichi’s name –, but as he opened his mouth to say something, Takeru let out a laugh.

“Diplomat life really isn’t easy, huh?”

Hikari adored Takeru’s laughter – it had the ability to light up an entire room and that superpower was definitely necessary right now. Even if she couldn’t suppress a small pout as reaction to his words.

“He wasn’t even on diplomat duty, he was doing a language training to improve his English skills and he once again didn’t message us regularly…”

“Still, he wanted to come here as quickly as possible, since the training also ended early today, but he initially didn’t plan on coming back before tomorrow evening”, Koushirou added, giving Hikari a sympathetic nod. They were, unfortunately, used to Taichi not replying back in time if he wasn’t constantly reminded of giving them a life sign – it was a fate they both had to deal with, so at least she didn’t feel as ‘left behind’ on her own. However, Koushirou didn’t seem to intend to dwell on the issue any longer and shifted to Hotaru, who – once again – flinched on the spot. “So, what did you talk about in my absence?”

This time, she at least tried to say something, but before she could open her mouth to reply, it was Jyou’s turn to interrupt – which, just like Takeru’s ‘distraction’ before, appeared to be just the right move at the right time:

“Maybe we should continue all of this tomorrow, Hotaru-kun? It’s been a long day and you all haven’t slept at all yet, so how about we talk tomorrow, mh? Do you want to stay here in the hospital for the night? That’s probably the most reasonable option, just to make sure you won’t faint again.”

Exchanging a short glance with her Digimon partner, she seemed to contemplate the offer she had just been given. Fumbling with the blanket for a few seconds, she eventually took a deep breath and returned Jyou’s gaze, explaining as calmly as possible:

“I don’t want to cause you any inconvenience, Kidou-san. Aren’t you out of capacity and will get in trouble if you let me stay…?”

Once again, her words caught them all off guard and Jyou simply stared at her.

“Well, err… Yeah, kinda, but how do you know about-“

“We could also take her to the office, Koushirou-han?”, Tentomon chimed in, pulling everybody’s attention towards himself – and making Hikari chuckle. He really could be a protective mother hen when somebody had gained his trust. Apparently, head pats were very effective at achieving that. “That way we can watch over her in case anything happens and nobody else has to get alarmed!”

“Tentomon…”

Hotaru’s big eyes had returned – and widened even more when Koushirou agreed without much reservations:

“That’s an option, yes. How do you feel about staying with us for the night – Hotaru-san, was it? We intended to stay the night there in any case, so this shouldn’t be an issue.”

Taking her previous reactions into account, Hikari was almost sure that she would have denied this offer as well, seeming rather cautious, despite the urgency to talk to Koushirou before. And yet, she hadn’t expected her to smile as serenely as that – or the low “Should have known…” Hotaru muttered to herself before saying:

“… I’d be happy to stay.”

[skydigiblogs]

honestly thought i would have a lot more to say about adventure 02 but like

i just finished episode 50 and the jist of my thoughts really are "yeah this is better than i remembered it being"

overall, an extremely ambitious follow up to digimon adventure, balancing a lot of plot points and an attempt at having a more cohesive storyline than "bad guy of the arc but suddenly it's apocalymon." in 02, most of the bad guys lead from one to another, in a way that seems much more intentionally thought-out than everything up until the dark master's arc in 01. even the one-off antagonists (dark ocean and demon's crew) played into the larger narrative, and weren't necessarily treated as one-offs so much as chances to expand the scope of the lore and use it to the narrative's benefit.

(although i do think it's a bit sad we never saw follow up on demon going "oh, you all are going to regret sending me to dagomon's ocean SOOOOO much")

also a lot of lore. so much lore. 01 introduced the fact that homeostasis has a bunch of agents that look like gennai, but a2 kept suggesting they're all copies (put a pin in that for my tri rewatch, much as i am loathe to rewatch that one). there wasn't any elaboration, but it is an interesting idea, and unfortunately i understand why it was kind of hastily noted and dismissed (the world tour arc had a lot to get to).

also the dimensional makeup of the digimon franchise got a lot more fascinating in 02. in 01 gennai mentioned that the gate could lead to all kinds of different places, but 02 actually takes that a step further in the lore, showing us the dark ocean and the dimension of dreams (even mentioning that the latter is pulled from by the digital world).

but it does maintain some of the problems i had with the original adventure in that i do wish more of the kids got to see their mega forms. :/

(i know tamers fixes that somewhat, then frontiers backpedals, but. you can't get me to rewatch frontiers lmao.)

furthermore, it does kind of suck that we're still left to wonder about ken's adventures in the digital world. we see ryo and millenniumon in his flashbacks to the adventures, but for audience members who missed out entirely on the wonderswan games, it makes it so we have to trust wormmon's word that ken was a kind person in the past. it's shown to an effective degree in the show, especially with his flashbacks to his childhood after the chimeramon arc.

it also makes narrative sense that they didn't feel the need to go over a story that's already happened, because that likely would have taken too long for 02, which already had so much going on. but maaaaaan. i do not want to play the wonderswan games, frfr (though i know there are fan translations out there for 'em).

i do love ken's arc though, as frustrating as him struggling with self-doubt is to watch. i'm glad the writers didn't make it seem too easy for him to forgive himself, because that's hard even if you weren't the vessel for like. All That Shit. i'm giving this boy a weighted blanket and hot tea.

tl;dr: compared to the oftentimes fever-dream like qualities of 01, 02 feels a lot more narratively focused in its story, and i think that really works to its favor. not a flawless season, but none of the digimon seasons are. a successful sequel to 01, much more so than i remembered from my last rewatch of the dub in 2020.

[curedigiqueen]

Why I think Ryo is the Ken of Survive.

Obviously, all the Survive kids are meant to reflect one of the 8 original Adventure kids. However, the characters aren't completely one to one, as each of the characters are in fact, unique characters in their own right. (Most evident I think is in the fact I'd assign basically every character except for Miyuki a different crest from their adventure counterpart). But they do echo the basic archetype of the role each adventure character played in the series. For the most part this is self explanatory, some more than others.

Takuma is Taichi Minoru is Koshiro (Less obvious but that's a separate point) Aoi is Sora Shuuji is Joe Saki is Mimi Kaito is Yamato Miu is Takeru Miyuki is Hikari

However, Survive has 10 important human/digimon partnerships.

The sole adult of the group, the professor, even bares some resemblance to a rather important "old man" of adventure, Gennai. An old man who knows a lot of their situation, was involved in the "inciting incident" looks after the kids to a certain extent, but is rather unreliable and has amnesia regarding some very important things he should know. Of course original Gennai isn't even really human, and therefore doesn't have a digimon partner, (Jijimon also takes on some Gennai traits imo) but Akiharu I would still say parallels Gennai.

However, Ryo doesn't match any of the original adventure cast. But I think it is fair to say he resembles Ken. Ryo has a worm digimon. Ryo has a family member whose death deeply affected him. Ryo is grumpy and aggressive, while hiding a secretly gentler and hurting side. Ryo is self-destructive, at the cost of his partner.

Ryo can't be Adventure Ken really, because Adventure Ken doesn't really exist. But Ken isn't exactly an 02 kid in the way Daisuke, Iori and Miyako are. A reoccurring theme in 02 is the difference in outlook between the Adventure kids, the Adventure and 02 kids, and the 02 exclusive kids. And so Ken is in no way one of the original Adventure kids, but there is something to be said of the fact that his (executive meddling hellscape) backstory reflects experiences of Takeru, Hikari, more than it does the other 02 original kids. He even has an associated crest. In many ways, Ken is a retroactive Adventure character, without actually being an Adventure character. Ken in the context of digimon Adventure 02 is very much so an example if a character like Takeru had been driven to the darkness, who then had to be rehabilitated by a set of characters with an outside perspective. Really that is what all of 02s Jogresses is really, the new kids helping the more experienced kids deal with their unprocessed issues. Miyako helps Hikari look out for herself, Iori helps Takeru stop lashing out in anger from keeping his emotions hidden, and Daisuke helps Ken see value in his own continued existence.

Which is why I think Ryo is a homage to Ken. It's not the "Adventure Ken" that theoretically exists, the little boy wondering around the digital world with Wonderswan Ryo or whatever did or did not happen in that unreliable backstory, but 02 Ken, the Ken after the trauma, who needs SOMEONE to connect with him to help save him. He's the sole character who is taken from 02 era rather than the first Adventure era. And 02's themes are in this character. Ryo dies in part due to hopelessness and depression. He is unsavable the first playthrough. Unsavable in the initial adventure context. The original context where the focus is on survival and connection with your own digimon. Wormmon couldn't Save Ken alone. just as Kunemon couldn't. Both Wormmon and Kunemon die in desperate attempts to try and save their partners (really from themselves). But Ryo is saved from death when you can manage to become friends with him. When you connect with him, not unlike how Daisuke managed to save Ken. And from there, Ryo manages to save other people (Shuuji) from falling into that same despair, not unlike how Ken tried to reach out to the dark spore kids. It's noteworthy that of the 3 initial endings, the moral route is the closest to the truthful route, but aside from Ryo and Shuuji has one key difference. It ends like the original Adventure did, the kids and their partners separating, while the truthful route has the kids and their partners living together, invoking the 02 ending. While the Harmony and Wrathful routes do also bear a resemblance to 02's ending, just relatively less optimistically, Harmony and Wrathful routes involve the failings of personal connections. The failure to understand each other. Ultimately the truthful route resolves peacefully, even the big bad reconciling with his sister, no longer feeling the need to lash out at others. Ryo is the factor that takes this adventure and adds a bit of 02 to it, 02 in this context being the importance of connection. 02 being what makes the happy ending.

It's not a 1 to 1, after all, all of the characters are different from their adventure counterpart, and take pieces from one another. For example, its Minoru that has the parental divorce backstory, and Miyuki is a protective older sister to the professor, not a younger sister to Takuma, and the Professor is the most curious about the digital world's nature, and is the one with the digimon partner Gabumon. Saki is the one hesitating the most about going home at all rather than being the one to bring it up the most. I'd say Ryo also has elements of Joe in his fear of his partner and for being an unreliable older kid, and Shuuji has elements of Ken in his cruelty of Lopmon, and insistence on authority and desire to measure up against an older brother with whom he has a flawed relationship. Really none of these kids match up one to one with the adventure kids, and that's great, but I think it is fair to say that as far as analogies go, Ryo does draw from Ken.

02 is an extension of Adventure, and despite their differences in plot, theme and character arcs, no discussion of Adventure will ever be truly complete without discussing certain elements of 02 in relation to that, particularly 02s epilogue and what it means thematically. Ryo is a reflection of Ken, and how his story and needs were a reflection of the themes of 02, and how those themes were built off of the themes of Adventure. How Ken needed something that was not as prevalent in Adventure. Naturally, I think the "truthful" story of survive, would have to be a route that includes elements of 02 no matter how faithful it is to other Adventure themes otherwise.

[aviculor]

What's interesting is that in the finale of 01, Gennai says that SkullGreymon wasn't a "wrong" evolution and there is no such thing as a "wrong" evolution, but it was just not the one meant for their purposes. Which suggests there actually is a time and a place for evolutions like it. It reminds me of what happens in Tamers where, as I keep saying, Megidramon did nothing wrong. Takato was filled with righteous fury towards Beelzebumon who just killed Leomon and was about to kill the rest of them too, so MegaloGrowmon evolved to ultimate level and fought Beelzebumon on equal footing exactly as intended. He never turned on his friends or anything like that. In fact, after Guilmon reverted, a remnant of Megidramon's power protected Takato when Beelzebumon tried to shoot them. Megidramon's only crime was looking scary, and may I remind you that Takato was also scared of Growmon and MegaloGrowmon the first time Guilmon evolved into them. Also, when Greymon evolved into SkullGreymon in 02, he fought the other mind-controlled digimon. He slapped away Fladramon, Digmon, and Holsmon after they attacked him, then used Ground Zero to destroy the dark tower with perfect accuracy. To me, it looked like Agumon was fighting against the evil ring from within and becoming SkullGreymon actually helped everyone.

[analyzingadventure]

You know I actually never realized this before-- so you remember how tri. retconned Original Chosen fighting and defeating Apocalymon into them fighting the Dark Masters instead? (To be fair it is possible they could've ALSO fought Apocalymon afterwards but that isn't the Epic Final Showdown tri. decided to depict so it's borderline a retcon)

If the Original 5 Chosen fought and defeated the Dark Masters once in the distant past, doesn't that mean that

A) They survived and hid for just a few thousand years until they came back for a Round 2 at conquering the world

B) They died, were reborn, and THEN went for the Round 2

You know I've just DYING with curiosity, desperately wanting to know if any of the villians in Adventure would ever be reborn after Adventure, right. Because according to the lore they should, right (unless their data was like somehow absorbed by Apocalymon and destroyed along with him (though that would still leave Piemon as an exception (and Vamdemon but we all know what happened to him) and the sole survivor))

And what tri. has essentially done is confirm that most of them should, in fact, be reborn sooner or later

But that just raises the question of if Apocalymon was lowkey driving the Dark Masters nuts (as suggested by the novels), and if tri. was kind of about destroying the last remnants of Apocalymon's data (within Meicoomon), if they were reborn this time would they be free of Apocalymon's influence

If so, would their third (?) lives then turn out different? Would they still try to take over the world all over again for funsies (this time just without Apocalymon giving them power etc), or were they just the same as Ken was in Zero Two? I mean Apocalymon was supposed to be a spawn of Milleniummon and Ken was infected with Mille's malice directly, so while it may have been a bit filtered it was still the same source of malice and corruption, right

And like regardless of how their next lives would turn out, shouldn't the kids (OR AT THE VERY FUCKING LEAST GENNAI) like realize that this is going to happen eventually and like. Go and see if they can find them (either as their pre-Ultimate forms or even when they're still in their Eggs) and try to figure out what to do BEFORE shit hits the fan

I JUST

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventure ~ Episode 24 (J.P.N Version) ~ TIMELINE Hints & CLUES ~ Digital World LORE ~ Koushiro’s Character Traits ~ IMPORTANT Quotes + Koushiro[u] Izumi & Tentomon + Koushiro’s Communication

gifs by @izzyizumi​ / @koushirouizumi {DO NOT REPOST} {DO NOT REMOVE CAPTION} {DO NOT use this post or my gifs for spreading series negativity}

{usage of gifs may be allowed if permission is asked / or if credit is given. However, read my about & FAQ pages first. Please do NOT use / ask if you match anything in my “Do Not Interact” sections.}

Further transcript and my own commentary under the ‘read more’!

(Episode start): {Tentomon}: Koushiro-han! Let’s take a little break! {Koushiro, only briefly pauses, with a notably perturbed look}: I want to meet Gennai-san as soon as possible! {Tentomon, insistent}: But even so, it’s already been two months! {Koushiro, surprisingly direct, and yet still using typical speech*}: (*Koushiro in the J.P.N version commonly uses a more polite J.P.N speech form than characters like Yamato, or even Taichi, which is quite notable with Koushiro.)

“It doesn’t matter HOW LONG it takes!!” {Tentomon, immediately in response}: (*sighing*)/(*sweatdrop*) {Koushiro, matter-of-factly/calmly}: I’m going ahead. {Tentomon, quickly}: A-aa, Koushiro-han, wait for me!...

(They walk together as the calm OST {music} track playing fades.)

My commentary: Episode 24, Koushiro’s focus episode where Koushiro will later obtain the Crest of Knowledge, opens on this scene, and in the original version, right away, you begin to get a feel of the character progress he will eventually have- For a start, Koushiro actually insists a little at Tentomon. The Adventure novel (also penned by a head/“main” director + writer, Hiroyuki Kakudou) indicates in a later Dark Masters “Arc” scene that Koushiro “never” raised Koushiro’s voice towards a “senpai”/“upperclassman” - especially NOT Taichi, as the scene stating that line involved Taichi - and even these lines Koushiro states using overall “polite” form J.P.N speech, but Koushiro DOES insist a little, and it’s very obvious from the look on Koushiro’s face that Koushiro Means Business, OK, Don’t Argue With Me On This! Tentomon responds by immediately sighing, and another common pattern of this episode are the close-ups of Tentomon’s reactions to basically everything Koushiro is saying.

Tentomon clearly notes that it’s been “TWO MONTHS” in the Digital World since Taichi vanished. The novel is a bit more vague there, but it’s also a direct timeline clue - keeping in mind the time difference between the worlds. However, it also hadn’t been longer than two months since Koushiro split from the group of other Chosen, who Koushiro left behind in the search. Koushiro’s plan is apparently to FIND “Gennai” - It seems Koushiro believes Gennai can help with the search.

The novel does go a little more in depth in various places there... Taichi isn’t directly mentioned, {though still goes missing} but Koushiro, DOES feel a “pull” by the Crest of Knowledge - not knowing it’s the Crest. Vademon will then proceed to immediately trick Koushiro & Tentomon by scamming Koushiro out of Koushiro’s often-referred to as “Inquisitive Heart”, convincing Koushiro that what Koushiro “needs” is ““Knowledge””.

But the fake, anti-intellectualist “Knowledge” Vademon talks about is not necessarily the kind of actual “Knowledge” Koushiro NEEDS...

Tentomon clearly recognizes at least a little of this, and with the ‘expressions’ (sudden shocked or panicky movements) Tentomon ‘gives���, often reacts in turn.

{I will slowly be dropping more image sets of this episode as time goes on, with further commentary, along with possible comparisons to the novel, so please keep a look-out!}

(While the images used may not highlight Koushiro’s best moments, This is STILL a Koushiro POSITIVITY Post.)

[Note: commenting/tagging positively/respectfully is ok!] (Please AGREE TO BANNERS BEFORE interacting) (Note: click on the banners to enlarge / read text more clearly!)

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x53 - The Final Dark Digimon / Now Apocalymon

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Piemon put a lot of effort into collecting Digimon Adventure memorabilia but then Takeru mugged him and stole all of his shit.

Now the Chosen Children have been faced with a startling revelation: The Dark Masters were a symptom, not the cause. Who is the true enemy that they must face?

We open on the consumption of Spiral Mountain. What can only be described as the distortions of the Digital World finally made manifest and visible bleeds out over the wireframe of what had been Spiral Mountain, covering it all. At the top, the platform that had been the Dark Masters' home disintegrates into pixels.

The Chosen Children were up there so, y'know, they're fucked. They plunge together into the eldritch void where reality breaks. Their Digimon, still in their Perfect and Ultimate forms, fly in after them.

Garudamon: SORA!!! MetalGarurumon: YAMATO!!! AtlurKabuterimon: KOUSHIRO!!! Angewomon: HIKARI!!! Zudomon: JOU!!!

Nobody calls out for Taichi, Mimi, or Takeru. Rude.

One by one, the Children arrive at a space in the void where gravity stops pulling on them. They float, adrift in this space beyond reality.

In the dub, Tai narrates a bit for us.

Tai: Spiral Mountain is disintegrating! WATCH OUT!!! (The platform they're standing on disintegrates and the kids fall into the void) WarGreymon: TAI!!! Garudamon: SORA!!! MetalGarurumon: MATT!!! Lilimon: MIMI!!!

Tai yelling "Watch out!" as if the entire landmass you're standing on vaporizing as reality shatters around you is something you can dodge. XD He'd try, though. We all know he'd try.

They change up which Partners call out for their kid. Sora and Yamato/Matt get call-outs in both versions while both versions snub Takeru/T.K. That boy defeated Piemon and still gets no respect.

Together, the kids and their Partner Digimon come to realize their descent has ceased.

Jou: (relieved) We stopped.... WarGreymon: Taichi! Are you safe!? Taichi: Yeah.... Koushiro: What is this place?

As if on cue, Koushiro's laptop beeps to alert him to an incoming message. Not an email this time; Gennai transmits a live call, though the connection is fuzzy and starts breaking up immediately.

Gennai: This darkness probably goes on forever. Koushiro: Gennai-san! Taichi: Hey! What the hell is going on here!? Yamato: We already defeated the Dark Masters! Gennai: But the root cause of all this evil hasn't been defeated yet. Children: EHHHH!?!? Gennai: The source of darkness came from the Wall of Fire. Jou: Wall of Fire? Gennai: There was an inscription in the Ancient Dino Region. The inscription said this: Long ago in ancient times, something emerged from beyond the Wall of Fire. Just by existing, this creature warped the fabric of space-time, bringing the world to the brink of collapse. Gennai: The Digimon could not defeat it with their own power, so they called on Chosen Children from the real world to help them eradicate it. Taichi: Huh!? But that means.... Jou: There were Chosen Children before us! Sora: Then we were also called because something came through the Wall of Fire again! And that's the real enemy!

Well, that's an infodump and a half. This is what Gennai and Centarumon were talking about last episode. Something came through the Wall of Fire long ago and had to be defeated, and now it's back for more.

The revelation that there was another set of Chosen Children before the Hikarigaoka Eight raises all kinds of questions and it's unfortunate that Homeostasis is not around to answer them.

(Though it also kind of makes sense, since it hasn't been explained why Parrotmon and Hikari's Koromon "fell through a breach in reality", as Homeostasis explained. That was probably the first time the Wall of Fire creature was tearing down the fabric of reality. So Homeostasis summoned one set of Children then and there to face that one, then started preparing for the Hikarigaoka Eight to face it when it returned.)

Note: The five Chosen Children we see in the flashback here are... uh... not canon. Which is to say, what we're seeing here are silhouettes of Taichi, Takeru, Sora, Koushiro, and Yamato, along with their specific five Partner Digimon.

02 and Tri would later flesh out the Original Five more, including their own distinct set of Partner Digimon. But for the original anime, they reused five of the existing kids because the specifics of the Original Five don't really matter much to this story.

What I do find interesting, however, is that the O5 were summoned directly to Primary Village and received their Partners from some Digitama that happened to be lying around. It makes the O-5's summoning seem a bit more rushed than the careful processing of Partners, Digivices, and Crests in a lab that Homeostasis was trying to do for the H-8.

In the dub:

WarGreymon: Tai, are you alright!? Tai: Y-Yeah... Izzy: Uh, this may be a stupid question but how come we're not still falling? ...huh!?

As usual, details buried in sound effects get lost. There is no beeping sound to alert Izzy to Gennai's transmission; He suddenly has a psychic premonition and breaks out his laptop.

Gennai: Greetings. I hope nobody needed a barf bag on the way down. Izzy: It's Gennai! Tai: So you're the one who brought us down here! Matt: What do you want!? We already beat the Dark Masters. Gennai: It's true that the evil of the Dark Masters was destroyed, but the source that created that evil still exists. Children: HUH!?!? Gennai: And that source came from the Wall of Fire. Joe: What's that? Gennai: When I was searching through the Dino Ruins, I came across an ancient inscription. It told of a time long ago when a strange being appeared from behind the Wall of Fire and it was angry. You would be too if you lived with that kind of humidity. Gennai: The mere existence of this being caused a warp in space, and time was thrown completely out of whack. It threatened the collapse of the Digital World and, even worse than that, my new wristwatch stopped working. Gennai: The Digimon knew they didn't have the strength to defeat this being, so the original DigiDestined children were summoned from the real world and together they defeated the evil. Tai: What!? Then you mean...? Joe: That there were other kids just like us before we came along? Sora: And we were summoned because something else came out from behind that Wall of Fire, didn't it? Huh. And that's the real enemy.

Tai and Matt are so hostile to Gennai. XD Taichi and Yamato are frustrated too, but Tai outright accuses Gennai of kidnapping them into the darkness. Y'know, 'cause homebody Gennai who was too lazy to visit File Island in person despite having a wearable mech suit definitely conjured up the power to consume Spiral Mountain in darkness himself.

Speaking of which, I love how Gennai takes credit for all of Centarumon's research. "When I was searching through the ruins" no you weren't, you managerial shit. XD That he pronounces it "Deeno Ruins" is the icing on the cake. He doesn't even know the name of the place he's claiming to have personally done archaeology at. Management!

The dub again suggests that the creature from beyond the Wall of Fire created the Dark Masters, rather than them empowering themselves from its effects on the world. It also suggests that the thing that came through the Wall of Fire this time is something distinctly separate from the one that came through before.

I see where they're coming from. "Something came through the Wall of Fire again" could mean that the thing from beyond the Wall of Fire has returned or it could mean that a new thing has emerged. But I'm fairly certain we're meant to take both instances as the same creature. I think there's only one of him.

From here, Gennai continues.

Gennai: There was also a prophecy written in the inscription at the Ancient Dino Region. It said that, in time, a great darkness would once again emerge into this world from beyond the Wall of Fire. Yamato: A great darkness....

The children look around at the void of darkness they're in.

Jou: You mean this darkness? Taichi: Are you saying this darkness itself is our true enemy? Gennai: In a sense, I suppose. But I'm sure it has a body too. Fight with all your hearts, children!

The transmission goes fuzzy and Gennai fades away. Good luck! Gennai out!

Taichi: Wait! Don't go yet! (Transmission ends) Taichi: (angry) We're just grasping at clouds! How do we fight something we don't even understand!?

"Grasping a cloud" is a Japanese idiom about trying to do something that's flagrantly impossible.

Jou: (worried) What did he mean by that? Is it different from the enemy Digimon we've been fighting!? Koushiro: I think it means our enemy's fundamental nature is different. Yamato: We'll still win this. Because, back in the day, kids just like us defeated this same Digimon! Sora: You're right. There has to be a way.

Even Taichi seems shaken by the prospect of fighting this thing. But, at Yamato's words, Taichi nods and the rest of the team steels themselves for the battle to come.

In the dub:

Gennai: That's correct. But, unfortunately, that's just the good news. The bad news is, it also told of a great darkness that would blanket the entire Digital World. Matt: A great darkness... Huh.... Joe: Don't look now, but it's pretty dark. Tai: So is this the enemy? Gennai: In a way, yes. But I believe he has a form as well. He's, uhhh... (Static) Gennai: UH-OH, I'M OUT OF QUARTERS, GOTTA GO!!! Tai: WAIT!!! GENNAI, COME BACK!!!

Reliable as ever. XD The dub's handling of Gennai's disconnection is beautiful. Useless jiji strikes again. They put their first commercial break right here on this punchline and we return to Gennai disconnecting, take two.

Gennai: Next time I'll use a phone card, I promise! SEE YA!!! Tai: (despondent) GEEEEENNAAAAAAAAAAI!!! Oh great, how does he expect us to fight this thing if we don't even know what we're looking for!? Joe: Just my luck. The second I start enjoying my vacation, another monster tries to destroy the world. Izzy: Sorry, guys, but something tells me this isn't going to be like any other Digimon we've ever run into. Matt: Yeah? So what? The first DigiDestined kids were able to defeat something like this. Well then, so will we. Sora: Matt's right! We'll just have to find a way to do it.

"Something tells me". Was it Gennai's infodump, Izzy? Was that what told you?

Here we see the confusion over how many Wall of Fire creatures there are again. This one's less understandable. Yamato calls it, in no uncertain terms, 同じデジモン onaji Dejimon. "The same Digimon". Not another one; It is the same. Matt's description gets more wishy-washy, calling the O-5's enemy "something like this".

Suddenly, the children hear a strange groaning coming from every direction at once.

Hikari: (freaked) Whose voice is that...? Mimi: (whispers) It's creepy.... Angewomon: I can hear it coming from everywhere! Taichi: It's... It's saying something! Voice: That's right. Are our regrets to go unanswered? Sora: Regrets? Jou: Who's there!?

A giant dodecahedron appears to answer Jou's question.

Koushiro: Is this the Digimon that came through the Wall of Fire?

Yes. And no. This is about to get complicated.

As important sound effects go, the dub lands this one. They remember to include the groaning, though the kids aren't nearly as bugged by it.

Kari: What's that noise? Mimi: Sounds like a moose! Angewomon: Sounds to me like it's coming from every direction! Tai: Me too! But what does it mean!? Voice: I know who you are! You don't have the power to eliminate my sadness! Sora: Huh? Joe: Who's there!? (Dodecahedron appears) Izzy: I'll bet this has something to do with that Digimon Gennai was talking about! Tai: Either that or it's a giant cube puzzle!

I'm guessing it's a d12. The Wall of Fire creature is going to be our DM in a giant game of Dungeons and Dramons. Joke's on him, we have WarGreymon.

Already we're beginning to see the tonal difference between versions of this creature but more on that later. For now, the dodecahedron unfurls.

Aside from the top and bottom faces, all ten of the dodecahedron's other faces unfurl into podiums which release colossal metal claws. The bottom face unfurls into a spike, while the top unfurls into a podium with no claw. Instead, a cloaked figure emerges from there, revealing itself to be a humanoid creature organically connected to the rest of the structure - with blue and red pipes pumping into its gut and another black pipe pumping into its back.

Its chains are made from strands of DNA. So that gives an early hint as to where this is going.

Yamato: (stunned) What is that thing...?

The narrator chimes in to answer Yamato's question 'cause it's time for the rundown. That... is not any Digimon we've ever seen before.

Apocalymon is a Digimon in the sense that it began being included in V-Pets and Digimon games and stuff following the debut of this episode. Because of course it did.

But it's one of the few creatures in the franchise to exist beyond the Ultimate stage. As previously discussed, it didn't hatch out of a Digitama and grow up but instead entered the Digital World fully-formed from an unknown space beyond reality through an impassible barrier. Consequently, it doesn't have any evolutionary path to it. It's not from here.

Games it appears in usually give it things like "Jogress Piemon, Mugendramon, Pinocchimon, and MetalSeadramon together to create Apocalymon" or something like that. It's just there because it's the guy from the Adventure anime and it would be cool if you could have the guy from the Adventure anime.

It doesn't have a type, it doesn't have an attribute, and its level is listed as "Ultimate" purely for lack of a word to describe it.

Narrator: A mysterious Digimon whose true nature is shrouded in darkness. No, it can't even be determined if this creature is a Digimon. It can reduce all things to nothingness with its Darkness Zone.

It is to Digimon what Gozer the Gozerian is to ghosts. Even the narrator doesn't fucking know what this is, initially calling it a Digimon and then catching himself and backpedaling.

(Though an interesting detail about Apocalymon is that it has features reminiscent of some of the Nightmare Soldiers nonetheless. It's cloak gives Vamdemon vibes. Meanwhile, its coloration and overlong arms ending in sharp red claws are reminiscent of Devimon's arms and that one freakish claw that LadyDevimon has.

So it may be part of the Nightmare Soldiers lineage after all. Or, alternatively, drawing power from the reality distortions created by Apocalymon may have ironically caused Digimon to evolve in ways that resemble it. LadyDevimon in particular certainly doesn't look like that claw is supposed to be there.)

While it has no lines in this part of the original, the dub gives us more of its dub personality. As the camera lingers on the blue and red pipes coming out of its front, it quips:

Apocalymon: I am the ultimate evil, complete with hot and cold running water! Matt: What on Earth is that thing? Apocalymon: (rundown) I am Apocalymon, a mutant Digimon. My Darkness Zone attack transforms my enemy to nothingness. I have the power to turn everything I touch into total darkness.

A lot more verbose. Dub Apocalymon is just, like, a guy. A really evil guy. Completely stepping over the ambiguity of his true nature in the original, he comes right out and explains that he's a mutant Digimon. That's all. Nothing to see here. Just a big bad evil guy we need to punch.

Unfortunately, the final dissolution of reality that dumped the Chosen Children into this void isn't just happening on Spiral Mountain. In the human world, four sets of terrified parents, one single mother, and a brother all watch helplessly as the void appears in their sky.

Yuuko (Taichi's Mom): What... is that...?

Then, in the void, the eight Children appear with their Partners. All of the parents gasp in shock. In an easy to miss move, Yamato and Takeru's mom Natsuko suddenly grabs onto the arm of their dad Hiroaki for support. The other two couples clinging to each other had already been doing that before the kids showed up in the void.

Toshiko (Sora's Mom): (worried) Sora! Mimi's Parents: (worried) Mimi-chan!

In the dub, Apocalymon keeps talking, carrying on from his self-rundown about his Darkness Zone reducing all things to darkness. Which the parents, apparently, can hear?

Apocalymon: Perhaps I will start with Earth. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Susumu (Tai's Dad): I'd better get a new flashlight. But what about.... Yuuko: The... KIDS...! (The kids appear, as if on cue. Parents gasp.) Toshiko: (worried) Sora! Mimi's Parents: (worried) Our Mimi!

Susumu is having what we would call a himbo moment right now. Yuuko's line read gets messed up from having a line whose partition doesn't line up well with where the lip flaps need the break in the line to go.

Probably should have stuck with the original line for her, which divides very well at that spot in both Japanese and English. You can't go wrong with a half-whispered utterance of terrified uncertainty.

Back in the void, Apocalymon finally speaks directly to the Children.

Apocalymon: Hahahahaha... Do you find me ugly? It's true, isn't it? You all must have been thinking it. After all, we are the ones whose evolutionary course was blocked. Koushiro: The evolutionary process? Apocalymon: Digimon have continued to evolve again and again over the years. Did you know that some of them disappeared? Koushiro: It's inevitable that some species will disappear during the evolutionary process. If they aren't able to adapt to their environment-- Apocalymon: SILENCE!!! Children: (collective gasp) Apocalymon: (furious) "Inevitable". You think that one word can settle this matter!? Yamato: What do you mean by that? Apocalymon: (sarcastic) Does Your Highness deem us unworthy to survive? Koushiro: (backtracking) No, I wouldn't-- Apocalymon: Yes, we are the accumulated sorrow, bitterness, and regret from all those Digimon who vanished during the evolutionary process! Sora: You're the collection of all the dark hearts from the DIgimon who disappeared?

Some interesting linguistic notes. While they do use a couple of singular first-person pronouns, Apocalymon predominately refers to themselves by the plural first-person pronoun 我々 wareware. This is due to the true nature they reveal in this conversation: They are a gestalt entity formed of many beings.

They're also surprisingly emotional. They get suddenly triggered by Koushiro's use of the phrase 仕方がない Shikataganai, which means... It can't be helped. It's inevitable. This is just the way it is. Nothing we can do about it.

Poor socially awkward Koushiro was just answering the question academically without realizing he was verbally slapping Apocalymon right in their goddamn gestalt face.

Which is why Apocalymon responds aggressively with the second-person pronoun 貴様 kisama. This is on paper a very respectful term from samurai days of old used to address one's superior but has had its meaning corrupted through sarcastic and ironic usage. It's the equivalent of saying, "Oh, yes, your highness. Right away, your worshipfulness."

When Apocalymon uses it here, they're being salty and accusing Koushiro of looking down on them. They're, shall we say, a little bit bitter. Just a smidge. You might not have noticed!

In the dub:

Apocalymon: Hahahahahaha! Are you repulsed by my appearance? Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings; They're already hurt! Hahahaha... You see, I was created from all that was lost during the Digivolving process. Izzy: What do you mean by 'lost'? Apocalymon: Digimon have been Digivolving for many years now, over and over again. But there were some who weren't up to the challenge and simply disappeared. Izzy: That makes sense. Even on Earth, some species became extinct during the process of evolution. In fact, the Tasmanian tiger wolf was one of those-- Apocalymon: SILENCE!!! Children: (collective gasp) Apocalymon: Who's the one telling this story, anyway? Me or you? Matt: (snide) Alright, go ahead. Apocalymon: First, I have a question to ask. Do you believe that I am worthy of coexisting with you? Izzy: Uhh, well... Yeah, sure! Apocalymon: Oh, really? Even though I was forged from the pain and misery of all the ill-fated Digimon who vanished while attempting to Digivolve? Sora: You're entirely made up of grief and sorrow? How sad for you. Apocalymon: Sure, rub it in.

There's no verbal misstep in this version; Apocalymon just cuts Izzy off before he can start infodumping.

He also sticks with first-person singular pronouns here. In general, he's much more composed than his Japanese counterpart. Rather than throwing out bitter accusations, he randomly asks, "Am I worthy to exist?" That Izzy struggles to answer the question reflects poorly on him, but we already know he's a dick.

The language here is a bit... confusing.

The language is already a bit confusing because Apocalymon seems to be talking about species lost to the evolutionary process, not Digimon randomly dying during a level-to-level evolution. At least, that's the impression I get. They and Koushiro reference 進化の過程 shinka no katei, the evolutionary process, rather than saying that Digimon suddenly drop dead during 進化 shinka.

This makes Izzy's reference to the Tasmanian tiger wolf rather apt. Which, by the way, is also known as the thylacine, and is colloquially known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf. So far as I know, nobody calls it a "tiger wolf" but I might be wrong. Either Izzy's mouthing off again or he's actually got the better of me on this one.

The dub's been swapping out "evolve" for "Digivolve" for so long that they forge right ahead here and say "Digivolving process", the unique fantasy mechanism by which Greymon becomes MetalGreymon.

So while there's some uncertainty as to what they're talking about in the original, the dub clearly asserts that sometimes Digimon spontaneously drop dead while Digivolving. Those individuals' resentment, rather than the resentment of entire species lost to history, is what makes up Apocalymon.

Which... might also be how it's meant to be taken in the original too. It's a little confusing. To my knowledge, individual Digimon spontaneously ceasing to exist during an evolution isn't a thing that can happen but... IDK.

Now that their identity is explained, Apocalymon continues.

Apocalymon: The Chosen Children and their Digimon... We've been looking forward to meeting all of you. WarGreymon: (quietly) What...? MetalGarurumon: What do you mean by that!? Apocalymon: Listen! While we lay buried in a cold and sorrowful darkness, you were on the other side enjoying yourselves and laughing happily in the warm light. WHY!?!?

Furious, Apocalymon attacks. A burst of electricity fires out from their dodecahedron, which hits all eight children and their Digimon.

Once the shocks have passed, Taichi calls out to the team.

Taichi: Is everyone okay!? Yamato: Yeah, I'm managing. Koushiro: Yes. Sora: We're okay, Taichi.

I'm beginning to get the impression that Apocalymon is not emotionally stable.

An interesting note is that we generally don't get an explanation for why light is good and darkness is bad in media that use those things. It's considered self-evident. But in this speech, Apocalymon actually explains why the forces of darkness are forces of darkness.

Because the forces of darkness are drawing their power from them, Apocalymon, whose component entities are species banished from the light of existence, whose spirits live on only in this void.

In the dub:

Apocalymon: And now, DigiDestined and Digimon, I have been waiting an eternity for this encounter. WarGreymon: What!? MetalGarurumon: What do you mean!? Apocalymon: As I sat alone in the cold, miserable darkness of my world, I watched all of you on the other side laughing and having fun in the light! Well, now it's my turn... TO SHINE!!! (Apocalymon hits them all with a sudden electric burst) Tai: Is everybody okay? Matt: I think so. Izzy: Yeah. Sora: I'm okay, Tai. Apocalymon: Not for long.

Basically the same, but Apocalymon again doesn't sound as aggrieved as his Japanese counterpart, who is basically frothing at the mouth with jealous fury.

Speaking of which, shit's about to get gross.

Apocalymon: WHAT DID WE DO WRONG!?!?

Apocalymon proceeds to self-harm, digging their own claws into their shoulders and wrenching open their flesh. The blood and underlying gore is painted green to reduce the ick factor but. Uh. Ick.

Apocalymon: Why should you get to laugh when we have to cry!? Mimi: (shrieks and covers her eyes) NO!!! I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS!!! Apocalymon: Even those such as us have tears and emotions!

They suddenly wrench their claws back out of their shoulders.

Apocalymon: WHAT RIGHT DID THEY HAVE TO TAKE AWAY OUR LIVES AND BANISH US FROM THIS WORLD!?!?

I think Mimi's face says it all. Jesus.

This section, which is so gruesome that a 10-year-old in-universe screams "I don't want to see this," gets one big NOPE stamp from Fox Kids.

Apocalymon continues.

Apocalymon: We wanted to live. To survive and talk about friendship, justice, and love!

Apocalymon curls into themself and stabs their claws back into their shoulder wounds, with a spurt of green blood from both sides. Reaction shots of the children show that Sora, too, is averting her gaze from the gruesome sight while Jou, Takeru, and Hikari watch in horror.

Apocalymon: We wanted this body to be useful to the world! Are you saying this world has no need for us? That we're meaningless!?

(Apocalymon is the voice of my entire generation and I was not prepared for that. The kids better do something quick 'cause I'm starting to root for the Failure Amalgam.)

A close-up of Apocalymon's bleeding shoulders (I guess they pulled their claws out again) shows the bloody wounds closing themselves back up and disappearing from their body.

Koushiro: They have the ability to self-regenerate! Apocalymon: We will take control of this world. We'll establish a place for ourselves here. Anything that gets in our way will disappear! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! A CURSE ON EVERY PLACE THE LIGHT TOUCHES!!!

The dub continues scrubbing shots with all this ick in them. They do, however, use one shot of Apocalymon with the visible claw marks in his shoulders. What those are goes unexplained.

Apocalymon: Do you think it's fair that I should have to live with all this agony!? Why should you get to laugh when I am forced to cry?

The reaction shots from the kids, including Sora averting her gaze, are kept in. Though it's not clear what Sora's so freaked out and unwilling to look at.

Apocalymon: Why do you get to taste the best life has to offer while all I do is choke on its leftovers!? Answer me this! WHY DO ALL OF YOU GET THE PIZZA!?!? WHY DO I GET THE CRUST!?!?

Then we finally get Mimi's reaction.

Mimi: (shrieks and covers her eyes) Oh, I can't take all these metaphors!

Before finally rejoining the original scene order with Izzy, who is no longer commenting on the regeneration because all shots of the gore were cut out.

Izzy: Boy, this guy really holds a grudge. Apocalymon: I will rule the world and plunge it into darkness so that I don't have to be alone anymore in my misery! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Wait a minute, what am I laughing at? I'm supposed to be depressed!

It's been the case multiple times throughout the series that the dub is written as if they were doing an Abridged Parody for YouTube, and Apocalymon tops that chart.

"Why do you get the pizza and I get the crust?" is pretty out-there. They are absolutely making fun of the original through this script. Literally a bit that happens between TFS Goku and TFS Frieza.

Nonetheless, "I will plunge the world into darkness so I don't have to be alone in my misery" hits the nail on the head. That is what Apocalymon wants. They aren't trying to build themselves up. They don't want to come out into the light. This isn't an act of hope.

It's despair. They're mad at the other species who outcompeted them evolutionarily, and they want everyone to have to suffer the way they've suffered. They want to punish the world for leaving them behind, rather than to improve their own circumstances by being accepted into it.

If this were a consequence of man-made forces, Apocalymon would be a complicated and sympathetic figure. If Captain Planet started dropping billionaires from skyscrapers to thwart the impending climate apocalypse, I think a lot of us would be okay with that. It'd be a conversation, at the very least.

However, "Should we let Revenge of the Mastodon tear the fabric of reality in half out of spite?" is a bit more cut-and-dry. Dude literally just said he wants to curse everything the light touches. There is no nuance to be had here. I'm sorry your species couldn't handle the Ice Age or whatever but you don't get to take it out on the ones that did.

Once again, worked up into a frenzy, Apocalymon attacks.

Apocalymon: ULTIMATE STREAM!!!

One of Apocalymon's DNA claws morphs into the head of MetalSeadramon, then fires Ultimate Stream from his emitter straight at Hikari.

Taichi: HIKARI!!!

Angewomon throws herself at Hikari, wrapping the girl up in her arms while taking Ultimate Stream straight to the back.

Angewomon: AUGH!!! Hikari: ANGEWOMON!!! Apocalymon: Kindhearted children, that was a sign of our friendship. The next is LOVE!!! BLOODY STREAM!!!

A DNA claw morphs into Vamdemon, swinging his Bloody Stream whip at Mimi. It's Lilimon's turn to block, taking Vamdemon's lash.

Lilimon: MIMI--AHHHHHHH!!! Apocalymon: JUSTICE!!! MUGEN CANNON!!!

Mugendramon's Mugen Cannon is going for Sora. Garudamon claps her hands around Sora and takes that one to the back.

Garudamon: Sora! AUGH!!!

Kinda sexist that you're only shooting at the girls, my composite dude/tte.

In the dub:

Apocalymon: RIVER OF POWER!!! (Apocalymon shoots at Kari) Tai: KARI!!! Kari: AHHHH!!! Angewomon: (takes the hit for her) AUGH!!! Kari: AHHHH ANGEWOMON NO!!! Apocalymon: That was MetalSeadramon with his classic River of Power. And now here's Myotismon with his #1 hit, CRIMSON LIGHTNING!!! (Apocalymon shoots at Mimi) Mimi: AHHHHH!!! Lilimon: (takes the hit for her) AHHHH!!! Apocalymon: Next, Machinedramon! GIGA CANNON!!! (Apocalymon shoots at Sora) Sora: WHAAA!!! Garudamon: SORA!!! (takes the hit for her) AUGH!!!

The only point of note is Dub Apocalymon DJing the attacks he's firing.

So, yeah, that's a hell of a thing. Koushiro assesses what's happening here.

Koushiro: Could it be... Are they able to use all of the techniques from every Digimon up to this point? Jou: Then... isn't this like fighting every single one of those Digimon at once? Sora: So does that mean there's no chance of winning? Taichi: Guys! Don't let them freak you out. Get back in positions! Takeru: We just need to stay together! Hikaru: (nods) Mhm! Yamato: That's right! There's no going back from here.

This Final Fantasy-style final boss fight against a primordial concept that's been secretly powering all the villains we've faced to this point is shaping up to be a hell of a thing. But the children steel themselves for it nonetheless. There's nothing else they can do.

In the dub:

Izzy: Inconceivable! He's using all the attacks of the evil Digimon we've defeated in the past! Joe: You mean we have to fight them all over again? This is the worst recurring nightmare I've ever been awake for! Sora: Hey, we were able to beat them once! Tai: Sora's right! We did beat them! And we can do it again! T.K.: We just have to fight together as a team! Kari: (nods) Mhm! Matt: I agree. We've sacrificed too much to give up now.

Izzy deduces only that Apocalymon has the attacks of the "evil Digimon we defeated", and not every Digimon. In his defense, that is just as valid of a conclusion to draw from the evidence shown.

Joe still freaks out, but the lowered challenge level does seem to make Sora a lot more confident than her Japanese counterpart is about facing this threat.

I appreciate Matt bringing up the sacrifices they've made. The road to this point is paved in corpses, both friend and enemy alike.

Unfortunately, as the children prepare themselves to fight, Apocalymon takes it as an invitation to ramp it up.

Apocalymon: You haven't even seen how terrifying I can truly be. DEATH EVOLUTION!!!

Rare singular pronoun from Apocalymon there.

At once, Apocalymon sends all of their claws forward, snatching each and every one of the Partner Digimon. This goes uneventfully for most, though Lilimon does have to shove Mimi away so she doesn't get caught in the claw too.

Mimi: LILIMON!!!

Once all of the Digimon are in Apocalymon's grasp, they address the crowd once more.

Apocalymon: I'll make you understand how we felt, as we vanished from the evolutionary process.

Within the grip of Apocalymon's claws, the eight Partner Digimon glow brightly. Then their light fades and the claws retract, leaving the eight of them reduced to their base stages.

(Oh, so that's where the power behind Etemon's Love Serenade came from.)

Yamato: No way.... Takeru: Everyone changed back...? Patamon: Takeru, I'm sorry. Takeru: There's nothing to apologize for, Patamon. Hikari: But we can't win like this! Tailmon: Don't give up! Gabumon: It's fine. We can still fight like this! Tentomon: All we have to do is evolve again. Jou: That's right! Evolve again, everyone! Gomamon: We're on it! Palmon: I am a little hungry, though.... Agumon: That's fine. Just get fired up! Gabumon: (to the children) We're counting on all of you!

We have a plan of attack. Having the team's evolutions stripped away sucks, but there's nothing stopping them from re-evolving and getting back to business.

In the dub:

Apocalymon: You fools! You haven't even seen my true power yet! REVERSE DIGIVOLVE!!! (Claws grab everyone. Lillymon shoves Mimi away.) Mimi: LILLYMON!!! Apocalymon: I'll make you understand how it feels to be one step closer to extinction! (Apocalymon regresses all of the Digimon) Matt: They're Rookies! T.K.: He changed them back so easily! Patamon: I'm sorry, T.K.! T.K.: It's not your fault, Patamon; It's him! Kari: Great. This time, we're finished. Gatomon: You'd better leave that 'tude, Kari! Gabumon: Just because we're at the Rookie level doesn't mean we still can't fight. Tentomon: We'd Digivolve if we had the energy. Joe: That's it! Start from scratch! You can Digivolve again! Gomamon: We'd have to eat something. Palmon: Come to think of it, I am kinda hungry. Agumon: Forget food! We have the power within us! Gabumon: (to the children) But we need your help!

Palmon and Agumon's cute little exchange is turned into a full-blown problem that all of the Rookie Digimon need to overcome. But nonetheless resolved as easily, with some gumption and can-do spirit.

"I'll make you understand how it feels to be one step away from extinction" is a raw line. I love it.

The children go for their Digivices--

Apocalymon: DEATH CLAW!!!

One of Apocalymon's claws morphs into four pairs of Devimon hands. They extend, snatching the children's Crests away from them. Within the grip of Apocalymon's Death Claws, the Crests and their Tags shatter into dust.

The Chosen Children watch helplessly as their Crests are destroyed utterly.

Taichi: THE CRESTS!!! Takeru: They broke! Sora: Now we can't make them evolve! Apocalymon: I see you're beginning to realize the despair we felt from being unable to evolve! Jou: Oh my god, they broke the Crests! Mimi: If we can't evolve then how are we supposed to win this fight!?

Mimi's question is left hanging in the air as we go to our commercial break.

In the dub, Tai queues us up for what's about to happen.

Tai: Everybody, get your Crests ready! Apocalymon: DEATH CLAW!!! (Apocalymon destroys the Crests and Tags) Tai: Ah! Our Crests and Tags! T.K.: He broke them all! Sora: They won't be able to Digivolve without them! Apocalymon: I hope you learned your lesson: Always save your receipts! The warranty was probably still good on those things. Joe: Isn't this usually the time when one of us comes up with a brilliant idea? Mimi: I don't think anything can save us this time, Joe! I'm afraid we're done for!

The dub forgot that they renamed Death Claw to Touch of Evil. ...wait, why was this "death" okay but Death Evolution wasn't? Is it because it had the world "evolution" in it? Was that the naughty word?

In any case, the dub agrees that this is a good spot for the second commercial.

Following the commercial, we return to the Chosen Children freaking the fuck out. The conversation picks right up where it left off, replaying Mimi's line.

Mimi: If we can't evolve then how are we supposed to win this fight!? Koushiro: It's impossible! No matter how hard they try, Child-stage Digimon cannot defeat an enemy with the combined power of all the strongest Digimon we've ever faced! Taichi: I won't accept that! There must still be a way to win this! Yamato: How did the previous Chosen Children defeat this enemy!?

Koushiro's done the math and hahahaHAHA no, these circumstances are not winnable. Not by a long shot. We are up shit creek without a paddle here. Though Yamato raises a good counterpoint.

In the dub:

Mimi: How can we fight Apocalymon without Digivolving!? Izzy: There's no way! All the Rookie Digimon combined couldn't beat an enemy who has the power of all the evil Digimon from the past! Tai: How can you be so sure!? There's got to be a way somehow! Matt: How did the original DigiDestined kids defeat this enemy?

Basically, the same, except Mimi addresses Apocalymon by name.

In the original, they're just calling Apocalymon "the enemy". Possibly because they might not even know that the enemy is called Apocalymon. That rundown was for our eyes only; Apocalymon might not even be in the in-universe Digimon Analyzer, and even if they are, Koushiro hasn't analyzed them.

Fortunately for the dub kids, Apocalymon's rundown there was diegetic so he's formally introduced himself. Mimi can use his name. No problems there.

Sadly, we are out of time for figuring out how to fight. Apocalymon's ready to end this.

Apocalymon: (chanting) Runani tade wa chita-emao! Runani tade wa chita-emao!

ルナーニタデーハチタエマーオー

By themselves, these noises are gibberish. However, that's because they're doing a backwards-talk spell incantation.

if you spell their words backwards (and with hiragana and kanji, which mean things), you get "お前たちはデータになる Omae-tachi wa deta ninaru." Or, "You all become data. You all become data."

Jou is the first to realize what's happening and start screaming. This grabs Sora's attention, who whips around to see Jou pixelizing before realizing it's happening to her too.

The bodies of all eight children are being broken down, reduced to data as the spell suggested.

Yamato: (alarmed) This is-- Koushiro: It's really bad! Our bodies are being broken down into digital data! Taichi: What did you say!?

The Digimon, too, are breaking down.

Piyomon: Then we.... Gabumon: ...we.... Agumon: ...WHAT'S HAPPENING TO US!?!?

There's nothing anyone can do but scream until they no longer have mouths to scream with. Then they're gone. All sixteen.

Now, in the U.S., we kinda had a big hubbub in the late 20th century about "Satan is sending messages to your children through backwards-talk on records!". So that's not happening. Apocalymon instead intones a rhyme to cast his spell.

Apocalymon: I'll take these children and use their fear / to make them digital and disappear! Ahahahahahaha! (The kids notice they're disintegrating) Matt: What's this!? Izzy: Fascinating. Our bodies are being broken down into little bits of digital information. Tai: FASCINATING!?!? Biyomon: Let's stay calm, everyone! Don't fall to pieces. Agumon: (jokey) Too late!

Tai and Matt are the only ones appropriately horrified by this. The Digimon are quipping and Izzy's downright intrigued.

The "fascinating" gag is pretty funny, though. That got me. XD

We find the children in a white void that is probably a hyperbolic visual representation of what's happening to them? IDK.

They fade in and out of existence whenever they speak. Except, briefly, Koushiro who has more to say. Naturally, the children begin to panic.

Taichi: Where are we!? Koushiro: The world of data. We've all been broken down into data. Mimi: Broken down!? Can't we go back to normal!? Koushiro: I don't know. Jou: What will happen to us if we can't turn back!? Hikari: Is this the end? Sora: I don't know! This is the first time this has ever happened to me. What do we do!? Taichi: ...did we lose? Yamato: Is it all over?

Sora, I'm pretty sure this is a universal first for, like, humanity. XD

Felt, though.

In the dub:

Tai: Ah! Where are we!? Izzy: We're information now. This is where all information gathers. It's the world of data! Mimi: Data!? I'm too young to be dating! Izzy: It's not the same. Joe: Sometimes too much information's a bad thing. Kari: Can we get back? Sora: I don't know, Kari. Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. I don't know what to do. Tai: Is this it? Have we lost? Matt: I'd say that's a pretty good conclusion.

About the same, but with less panic and more quipping.

But despite everything, the Digimon refuse to give up and let this be the end.

Agumon: Don't lose your nerve now! Taichi: Agumon? Gabumon: I'll fight to the bitter end. So don't give up hope! Piyomon: That's right! There were many times up to now when I thought it was over, but we always fought through it together! Sora: Sure, but we've been broken down into data! We don't even know if we'll be able to return to human form, let alone defeat our enemy! Jou: Even if we could make it back, they can't evolve without our Crests! Koushiro: This has never happened before. How is anyone supposed to handle being broken down into data!? NOBODY KNOWS!!! Tentomon: Tell me, Koushiro-han, In all the battles you've fought up to this point, did you always know how you were going to win? Koushiro: Eh? Gabumon: Right! There's a lot of 'firsts' on an adventure!

The Digimon have a point. This entire adventure has involved setting foot where no human has only five other humans have ever tread. Remember that time we made a cave into a wormhole between Etemon's pyramid and a random patch of desert miles away? Good times.

In the dub:

Agumon: Come on, you guys! Don't quit now! Tai: (resigned) Why not? Gabumon: Look, we can't stop fighting now just because of a little setback! Biyomon: So what if we're bits of information, we have no Tags and Crests, we can't Digivolve, and we're facing the most powerful enemy of all time. I don't see what the problem is. Sora: Listen, Biyomon. You guys have a great attitude about this whole thing, but all the positive thinking in the world can't guarantee that we'll find a way to get back to our original forms. Joe: I tried positive thinking once and I was positive about one thing: I positively hated it! Izzy: (excited) Speaking scientifically, we're the first humans to be digitally processed! Technically, we're pioneers! Like Marco Polo! Tentomon: Oh, I know what he's famous for! Marco! Agumon: Polo! Tentomon: Marco! Gatomon: Polo! Tentomon: Marco! Biyomon: Polo! Izzy: ...huh? Gabumon: In every battle, you're bound to face a number of unknowns.

Up until Gabumon's last line, the vibe on the Digimon talk is totally different here. Rather than inspirational and unyielding, the Digimon are presented as dim-witted rubes, utterly failing to grasp the severity of the situation.

Though the kids don't seem to grasp it either, as they're still delivering laugh lines. Izzy is downright thrilled to have been wiped from existence, and also queues up Tentomon for a wacky skit.

Finally, the Digimon break through. Jou-senpai is the first to come around.

Gomamon: We never knew what to do in situations like this! Jou: Jou're right! All those times....

Jou flashes back on meeting Pukamon for the first time, way back when they arrived on File Island and being attacked by Kuwagamon.

Jou: I didn't know anything about this Digimon World. It was just one thing after another that nearly made my heart stop! Gomamon: But because of you and your nakama, we were able to push through together. Jou: Yeah.... At first, I just wanted to escape this place as soon as possible....

A gentle, somber remix of the series OP Butterfly picks up.

Jou's memories turn to the Tokyo Bay, fishing Takeru out and saving him from nearly drowning when they were attacked by MegaSeadramon. Very nearly sacrificing his own life for Takeru's, and activating his Crest of Sincerity/Responsibility.

Jou: But it's because of all this that I could have experiences I never would have learned about from studying for my entrance exams. Mimi: There was a lot of gross stuff and things that made me cry. Palmon: But are you glad we became friends? Mimi: Yeah. I think meeting all of you has made me stronger.

Mimi, for her part, flashes back on the battle at Big Sight convention center when her Crest activated. She has nothing further to say as the memory plays out, with only Butterfly playing in the background.

In the dub:

Gomamon: Yeah, you didn't know how those other fights would turn out but you fought them anyway, didn't you? Joe: Yeah, that's right. We did fight! (File Island flashback) Joe: When I first got to the Digital World, I was afraid of any little thing that moved! We faced all kinds of new monsters. Gomamon: But no matter who they threw at us, we always found the strength to beat the enemy! Regardless of how big it was. Didn't we, Joe? Joe: That's right! We did! We worked together as a team. (Flashback to Joe's Crest activation) Joe: Even that time when we almost lost T.K. because he couldn't swim. Of course... (sheepishly) I forgot that I couldn't swim either... Mimi: I remember times when all I wanted to do was break down and cry. Palmon: But instead, you fought on with your new friends! Mimi: Mhm! I feel like I've become a stronger person since I met all of you! (Flashback to Mimi's Crest activation) Mimi: Like that time at the convention center when all those Bakemon were attacking. I didn't cry a single drop! ...alright, maybe just one drop.

And so we draw near the conclusion of this series the way we began it: rewriting the characters to strip out their emotional sincerity and emphasize how fierce and raring to fight they are.

Mimi's speech is pretty close to the original, but Joe's sucks. Joe's speech completely sucks. The heart has been completely torn out of it, replaced with "Yeah we kicked so much ass my dude" and a laugh line that turns Joe's sacrifice into a "Whoops, my bad!"

Moving right along, Takeru is next.

Patamon: Before I met Takeru, I thought I didn't need to evolve. But....

Nope, sorry, Patamon first.

Patamon flashes back on his first evolution into Angemon, way back when. The battle with Devimon on File Island.

In the process finally and unambiguously confirming that Patamon does, in fact, retain memories from his past life. The dub staked that position as early as the Pagumon village so that's a cookie for them that's been a long time coming.

Even if you assume the Devimon flashback is Takeru's, Patamon even being able to reference a time "before I met Takeru" is itself proof that he remembers his past life.

For his turn, Takeru takes HolyAngemon's evolution in the battle against Piemon.

Takeru: Me too. Because I met you, Patamon, I feel like I've learned how important it is to fight.

Sora's turn.

Piyomon: Sora, you were always so thoughtful. Sora: (smiling) Piyomon.... Piyomon: That's why everybody adores you so much!

Sora's flashback is the debut of Garudamon, when she let Piyomon fight Vamdemon despite fearing for her safety.

In the dub, they continue talking over the flashbacks and making jokes.

Patamon: Before I met you, T.K., I didn't think it mattered if I ever DIgivolved or not. (Flashback) Patamon: But when Devimon went to grab you and got me, I knew it was my time to shine! I became Angemon for the first time and I've been flying high ever since! T.K.: I learned something from you too, Patamon. (Flashback) T.K.: I learned that sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in! Biyomon: I want you to know that you've changed my life in many ways too, Sora. Sora: Really? Biyomon: Of course you have! After all, I've never had a best friend before! (Flashback) Biyomon: I would do anything for you! Like that time I took Myotismon's Crimson Lightning attack right in the chest! Talk about heartburn!

Patamon's recollection of events is leaving out some, uh, significant things that happened to him between then and now.

T.K.'s bit is pretty much verbatim.

Awkward joke aside, the main difference between versions for Biyomon is that she keeps it narrowly focused on herself and Sora. Piyomon said that everyone loves Sora while Biyomon focuses on her own personal feelings for Sora.

Next up: Koushiro.

Tentomon: Koushiro-han. I learned a lot by being with you. Though it did upset me sometimes when you couldn't look past your computer. Koushiro: Tentomon.... Tentomon: But that's just another part of you that I like.

Koushiro's Crest flashback is a little different, as we don't get to see his Crest shine. We only see Vademon pummeling Kabuterimon with asteroids and Koushiro looking concerned, and then the opening bit of AtlurKabuterimon's stock animation for his evolution sequence.

Gabumon: Yamato.... Yamato: You don't have to say anything. I already know.

Yamato's like, "My dude, we did not spend a whole episode in that cave just to have beef now."

He's ahead of the curve. He already had his ultimate self-actualization into his final form. It's all-a y'all motherfuckers that need to catch up.

His flashback is, of course, Digitamamon's diner.

In the dub:

Tentomon: You know, Izzy, when I first met you, I thought you were just one of those computer geeks. But after I got to know you, I realized you are one of those computer geeks! And I'm glad you are! Because where would the rest of us be without you? Izzy: Thanks, pal. Tentomon: (sniff) I promised myself I wouldn't cry! (Flashback) Tentomon: Although I wanted to cry when I felt that asteroid belt tightening around my waist but you and I took care of Vademon together! Gabumon: As for you, Matt. Matt: You don't have to say anything. I know. (Flashback) Gabumon: There was that time when-- Matt: Yeah, that's right. I remember. Gabumon: And then you and I-- Matt: (annoyed) I know. Gabumon: Remember when we-- Matt: Didn't you hear me!? I said you don't have to say anything!

Poor Gabumon. Matt's trying to have his cool guy moment from the original but unfortunately Gabumon is contractually obligated to fill the silence of the flashback, so no dice.

Tentomon's speech here isn't great, but it's not awful either. Kinda mid. Though I will say that "I felt that asteroid belt tightening around my waist" is fantastic wordplay. Well punned.

There's only two children left. Onward to the Yagami siblings.

Agumon: Hey, Taichi! When we're together, we're invincible, right? Taichi: You know it!

Yeah, okay, those two have been on the same wavelength since day one. They may be reckless idiots at times, but they've always been reckless idiots together.

Taichi's flashback is split, since his was the first Crest sequence and didn't happen as suddenly as the others. We first see his Crest activating when he braved the firewall in Etemon's pyramid, after having to come to terms with the reality that he can die for real here.

Then the other part: Rushing Etemon in the desert with his shining Crest held aloft, having learned from the Skull/MetalGreymon arc the true meaning of courage.

Tailmon: We can't let ourselves fall here. If we do, then what was my long search for Hikari even for? Hikari: Tailmon.... Tailmon: I waited so long for the day when I would meet you and protect you.

For her part, Hikari gets the death of Wizarmon and tearful activation of her Crest.

In the dub:

Agumon: You and I knew from the beginning that together we'd be an invincible team. Right, Tai? Tai: You got that right! (Flashback) Tai: Of course, I probably could have taken care of Etemon without you. But it was nice having you around. It did get me out of a few jams. Gatomon: We can't give up now! 'Cause if we do, what was the whole point of searching for Kari in the first place? Kari: Hehe, Gatomon! Gatomon: I've waited my whole life to meet you and find my purpose, and that is to protect you no matter what the cost. (Flashback) Gatomon: Whether that meant facing Myotismon's Grisly Wing attack or facing the reality of losing Wizardmon... You know that we'll always be there for you.

Gatomon and Kari's segment is pretty solid.

Tai seems allergic to emotional sincerity. However, his "I could have taken Etemon myself but YOU HELPED I GUESS" bit is pretty clearly just him ribbing his pal, and not an honestly held belief. So, in its own way, it's still an expression of the bond they share. Just, in a more macho American way.

The eight children bring it in together.

Hikari: If I'd never met Tailmon.... Jou: If I hadn't come to the Digimon World.... Mimi: If I hadn't taken this journey with all of you.... Koushiro: We wouldn't have become who we are now. Yamato: That's right! It's because our Digimon were always with us.... Takeru: Because our nakama was always with us.... Sora: Because we learned the importance of helping each other.... Taichi: We could be ourselves!

In the dub:

Kari: Boy, if I had never met you, Gatomon.... Joe: And if I had never come to the Digital World.... Mimi: And if none of us became friends in the first place.... Izzy: Then we wouldn't have become the people that we are today. Matt: You're right! We never would have won all those battles without each other. T.K.: I feel like I've grown up a lot! Sora: I think we've all grown up in a lot of ways. Tai: I've grown up too! I'm a much better fighter now!

They stay on script up through Izzy and then lose the plot. Matt and Tai talk about how cool fighting is. T.K. and Sora just say "We grew up a lot" rather than talking about the specific ways this journey has shaped them and their group.

The dub ends this bit on "I'm a much better fighter now," which. Like. Okay. Sure. That's it. That's what this journey was about. It was about Tai learning how to punch things good.

From here, we return to the human world and the frightened parents who watched their children dissolve into nothingness.

BECAUSE BY THE WAY THEY WERE WATCHING THAT. THERAPY. THERAPY FOR YEARS. THERAPY FOR THE KIDS. THERAPY FOR THE PARENTS. THERAPY.

The parents, too, refuse to give up hope.

Hiroaki (Yamato's Dad): Ganbare. (Keep going and persevere.) Shin (Jou's Brother): For the Earth. Toshiko (Sora's Mom): All of you are our pride. Masami (Koushiro's Dad): Ganbare.

From there, we move around the world to see this same distortion in the sky everywhere. People in the United States, in Italy, and in Russia gather without truly understanding what is happening to see the fate of reality decided.

In the dub:

Hiroaki: You can do it! Jim: Come on! For Earth! Toshiko: We're so proud of you, no matter what happens! Masami: Give it your all!

Solid. Hiroaki and Masami both say ganbare in the original but the dub translates them differently to avoid repetition.

After this short break to remind us what the stakes are, we return to data.

Taichi: That's right! We can't let it end like this! Sora: We can't let our adventure go to waste! Yamato: For the Digimon we've met and our nakama and our friendship! Koushiro: And for everyone else we love, waiting for us on Earth! Mimi: We.... Yamato: We.... Takeru: All of us.... Jou: ...will never look back again! Hikari: We won't allow the light in our hearts to fade out!

With that declaration, the symbols from their Crests shine from their chests as if they were still wearing the things.

(They're divided along gender lines left to right but Koushiro's an honorary girl 'cause they don't have enough to make it four and four. XD)

Dry exposition can be difficult to absorb when you aren't poring over two different sets of it for differences, which is why I don't blame the children for being surprised here. However, it's worth noting that Homeostasis explained this to them already.

It's implicitly how Hikari's unexplained Glowy Form worked in the Mugendramon sub-arc. The Digivices and Crests are just tools to help manifest and control the light that's already within the children themselves.

In the dub:

Tai: I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to quit yet! Sora: I'm with you, Tai! I won't let this whole experience be for nothing! Matt: Me neither! There's no way I'm about to let my friends down. Izzy: And besides, there's still a lot of people counting on us down on Earth! Mimi: Let's find a way! Matt: Let's fight! T.K.: We're ready! Joe: We've reached the point where there's no turning back! Kari: Crests of no Crests, we're going to win!

Tai and Sora are on-script and Matt's pretty close. Things start veering off-course at Izzy with the subtle shift from "This is for the people we love" to "Lots of people are counting on us". That's not a super big deal, though.

It's Kari's line that's the major divergence. "The light in our hearts" is... kind of an important concept for understanding why their Crest lights suddenly start shining out of their chests. But Kari just gives a "Ra-ra Let's get 'em!"

However, the dub places their final commercial break here. They come back to another take on that last bit.

Mimi: Are we together? Matt: We are! T.K.: Then let's fight! Joe: It's gonna be pretty tough without our Crests. Kari: Crests!? We don't need no stinking Crests!

It's basically the same as the first take. No explanation is given for why Kari suddenly, confidently thinks they can beat Apocalymon without their Crests.

From here, it's time to unpack what these shining symbols mean.

Agumon: The Crests! The symbols engraved on the Crests were actually your hearts! Team: (collective gasp) Taichi: Our... hearts...? Koushiro: Like the knowledge inside me and the sincerity inside Jou-san. As long as we carry these characteristics in our hearts, we don't need the Crests. Yamato: No, you're wrong. Koushiro: Eh!? Yamato: It isn't the friendship inside of me that's shining. All of your friendship is gathered inside me, and that's what made my Crest of Friendship glow! Taichi: One Crest for everyone and all Crests for one! Hikari: Then the light inside of me is for all of us!

Again, Homeostasis explained all this but I can't blame the children for not paying attention to twenty minutes of a history lecture. Homeostasis is not a very good teacher. Needs to work on improving their methods of engaging children in learning.

(Also, this is definitely what Piccolomon was talking about when he said they needed something more than just to make their Crests glow and be physically together.)

The dub takes its second crack at explaining. They fumbled the setup but at least they land the exposition.

Agumon: It's your Crests. You don't need to carry them anymore because their power has been inside of you this whole time! Tai: You mean, like... in our hearts!? Izzy: Prodigious! That makes perfect sense. It's like my knowledge and Joe's sense of responsibility. If your special traits are within you, then you don't need your Crest because your power will be within you as well! Matt: You're wrong! Izzy: Huh!? Matt: It wasn't the friendship inside me that made my Crest glow, Izzy. It was the friendship I felt from all of you gathered inside my heart and that brought the power of my Crest to life. Tai: So each person's Crest isn't powered by themselves. It's powered by the faith we have in each other! Kari: Then the light inside of me is for everyone!

Yeah, that about covers it. Good job, everyone.

Hikari's light erupts from her chest and Super-Evolves Angewomon. The other children quickly follow suit. The next like two straight minutes are the children reciting their Crests and playing their respective stock animations, which is fun to watch especially with Show Me Your Brave Heart blaring behind it but boring to talk about.

Takeru: And everyone's hope is my hope! (HolyAngemon) Koushiro: Knowledge. (AtlurKabuterimon) Mimi: Purity. (Lilimon) Jou: Sincerity. (Zudomon) Sora: Love. (Garudamon) Yamato: Friendship. (MetalGarurumon) Taichi: Courage. (WarGreymon)

I'm not typing that again. It's exactly the same in the dub except Mimi and Joe call out different Crest virtues.

With the light of their hearts, the children are able to re-establish themselves and recompile their data back into reality, in Apocalymon's void.

Apocalymon: What!? Taichi: WE WON'T LET YOU HAVE YOUR WAY!!!

We end here, with the Children powered up and ready for round 2 with Apocalymon. Some of whom, I'm sorry, look absolutely adorable in their Get Fierce poses. XD Jou, Mimi, Koushiro, and the two eight-year-olds really can't pull off the Let's Throw Down look.

In the dub, Izzy offers some narration in case what just happened was unclear.

Izzy: We did it! We reassembled ourselves! Apocalymon: What!? Tai: You're dealing with the new and improved DigiDestined! Narrator: You won't want to miss the final battle that decides the fate of two worlds. Tune in to the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

Because the narrator pauses the animation to talk, we get to really linger on the combination Fierce Looks and Attempted Fierce Looks. XD

Assessment: So here we are. The true threat behind the veil of reality itself that's been creating the distortions in the Digital World. The Actually Truly Seriously For Realsies final boss. Until sequels happens.

With regard to the "Did Apocalymon create the villains or did they just draw power from Apocalymon?" question, it's not super clear. Gennai said only that Apocalymon is the root cause of their evil and that they drew power from the distortions Apocalymon made in reality.

But Apocalymon's ability to conjure up images of the villains and use their attacks makes the matter murky. It was said that Apocalymon can use the powers of every Digimon they've faced up to this point. But Apocalymon only uses the villains, so it's ambiguous whether that means "Every Digimon" or "All the villains we had to fight".

The dub stakes out "Apocalymon created them" pretty unambiguously. I can't say with certainty that they're wrong or right. I can say that if they were all in league with one another, they didn't act like it. Devimon and Etemon, in particular, seemed to be doing their own thing and had no sense of alliance with the other villains.

There's no indication that any of them even knew Apocalymon existed. Which doesn't necessarily mean Apocalymon couldn't have created them, but if they did, then the villains didn't seem to know that they did. IDK

In any case, whether it's reality or the children's journey, everything comes to an end next episode.