#Digimon Stage Play

[koumi-blog]

Since @atsoraasayoma’s replies to this post cannot be reblogged, let me add the screenshots:

I want to add some things about this matter (please, bear with me and excuse my poor english!).

I could swear that the person that made the confession obviously ships Mimi with someone else. It’s totally ok, but it’s unfair to use the “unhealthy” card and to reduce their relationship to just bickering because of their seemingly diametric personalities, because it’s not true. At the same time, this person is subtly trying to guilt trip Koumi shippers, and it’s not the first time that I see someone trying to disdain Koumi shippers in this very site or stating that all the Koumi shippers are the same (just a bunch of rude fanatics) because certain Koumi shipper didn’t behave properly some time ago. Stop doing that, guys. Let people ship whatever they want, and at least if you are going to criticise a ship, deign to explain yourselves further and to elaborate your arguments.

Returning to the main subject (the alleged toxicity of the ship). This person is judging their relationship only through their negative interactions, omitting their positive moments, forgetting the stage play and Kizuna, and without taking the whole context into account. In first season, they obviously clash because they don’t know each other well, plus Koushirou is a neurodivergent kid with some issues that doesn’t know how to behave socially, while Mimi comes from a sheltered home and she is not used to being ignored. By the end of their shared episode (1x10, if I can recall it correctly) their relationship improved a lot (Koushirou even abandoned his dear laptop in order to save her!), but it’s absolutely normal that they don’t interact too much, because first season put the focus on certain dynamics and relationships (not ships), and their character arcs don’t go hand in hand.

In the second season, Mimi is living in the United States, so she is absent for the most of time, and when she is present she mostly interacts with 02 children. But it’s Koushirou the one who contacts her (I don’t remember if it’s in her first or second appearance) and tells her that a portal has opened in US. This means that they are in permanent contact, so we can safely assume that they are friends. Not best friends like maybe Mimi and Sora (and you know, Koushirou is Koushirou) but friends anyway.

In Diaboromon strikes back, even though their interactions are quite comedic/tension relievers and Koushirou is too focused in their mission, Mimi is shown being friendly and comfortable around him. In the closing credits, we can see them like this:

In Tri, we learn that Koushirou developed (finally!) a crush on Mimi and he wants to learn to properly dress because he knows how much she values fashion and because he wants to dress better for himself. So, Mimi constitutes a double motivation. But he never changes the way he behaves in general or around her. He is capable to tell her off when it’s necessary, even if he goes a bit too far with the “self-centered”, bit he isn’t telling any lie: Mimi is a self-centered person, and 1)That is not a bad thing if one learns to put others’ needs in first place, as she does, and 2)Although she is self-centered, she likes her still. Last (but not least), there’s a parallel between Taichi/Yamato and Koushirou/Mimi, that tells us they can argue/have different views but at the end of the day, they care for each other.

In the Stage Play, we can see Mimi and Koushirou bantering and being comfortable with each other, despite Mimi almost breaking Koushirou’s personal computer. There is also a phrase that Mimi says to Sora about Taichi, that goes something like that, “it’s not worth to waste your time on a guy who refuses to bulge”. The context is not Koumi, but if we take into account that Koushirou is always willing to give in when it comes to her (and in the stage play he concedes few times), you can read that phrase as a Koumi hint (that doesn’t mean that Mimi returns his feelings, but that she values guys who aren’t stubborn like Taichi).

Finally, in Kizuna, we learn that Koushirou helps Mimi with her business (not in the movie, but in one of the special shorts). She especifically flattens him by saying that he is “incredible”. A thing that doesn’t say about the other digiguys.

So no, their relationship was never toxic. They value each other, they care about each other, they disagree sometimes but they are capable of give in when they have to, and they complement each other very well despite being polar opposites, because they also have similarities (they are both extravagant about things!). And their relationship digievolved with time, to the point that Mimi entrust her entire business to Koushirou.

Thanks for reading!

Full confession: I just can’t see Koumi being a healthy relationship. I really can’t. All of their interactions through out the first two seasons and especially Tri are proof enough. They seem to bicker and be at one another’s throats more than anything. For starters Izzy is low energy and pretty introverted while Mimi is high energy and a major extrovert. It just feels to me like they would argue nonstop and neither would get what they need out of the relationship.

[seventeenlovesthree]

@taikouvember Day 4 - Reliability: "I've watched you at your side all these years! Isn't that right?"

Since I still owe the person who wrote the Digimon Adventure Tri Stageplay my whole life... I thought referring back to it for "Reliability" would be perfect. Because while I still maintain that they're both pretty much ride or die for one another, Koushirou in particular is technically dedicating all his time and resources (directly and indirectly) to support Taichi. He did so ever since Adventure overall - but one of his main roles in the stageplay had definitely been to be a foil for Taichi, encouraging, reassuring, enabling him - and even shouting at him to shake him out of his frozen state. It perfectly encapsulates the quintessence of their dynamic as well as their struggles. I've summarized it in various posts already, but I just love how it all comes down to this: Koushirou has been working on distortion-tracking devices in the shape of goggles of all things, it's what his knowledge has enabled him to do - and by giving them back to Taichi by the end of the stageplay, he basically gives him the sign of his leadership - and courage - back as well. Taichi will always be able to rely on Koushirou. (And to refer back to one of my favourite quotes by Tri's writers: "When you think about it now, Koushirou likes Taichi a little too much.")

[cypreus-and-willow]

Chibi Commissions Open

Detailed chibi samples

(w background)

(some old chibi that I did)

Simple chibi samples

(group/multiple)

Mecha and Monster

[xnananko]

Love Story.

We were both young when I first saw you, I close my eyes and the flashback starts, I'm standin' there, On a balcony in summer air.

____________________________________________________

I was inspired from the movie "Romeo and Juliet", so here we are with a "Taioraversion" of one of those scenes. While drawing I had the song "Love story" from Taylor Swift in my head and somehow with this I had this little scene in my head:

-Hikari, Mimi and Sora are meeting at a coffee house and are talking (all still in their teenager years)

-Mimi is fangirling about this song and how romantic it would be to fall in love with someone you know since childhood (because of the lyrics)

- somehow she is teasing Hikari about Takeru and how the song would fit them so well

-while denying everything Hikari trys to change the subject, but Mimi interrupts her and looks at Sora "You know ,there are also two other cute little childhoodfriends, who would match this song quite well"

-of course sora was annoyed from that topic (again), so Mimi ended it with a big cheeky smile

-the next day in school Sora couldn´t get the song out of her head (because Mimi couldn´t stop singing and humming the song), which annoyed Sora to a maximum. On top of that she starts daydreaming in class about the storyline of the song...and about those big brown eyes... But right in the middle Taichi interrupted her thoughts, which led to a stuttering Sora with a bright red face..... And thus Sora knew, she had to avoid Mimi and Taichi for a few days, or else her thoughts would drive her insane.

I would have loved to write it better, but I´m bad at telling storys. I still hope you like the idea and the picture of course!

[smackdownhotel]

OK but if that ain’t a Mood I don’t know what is.

(Happy 8/1, everybody!)

[citruscactus-art]

Turns out I never posted the full version of the piece I did for a zine celebrating Digimon Adventure Tri several years ago, so I might as well release it into the wild!

I chose to make a tribute to the Digimon Stage Play (yes, it was a real thing! The partner digimon were PUPPETS, and it was amazing!! <3). Featuring eight children, a camping trip, some space-time shenanigans, and a very mysterious, terribly strange and yet oddly familiar campground host... and wouldn't you know it, the action just happened to center around August 1. Happy Odaiba Day, and Happy 25 years of Adventure!

[remember-digimon]

Prodigious!

Izzy is the reason all these kids are still alive btw just wanted to make sure we all know that

So Izzy is smart. He brings a laptop and cellphone to summer camp and uses big words. But thankfully he does not fall into the trap of 'smart kids' of western media; overly nerdy, completely socially inept, you get the idea. No, Izzy is more than that. His intelligence has a basis in something besides a trope; namely, computer science and engineering.

(Don't even get me started on Matt being the one to go into engineering when IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IZZY)

From the moment the kids land in the Digital World, Izzy is curious about it. His crest is knowledge but I really think it should've been curiosity. He gets Tentomon to evolve by hacking his code. He comes up with some aliens conspiracy to explain why they're there and why there's things like phone booths on the beach.

Izzy is the problem solver of the group. In fact, without him, the other kids are just... Kinda lost. Izzy has the answers, and if he doesn't he'll at least know how to find them.

Even though he's younger than the others, being 10 when they're 11, they treat him as an equal. This is opposed to the other kid that's 10, Mimi, who is kind of coddled, and the two youngest, TK and Kari, who are literally the hope and light of the group.

Izzy is basically Tai's second-in-command, deferring to Tai's leadership while Tai takes his input very seriously. However, Izzy isn't much of a leader on his own.

He gets distracted by details. When Mimi finds him in the temple, he's so busy on his laptop that she gets upset and runs off into a maze. I would attribute this to him being younger, and as he gets older he does get better at applying his intelligence to a leadership role.

Most of the kids have an interesting family dynamic and Izzy is no different. It's revealed that he's adopted, that his birth parents died shortly after he was born and his adoptive parents were friends that took him in.

What I like about this reveal is that, of course, Izzy found this out on his own due to his curiosity. He overheard his parents discussing whether or not they should tell him, deciding not to because he's too young.

During the Odaiba raid, when the kids have a moment, Izzy gets to finally have the conversation. They admit that he's adopted and tell him what happened, and he says he already knows. He didn't want to bring it up himself because he thought he could just pretend like things were normal, like before he knew. But obviously it couldn't. This shows the price he pays for his curiosity, that sometimes knowing things isn't all fun times and computer jargon. It isn't helpful for Izzy to pretend to not know, to ignore what he knows. Instead it's better for him to apply what he knows to react appropriately, instead of hiding behind the easier mode of willful ignorance.

This also comes into play, though in a different way, during Izzy's confrontation with Vademon. Izzy gives away his curiosity (under extreme duress but still) and is basically empty of all character after that. He does a weird alphabet yoga meditation and willingly gives up his crest and tag, when earlier in the episode his curiosity was at a boiling point over it.

This causes Tentomon to de-digivolve to the baby stage; the only other partner Digimon to go back to this stage is Patamon. With the loss of his curiosity, Izzy has lost the core of his being and is no longer able to maintain Tentomon's existence.

Of course, he gets it back and everything is fine afterwords. This episode is very interesting when looking at how things work for the kids and their Digimon, why the crests are important, etc. But that's a post for another time.

Izzy is incredibly important to the team. Without him, I highly doubt they would've made it very far at all. He's able to look up Digimon on his laptop, kind of like a Digimon version of a Pokedex, when none of the currently present Digimon can give an explanation about who they're up against. But aside from his usefulness as the Smart Kid, it's noteworthy that he uses his intelligence to be helpful instead of lording it over everyone. And he is still a kid, albeit with an impressive vocabulary, so sometimes his curiosity gets him into trouble.

[grim-echoes]

does anyone remember that digimon tamers stage play that was touted as a canon sequel to the original tamers where the villain was literally named political correctness and one of its moves was called cancel culture and the tamers had to stop it because it was spreading wokeism and fake news and every paranoid, wide-eyed rightoid online was clapping like a seal over digimon being based and japan being a bastion of sanity meanwhile its very much japanese writer who also wrote the original tamers had spent the past several years blogging about his extremely US-centric conspiracy theories about 9/11 and covid and this stage play was the culmination of that

[seventeenlovesthree]

I agree! I believe it's all a matter of perspective here - stageplay!Taichi is in a lot of distress and may look at the past with rose-tinted nostalgia goggles. Under normal circumstances, he may have looked at it with a lot more nuance - because the whole point of Adventure and 02 was showing how he eventually did become more considerate.

Obviously, young!Taichi did do a lot of things that can be considered hotheaded, stubborn, reckless or ignorant, he was by no means "perfect" - like you said, he was only 11 years old for the most part. This becomes especially apparent when you take File Island arc and isolate it from the rest of Adventure - because at this point of production, Hikari wasn't really part of the planning yet (and thus also not part of Taichi's arc) and his entire character was mostly condensed to "action hero protagonist running headfirst into trouble, because somebody HAS to". There wasn't an arc here yet, he was just there to be THAT part of the squad. (And he usually also does act stupid for "plot" reasons.)

When you then add the Etemon arc and everything beyond that, his development becomes a lot more distinct and is a vital part of the ongoing series.

Due to him rushing Agumon to evolve, pushing him with inappropriate, aggressive measures (partly out of a twisted sense of responsibility for the sake of the group, partly because he still hasn't learned to take others into consideration), it causes the dark evolution to SkullGreymon. *cough* Death symbolism, part 1. *cough*

Startled by this experience, he becomes more reluctant and scared of acting for a while - until a dream sequence of his younger self shows him that giving up is never an option.

Still, he hasn't fully grasped the idea that his actions may have consequences if he's not careful - hence why him acting recklessly almost gets himself killed when he wants to walk through the electrical fence. However, his hesitation is the reason why Sora gets captured and he blames himself for that. *cough* Death symbolism, part 2. *cough* It's the first glimpse of him getting that he shouldn't do things JUST by himself and that there is a difference between recklessly pushing forward and courageously facing your fears. Thus, the real Perfect level evolution can happen and MetalGreymon saves the day.

Vamdemon's arc is mainly about him actually acting like a leader who values the strengths of those around him better - up until the point when they return to the Digital World together with Hikari. (This becomes more clear when you also take the novel's narration into account, even if it displays Taichi's doubts a bit differently.)

Here we have two different angles: Angle one is him getting into the fight with Yamato, because he himself doesn't want to see anybody else die, but Yamato tells him to BE CONSIDERATE of how everyone else feels about it. Taichi ends up ready to sort his issues out with Yamato - who in turn, is not ready to do that yet, which is why he leaves Taichi behind, contemplating his own attitude.

Angle two is him getting stressed due to feeling guilty and overprotective of Hikari - which causes him to get loud, emotional and even a little aggressive once things don't go as planned. He doesn't want her to die because of him, as she almost did before due to him having been an inconsiderate kid... *cough* Death symbolism, part 3. *cough* And even though he slides into self-sacrificing tendencies at this point a lot (and will continue to do so, in the stageplay as well), he knows he needs to think things through more and also uses strategic measures to move forward in order not to cause unnecessary sacrifices.

Long story short, I think you can spot a pattern here - Taichi does something reckless, then has to come to terms with the consequences, may become reluctant and regretful, even depressed for a while, before he can get out of it stronger and wiser than before. And I thiiiiiink that's what the stageplay may have tried to hint at too: That young!Taichi was eventually always able to DO something, even if he had to make mistakes to get there first. And his 17-year-old self doesn't really feel capable of moving forward at all, hence why he idealizes his past self. Though he may have overlooked the steps he had to take back then to get there and now he is overthinking TOO MUCH, without being able to act... Plus, the stageplay also elaborates on how everyone thinks he is acting weird. That he is pushing himself, not able to cut himself some slack and so he is merely "playing the role of his former self", who, in his memory, was the courageous leader he thinks he ALWAYS needs to be.

Tldr; Taichi has lost sight of himself and still has to figure himself out (for years and years to come).

I recently saw a post on here about the Digimon stage play where tri. age Tai says he idolizes his younger self. His ability to take action without hesitation is something he misses.

But there's also stuff like this-

Early Adventure Tai did a lot of stupid shit. Some of it still makes me laugh. Some of it- like the Gabumon example- makes me cringe. Some of it was downright mean-spirited, but always in a childlike manner. I don't think he understood what he was doing to Gabumon due to his age.

I feel like older!Tai might purposely choose to ignore these moments when thinking of his childhood self. SkullGreymon is hard to forget. But stuff like this? Stealing and whacking Izzy's computer? Sneaking food when the others were discussing divvying it up? No, he doesn't see it. He doesn't want to see it. He's molded the boy who saved two worlds into an idol.

Hilariously, kiddie!me did the same thing.

[ashxketchum]

Came across a tweet by an anime screenwriter about how he had recently worked on a script for a Chinese stage play adaptation of Digimon Adventure which opened in Shanghai this week.

He shared a few photos from the opening in Shanghai.

Did some digging around and found captures from the play itself posted by the production company on Weibo.

Set and costume design for a show like Digimon can be extremely difficult to replicate in stage plays but they've done such a good job at it!

Source: HappyKids Company on Weibo

The actors who are part of the cast also uploaded photos on their Weibo accounts. I won't share them all here, since I am not familiar with the etiquette for reposting celebrity pictures from Chinese social media posts on other sites. I'll add the photos shared by Official accounts that I could find, and some generic watermarked photos from the cast accounts which I will link at the bottom of the post.

Character profiles shared by Shonen Jump's Weibo Account.

Toei's Weibo account shared similar profiles but in case of Jou and Takeru they went for different poses.

Play captures shared by Bandai Namco's Weibo account.

These were shared by Yamato's actor. There are more pics of them in character here 😍

These were shared by Hikari's actor. There are more pics of them in character here (Mimi is there too!)

Merch being sold at the screening includes some cute stickers, some figurines and what seem to be matching Digi beanies for you and your cat!

Sorry for such a long post and intensive photo dump. I just feel so comforted by China's passion to keep the love for og Digimon Adventure alive, always perks up my mood when they come out with new content!

[digi-egg]

A countdown has started to mark the release of the new Digimon Adventure 25th Anniversary PV.

Details about its release are as follows:

It will be first screened at 5PM JST on August 1st, in Shinjuku over at Alta Vision.

Next, at 6:30PM JST to celebrate the double feature re-release of Digimon Adventure and 02 movies there will be a special stage and advance screening held. AiM and Chika Sakamoto are scheduled to appear. This will be live broadcast on YouTube for worldwide audience, the PV will also be played as a part of this event. (note the movies will not be part of the YouTube broadcast)

At 7PM JST, the PV will be finally uploaded on the YouTube Channel.

Official hashtag on Twitter is #0801

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x40 - The Four Heavenly Kings of the Mountain of Evil! Dark Masters / Enter the Dark Masters

Previously on Digimon Adventure: The Chosen Children discovered Vamdemon's ultimate weakness: Forceful, repeated nut shots. After wailing on his vulnerable point until he fell over and died, they bid farewell to their loved ones and fucked off via rainbow magic without explaining anything to most of their confused, scared parents.

It's cool, they'll be back in like a minute. Thanks, time dilation!

The Four Heavenly Kings are a quartet of Buddhist devas who preside over the cardinal directions. They're kind of a big deal in Buddhist mythology and they come up a lot in Japanese pop culture. Anime and video games love the Four Heavenly Kings.

They're the Kais and the Supreme Kais in Dragon Ball. They're the Saint Beasts in Yu Yu Hakusho. The Elite Four in Pokemon. The Four Giants that must be rescued in Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. They're all over the place.

Notably, despite being called "kings", they are rarely the top of the hierarchy and typically serve a single master who stands above them all. The Heavenly Kings bend their knees to Taishakuten, supreme ruler over all devas. He governs from the peak of a great mountain at the center of all directions.

So where you find Four Heavenly Kings in media, you will often find a supreme lord of the center who sits above them. (Though not necessarily always; Yu Yu Hakusho, for instance, omitted that part.)

Digimon, too, has its Four Heavenly Kings. In fact, like Dragon Ball, it has multiple sets - with the penultimate villains of Adventure 01 being a corrupt and evil version of the concept, which is also not uncommon with Heavenly King portrayals.

They were not the first to come up with "Four Heavenly Kings BUT EVIL" and they will not be the last. Heavenly King references are a fun and easy way to fill in the top-dog super-elite enforcers for your primary bad guy.

So, without further adieu, we open this episode on the introduction of the titular Dark Masters, who govern four of the five traditional elements: Water, wood, metal, and slapstick comedy.

Spoiling their names a bit but I'm not gonna spend this whole scene calling them Clown Bro and Gatling Puppet. Piemon, pronounced "Pee-eh-mon" and not "Pie-mon", kicks us off. He's secretly monitoring the humans back in Japan, observing the Chosen Children preparing to return.

He's doing this through the truly ingenious method of pointing a giant-ass telescope at the reality tear in the sky and looking at Japan with his eyes.

Piemon: Those fools wear masks of fear, waiting in futility for peace to return. Such a wonderful sight to behold! MetalSeadramon: (bursts from the water) This is stupid! We should attack! Pinochimon: Their flow of time moves differently from ours. We should take our time and pick them off one by one. Like him! Mugendramon: (silent, but for heavy breathing)

The camera slowly pans up Mugendramon's metal body. I'm not 100% certain on what Pinochimon is suggesting here, but I think he wants to use Mugendramon's cannons to, like, shoot up into the sky rifts and snipe humans while they're frozen in the glacially-moving time of the other world.

A horrifying thought. We should probably close those rifts.

The dub understood the assignment with Piedmon.

Piedmon: Hahaha! Those bit players are frozen with stage fright! Hopelessly waiting for the moment they'll be saved! And yet, there's an unseen twist to the plot! MetalSeadramon: I say we cut to the punchline and go straight for the action! Puppetmon: Oh please, that would be boring! I want to play this drama to the hilt! Let's pull out all the stops and give 'em what they paid for.

Piedmon's voice is basically perfect. He's being performed as an overenthusiastic virtuoso. For Puppetmon, they go a different direction; Pinocchimon is voiced like a young boy, while Puppetmon has this scratchy sneering voice like a little weasel man.

Far from the bestial roar of the original, the dub's MetalSeadramon sounds like a twenty-something young man with a southern twang in his voice. Interesting choice. That could get annoying or be hilarious. We'll see where that goes.

Machinedramon does not get to breathe heavily into the mic because they cut the part of Pinocchimon's line that calls him out and puts attention on him. So now the camera pans over him for no apparent reason while Puppetmon is talking.

Depending on whether my understanding is right, I could see them changing his line because holy shit that's violent and dark or because they, like me, weren't exactly sure what he was saying. Might be censorship, might be "Huh?"

Piemon: The Chosen Children will return soon. Our boredom is at its end. Now! Let us leave the dressing room! The stage curtains are rising!

Spotlights shine on each of the Dark Masters to punctuate his words.

Piemon: The title is: The End of the Chosen Children!

In the dub, Piedmon continues off of Puppetmon's changed line.

Piedmon: I'm in complete agreement! A quick victory would be a letdown. The DigiDestined will be on Spiral Mountain soon; We must rehearse before they get here. It will be their FINAL PERFORMANCE!!!

As a silence-breaker, he introduces them each individually to the audience when the spotlights come in.

Piedmon: MetalSeadramon! Puppetmon! And Machinedramon! I present to you the downfall of the DigiDestined!

The dub's front-loading a lot of proper nouns, though they never have a chance to name Piedmon. They even name-drop Spiral Mountain early.

While the Dark Masters make their plans, the children arrive in the Digital World and take stock of their surroundings.

Taichi: Are we back? Mimi: I think so.... Koushiro: We should be. Takeru: Is it night-time? Yamato: Looks like.

Sora looks up and suddenly lets out a shriek.

Sora: EHHHHH!?!? EVERYONE, LOOK!!!

Looking up into the sky above, they can see the island of Hokkaido floating in the sky above, as if the blue sky were the ocean. Hokkaido is one of the biggest parts of Japan, so this is very much like looking up and seeing Texas distantly floating upside-down in the air.

Group: WHUUUUUUH!?!? Taichi: H-HOKKAIDO!?!? Yamato: IS THAT EARTH!?!? Koushiro: We're able to see Earth from here, the same way we could see the DIgimon World from Earth earlier.

Poor Koushiro having to explain the obvious to his shocked colleagues. Sitting there like, "Come on, guys. We already know this is happening."

As a small microaggression towards my kid, Taichi's uncertainty and Mimi's confirmation is flip-flopped in the dub so that Tai's certain and Mimi's confused.

Tai: Well, it looks like we're back. Mimi: Back where? in the Digital World? Izzy: That's affirmative. T.K.: It's dark. Matt: Yeah! It's kind of weird!

The resulting line doesn't make a lot of sense. Where do you think we went back to, Mimi? The McDonalds we bullied Joe at? Not to be outdone, however, Matt promptly forgets how night works to take the pressure off of Mimi's dumb question. XD

I think they all have cosmic jet-lag.

Sora does not shriek when she notices the sky.

Sora: HEY!!! LOOK UP THERE!!! Group: WHUUUUUUH!?!? Tai: Talk about weird! Matt: Could that be Earth!? Izzy: It's merely speculation but it seems to be a reasonable facsimile. We see Earth from here like we saw the Digital World from Earth.

They cut the regional reference to Hokkaido which I actually think was a bad call. Japanese kids could reasonably recognize that island in the sky but Americans have no idea what they're looking at. It just looks like an ink blot.

So when the kids are like, "IS THAT EARTH!?!?"

Like.

Is it? Doesn't look like Earth to me. That is a weird dark shape in the clouds, not a planet. This is a confusing moment in the dub.

This might have been a good time to have, say, Joe chime in with a line like "I recognize that island; It's one of the biggest islands in Japan!" That way, the kids watching would understand what they're supposed to be seeing, because it is not clear at a glance with zero comprehension of Japanese geography.

Suddenly, Jou hears something rustling around in the brush.

Jou: Hm? Gomamon? What are you doing down there, Gomamon?

He walks over to where the sound's coming from, sifting through the grass. Gomamon pops out of Jou's duffel bag nearby.

Gomamon: Jou! I'm over here! Jou: Eh? Then who's this--GYAAAAAGH!!!

Chuumon erupts from the grass, attacking Jou and clawing at his face while screaming in a panic. The ground shifts, opening up a chasm beneath Jou, and Chuumon leaps away to safety.

Gomamon: JOU!!!

Jou grabs onto the newly created cliffside for dear life.

In the dub:

Joe: Hm? Gomamon? Hey, where are you? (Joe follows the sound, but Gomamon pops out of Joe's duffel) Gomamon: Joe, I've been snoozing over here! Joe: Huh? Oh, well we'll just save the world without you then-- (Joe gets attacked, then falls off a cliff) Gomamon: JOE!!! Joe: Wh-whoa! ...I didn't need this.

Again, weird scripting choice here. They replace his last line with a snarky gag, but visually Joe returns his attention to the spot he was investigating (and gets attacked for it) without indicating why he's still poking around that patch of grass.

Joe's understated whine of a silence-breaker is fantastic, though. He's so used to peril at this point that his reaction to falling off a cliff is basically a stone-faced, "Really. Okay." XD

Koromon, Tsunomon, Mochimon, Tokomon, and Pyocomon all take Jou getting attacked as encouragement to evolve into their Child-stages, ending their recovery periods. Plotmon remains Plotmon and Palmon trips, falling on her face in a funny moment in the middle of the dramatic charge.

Agumon, Gabumon, Patamon, and Palmon all move in on the attacker in the grass, but Hikari calls out.

Hikari: STOP!!!

Approaching the grass, Hikari crouches down and gently, softly addresses the terrified Digimon hiding in it.

Hikari: Don't be scared. You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. You can come out.

Trembling in fear, Chuumon slowly emerges from the grass, then collapses in front of the kids.

Palmon: It's Chuumon! Mimi: You're right! That's Chuumon from File Island! (Chuumon opens his eyes at the sound of their voices.) Chuumon: Mimi-chan? Palmon?

We briefly flash back on better, or at least less despondent days, when Scumon and Chuumon met Mimi way back when.

Chuumon: I'm glad... you came back....

That's all Chuumon manages to get out before passing out.

In the dub:

Kari: HOLD ON!!! (Kari approaches the grass and crouches down) Kari: Come out! You're among friends. We won't hurt you. Don't be afraid. (Chuumon emerges) Palmon: Oh my goodness! It's Chuumon! Mimi: He looks terrible; What he needs is a complete makeover. (Chuumon opens his eyes at the sound of their voices.) Chuumon: Mimi? Palmon? (Brief flashback of meeting Mimi) Mimi (V.O.): Something bad happened. Sukamon and Chuumon used to be inseparable! (Flashback ends) Chuumon: I'm so glad you came back to save us....

They remove the part where Mimi ID's Chuumon as specifically the one from File Island, which is kind of important because there was a separate Scumon and Chuumon among PicoDevimon's shitty recruits earlier. Then again, the dub might not know those are different Digimon, given the confusion they had about Kuwagamon "following us from File Island" during the Etemon arc.

It's fine, though, because the flashback that follows does the job anyway. Plus she still calls them out in her silence-breaking flashback narration, so nothing is lost by the replacement of this line with a signature Mimi Quip.

It's actually Kari's dialogue that I take issue with. Not for the lines she says but the tone of voice. Rather than the soft, gentle tones that the original uses, she talks to Chuumon in her normal speaking voice. It's a small thing but it dampens the emotional impact of the moment and its demonstration of Hikari's sensitive empathy.

It doesn't ruin the scene, though; It just means the tone of the moment isn't as strong as it would otherwise be.

Suddenly Jou calls out, reminding everyone that he's still dangling off a cliff.

Jou: HEEEEEY SOMEONE HELP!!! Gomamon: Oops, I forgot!

Gomamon bounds over to the edge of the cliff to help Jou, only to be stymied by his biological limitations.

Gomamon: Waugh!? Jou: Gomamon, give me your hand! I can't climb back up on my own! Gomamon: (looks down at his flipper) Now, when you say to give you my 'hand'....

This is a callback to the Unimon episode way back on File Island; Jou's first spotlight episode. There, he'd ribbed Gomamon for offering to lend a "hand".

Taichi and Yamato arrive, looking at the ravine beyond Jou.

Taichi: This is...! Yamato: AH! Taichi: Jou, climb back up!

Jou briefly looks down, seeing that the ravine is deep beneath him, and shrieks. He scrambles to pull himself up, while Taichi and Yamato grab him and help pull him back onto the grass.

Jou: Help me! Yamato: Come on, hurry! Taichi: Grab on!

Once Jou's safely back on the ground, the three boys look into the deepening ravine, watching chunks of the landscape crumble and fall into it.

Yamato: What is happening here...?

In the dub:

Joe: Would somebody mind helping me!? Gomamon: Whoops, I forgot all about ya! (Gomamon runs over to Joe) Joe: You forgot. I'm hanging here by my elbows and you're off in la-la land! Gomamon: (looks down at his flipper) Gee, I wonder what it's like to have elbows? (Tai and Matt arrive) Tai: Joe!? Figures. Matt: Huh!? Tai: Hey, quit fooling around! (Joe looks down and shrieks; The boys pull him up.) Joe: Just help me, will ya!? Matt: Work with us! (Matt looks at the collapsing landscape) Matt: What's happening!? Everything's gone wacko!

The "hand" bit is replaced with Gomamon getting distracted by a non sequitur. Tai's dialogue is rewritten to be mean to Joe.

While everyone's dealing with Jou and Chuumon, Koushiro tries to contact Gennai.

Tentomon: Have you found Gennai-han? Koushiro: No, I haven't been able to get through.

Meanwhile, Mimi cradles Chuumon in her lap while the group gathers around him.

Palmon: He looks a lot less scared after seeing your face, Mimi. Piyomon: He must have been running on pure adrenaline. Sora: The poor thing.

Chuumon wakes up in Mimi's lap.

Mimi: Chuumon? Chuumon: Mimi-chan? You're really Mimi-chan! Mimi: That's right. What happened to you? Chuumon: (silently flinches away from the question) Palmon: Where's your pal Scumon? Chuumon: He's... He's dead!

Making that admission, Chuumon starts bawling. We cut to a flashback of Scumon and Chuumon living carefree lives on File Island.

Chuumon (V.O.): After Mimi-chan and the others left File Island, we spent our days peacefully like usual. Then, one day out of nowhere....

A huge earthquake rips through the island. Scumon and Chuumon run for their lives, but Scumon falls into a massive chasm that opens up. Chuumon calls after him, but a wave of darkness ushers up from the chasm, blowing him away.

Chuumon (V.O.): The powers of darkness enveloped the world. Then, to make it easier for darkness to rule, they reshaped the entire world....

In media, it's generally agreed that if you don't see a body, the character's going to come back. Digimon don't leave bodies behind, however, so just take my assurance that there's no trick here.

Scumon is actually dead. We will not see him again until 02, after he's had a chance to reincarnate at Primary Village. He was one of probably many casualties unluckily caught up in the Dark Masters' upheaval of the landscape.

In the dub:

Tentomon: Are you trying to get a hold of Gennai? Izzy: Well, I'm not playing Solitaire! (Cut to the kids gathered around Chuumon in Mimi's lap) Palmon: Chuumon's a mess! I wonder what happened to him. Biyomon: Well, whatever it was, it wasn't very pretty! Sora: Poor thing! (Chuumon wakes up) Mimi: Ah! Chuumon! Chuumon: Mimi.... I wasn't dreaming; It's really you after all! Mimi: Poor thing. Why don't you tell Mimi all about it?

I had issues earlier with Kari's voice but Mimi's tone here is perfect. I love the way she uses her own name as an emotional prybar to get Chuumon to open up, having recognized the unique influence she has in this moment.

Palmon: What happened to your friend Sukamon? Chuumon: I-I... I'm afraid I lost him.... (Chuumon starts bawling and goes into flashback) Chuumon (V.O.): After you guys left File Island, Sukamon and I went on with life as usual. You know, eating, eating, and more eating! When suddenly.... (The chasm rips apart File Island and Sukamon falls into the darkness below) Chuumon: I never saw him again! A powerful evil force took over the land, causing all kinds of bad things to happen! Then it rebuilt the Digital World so it would be easier to conquer! I've been hiding ever since.

The dub doesn't directly state that Sukamon's dead, but they don't unwrite his death either. They leave Sukamon's fate up in the air.

The kids have some questions about that last thing Chuumon mentioned.

Taichi: They reshaped the world? Koushiro: Into what?

Cut to an ambiguous length of time later; The sun's risen, so they must have been traveling a while to get here. Still carried in Mimi's arms, Chuumon shows the kids to the base of a colossal, twisting landmass composed of various biomes streaked up from the earth below.

Chuumon: Some places here or there are ruins of what they used to be, but most of it has been twisted up into that mountain. It's called Spiral Mountain.

Like many proper nouns in the Digital World, the name "Spiral Mountain" is in English.

Yamato: Spiral Mountain? Joe: I can't believe the Digimon World has changed so much....

Yeah, the Dark Masters reshaped the world into their own literally twisted version of the compass center Shumisen; The great mountain at the center of the universe upon which sits the heaven of the devas.

In the dub:

Tai: You mean the Digital World is completely changed from what it was? Izzy: How is it different? (Chuumon shows them to Spiral Mountain) Chuumon: Everything's been discombobulated and taken apart! The Digital World has been relocated way up there! It's called Spiral Mountain! There's nothing left here of the old world except some ruins! Matt: So you're saying it's all up there. Huh. Joe: Color me cynical but nothing surprises me about this place.

"The Digital World has been relocated way up there" is an awkward way to explain this. The Digital World hasn't been relocated; It's been reshaped, with most of its geographic mass twisted up into Spiral Mountain.

We are, right now, standing in the Digital World. We're just in the scant non-mountain bits that were left over.

As an aside, I like Joe's parting quip at the end of this exchange. XD

Taichi has more questions for the traumatized Chuumon.

Taichi: What happened to the other Digimon? Like Leomon? Chuumon: I don't know. But I've heard that everyone who's gone against them has been destroyed.... Sora: Against who? Chuumon: (hushed whisper) ...the Dark Masters....

The phrase "Dark Masters" is also in English.

Taichi: So then we have to fight these Dark Masters. Chuumon: FIGHT!?!? YOU'LL NEVER WIN!!! NEVER EVER!!! Taichi: Hey, we brought down Vamdemon! Mimi: It will be okay! As long as all eight of the Chosen Children are together, we can save the world!

Mimi's trying so hard to reassure Chuumon, but the very thought of these kids trying to resist the Dark Masters chills him to his bones.

In the dub:

Tai: Where did all the other Digimon go? Are they up there too? Where's Leomon? Chuumon: I don't know. But from what I've been told, they'll destroy anything that tries to get in their way! Sora: Who will? Chuumon: Who? The Dark Masters! Tai: Well, they couldn't be too much tougher than anybody else we've wrestled with before. Chuumon: No way! They'll beat the pants right off of you! Tai: We got rid of Myotismon, so we can get rid of them too! Mimi: Don't worry about it. As long as the eight of us are together, we'll keep those big bullies away from you!

This whole exchange is semantically very different, particularly when Chuumon gets in a pissing contest with Tai about how tough the Dark Masters are rather than panicking and screaming. But it's all lateral changes, I think. Same ideas expressed differently, nothing objectionable or especially noteworthy.

Suddenly, a deep, bestial laugh fills the air around the kids.

MetalSeadramon: HUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! CHOSEN CHILDREN!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!!!

The ground in front of them explodes into smoke and debris, then MetalSeadramon's titanic body erupts upwards from the smoke.

Chuumon: IT'S METALSEADRAMON!!!

Alright! Go ahead, Taichi. Go fight him. We'll wait here. :P

(In seriousness, Taichi's assessment was fair. The Dark Masters are each on the same level as VenomVamdemon. Chuumon has a different frame of reference because Ultimate-stage Digimon are so rare and mythical as to basically be unheard of.)

In any case, it's time for MetalSeadramon's rundown. He's an Ultimate-stage Data-type Cyborg Digimon; The Data Ultimate for the Deep Savers evolution tree, evolved from MegaSeadramon.

Narrator: MetalSeadramon. An Ultimate-stage Digimon whose entire body is covered in Chrome Digizoid, the strongest metal. He boasts colossal power and tremendous speed.

"Chrome Digizoid" is English. Well, Digizoid is a made-up word, but "Chrome" is English and Digizoid is English-like.

The kids run for it. MetalSeadramon moves quickly, swooping through the woods and smashing through the group. Though he fails to get a solid hit on anyone, he sends the kids tumbling to the ground in his wake.

Yamato: (trying to get up; pained) How can he move so fast with a body that huge!?

Over in the dub:

MetalSeadramon: HEEEHEHEHAHAHA!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU, DIGIDESTINED!!! (MetalSeadramon erupts from the ground) Chuumon: OH NO, IT'S METALSEADRAMON!!! Chuumon: (rundown) This guy is one real hard nose! And I mean hard nose! Take my advice: This is one train that you would rather miss. (MetalSeadramon attacks, knocking the kids down) Matt: (trying to get up; pained) Okay, if that's the way you want it, we can play rough too!

Another instance of the dub swapping out dialogue to make the kids look stronger and more battle-hungry.

Chuumon's diegetic rundown sucks. The original rundown gives salient explanations for why MetalSeadramon is a force to be reckoned with. Dub Chuumon just says "He's really tough, trust me."

Getting up, the kids and their Partner Digimon prepare to fight back.

Taichi: Let's go, Agumon! Agumon: Got it! Yamato: Gabumon! Sora: I'm counting on you, Piyomon!

All eight Partner Digimon evolve to their Adult forms to throw down with MetalSeadramon.

It does not go well.

In fact, it goes tremendously unwell. Fighting him at -2 stages was a terrible idea.

Tailmon does manage to jerk aside before he can fucking eat her but they're still losing this fight badly. And embarrassing themselves in front of Chuumon who was already convinced the kids were screwed.

In the dub:

Tai: Let's go, Agumon! Agumon: Gotcha! Matt: Now it's our turn!

Sora's line gets snubbed. Rude.

Love the confidence on Matt, though. "Now it's OUR turn!" exclaimed while basically whipping out a switchblade to face down a gatling gun.

The dub makes minor edits to MetalSeadramon's brutal beatdown. The shot where his tail slams into Togemon is cut down; We see her go flying but we don't see the hit that threw her.

Dub Angemon inexplicably calls his Hand of Fate attack while getting bodied like the rest. They got to do their stock animation attacks and then get bodied, but he didn't get to do a stock animation attack first so I guess he got jealous.

Similarly, when Gatomon lunges at MetalSeadramon's face and immediately has regrets, she calls Lightning Paw in the dub. The original Tailmon was just... trying to tackle him in the face. Which is a terrible idea, so having her at least call an attack there makes sense.

Flying overhead, MegaSeadramon makes victory loopies in the sky.

Takeru: ANGEMON!!! Hikari: Tailmon.... MetalSeadramon: HUHAHAHAHA!!! As if you could win against me! Mimi: Why is this happening!? It's eight against one! (Koushiro suddenly looks up from his laptop with alarm) Koushiro: MetalSeadramon is an Ultimate-stage Digimon! Adult-stages can't win against him no matter how many there are! Taichi: He's Ultimate-stage!? Jou: Why does our first opponent have to be such a powerful one!? MetalSeadramon: You're finished. ULTIMATE STREAM!!!

MetalSeadramon's Ultimate Stream fires from the cannon on his nose, annihilating the landscape around the Chosen Children in a massive energy explosion. The eight Partner Digimon all wrap themselves around their partnered children to shield them from the blast.

Seriously, though, I said it for dub Matt earlier but I'll say it again here. You gotta love the sheer cockiness. Riding high on their victory against Vamdemon, they thought they could stroll in here, throw a few Meteor Wings and Mega Flames around, and the Dark Masters would roll over and die for them.

They thought VenomVamdemon was as bad as it gets. They were not prepared for more Ultimate Digimon.

In the dub:

T.K.: Angemon! Kari: Oh no! MetalSeadramon: (loopies) YOU SHOULD KNOW YOUR POWERS AREN'T STRONG ENOUGH!!! Mimi: How come he's beating us so badly!? (Izzy suddenly looks up from his laptop with alarm) Izzy: Ah! It's because he's a Mega Digimon, and even eight Champions can't overtake one Mega! He's stronger than all of us combined! Tai: Then we're lost without more power! Joe: Ever notice we're always in the wrong place at just the wrong time? MetalSeadramon: Now it's time to take one nasty ride!

Dub MetalSeadramon does not call his attack.

We go to commercial following MetalSeadramon's attack and come back to the kids recovering in a dark place.

Angemon: (cradling Takeru) Takeru, are you hurt? Takeru: I'm okay. Thank you, Angemon.

Angemon nods, but then they hear a low, bestial growling. Angemon whips his head around. There's something out there in the mists that he can't make out. He sets down Takeru and picks up his Holy Rod.

Takeru: What is it? Angemon: There's something here. I'll go take a look.

In the dub:

Angemon: (cradling T.K.) T.K., are you alright? T.K.: I thought I was broken, but I guess I must be okay!

The dub frequently misses sound cues for plot points that are strictly auditory, but they do capture the bestial growling that sets off Angemon here. Points for that.

T.K.: What's the matter? Angemon: Wait. I'll be back.

Angemon takes to the air, trying to scout ahead. In the distance, a metallic whirring sound revs up, and two bolts of light begin to glow in the mist.

Then they fire.

Before he knows what hit him, Angemon's pummeled by twin cannon shots.

Takeru: ANGEMON!!!

Regressing into Patamon, he flops helplessly across the grass, landing in front of Takeru.

Takeru: Patamon! Patamon, hang in there!

Mugendramon wheels forward out of the mist. And I do mean wheels; He doesn't actually walk, but rolls forward motionlessly like his feet have roller skates under them or something.

He roars aggressively, saying nothing. Koushiro checks his laptop, bringing us into our second Dark Master rundown.

Mugendramon is an Ultimate-stage Virus-type Machine Digimon. The Virus Ultimate from Metal Empire, completing the set with WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. His name is derived from the Japanese word mugen, meaning infinite, and of course dramon/dragon. Mugendramon is the Infinite Dragon.

Koushiro: (laptop) Ah! That's another Ultimate-stage Digimon! Narrator: Mugendramon. An Ultimate-stage Digimon who wields unbelievable power. His special attack is Mugen Cannon.

Angemon took two shots from the Infinite Dragon's Infinite Cannon. It's a wonder he's even alive.

Over in the dub:

T.K.: ANGEMON!!! (Angemon reverts to Patamon and flops on the ground) T.K.: Oh no! Poor Patamon! (Machinedramon emerges) Izzy: (laptop) Ah! Be prepared for another Mega Digimon! Izzy: (rundown) He's called Machinedramon. This metallic mutant can blow out a Digimon just like a birthday candle!

The original rundown for this wasn't exactly super explanatory. It just said "Fucker strong." Izzy says the same but in the weirdest way possible. He's trying to make a quip out of it but, sorry Izzy, they can't all be winners.

Everybody Super-Evolves to face Mugendramon, except Angemon who is still slacking. Once in their Perfect stages, they have a plan. The plan is "Get him".

Not a great plan. Taichi endorses it because of course he does.

Taichi: Get him! Beat him up! Hikari: But we can't win.... Taichi: Eh?

Rushing Mugendramon in a mob, the Digimon try in vain to close distance. Mugendramon kicks back, enjoys his firing position, and mows them all down in a barrage of Mugen Cannon fire. This was a terrible plan of attack.

In the dub:

Tai: Come on, guys! Show him what you're made of! Kari: Hope they're made of something strong enough! Tai: Huh!?

Kari seems more onboard with this plan than Hikari was, though still more realistic than Tai about their chances.

Mugendramon keeps up the assault. One of his shots hits Angewomon, knocking her out of the sky. Hikari tries to catch her but her tiny child body gets crushed under Angewomon's larger bulk.

Good effort, Hikari. Eyes were a little bigger than your arms, though.

Mugendramon's assault destroys the landscape beneath the kids, and they fall deeper into the dark place. Then they gradually drift to a stop, still floating in the air.

Koushiro: We stopped. Mimi: Where are we? What's going on?

Mimi's question goes unanswered as more pressing priorities emerge. WereGarurumon suddenly, out of nowhere, throws a punch at Garudamon and clocks her across the face. Garudamon recovers and comes back with a right hook.

Yamato: What are you doing, WereGarurumon!? Sora: Stop it, Garudamon! You're on the same side!

Garudamon and WereGarurumon continue fistfighting.

Garudamon: I'm not doing it on purpose! WereGarurumon: My body... It's moving by itself! Sora: (confused) Your body's moving by itself?

An unseen force suddenly jerks Sora's arms up into an odd pose. Cut to Jou, hanging from Zudomon's horn, who's jogging in place.

Jou: W-What's going on!?

In the dub, Mimi makes a salient point about their odd predicament.

Izzy: We stopped! Mimi: I can't complain. It's sure a lot better than falling on our heads. (Digimon start fighting) Matt: Hey, can't you two take a break for one minute!? Sora: Yeah, come on! We're all supposed to be on the same side! Garudamon: I can't control it! WereGarurumon: That's right! Our bodies are doing this all by themselves! Sora: (skeptically) All by themselves, huh? OH! (arm pose) Joe: (forced to jog in place) I've always hated any form of exercise; What's happening to me!?

Dub Sora straight-up doesn't believe them when they explain they're being controlled. XD

It's Koushiro who finally notices the thin strings connected to each of them.

Koushiro: Ah! There are strings attached to us! We're being controlled! Pinochimon: Hehehehe... You finally figured it out. Koushiro: Who are you!? Pinochimon: Why don't you use your special little computer to find out? Here.

Using Koushiro's strings, Pinochimon manipulates him into typing at his computer to pull up Pinochimon's profile. Pinochimon is an Ultimate-stage Virus-type Puppet Digimon. He's the Virus Ultimate from the Wind Guardians line, sharing space with Piyomon and Palmon's evolutionary paths. His name and design are obviously based on Pinocchio.

Koushiro: Ah! He's Ultimate-stage! Narrator: Pinochimon. An Ultimate Digimon who places Number One in awful personalities! His special attack is Bullet Hammer.

Number One with a bullet, you say? A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it?

Gotta love the gradual decline in the these rundowns.

MetalSeadramon - He's ultra fast and powerful not to mention gigantic! Plus his armor is made from the strongest metal in the Digital World! Mugendramon - He's unbelievably powerful. So powerful, you guys. Pinochimon - ...he's very mean.

At this point, Piemon's rundown will just be "Piemon. (long silence) What a dick!"

The dub changes Pinochimon's name to Puppetmon.

Izzy: We've become string puppets! And someone's operating us! Puppetmon: (mocking) Hah hahaha hah! Well, aren't we a little smarty pants!? Izzy: Who are you!? Puppetmon: Wanna know? How about if I help you look up my profile on your special computer? Watch! (Puppetmon manipulates Izzy into typing) Izzy: (gasp) He's also a Mega Digimon! Izzy: (rundown) Puppetmon has a controlling personality and a rotten temper! Get him mad and he'll bop you with his hammer!

He'll probably shoot you with his hammer, actually, but the dub may be trying to avoid saying "Bullet Hammer". Though you can still clearly see that the head of his hammer is the cylinder of a revolver.

Snerk. Good, uh... good luck with that, dub team. I cannot wait 'til we get to his episode.

Upon meeting Pinochimon, Mimi wants to file a complaint.

Mimi: (furious) Again!? Why do these Ultimate-stage Digimon keep appearing one after another!? Lilimon: Mimi.... Pinochimon: Now, fly to the Last Stage!

Pinochimon yanks the kids' strings, sending them flying through the void. Then he addresses the Digimon left behind.

Pinochimon: You guys should hurry after them. BULLET HAMMER!!!

The revolver cylinder on his hammer fires off like a minigun, spraying the Partner Digimon and knocking them all out of their Perfect forms. Most regress to their baby forms, save for Agumon, Gabumon, and Tailmon as usual.

In the dub, Mimi's complaint to the management turns into her firing off a fantastic Mimi Quip.

Mimi: If you have to hit something, you should bop yourself for how you look in that stupid helmet! Lillymon: MIMI!?!?

Savage. Even Lillymon's shocked by Mimi's ferocity.

Puppetmon: I'm gonna have to let you go for now! (Puppetmon sends the kids away) Puppetmon: But I promise to destroy you! PUPPET PUMMEL!!!

Though they censor out the name of Pinochimon's Bullet Hammer, the footage of it firing remains unedited.

The children wake up at a Greco-Roman coliseum, groaning in pain. Based on the surrounding area, we seem to be in the desert from the Etemon arc, or what it's become in the reconfigured world.

A jovial clown balancing on a ball rolls out onto the stage.

Clown: Hello, good children! I'm here today to tell you all a funny story!

The clown holds up crudely-drawn crayon pictures to illustrate his story.

Clown: A long, long time ago, there were eight Chosen Children and their Digimon. The Eight Children and their Digimon were foolish enough to climb Spiral Mountain, where they all met a tragic fate at the hands of the Dark Masters. The end. Takeru: (angry) What was that!? That wasn't funny at all! Clown: I just told you what sort of destiny awaits you. You should be grateful. ^_^

Poor Takeru totally fumbled his Sense Motive check when the random clown arrived. XD He was actually expecting to be entertained. Did not catch the vibe of this conversation at all.

In the dub:

Clown: Well, hello there, boys and girls! And welcome! Today, I'm going to tell you an amazing story! (The clown holds out his crayon sketches) Clown: Once upon a time, there was eight DigiDestined. They went with their Digimon companions to try to save the world. The children and their Digimon discovered that in order for them to do it, they had to climb up to the top of Spiral Mountain. But to their dismay, the Dark Masters defeated them. So sad! T.K.: Hey, Clowny! Nobody's laughing at your story! Clown: Oh dear, I'm so sorry. Did I happen to mention the story is true? I wanted to give you a preview of the plot!

Pretty faithful, I'd say.

Suddenly, the clown's guise fades away and reveals him to be Piemon.

Piemon leaps to the top of a nearby column, laughing as he goes. From here, we go into our final rundown for the Dark Masters.

Piemon is an Ultimate-stage Virus-type Demon Person Digimon. Fittingly, he's the Virus Ultimate of the Nightmare Soldiers and the original Ultimate evolution for Vamdemon, as well as Phantomon.

Yes, over the course of this show the kids have had to fight their way through the entire Nightmare Soldiers evolution branch of Devimon -> Vamdemon -> Piemon while also taking a break to punch it out with Monkey Elvis.

As I mentioned before, Piemon's name is not "Pie-mon". It's pronounced Pee-eh-mon, because it's a reference to the comedic character Pierrot from traditional European pantomime performances.

His dub name Piedmon, however, is "Pied-mon", a reference to clowns being hit with pies. This is because the dub didn't trust American nine-year-olds to be familiar with Victorian-Era European Mime Lore. XD

Mimi: Wha--!? Chuumon: WAAAAAUGH!!! IT'S PIEMON!!! Narrator: Piemon. A phantasmal Ultimate-stage Digimon who comes and goes unexpectedly. His true nature is shrouded in mystery.

What a dick!

No, like MetalSeadramon, that is a pretty solid infodump. It tells us to expect Piemon to be a walking WTF.

To summarize what we've learned here: MetalSeadramon is huge, fast, and invulnerable. Mugendramon is unbelievably powerful. Pinochimon is unpleasant at parties. And Piemon has bizarre and esoteric abilities.

This all serves to set up the conflicts to come. Yes, even Pinochimon.

Over in the dub:

Piedmon: Hahahahahaha! Fools! Mimi: (gasp) Chuumon: AHHHHHHHHHH!!! IT'S PIEDMON!!! Chuumon: (rundown) He's a Mega Phantom Digimon of the worst kind! You never know what he's going to look like next!

This is the closest a Dark Master rundown gets to relaying the original information. Good job, Chuumon.

Just once, can we run into a Phantom Digimon of the best kind? Where's Ghost of Christmas Presentmon? That guy seems like he'd be fun to hang out with.

Finally, Taichi and Yamato are at their wit's end with all these Ultimate Digimon and decide to match power with power.

Taichi: We won't lose to you guys! Agumon! Yamato: Gabumon, I'm counting on you!

Agumon and Gabumon Warp-Evolve to face Piemon Ultimate to Ultimate.

Taichi: Go, WarGreymon! Show him what we're made of! Yamato: MetalGarurumon! Take him down and save the world!

WarGreymon leads with Gaia Force. Piemon sidesteps the attack. MetalGarurumon follows up with Cocytus Breath, but Piemon breaks out one of his swords and slices through the slushie onslaught.

In the dub, Tai kicks us off with a retort to Piedmon's story earlier.

Tai: Well, I think your plot needs a few rewrites! Agumon! Matt: Gabumon, you can do it! (Warp evolutions) Tai: Yeah! Let him know we mean business, WarGreymon! Matt: MetalGarurumon! Teach that joker a lesson he'll never forget!

Pretty snappy comeback for Tai there, especially to a thespian like Pie(d)mon. It's one thing to call him a dick but shit-talking his craft is really throwing down the gauntlet.

Too bad about those whiffed attacks, though.

After maneuvering through the pair's offense, Piemon comes back with his own signature move: Trump Sword.

It's sword-throwing. He throws swords.

Direct hits on WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon score instant KOs, reverting them back to Agumon and Gabumon.

Jou: I-It can't be! Sora: We can't win even with two Ultimates on our side? Mimi: He's just an Ultimate too, right? Piemon: Even though we are on the same level, you have only recently acquired your new power. You're mistaken if you think that is all it takes to win. Agumon: (pained) I'm sorry, Taichi....

Piemon was able to outfight WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon simultaneously, not because he's stronger than them but because he has much more experience in the Ultimate state. As a natural Ultimate who achieved this level the hard way, by rising through the ranks of Perfect and Ultimate evolution, he simply has them outmatched in skill and experience.

From there, Piemon goes on to give his team their formal introductions, despite Koushiro having already identified each of them. He's a showman; Let him have this moment.

Piemon: Permit me now to introduce the members that make up the Dark Masters. MetalSeadramon! (MetalSeadramon explodes from the ground, roaring) Piemon: Mugendramon! (Mugendramon smashes through columns to enter the coliseum, also roaring) Piemon: Pinochimon! (Pinochimon just sort of appears) Pinochimon: Personally, I wish I could have had some more fun with you. Piemon: And myself, Piemon. (Piemon remains a dick.) Piemon: Time flies in the blink of an eye when you're having fun. Now then. Who should die first?

In the dub:

Joe: This is bad news. Sora: Even two Mega Digimon couldn't put him down! That's really bad news! Mimi: Not to mention he's a fashion disaster! Piedmon: Your two Megas are newly Digivolved. How can you expect them to compete against an experienced and, might I boast, superior Digimon? Agumon: (pained) Tai... Sorry....

Mimi's question is replaced with a Mimi Quip. Fortunately, Piedmon still delivers the important information anyway and we get a Mimi Quip out of it so it's cool.

Piedmon: Please permit me to present my fellow actors in this captivating and charming comedy of errors! MetalSeadramon! (MetalSeadramon explodes from the ground, roaring) Piedmon: Machinedramon! (Machinedramon smashes through columns to enter the coliseum, also roaring) Piedmon: Puppetmon! (Puppetmon just sort of appears) Puppetmon: You thought you were through with me, but I wanted to have some more fun! Piedmon: And myself, Piedmon. (Such a dick.) Piedmon: We'd like to begin by asking for audience volunteers. Who would like to be the first to be destroyed? Oh come now, don't tell me you have stage fright!

No lie, I am loving the dub performance for Piedmon. They understood the assignment.

Piemon's eyes scan the group before falling on Mimi.

The moment she realizes he's looking at her, Mimi bursts out into tears, screaming and crying at the top of her lungs.

Mimi: No... NO!!! I'M JUST AN ORDINARY GRADE SCHOOL STUDENT!!! WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO DIE HERE!?!? Sora: (gently) Mimi-chan.... Mimi: I WANTED TO DRESS UP IN FASHIONABLE CLOTHES AND EAT MORE YUMMY THINGS AND GO ON A TRIP ABROAD AND-- Piedmon: Your whining is starting to hurt my ears! I'm going to start with you.

Just like that, Piemon gets target lock.

Mimi melts down in both versions, but the dub's meltdown is a bit different.

Mimi: I didn't even want to go to camp in the first place! I just wanted to go to the mall! Can't somebody else save this silly world besides me!? Sora: (surprised) Mimi!? Mimi: I want to be a normal kid and not have any big responsibilities! I mean, come on, is that too much to ask!? It's not fair! Piedmon: Ack! Your incessant whining is getting on my nerves! You will be the first one to go!

Original Mimi's meltdown is about the unfairness of having to die at such a young age with so much of her life still ahead of her. Dub Mimi's meltdown is about how much she doesn't want to be a child soldier which is valid but contextually off.

It feels like the dub team is trying to fill in a Mimi meltdown from scratch to avoid going as dark as the original subject matter. They do a fair job; It doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere. But lines like "Can't someone else save the world?" and "I don't want responsibilities!" still seem divorced from the specific grim predicament she's actually in right now.

Having made up his mind Piemon swiftly draws a hidden dagger from his sleeve and tosses it at Mimi.

Without hesitation, Chuumon leaps out of Mimi's arms, taking Piemon's knife to his chest. Chuumon falls prone on the ground, the knife disintegrating as quickly as it appeared. Weeping, Mimi scoops him back up in her arms.

Mimi: Chuumon! You have to hold on! Chuumon: Mimi-chan... When I reincarnate... Go on a date with me.... Mimi: CHUUMON!!!

With that utterly inappropriate yet entirely in-character bit of emotional blackmail, Chuumon disintegrates into pixels and joins his friend Scumon in death.

(So far as we know, she does not honor his last request, nor should she.)

The dub cuts the shot where the knife plunges into Chuumon, but keeps the shot of Chuumon falling to the ground with the knife stabbed into him.

Mimi: Chuumon! Speak to me, you poor thing! Chuumon: Mimi... It's time for me... to be deleted.... Mimi: CHUUMON!!!

His last request doesn't make it in; No surprise there. But they pull no punches about the fact that Chuumon definitely and without question died violently.

Someone, however, is not impressed by Chuumon's sacrifice.

Piemon: What a stupid Digimon. There's no reason to protect each other when you're all going to die here anyway. Taichi: We won't let you get away with this! Dark Masters: (all laugh together) Piemon: So, who's next?

Before he can pick his next target, another old friend suddenly cuts in.

Piccolomon's Pit Bomb does no damage whatsoever but flashbangs the Dark Masters, allowing him to make off with the Chosen Children. He carries them to safety within a cloaked invisibility sphere.

Takeru: Piccolomon! We were hoping to see you again! Piccolomon: So was I pi! Koushiro: You were able to reach us by creating a barrier that the enemy couldn't see? Piccolomon: That's right pi! Taichi: Piccolomon, we made it this way believing that as long as the eight of us were together, we could save both worlds. But-- Piccolomon: It's true that the eight of you are together pi but that alone isn't enough to win pi. Sora: What are we missing? Jou: Tell us! Piccolomon: (somberly) Unfortunately, we don't have time for that pi.

A wave of energy suddenly hits the barrier. What little time Piccolomon's trick bought them has run its course.

In the dub:

Piedmon: Chuumon was a fool!

The dub inserts a commercial break after Chuumon's death, then we return and watch him die again.

Mimi: T_T Oh, Chuumon! Piedmon: So, now that he's out of the way, who would like to be the next one to make their grand exit? Tai: Piedmon, you're gonna be washed up when we're through with you! Dark Masters: (all laugh together) Piedmon: Be my guest. Piximon: PIT BOMB!!! (Piximon takes the kids and bails) T.K.: Hey, Piximon! Perfect timing! Piximon: I missed ya! Izzy: Prodigious! You cleverly used a barrier to avoid detection. Piximon: I sure did! Tai: But you said it was possible to save the planet if the eight of us were all together! How come it's not happening, huh? What's up, Piximon!? Piximon: The truth is, being together is not enough. There's something else that you need to do to beat 'em. Sora: How are we going to find out if you won't help? Joe: Yeah, enough riddles! Piximon: This is something you will discover on your own.

The dub's gotten its wires crossed about the plot again. Piximon never said anything about the eight of them; His episode was well behind us when the Eighth Child plot point was introduced. Tai's beef should, as always, be with Gennai.

In the original, Piccolomon's like "Look you need more than just being physically present but I don't have time to explain because we are seconds away from getting murdered."

Piximon, on the other hand, is being cryptic for funsies.

Pursuing Piccolomon's invisibility shimmer, the Dark Masters gain ground. There is no escape.

MetalSeadramon: Found you. Piccolomon: I'm going to stop them pi! Make your way to Spiral Mountain while I hold them off pi! Yamato: You're going to stop them!? They're all Ultimate-stage! Piccolomon: I know that pi! Even if I can't win, I can still put up a fight pi! Taichi: I'll fight with you! Piccolomon: ARE YOU STUPID!? You're the last hope for the world pi!

MetalSeadramon hits Piccolomon's barrier with a direct shot from his Ultimate Stream. Piccolomon waits and lets the barrier absorb MetalSeadramon's shot, then emerges to fight the Dark Masters.

Piccolomon: I'm sure you can find pi what you're missing! When you do, you'll be unstoppable pi! Now go, Chosen Children!

Piccolomon smacks the barrier with his spear, sending it flying off much faster than before.

In the dub:

MetalSeadramon: Aha! Here you are! Eheheheheheha! Piximon: I'll try to stop them. Meanwhile, make a run for it and climb to the top of Spiral Mountain. But you better move it! Matt: You can't stop them! They're all Mega Digimon! Piximon: I know I can't win, but I should be able to distract them long enough for you to get away! Tai: I'll stay with you! Piximon: No way! Besides, we need you on Spiral Mountain; We're counting on you to beat 'em!

Though MetalSeadramon's nose beam went unnamed last time he used it, this time he calls the attack.

MetalSeadramon: RIVER OF POWER!!! (MetalSeadramon blasts the barrier bubble) Piximon: (emerges) Please go now. You have a very important task ahead of you. Once you succeed, no one will ever be able to stop you again. I know you will make me proud of you!

Strong parting words for what will be their final meeting.

As an aside, I love the name "River of Power". That is a fantastic "not-touching-you" name-like to Ultimate Stream. Well punned.

Sad that we lose Piccolomon calling Taichi a moron to his face. "I'm gonna sacrifice myself for you." "And I'll help you do--" "NO."

No sooner has Piccolomon sent the Children away than he hears Piemon call out to him.

Piemon: Piccolomon, is it? Do you honestly believe that you, a Perfect-stage, could win against us? Piccolomon: Say whatever you want pi!

From the barrier bubble, the children see a bright flash of light illuminate the coliseum once more.

Hikari: Piccolomon is dead. Narrator: After paying a heavy sacrifice, the children finally arrive at Spiral Mountain. But their fight with the Dark Masters has only just begun.

Boy, what a fun and joyous final adventure we've embarked on!

The dub changes things up here. They add some silence breakers as the bubble flies away.

Matt: He's stronger than he looks! Gabumon: He'll have to be!

Then they cut straight to the final shot of everyone watching from the barrier.

Kari: Do you think it's possible he can do it? Gabumon: I don't know, Kari! I hope so!

From there, we cut back to Piximon confronting the Dark Masters.

Piximon: Rrrgh! Piedmon: How can such a powerless Digimon even think about defeating us, hmm!? Piximon: Just call me a crazy little Digimon! Narrator: Will Piximon hold off the Dark Masters long enough for the DigiDestined to reach Spiral Mountain? Watch the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

The explosion that indicated Piximon's death has been cut, as has the shot of the kids' bubble arriving at Spiral Mountain. But don't worry, they're planning to remix the shit out of this last scene at the start of the next episode. We'll see what became of Piximon; You just got to wait a week with hope and anticipation in your heart before coming back to watch him brutally die.

Weird choice but okay.

Assessment: I remembered this arc being dark but I forgot how quickly it gets dark. Remember the "goofy" harassers from File Island THEY FUCKING DIED. But don't worry, the virtuous trainer who helped Taichi figure his shit out is here and he ALSO FUCKING DIED.

To set the tone, this episode is a bloodbath right out of the starting gate. They want you to know that nobody outside our core eight is safe anymore. This is war and people are going to die.

The dub keeps up and handles itself pretty well. It even manages to keep up with the darkening tone using euphemistic language but refraining from talking around the deaths happening onscreen. Yes, that includes Piximon's, even if they did kick it out to next episode.

Even down to the execution scene, there's none of that "Capture them, put them in a cage!" stuff that previous arcs would have employed. "Who would like to make their grand exit?" is flowery but unambiguous in its meaning, especially after explicitly killing someone onscreen.

We're in for a fucking ride.

[digi-lov]

Digimon & Tamagotchi

Bandai V-Pet Crossovers Part 1 (Part 2)

In 1996 Bandai and WiZ inc. released the original Tamagotchi. To their surprise, the toy proved to be popular among boys as well, despite it being mostly marketed for girls. And in 1997, as a more targeted approach to this demographic, Digital Monsters was born!

A huge virtual pet boom followed and not only did Bandai and Wiz release new versions of Tamagotchi and Digital Monsters, and try multiple v-pets with a variety of styles within the next couple of years, but other companies also tried to bandwagon on the success of these virtual pets!

(Such as Nintendo in 1998 with the Pocket Pikachu-)

While the Tamagotchi was shaped like an egg (jap. tamago) with a crack in its shell where the screen is, the Digital Monster was shaped like a brick cage with bust-open bars! It also featured the ability to connect and battle! Otherwise they both use the same three button layout and similar menu icons. On the Tamagotchi, the toilet icon is portrayed by a duck themed potty, which is also used as the look for the Portable Potty items in many Digimon games.

Now with how closely these two franchises were developed, there's bound to be more that connects the two, right?

One such thing is Tamagotchimoji and Digimoji/DigiCode!

You can see that the two scripts are basically identical, just stylized differently. While Tamagotchimoji got used sparsely until they stopped using it in 2004 (But had a surprising comeback in one social media post on April 10, 2023?!), Digimoji has been used, and still is being used everywhere in the Digimon franchise! There is also a separate set of characters for the Latin Alphabet.

[Tamagotchimoji on the left, Digimoji on the right, respective Hiragana above the character]

Just like we know it from the Digimon Franchise, the Tamagotchi also grow through evolutionary stages along a branching path, depending on how well you take care of them! The original line of Tamagotchi as well as Digimon owe their designs to Kenji Watanabe! Generally all Tamagotchi's names end in "-tchi" or "-chi", similar to how Digimon names end in "-mon".

In these evolution charts, the Tamagotchi and Digimon are arranged by how well they've been taken care of / how good they are, with the top line being the best, and the bottom being the worst.

But that Tamagotchi chart is actually just the international version, which had "Bill" (aka Gaijintchi/Ketotchi) as secret character past the adult stage. Instead the Japanese version featured "Oyajitchi" (jap. oyaji means "old man").

But wait, doesn't that face look familiar...?

According to the Digimon Reference Book, Nanimon's true identity is unknown and it in fact came from another dimension, where it was known under the title OYAJI. In order to survive in the new environment of the Digital World, Nanimon had to go through a lot of training and battling.

Nanimon's name is also a play on its bizarre nature. In Japanese, "nanimon" is a casual abbreviation of "nanimono" which means "what (thing)". So, with intonation indicating a question, "nanimonda" can mean both "What are you?" or "I am Nanimon".

This joke is even included directly in Digimon World when the player encounters Nanimon.

「ん？なにもんだ？！」 "N? Nanimon da?!" “Huh? What are you?!” 「ナニモンだァ！」 "Nanimon da!" “I’m Nanimon!”

Nanimon's nature as an alien to this World is also reflected in his trait in the Card Game being "Invader".

Nanimon BT6-058 by Kenji Watanabe from BT-06 Booster Double Diamond

So yeah, Nanimon is supposed to be Oyajitchi who came from the Tamagotchi World to the Digital World.

Stay tuned for next friday when we talk about another World connected to the Digital World!

Special thanks to: tamagotchi wiki, gotchi-garden and tamatalk for being great resources!

If you're interested in more Tamagotchi stuff, go check out @tamapalace !

[seventeenlovesthree]

@taioraweek Day 3: Broadway / Theatre / Musical

A little redraw for one of my favourite "blink and you'll miss it" moments in the Digimon Adventure Tri Stageplay; while Mimi and Jyou have a little dispute in the forefront of the stage, these two are chilling in the back, exchanging teasing glances... And as I am completely and utterly enamored with the actors of the stageplay, I would love to see them reunited for another play. Since that's not very likely, unfortunately, I could still see an AU of them being actors, practicing together, rehearsing their lines, teasing each other about "tripping over their feet"... Just being the lovely dorks together they deserve to be!

[rubykgrant]

Concept: a red vs blue video game. I think it would be neat if you could choose from any of the 7 Halo art styles, cuz some might prefer Infinite and others like the old style of CE, while I personally prefer 3, Reach, and 4.

It would be so funny if they made an RVB video game. Like, I know- "That's just Halo", but it really isn't? These colorful goobers had their own nonsensical shenanigans going on, Halo sort of "set the stage" and was happening in the background, but the adventures of these guys went in totally different directions. A game that let's you change the style, but still keep all the available features, would be really cool!

I'm a fan of games that give you options to "play different ways". There could be a "story mode", maybe it lets you create your own character and start on either Red or Blue Team, playing through the plot from the beginning, but with the potential to make different choices in certain parts (with multiple save files, so you can go every route and experience all the different results. the same story-beats still happen, but what your character does/where they go could always change, and you'd be able to see what certain characters were up to while they were "off-screen" in the actual series; if you hang out with Doc and Donut long enough, you can be with them when they had their nice little garden going on~). Other option is "arcade mode", and it works like Smash Bros (or DigiMon Rumble Arena. anybody else remember that?). You have the basic groups of Reds and Blues available, but through getting some prizes and completing tasks, more become available, and you get specific up-grades for the characters (play Church often enough, you can swap between Alpha or Epsilon, and for other characters you can have Epsilon and the Fragments be like an assist mechanic). You run through various environments, doing puzzles/fighting enemies, all that good stuff!

[bethanythebogwitch]

Giving the Phantom Thieves Digimon Partners

I like Digimon and very much enjoyed Persona 5 so why not combine them by giving the Phantom Thieves of Hearts Digimon partners. For non-Digimon fans, a human character will have a digimon partner that can evolve through different levels and the forms it takes on often have symbolic resemblance to the human's character development. I'll be giving each Phantom Thief a partner with its forms from the Rookie/Child to Mega/Ultimate levels. No Strikers or other spinoff characters because I haven't played those games. There will be P5 spoilers.

We have to start with the protagonist and his main theme is being the rebel against the unjust authority. His role in the plot is being the rebellious fallen angel to the controlling Gnostic god Yaldabaoth and so I'll be giving him fallen angel Digimon as partners. His partner will start as DemiDevimon/Picodevimon, then evolve to Devimon. These are the most iconic fallen angel Digimon in the franchise so they're easy picks. Devimon will then evolve to Baalmon. Baalmon is a demonic Digimon that seeks out knowledge and will put people through trials to show them the truth. This fits with the protagonist putting people through the ordeals of having their heart stolen to show them the truth of the monsters they've become. Finally his partner will evolve to Bagramon. Bagramon really is a great fit to Satanael as it's a fallen archangel Digimon that rebelled against the unreasonable justice of the Digimon god. If Bagramon is played as a hero, this fits really well with the Gnostic myths P5 draws from where Satanael (or the serpent or Sophia depending on which version you read) rebels against the unreasonable and authoritarian false god that is the Demiurge/Yaldabaoth to bring wisdom to humanity.

Next is Ryuji, who has the themes of electricity, delinquents, athletics, and his Persona is a pirate. I think a great partner for him is Pulsemon, an electric Digimon that is the mascot of the vital bracelet (RIP), a device intended to encourage fans to exercise. Ryuji used to be on the track team so a perfect fit is one of Pulsemon's default evos, Runnermon. For the next level, Runnermon will evolve to CaptainHookmon, a pirate like Ryuji's Persona and a good through line to the final form: Gankoomon. Gankoomon's design is based on a Japanese delinquent like Ryuji and it has a very tough and unapproachable demeanor, but is a hero through and through. For non-Digimon fans confused about a tiger turning into a pirate and then a delinquent, be assured that that isn't anywhere near the weirdest evolution in Digimon.

Morgana is one of the ones I struggled with because his themes of cats, wind, and Zorro don't lend themselves to many Digimon options, but I found a great option from Digimon Frontier. In the Frontier continuity, there are human and beast spirits of elements that can combine to a fused spirit and one of the elemental spirits really fits Morgana. The first stage will be Liollmon because it's a cat. Liollmon will then evolve to the human spirit of darkness, Loweemon. The human spirit represents Morgana's belief that he's human and desire to attain a human body. Loweemon will evolve to the beast spirit of darkness JagerLoweemon/KaiserLeomon. This form represents the cat body that Morgana is trapped in. Finally will be the merged spirit Raihimon, the fusing of human and beast, which represents Morgana accepting who he really is. Raihimon also has wings so the wind element can come in at the end.

Ann's themes are cats, fire, beauty, and seduction via her Persona. I will have her start off with Candlemon. It's the least thematically appropriate of her line but it's a good fire Digimon that leads well into the next form: Lynxmon, a cat made of fire. Lynxmon will then evolve to Bastemon, a seductive, feminine cat that seduces prey before attacking them, fitting well with Carmen's depiction. Finally, Ann's partner will evolve to BeelStarmon, which combines Ann's femininity, beauty, blonde hair, and enthusiastic use of firearms. It even wears a similar catsuit, though black and much more revealing.

Yusuke's themes are foxes, art, and ice and his Persona and costume are the most Japanese of the Thieves. I struggled with him because there aren't really any art themed Digimon and the few ice Digimon don't fit him. I decided to go all in on the foxes and Japanese themes with Yusuke to give him Renamon as a partner. Renamon will then have its dark (but not evil) evolution line of Youkomon to Doumon to Kuzuhamon. I picked the dark line over the normally good line of Kyubimon to Taomon to Sakuyamon because that line uses a lot of fire attacks which wouldn't work well with Yusuke's use of ice. The Renamon line is very much based on fox legends from Japan and China plus Onmyodo and Shinto elements. Also Doumon uses a brush for an attack. It's a calligraphy brush instead of a paintbrush, but I'll take what I can get.

Makoto's themes are rebellion, martial arts, motorcycles/machines, intelligence, and radiation. I gave her a machine line starting with Hagurumon. Makoto's story arc started with her just doing what was expected of her even if it was wrong or not what she wanted and Hagurumon is almost literally a cog in the machine. Hagurumon will evolve to Machmon because it's a motorcycle and so is her Persona. Machmon will evolve to Fumamon, a cyborg ninja Digimon. Makoto's skill in strategy and martial arts would suit a ninja well, plus they have similar color schemes. Finally her partner will become Justimon, a cyborg warrior for justice symbolizing Makoto rejecting doing what is expected of her in favor of following her desires and doing what's right. Plus they both have scarves.

Futaba's themes are isolation, shyness, technology, UFOs, and information gathering. A perfect partner for her is Espimon, a cyborg Digimon with stealth powers designed for espionage and data retrieval. Espimon will then follow it's standard evolution line to the UFO themed HoverEspimon and Oblivimon. However I'm not going to use Espimon's standard Mega/Ultimate level of Invisimon because it being a combat-focused humanoid warrior doesn't fit Futaba. Instead Oblivimon will evolve to the superintelligent alien cyborg Ebemon.

Haru's character is an interesting contrast between her sweet, kind, and polite public image and her Thief form showing off her toughness and enjoyment of violence. I decided to combine this contrast with her love of gardening. Her partner will be the pretty flower Floramon who evolves to the boxing cactus Togemon. Togemon will then become pretty and feminine again as Lilymon before finishing up with BanchoLilymon, a pretty and feminine but violent and rebellious delinquent with a heart of gold.

For Goro I decided to focus on the contrast between his polite boy detective act and the violent and unhinged person he is behind the mask. I gave him Lopmon as a partner. Lopmon is notable for having a good and evil evolution line and Goro could use both, switching between them as needed. The good line goes Lopmon -> Tururiemon -> Antylamon/Andiramon Data -> Cherubimon Virtue while the evil line goes Lopmon -> Wendigomon -> Antylamon/Andiramon Virus -> Cherubimon Vice. The two forms of Cherubimon being an angel and fallen angel represents Goro's use of light and dark skills and how he had all the tools to be a real hero but became a monster instead.

Finally is Sumire, which took the longest for me to figure out, but I like what I came up with. I focused on her taking on the mask of her sister and the struggle between that hand her true identity. Her partner will start off as Sistermon Blanc, a cute and feminine Digimon who is close to her sisters Sistermon Noir and Sistermon Ceil like Sumire was close with Kasumi. The next stage will be Lianpumon, a Digimon themed after Chinese opera who always wears a mask and never lets anyone see its true face like how Sumire took over her sister's role and abandoned her true self. The next stage will be Luminamon, a Digimon themed around duality. Luminamon is the angelic and benevolent alternate self to the wicked and violent Shademon which mirrors the duality between who Sumire is and who she wants to be. Also Luminamon nicely fuses the holy and cute elements of Sistermon Blanc with the bestial elements of Lianpumon. Finally the last stage will be Cendrillmon. Both Cendrillmon and Sumire's Persona come from Cendrillon, an adaptation of the tale Cinderella. Cendrillmon also has crystal legs like Sumire's Persona and wears a leotard and coat like Sumire's Thief outfit. I honestly think Cendrillmon's design homages Sumire.