#I need a name for Tentomon

[sznmjun]

GAMMAMON

[seventeenlovesthree]

“My best friend is finally getting therapy and part of his healing process is becoming my employee”

@taikouvember Day 5 - Hope: Something you would like to see happening for them

Short Fic Summary: Koushirou struggles to get new employees for his start-up company and hiring processes go rather slowly, even with the support of a very engaged team. He absolutely isn't prepared to hear that their most recent New Hire for the marketing department is someone very familiar to him... (Because I always wanted to write a fic about their set-up as coworkers at Koushirou's company while using a ridiculously long and cheesy light novel title - and because we all know that this would be the best type of therapy for Taichi!)

Word Count: 3287

“Excuse me, Izumi-shachou?”

The door to Koushirou’s main office opened and the HR manager came in.

“Kawashima-san”, Koushirou greeted her, accompanied by Tentomon bowing down next to him. She immediately smiled at the ladybug, who had become some kind of mascot to the little start-up company.

“Hello, Tento-san. I just wanted to hand in the sheet of New Hires we acquired today.”

“Ah, thank you very much”, Tentomon took the folder with the CVs instead of his partner, who let out a sigh of relief. It had taken several weeks to get the hiring process going, the main team in office consisted mainly of acquaintances he mad made thanks to the network he had been building together with his American friend since he was 16. Since his tech company wasn’t exactly known too well yet, competition in regards to personnel proved to be rather difficult – especially in non-technical fields.

“We only had three applicants this time, but Takano-san actually found someone he intends to add to the marketing team core, so that may be a good sign!”, Kawashima explained and seemed rather cheerful about the announcement. Just like Koushirou, Kawashima Shiho was still in her early twenties, but pretty dedicated to get all administration duties done – which Koushirou was more than thankful for. She had joined the company around six months after he had met at a technology fair and Koushirou, who had mainly focused on getting technical acquaintances on board, had been pretty lucky to have stumbled across her. Things had gotten better back then – especially after the name Izumi Koushirou had become more well-known after appearing in the media after the Eosmon incident a few months ago. Which was also when he had been contacted by Takano Hideki  – a marketing specialist in his mid-thirties, who had been more than fascinated by the intent of the company.

Providing gadgets for the growing network of humans partnering with “Digital Monsters” wasn’t exactly a market he had experienced before. And so, Koushirou had slowly but steadily gathered a little team of tech – and Digimon – enthusiasts. It wasn’t a lot, especially since he couldn’t even yet afford hiring too many people at once, but he had high hopes that things would improve.

“Three is more than we anticipated, so this is indeed a good sign”, Koushirou replied, “Thank you for attending the hiring meetings in my place, Kawashima-san.”

She shook her head in response.

“That is my job after all and you’ve been particularly busy with reporting the company project results to the finance team. Also, as company president, you don’t even have to be at all the hiring meetings for the other departments”, she added with a smile, which he returned wearily. They really would need the marketing team to make sure the company would gain more publicity – and thus, new potential clients and supporters if he wanted to maintain all of this. His American friend still provided financial support – for he didn’t plan on depending on that forever.

“And that’s also what this list is for! I met all three of the New Hires myself and I would assume they’ll be suitable additions to the company.”

“That is good to hear. I would still really like to meet them myself”, Koushirou admitted – he wasn’t exactly an office-shut-in and regularly tried to stay in touch with the different departments as good as he could. He also had veto rights in regards to hiring and felt like he had to at least look over the company structure to some degree. But by trying to micromanage everything, it did remind him a little of the times he had to look over Iori, Miyako, Ken and Daisuke during their school days…

“… You really should get to meet them, Koushirou-han.”

Both humans turned to Tentomon, as the Digimon urgently stared at one of the sheets after he had browsed curiously through the folder – at least Koushirou was, at this point, perfectly able to read his partner to be able to tell that something wasn’t right.

“Why, what do you mean, Tentomon?”

“Well… You may want to have a personal talk with one of them at least.”

Hearing that, he raised an eyebrow and took the folder out of Tentomon’s claws – only to immediately freeze once he saw the application picture…

Kawashima blinked in surprise and confusion. “Is something wrong?” Having her own curiosity piqued, she glanced at the sheet as well. “Oh, he was a very interesting applicant, we weren’t completely sure whether he would fit the role, but Takano-san seemed very intrigued by his attitude and presentation, so I trust that we made the right choice by hiring him.”

“… Do you know if he is still in house?”

“Oh, he probably is still talking to Takano-san in his office, I assume. Like I said, he was highly impressed by him.”

“E-excuse me, then…” With his lips pressed together, Koushirou bowed and, to Kawashima’s even greater surprise, almost stormed out of the office. Leaving his HR manager and his Digimon partner behind, with the former still being completely at a loss.

“I’ve… Never seen him that frantic before, does he know the applicant?”

“Oh, ya know…”, Tentomon chuckled, bashfully rubbing the back at his head after pointing at the man with the confident smile on the application picture, “He may actually know Yagami Taichi-han a little too well…”

~

“Shachou?!”

Takano didn’t react any less astonished as Kawashima had just a few minutes ago when Koushirou had almost slammed the door to his office open – which wasn’t like anything their usually composed and cool company president had ever done before. Besides the main IT and tech work space and Koushirou’s main office, the floor mainly consisted of the HR, finance and PR/marketing offices. Paths were short and so it didn’t even take him two minutes to get here.

Their New Hire didn’t seem exactly surprised – instead, he looked like he had been haunted by a ghost once his eyes met Koushirou’s. A certain sense of “Damn, I didn’t think I’d meet you just yet” was in the air.

“Is something the matter, Izumi-shachou? You look rather distressed?”, Takano asked and Taichi became even more pale.

“I… Just talked to Kawashima-san and came here to greet our newest company member personally”, he smiled a forced smile – and Takano found himself laughing.

“See, I knew you would leave an impression early, Yagami-san.”

“Y-yeah… That’s one way to put it”, Taichi smiled in return, which led Koushirou to cough.

“Takano-san, would you mind if I talked to Yagami-san alone for a few minutes?” The way he pronounced his name – the family name of a person whose first name he had probably said a million times before– felt odd, foreign and just plain wrong, but his brain was running on autopilot right now anyway. What was happening here, why was it happening, was this a prank, was he dreaming?

“Absolutely not, I am sure you’ll be just as pleased with him as I was, just please call me back when you are done”, Takano said. Despite being more than ten years older than himself, he was oozing quite a relaxed and confident aura, still seemed very “in touch” with his younger colleagues… But Koushirou couldn’t tell how much he actually knew.

“Thank you very much…”

With that, Takano left his little office space and the two long-term friends behind, who remained quiet, still maintaining – somewhat uncomfortable – eye contact… Until the door was closed and the air seemed clear.

“Taichi-san, why on earth did you not tell me that you applied to my company?! When did you intend to tell me this, just – how did you even come up with this, what was going through your head?!”, it eventually bursted out of Koushirou in waves, so he couldn’t even keep his voice low anymore – didn’t even care anymore if the entire office heard him like that – and Taichi just apologetically raised his arms.

“I wanted it to be a surprise! I obviously knew you would learn about it sooner than later, but, knowing how freaking busy you were recently, I kinda thought it’d take at least until tomorrow!”, Taichi responded, but Koushirou still stared at him as if he had lost his mind. It was true that they had been barely in touch for a few weeks due to his finance report – but also because of something else.

“And what a surprise this was! Also, this doesn’t explain why you applied here, I mean… What happened to your job in the pachinko parlor?”

“I quit there. You said it yourself once, I seemed even more miserable every time I went there, and according to my therapist, it was just adding up to any mental issues, so… Yeah, I finally had the guts to quit.”

Taichi had finally started seeing a therapist. After losing Agumon, he had shut himself away for several days – up until Hikari, Koushirou and the others eventually couldn’t bear leaving him to his own devices to rot away in his flat anymore. It had taken quite a few attempts, speeches, crying and shouting to get through to him, reminding him that he didn’t have to deal with all of this by himself for him to finally break down. Years of self-isolation, years of pent up trauma, the feeling of loss, of his partner, of his sense of self… It had all come together, culminating in several painful realizations.

There hadn’t been an immediate solution. Instead, there had been a few fights and fallouts even, several weeks of searching and making use of Koushirou’s connections to find a therapist that was capable of taking over this case. Obviously, not a lot of “normal” humans were even in the position to relate to anything Yagami Taichi had gone through in his young life of only 23 years, but… It was worth a shot. And Koushirou had been glad that Taichi had accepted the opportunity despite having rebelled against the idea for a long time. Whichever path it may lead him towards, it could only have gotten better in his opinion.

However, he had not expected to suddenly see his best friend standing here in his office, dressed in suit and tie, not just as a visitor, but as an actual… Employee. His employee. And… As what even?

“I still don’t understand… What made you apply to become part of our marketing team? How does that relate to your studies?”

Now it was on Taichi to cough and, apparently, collecting himself.

“See… You know, I picked up writing my thesis again, right?”, Taichi explained calmly – which was an unusual sight, but it also calmed Koushirou down a little as well.

“You’re writing about the relationship between the real and the Digital World and how its relations may result in a symbiosis between the two…”

“Yeah. And once I’m done, I will have to present my thesis orally as well and, you know, I was talking to my therapist about that… He said I’m currently lacking experience to pull something like that off. Speaking in front of a crowd of people, being convincing…”

Hearing that, Koushirou felt a little sting in his chest. The Yagami Taichi he had known for the majority of his life used to be capable of pulling people along just by being himself, by letting his charisma show, his natural sense of leadership. To hear someone else assessing that he was currently not in a state of being his naturally contagious self anymore was… Daunting to say the least.

“And… Part of me knows that I want to make that symbiosis happen. Kinda, at least. So… I need to be able to sell that vision somehow. I have no idea how to do that yet, but… I want to learn how to do it.”

Seeing Taichi so vulnerable, so open to him… Hadn’t happened in a long time. Yes, he had seen him cry several times before, but he hadn’t been able to… Explain himself so surely and unsurely at the same time.

“Then I heard Hikari and Takeru talk about how you’ve been struggling to get people to work for your company and…”, Taichi hesitated, “Yeah, I saw the open positions listed on your screen the other day too.”

Koushirou frowned. Again, they hadn’t talked a lot in the past weeks, hadn’t even seen each other in person for a while, so… He really must have worked hard on his application there. It made the sting increase even more. Made him feel like the worst friend in the world.

“I had no idea…”

“Like I said, it was… Kinda meant to be a surprise, you know?” The grin on his face felt genuine, but Koushirou couldn’t shake the thought that he must have forced himself to keep quiet about it too.

“But… You could have asked me! I could have introduced you to Takano-san even sooner and-“

“No!” This time, Taichi actually seemed steadfast about his decision and, most importantly, more confident again to put his foot down. “That’s the point, I didn’t want to be hired based on, well, knowing the CEO. I don’t want handouts, Koushirou, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. This was a crazy idea in the first place and I brought it up to my therapist, even if it felt stupid and out of place after everything, but… I wanna figure out what I really want to do now. And what I’m capable of, on my own.”

Admittedly, Koushirou had never been to therapy himself, so he wasn’t exactly aware of how it worked, but if Taichi was already able to put his vision into words like that after just a few months… It really must have left an impact, Koushirou thought to himself while listening patiently.

Of course, when the subject of therapy had been brought up by Hikari for the first time, Koushirou had done his research – like he always did whenever he was not familiar with something. Thus, he remembered that there was something along the lines of exposure therapy. So whatever Taichi and his therapist must have brewed up together, it did feel like Taichi intended to face his demons, all of his insecurities heads on, taking on a challenge like this.

A part of him had almost assumed that Taichi would end up distancing himself from him even further, from everything in order to avoid hurting even more. Who could have blamed him for wanting to get away from everything that could potentially remind him of the part of himself that he had lost?

But now, Taichi really seemed to have gathered enough courage to do the opposite instead.

“So… Takano-san doesn’t know that you know me?”, Koushirou asked softly, causing Taichi to scratch his chin.

“Eh, I would say he still somewhat looked through me”, he confessed, again with a grin – one that felt a lot more like him though. “I knew way too much about this place and I’m pretty sure he saw me around before, but… I tried not to bring it up. But he’s actually a great guy, so talking to him made it all feel less stupid after all.”

Despite of how furious Koushirou had been before about not having known about any of this, about being left out of the picture… It also felt like, by choosing this path in particular, here of all places, Taichi was intending to step closer towards him specifically as well. Even if he hadn’t let him in on how it looked inside of him for a long time, even if he had had shut him out just like everyone else… Now that the tables had turned, in just the blink of an eye, Koushirou couldn’t suppress a smile, even if he had wanted to.

“You mean getting into ‘marketing’, mh?”

“Yeah, wild, I know.”

Koushirou’s smile widened.

“I presume you’ll be responsible for texting and being a PR representative of the company – and less for designing then?”

This time, Taichi pulled a grimace – and Koushirou knew he had hit a nerve there. His political sciences studies would come in handy, that he was certain about – however, talking convincingly to politicians still required a significantly different skillset from selling their ideas to the general public, including clueless stakeholders and, especially, the media.

“I know that tone, Kou, and I don’t like it! Mind you, I was practicing technical stuff with Hikari, I know photoshop and such! I’m not a kid anymore and way past the point of bluescreening your computer! Trust me!”

“No, no, I believe you!”, Koushirou laughed out loud – furthermore, he could not help but notice just how much he had missed Taichi’s presence. Bickering like that, being like this together, felt like putting over a warm, comfortable blanket he had hidden away in a closet for a long, long time…

And in the end, it was true – not only did he believe Taichi, he had always believed in him as well. And deep down, Koushirou knew better than anyone else how capable Taichi could be when he was at a hundred percent.

“Good! But yeah, Takano-san will do the visual designing stuff, I’m here to provide the input.”

“Interesting.” So that was most likely what Kawashima had been referring to when she had talked about Taichi’s ‘performance and presentation’ coming off as intriguing, Koushirou mused internally. Somebody must have done their homework up front and Koushirou was convinced that Takano had dug up quite a bit. Probably must have been aware of their ‘relationship status’ as well. “So by input you mean… Processing your experiences and present them in a neat package?”

“Pretty much”, Taichi smiled a crooked smile. He really had come a long way, considering how casually he was already conveying this. Maybe this would really prove to be a key element in getting Taichi’s spirit, and eventually Agumon back? Koushirou had seen him make miracles happen if he set his mind to it, so maybe his therapist had been onto something there. “So, you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Taken off guard by that reply, Koushirou blinked at him.

“I… Wasn’t exactly mad in the first place”, he said truthfully, all glimpses of potential anger had completely vanished after all and Taichi’s gentle tone was something he had never really been able to stand a chance against anyway. Instead, there was a weird sense of… Wary giddiness now. “Just… I did not see any of this coming.”

“Well, but then I was already successful in a way.”

“You really were.”

“Heh… So be sure to see me around a lot more in the future, Izumi-shachou, Takano-san was talking very highly of you.”

Avoiding to tell him that they wouldn’t even be in the same team and thus, probably not getting in touch much, Koushirou couldn’t tell if he was ready for them to be actual coworkers yet. He couldn’t tell if there would be rumours and gossiping, whether there were other complications he hadn’t thought of yet. All he could do was trust in Takano’s judgement, Taichi’s persistence and his own ability to separate their newly founded professional bond from their private bond. Things would absolutely be different from now on, but – it was genuinely making him a bit more hopeful for the future. For the sake of his company – and for Taichi’s sake as well. Most importantly, setting all rationality aside and letting his emotions do the talking, he wanted to believe that this arrangement would eventually improve their friendship again rather than harming it.

“We’ll see about that, Yagami-san.”

Little did he know that it would end up being an entirely different experience from anything he could ever have imagined…

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x39 - Two Great Ultimate Evolutions! Push Back the Darkness / The Battle for Earth

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Vamdemon came back in a Biblical way and began destroying Odaiba via rainbow hip thrusts. To stop him from eating everybody, Takeru and Hikari shot their brothers full of arrows. More importantly, PicoDevimon fucking died.

The first full minute of this episode is just replaying the cool CGI Warp-Evolution sequences from the end of the previous. Both because they're fucking cool and to set the stage for the fight to come, with Show Me Your Brave Heart already blaring.

This is immediately followed by their rundowns, before we've even seen any of the kids. WarGreymon is an Ultimate-stage Vaccine-type Dragon Person Digimon. MetalGarurumon is an Ultimate-stage Data-type Cyborg Digimon.

Kinda weird that MetalGarurumon was a Vaccine for his whole evolution chain until now and suddenly becomes Data. That's because these two come from the same evolution tree in the V-Pet, which has one Ultimate for each of the three types.

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are from the Metal Empire line - along with the Virus Ultimate Mugendramon, who we'll get to meet shortly. Though the 0.5 rerelease several months after this episode would replace Mugendramon with VenomVamdemon; An obvious bit of tie-in synergy that doesn't really fit the theme of Metal Empire.

Narrator: WarGreymon. An Ultimate-stage Digimon Warp-Evolved from Agumon. His special attack Gaia Force gathers ki from his surrounding area and unleashes it all at once.

I think we all understand the concept of chi or ki but just in case, it's the natural energy that exists in all things but especially living things, which can be harnessed, regulated, and controlled according to certain belief systems. Basically what George Lucas ripped off when he invented the Force.

Gaia Force is basically the Genki-dama/Spirit Bomb from Dragon Ball. Pretty unapologetically, in fact; Wait 'til you see it in action.

Narrator: MetalGarurumon. An Ultimate-stage Digimon Warp-Evolved from Gabumon. His special attack, Cocytus Breath, freezes his enemies solid before he smashes them to pieces!

Oh look, there's another ancient mythology reference from the nerds over at Digimon Adventure. :P Cocytus is a lesser-known one of the five rivers that encircles the Greek underworld, literally named "Lamentation". But it's more likely that this is a reference to Dante's Inferno, whose author borrowed many things from the Greek underworld.

In the Inferno, Cocytus is the ninth and final circle of Hell; A frozen wasteland where betrayers are confined. This is where Satan is found, held captive in the ice at the center. You can see the connection between that and the frosty power MetalGarurumon intends to bring to bear against the (Wiki Article who can Punch You version of the) Beast of Revelations today.

Izzy: (rundown) It's WarGreymon! It says here his attack is Terra Force. Gathering the energy around him and focusing it in the palm of his hand! Izzy: (rundown) MetalGarurumon has his Metal Wolf Claw attack! He shoots a powerful cold blast at his enemies, then blows them to pieces!

Unsurprisingly, Izzy does not have the nerve to reference Dante's Inferno right now.

Koushiro: Ultimate-stage... They've evolved into Ultimate-stage Digimon! Tentomon: Well, I feel less useful now. Yamato: Yeah, you're right. Tentomon: What.

In the wake of the two Ultimate evolutions, Tentomon self-deprecates. To which Yamato hilariously agrees, prompting a short but clearly agitated response. XD Fucking rude, Yamato. Holding Taichi's hand is making his bad habits rub off on you.

In the dub:

Izzy: Mega Digimon! They Digivolved into their Mega Digimon forms! Tentomon: That's great, 'cause we'll need them to beat VenomMyotismon! Matt: Yeah! That's for sure! Tentomon: Good luck! I'll wait here....

Really? Come on, dub team. That joke was right up your alley. You love it when the kids are mean to each other for no good reason.

WarGreymon kicks us off, wreathing himself in energy and launching himself into VenomVamdemon like a bullet.

The attack hits so hard it knocks VenomVamdemon off his feet and sends him crashing down into the rubble. The observation deck from the Fuji broadcasting center rolls by. Remember when we blew up Fuji TV? Remember how cool that was!?

I jest, but there's a narrative purpose to showing us the observation deck again. WarGreymon didn't just hit VenomVamdemon, he shoved him all the way back to the FCG Building. Remember, he's trying to close the distance to Big Sight, and we want him to not do that. There's about a mile of space where, if he finishes crossing it, thousands of people will die.

This big energy tackle of WarGreymon's pushed VenomVamdemon all the way back to his starting point. Which is way more of a hit than anyone's been able to do to him thus far.

The humans hops back in the van because now they have to drive half a mile to get back to the fight.

Taichi: GO, WARGREYMON!!! Hikari: SO POWERFUL!!!

VenomVamdemon climbs back to his feet. MetalGarurumon follows up on the attack, opening up countless panels on his body and firing off missiles in every direction.

(Uh. Hopefully the ones that didn't go in VenomVamdemon's direction are homing missiles or something. Please do not randomly destroy parts of Odaiba, MetalGarurumon. The devastation is bad enough as it is.)

MetalGarurumon's ice missiles slam into VenomVamdemon, exploding and freezing every part of him that they hit. Encasing his whole body in an icy prison.

(Kind of like Satan in Cocytus, yes, I got your reference.)

Takeru: Ah! Yamato: Amazing!

The Yagamis are much more enthusiastic with their cheering than Yamato and Takeru. XD Taichi is hollering his lungs off, while Yamato's in the back seat like, "Pretty cool, yeah."

...wait, why is Yamato in the back seat? His dad is driving; How the hell did Taichi pull shotgun?

In the dub, Izzy joins in the cheering for the sake of silence-breaking.

Izzy: WAY TO GO, WARGREYMON!!! YOU CREAMED HIM!!! ...I think.... Tai: Look! There they go! Get after him, WarGreymon! Kari: Put his lights out! MetalGarurumon: ICE WOLF CLAW!!! (MetalGarurumon follows up with ice missiles) T.K.: Frozen! Matt: Solid!

The missiles aren't called as an attack in the original, but the dub identifies them as MetalGarurumon's signature move. Kind of odd because there's no clawing involved, but Cocytus Breath doesn't sound like it has clawing involved either so I'm not sure what's up with that attack name to begin with.

Unfortunately, VenomVamdemon won't go down that easily. Drawing up his power, he breaks free from the ice holding him.

VenomVamdemon: RAAAAAAAARGH!!! MetalGarurumon: He can't...! WarGreymon: How can he do that!? VenomVamdemon: Now I'm mad... NOW I'M MAD!!! VENOM INFUSE!!!

NO MY CONFIGURATION DATA

Finally unveiling his signature move, VenomVamdemon shoots out his Venom Infuse as rainbow streaks from his eyes. Notably different from the disintegration rainbow streaks from his crotch.

Unfortunately, these attacks do not disintegrate their targets. A stray blast knocks half of a building loose, sending it down almost on top of Hiroaki's van. He swerves to avoid being crushed, but the impact sends him into a rollover. R.I.P. to the party bus; It's been a valuable member of this team.

In the dub, VenomMyotismon continues to be more verbose than his counterpart.

VenomMyotismon: GYAAAAGH!!! MetalGarurumon: It didn't work! VenomMyotismon: Your miserable attempts to destroy me have failed! Now you will pay! Hehe... Hehehehehe... AHAHAHAHA!!! (VenomMyotismon shoots unnamed rainbow beams from his eyes)

The dub does not name Venom Infuse. Instead, VenomMyotismon just... laughs... for five straight seconds. Must have been thinking of something really funny. Consequently, it's not really clear that this is supposed to be the big attack, so it just looks like he's shooting more ambiguous projectiles at them.

The dub also gives Hiroaki a silence-breaker when the car flips over.

Hiroaki: Everybody out! Get clear of the van!

If it seems weird that he's making it sound like the van's a threat, remember those American cultural sensibilities at play. Americans are confident that cars will explode into a fireball at the slightest provocation. It's a miracle they're all not burning to death already.

The humans climb out of the car and run for cover to avoid being hit by the next stray shot. Though Masami, it seems, was injured in the crash; Hiroaki supports him and helps him limp to safety.

Meanwhile, at Big Sight, the others watch the fighting from a distance.

Shin emerges from the convention center to join the three Chosen Children.

Jou: Ah! Shin-niisan! How's Dad doing? Shin: No change. (Jou and the girls all slump in disappointment) Gomamon: We'll have to defeat Vamdemon if we want them to wake up. Mimi: My Papa and Mama.... (face hardens) I want to defeat Vamdemon! Palmon: Mimi! I can still fight! Mimi: (smiling) Palmon....

As seen when Lilimon first evolved, this is what gets Mimi riled up. Mimi fights to end the fighting, so that she won't have to fight again. She does not want to be here, and her power comes from her straightforward and honest desire to reach a conclusion.

Piyomon: Sora? (Sora kneels down to get on Piyomon's level; Piyomon simply nods to her) Sora: Okay! Jou: (affectionately) You guys....

Sora and Piyomon are on the same wavelength, to the point that they don't even need to exchange words. They feel what the other is feeling and agree.

Suddenly, Gomamon jumps onto Jou and then clambers up his body until he reaches Jou's shoulders, draping himself over Jou's head like a hood.

Gomamon: "Let's go, Gomamon!" How come I'm not hearing those words? Jou: Heh... Alright! LET'S GO, GOMAMON!!! Gomamon: YOU GOT IT!!!

And Jou's better learned how to take charge and be bold as a leader from Gomamon. He sprints towards VenomVamdemon without another word, ready to join the fighting.

Sora: (bows to Shin) Please take care of my mother! (Sora runs off after Jou) Mimi: (to Shin, does not bow) My Papa and Mama too! (Mimi runs off after Sora and Jou) Shin: Don't do anything reckless....

In the dub:

Joe: Jim, how's Dad? Is there any improvement yet? Jim: No, still exactly the same. Gomamon: Alright, I'm tired of fooling around! We have to defeat Myotismon once and for all! Mimi: Our parents always protected us. Now it's time we came through for them! Palmon: Mimi! If we do it together, we can beat him! Mimi: Think so? Palmon: Mhm! Biyomon: I'll try! Sora: You will!? Biyomon: Yeah! Mhm! Sora: Okay! Joe: We already tried! Gomamon: So we'll keep on trying, Joe! Because Digimon never give up! (Gomamon climbs up Joe) Gomamon: Like they always say: All for 'mon and 'mon for all! Joe: Hahahaha.... YOU'RE RIGHT!!! WE CAN DO IT!!! LET'S GET 'EM GUYS!!! (Joe runs off into battle) Sora: (bows to Jim) You'll have to excuse Joe; He's a little hyperactive. (Sora runs off after Joe) Mimi: (to Jim, does not bow) Please take care of our parents, Jim! (Mimi runs off after Sora and Joe) Jim: Good luck, you guys.

Doesn't really capture the moment of strength and determination that this is supposed to be for each of these three characters.

Also, why is Sora apologizing to Joe's older brother for the way he behaves? Jim should already know what Joe's like.

At the FCG Building, the humans have somehow managed to separate from one another despite all being together when they exited the van.

While the Digimon fight, the humans run around calling for one another.

Taichi: HIKARI!!! Hikari: ONII-CHAN!!!

Hikari's voice momentarily distracts Angewomon. She looks down at her human on the ground and misses when a large piece of rubble comes flying her way. By the time she notices it, it's too late to avoid.

Yamato: TAKERU!!! Takeru: ONII-CHAN!!!

VenomVamdemon backhands Angemon into a nearby building's wall. He crashes near the three adults, who've somehow managed to stay together while losing track of all five children. Great adulting, guys. A+ job.

Izzy: DAD!!! MOM!!! Tentomon: Ah! The others are here!

Birdramon, Ikkakumon, and Togemon all charge aggressively at VenomVamdemon's heel.

Togemon: VAMDEMON!!! WE'RE HERE TO FIGHT TOO!!! Tentomon: I'm going to join in!

Man, that shot really puts into perspective how gigantic he really is.

The dub edits the shot of Angewomon getting struck by the rubble. We see the rock carrying her to the ground, but not her momentary distraction or the moment of impact.

They don't edit Angemon getting backhanded into a wall, though. Only Angewomon getting smashed by a rock is edited to obscure which angel got hit. She doesn't even get to make a pain yelp like in the original; We just hear Vamdemon roaring while a rock smashes a vaguely angelic character.

Weird.

I suspect it's about her visible gender. Creatives, especially back in the day, sometimes get hand-wringy about letting violence happen to female characters. Boys are taught that you shouldn't hit a girl and they grow up thinking that's, like, a universal moral constant that women must never be harmed in any situation ever.

I mean, you shouldn't hit a girl. You also shouldn't hit a boy. You shouldn't hit anyone, except in circumstances that are already violent. But the problem is that boys internalize this not as "Don't do unwarranted violence to people" but as "Women are too weak and fragile for manly roughhousing."

Then they become writers and extend it to mean women can't be recipients of slapstick jokes, male heroes must never strike female villains even if they're actively fighting each other, or even that female heroes can never be shown being struck in combat. Or even go so far as to not let women be heroes because that would involve putting them in combat situations where they might get hit.

We've made a lot of strides since I was a kid in allowing female characters to get hit in both slapstick bits and action scenes. But for this turn-of-the-millennium show, that's the only reason I can think of for censoring Angewomon's rock but not Angemon's backhand. Someone in the office probably got nervous when a visibly humanoid woman was struck with a giant rock onscreen.

As for the kids yelling for one another, uh....

Tai: KARI!!! Kari: WHERE ARE YA, TAI!?!? Matt: TAI!!! T.K.: GET 'EM, ANGEMON!!! Izzy: MOM, DAD, I'M COMING!!! Tentomon: Look, Izzy! All the others have Digivolved too! There's Ikkakumon and Togemon and Birdramon! I'm going in!

Tai and Kari stay on point, but Matt's more interested in hooking back up with Tai than in T.K.'s wellbeing and T.K.'s too focused on the fight to even care that he's lost.

Tentomon offers no surprise whatsoever to see the backup Digimon suddenly enter the battle and instead has evolution envy.

Tentomon evolves into Kabuterimon to join the fighting. With the whole team assembled, the only thing left to do is dogpile on VenomVamdemon's stupid crotch-face.

WarGreymon: Yes! Everyone, attack him together!

The entire team combines their attacks, firing into VenomVamdemon's crotch-face. Once their attacks have all struck, WarGreymon follows up by spinning super-fast and wreathing himself in energy. He launches an attack he calls Brave Tornado straight into the vulnerable spot in VenomVamdemon's crotch that they've opened up.

Ultimately, the attack plan works, penetrating through VenomVamdemon and bringing him to his knees.

Hiroaki: They got him.

The dub calls WarGreymon's attack "Mega Claw", reusing the name they gave to MetalGreymon's extendo-arm.

Too bad it's still not enough.

Out of the hole WarGreymon put in VenomVamdemon comes some sort of dark shadowy gremlin thing. To protect its secret identity, VenomVamdemon's crotch-goblin also wears a mask.

Mimi: KYAAAAHH!!! Taichi: WH-WHAT THE HELL!?!?

In the dub, VenomMyotismon's given dialogue here. In the original, he's just roaring in a bestial rage.

VenomMyotismon: YAAARGH!!! YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME!?!? HA!!! YOU'VE ONLY AWAKENED THE BEAST WITHIN!!! (Crotch goblin emerges) Mimi: AHHHHHH!!! Tai: WHAT IS THAT THING!?

Before anyone can get their heads in the game, the crotch goblin attacks.

(Y'all, I am so glad I have screenshots because I don't know how I would even begin describing what is happening right now without illustrations.)

The crotch goblin sprays a burst of dark energy into the ground that explodes out radially, washing over every Digimon. It's a heavy blow to the whole team, knocking them all out of the action and leaving the children defenseless.

VenomVamdemon: I WILL DEVOUR ALL OF YOU!!!

The next half-minute or so is spent cycling through silent reaction shots of each Chosen Child individually. I've selected Hikari's because she hasn't gotten much snapshot screentime yet.

Y'all are lucky Mimi just got a big shared reaction shot with Taichi or this would've been her. YES I AM BIASED AND MY KID DESERVES RESP--

As usual, VenomMyotismon is more verbose than his counterpart. The silent reaction shots are also filled in with silence-breakers.

VenomMyotismon: NOW I'LL DEVOUR ALL OF YOU SO-CALLED DIGIDESTINED!!! YOU'VE STOOD IN MY WAY FOR THE LAST TIME!!! Mimi: (thinking) It can't end like this! Matt: (thinking) I let everyone down again! Sora: (thinking) I wish I could have done more.... Izzy: (thinking) It's impossible he survived that! Joe: (thinking) Maybe we should surrender.... T.K.: (thinking) This is scarier than the movies! Kari: (gasp) Tai: (thinking) I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!

Mimi, Matt, Sora, Izzy, and Tai are all pretty much perfect in terms of hopeless situation characterization. Joe's being characterized as a coward again. T.K. is... okay, I guess? They literally didn't even try with Kari.

Just when all seems lost, the Chosen Children's Crests begin to shine brightly.

Beams of holy energy emerge from the Crests, ensnaring VenomVamdemon's limbs and neck. Crotch goblin starts yelling at the kids.

VenomVamdemon (Crotch): RELEASE ME, YOU FILTHY CHOSEN CHILDREN!!! Taichi: It talked? That's it! The disgusting bakemono must be Vamdemon's true form!

That's a leap in....

Oh, hey, no, he's right. That is the weird shadow ghoul thing possessing Vamdemon's mask last episode. I always thought it was weird that VenomVamdemon is supposed to be Vamdemon's "true form" 'cause, like, that implies he could transform like this at any time but allowed himself to be slain earlier for funsies.

But it's the crotch goblin. Vamdemon's true form is a formless undead spirit inhabiting a mask. Both the Dracula man and the Wiki Article Beast of Revelations are just outer shells he forms around him when he's consumed enough energy.

(I kind of love that a bakemono inside the Dracula is the true Vamdemon too because Vamdemon is the evolved form of Devimon and Bakemon, so that makes sense.)

This actually makes sense to me now.

The dub has Tai talk over the Crests glowing.

Tai: Huh!? My Crest! Everybody, look at your Crests! They're all starting to glow!

But once they start grabbing VenomMyotismon, he stays quiet and lets the scene play out until the crotch goblin starts talking.

VenomMyotismon (True Crotch): Curse you, DigiDestined! Curse you and your lousy Crests! Let go! Waugh! Let go! Tai: Look at that! Mega freaky! I wonder if that monster represents Myotismon's actual form?

Tai reaches the same conclusion as Taichi but I guess it just didn't make sense to me as a kid because the only explanation he offers is that it's "mega freaky". To be fair, Taichi's not acting on that much more information.

Crotch goblin sounds way more pathetic in the dub. XD

Taichi has an idea now for how to win this

Taichi: WARGREYMON!!! WarGreymon: Got it! MetalGarurumon: WarGreymon!

MetalGarurumon bops the poor Fuji TV observation deck into the air, passing it to WarGreymon.

Sora: NICE PASS!!! Children: SHOOT!!!

WarGreymon receives the observation deck like a soccer ball, shooting it straight into crotch goblin's dumb face. It lets out a shrill scream like a baby cry, forcing me to take back what I said about VenomMyotismon's crotch goblin being the more pathetic of the two.

The dub leans in on this.

Tai: WARGREYMON!!! WarGreymon: Pass me the ball! (MetalGarurumon silently passes it) Sora: Nice pass. Children: SHOOT!!!

Dub Sora sounds way less invested in the impromptu soccer game.

With VenomVamdemon momentarily stunned by the soccer shot, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon fire up their strongest attacks. Sending Gaia Force and Cocytus Breath straight into VenomVamdemon's vulnerable crotch, they annihilate the little shadow wraith and finally, finally strike the kill-shot.

His true form destroyed by the overwhelming power of soccer hooliganism, VenomVamdemon breaks down, disintegrating into pixels chunk by chunk until nothing is left. The battle for Odaiba is finally, truly over.

With Vamdemon's true death, his spells break. The mesmerized adults at Big Sight wake up, with Tachikawa Keisuke being the first to speak up.

Keisuke: Huh? What happened? Shin: Great job, Jou!

Glad to see Shin knows who the real hero here is. This was a triumph for Jou-senpai. And, to a lesser extent, his crew.

Their energy drained, Koromon and Tsunomon return to Taichi and Yamato. Yamato pets Tsunomon affectionately while Taichi hoists Kunomon aloft and dances.

Koromon: TAICHI!!! Taichi: Great job, Koromon! Yamato: You did well, Tsunomon.

Speaking of drained energy, Mimi notices an unidentified Digimon now among their group.

Mimi: Huh? Who are you? Plotmon: I'm Plotmon. It's nice to meet you.

Plotmon is a Child-stage Data-type Mammal Digimon. I believe we already went over her V-Pet status back in her backstory episode, but she gets her formal rundown here.

Narrator: Plotmon. A Child Digimon with long, floppy ears. She is the degenerated form of Tailmon. Her special attack is Puppy Howling. Hikari: Tailmon must be in her Child form now because she used up all her energy helping Agumon and Gabumon evolve to their Ultimate levels. Jou: Kehhhhh...?

Jou doesn't get it but I do.

In the dub, apparently Mimi's parents know Joe's brother. Don't ask me how.

Keisuke: Hey, what happened, Jim? Jim: IT MUST BE JOE AND THE OTHERS!!! THEY DID IT!!! THEY WON!!! (Cut back to the FCG ruins) Koromon: We did it, Tai! We did it! Tai: Ahahahaha! Tsunomon: Wasn't that cool, Matt? Matt: Great job, Tsunomon! Mimi: Look, a stray Digimon! Salamon: Don't you recognize me? I was Gatomon. Salamon: (rundown) What do I have to do, cough up a furball? Kari: (rundown) That's Salamon, the Rookie form of Gatomon. Isn't she cute? Much more cuddly than her Ultimate form of Angewomon. Kari: But I guess she's back to being a Rookie because she used up all of her energy during the fight. What are we going to do? They don't allow pets at our apartment! Joe: Drag!

Uh. Nobody tell Kari but I'm pretty sure her apartment is a parking lot right now. She's going to be living in a refugee shelter for a few months. They'll probably put people up at Big Sight, now that I think about it. The damage Vamdemon did to Odaiba is catastrophic.

(Also, she has a cat. This bit doesn't work. They clearly do allow pets at her apartment.)

With Vamdemon's spells broken the fog barrier breaks down. At last, we can see the sky again.

Sora: Hey, look! The sky is clearing up!

The final sign of our true victo--what the FUCK is that!?

Sora: (gasp) Mimi: DYAAAAAAH!?!? Takeru: It's not true! Jou: I-It can't be....

At some point during all that nonsense within the fog barrier, the merging of worlds has begun. Strips of reality hang in the sky, on the other side of which lies the Digital World.

Hikari: Onii-chan, I'm scared! Taichi: What is this...?

This is easier to grasp, right off the bat, what's happening in the original. The dub cut the one line where Myotismon mentions that he's "destined" to merge the two worlds and reign over the conjoined reality as its king. He's dead now, but he apparently made some headway into fulfilling his task while we were all trapped in the fog.

But since the dub didn't mention that, this comes more out of left field there.

Sora: Hey, look! The sky's clearing up! (Jubilation slowly turns to horror) Sora: ...what...? Mimi: AAAAAUGH!!! T.K.: HEY!!! NO WAY!!! Joe: That's... not possible.... Matt: Huh!? Joe: There's a... giant island... floating in the sky! Upside-down! Kari: (gasps) Tai: Things... Just keep getting weirder!

Their dialogue isn't really any different than in the original; We just don't have the previous context to make sense of what they're seeing.

Commercial break, then we return to the strange new phenomenon taking place all across the world.

Narrator: The upside-down continent appearing in the sky could be seen all across the world.

We cut to various places across the planet including New York and Antarctica before returning to Big Sight. Yagami Yuuko and Susumu exit the convention center, laying eyes on the strange phenomenon.

Susumu: Is this... a mirage? Shin: (on his moped) No, I think that's real. Yuuko: Um, do you know where our children are? Where are Taichi and Hikari? Shin: They're at Fuji TV station. I'm on my way to check out the situation. I'll meet back up with you afterward!

Shin takes off on his moped before they can ask any further questions.

We then briefly see a ferry finally able to cross the bay into Odaiba. Takaishi Natsuko, Takeru's mom, is on her way. Everybody there is staring up in shock at the ribbons streaked across reality in the sky as well.

Narrator: The mysterious continents floated eerily in the night sky. Strangely enough, none of the radars, satellites, or other electronic equipment on Earth recognized their existence.

Ironically, if you were to ask Google AI, it'd probably have a better grasp of what's hanging in the sky up there than real-world tracking equipment would. There's no way the Digital World hasn't snuck into its training data.

The dub replaces the cold narration with Tai whining.

Tai: Man, why does this have to happen now when we were just feeling good about beating Myotismon!? It's like the world is turning upside-down or something!

This line plays out over the shots of various geographic locations with the reality ribbons above them, which doesn't really connect to Tai's line but isn't entirely unrelated to it either.

Susumu: Hey, what's going on!? Jim: (on his moped) Whatever it is, it doesn't look too good for our side. Yuuko: Oh, Jim! Have you seen my children? Do you know where Tai and Kari are? Jim: No, but I have an educated guess. I'm gonna search where the monsters were fighting. I'll come back when I find them, okay?

Fucking everybody knows Joe's older brother. He's the most popular guy in town, I guess. XD

An interesting change here is that Jim doesn't say they're at the TV station. Which is a good change, I think, 'cause he shouldn't know that. They weren't going to Fuji; They were going to fight VenomVamdemon, who was so big he could be seen from Big Sight. They'll be wherever VenomVamdemon died, which could be anywhere in Odaiba.

That spot is the Fuji broadcasting center, but that's a mile away and all the landmarks have been destroyed. So it's a bit of a leap for Shin to assume that they ended up at Fuji specifically. Jim here is planning to drive in the direction of where the giant monster was and just keep his eyes peeled for children.

The narrator is done away with for the ferry shot as well, with a voice-over from Izzy replacing him.

Izzy (V.O.): This isn't making any sense! It looks like an entire upside-down continent in the sky, but it doesn't show up on radar or on any satellite pictures! In fact, no instruments of any kind can confirm that... Whatever it is, is really even there!

I could be snippy about Izzy somehow possessing all this information but actually the dub did assert in an early episode that he likes to hack into government systems for shits and giggles. So we can assume he's just breaking all kinds of laws right now to bring us this revelation.

As the ferry pulls into Odaiba, it discharges a truly terrified mother. Courtesy of the Fuji building being right on the coast, she's able to quickly reunite with her son.

Both of them.

Natsuko: TAKERU!!! TAKERU!!! Takeru: (turns around, surprised) IT'S MAMA!!! Natsuko: TAKERU!!!

Natsuko sprints out into the ruins to hug her son. She hasn't noticed them yet, but Yamato and Hiroaki watch her arrive. Yamato stares in silence at his mother, while Hiroaki lights up a cigarette.

Natsuko: Thank goodness you're safe! I was so worried about you! Were you scared, Takeru? Takeru: No, Onii-chan was with me!

It's at that moment that Natsuko looks up and sees Yamato. She stands.

Natsuko: (surprised) Yamato.... Yamato: (vulnerable) ...Mom....

This is incredibly awkward and uncomfortable. It's pretty clear at this point that HIroaki and Natsuko don't see very much of the sons the other took. They've basically made a clean break in their divorce, with the brothers sneaking around in secret to remain in contact with each other. This is where a lot of their trauma and separation anxiety throughout the series has come from.

But Takeru's having none of this tense, uncomfortable moment. He grabs Natsuko by the wrist and drags her over to face Yamato.

Natsuko: (smiling warmly) Yamato... You've grown taller again. Yamato: Yeah, a little. Natsuko: You look good. I'm glad. Hiroaki: Natsuko.... (Natsuko looks up from Yamato, finally noticing Hiroaki) Hiroaki: It's been a while. Natsuko: (awkward) ...yeah.... Takeru: (cheerful) Ahaha! It's been a long time since the whole family got together, hasn't it, Onii-chan? Yamato: Yeah, I guess it has....

@_@ All of the family drama in this arc is hitting me way harder than the scary Dracula monster. It's amazing how age changes context.

In the dub:

Nancy: T.K.!!! T.K.!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!? T.K.: (turns around, surprised) MAMA!!! Nancy: Oh! Ohhh, T.K.! I was so afraid I'd never see you again! (Nancy runs over and hugs T.K.) Nancy: You must have been terrified, T.K. T.K.: Nuh-uh! Matt was with me the whole time! (Nancy stands up) Nancy: (surprised) Matt.... Matt: (vulnerable) ...Hey, Mom.... T.K.: C'mon! (T.K. grabs Nancy by the wrist and drags her over to Matt) T.K.: Come see Matt! And Daddy too! Nancy: Oh, Matt. I'm so proud of you! Thank you, son! Matt: (surly) Yeah, whatever. Nancy: Don't be like that. Please, Matt. Hiroaki: Nancy. (Nancy looks up from Matt, finally noticing Hiroaki) Hiroaki: It's... been a long time, hasn't it? Nancy: (awkward) Yes, it has. T.K.: (cheerful) Ahaha! It's been a really long time since all of us were together, huh, Matt? Matt: (surly) Yeah, I guess so.

I don't think the dub liked the implication that Natsuko hasn't seen Yamato in months or even years. Enough for him to physically change to a noteworthy degree.

In their version, Nancy tries to congratulate him for... I guess, for taking good care of T.K.? It's not like she knows anything else that happened after T.K. disappeared on a giant wooly monster. There's a lot of accolades he deserves but that's the only one I think she'd be able to deliver.

In any case, she gives him a thumbs up and he decides to be surly about it. The awkward discomfort of this whole situation is replaced by Matt emotionally stonewalling his mom. Which is still awkward and uncomfortable, just differently so.

While Yamato and Takeru's family are having this moment, the Americans make bad choices.

Narrator: Could the strange continents be an optical illusion? An American reconnaissance plane headed off at once to find out.

The plane crosses through the boundary between worlds, then freezes up as it crosses over and falls out of the sky.

Pilot: NOOOOOOO!!!

I'm sorry but the pilot's over-the-top scream of "No" killed me. XD About as hard as this tailspin is about to kill him!

We should probably do something about this before the Americans' next plan is to shoot missiles at it. We're about thirty minutes away from fearfully carpet-bombing the Digital World. Bombs that will probably come right back to us if what happened to that plane is anything to go by.

In the dub, Izzy pitches in for the narrator again.

Izzy: Check this out, guys. I've been monitoring the news reports. The Air Force is sending in everything they've got to figure out what this continent in the sky really is. They don't know anything so far! But they're assuming it's dangerous. (Plane crosses the boundary and freezes) Pilot: This is Hawkeye One MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY!!!

Americans have a better grasp on American military lingo. Can't imagine why. Though I admit, I'm sad to see the hilarious "NOOOOOO" go.

No mention of the plane being American. Also, apparently this one plane was everything the Air Force has. Yeah, they haven't been getting the funding they need since the election of Japanese Bill Clinton. Some costs needed to get cut.

R.I.P. to the one remaining aircraft we had left.

Mimi: I hope my Mama and Papa are okay.... Sora: I'm sure they are.

Suddenly, the kids hear the sound of a honking horn. It's Shin's moped closing in on them.

Palmon: Someone's coming! Jou: Ah! That's...! (Shin pulls up) Jou: SHIN-NIISAN!!! Mimi: ONII-SAN!!! Shin: All of your families back at Big Sight are safe! Everyone's recovered! Hikari: YAY!!! Mimi: (grabs Sora's hands) Isn't that great, Sora-san? (Sora withdraws one of her hands to wipe a tear from her eye) Sora: Yeah!

Mimi calls Shin "Onii-san" because it's fairly common in Japan to use familial terms as a polite way for young people to address older people. You might call an older man "father" or "grandfather", for example, even if he's not related to you. Addressing people in Japanese is very complicated.

The dub lets Mimi start talking sooner so she can have a longer line.

Mimi: I have to admit that I'm a little jealous that Matt and T.K. found their parents, and Izzy too! I just hope my Mom and Dad are alright! Sora: I know how you feel. Me too. ...huh? (headlights approach) Sora: Someone's coming! Joe: Alright! My brother! ...hey, I didn't tell him he could ride my scooter! (Jim pulls up) Mimi: JIM!!! Joe: JIM!!! Mimi: Have you seen my Mom and Dad!? Jim: All the other families that were at the convention center are fine! They're all back to normal! Kari: AWESOME!!! Koromon: YAY!!! Mimi: (grabs Sora's hands) Sora, they're safe! (Sora withdraws one of her hands to wipe a tear from her eye) Sora: Great!

I love the way this scene plays Mimi. The longer line stays on-point and works super well, and I also like her frantic interrogation of Jim when he pulls up. This was a good one.

For a quick gag, the dub also claims that the moped belongs to Joe, actually. Which. Raises. A tremendous amount of questions given that he's fucking 12.

Shin takes out a small pocket TV, turning on the news.

Reporter: Those continents in the sky are not an illusion! They really exist! No one knows what the cause of this might be, but many are fearful that these strange continents will forever replace the blue sky of our world! Jou: W-What is happening!? Yamato: Is this part of Vamdemon's plan too!? Tsunomon: That's impossible! We killed Vamdemon for good this time! Koromon: Yeah, no doubt about that!

Koushiro disassociates from the conversation, his attention locked on something in the sky. The others talk around him while the camera fixes on his curious expression.

Taichi: Then what are they? Takeru: What's going to happen to us? Jou: Whatever the case, we need to figure out what's causing it first.

Brief cut to the target of Koushiro's attention. One particular mountain sticks out among all the others in the sky landmass. There's something about that mountain. Something he recognizes.

Koushiro: (thinking) That mountain... It looks exactly like Infinity Mountain! But that's impossible....

It does seem pretty impossible on account of that mountain being part of a continuous landmass. There's no ocean in sight. And yet.

In the dub:

Jim: Let's check the news. (Jim opens his pocket TV) Reporter: The latest report we have from the Air Force Chief of Staff confirms that the mysterious landmass in the sky is not an illusion of any kind. It is very real and, after several confrontations, apparently very dangerous. Joe: It's covering the whole sky! Matt: It has to be Myotismon's work again. Tsunomon: But that's impossible, isn't it? We defeated Myotismon for good this time! Koromon: Yeah, we kicked booty! (Closeup on Izzy disassociating) Joe: Well, you heard the news report. It's definitely dangerous. Who else could be doing it? Tai: What does it matter who's doing it!? We just have to stop it! Izzy: (thinking) There's something familiar about that mountain... It looks like Infinity Mountain!

"After several confrontations" WTF? XD We sent more planes. We just. We kept feeding planes into it one after another. Hahaha.

"It's apparently very dangerous" WELL MAYBE IT WOULDN'T BE IF WE DIDN'T KEEP CRASHING PLANES INTO IT. XD Japanamericans!

Jou and Taichi have their lines rearranged so that Tai can be the one trying to take charge instead of Joe. Their leadership styles are wildly different.

Having found a point of interest, Koushiro decides to confirm his suspicions.

Koushiro: Taichi-san! (points) Can you use your mini telescope to take a closer look at that? Taichi: (takes out his telescope) Where? Koushiro: Look, that mountain over there. Taichi: Which one? There are too many mountains. I can't tell which one you're pointing at. Koushiro: That one! Look! Taichi: Saying 'that one' isn't much help. Where is it--AH!!! Koushiro: What is it? Taichi: A plane. There's an airplane up there!

Koushiro looks up and can just barely make out the blinking of three lights, signifying a plane passing overhead.

In the dub:

Izzy: Hey, Tai! (points) Grab your telescope and get us a closer look at that peak right there! Tai: Huh? (takes out his telescope) Which one? Izzy: There! The big one I'm pointing to. Tai: Oh, like that helps me. Alright, I'm looking. Man, there are dozens of mountains up there! Which one? Izzy: The big one! Tai: The big o--WHAAA!!! Izzy: Did you find it? Tai: What I found is a jetliner! Izzy: Wha!?

Pretty faithful, little difference of note.

Up in the air, the pilot tries desperately to reach someone over the radio, but there's no response.

Pilot: Control Tower, please respond, over. Control Tower! Shit, what's going on.... Copilot: Sir, we're going to have to make an emergency landing. There's no fuel left in the tank. Pilot: I know that! If we only had someone to guide us down the runway.... Copilot: Our prospects aren't looking good! An American military base could--AHHHH!!!

Instruments on the plane begin to flash.

Pilot: What's happening!? Copilot: The fuel gauge is at empty! We can't control the plane anymore! We're going to crash! Pilot: That's impossible!

The plane tilts out of the sky, beginning its long descent.

Taichi: Ah! The plane's falling! It's going to crash! Sora: Piyomon! (Cut back to the cockpit) Pilot: We have to... make it somewhere.... Copilot: AHHHHHHH!!!

In the dub:

Pilot: Ground Control, this is Flight 224. We have lost our vector. Over. ...Strange. Why don't they answer? (tries again) This is 224 to Ground Control. Control, do you copy? Repeat, we have lost our landing vector. Come in, Ground control. Copilot: We can't land here now and we can't turn back with the fuel we have left onboard. (Lights start flashing suddenly) Copilot: What!? Pilot: The alarm! All systems failure! We've got about two seconds to figure out what's wrong here! Copilot: No use! Nothing's responding! We're going down! (Cut to the kids below) Tai: Oh no! The airplane reached the edge of that thing in the sky and just headed straight down! Sora: Biyomon! (Back to the cockpit) Pilot: Got to... pull out... We'll break up at this speed! Copilot: AHHHHHHH!!!

In the original, the plane ran out of fuel. They've been flying well below the reality ribbons so they didn't run afoul of what happened to the recon plane. But they haven't been able to land because telecommunications down in Tokyo have been going haywire since this all began, something we've been shown repeatedly.

The dub makes this about the reality ribbons. They briefly mention that they're low on fuel, but what kills the plane is that they accidentally flew into the boundary between worlds despite it being shown to be well above them, and despite the plane not freezing up like the recon plane did.

Birdramon rises into the air to try and catch the plane, but she spots something. A stray Kuwagamon is in their airspace. It buzzes past the plane, freezing one of the plane's wings as it passes, just like what passing through the boundary does. The plain goes into a spin.

Birdramon flies up underneath the plain to stabilize it, but can't deal with its weight. They're still going down.

Jou: BIRDRAMON!!! Birdramon: Hrrrrrrrgh! Sora: GANBATTE, BIRDRAMON!!!

Ahhh, ganbaru. Overcoming tremendous hardship through hard work and perseverance.

Sora's Crest shines, Super-Evolving Birdramon into Garudamon to give her the strength she needs.

The dub gives Birdramon some silence-breakers here, since this scene doesn't have a lot of dialogue but Birdramon doesn't need lip flaps either.

Birdramon: If I can just get there in time! (Kuwagamon flies in) Birdramon: It's Kuwagamon! Where did he come from!? (Kuwagamon buzzes the plane, freezing the wing. Birdramon moves in to catch the plane) Birdramon: (screeching) Joe: DO IT, BIRDRAMON!!! Birdramon: (more screeching) Sora: BIRDRAMON, DIGIVOLVE!!!

The original treats the mystery of Kuwagamon's appearance as self-evidently mysterious while Dub Birdramon calls it out and demands to know WTF. Nothing wrong with either approach in my opinion.

Seeing Garudamon struggling, Kabuterimon flies up to lend a hand.

Kabuterimon: I'll help y--WAUGH!!!

Kabuterimon has to swerve, narrowly missing the Kuwagamon he didn't realize was up here too. Without missing a beat, he fires up his Mega Blaster.

Kabuterimon: TAKE THIS!!!

His shot passes straight through Kuwagamon as if it wasn't there.

Kabuterimon: What the hell!? Garudamon: Pull back, Kabuterimon! DON'T TOUCH IT!!!

Kabuterimon jerks aside as Kuwagamon comes back around for another pass. Heeding Garudamon's warning, he lets this strange phantom Kuwagamon fly off. The creature heads across the bay into Tokyo proper. I'm sure that's fine.

From there, they guide the plane down into the bay, setting it down in the water so the people inside can escape in life rafts. I think they set the plane down just outside Shibaura, across what used to be the Rainbow Bridge from Odaiba. It looks like the Shibaura harbor to me.

This act of heroism leaves them so exhausted that they stop being animated, and the people below watch them levitate off into the distance as still frames.

Though AtlurKabuterimon's still-frame reveals he had to Super-Evolve for this too between scenes.

In the dub:

Kabuterimon: I'll help too! (Kuwagamon flies by) Kabuterimon: Huh!? Kuwagamon!? ELECTRO SHOCKER!!! (The shot passes through Kuwagamon) Kabuterimon: HUH!?!? IT WENT RIGHT THROUGH!!! Garudamon: Kabuterimon, get away! Don't touch him! (They let Kuwagamon go and set the plane down.) Tai: Nice going, Birdramon. You brought the plane down safely.

Tai's silence-breaker at the end there doesn't seem to make much sense at all. Somehow he's talking to Garudamon from Odaiba while addressing the wrong evolutionary form and completely snubbing AtlurKabuterimon's contribution. Why do you have to use your psychic powers for evil, Tai?

Once Garudamon and AtlurKabuterimon degenerate into Pyokomon and Mochimon respectively, the kids debrief them on what happened.

Taichi: Hey, was that Kuwagamon? Pyokomon: He flew here from those continents! Koushiro: I knew it. Group: Huh/Eh!? Taichi: What do you mean? Koushiro: That place up there is the Digimon World. Jou: EHHH!?!? Taichi: What did you say!? Yamato: That's the Digimon World!? Mimi: Now that you mention it, it does look kind of familiar.... Shin: Hey! Take a look at this!

In today's linguistic adventure, the other world is "Digimon World" in English.

The kids don't get a chance to process what Koushiro said, because Shin pulls their attention to his little TV.

Reporter: Please watch this. These images are not special effects!

The report shows various places around the globe under attack by Digimon. Gorillamon, Airdramon, Tyranomon, and Kuwagamon are all seen attacking various cities and places around the globe. Everywhere they go, things around them freeze over like the planes.

Pyokomon: We can't touch those Digimon! If we do, we'll freeze up like that plane wing! Mochimon: My Mega Blaster went right through them, too. Taichi: Damn it, what the hell is going on!? Hikari: Is that where you live, Plotmon? Plotmon: No. That is no longer the Digimon World that I knew. Koushiro: Oh, that's right. It's been several days since we came here, which means several years would have passed in the Digimon World. Koromon: We came here without fixing the distortions in the Digimon World, so it must be in pretty bad shape now. Sora: Which would then started to affect our world too.

Realizing the grim truth of what they're seeing now, the kids stare up in horror at these reality strips crossing the sky.

In the dub:

Tai: You guys, how'd Kuwagamon get here? Yokomon: He came out of that land in the sky! Izzy: I was right all along! Group: Huh!? Izzy: That giant continent... is actually the Digital World! Joe: WHAAAAT!?!? Matt: That's why you recognized that mountain! Mimi: Yeah! You know, it does look sort of familiar. Sora: What's it doing here? Jim: Guys, you'd better have a look at this! Reporter: We bring you now new footage of some truly bizarre scenes. (Digimon attacks around the world) Reporter: No official explanation has yet been given for what you are seeing here. Yokomon: Kuwagamon again! And if we touch these Digimon, we'll freeze, just like the airplane's wing! Motimon: And when I fired my Electro Shocker, it passed right through. Tai: Man! What's going on here! Kari: Salamon, is that your world up there? Salamon: I think so, but the last time I was there, it was definitely right-side up. Izzy: Just a minute. We've been back in the real world for only a few days, but up there, time is much faster. Years and years have passed by. Koromon: And since we left the Digi-World when it was such a mess, it had years and years to just get worse! I can only imagine what the place looks like now! Sora: And all the problems in the Digital World have become our problem here in the real world!

The dub usually struggles with expository scenes but here, they actually do a pretty good job of it. They're held back by the fact that they've always talked around the kids needing to "correct distortions", so they have to compensate by saying they "left the Digi-World when it was such a mess".

It's a little awkward but it still gets the point across: The Chosen Children were called to fix the Digital World before the growing instability became apocalyptic for both worlds. But because Vamdemon's side-quest back to the human world made them fuck off for years, time has run out and the worst-case scenario has begun.

Taichi: Let's go! Back to the Digimon World. Mimi: But how? Jou: When we first went to the Digimon World, our Digivices led us there. That should work again! Koushiro: It's worth a try. Taichi: Yes! Gather your Digivices, everyone.

The team puts their Digivices together in a ring.

Taichi: Please! Take us back to the Digimon World!

Hardened and made ready by their experiences, this time the eight Chosen Children make the choice for themselves to re-enter the Digital World. They're ready to complete the work they were once drafted against their will to do.

In the dub:

Tai: That's that! We've all got to go back! Mimi: But how? How are we supposed to get there? Joe: The first time we went to the Digital World, our Digivices led us. You guys try it again. Izzy: You're coming too, Joe. We're all in this together. Tai: Alright, everybody! Hold out your Digivices! We're going back! (The team puts their Digivices together) Tai: Next stop: The Digital World! Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times!

In a break from tradition, Tai calls it the Digital World in the dub, rather than the usual phrasing of Digi-World.

Joe's dub-induced cowardice makes me want to throw things. Trying to chicken out and let the others go without him is one of those gags that isn't just annoying but goes all the way to the "He would not fucking say that" extreme.

Kido Jou-senpai would not fucking say that.

The eight Digivices glow brightly, sending a rainbow of light up into the sky and creating the way forward.

Jou: This path of light will transport us to the Digimon World! Taichi: Yeah. I'm sure we'll make it safely. Sora: Our Digivices will guide us.

The dub picks the moment before the Digivices start to glow as a good time for a commercial break. That's fair. Upon return, Tai brings us back up to speed with a quick line.

Tai: Here we go, everybody! (The Digivices create a different kind of Rainbow Bridge) Izzy: i think it's working, Tai. This light must be here to guide us. Joe: Now all we have to do is follow it. T.K.: Back to the Digital World! Hahaha!

They change who's talking and it's a lot drier but nothing objectionable.

Unfortunately, before they can go, some people have concerns with what the kids are doing right now.

Natsuko: TAKERU!!! Takeru: I'm sorry we have to leave just when all of us were together again, Mama. But we'll be back soo-- Natsuko: You can't! Hiroaki: Let him go. We made a few selfish decisions of our own too, remember?

Flashback to the separation of the boys in the divorce. Natsuko's eyes fill with tears.

Yamato: If we don't do something, the Earth will be doomed. That's Why I... We're going to protect you and everyone else, Mom! Natsuko: (quietly, crying) ...Yamato....

Hiroaki's logic here doesn't really track. We selfishly broke the kids up therefore we should let them go to an alien world and fight monsters. I don't think fairness is really the concern here. But to be fair to Hiroaki, he's spent more time with the Chosen Children than anyone and knows firsthand how fucky all this shit is and how unique they are.

He isn't happy about sending the children into danger but he kinda gets it. Natsuko, meanwhile, was trapped outside the fog barrier this whole time and has seen none of it. So her Reasonable Parent Opinions are very Reasonable Parent Opinions, and it's heartbreaking that she has to let this happen to her babies anyway.

In the dub:

Nancy: T.K. T.K.: Huh? Mom! Oh, I'm sorry we have to leave now that we're finally back together again. Nancy: You can't! Hiroaki: Let him go. We've made some selfish decisions of our own, remember? (Flashback) Hiroaki: We have to let them do this. This could be more important than we realize. Matt: The whole world is doomed if we don't do something, Mom! You know we have to go back! We're doing this to protect you! Nancy: (quietly, crying) ...Matt....

Mostly the same, but Hiroaki's given a silence-breaker to let him make a more salient argument than "We have to let the boys be child soldiers because we divorced."

Though Nancy's first line is pretty funny. Natsuko calls out to Takeru in a panic. Nancy just... sternly says his voice, like she caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. Not exactly the right tone here, but not necessarily wrong either. XD

But moooooom, you don't understaaaaaand!

Shin chimes in to support the children's decision.

Shin: We're counting on you. We've always taken for granted that morning comes after nightfall, but now we can't be sure we'll ever see the sun again.

Poetic, but Koushiro's mom takes issue with that, looking affronted about halfway through when she realizes where he's going with that.

Kae: DON'T BE SO MORBID!!! I believe in these children. Shin: No no, I do too! Jou: It will be fine, Nii-san. (sudden burst of confidence) We'll make certain that the sun does come up again!

A powerful moment for Jou! That the girls promptly bully him for.

Sora: Ooooh, Jou-senpai is so cool! Mimi: It's so unlike you!

The kids all laugh at Jou's expense while he hangs his head in defeat - Accidentally backing into the portal in the process and getting picked up by the ass.

Mimi: Wha--!? Sora: Jou-senpai! Jou: AAAAAUGH!!!

Well, the nakama must be back together because we're back to tormenting our poor, put-upon senpai. XD

The kids quickly join Jou in the rainbow portal, rising towards the Digimon World together.

Taichi: Ittekimasu! Natsuko: Takeru! Yamato!

Right now's a good time to talk about that word Taichi just said. Ittekimasu is a customary Japanese phrase for when you are leaving a place with intent to return. It's a kind of ritualistic phrase, said almost automatically when leaving the home, for example. Like saying Itadakimasu before eating. I am stepping out for a bit but I will be back later and will see you then.

There's a lot of ways it can be translated. I'm heading out! See you later. Back in a bit! Etc. etc. But I've opted to leave it untranslated here and instead explain the intent because this is a highly emotional moment, and the mundane yet heartwarming domesticity of the phrase's usage in this scene doesn't really come through with its more cavalier-sounding translations.

Takeru and Yamato wave farewell to their mother, but Yamato feels self-conscious after a moment and stops waving.

In the dub:

Jim: You guys better get crankin'! Although it's hard to believe the fate of the world's in the hands of a bunch of kids like you. I guess if the sun doesn't come up tomorrow, we'll know you messed up! Kae: Stop it! You've got to have faith in your brother and his friends! What they're doing is incredibly brave! Jim: Whoa! Sorry, Lady. I didn't mean anything. Joe: It's okay. He was only kidding. And besides... (sudden burst of confidence) I'm gonna make darn sure the sun does come up! Sora: Joe! I didn't know you had it in you! Mimi: Ahahaha, what a man! (All the kids laugh at Joe; he hangs his head and backs into the portal) Sora & Mimi: What's happening? Joe: AAAAUGH!!! (Everyone jumps in the portal) Tai: Alright, here we go! Nancy: Matt! T.K.! Take care of each other!

Sora and Mimi are still making fun of Joe in this version, they're just subtler about it.

Finally met someone in this city that Jim doesn't know.

While Yamato and Takeru get to say goodbye to their loved ones, we pan over to Sora who looks disappointed that they have to leave so quickly. Suddenly:

Toshiko: SORA!!!

The adults from Big Sight have all arrived, at the last possible second, to the sight of their children rising into the sky in a column of rainbow light.

Sora: Mom... MOM!!! Mimi: PAPA!!! MAMA!!! Taichi: DAD!!! Hikari: MOM!!! Yuuko: TAICHI!!! HIKARI!!!

The column rises, taking the children further from their parents.

Hikari: DON'T WORRY ABOUT US!!! WE'LL COME BACK SOON!!!

Cutting silently to their frightened parents, watching the children go. First Yagami Yuuko and Susumu. Then Tachikawa Satoe and Keisuke. And then finally Takenouchi Toshiko.

Children: (all together) ITTEKIMASU!!!

Vanishing into the other world, the Chosen Children leave behind only that one familiar word. I'm going out for a bit. I'll be back soon. I'll see you when I come home.

The dub uses all the silent panning shots of this scene to fill in dialogue.

Toshiko: SORA!!! I love you, Sora! Please come home soon! I'll be waiting here for you! Sora: Bye, Mama.... BYE, MAMA!!! Mimi: MAMA!!! PAPA!!! Tai: BYE, DAD!!! Kari: BYE, MAMA!!! Yuuko: OH, TAI!!! BE CAREFUL!!! Susumu: AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR SISTER, SON!!! Kari: I'LL BE ALRIGHT!!! DON'T WORRY, WE'LL ALL BE BACK!!! Tai (V.O.): I never thought we'd volunteer to leave our families behind. It's weird. I'm not sure if we'll ever see them again. But I'm not afraid! It's like, just knowing that they love us gives us the power that we need. Kids: (Miscellaneous farewells, such as "Bye Bye" and "We'll be alright") Narrator: What powerful new enemy waits for the DigiDestined in the Digital World? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

Neither of the Kamiya parents says goodbye to Kari and I'm kinda mad about it.

Tai's voiceover there is to try and hit the same emotional chords that the team's collective Ittekimasu hit for the original. The word doesn't translate well in this particular context so they had to come up with their own emotional heartstring-tug.

The sudden ominous narrator, however, is a total mood-killer. Jerk.

Assessment: On the one hand, how quickly we go from defeating VenomVamdemon to returning to the Digital World feels a little rushed. But on the other hand, it's supposed to feel rushed. Because we're in a rush.

It sucks that we couldn't see the kids properly meet back up with their families and say real farewells to them. But it's supposed to suck. It sucks for them too. Every minute we spend out here is another, like, week where the situation in the Digital World is further destabilizing. There's no time for drawn-out goodbyes.

So we move into the final arc of Adventure 01. Shit's about to get real from here. @.@ I am not ready.

I think the dub on this one was hit-or-miss. It had some genuinely great moments, even parts where it added onto the original in good and interesting ways, and some other clunky bits. To their credit, they nailed the big Plot Exposition scene which is where they often struggle.

[bagerfluff]

Late Night Loving

Older Izumi Koushiro x Non-Binary Reader

Prompt - Late Night Calls

You groaned and opened your eyes, 12:36.

You rubbed your eyes and propped yourself on your arm. Why did you wake up? You looked around, nobody woke you up. It wasn’t until a few seconds till you heard ringing.

How long has that ringing been there? You sat up and reached over to grab your phone. When you opened it you had to close your eyes because of the bright light.

You groaned again, who was calling you at midnight?

Who was up at midnight to call you?

You were annoyed that you woke up, you were about to close your phone and go back to your dreams when you noticed the name of who was calling you. Koushiro.

Why was he calling you at midnight? Did something happen? You quickly pressed the answer button and brought the phone to your ear. “Yeah?”

You asked worriedly. “Hey Y/n”, Koushiro said. He sounded just as tired as you, maybe more. “Are you okay?” You asked, throwing your blanket off your lap.

“I’m fine, it’s just that”, Koushiro let his sentence go on. You put the blanket back over your lap and sighed. Everything was fine, so why was Koushiro calling you?

You knew that Koushiro tended to stay up late, he rarely went to sleep unless someone forced him or he passed out. You wondered if that was it.

But then why would he call you?

“Are you okay?” You asked softly. Koushiro didn’t answer but you heard Tentomon talking in the background. You couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Your Digimon laid at the foot of your bed, completely unaffected by what was happening. You shook your head at them right as Koushiro responded, “I’m fine, just wanted to talk to you”. Koushiro didn’t sound confident in his answer, that made you frown.

You wanted to know what happened but you could wait till morning. You’d bring Koushiro some tea, you two would talk about it over tea. “Well, something strange did happen to me this morning”, you started talking about your day.

You went from when you woke up till you fell asleep. You made sure to keep as many details as you could remember as well as small tidbits about things that happened.

You could hear Koushiro laughing and making his own tidbits too. You heard the change in Koushiro’s voice from when he first spoke, he sounded calmer and happier.

“Then when I was walking past the soccer field, Taichi kicked the ball into my chest. When I see him I swear I’m going to kick him to the moon”, you let out a little laugh and waited for Koushiro to talk but you didn’t hear anything.

You thought Koushiro had hung up but when you brought your phone down you were still on the call. “Koushiro?” You said but all you heard was breathing. “He fell asleep”, Tentomon said.

You were a little shocked to hear him speak. “He did?” You asked, did you make him fall asleep? That made your heart beat a bit faster. “Tento, is he okay?”

You felt bad about doing this but you needed to know if Koushiro was okay. “He was just a little stressed about his work. Thank you for talking to him”, Tentomon said.

“It’s fine, when he wakes up tell him I’m always available if he needs someone to talk to, or just someone to talk to him”, that was true. You’d always be there for Koushiro, even if it was midnight.

“Will do, goodnight” “goodnight Tentomon”, you pulled the phone down and ended the call. You placed your phone back on your night stand and looked at the clock.

1:54, almost two hours. You laid back down and pulled the blanket up, you knew you weren’t going to sleep any time soon but you were happy that Koushiro was asleep.

You were going to talk to him about this in the morning, or in several hours. He needed to stop doing this, but for now until he could get better.

You would help him, one phone call at a time.

[draconisvenenum]

The worn out, rusty door might lead one to think this lab was abandoned- but stepping inside reveals a world of life, dark purple walls and neon lights more reminiscent of an arcade than a lab. But those bright lights arent from the ceiling lights, they're from Sciuros. Hundreds upon hundreds of them, all shining colourful wingtips and scurrying about like they own the place. You barely avoid stepping on one when a dark haired man with a twisted jaw steps out of a hallway. "Oh, hey! Wasnt' expecting visitors, lemme show ye around!"

-----

Hello! My name is DraconisVenenum, both here and on Tfo mainsite, but ye can just call me Ven! I go by He/They pronouns, and Stranga Sciuros are my favourite animal in TFO! My favourite character is probably Roy Shade or Sherman Kamada. Both are tied for favourite. Posts will be disorganized and iregular, but will probably be about sciuros, mostly.

PROJECTS YOU MIGHT SEE:

Godkillers: my favourite of the projects. How high can hardiness get? Well, this project aims to do that. I am currently breeding together a bunch of stranga sciuro to get the most hardy animals possible. I eventually want to breed them to a ridiculous number, 1000+, or perhaps, even a number so high it goes off screen, but i dont think thats actually possible. I want the hardiest sciuro onsite. Also, breeding this many creatures helps me with my next project....

1500 Sciuros: simple as that. I want the most sciuros in the game, and i think 1500 is a good number to aim for. It will put me well above the current highest sciuro count, which is 1144 sciuros, owned by animatedrose. I have 422, and when i first started this, growth on animatedrose's lab was slow, but now has become very active. I see you mate, ima catch up! >:]

Digimon: i like digimon. Alot. Perhaps too much. Its just a simple fanscrying and fanbreeding project for me. So far, i have 2 Birdramons, 2 Sabredramons, 3 Tentomons, and a Hagurumon, which i was gonna give to Coral M Mui, but the trade didnt go thru. I might post some scrys here.

So yea! All my projects. Godkillers will probably get the most attention, because i need to keep track of it and pay very special attention to the breeding, esp. Because i want to avoid inbreeding, so i think having a visual reminder will help immensely.

Well, i hope your enjoy your stay here in my lab, fellow scientist! Enjoy the squirrel related nonsense!

Oh, and before i forget, heres my lab link! I appreciate any and all clicks sent my way!

[froggie-bolt]

Just a Digimon Adventure 2020 Post about The TaiShiro Moments

(Sub)

I love how Taichi and Koushiro are both shown to think highly of the other. Taichi even brags about how smart koushiro is sometimes, its so wholesome.

Everytime the group gets separated, the first person Taichi tries to call is almost always Koushiro.

and in the first episode Koushiro meets up with the rest of the group in the digital world, Taichi's face immediately lights up.

Like if anything happens ever, Koushiro usually addresses Taichi right away. Between Him and Tentomon, both are the ones checking in on Koushiro and making sure he's doing okay.

Specific moments from episode 36:

"but there's only 20 minutes left"

"that's more than enough"

"we won't know unless we try right?" Taichi believing in his ability.

"but--"

"there's no time left, lets go"

"alright, I'll support you!"

Then

"Let's go, koushiro!"

"R-Right!"

Then

Koushiro, you have to do this!"

"me!? No way! I can support you, but I can't--"

"koushiro"

"I leave it to you."

"Taichi-san..."

"I'm counting on you."

*kou hesitates*

"Right!"

"Go, Kosuhiro!"

AND THEN KOUSHIRO THINKING ABOUT HOW HE HAS ATLURKABUTERIMON, AND THEN SPECIFICALLY THINKS BACK TO WHAT TAICHI SAID TO HIM IN EPISODE 3 BEFORE THINKING OF EVERYONE ELSE TOO-

It was also just great to see Koushiro feeling good about his own ability- especially with this music at the end, damn.

episode 43 was funny.

They call eachother like, every episode to see how it's going.

Episode 59

So when they get that trial wrong, Taichi is taken, and [digimon] says he's gonna undergo surgery to become a digimon.

Taichi just smiles and says "Nah don't worry about me guys, I leave the rest to you Koushiro."

Then Koushiro blames himself for whats gonna happen to taichi.

And whiole all this is going on, we know taichi is worried about how the other is handling it right now, since he's under a lot of stress.

Bro koushiro looked so sad.

and then tentomon always believes in koushiro, always. which is exactly what he needs

EDIT

SO THE ENGLISH DUB JUST CAME OUT A FEW DAYS AGO AND IVE WATCHED (at least the episode with TaiShiro moments) SOME OF IT AND I HAVE MORE THINGS TO SAY

So let’s start from the top once again

(Dub)

Episode 1’s script for the most part is unchanged :)

However, there is the changes to the names.

While in the original Tai was just ‘Tai’, this time his full name is Taichi, and Tai is just a nickname. His last name though has still been changed to Kamiya instead of Yagami.

Koushiro actually does keep his Japanese name in the English dub! But this time ‘Izzy’ is also just a nickname. Of course, he retains his last name ‘Izumi’ like he did in the original English dub.

ANYWAY ANYWAY

one of my favourite bits from episode 1, is when Koushiro is showing Taichi his timeline, and Taichi goes something like:

(I actually posted the clip here)

“Well..I’m really bad at that stuff. You’re awesome, Koushiro!”

And Kou seems surprised and caught off guard by the complement, before quickly turning his attention back to his tablet in embarrassment and saying:

“Y-You can just call me Izzy—!”

And we know later in the dub, that Koushiro prefers being alone, which also suggests he doesn’t have many friends, or doesn’t go out of his way to make any. He doesn’t really like being around people. So we can guess that before Taichi, the only people that call him Izzy are his parents.

So Koushiro giving Taichi express permission to call him Izzy, especially for Koushiro, is something special and significant, even if Taichi doesn’t know this.

I will absolutely be adding onto this in the future

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 26 -  Ken Ichijouji Arrive Trop Tard

[AO3 version]

“Ah they got the rest of the shards…” Arsenemon observed them by distance.

“I hate to be doing this… But do I have any option?”

“... They won’t forgive me, but… la fin justifie les moyens, I guess.”

“I’m sorry, mon ami…”

They left the 10th piece with Koushiro, who put it into a transparent container and away from the digimon… In his office.

“Good job, everyone” Koushiro complimented them with a smile, “But we still need to retrieve the stolen ten from Arsenemon.”

“Yeah, we know that!” Daisuke said seriously, “We need to keep them safe from Arsenemon!”

“You’re back to being fired up, huh…” Miyako teased him.

“We can do this, catch all of them and then save everyone. Arsenemon is our only enemy now.”

“I think he’s too fired up for our tastes,” Tentomon commended, “… Am I wrong?”

“No, but… that’s a little harsh...” the boy laughed nervously.

“Don’t worry, Koushiro-san” Iori said with a deadpan, “If Daisuke-san does something stupid we will be here to prevent him.”

“H-hey, I won’t-- But if I do, please stop me anyway.”

“That’s a weird thing to say” Patamon commented, everyone agreed.

“Iori was just joking,” Armadimon explained, “Or half-joking, dagya.”

“I know, but… I mean if one of those shards ends up… y’know…”

“Ah…” Hikari frowned.

“But that won’t happen,” V-mon said with a smile, “Daisuke has a good control over his emotions so yeah!”

“... That’s right. I have nothing to fear here!”

Ken was going home, flying on Stingmon right back to the apartment complex where he lives with his family, when he started recapping everything that happened until now.

Since Noel Leblanc appeared, Daisuke had changed drastically his stance on Arsenemon… And he definitely witnessed Noel with a fragment once. And the surname ‘Leblanc’ is too suspicious right… But Noel himself claimed to be a distant relative from Maurice Leblanc, the creator of Arsène Lupin, one of the most famous phantom thief fictional characters in the literature.

“Noel-kun said his birthday is on June 15.”

He phoned Takeru later, once he was at home. Asking if he had discovered something else about that boy.

“June 15?”

“Yes, and there’s something interesting about it… On June 15, 1906… Leblanc published a oneshot featuring Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. But Doyle stopped Leblanc from continuing using his character by 1907, in which Leblanc then used the name Herlock Sholmès to continue his story to not abandon it.”

“Hm?”

“Funny detail, isn’t it…?”

“Herlock Sholmes…”

“Ken-chan?” his mother called him. Wormmon went to the door, “Oh, Wormmon… Is Ken-chan busy?”

“He’s on the phone now. Would you like to tell me what it is so I can tell him later?”

“Oh don’t worry, I just wanted to call him for dinner.”

“Alright, I will tell him.”

But why would that sound so suspicious…? Ken was still not sure what this meant. Rather than Daisuke… Acting strange again -- He had left without warnings and said have been after Arsenemon, who had been in the karaoke building that time.

It’s true that Arsenemon was in the building, but why would Daisuke not have warned them?

“... Why did I say that?” Daisuke was lying on his bed after he finished his dinner. V-mon walked in, satisfied with eating enough.

“Aaah~ I love food~”

“You were still eating?” the boy turned his head to the digimon sitting next to him, but on the floor.

“Yeah! It was too delicious to refuse for a second plate!”

“... I couldn’t eat enough though… Something is… buggin’ me.”

“Oh?”

“Ya know… Why did I… say that? Why am I worried about… becoming a victim of those shards?”

“Like you said, everyone can be affected by those, even Koushiro.”

“Yeah… But you said I’m good at controlling my feelings… If I was so sure about that…”

“Hey, you’re worrying about things you can’t control again. That’s not like your usual ‘you’!!”

“I guess it's puberty” he sighed, “But I don’t want to think about this. But I keep… Doing it…”

“... You’re just stressed. Wanna do something to relieve stress?”

“Ah! Want to… Watch those digimon videos on the Network, it’s always fun seeing everyone bonding with their digimon y’know?”

“Yeah! I will catch some popcorn, wait a minute!!” and then V-mon got up and ran to the kitchen.

“H-Hey, you don’t know how to use the microwave!!” and then Daisuke got up, but something stopped him drastically.

He felt… The feeling someone was watching him. He runned to the balcony and opened the door.

“Ah… Thank you, mama!” V-mon voice came from the kitchen, the Motomiyas are really nice to him!! Jun’s partner, Pulsemon, was also asking for some popcorn. He had noticed Daisuke running to the balcony but didn’t realize why though…

“Hey Daisuke?” V-mon looked in the direction of the balcony entrance, so he went there.

“Hm?” the boy looked at him, “I… I thought I heard something but… It was just the wind.”

“Huh… Strange…” V-mon blinked, “Hey, there’s something in your hand…”

“??” He noticed he was holding a paper. It was one of those black cards with a golden paw on the back. Did Arsenemon--?!

“What does it say??”

“...” Daisuke took a look at it, “It says… nothing?”

“Nothing!?” V-mon snatched the card from Daisuke’s hands, “What!? Why would he send something without a word!?”

“Who knows…” Daisuke replied with a shrug, “Anyway, got the popcorn?”

“It’s on the way!!”

Next day, Daisuke showed them the strange Calling Card when they gathered at the karaoke booth after class.

“There’s nothing written here indeed…” Takeru commented.

“That’s strange,” Hawkmon frowned, “Why would Arsenemon send you something like this…?”

“Beats me” Daisuke replied, “More… More likely how did he deliver this without me noticing he was there?”

“Hmm… Are you sure you didn’t notice anything strange?” Iori asked.

“I… I did feel someone was watching me… But… It was just the wind.”

“The wind?” Tailmon, Hikari and Miyako repeated.

“Yeah, the… window was opened a little bit, so the sound of the wind… Y’know, that thing that does… Whoooosh and sounded like a wolf’s howl.”

“Ah, I see…” they all said, except for Ken.

“A-anyway… I have no idea what this means!! It has nothing written here! Maybe he’s just pranking me!?”

“... Have you put it against the light?” Ken finally spoke.

“H-huh!?”

“There’s special inks that cannot be visible to the naked eye, you have to use a warm source in order to reveal its contents. Like a desktop lamp.”

“... I didn’t. I forgot this was a thing.”

“Then do it now,” Ken then took from his pocket a small flashlight.

“Why did you have that in your pocket, dagya!?” Armadimon asked what everyone wanted to say but was beaten by him.

“Last night the power was out in my area, so I brought it with me.”

“Still weird to have a flashlight right now…” Daisuke blinked, “Or is it because you’re into this detective role more than me?”

“Shut up and give me the calling card.”

“Right, mr. Detective~”

Ken turned the flashlight on and put the card over it. The others grouped behind him, the curiosity definitely killing them. They squinted their eyes… 

“…”

“…”

“It says…”

“ ‘It says…’??” the others repeated together in unison.

“... Nothing.”

“NOTHING!?”

“This is a surprise to me too…” Ken babbled, he was confused as everyone else in the room.

“So he’s just making fun of us!!” Daisuke hissed, “That sneaky evil thief!!”

“But he knows we have the other ten shards,” Hikari mused, “Maybe this is a warning he will attack us soon…”

“Maybe it didn’t work because the flashlight is not--” Ken tried to explain, but he was interrupted by Daisuke’s gibberish angry noises.

“Then we have to look for him FIRST!” Miyako shouted, and turned her laptop on, “I’ll use Izumi-senpai’s radar to detect the other ten pieces and find his whereabouts!!”

“Guys, I…” Ken tried to talk again, but at this point everyone was not giving him attention anymore. Hikari, Takeru, Iori and Daisuke plus their partners grouped behind Miyako, and they watched the screen.

“That’s rude of your part!” Wormmon complained, “Ken-chan wanted to--”

“It’s okay, maybe they’re right… We should focus on tracking those stolen fragments first.”

“B-But Ken-chan!!”

“I said it’s okay, don’t worry about it Wormmon” he smiled serenely.

“.................. I can’t detect any of them!!”

“You can do it, Miyako!” Daisuke shouted, “BUT SOME BRAIN POWER HERE!!”

“I’M TRYING I’M TRYING BUT NOTHING APPEARS ON THE MAP!!”

“DO WHAT THOSE HACKERS DO IN THE MOVIES!!”

“WHA-WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! THOSE MOVIES ARE NOT EVEN A REALISTIC DEPICTION OF HACKING OR PROGRAMMING!!”

“...” Ken watched them for a while and then he just… left the booth with Wormmon. He sent Takeru a text message explaining he just went out to take a breath. 

Hopefully he would come back with the solution of that enigmatic calling card.

Arsenemon said he would take the shard from Yamato previously, but he didn’t appear. And according to Daisuke, he was there but probably was chased by Daisuke himself in the most reckless way possible.

Those made no sense to Ken. Wormmon was on his shoulder, looking at him.

“Something makes no sense…”

“Hm?”

“Why wouldn’t Daisuke warn us? Why would he leave V-mon with me again?” 

“Do you think he lied?”

“He’s bad at lying, he’s too straightforward and blunt about his feelings and thoughts.”

“True, true…”

“... he wouldn’t lie to us, or at least not to me.”

“What do you think this calling card means?” Wormmon pointed to the card in Ken’s hand, “Do you think there’s something hidden in it?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to solve its mystery.”

Everything seemed to lie within that ominous calling card…

“You’re just having fun with it, ain’t ya?” Espimon said, with an annoyed and tired voice. She was looking at Arsenemon in his disguised form.

“Before I can get all of those shards and seal them away, sure why not?” he chuckled innocently.

“You shouldn’t toy with the Chosen Children!!” she snapped, “They will totally not get that you’re actually on their side if you keep treating it like a game!!”

“Humans are fascinating living beings, don’t you think mademoiselle Espimon?” he smiled, “They can have their spats… But true friendship is what leads them to the right path. They will be fine, I’m sure they find it entertaining as well.”

“Uh… Do you think it’s okay doing this to them…?” she shook her head in disapproval “Tsc tsc, boss… I’m disappointed.”

“They wouldn’t believe me if I told them the truth. I tried though…” he shrugged, “And got no results. Not a single good outcome. So if we have to do something like this…”

“But! How about Impmon and Dracumon??”

“Ah… Uh… We have to track them down right…” he stroked his chin, “They better stay away from this. But I’ve got it covered too, mes amis are on their track too.”

“Huh… You mean Soleil and Lune?” She blinked.

“Oui. I know they like to work hunting the bad apples and making them pay.”

“Geesh, I don’t want to watch this trainwreck of a show” she pouted, “It will ruin everything you--…”

“Alright, alright. If our little monsieur detéctive catches moi before I get my hands on their shards, I will surrender and explain everything WE know to them all.”

Ken took the calling card with him to home, and tried to find a way to reveal its content. He thought the flashlight wouldn’t be warm enough to show the content, so putting it against the light didn’t work.

“Sigh…”

Maybe if he used a lighter? He knew his dad had one, despite not smoking. None of the Ichijoujis smoke, so he only had that to light candles. Maybe he should do it somewhere safer…

“Ken-chan, what are you planning to do with that?”

“The other alternative for invisible inks is using fire to heat the ink and reveal what’s hidden.”

“Oooh, like in the movies!”

“Unless this card is enchanted with magic, we might learn what’s written…”

“I can do the magic part as Pucchiemon, if you want…!”

“Pucchiemon is a fairy digimon…” Ken mused, “Thanks, I’m counting on you if this doesn’t work.”

“... Yeah I think I’m doing something bad” Arsenemon(?) sighed, “But it is justified. I need those shards so I can seal them away from both worlds. Do you understand me… Right? Then… lend me your power, mon ami.”

… Silence.

“Why are you… Doing this?” The person whom Arsenemon was talking to finally spoke, “Couldn’t you… Just straight say it instead?”

“Ah… You shouldn’t underestimate the Chosen Children, they’re said to be heroes but… I don’t think they would cooperate with a digimon and a thief.”

“... I understood. But why do you think I would help, anyway?” the person shrugged, “You’re aware that I will hate you for this later, right…?”

“I’m well aware of the risks, but you’re the one who simply offered me a hand countless times. So I suppose I can be forgiven for this.”

“When I get back to normal you might get dunked into the trash. Letting you know.”

“Will you?” Arsenemon laughed gently, “That might be what humans call ‘aggressive affection’ right?”

“No, I meant LITERALLY dunking you in the closest dumpster.”

“Oh… That’s cruel coming from you,” he frowned.

Ken used the lighter’s flame closer to the calling card. He and Pucchiemon were in the ceiling of their building, trying to test that option first.

“Ken-chan,” Pucchiemon gasped, “Something is appearing in the paper!!”

“... I know, Let’s finish heating the ink and then read the content.”

The ink was revealing word by word, and then Ken winced once he finished reading the complete sentence.

“Darn it!!”

“W-what is it!?” Pucchiemon saw Ken closing the lighter and dropping the calling card on the floor. He then took it from the ground and…

I need your help, mon ami. Can you give me the shards you six gathered, s'il te plaît?

“He… he’s asking…”

“EVOLVE INTO STINGMON AND TAKE ME TO KOUSHIRO-SAN’S OFFICE” Ken shouted, then he just phoned the others, his heart racing and afraid of something happening to…

“Uh? Daisuke-kun?” Koushiro blinked, “Why are you here at this hour?”

“I uhh… I need you to help me with something! It’s important!”

“Where’s V-mon?” Tentomon asked.

“He crashed into bed and didn’t want to come with me” he shrugged, “I think I know how we can get the other ten shards!”

“You…?” Tentomon and Koushiro looked at each other, and then to the boy. It’s very unusual for Daisuke to make plans, or rather… not telling other young five beforehand.

“Y-Yeah… It’s like… You need to look at this area!” he pointed to a random part on the map “I think it’s somewhere there…!!”

“Somewhere…?” Koushiro and Tentomon looked at the screen, where Daisuke was pointing at. They didn’t notice the boy snapping his fingers from his free hand behind his back, making a black cat with green eyes pop from the screen.

“?! What?!” Tentomon gasped -- This is…!?

Then both Koushiro and Tentomon fell unconscious on the floor. Daisuke muttered “I’m sorry, Koushiro-san, Tentomon…” and headed to the container with the wicked Digimental pieces inside. He was ready to grab it when…

“?!”

Wormmon’s sticky silk thread pulled his hand back.

He looked back and saw the entire group there, in shock.

“What are you doing!?” Miyako screamed.

“...” They definitely noticed something was wrong with him.

“I should’ve expected this would happen…” Ken said with a serious voice, “You were under Arsenemon’s control since that time he casted that spell on you, weren’t you?”

“He… He told me the truth,” Daisuke smiled, and put his hand on the top of the container, “Don’t worry, he’ll help us. I promise y’all.”

“Daisuke-kun, snap out of this!!” Hikari pleaded.

“I hate what I’m doing, but please understand this is for everyone’s sake!”

“Why would we trust you in this state?!” Takeru argued, “You’re brainwashed or something!”

“...” he dropped the smile and frowned, “He was right, we wouldn’t understand his motives after all…”

“Wormmon, don’t dare to release that silk thread!” Miyako shouted angrily, and then everyone held the poor insect digimon like a tug war, forcing Daisuke to be dragged back.

“You have me to do this…!!” he tried to resist, “I don’t want anyone else to be corrupted by those things ever again…!!”

“You’re out of yourself!” Armadimon screamed, “Don’t let him fool you, dagya!!”

“Daisuke-san, please listen to us!!” Hawkmon added.

“We will find a way to keep those away from everyone!!” Patamon said, while he and the others tried to keep Daisuke away from the container.

“L-Let me go…!” Yeah, he wouldn’t give in either… “This is the only way we can fix Ken’s mistake!!”

“Well, I will fix MY mistake without letting some thief force my best friend to betray us…!”

“!!?” He stopped resisting and let the group drag him away. All of a sudden??

“... Did you give up now?” Iori asked Daisuke, and he nodded his head.

“I… I don’t think we should be fighting him though…”

“Huh?” the others (but Ken) exclaimed.

“What do ya mean, dagya?”

Daisuke sighed, quite disappointed and ashamed of what he was trying to do.

“Arsenemon… He wants to seal those away, in another place, one no one can access. One place no one can return from if they try going there.”

“But why didn’t he say it before?!” Patamon pouted.

“Well, he wanted to have fun at least” the boy shrugged, surely Daisuke was still strange, but he managed to resist(?) to something, “He loves human being’s lifestyles. The idea of playing a cat and rat game was fascinating.”

“Why did you simply decide to help him?” Hawkmon asked.

“I had no other choice, that’s all.”

“You’re lying again,” Ken said, annoyed.

“No, I’m not. I never lied… I just never told y’all. But he believed he had no other choice. And I guess he was right this whole time.”

“Using you like that is unforgivable!” Miyako clenched her fists, “Once I found him…”

“... I let him do it. And I think it’s not anyone’s fault here, just a thread of misunderstandings…”

“Then, why didn’t you warn us before??” Tailmon asked next.

“Actually he did,” Iori mused, “when we talked to Koushiro-san earlier, I made a light joke and then Daisuke-san asked us to stop him.”

“Wait… Was it… Ah, yeah. Yeah.”

“What did you do to Koushiro-san?” Hikari asked.

“He told me to cast this spell and make him and Tentomon fall asleep. I swear I didn’t kill them! I hope…”

Then Takeru checked Koushiro’s pulse, and turned to the group, “He’s fine, just passed out.”

“Phew…” Daisuke sighed in relief, “I know I did a bad thing, but… Can we please do the right thing and talk to Arsenemon…?”

“I don’t think so… It doesn’t sound like a good idea” Wormmon said, and the others nodded.

“... You won’t trust me because of this too,” he asked them. They nodded and he felt hopeless.

“If he didn’t mean no harm, why did he use you?” Takeru clenched his fist.

“We’re running in circles, at least talk with him!!”

“Wormmon, do the honors” Ken asked him.

“W-what do y’all plan to d-do!?”

“Sticky Net!!”

Wormmon used his sticky silk thread to tie up Daisuke. Miyako and Hawkmon went to wake Koushiro and Tentomon up. And once they were awake again, they explained what had happened. But there was something shameful in Daisuke’s face. Oh he hated what he had done…!! But…

“... You should watch your surroundings.”

“Huh?” Patamon blinked.

The lights went off all of a sudden and they all were in the dark. Something happened for a few seconds and then when the lights went on again…

“GAH!? DAISUKE DISAPPEARED!!” Patamon shouted.

“The fragments too” Armadimon reported.

“H-Have Daisuke-han turned into our enemy now…?” Tentomon asked himself.

“Ken-kun?” Miyako noticed Ken was too quiet.

“Koushiro-san, can we use the tracker now?” he asked with a smirk in the face!?

“Yuck, this silky thread is really sticky…!!” Daisuke complained, carrying the container under his arm, “I should’ve asked for V-mon’s help but…”

He walked for a few hours now… Until he went to a building’s ceiling. Arsenemon was there, kinda upset?? But why?

“You’re kinda late,” Arsenemon spoke… differently from his usual.

“Oh relax,” Daisuke smiled, “It worked, be thankful for that.”

“I hate what we have done…” he dramatically whined. The boy was not sure what to say though, “I’m so sorry…!”

“Hey, I’m the one who should be sorry. But there’s no other op--”

“NILE JEWELRY”

Arsenemon jumped on Daisuke and shielded him with his cape, reflecting the explosive jewel dart to the side. Once he uncovered the kid, both him and Daisuke saw the group landing on the top of that same building they were in.

“So… y’all followed me.” Daisuke, nonchalantly.

“We will retrieve all of those shards right now, Arsenemon” Nefertimon said with a threatening tone of voice. 

“I noticed too late that detail” Ken said, and then he pointed at Daisuke, “You’re not the real Motomiya Daisuke.”

“Huh??” they all blinked.

“Have you hit your head when y’all were in the dark dude!?” Daisuke babbled, “Of course I’m Daisuke.”

“Then… How did you explain you having powers only Arsenemon has? You were building this up… Set the scene of stealing Daisuke’s identity to trick Izumi Koushiro-san.”

“Dude…?” 

“Then sent Daisuke a strange calling card to pretend you were asking for his help. Tell me, since when have you switched places with Daisuke, Arsenemon?” and he smirked.

That silence could either mean Ken was right… or that he was just in total denial. But the truth was…

“... As expected from you, monsieur detéctive. You’ve caught me,” Daisuke(?) smiled. He snapped his fingers and suddenly the illusion forms both he and Arsenemon(?) were undone, revealing…

“You’re terrible at being me…!” Daisuke (the real one) hissed.

… that Daisuke and Arsenemon had switched appearances.

“Oh…!! Now that makes sense” Hikari nodded, “That’s why Daisuke-kun was acting strangely.”

“No, there’s more…” Takeru interrupted her, “You're not just Arsenemon, right?”

“Hm?” Arsenemon blinked, “Oh… I guess I was careless enough to make things too easy for you all…” and shook his head.

“What do ya mean?” Armadimon blinked, “Is there more?”

“Won’t you tell them, Daisuke?” Ken asked him, “After all you know it too, or didn’t you know?”

“...”

“Daisuke-san knows?” Hawkmon asked.

“Yeah, I know” and the goggle boy sighed, “Kinda recently, but yeah…”

“Hmmm??” Miyako raised an eyebrow.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Arsenemon chuckled, snapped fingers and his form changed to… “You can dunk me into the dumpster as you promised, Motomiya-san.”

“N-Noel(-kun/san)??!” the others, but Ken and Takeru (+ their mons), exclaimed.

“Now that we have been introduced… Allow me to explain my goal here, Chosen Children.”

[otakween]

Digimon Anode/Cathode Tamer: Veedramon version - Final thoughts

Wow, what a compact little game! I guess that's pretty typical for a handheld, licensed game. This one took me around 15 hours to beat in a single week. Nice. I think gameplay-wise this was actually my favorite so far. I really enjoyed the tactical RPG battle system. It forced me to strategize a bit, so there was juuust enough challenge to make things feel satisfying. Probably doesn't have a lot of replay value, but I'd recommend giving this one a try! (Especially if you're a fan of the original anime because it takes place immediately after it).

Notes:

-I was kind of surprised that most of the bosses in this game were push overs. The guide I was following hyped me up for them and then the majority of them only took me one try. Even the final boss was pretty easy and left me thinking "that's it?"

-Similar to Digimon World 2, this game didn't really motivate me to tame anymore digimon than I needed. The game actually just gives you digimon as you go along and those suited me fine.

-Weirdly this game doesn't really feature digivolution in the traditional sense and, aside from the boss digimon, the partner digis only go up to champion. I kind of appreciated the simplicity of this. I also thought it was clever that the digimon could psuedo-digivolve via the variables. That actually made a lot of sense because digivolutions in the anime are like temporary summons anyway.

-In honor of the V-Tamer 01 manga, I got a Veedramon and named it Zero. He ended up being my strongest partner.

-I still think the story was kinda lackluster. Ryo is just borrowing his digivice and his partner digimon and at the end they're all like "See ya! We're gonna go back to our REAL partners that we like more than you" lol. Also, toxic masculinity Tentomon made me sad:

-Side note: this game's font is terrible. Look at those nearly identical ls and exclamation points!

-Millenniumon low key looks like a Xenomorph in his portrait.

-I'm not going to play Cathode tamer because it's essentially the same game and I've also decided to not do the 4 bonus dungeons. My reasoning is that they don't really seem worth it. It's cool that you can tame the bosses, but one of the hidden dungeons requires you to complete the Digimon Analyzer which I believe requires you to link the games? I guess I could cheat to get to that point, but it still doesn't really seem worth the trouble. If it added to the story maybe, but based on what I've seen on YouTube, it doesn't.

-Loved all of the art so much! Not just in the story bits, but the variables and the digimon sprites were all great. More charming than the PS1 3D versions for sure. The world itself and the battle grounds were a little bland and repetitive, but I liked the designs of the boss dungeons (see the Milleniummon one above). Anything's better than the horrible Digimon World 2 dungeons!

-Just as I expected, I really didn't bother with or need a lot of the extra stuff in this game. A lot of the buildings in town I went into maybe once or twice. I never used Penguinmon trading, Piximon training, Leomon colosseum, or the digimon analyzer. I didn't bother expanding the amount of digimon I could carry via Nanimon because I didn't need anymore digimon. If I had access to this game in the 90s and had my unlimited kid free time, I might explore these features more, but I don't care to do so now. I've got a zillion more Digimon video games to get through!

-I'm trying not to spoil myself for future franchise entries, but it sounds like Ryo will return in other games. I hope he gets justice for his blah storyline then.

[mudkipqueen]

I decided to design and draw armour digivolutions for the original Adventure digimon! Most of these took inspiration from the main Adventure 02 armours (mainly in that they're the original rookie's body stretched to fit the armour, as well as the general inspirations from each), but they do have their own inspirations! I've listed my thought processes below

Nykusmon (agumon armour) is inspired by various carnivorous dinosaurs, particularly velociraptors, making a faster alternative to the more bulky Greymon. The name comes from Nykus, meaning claw, a word that's used commonly in dinosaur names (thanks @frippp for name help!)

Guisemon (gabumon armour) is mostly based on replacing gabumon's pelt with armour, with a more Raidramon-like stance. I attempted to fold in some Garurumon bits, but idk if that's clear. The name comes from disguise, unsurprisingly.

Irismon (biyomon armour) is inspired by Biyomon's want to fly and become Birdramon, so I turned the armour into a glider and extended its leg ring into a pair of leg guards. I also decided to make the crest on the headpiece red like the original Crest of Love instead of the purple on the egg. The name comes from Iris, the greek goddess of rainbows and a messenger goddess, and keeping up the 'deity' theme the love armours seem to have.

Kusanagimon (palmon armour) doesn't really have a deep inspiration, I took mostly armour parts from Shurimon and also gave it a blade because swords are cool, and I used the shurikens as replacements for palmon's flower, as well as giving its tail some decoration that I felt it needed. The name comes from Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the legendary sword.

Polkamon (tentomon armour) takes a lot of inspiration from Digmon, but I did turn its eyes into night vision goggles which would be very useful underground. The name comes from polkadots, which I find very funny that this big bulky 'mon with drills for spots is named for something cute.

Nyormon (gomamon armour) is my favourite, based on a viking longship. I turned the arrow markings on the egg and submarimon into the shields normally depicted on longships, and attempted to turn the front legs into oars. It's named for Njörðr, the norse god associated with the sea and seafaring.

[digitalgate02]

Final part of that AU setting.

( PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANTI-▽ COMMENTS/TAGS ON IT. Like i said before, i do not like fix-it attitude, i prefer AUs instead. AUs are valid and free to our own interpretation. If i see any hate on this or on ▽ you will be immediately blocked ^_^💢 )

[Part one here]

Here’s the final six pages.

Project Mei

Meiko faces her dad, asking more about Meicoomon and her purpose. The old man feels nervous to talk about it, yet he decides Meiko should know. He explains Meicoomon's reason to exist was to create their own squadron of Chosen Children in order to fight menaces from the Digital World. But the Digital World’s Gods hated it and told them to cancel the project.

When Meiko talked about Meicoomon being made to kill digimon, her father elaborated it more, about her not being a total killing machine and she would only kill the enemy if they refused to give up, by injecting a powerful virus in their data. Meiko gets mad, because now this means Taichi, Yamato and their friends’ digimon were infected. The old man strokes his chin, hearing that more digimon might be in trouble. He then refers to Meicoomon also having an antivirus in her program, in case of one of their allies getting infected by accident. This makes Meiko less concerned, but she remembers of some strange parasite digimon consuming her.

Mr. Mochizuki finds it odd, a parasite digimon? And then he receives a call from the Data Bureau agent Nishijima Daigo, to talk about Meicoomon with him and Meiko. The man asks why, but the other couldn’t give details sadly.

Meanwhile, Daisuke tells Koushiro and the others about Himekawa’s offer, and that she could help them. Not that Daisuke believed her, because she was extremely shady and stalking him, but he started to wonder if she wasn’t involved with what happened to Imperialdramon and Meicoomon.Ken thinks that’s possible, but they have not enough evidences to accuse Himekawa. Mimi wonders how Meiko is feeling and offers to talk to her.

Sora thinks it’s too dangerous for them to fight, so she says to only work as their support, Jou apologizes and says he cannot help much since there’s a school exam coming, but he also joins the support cast – in case of them being needed, they will rush to aid their friends. Yamato is afraid of Gabumon’s health, and Taichi decides to keep seeking for Meicoomon in the meanwhile. Daisuke and Ken are also concerned about their partners, but they can’t stay doing nothing, so their help would be investigating stuff for Koushiro. Miyako, Iori, Takeru and Hikari agree to assist Taichi in the search for Meicoomon.

Meiko and her dad are escorted to the Data Bureau HQ, where they meet Nishijima. With him, there’s a pretty man in light robes, Gennai. They came to discuss Meicoomon’s status and destiny. The girl knew this could mean they had to put Meicoomon down, but…

… It was about one of the scientists in the old program contacting them to allow her complete Meicoomon’s program in order to stop the imminent crisis. Meiko raised an eyebrow at this – She was aware Meicoomon’s program was incomplete, but not totally? Like, Meicoomon had been functioning like a legit digimon being, having a heart and such… What could this woman mean?

The said woman was Himekawa, and Meiko was surprised by that revelation. Why would she…

The reveal

The young kids and their seniors were running against the time. Koushiro had copied the papers Meiko had brought him before so he could read them calmly later, and now he was sitting in his office checking them, again. Tentomon wonders if there’s something interesting in those, only to catch with his eyes some detail they skipped.

The developer of the virus program. He then analyzed the data from V-mon and Wormmon’s eggs and noticed it contained an ID number from the papers, which means the mysterious parasite digimon was also human-made. He checked the developer name and… Maybe Daisuke’s suspicion was right.

Mimi talks with Meiko, and the girl seems a little upset. Mimi tries to ask what happened, but Meiko asks to talk with Koushiro as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Taichi and the 02 group report seeing Meicrackmon on the loose, Koushiro tells them to not approach her and prevent her from hurting people and digimon. 

Ken and Daisuke are not great at hacking things, so their plan was asking Himekawa how they could save their digimon from getting their data corrupted. Himekawa knew he would come, especially asking for help.

She talks a bit about her developer function in an old project, that she was this close to fixing corrupted digimon data… But the government ceased their activities. Ken asks how they can save their digimon, and she says she couldn’t do anything without the data under the Data Bureau’s server. The boys look at each other, and she asks them to retrieve that data for her.

They would say something, but Koushiro calls Daisuke immediately. The duo leave after saying they would discuss that with their friends. Koushiro gathered all the info given by each party. It was when Meiko connected the dots and messaged Taichi immediately about a detail. Koushiro also understood what that meant, but Daisuke was a little confused. Until he noticed it too.

Taichi and his juniors were in battle right now, and Meicrackmon was Causing a lot of damage. She then mutated again into Raguelmon. She was even more powerful thanks to the parasite digimon. Silphymon, Shakkoumon and WarGreymon weren’t happy with that, neither were their partners.

Meiko, Daisuke and Ken went to the battle scene immediately. It was when the 02 group, Taichi and Meiko saw Himekawa hiding in a spot. Meiko accuses her of manipulating everyone, and the woman smirks.

Of course they caught her. But it’s okay, she got permission to reactivate the project Mei development in order to stop Meicoomon. Why was she using those kids like that?

It was for Bakumon.

Gennai meets Koushiro

During that climax battle, Gennai came in, with Nishijima, to explain details to Koushiro. The decision to not destroy Meicoomon was unanimous and everyone agreed to keep watching her development. But there was another detail they were trying to avoid – Himekawa’s obsession with bringing her partner back. Nishijima says that he was her friend and teammate, witnessing the fall of them. Himekawa’s digimon dark evolved into Mugendramon and attacked the enemies, but lost control and went on rampage. His partner and the others had to evolve further to stop Mugendramon, who returned to digiegg state. The egg got corrupted and was told it couldn’t hatch, but Himekawa refused to believe it and became obsessed with the idea of creating a program able to fix the problem.

They had to stop her, and since she was using her knowledge as a former Chosen Child for the government, they had more reasons to intervene. Daigo joined the Data Bureau as some “spy” for Gennai and Homeostasis, to keep an eye on her. But now they just discovered she was doing some illegal experiments and created a digimon called Shademon, which can control and corrupt other digimon, and especially cause Meicoomon’s incomplete program to go on a rampage. All of that in order to convince the Data Bureau to reactivate the project development.

Koushiro wasn’t aware of those details, but this was what he and Meiko realized. So now he feels a little disturbed by the consequences of that plan, and then he just wishes they could do something to stop Himekawa and save Meicoomon. He shows the other two the copy of the project’s papers and points to the section about Meicoomon’s restore abilities. Tentomon comments that if they all work together, they can find a way to activate said function.

In the Battlefield, the kids, Taichi and Meiko try so desperately to prevent a disaster. Ken calls Koushiro, to update him about their situation; Daisuke was about to snap, but he’s trying to act cool right now. Koushiro then tells Ken to pass the phone to Hikari, and then he asks the girl to use Angewomon’s healing powers on Meicoomon.

Sure, to do that you will need backup right? WarGreymon and Shakkoumon could do it. Miyako says they could call the others if things get bad, which everyone agreed. Silphymon jogress was undone, and Tailmon evolved to Angewomon. The rest should keep Raguelmon occupied and without touching her, while Angewomon could use her healing powers to exorcize the parasite enemy inside her body.

Back to Koushiro’s office, Nishijima and Gennai keep explaining what happened before, and then Gennai revealed that Bakumon’s egg had hatched but the digimon turned into a Dark Master, the one the kids fought before. Tentomon then asks if the Dark Masters had been reborn, and Gennai says their data got locked in the Dark Area. Nishijima exclaims and asks why they didn't tell him before, only to Gennai explain Bakumon had turned into a vile creature so they couldn’t break the news to him or even Himekawa. Nishijima agreed that could’ve been worse than now.

“So this is what she meant by being a ‘former’ Chosen Child” Koushiro muses. Gennai confirms it, they revoked Himekawa’s access to the Digital World and turned her digivice inactive, she was really out of their reach so this was the best option they could find. Nishijima laments that.

Rampaging Meicoomon

Since Angewomon had holy powers able to extinguish evil and heal the good, their idea was simple: Keep Raguelmon occupied, get Angewomon to use Saint Air at her and then take the chance to destroy Shademon. 

Easier said than done. 

To protect Angewomon from getting hit by Raguelmon’s claws, they would have to stop her first. But how do you stop a digimon from moving without touching them? These were times Daisuke wished Paildramon could help them, but…

Suddenly, a very beautiful digimon woman appeared – it was Rosemon and she used her whip to grab Raguelmon. They looked behind and saw Mimi coming. The group focused on attacking Raguelmon, but not at full force so they could avoid destroying her.  When Angewomon approached behind her, the holy angel released a heavenly aura to purify the enemy, but it wasn’t enough to beat Shademon. The group was losing their hopes…

Himekawa knows she can’t let them take Raguelmon away from her hands, or else she would never finish her program to save Bakumon, so she inserted a few more codes to induce a new mutation. The laptop overheats due to the max data loaded in it, making Shademon lose control over Raguelmon, turning her extremely feral.

Raguelmon mutates to another higher form, Ordinemon, and starts corroding the barriers of human and digital worlds. The group of digimon fighting her had to retreat for now. Meiko is mad, she snaps at Himekawa for that, and the woman is terrified – everything got worse. She lost the data, she lost her chances to bring Bakumon back!!

Gennai realizes this could mean the end of both worlds if they don’t take her down, Nishijima requests Gennai to gather his and his friends’ partners, in order to fight alongside those kids. By that request, Gennai tells Daigo to bring his friends as soon as possible, and leaves in order to gather the Holy Beasts. Koushiro is intrigued, but he decides to keep helping them all as soon as possible. Koushiro’s desire to help everyone with his knowledge unlocks the HerakleKabuterimon form (outside the building, of course), which he rides in, taking Nishijima with him.

Jou, Yamato and Sora come in, concerned with what was happening. Jou couldn’t take a test at this hour! So he grabbed Gomamon and pedaled his bike til the heart of the battle. Yamato and Sora came together, afraid of what could happen to Taichi, the younger kids and Meiko. Their wishes to protect their beloved ones and their loyalty to their friends unlocked Hououmon and Vikemon for Piyomon and Gomamon. MetalGarurumon carried Yamato and Sora to the battlefield.

The group, almost complete, started to fight Ordinemon as an attempt to stop her. Daisuke clenches his fists, because all he could do was watch. Ken felt even more useless, but he knows even without their seniors being able to evolve their partners, Taichi and the others were able to find ways to help. He had witnessed it, as the Kaiser. Himekawa is still petrified by her mistakes, so she does not notice Ken taking the busted laptop from the ground. He knew soon or later this would come handy, and, if they’re lucky, they can remove the HD disc and connect it to Koushiro’s computer at the office.

They had no other option but to escort people away from that area. Himekawa had no other option but to go with them, and call the Data Bureau to secure the area.

Himekawa discovers the truth about Bakumon

They went back to Koushiro’s office and their digimon just jumped inside the pocket dimension inside the server (Miyako has full access to it, remember?) so it didn’t feel too crowded outside. When Miyako tried to contact Koushiro, the boy replied that he and Nishijima went to gather the Holy Beasts’ partners in order to save the world.

Daisuke went to check the V-mon and Wormmon eggs, just to distract his head for a while. They were fine, but still not hatching. He wouldn’t force it though, he preferred to expect his and Ken’s partners to come at their own pace. Ken was worried about Daisuke’s mental health so he just went to ask if he was okay, and the other boy replied “Yeah, I’m better now. No worries.” which made both smile, one in relief.

Jou and Meiko were staring at Himekawa, who was still lost in her thoughts, broken inside actually. Patamon asks from the screen what they should do with her, and Takeru decides they should at least ask her some info. Taichi is not sure if Himekawa would help them out though. Ken tries connecting the HD disc to Koushiro’s computer with Miyako’s help, and by a great miracle it was still running. They decide to examine its contents, while Jou, Taichi, Yamato and Takeru watch the woman. Iori inspects the HDD with Ken and Miyako. Daisuke is still quietly watching the eggs, and Hikari, Mimi and Sora try to help Meiko cool off.

Meiko had her own reasons to dislike Himekawa after this. And the group was trying to fix Himekawa’s mess, and Daisuke now was aware who was the culprit for what happened to Imperialdramon. But he tries to not get involved with the interrogation, he needs to cool off as well! He needs to cool off…! He and Meiko actually. Sora takes both outside and try to hear them out.

Daisuke growls about what happened, but he doesn’t want to fight a younger adult. Meiko vents about knowing Himekawa for years and never expected her to do something like that before, but now she noticed the red flags. But deep down both Daisuke and Meiko noticed something strange in Himekawa, something they couldn’t be totally mad at her and yes feel pity for. Sora wonders what it would be, and Meiko says “She’s lonely” Daisuke remembers of the dude, Nishijima, who had said to be her ex-boyfriend. All three start thinking of why she would do something like that, if she had a boyfriend before…

Himekawa is still in shock. But she’s coming back down to Earth, little by little. When the kids ask her about what she was aiming for she mentions that her goal was trying to save a digimon from data corruption. Mimi frowns, so that lady had noble reasons… Himekawa continues by saying the Project Mei was her chance to cure data corruption, how close she was from it until the government ceased their operations. Hikari almost snapped, and Taichi saw it in her eyes. Someone connected with the power of life itself like her would feel this narrative was too soulless and toying with the concept of life.

Sora took Daisuke and Meiko to go buy something for them all to eat and drink. The investigation outside gets more and more creepy, as Himekawa starts feeling delusional in front of them, saying maybe now they will let her finish her job! Maybe now she will see Bakumon once again! Hikari snapped politely, “That’s not how you will get your partner back!” and everyone is shocked. She continues: “Meicoomon is suffering right now because of your actions, she’s not a toy! She’s not a tool! V-mon and Wormmon are in the Digiegg stage because of you! ” – That definitely made them all silently look at Hikari, until Takeru says he agrees with her.

Koushiro calls them, saying he and Nishijima just reunited the Holy Beasts’ partners and they’re moving ahead to the battle field. Taichi and Yamato decide they should meet with them and fight Meicoomon. Seven of them agreed, but Miyako said they would stay there trying to find any useful information to help them. Thus, Taichi and the others leave. Piyomon says she wants to go but Sora’s not back yet– And Sora, Daisuke and Meiko come in, with food. Daisuke asks where’s everyone and Iori says they went to face Meicoomon. Piyomon tells Sora she wants to go, and then Daisuke comments she should go and take Meiko with them. Sora’s not sure about this, she doesn’t want to fight a friend’s digimon… Only to Daisuke put a hand on her shoulder and say this would’ve been what Meicoomon wanted. Meiko is a little antsy, but she gets it – Mei-chan would prefer to be destroyed than keep hurting innocent people, especially her friends and family. With those kind words and encouragement, Meiko, Sora and Piyomon go after Taichi and the others. Miyako and Iori smile, because they know exactly where Daisuke got this lesson from.

The group joined forces with the previous generation – Higashikata (Qinglongmon), Kitabayashi (Xuanwumon), Minamino (Zhuqiaomon) and Nishijima (Baihumon) – for this battle. They examined all of their possibilities, but Ordinemon had strong defense by creating dark digimon from her wings. Omegamon was good with numbers, so they decided to let it take care of it. Koushiro analyzed the other Final form digimon’s specialties – and then he discovered Hououmon has an ability which could purify Meicoomon. “Maybe if we combine the divine power of the Holy Beasts with Hououmon’s special ability…” 

Holydramon, Seraphimon, Rosemon and Vikemon were in the same group fighting evil digimon while opening the path for Hououmon and the Holy Beasts. It felt a terrible risky idea, but they wanted to give it a shot.

The Miyako, Ken and Iori were so busy searching for anything they could use to stop Ordinemon that they didn’t notice Himekawa leaving the room, but Daisuke did and went after her. The Lady had lost her composure and was trying her best to ‘Save Bakumon’ that the poor boy couldn’t keep watching that disastrous talk. But nothing he could say would make her stop right… She’s beyond salvation. It was when Gennai appeared from a security camera and stood in front of her. Daisuke approached cautiously to hear their conversation. This is how he and Himekwawa learned about Bakumon’s fate – Bakumon had hatched but became a vile creature, and then evolved straight into Megidramon, becoming a Dark Master. Daisuke wonders if said Dark Master was the one Taichi and the others had fought before, and this was exactly what Gennai said next. Mugendramon’s data was sent to the Dark Area, sealed alongside the other three Dark Masters.

Himekawa Maki does not believe it, and condemns Gennai and the others for destroying Bakumon. Daisuke couldn’t stand that and approached a little more. She screams, and falls on her knees, crying loudly and holding Gennai’s robes. Gennai himself did not like to bring bad news, and Daisuke knew it. So, the boy tries to talk with Himekawa… But she was too deep into madness to hear a child out. Gennai apologizes for this, but she does not listen. Suddenly, Data Bureau agents appear and take Himekawa under custody. Daisuke gets confused about how did those people know, only to find out he got something like a small spy wire attached to his goggles. “Since when…!?” It was probably the time he went to save Imperialdramon, maybe??

(No. It was implanted on his goggles when he first met Nishijima. )

Saving Meicoomon

They had to take that chance and purify Ordinemon, so they didn’t want to waste it. The moment they had it, Hououmon and the Holy Beasts gathered their powers and Hououmon used her Starlight Explosion on Ordinemon’s body. Since it was amplified by the godly and holy power of the Holy Beasts, Ordinemon started to be purified.

Ordinemon then converted into Rasielmon. The gloomy atmosphere changed drastically, filled with hope and happiness. Meicoomon didn’t die, and she was purified from Shademon… Which got destroyed by Omegamon’s cannon attack the moment it left Rasielmon’s body.

Rasielmon apologized for her acts, but the kids and the previous Chosen said it wasn’t her and Meiko’s fault. Meiko was so thankful her digimon had turned back to normal. Before reverting into Meicoomon again, Rasielmon said she had to do one more thing, and rushed to Koushiro’s office at the speed of light. Meiko wonders what it is, but the other eight were pretty sure what it was.

Daisuke returned to the office, where Miyako, Ken and Iori were ready to leave and meet their seniors. They say they found out a way to help in the battle and Daisuke grins. Suddenly, Rasielmon appears in a smaller size to not destroy the room and talks to the four. An unfazed Ken then comments “Maybe they solved it without us…” and Daisuke sighs, he wanted to help them all so badly…

Rasielmon then moves to the room with V-mon and Wormmon’s eggs and uses her powers to heal them, making them hatch. Iori finds this curious, only to remember the files said Meicoomon has also an antidote to her own virus program. The eggs hatched into Chicomon and Leafmon, making Daisuke so thankful he immediately hugged Rasielmon as his way to thank her.

Ken also thanks her, but in his own way by bowing and being polite. Rasielmon giggles, and then disappears. She returns to also heal the other eight’s digimon as her apologies, then reverted into Meicoomon and fell on Meiko’s arms.

A few weeks later, Taichi and the group heard some good news regarding Meicoomon: Hououmon and the Holy Beasts’ powers supposedly had helped to finish her program, becoming more stable and suitable for interacting with other people and digimon. Data samples of her special ability – by infecting and controlling digimon with a virus – were used to create vaccines in any case of her accidentally infecting civilized/pacific digimon. Nishijima asked Meiko’s parents to allow her and Meicoomon to be part of the Data Bureau as some honorary agent. Daisuke commented he was a little jealous about that, and that it would’ve been cool to work as some special agent. Koushiro jokes about him already serving in some special unit only to make him go like “??! Really!? Am I a secret agent!?” only to Taichi cut the joke by saying he needs to get a little more mature to handle special agent business. They all laugh, and then they all return to their daily routines.

[kujo1597]

I'm excited to report that I have the first Ultimate Digimon I have ever raised up in Digimon World 2! :D I named him Beetley after Legoshi's pet beetle of course. Beastars may be over but my love hasn't faded.

Beetley's max level is only 22 so he won't be an Okuwamon for very long. Once he reaches his level cap I'll fuse him with a level 19 Unimon I already have in my possession and he'll become a Tentomon with a level cap of 25. This will give me a strong Vaccine Digimon and a better Horn Buster user than that BiOS Domain MetalGreymon. Seriously, that thing can't hit the broad side of a barn and has very low stats in general.

Like...

These stats are abysmal. Their defence is pretty solid at least at a 63. But the attack is only 59 and speed is 33. Compare this to Beetley's 103 attack, 73 defence, and 65 speed. Not to mention Beetley's 246HP in comparison to MetalGreymon's awful 161.

Heck, Hal's just a level 16 DarkTyrannomon and still outclasses this MetalGreymon.

DNA Digivolving really is a big help with stats. 176HP, 84ATK, 78DEF, 56SPD.

Man I can't wait to get Hal up to Ultimate. I'm raising up a Devidramon I caught in the wild. Their max level is 20 so my fusion result will have a max level of 23 which is high enough to get to Ultimate and get the signature attack. Unfortunately ExTyrannomon can't digivolve so I need to leave this line. I'll see what I need before I make any final decision on what Hal will become in the end.

I don't know what the hell happened in my previous attempt. There's some mechanic to DP that I don't know because this Otamamon is the result of a long chain but only has 3DP.

Or maybe it isn't? Looking at the name, I wanted to use that as an indicator for how far along I was. I thought I added a bunch of Zs as I went along then changed to the letter i when I ran out of space. But maybe that was just my original plan and I ended up thinking it was a dumb idea. This was over five years ago so I have no idea anymore.

Fun fact: I'm almost caught up with that file and my latest playthrough is 20 hours shorter. I've been more efficient and not going for a SkullGreymon specifically. Seeing my old playtime it's no wonder I got burnt out.

[bugborgs]

OMG LMAO Gatorade. I definitly meant Gamora but my phone kept changing it and it was so late at night I must not have realized. I would love to know more about your Digimon AU or talk about it somewhere (DMs, Discord). Sorry if I only know the dub names, my ADHD makes it super hard to watch subs. I could honestly see Gatomon/Tailmon for Gamora. It's perfect. I could also see her having Renamon. Like, the dub Tamers one specifically because of how their personalities pre-Guardians match so well; partners out of necessity and fighting to get stronger. Even the whole thing with Nebula's multiple "partners". And maybe Gazimon is the first Digimon partner Nebula's actually bonded with and chosen for herself, not forced on her after every digimon's defeat at the hands of her sister.

I could see Drax having a Gotsumon -> Monochromon -> Golemon -> Boltmon.

And Rocket befriending a Woodmon -> Cherrymon -> Ebonwumon. Or just sticking with Woodmon -> Egg and the cycle continues.

omg I love the DigiAu so much!

one of my friends saw the last ask and was like "?? didn't that happen to us" and then we went digging in the chat history and she also got autocorrected from gamora to gatorade so yanno what, at least you're not alone LMAO

i feel you on the subs haha i definitely have to actively sit down and get in the mood to watch something subbed since I normally like to doodle when i watch something (helps me focus) which. does not go over well when i need to pay attention to subs LOL

tamers' renamon definitely makes for a good blueprint for gam's partner! not a bad choice there, i'm pretty attached to tailmon for her. one of my friend's made the suggestion a few years ago and it's grown on me over time. at one point i considered kotemon for the child/rookie level form but i think i like spadamon more these days for a prevo

ye ye! i was thinking that gazi's the one that survived and ended up sticking around the longest. i think nebs and gazimon would probs still have a somewhat distant relationship for a while cos she'd keep expecting gazimon to fail and get killed like the previous ones but then gazimon survives and eveeeentually they get on better terms.

Gotsumon isn't a bad alternative for Drax either! I could see that. boltmon is an interesting suggestion too, especially looking at the lore in its flavor text... much to consider. something i was considering for the digiau was that maybe his partner wasn't even originally his, but maybe his daughter's? before his family was killed.

woodmon!! woodmon is basically as close to a 1:1 translation into digimon for groot as you can get LOL it's a good pick for him. evo-wise i like petaldramon as a possibility too! not as tree-like as woodmon or cherrymon but something about petaldramon just gives me the same sweet friendly vibes as og groot especially.

on the subject of rocket i think he would 100% hack his partner for evolution purposes like that one time izzy hacked tentomon in adventure LOL. seems like something he would do tbh. actually i could also see nebula trying something like this, maybe a couple of times, to try and finally beat gamora and tailmon but whoops badend evo time

[muses-of-the-memory]

Bolo: That’s rough, buddy. I’m taking back everything I said about you bringing these Digimon here.

Shantae: Uncle, the boat?

Uncle Mimic: Right away! *He goes outside and gets to work rebuilding the boat from the shipwreck at the Scuttle Town coastline and puts it back together.* Here it is. Now it needs is a name.

Tentomon: Why don’t we call it the S.S. PRODIGIOUS?

Sky: Prodigious?

Biyomon: It’s a phrase Tentomon’s older partner used to say.

A boat crashes on the beach near scuttle town. It looks a cargo ship, but there's whimpering coming from it.

Shantae, the Half-Genie Hero was going to visit her friend, Sky at the Hatchery in Scuttle Town, until she heard whimpering at the beaches and saw someone in the cargo ship.

"Oh no! I better help him!" Shantae exclaimed as she swam into the water and rescued the individual, and brought him into her Lighthouse to recover. She set him on her bed, waiting for him to recover.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x24 - Break Through! AtlurKabuterimon / No Questions, Please

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Yamato and Jou got jobs at a diner that was way more invested in torturing employees than profitability. So, y'know, corporate chain. Realizing that collective labor action is the greatest force in the world, Yamato and Jou made omelets and went on strike.

Half of the band has come back together now, but Sora, Mimi, and Koushiro are still out there somewhere. Following separate Digivice signals, Yamato and Takeru have gone one way while Taichi and Jou go the other.

We join Koushiro some time after his parting from the group. We already had a hunch about where he went; He brought it up back in Takeru's flashback. Koushiro quickly confirms it.

Tentomon: Koushiro-han! Let's take a little break! I'm exhausted! Koushiro: I want to meet Gennai-san no matter what! Tentomon: But it's already been two months! Koushiro: I don't care how many months it takes! Tentomon: (hangs head in defeat) Koushiro: I'm going on ahead. Tentomon: Ahh! Koushiro-han! Wait for me!

Koushiro remains dedicated to finding Gennai, and he left the others because they didn't agree. This is his new hyperfocus.

The two month timescale is interesting. It was a month and a half of searching for Taichi, followed by everyone breaking up over an ambiguous period. We don't know how long that took, but the implication to me here seems to be that Koushiro was already searching for Gennai when they were supposed to be searching for Taichi.

During the Big Argument, when he proposed searching for Gennai, he wasn't suggesting a new course of action but trying to bring everyone on the same page as the one he already decided on. And when they didn't agree, he left. Just like Sora.

The dub presents this argument straightforwardly, while inserting a couple laugh lines from poor put-upon Tentomon to lighten the tone.

Izzy: We've been trying to find Gennai for over two months! Got any ideas, Tentomon? We're walking in circles. Tentomon: We could walk in squares, but that's not likely to work either. Let's take a breather and wait for him to come to us! Izzy: I'd prefer to take a more scientific approach to this problem. Tentomon: Yes, but even scientists need to take a break! Izzy: There's no time to rest so stop asking! Tentomon: (hangs head in defeat) Eugh.... Izzy: I'm absolutely certain that he's around here somewhere! Tentomon: I hope so, for my feet's sake!

They also start the conversation sooner so they can give Izzy a chance to strike it up rather than Tentomon.

Izzy's a bit friendlier in this version, even soliciting Tentomon's opinion outright. But over the course of the conversation, he finds his way to the same stonewall that Koushiro starts at and conveys the same idea: He will not stop to let Tentomon rest because that would impede his search.

Izzy's also fairly certain that Gennai is here somewhere. Koushiro's passing through with no clear direction.

Ahead on the path, we find PicoDevimon pounding in a wooden sign. As he stops to worry, he gives us the Japanese name for our new villain, who DemiDevimon already name-dropped at the end of last episode.

PicoDevimon: (nervous and tearful) Vamdemon-sama... will scold me. Vamdemon-sama will scold me!

He flashes back on his last meeting with Vamdemon. Not the one from last episode, because these events are happening prior to Taichi's return, but the one that set him on course to meddle with the kids in the first place.

Vamdemon: PicoDevimon! PicoDevimon: Y-Yes, sir? Vamdemon: When are you going to steal the Crests from the Chosen Children? PicoDevimon: V-Very soon, sir! Vamdemon: Should I believe that? PicoDevimon: Do these look like the eyes of a liar!? Vamdemon-sama! (long pause) Vamdemon: I trust you. PicoDevimon: (exhale) Vamdemon: But if you don't steal the Crests, you'd better prepare for the consequences. PicoDevimon: If I don't steal the Crests.... (Back in the present, PicoDevimon pounds in the sign as he mutters.) PicoDevimon: ...this time, I'm dead! I'm dead! I'm--

Distracted by panic, PicoDevimon pounds in the sign so hard it breaks the post and sends him tumbling to the ground.

Learning a bit more about PicoDevimon's mission here. In previous episodes, he's taken strides to disrupt the attributes that the Crests embody in each child. In reporting his failures, he's described it as "the light returning to the Crests".

Now, it seems he's not only trying to corrupt the kids' traits but to steal the physical Crests themselves; Something he has not had much success at even in the present.

DemiDevimon: This better work! I hate it when Myotismon gets angry! (flashback) Myotismon: DemiDevimoooOOOOOON!!! DemiDevimon: (nervously) Hehe heh... Nice day, huh, boss? Myotismon: I'm still waiting for you to steal the Crests from those kids. DemiDevimon: I've got a surefire way to get 'em! Myotismon: I've heard THAT one before! DemiDevimon: Would this cute little face tell a fib, boss? After all, you're Myotismon! I'd be out of my head to make you mad! Myotismon: I'll give you one more chance. DemiDevimon: (exhale) Myotismon: But I won't be so benevolent next time! Do you understand!? DemiDevimon: Loud and clear! (back to the present) DemiDevimon: If I don't steal those Crests, he's gonna rake me over the coals!

I honestly can't decide if I love or hate this approach to Myotismon. They're doing the same thing they did with Devimon, amping him up like an overdramatic American supervillain. Appropriate, since the Japanese version is also doing the same thing as Devimon: Cold, reserved mastermind of wickedness.

But man, that line. "I've heard THAT one before." You can feel him folding his arms petulantly and eyerolling. It's hilarious. But unmenacing.

Worth noting that Vamdemon is, in fact, the Perfect-stage evolution of Devimon. He's what Devimon could become if he worked hard enough. So it makes sense that both versions play him similarly.

It's a small thing but I don't like the new final line. It messes with the gag of the sign breaking. In the original, he punctuates pounding in the sign with short repetitions, one for each stroke. This draws attention to the sign breaking when it disrupts his third repetition; His voice is hammering the sign as much as his talons are.

Here, he's able to complete his sentence, and then the sign breaks. The focus is on what he's saying, rather than his voice emphasizing the pounding motion, so his dialogue doesn't build to the snap. The two are divorced from one another.

PicoDevimon needs to pick himself up fast, however, as Koushiro and Tentomon are coming this way! He scurries out of the path before they see him.

Koushiro: I'm sure when I meet Gennai-san, he'll know the secret to these Crests.

Koushiro takes out his Crest to look at it. PicoDevimon seizes the opportunity to snap a photo with a small digital camera.

(Where has he been keeping that?)

Tentomon: You always want to know everything about everything, Koushiro-han. That's what I like about you. Koushiro: Oh, stop, you're embarrassing me. Tentomon: I don't mean anything weird by it. Koushiro: I know. Still, I wonder where Gennai is...?

This is just as sweet in the dub.

Izzy: I'm curious to know why Gennai is so secretive. I want to discuss the merits of the Crest with him! Tentomon: I like that about you, Izzy! You have a never-ending thirst for information. It's amazing your brain doesn't explode with all that knowledge. Izzy: There are a lot more things I can learn! Tentomon: How much room do you have left in your brain? Izzy: As much as I need! ...I wonder where Gennai could be? With all my knowledge, I still can't find him!

Though Izzy's more receptive to Tentomon's flattery than Koushiro is. Though they do drone on a bit, hammering in that knowledge is Izzy's thing.

Continuing ahead, the boys find PicoDevimon's sign.

Tentomon: Here's a signpost! Koushiro: You're right!

The dub sticks a laugh line here.

Tentomon: Look, Izzy! It's a sign! Izzy: (from offscreen) YOU MEAN FROM ABOVE!?!? Tentomon: (flatly) No, here on the ground. Izzy: How bizarre.

It's well timed to the animation; Izzy only joins Tentomon onscreen after delivering that first line, so he only sees the physical sign after making his wild assumption. It also follows pretty quickly after he expresses frustration about not being able to find Gennai, so that topic then flows into this reaction.

The sign reads "Beware of huge falling poops!"

The dub's been pretty inconsistent with how it handles onscreen Japanese lettering; Here, they take the Infinity Mountain approach and rewrite the sign in English to read "BEWARE OF FALLING SLUDGE".

The Monzaemon episode referred to poops as Nume Sludge, while the Kentarumon episode called it hair mousse. Here, we're back to sludge.

Not wanting to be buried under shit, the boys go a different way only to find another sign warning of a bottomless pit of shit. They turn around only to be confronted with a warning of ferocious poop.

Koushiro: This place is full of crap! Tentomon: What a nasty place!

Indecision of where they can even go keeps them in place until PicoDevimon's real trap activates. The ground beneath their feet gives out, plunging Tentomon and Koushiro down into a deep metal hole.

Upside-down, Tentomon and Koushiro plunge into the abyss. After the initial screaming is over, Koushiro tries to problem-solve.

Koushiro: Tentomon, can you fly? Tentomon: I can't! (tries to flutter his gossamer wings) Look! It's making me fall even faster! Koushiro: I wonder how far we're going to fall? Tentomon: How would I know!? Booming Voice: To Hell. Koushiro: Hell!?

That gets both of them. Koushiro and Tentomon start flailing in the air to try and flap their way back up.

Koushiro: Y-YOU'RE JOKING!!! Tentomon: REALLY!?!?

Tentomon rights himself and buzzes his gossamer wings but makes little progress. Koushiro grabs onto him, pulling them both down.

Tentomon: I DON'T WANT TO GO TO HELL!!!

Y'know, it makes sense that a form of Devimon would know where to find all the best gateways to Hell. This checks out.

Since religious references aren't allowed, the dub needed to do something about that Hell thing.

Izzy: There's no bottom to this pit! Tentomon: Well, that could work in our favor. (tries to flutter his gossamer wings) It's a lot easier on your head that way if you ask me. Izzy: Unfortunately, that's impossible. Tentomon: If we fall any farther, we'll be in-- Sassy Voice: A very unpleasant place! Tentomon: That's not good!

Then they shriek and yelp for the rest of their dialogue.

Koushiro and Tentomon plunge into the abyss, but are soon lifted up by temporary salvation while the voice explains their plight.

Voice: Grab onto these. (Koushiro and Tentomon rise slowly up from the depths) Voice: Anyone with an obsession will be dragged down into Hell. Koushiro: I don't think either of us is obsessed with something. Voice: No, you are. You are obsessed with knowing everything. Koushiro: Is it wrong to want to know everything? Voice: There! When you get offended and ask questions like that, the weight of your curiosity grows and drags you down to Hell. Koushiro: Why!? Voice: See, you asked 'why' again. Koushiro: But-- Voice: Your inquisitive heart is swelling and swelling!

Punctuating the voice's argument, Koushiro's duck floaty suddenly swells up until it plunging him back into Hell.

Voice: Does anybody need a lift? Izzy: Hey, what are these? Voice: I have temporarily given you a life raft! You see, all those that are greedy fall into the pit. Izzy: I'm not sure I comprehend what you're saying. What are you accusing us of being greedy for? Voice: Wanting to know too much, of course! You're sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong! Izzy: What could possibly be wrong with gaining knowledge and information? Voice: See! You're doing it again! You can't seem to stop yourself! You're headed straight for the pit if you don't learn to control yourself. Izzy: How come!? Voice: (agitated) You don't even know that you're doing it! Izzy: I don't? Voice: IT'S LIKE A DISEASE WITH YOU!!! Well, nice knowing you~! (pop)

Replacing Hell with "the pit" has some effects on the way this conversation breaks down. The voice in the original sounds as if he's speaking from authority. At least allegedly trying to explain to Koushiro the sin that condemns him to Hell, and walking him through what it means.

"The pit" sounds like this dude has a hang-up about being asked questions, especially as he becomes more and more irate. He's scolding Izzy for what honestly sounds like a personal problem, dude.

(I mean, this voice obviously isn't trustworthy, actually. But it's the pretense of the thing. Dub version is nakedly malevolent.)

Koushiro falls once more, but he's able to grab one of Tentomon's legs to keep from falling entirely - Though Tentomon's floaty can't support both of them, and slowly begins to descend back down towards Hell.

Voice: Do you want to go to Hell? Koushiro: NO, I DON'T!!! Tentomon: ME NEITHER!!! Voice: Then throw away your inquisitive heart! Tentomon: ...I like your inquisitive heart, Koushiro-han. Koushiro: But at this rate, the two of us will fall into Hell!

Suddenly, Tentomon's floaty pops too, sending them both falling into the abyss once more.

Koushiro: HOW DO I THROW IT AWAY!?!? Voice: Pray for it! Koushiro: (praying) I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!! I... don't want to know....

As Koushiro and Tentomon fall away into blackness, a strange bubble suddenly emerges from the darkness, rising upwards.

In the dub:

Voice: It's your decision. Do you want to fall in the pit!? Izzy: No way! Of course not! Tentomon: That makes two of us! Voice: Then give up your curiosity to me! Izzy: It appears I have no other choice! Tentomon: But it's your curiosity that I admire! Izzy: What procedure should I utilize to keep us from falling down this pit? (Tentomon's floaty pops) Voice: STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!!! Izzy: I WON'T I WON'T I DON'T WANNA KNOW!!! Voice: That's more like it. Izzy: I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!!

Once again, this is much more clearly extortion. Tonally, there's a difference between "Do the thing or your soul will be perforated on the needle mountain of Jigoku" vs "Do the thing or I will punch you." Even though they're kind of the same, the former carries the ambiguous weight of presumed guidance.

That said, I like how the dub handles the popping of Tentomon's floaty. In the original, it happens abruptly and without warning to add urgency and force Koushiro into making a snap decision. The dub gives the floaty a legitimate reason to pop.

Falling into what the voice claimed to be Hell despite doing what they were asked, Koushiro and Tentomon find themselves floating in a strange space vacuum. There, they're greeted by a strange creature.

Tentomon: Where are we? Voice: (manifesting from the void) In the Sacred Mysterious Universe.

Koushiro's eyelids are half-closed and he has a dull expression on his face. Upon seeing this creature manifest in a meditative pose, Koushiro folds his hands in a prayer gesture and bows his head to him.

Tentomon: Who are you? Voice: I am Vademon, the ruler of the Sacred Mysterious Universe.

The narrator chimes in here to give us our rundown. Vademon is a Perfect-stage Virus-type Alien Digimon. His name is derived from the word "invader", and he's the super-evolved form of last episode's Vegiemon.

There's a bit of confusion over whether it should be spelled "Vademon" or "Vadermon". The spelling of his name is of no help, as it's ベーダモン which is, in Katakana, "Be-e-da-mo-n". It's officially romanized on the rundown screen as "Vademon" while it's pronounced "Vay-der-mon".

Narrator: Vademon. A creepy Digimon through and through whose true nature is unknown. His special attack, Akuma no Nage Kiss, mortifies his enemies.

I love it when codex entries for monsters read "Fuck if I know."

Akuma no Nage Kiss stands out distinctively for the fact that attack names are almost always in English. The battle cries of Harpoon Vulcan and Fox Fire are shouted in English. But Akuma no Nage Kiss only uses English for the "Kiss" part. Odd.

Akuma no Nage means "thrown by a devil". So the attack name could fairly be translated as "Devil's Blown Kiss". Doesn't sound too impressive, but neither do Lovely Attack or Love Serenade and those moves can fuck people up.

Unsurprisingly, Tentomon handles the rundown over in the dub.

Tentomon: Well, we've finally made it out but where are we now!? Vademon: Welcome to my universe. I certainly hope you enjoy your stay here. Izzy: (prays towards Vademon) Tentomon: Izzy!? Vademon: I'm Vademon. I personally designed this universe. Pretty nice, don't you think? Tentomon: (rundown) Vademon was living proof you should always stay away from Digimon with unusually large heads. That big brain of his was scrambled if you ask me.

Your words make Togemon sad.

Again, the dub's Vademon foregoes all the mysticism and is like "Welcome to my pad, broski." Weirdly, they did not cut the shot of Koushiro praying. I totally expected they would.

Now that we're in the Sacred Mysterious Universe, there's one little thing we must attend to.

The little bubble from before floats up to Vademon.

Vademon: This is the inquisitive heart that you threw away. It must not dirty the sanctity of the Sacred Mysterious Universe. I will dispose of it.

Vademon takes out an alien blaster pistol and sucks the bubble up into it.

Vademon: Learning about Cosmic Power will be more valuable to you.

A textbook with the English word "COSMOS" in all caps floats down into Koushiro's hands. He opens it and begins reading, while speaking in a dull monotone.

Koushiro: A textbook on how to obtain Cosmic Power.... Vademon: That's the way to go. NYEH YEH YEH YEH YEH YEH!!!

Vademon suddenly unfolds from his meditative pose. He fades away back into the void from whence he came while flailing about and letting out ecstatic yelps.

In the dub:

Vademon: Your curiosity is in this sack. It's garbage. You don't need it! And I don't want it messing up my universe. I just hate having clutter. If it's not needed, I zap it. (Vademon's gun absorbs Izzy's curiosity) Vademon: Now that that's done, I want you to read my latest book. It's all you need to know! Izzy: (reading) All you need to know, whether you like it or not. Vademon: It happens to be a bestseller. WHOA HO OH HO HO HO!! (flails and vanishes)

I think Izzy's line is supposed to be the title of the book, but it doesn't gel because we can clearly see the title of the book is "COSMOS".

With Vademon gone, Koushiro opens the book and begins to read.

Koushiro: (reading) The basics of Cosmic Power lie in your breathing. Tentomon: Koushiro-han! Don't believe in that crazy stuff! Koushiro: (reading) The correct way to breathe is to release alpha rays from your right chest. Tentomon: Stop reading that!

Tentomon lunges for the book, but Koushiro slaps him away.

Koushiro: What are you doing!? (resumes reading) As a result, your blood flow will increase and energy will flow throughout your body. Therefore, your breathing is....

While Koushiro continues consuming this questionable literature, his Digivice begins flashing and beeping. He doesn't even notice it.

Let's have a look at what Dub Vadermon's book says.

Izzy: (reading) In order to be one with the universe, you must erase your thoughts. Tentomon: But your thoughts make up who you are! You mustn't erase them. Izzy: (reading) It is important to breathe into your thoughts until they disintegrate and slowly turn into mush. Tentomon: I've heard enough! (lunge) Izzy: (swat) KEEP AWAY FROM ME!!! (reading) The less you think about, the happier you'll be. (unintelligible because Tentomon's talking over it) Tentomon: Someone's trying to send us a transmission! Izzy: (reading) Soon your mind will shut down and you will have nothing left to worry about.

Oh, that's even more ominous. The Cosmic Power notebook is filled with general cult-sounding gobbledygook like managing your thetan levels and shit, while Vademon's Bestseller is outright advocating for turning off your brain and becoming a vegetable.

While Koushiro's reading, Tentomon opens up his backpack and takes his laptop out of it.

Once it's open, Koushiro stops reading and floats over to talk to Taichi.

Taichi: Koushiro! Koushiro: T-Taichi-san? Where are you right now? Taichi: At home. I'm back in the real world. Koromon is with me! (screen begins to go static, disrupting connection) Koushiro: I see. Then that means you're not coming back here. But please contact me once in a while. (screen goes blank) Tentomon: It looks like Taichi-san is having his share of troubles too-- KOUSHIRO-HAN!!! Koushiro: (returning to reading without paying any further mind) With Cosmic Power, you will acquire tranquility with all things....

Here, we see Koushiro's side of the ominous transmission to Taichi. What Taichi took as a warning of "Do not come back!" was actually the statement, "You're not coming back here."

There was never any danger he needed to rush back to confront. Except. You know. The tremendous danger everyone's in right now. So. Uh. Task failed successfully, I guess.

The dub's got a bigger problem on their hands, because they missed the fact back then that Koushiro is speaking in a dull monotone and being misinterpreted. They had him screaming a much more explicit warning at Tai. It's going to hard to connect that to this scene.

Tai: IZZY!!! Izzy: Look, it's Tai. Where are you? Tai: I'm home but I got your message that you're in danger! I'm trying to find you! Izzy: Tell me about it. I'm trying to find myself. Don't bother coming back to the Digi-World, Tai. You'll just clutter up the universe. Tai: IZZY!!! (screen goes blank) Tentomon: Tai's risking his life to save you, Izzy! Izzy: Oh well. Tentomon: He's your FRIEND!!! Izzy: (reading) Indifference is the key to success. Practice it. Tentomon: The Izzy I knew is no more....

So they just... don't. The danger message was another one he sent at some point while he was wandering around looking for Gennai. When he was screaming "Digi-Monsters everywhere" and "Don't come back here", he didn't mean anything by it. Whatever that was, they got over it. It's fine now.

(He stubbed his toe on a Gennai-shaped rock and was being overdramatic about it.)

Now this is a separate follow-up message Tai sent at... Some point before leaving the real world and returning to Digi-World.

Meanwhile, Vademon reveals how exactly he intends to dispose of Koushiro's inquisitive heart. Securing it in his... vault? Warehouse? Incinerator? Uh. Not exactly.

Vademon: Ehehehe, the inquisitive heart can go right next to the ignorant heart! (Vademon places Koushiro's purple bubble next to an orange bubble on a store shelf) Vademon: If there are people willing to throw away their hearts, there are people willing to buy them. I am the shopkeeper of the Universe of Hearts, Vademon! Hee hee hee!

Yeah, he's a grifter. Selling people on ideological nonsense so he can pick their pockets. No shortage of people like him in both religious and secular spaces.

Honestly, with the modern state of internet punditry, the Digital World of 2024's probably overflowing with Vademon.

In the dub:

Vademon: Oho ohohoho!!! I've got a warehouse full of curiosities and other castaway items, and all of them are for sale! (Vademon places Koushiro's purple bubble next to an orange bubble on the store shelf) Vademon: There's always someone who wants to buy junk and I know the salesman who can give them a bargain: Vademon, Curiosity Salesman Extraordinaire! A penny for your thoughts and a nickel for your fears!

So, downside, he's so busy expositing about what a good salesman he is that he forgets to tell us about the ignorant heart clearly visible next to Koushiro's inquisitive heart.

What we gain, however, is fantastic wordplay around the "curiosity" pun. That last line from him is perfect, too. They did not have to go so hard but they did and it's glorious.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Eager to do business, Vademon emerges from his realm with, let's call it, gusto.

Vademon: YES YES, WELCOME!!! PicoDevimon: AHHHHH!!!

PicoDevimon falls to the ground visibly having a heart attack. But a second later, he gets back up and tries to recompose himself.

PicoDevimon: Umm-- Vademon: My store has everything you need to suit your tastes-- Huh?

PicoDevimon interrupts Vademon by holding out a photograph of Koushiro and Tentomon arguing with one another earlier.

PicoDevimon: Did this kid and Digimon fall in this area? Vademon: Oh? They did! They did! PicoDevimon: And? Vademon: Ahhh, I understand. Please wait here a moment!

Vademon returns to his hole. He emerges a moment later, startling PicoDevimon a second time, with the inquisitive heart in hand.

Vademon: Thank you for waiting! Here is that boy's inquisitive heart. PicoDevimon: I don't want that! Vademon: (upset) Sir, did you come here just to play around?

PicoDevimon shows Vademon the photo of Koushiro's Crest he took earlier.

PicoDevimon: I want this thing that the boy was holding. Vademon: Hmph! I only sell hearts! You won't find that for sale here! PicoDevimon: But I have such a tremendous pile of poop waiting to be spent! Vademon: (fantasizing about a thirty foot crystallized poop) POOP POOP POOP!!! PicoDevimon: I don't mind bartering for it.... Vademon: (snatches the photo away and sends PicoDevimon tumbling to the ground for a third time) I'LL DO IT!!! I'll get a hold of it and trade it for your huge pile of poop!

We're seeing a bit of a difference here between Vamdemon and Etemon. As King of DIgimon, Etemon had reach all across the continent of Server through his Dark Network, as well as Digimon working for him ready to throw hands with the kids at his command.

Vamdemon, by contrast, doesn't seem to have that level of sway and authority over the Digimon of Server. PicoDevimon is forced to manipulate and barter, striking deals with the locals to get force he can turn against the children.

(Nobody tell Jou about the system of currency on this mountain. If he thought USD was bad....)

The dub changed Digitamamon to a mercenary who does regular jobs for DemiDevimon, but they keep Vademon as a free agent.

Vademon: Well! DemiDevimon: AHHHHHH!!!! (falls) Vademon: Have I got the bargain for you! DemiDevimon: (gets up) I hope so! Vademon: I'm running a sale right now! Dreams and curiosities are at bottom-line prices! I'm telling you, it's a steal-- Huh? DemiDevimon: (shows first photo) Did anyone in this picture happen to tumble into your universe? Vademon: Why, yes! They did! DemiDevimon: Perfect! Vademon: You must be in the market for their curiosities! I'll fetch them for you! (Vademon returns below, then comes back up with Izzy's curiosity, startling DemiDevimon) Vademon: They're very fresh! If you're looking for brain garbage, this is the place. DemiDevimon: I'm looking for something else! Vademon: (upset) Don't try to give me a hard time or I'll get mad! DemiDevimon: (shows second photo) I want this. Vademon: (scowls) Hrmm.... DemiDevimon: The kid in the picture was carrying a Tag and a Crest with him. Vademon: Well, that's not something I ordinarily carry! It's a very expensive item! DemiDevimon: Huh? Hmm... How about I trade 'em for some of my curiosity? Vademon: (fantasizing about a thirty foot crystallized "curiosity") He must have a mountain of curious thoughts! DemiDevimon: So what do you say, Vademon? Is it a deal or not? Vademon: It certainly is! (snatches photo, sending DemiDevimon tumbling) I can tell from looking at you that you're a Digimon with enough wacky thoughts to make me a fortune!

For some reason, the dub pluralizes Izzy's curiosity as if it's Tentomon's too.

It's no surprise that they had to censor out the giant crystal poop, though they do still show it onscreen. Turning it into "DemiDevimon's curiosity" is probably their best attempt at covering up a poop yet, however; The crystal poop is pink, the same color as Koushiro's inquisitive heart, so it connects really well.

Even though it's still obviously a poop.

Making Vademon's business into a general-purpose pawn shop instead of a used heart retailer works against the dub here, however. It's harder to grasp why he'd get upset at DemiDevimon wanting to buy the Tag and Crest if he sells just about anything that comes into his clutches.

Meanwhile, down in the Sacred Mysterious Universe, Curiosity-free Koushiro is forming his body into the English alphabet.

Tentomon: Koushiro-han! Koushiro: I'm training to attain Cosmic Power, so quit bothering me!

He resumes forming his letter-shapes. At N, Vademon returns with new instructions for him.

Vademon: I forgot to tell you something. Koushiro: Vademon-sama. Vademon: To attain Cosmic Power, you must first discard everything. Koushiro: Everything? Vademon: Throw away everything that you have. Koushiro: Yes, sir.

Koushiro reaches into his pockets and casts away various pieces of paper. (Yen notes? Hard to tell.)

In the dub:

Tentomon: Izzy, what are you doing!? Izzy: I'm preparing my brainwaves by focusing on some basic fundamentals, so I would rather you did not disturb me. Vademon: (appears) There's something that I forgot to mention to you. Izzy: Oh, yes? What? Vademon: In order to fully improve yourself, you must throw away possessions that are considered excess baggage. Izzy: Such as...? Vademon: Just about everything except your clothes. Izzy: Of course.

Here, Dub Vademon's more verbose lines do a more thorough job of sounding genuine. The original just says "Something something Cosmic Power, gimme your stuff." But it occurs to me that it doesn't really matter how well he bothers selling this. With his inquisitiveness gone, Koushiro's incapable of properly scrutinizing what he's being told.

Koushiro empties his pockets and discards everything. Then he comes to his Crest.

Koushiro: I don't need this. Vademon: Yee hee hee hee hee!!! Koushiro: (tosses away the Crest) Tentomon: AUGH!!! You can't do that! Vademon: Mmm! (catches the Crest) I'll be taking this! Tentomon: (air-swims through space towards Vademon) Give back the Crest! Vademon: Be quiet! (Vademon takes out his laser pistol and shoots Tentomon, sending him hurtling through space) Tentomon: AUGH!!! Vademon: (to Koushiro) Continue your training. Koushiro: Yes.

Tentomon's efforts to break Koushiro free from this spell remain ineffectual.

In the dub:

Izzy: This is expendable. Vademon: Hahahahahaha!!! Izzy: (tosses away the Crest) Tentomon: Have you gone bananas!? You can't throw those away! Vademon: Hm! (catches the Crest) What a nice looking trinket! Tentomon: (air-swims through space towards Vademon) Give back that Tag and Crest, you poor excuse for a Digimon! Vademon: Back off, bug! (Vademon takes out his laser pistol and shoots Tentomon, sending him hurtling through space) Tentomon: IZZY!!! Vademon: (to Izzy) Forget about him. Now get back to your training. Izzy: Yes.

I like Tentomon crying out for Izzy to come to his senses rather than just screaming. Of course, he did just get shot by a Perfect-stage attack so being in a lot of pain makes sense. Both of these work.

With the goods in hand, Vademon returns topside to make the sale.

Appearing from the ground so quickly he startles PicoDevimon and knocks him over yet again, Vademon shows off the Crest.

Vademon: Thank you for waiting! (holds out the Crest) PicoDevimon: AHH!!! This! This! Hurry up and gimme! Vademon: Not so fast! This is a trade. Where's your huge pile of poop? PicoDevimon: W-Wait a minute! I'll have it out right now!

PicoDevimon drops to the ground and aggressively tries to evacuate his bowels onscreen, accompanied by incredibly obnoxious farting noises.

It does not go well.

Over in the dub, Devimon has an even greater hurdle in front of him.

Vademon: YOO-HOO!!! So sorry to make you wait! (holds out the Crest) DemiDevimon: Yeah! Alright, come on! Gimme the goods! Vademon: Wait. Don't you recall the deal that we made? I want a piece of your brain! DemiDevimon: I'm going to crank out some of my thoughts! Vademon: Huh!?

The frames of PicoDevimon attempting to poop are thus replaced by DemiDevimon trying to think so hard that his thoughts will materialize externally from his body. That. Doesn't sound like a thing, but it is how Koushiro/Izzy sold his inquisitive heart so there's no reason this couldn't work.

Nonetheless, both versions of his attempt fail. Vademon gets impatient waiting and gives PicoDevimon a kick in the ass, canceling the sale.

Down in the Sacred Mysterious Universe, Tentomon watches helplessly as his Partner repeats the alphabet motions again. There is nothing left of the boy he knew in there.

Tentomon: (defeated, quiet) Koushiro-han....

Then he degenerates into his Baby-stage, Mochimon. The degeneration catches Koushiro's attention, and he stops going through his motions to stare blankly at Mochimon. After a few seconds, Mochimon degenerates further to his Baby I stage, Babumon.

Babumon's name comes from the word "Bubble". The dub, however, mistranslated it as Pabumon, which means nothing.

Koushiro: Babumon.... Babumon: Babu! Babu! Babu.... Koushiro: Shut up! Why do I have to keep telling you to stop getting in the way of my training! Babu: (crying) Babu! Babuuuu....

The dub plays this precisely, even letting the quiet moments sit and not trying to destroy them with dialogue - with the exception of Tentomon's first line, which is made a bit longer.

Tentomon: I've lost him! I... I have no energy... left....

But once he degenerates into Motimon and Pabumon, they follow the script and keep him only repeating his name.

Pabumon weeps for Koushiro. His tears form into bubbles, floating into the air. Koushiro watches the bubbles and, inside of them, something takes shape.

Memory of Koushiro: (exploring the hillside) I'm sure when I meet Gennai-san, he'll know the secret to these Crests. Memory of Tentomon: (suspended in the floaty with Koushiro hanging from his leg) You always want to know everything about everything, Koushiro-han. That's what I like about you.

Then another set of memories plays out in the bubbles. Koushiro sees their visit to the inside of the giant battery at Andromon's factory, when he discovered the coding script of Digimon World.

But when he tries to take a closer look, it pops. All of the bubbles pop at once, startling Koushiro.

This scene, the dub does add silence-destroying dialogue too.

Pabumon: Pabu pabu! Have you forgotten who I am already, Izzy? Have you forgotten who you are? Try to remember. Try! Memory of Izzy: (exploring the hillside) I just want to figure out what the Digi-World really is! Memory of Tentomon: (suspended in the floaty with Koushiro hanging from his leg) Hold on, Izzy! And don't let go of your curiosity! It's your curiosity I admire! Memory of Izzy: This is merely scientific speculation, but I believe I've stumbled onto something more than just a simple computer key!

Tonal shift. In the original Tentomon degenerated to Pabumon because he'd given up on being able to reach Koushiro. He's reached the event horizon of total despair, and his tears are a sincere expression of his grief and hopelessness.

In the dub, he just ran out of juice. He's still trying to get through to Izzy, and creating memory bubbles on purpose as a new tactic.

Also, the memory quotes in the dub version aren't things they ever actually said. In the original, they're direct quotes from the earlier exchange up on the hillside.

When the bubbles pop, something seems to snap in Koushiro. As if waking up from a dream, the listless expression fades from his face and he truly sees Babumon.

Koushiro runs to Babumon, picking him up and embracing him.

Koushiro: Babumon! Babumon: Babu! Babu! Babu! Koushiro: I'm sorry for making you degenerate! Babumon: Babu! Babu! Babu! Vademon: (overheard) Stop messing around! PicoDevimon: Vademon-san, calm down! Vademon: Sir! You are being too persistent!

The door to Vademon's shop appears in the void. Koushiro and Babumon move closer to listen in. PicoDevimon and Vademon are having it out in his store.

PicoDevimon: W-Wait a minute! Vademon: I will not! Leave! Right now! PicoDevimon: I can't! Vademon: Why not!? PicoDevimon: If I don't take that Crest with me, who knows what Vamdemon-sama will do to me! Vademon: Ha! That's got nothing to do with me! PicoDevimon: Please! Vademon: (slaps PicoDevimon, lobbing him into the shelves) Go away!

Over in the dub, Pabumon's stopped speaking normally and returned to the Pabu Pabu lines.

Pabumon: Pabu! Pabu! Izzy: Please don't cry, Pabumon! Ohhh, sorry. Pabumon: Pabu! Izzy: I didn't mean to make you de-Digivolve. Pabumon: Pabu! Pabu pabu! Vademon: (overheard) YOU LIE!!! Izzy: Huh? Vademon: You're nothing but a weaselmon! DemiDevimon: Don't get bent all out of shape! Vademon: I always change shape when I'm mad! (Izzy and Pabumon move closer to listen in) DemiDevimon: Give me a break! I'm gonna get in big trouble! Vademon: That's not my concern, you pesky pipsqueak! Now beat it, pal! DemiDevimon: Oh, please! Myotismon will pull my feathers out if I don't bring him that Tag and Crest! Vademon: You got yourself into this; Now you can get yourself out. DemiDevimon: Please, I'm beggin' ya! He's a big brute! Vademon: BACK OFF! (slaps DemiDevimon, lobbing him into the shelves)

"I always change shape when I'm mad" got me. XD

Watching this all unfold, Koushiro comes to a realization about his Cosmic Power training.

Koushiro: He has the Crest I threw away. Babumon: Babu! Koushiro: Since I don't have my inquisitive heart, I don't really understand, but... I think I've been tricked. Babumon: (nodding) Babu! Babu! Koushiro: Let's take back my Crest and my inquisitive heart. Babumon: (determined) Babu!

Koushiro opens the door to the shop, letting in Pabumon. Without a word or an ounce or hesitation, Pabumon executes his own plan for retrieving Koushiro's Crest.

A reckless smash-and-grab, snatching it straight out of the hands of a Perfect-stage Digimon that could erase him with a whisper. Taichi would be so proud.

(Mimi too. Babumon's demonstrating the value of taking action instead of sitting around overthinking.)

Pabumon flees back into Koushiro's arms. Vademon and PicoDevimon race for the door, trying to grab the Crest. Koushiro sidesteps them both and lets their momentum carry them out into the void, then slips inside and slams the door shut.

He then bars it shut with a large wooden beam, buying himself time.

Koushiro returns his Crest to its proper place around his neck, then follows Babumon to the other thing he's missing.

Koushiro: Ah! My inquisitive heart! An incurious me isn't me! Wanting to know everything is part of who I am! Babumon: (nodnod) Babu! Babu! Koushiro: My inquisitive heart... I'm sorry for throwing you away....

Vademon and PicoDevimon break down the door, right as Koushiro places his heart to his forehead and prays for it.

Koushiro: I want to know. I want to know!

The pair come around the corner just in time to see Koushiro's inquisitive heart disappear into his chest and return to him.

Vademon: AUGH!!! He selfishly took back the inquisitive heart!

The dub makes this scene about the value of curiosity in general, instead of to Izzy personally.

Izzy: Prodigious! You found my curiosity! It was a mistake to give it up; I'm sorry I just tossed it away. Curiosity is essential! Pabumon: (nodnod) Pabu pabu! Izzy: I'm going to have to concentrate. I hope it transfers. (places the curiosity against his forehead) Come back in my heart. Come back in my heart! (Izzy reabsorbs his curiosity right as Vademon rounds the corner) Vademon: Ha! Now you're going to pay for this! Stop!

Dub Vademon doesn't care at all that he's been robbed. He's still mad about the door thing.

Koushiro and Babumon flee through the aisles, looping back and escaping out the door back into the Sacred Mysterious Universe. Vademon gives chase, firing on them with his handheld blaster.

Fortunately, now that Izzy's back up to full speed, it doesn't take long for Babumon to recover too. Evolving back into Mochimon, and then into Tentomon, before going one step beyond.

Kabuterimon buzzes PicoDevimon and Vademon, easily beating Vademon's little blaster. But then Vademon gets serious and unleashes his Akuma no Nage Kiss.

It's surprisingly straightforward. The kiss turns into giant rocks that brutally tenderize Kabuterimon.

Koushiro: Kabuterimon! Vademon: You'll only get hurt if you underestimate me. EEE HEE HEE HEE!!! Koushiro: Kabuterimon! Get up!

In the dub:

Izzy: Kabuterimon! Vademon: Sorry, but I've never been very partial to vermin Digimon. Bahahaha! Izzy: Get up! You've gotta Digivolve!

Vademon, can you really say that with a straight face when you've spent half this episode trying to do business with a sky rodent?

Ignited by this battle for Koushiro's curiosity, his Crest activates. Kabuterimon CHOU-SHINKAAAAAA!!!

AtlurKabuterimon pierces through Vademon's debris field with his horn while the narrator gives the rundown.

AtlurKabuterimon is a Perfect-stage Vaccine-type Insect Digimon. The Atlur for his name is a Romanization of the letters アトラー A-to-ra-a, or "Atlas". Kabuterimon was the rhinoceros beetle Digimon; AtlurKabuterimon is the Atlas beetle Digimon.

Though, like MetalGreymon, AtlurKabuterimon's color scheme is off-palette. He's blue in the V-Pet, though still Vaccine-type. Red and Blue AtlurKabuterimon are now recognized as separate species in the video games, though Blue doesn't see nearly as much action.

Narrator: AtlurKabuterimon. A giant insect Digimon that evolves from Kabuterimon. Using his large horn, he stabs through the enemy with his Horn Buster!

The dub calls him MegaKabuterimon. MegaKabuterimon is an Ultimate-stage Digimon, not to be confused with Ultimate-stage, which in the dub is called Mega-stage. Make sense?

Izzy: Kabuterimon was successful! He Digivolved to Ultimate MegaKabuterimon! Let's see if you can take him on, Vademon!

Realizing he needs more firepower, Vademon lets off another Akuma no Nage Kiss. This time, he conjures up a ringed planet to slam into AtlurKabuterimon.

AtlurKabuterimon breaks through the planet with so much force that it destroys the entire Sacred Mysterious Universe in an eruption of blinding light.

The dub calls this attack as Horn Buster, but it's given no name in the original. It's not super clear what exactly he did to make this happen.

This scene also lays bare how awkward Hey Digimon is as a theme. Show Me Your Brave Heart is able to cover everything from the start of AtlurKabuterimon's evolution. Hey Digimon is so short that it has to start in here, at the moment the winning blow is struck.

From there, AtlurKabuterimon grabs up a screaming and tumbling Koushiro and departs for the surface - Emerging not far from where some familiar faces have arrived to search for him.

Koushiro wakes up to find AtlurKabuterimon degenerated into Mochimon.

Mochimon: Koushiro-han! Koushiro-han... Are you okay? Koushiro: Mochimon? Mochimon: I used up too much of my energy. Koushiro: (embraces Mochimon) Mochimon, thank you. Mochimon: Koushiro-han, that hurts....

Suddenly, Yamato and Takeru come running with their Partners. Koushiro stands up, lifting Mochimon in his arms.

Yamato: KOUSHIRO!!! Tsunomon: MOCHIMON!!! Takeru: KOUSHIRO-SAN!!! Koushiro: Yamato-san! Takeru-kun! Mochimon: Tsunomon! Patamon! Yamato: Are you in one piece!? Koushiro: Yes. Takeru: I'm glad we found you! Tsunomon: Mochimon, you look like a baby when you're held like that. Mochimon: Koushiro-han! Put me down! Koushiro: It's okay. You're tired.

Yamato snapping straight into big brother mode after seeing Koushiro emerge in a beam of energy from the earth.

In the dub, Matt's group inexplicably seems to know a lot of details about Izzy's plight, rather than just reacting to his sudden emergence.

Matt: Izzy! Awesome! You made it back! Izzy: That's right! We're back! Motimon: Yeah! We're back! Matt: How's it going? T.K.: Yeah! Izzy: Better now. T.K.: Tell us what happened! Tsunomon: Yeah, how did you get here? We thought you were a Digi-goner! Motimon: Izzy was taking a self-improvement class. Izzy: I improved so much, I flunked right out!

I wonder if the censors will let me use the 'm' word if I call it Digi-murder? Food for thought.

Suddenly, Gennai (!!!) appears in the sky with gifts.

Gennai: Chosen Children. Koushiro: Gennai-san! Gennai: The distortions in this world haven't been corrected yet. Group: EH!?!? Gennai: Use the information on this world, available in the Digimon Analyzer I've sent, as a reference from now on! (fades away)

Yeah, he seriously just shows up like "Hey I heard you like knowledge so I bought you a database GENNAI OUT!"

Koushiro pulls up the Digimon Analyzer. As a fun note, the screens of the Digimon Analyzer, shown here, are different from the typical rundown screen. However, each Ultimate-stage Partner Digimon that evolved up to this point has used the Digimon Analyzer screen instead of the typical rundown screen.

Koushiro: This is the Digimon Analyzer. (pulls up AtlurKabuterimon) Here it is. AtlurKabuterimon. An Insect Digimon. Mochimon: Hee hee, that's me!

In the dub, they rename the Digimon Analyzer.

Gennai: Hello, kids! It's been a while! Izzy: It's Gennai! Gennai: The connection between the worlds is still damaged. You'll have to stay longer. I've collected some information about the Digital World that you'll be able to use. Be sure to take a look at the Digimon File; It will tell you all you need to know! (fades away) Izzy: I wonder if there's anyone we know in here? (pulls up MegaKabuterimon) I've just downloaded my favorite: MegaKabuterimon! Motimon: Yeah! I'm a cool dude!

That was a weird decision because it literally says "DIGIMON ANALYZER" in English script repeatedly across the analyzer screen.

While the kids are enjoying their new tool, PicoDevimon has the unpleasant task of reporting in to Vamdemon.

PicoDevimon: Vamdemon-sama.... Vamdemon: Where is the Crest? PicoDevimon: Please, forgive me-- Vamdemon: No! Take your punishment! (bat swarm) PicoDevimon: AHHHHH!!! SAVE ME!!! VAMDEMON-SAMA!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!

We close on PicoDevimon's agonized cries.

The dub tries so hard to make it not look like he's being attacked by the bats, it's hilarious.

DemiDevimon: Hehe, a funny thing happened to me on the way to Vademon's-- Myotismon: Prepare to face the consequences. DemiDevimon: I hate this part! Myotismon: Quiet! You had your chance! DemiDevimon: Don't make me sit in this tree all night! AHHHHHH!!! I'm afraid of heights! Can I at least have some milk and cookies!?

Definitely not being bit and clawed by angry bats, nope nope!

(Why was the bat assault okay last episode but not this one? Weird.)

Assessment: Man, this episode has some shit to say about religions that weaponize fear of the afterlife to coerce their followers into obedience.

It makes for an excellent companion piece to the Andromon and Kentarumon episode. Yes, Koushiro is obsessive in his desire to learn and that's bad... when it comes at the expense of other people around him. But on its own, there is nothing wrong with a ravenous curiosity.

Koushiro needs to learn to temper his hunger for knowledge so that it doesn't hurt his relationships with other people, but he shouldn't have to give it up outright.

What really makes Vademon's trap interesting is that he accuses Koushiro of obsessive curiosity, then liberates him from curiosity... but not obsession. He simply gives Koushiro something new to mindlessly obsess over, rather than his usual mindful obsessing.

The actual problem behavior, shutting people out, is still there. Because this isn't actually a self-help program; He's being grifted.

There is, however, an extensive amount of shit in this episode. By which I mean literal shit, not bad storytelling.

The dub, meanwhile, had to take a black pen to so much in the course of removing religious references and literal shit. But I think they did a pretty good job of making it work nonetheless.

[smackins]

Name: Sgt. Pepper

Age: 8

Likes: Bananas, gardens, tea, new friends

Dislikes: Loud noises, Real World meat, fly traps and bug zappers

Evolution:

Pabumon (Fresh)

Motimon (In-Training)

Tentomon (Rookie)

Kabuterimon (Champion)

Owlmon (Armor)

MegaKabuterimon Blue (Ultimate)

Kongoumon (Mega)

Imperialdramon P.M. (Jogress w/ Dynasmon)

Pepper was born from my first ever V-pet, the Digimon Mini. He's a peculiar little tentomon with leaf-like antennae. He began his life as a shy, naive, gentle little baby. He's much wiser now, but he never lost his gentleness. He gets along well with my family and loved ones, and even wears a scarf my mom made for him. He has a great appreciation for nature, both in the Real World and the Digital World, and enjoys long walks and scenic car rides. He is a constant companion and confidant, and is not only my protector but also a protector of defenseless digimon in need. His Jogress partner is my sibling's Agumon, Marigold.

Name: Raz

Age: 1

Likes: mischief, books, magic, and spicy food

Dislikes: That One Damemon in Particular

Evolution:

Puttimon (Fresh)

Tokomon X (In-Training)

Renamon X (Rookie)

Renamon (Alt. Rookie)

Youkomon (Champion)

Sangloupmon (Alt. Champion)

Leomon X (Alt. Champion)

Butterflymon (Armor)

Raz is a young digimon born from the Digital Monster X. Though I have befriended many digimon from other V-pets over the years, she took to Pepper and I instantly and a true Tamer Bond formed. She views Pepper as her Big Brother, even though her rookie form is significantly taller. Like any Renamon, she is a master of illusions and invisibility- the latter she uses to sneak into places she shouldn't be... For reasons we are yet to fully understand, she has both a Holy Ring and a ring with the Nightmare Soldiers symbol on each ear. Like the trickster fox of folklore, she's a sly troublemaker- though she is never motivated by malice. She has a peculiar evolution method which takes multiple paths, and she can even suppress her X Antibody when the situation calls for it.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digimon Adventure Character Analysis - Koushirou Izumi’s relationship with “Selfishness vs. Selflessness” and his reactions “towards behaviour that doesn't look at the full picture and thus isn't taking all circumstances into account, thus leading to self-serving results only".

One of the re-occuring themes of Digimon Adventure - whether you take the original or the reboot - is that Koushirou is the driving force when it comes to figuring out the technical side of issues and working out a solution for the others to execute. Whether he figures out paths and riddles for them to advance, initiates a reboot to save their partners or sends coordinates to his friends before sacrificing himself for their sake - Koushirou is far more than just “info dump boy” and, as I’ve already pointed out, is often seen pushing himself to the absolute limit in order to find solutions. He has a tendency to overwork and lose himself in doing research to the point of completely disregarding his surroundings as well as his own physical and mental health. He definitely has a tendency to self-sacrifice without even realizing it - Tri even makes a point about him feeling completely and utterly useless once he cannot find a solution.

But I didn’t want to start this post to point out his more or less blatant self-esteem issues because hey, watching this scene above is already enough to break my heart anyway. 

Upon listening to one of the Digimon Adventure 02 dramas, “Armor Evolution to Chaos”, the 01 partners are - for fun and giggles - trying to armor evolve as well, with more or less parody’esque outcomes.

Tentomon turns into... Well, I would interpret it as person stuck in traffic, who apparently even caused the traffic, but is unable to admit that it was his fault and thus blames the others - his name is Jikochumon, which literally translates to "Selfishmon". Koushirou very dryly comments on it, as shown below:

... And I had a little moment there, because as stupid as all of that is, I immediately remembered that "jikochu" is the word everyone uses to describe Mimi in the 2nd Tri movie with for being self-centric. It also is the word Koushirou throws at her, causing her to leave in anger.

And that made me realize - Koushirou Izumi usually has very strong reactions to people acting in a selfish way. Or rather: "Towards behaviour that doesn't look at the full picture and thus isn't taking all circumstances into account, thus leading to self-serving results only". 

He doesn't understand Mimi's self-preserving attitude, because it appears to him as if she's just acting for her own sake without taking the circumstances into consideration. In 01, she is actually making a very valid point that it’s more important to look for the others instead of sitting around analyzing those weird glyphs on the wall - Koushirou however argues that figuring this out might help them (and Mimi in particular!) longterm. So on one hand, he gets stuck in research mode, on the other, he disregards her approach, since it doesn’t seem feasible to him. While he’s getting overwhelmed by her here, he’s definitely much more assertive 6 years later: In Tri, he straight up tells her that, while she acted out of good intentions, her approach was very selfish and that she should have followed his instructions instead.

He generally reacts proceedingly more exasperated towards Taichi, whenever he acts "selfishly" by actually handling in a supposedly very "selfless" way. Either when Taichi decides to walk into an electric fence to save Sora, thinking that he’s a video game character who can just try again after dying - or when he goes into complete sacrifice-mode himself by intending to die for everyone else’s sake, actively shutting Koushirou out. That’s quite a theme for them for the entirety of the series, including the stageplay, in which he tells Taichi blatantly that he “has lost sight of himself” and that he needs to stop pushing himself. Koushirou is actually some kind of impulse control for Taichi getting out of hand - in Our War Game, he picks up on Taichi and Sora fighting and can pinpoint that Taichi’s rather reckless behaviour (and somewhat selfish attitude in being unable to face Sora) got him into this situation. Once caught, Taichi calmly explains the circumstances to him at least.

He gets mad when the others act without thinking - like Daisuke and Takeru rescuing Hikari without making a plan or telling him beforehand (and Taichi even trying to justify it). Throughout 02, he is depicted to be their mentor, so of course he has to make sure they’re not doing anything reckless.

His entire point in Kizuna - and the Kizuna novels - is to be shown as a complete anti-thesis to Menoa. They’re both depicted as young geniusses - while Menoa is so caught up in her intentions to project her own ideals onto every single Chosen Child selfishly, deciding what’s best for them by stealing their consciousness and lock them in a never-ending dream, Koushirou opposes this attitude very blatantly:

“Instead of taking things from people against their will, I’d rather give what I have to them before my end.”

Not only does that mirror the self-sacrificing attitude again, but seeing his completely flabbergasted expression at her explanation is telling enough to show that he’s not about that.

Long story short: Koushirou Izumi is pretty straightforward when it comes to people acting in ways that don’t make sense to him or serve purposes that do not appear to be satisfying for all parties involved.