#agumon supporting koushiro

[maryychill]

Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna: a symbolic meta-analysis

This meta-analysis is an attempt to read between the lines and uncover what Last Evolution: Kizuna truly is at its core: a story about growing up, about hope and about the kind of love that endures.

⚠️Important: This analysis is based on the original japanese version of Kizuna, watched with subtitles. The message and emotional nuance can shift significantly in dubbed versions and for a story like this, those subtleties matter.

Kizuna doesn't romanticize adulthood, but it doesn't portray it as a tragedy either. It tells us that growing up can be uncomfortable, lonely and full of difficult decisions and still, moving forward makes sense. There's something valuable in taking the reins, even when the answers aren't clear. Not everyone moves at the same pace, some, like Mimi, Joe or Koushiro, seem to find their path early on and embrace it with energy. Others, like Taichi, Yamato or Sora, move forward with more hesitation, more pauses. But all of them are growing.

Adulthood isn't only about farewells, it's also about new beginnings. It's a stage for building, for making mistakes, for choosing freely. From this place, I want to explore the messages in this story. A story that, in its own way, showed us that the strongest bond might also be the one that learns to let go.

And yet, at the same time, Kizuna quietly whispers that being partners is not a permanent condition but a continuous decision.

How does this story begin?

Kizuna opens with urgency. Auroras streak across the sky and a Parrotmon appears sowing chaos. The movie starts like any epic episode of Adventure: Takeru and Hikari respond to the emergency with the reflexes of veterans of the Digital World, Taichi reinforces the front lines, Koushiro provides remote support thanks to technological advancements and Yamato shows up just in time to save everyone. Their synchronized formation echoes their glory days. But something feels off: only five of the original eight chosen children are active. The others couldn't make it because of classes, jobs, schedules, responsibilities.

And once the battle is over, the difference becomes clear: Taichi runs off to university. Yamato rides away on his motorcycle. Both leave Agumon and Gabumon behind, who simply watch as their partners grow smaller in the distance.

That scene marks a turning point. The world keeps moving. Adults are in a rush. And their Digimon partners no longer have a place in that kind of schedule.

The emotional reading

Watching Kizuna hurts because of what it stirs inside you. Taichi is adrift, directionless, passionless. His thesis is blank, he works a meaningless job, his classmates already have job offers and one paralyzing question haunts him: What do I really want to do?

In the middle of that fog, Agumon appears. The only one who asks nothing of him. The only one who doesn't need Taichi to know where he's going, he just wants to be with him. It's a brutal kind of tenderness because you know Agumon doesn't belong in the adult world but he's not out of place either.

For Taichi, Agumon is:

his alter ego

his childhood

his innocence

his doubtless Self.

But as we grow up, that voice must come from within because there comes a time when you must learn how to stand on your own, without a magical safety net.

Yamato doesn't have it figured out either. His grad school plans are just an excuse, a way to buy time. A way to wait and see if something happens. Both are suspended between the past they can't let go of and the future they don't know how to inhabit.

Koushiro, Mimi, Joe, Sora, even Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke... they all seem to have a direction. Except for the two of them.

And just when they should be rethinking their existence in peace, Menoa arrives with a devastating message:

"When you grow up, you'll lose your Digimon."

Menoa Bellucci enters the story as a young academic, brilliant and confident in what she knows. She speaks of "possibilities" as if they were a measurable form of energy. She claims that Digimon exist alongside the chosen children because they overflow with possibility but that as they grow up and start choosing their own paths, that bond gradually weakens until it disappears.

Her theory might seem logical but nothing about her is as stable as it appears.

The emotional conflict is:

the emptiness of a life without purpose

the desire to stay in the past

the fear of making the wrong choice

and the guilt of having to leave behind something that saved you.

The outer struggle

While the protagonists' hearts are breaking, an artificial Digimon named Eosmon is stealing the consciousness of chosen children all over the world, trapping them in a digital world of crystallized memories.

The one behind it all is Menoa. Her plan was to create a digital space, Neverland. A place where the chosen could remain children forever, where the bond with their Digimon would never fade. A world without decisions, without separation, without adulthood. An emotional refuge built upon the fear of facing grief.

In Neverland, no one grows because growing means losing. No one chooses because choosing means letting go.

Menoa is not a villain. She's a child frozen in the trauma of losing Morphomon, with unlimited access to technology and knowledge but no tools to heal. Her wound became a global threat.

The conflict is urgent:

300 people are in comas

the gates to the Digital World are open

thousands of artificial Digimon are stealing the consciousness of chosen children

and Taichi and Yamato's time with Agumon and Gabumon is running out.

And so they must decide:

Save the world even if it means losing what's most precious sooner? Or protect the bond and let the crisis keep growing?

Menoa offers them the illusion of eternity. But what she gives is emotional death.

Without transformation, the future cannot exist.

What is the hope?

The answer comes from the Digimon. When Agumon says that seeing Taichi and the others grow up has made him happy and Gabumon reaffirms it, saying it's been exciting to watch them grow.

They don't want their partners to stop, they want them to live. And they understand that, for now, that means letting go.

Hope lies in that simple phrase: "We'll always be with you". Because Digimon don't disappear, they evolve into something else: they become soul, they become values, they become purpose.

Taichi and Yamato (and Sora) didn't come to this decision out of nowhere. Over the years, they've learned from those who couldn't let go:

from Oikawa (02), who clung to the past until he vanished with it

from Himekawa (Tri), who turned her pain into obsession

from Meiko (Tri), who suffered alongside Meicoomon because she didn't know how to let go

and now from Menoa, who turned her trauma into a digital prison.

They've seen what blind attachment can destroy. And maybe because of all that, this time, they choose to love differently: by letting go.

But what if they didn't really have to go? What if we simply fell into Menoa's trap? A trap built on something taken as absolute, something no one ever truly confirmed.

Yes, there are precedents of bonds that have dissolved. But no one confirms it's because of growing up, making choices or "draining possibilities". That's the voice of Menoa's trauma, disguised as universal truth.

When Gennai appears before Taichi and Agumon, it's not to punish them or declare an ending. It's to remind them that their time is limited but full of possibility. And then, with the serenity of someone who has witnessed many stories end and still believes in new beginnings, he says:

"If you still have infinite possibility… then it's possible…"

What he brings is not a punishment.

It's hope.

What are bonds?

Bonds are affection, shared purpose, trust, presence, a constant choice, care, protection. They are what allow a Digimon to exist and to remain. They are not an energy that runs out over time but a decision that is renewed.

What fades is not the love for them, it's the space they're given when life changes and we stop making them part of our world. Connection isn't broken by becoming adults but by neglect.

The ring of light on the Digivice represents the choice that gradually sets their paths apart.

Every fading light in the ring marks the slow cooling of a bond.

Letting go, out of love

The climax of Kizuna is a confrontation between two visions of the future: one rooted in the avoidance of pain and the other in the courage to accept it. It's not about defeating Eosmon, it's about freeing the souls trapped in a frozen fantasy. What's at stake isn't life itself but the capacity to keep on living. Menoa doesn't understand that clinging to the past is also a way of disappearing.

Taichi and Yamato, guided by the certainty that "someone has to do it", decide to save them all. And even though they know that fighting shortens the time they have left with their partners, they also understand that the only thing capable of breaking the spell is the example of moving forward.

What follows is an emotional crescendo: the memories of each chosen child trapped in that world, the confusion of their Digimon, the portals opening to the real world and a wave of Eosmon threatening to digitize every chosen child on the planet.

Amid the chaos, Agumon and Gabumon fuse into Omegamon and attempt to stop Menoa. But when she finds herself cornered, she cries out that the only way to save them all is by becoming their goddess. Then her body is absorbed into Eosmon's core and crystallizes.

Omegamon is defeated and breaks apart again into Agumon and Gabumon. But then, the last evolution emerges.

Bond of Courage and Bond of Friendship are an emotional synthesis. Agumon and Gabumon digivolve because they're willing to let go, out of love. Because they understand that a bond isn't eternal in form but it is in essence. They are proof that love, when it's real, doesn't need to survive to be everlasting.

As “Sono Saki e” plays, Taichi and Yamato move closer to the core of Eosmon.

Taichi and Yamato don't defeat Menoa, they save her:

— Menoa! We're coming to save you!

— What you've chosen wasn't a mistake!

— But no matter what waits for us after making that choice...

— We must live with the decisions that we make!

— Maybe we can't change fate, but...!

— We can change our destiny!

— That's why we won't give up!

Those words aren't just for Menoa. They're for them. They're for us.

They break through the crystal shields and free Menoa with compassion. And in doing so, they also save the little girl she once was, the one who wanted to grow up quickly so she wouldn't be seen as strange, not realizing that by doing it without Morphomon by her side, she would end up losing what she loved the most.

The Cast of Kizuna

Taichi Yagami

Taichi stands still while everything around him keeps moving. He doesn't know what to specialize in, he has no professional passion. He's holding together a half-built life. His thesis is blank. A decision needs to be made.

The only constant is Agumon, the one who asks nothing of him, who needs no explanations, who simply stays by his side.

Taichi carries a quiet kind of pressure. Everyone else seems to know where they're headed. He doesn't. But it's precisely in that uncertainty where the most precious part of his character comes to light. He doesn't know where he's going and still, he chooses to move forward.

And when the time comes to say goodbye to the greatest thing he's ever had in life, he does it, even though it hurts. He does it even though he's not ready. Because even if he doesn't have answers, he has values.

And that's what he ends up writing in his thesis: that living alongside Digimon isn't an anomaly, it's a way to grow.

Because Taichi doesn't give up. Because he knows he owns his destiny. Because he's going to live forward, carrying the promise of meeting his best friend, Agumon, again. And with the purpose of building a world where, this time, they'll never have to say goodbye again.

Yamato Ishida

Yamato starts the story with professional doubts. He's the first to grow suspicious of Kyotaro and Menoa, maybe out of denial or maybe because he no longer trusts blindly.

Perhaps he learned, after everything that happened in Tri, that you can't always trust the information others give you, especially when hidden agendas are at play.

He's the one who contacts Daisuke, bringing the 02 team into the investigation. He gives Koushiro and Taichi the tools to protect themselves: prepaid phones and information about Menoa and Kyotaro.

Yamato doesn't let himself be swept away. He watches. He investigates. He fears destiny, but he doesn't run from it. He faces it, with Gabumon by his side.

And when everything is over, he chooses to direct his path toward space exploration, holding on to the certainty that one day he'll see his best friend, Gabumon.

Koushiro Izumi

Koushiro seems to have found his path. He's the CEO of "IZUMI", coordinates the chosen children and keeps the network with the Digital World active. When he learns the bond could break, he promises to find a solution.

He investigates Eosmon, recovers fragments of its data, detects patterns, and discovers it's an artificial Digimon created by Menoa. Every part of the operation runs through him. But when Menoa reaches him, he falls.

Even so, he leaves clues. Before losing consciousness, he sends Taichi the coordinates of the digital server where Eosmon is hiding.

Later, at the sound of the whistle blown by Taichi, Koushiro wakes up and joins the final battle alongside Tentomon.

In the credits, we see him running his company. Tentomon is no longer there. But this is Koushiro. He'll find a way.

Sora Takenouchi

Sora had already made her decision at the beginning of the story (as seen in To Sora). While the others rushed into battle, she was working on a flower arrangement that didn't quite reflect what she felt inside. It was for an exhibition she had been invited to, as the daughter of Toshiko Takenouchi.

Carrying the weight of being the daughter of a Grand Master, of being a chosen child and of not knowing how to live simply as Sora, Biyomon offers her flowers she made herself, an act of love and a reminder that she doesn't have to fly alone. That her worth doesn't depend on saving the world again. That she has the right to choose her own path.

And this time, she won't offer Biyomon to a foretold ending. She protects her. Holds her close. Says goodbye slowly, with care and with love.

When she hears Taichi's whistle, she joins them from afar, in faith. Because she knows her friends will succeed. She believes in them, just as they believe in her.

Biyomon was the first partner to go. But Sora is still there, closing old cycles, beginning new ones. Steady. At peace. With her Digivice turned to stone, her heart blooming and her wings growing. Biyomon flies with her.

Mimi Tachikawa

Mimi seems to have everything under control. She travels between the United States and Japan, working on launching her online store, with Koushiro supporting her. She's no longer just the charismatic girl, she's an adult turning her vision into reality.

She's the first from the Adventure team to fall unconscious. And when she wakes up, she stands up, takes Palmon’s hand and fights again.

Mimi is genuine. She doesn't fit the adult mold, she shines through it.

In the credits, she's in a business meeting. Palmon is no longer there. But Mimi is still standing, confident, radiant, determined. Like someone who owns her path and knows that, somehow, Palmon is always with her.

Joe Kido

Joe is fully immersed in adulthood, working at a hospital while continuing his medical studies. He doesn't have time to fight but he shows up when Mimi falls unconscious and ends up in the hospital.

Before the final battle, he loses consciousness too but when he wakes up, he immediately joins the defense.

Joe has become what he dreamed of in Adventure: someone reliable, someone who's there when needed.

In the credits, he's working. Gomamon is no longer by his side but he's still with him, in his values.

Takeru Takaishi

Takeru is writing a novel. He knows his place on the team, he's a chosen child and he embraces that in his everyday life. Patamon is his best friend and companion. In the credits, they're at a café while Takeru keeps writing.

Hikari Yagami

Hikari lives her life with ease. She embraces her role as a chosen child and has clear professional goals. In the credits, she's at a restaurant having a meal with Tailmon.

Daisuke Motomiya

Daisuke was in New York with Iori, Ken and their partner Digimon. When Yamato calls, he acts. He mobilizes the 02 team and helps investigate Menoa and Kyotaro.

During the final battle, he throws himself into defending the chosen children who are in danger in the real world.

In the credits, he's working at a ramen shop with V-mon.

Ken Ichijouji

Ken is the first to recognize who Menoa is and takes part in the investigation into her and Kyotaro.

He confirms there are no records proving Kyotaro Imura exists.

During the final battle, he supports the team throughout the crisis.

In the credits, he's jogging through a park with Wormmon.

Iori Hida

Iori is the one who suggests breaking into Menoa's office. The most rigid of the 02 team now understands that rules mean nothing if they don't help anyone.

His ethics didn't vanish, they matured. That's why, during the final battle, he protects the chosen children in the real world with determination.

In the credits, he's practicing at a dojo. Armadimon is there with him, making jokes in the background.

Miyako Inoue

Miyako contacts Koushiro at the beginning of Kizuna to connect him with Menoa Bellucci, who supposedly needed help saving the chosen children in comas.

She travels from Barcelona to New York through the digital gate with Hawkmon. She investigates Menoa's office, accesses her computer and detects activity related to Eosmon.

During the final battle, she breaks protocol and connects to the internet to gather information, even knowing the risk.

She runs through the chaos with her laptop and joins the defense in the real world with Hawkmon.

In the credits, she's walking through the streets of Barcelona with Hawkmon.

Menoa Bellucci

Menoa is a chosen child. Her Digimon partner, Morphomon, followed her everywhere: to school, on trips, through everyday life. They were inseparable.

At school, Menoa felt out of place. She had no friends so she focused on getting ahead, pushing herself to enter university early and become independent. And in that forward motion, without meaning to, she stopped spending time with Morphomon.

At age 14, when she finally got into university, her bond with Morphomon came to an end. She never understood why. No one gave her an explanation. No one was there to tell her it wasn't her fault.

Since then, she devoted her life to finding answers. She tried to rationalize a loss that could only be processed emotionally.

She created Eosmon. She built Neverland. Not to cause harm but to avoid pain. She offered eternity because she didn't know how to live with grief. And in doing so, she trapped hundreds of chosen children inside their own memories, convinced she was saving them.

But it was her who needed saving.

Taichi and Yamato saw her, heard her and said what no one told her in time: You did nothing wrong. You weren't alone. We can move forward.

At the end of Kizuna, Menoa is arrested by Kyotaro.

In the credits, her office stands empty.

Kyotaro (Imura / Yamada)

Kyotaro introduces himself as Menoa Bellucci's assistant, using the false name Kyotaro Imura. When the 02 team investigates, they discover there are no official records of that identity.

From the beginning, Yamato suspects him but no one manages to confirm who he is until the climax.

After Takeru's fall, Kyotaro reveals his true identity to Yamato: He is Kyotaro Yamada, an undercover FBI agent assigned to monitor Menoa.

For years, he tried to gather evidence. He watched Menoa sink into her obsession, watched her pain turn into a threat. He couldn't prevent what happened. But in the end, he's the one who arrests her.

How does Kizuna end?

The story doesn't blame anyone. What it shows is that bonds fade when there's no longer a shared path. That the "possibility" of a bond was never about ambition but about the ability to keep choosing each other through change. The question that lingers at the end of the movie is simple and brutal:

— Agumon / Gabumon: What do you want to do tomorrow?

And when there's no answer… the bond dissolves.

But even if the bond is interrupted... love doesn't die.

For the chosen children, nothing is impossible because they overflow with possibilities. They will, without a doubt, meet again.

"Wait for me!" is the echo of a living bond, asleep for now, one that will return when the heart is ready for another transformation.

I hope you found this meta-analysis of Last Evolution: Kizuna meaningful.

I believe that once art is released, it no longer belongs only to its creator. It also belongs to those who receive it, reinterpret it and carry it in their hearts. Canon evolves, interpretations shift and meaning expands.

This analysis was born from the emotional bond I've built with Kizuna as a viewer. It's a subjective reading, yes, but also one deeply committed to what this story made me feel, cry and reflect on.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

And to me, this story is heartbreakingly human and deeply inspiring.

Thank you for reading.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x33 - Today, Miyako is in Kyou no Miyako/ A Chance Encounter

Previously on Digimon Adventure: BlackWarGreymon had a heart-to-heart with Agumon while Mummymon flailed helplessly at a rock. It was so sad and embarrassing that the Chosen Children came by to offer Mummymon moral support in these troubling times, and BWG eventually did it for him.

The Japanese title for today's episode is really fun in a way that doesn't translate to English. The title is 今日のミヤコは京の都 Kyou no Miyako wa Kyou no Miyako.

The first half, 今日のミヤコ Kyou no Miyako, is calling out the character Miyako. 今日 Kyou means "Today" and ミヤコ Miyako is Miyako's name spelled out in Katakana. Though it's worth noting that she did say her name is supposed to be spelled with the kanji 京 for Kyoto. But that might be confusing if they spelled it that way for this wordplay.

The second half, 京の都 Kyou no Miyako, is an older name for Kyoto from when it used to be the capitol of Japan. It uses the kanji 京 Kyou which means "capitol" and 都 Miyako which... means capitol. This has resulted in 京 being pronounced "Miyako" as a person name. I don't know why.

To my best understanding, they both mean capitol and can be used interchangeably. But when you put them together, you get the city of 京都 Kyoto.

So if Kyoto is Capitol Capitol then what the hell is Tokyo? It's 東京 Tokyo, using the kanji 東 Azuma which means "East". The East Capitol.

In any case, that brings us to 今日のミヤコは京の都 Kyou no Miyako wa Kyou no Miyako. A fun and playful way of saying "Today, Miyako is in Kyoto".

Additionally, today, the dub narrator has promised us the answer to two questions: Was last episode's cliffhanger the end of the Digital World, and will BlackWarGreymon ever find his heart?

Wasting absolutely no time, we open with Miyako in Kyoto. She sprints out of the Kyoto Station and cheers.

Miyako: YAAAAAAY!!! IT'S KYOTO!!! KYOTO!!! Girl: Miyako! We're leaving! Miyako: Coming!

Miyako hurries to join her class. A shot of the bus establishes what's going on; There's a shot of a sign with Miyako's class identified on it: Odaiba Elementary 6th grade, Class A. She's on a field trip.

We saw Miyako playing cards with one of her friends on the bus, then taking pictures in front of various landmarks with two friends. Punctuated, of course, by the shutter sound of a camera snapping each picture as we move from shot to shot. Throughout it, she dictates what I assume is an email.

Miyako (V.O.): Are you doing well, Poromon? Hello, Koushiro-san! (Snap) Miyako (V.O.): Thank you so much for looking after Poromon. (Snap) Miyako (V.O.): The second day of our school trip is in Kyoto! (Snap) Miyako (V.O.): The character for "Miyako" is the same as the "Kyou" in Kyoto! It's that Kyoto! Kyoto has more new places than I thought it would and the food is great! Poromon, I'm going to buy you....

Koushiro's in the middle of something, though, and Miyako's voice slowly fades out before her message is finished. But she is clearly hyped about finally getting to visit the city she's named after.

In the dub, Yolei's lines don't line up quite as well with the snapshots, but the dub does include the shutter clicks. No missing sound effect this time around.

Yolei: Yay! I'm finally in Kyoto! Girl: Yolei! Hurry or you'll miss the bus! Yolei: I'm coming! (Yolei gets on the bus) Yolei (V.O.): Dear Poromon and Izzy, how's it going, guys? This is the second day of-- (Snap) Yolei (V.O.): --our school trip and we're finally in Kyoto! (Snap) Yolei (V.O.): I'm having a great time with my friends! What a-- (Snap) Yolei (V.O.): --cool place! And the food is fab. Poromon, if you're good, I'll bring you a souvenir. Ciao for now! ~Yolei.

Yolei actually gets to finish her message instead of being tuned out by rude jerks. Which is ironic since usually it's the English version of Koushiro/Izzy who's the rude jerk.

I jest. Koushiro hasn't actually noticed the email yet. This is why he doesn't have to go over the cliff again. I still haven't forgotten how you snubbed my kid, you little....

So what's more important than listening to Miyako dictate her email across time and space using Purity Magic? Uh. Finally sitting down to talk to Ken victim-to-lore nerd about what the fuck the Digital World did to him.

Koushiro: I see... So it was the dark ocean that changed your Digivice into a D-3. That was when this incident began. Ken: Ah! Koushiro: To compete with your D-3, Daisuke-kun and the others would need to have D-3s of their own, the same as yours.

Koushiro holds up his Digivice to show it to Ken.

Koushiro: Not what we have. The D-3's shape must have been something that you wanted.

In flashback, we see Ken dipping his Digivice into the dark ocean as it transforms into the Dark Digivice.

Koushiro: Then Takeru-kun and the others later had their Digivices changed to match it. Ken: I wanted that shape? Koushiro: In the Digital World, when data is collected, there is a system that initially determines what shape that data will take. It can also read the shape of a person's thoughts and organize data accordingly. This is likely the reason that Daisuke-kun and the others have their clothes changed. Ken: I see... So then the Kaiser's outfit was the image that I wanted it to be. Koushiro: Subconsciously, yes.

This is the true nature of the world-crossing costume switch. Daisuke, Iori, and Miyako's clothes are a reflection of how they perceive themselves and what they want to express. Hikari and Takeru, meanwhile, are boring and just shruggingly went with what they had on at the time they got their D-3s are already expressing themselves that way both in the Digital World and out.

As for why the "system that controls shapes" lets the regular Digivice-having veterans come and go wearing whatever they happen to have on at the time? Uh. I. Guess. You need to have a D-3 before it pays attention to you? It's snobbish that way.

Maybe it tried changing the shapes of the veterans once long ago during a team reunion but the dress Mimi had on was so fucking cute and now YOU'RE telling her she has to wear THIS instead, and HOW DARE.

Not repeating that mistake.

In the dub, Izzy is here to explain the plot badly as usual.

Izzy: According to everything you've just told me, this whole mess started when your Digivice changed into a D-3. If my calculations are correct, it's all your fault.

Whew! I was worried when Koushiro tuned out Miyako's magic voice email. But, not to be outdone, Izzy firmly establishes which one of them is the real asshole here.

Ken: ...huh? Izzy: The others needed D-3s in order to compete with you so their subconscious minds must have somehow willed their Digivices to change. Although I'm not sure Davis has a subconscious mind... (Izzy holds up his Digivice) Izzy: As strong as these Digivices are, they just weren't enough. Of course, that also means you must have made a wish for your Digivice to change into a D-3. Ken: (thinking) I don't remember making any wishes.... (Flashback to dipping the Digivice in the dark ocean) Ken: (thinking) In fact, I always got the short side of the wishbone from the turkey. Izzy: Like I said, it must have been your subconscious. We geniuses have pretty big ones. In the Digital World, data is formed into shapes usually based on whatever a person has running through their mind. Kinda like a VCR for the brain. And that's the reason why everyone's clothes change every time they go into the Digital World, and why Davis looks the way he does; Like a fighter pilot on a safari. Ken: I see... So then I must have wished for that Digimon Emperor outfit. Izzy: So you're not perfect!

Never change, Izzy. I get so much entertainment value out of how confidently wrong you often are. Holy shit, where do we even begin?

Izzy speculates that Davis and the others willed their Digivices to change by themselves. Koushiro says nothing of the sort; Only that their Digivices had to be changed to match Ken's so they'd be able to compete with him.

Even Izzy disagrees with his own interpretation, using it as a chance to dunk on Davis for a cheap laugh.

Koushiro says that there's a system that governs the way data forms into shapes in the Digital World. He seems to be describing how data gets accumulated into the form of living monsters; Why does x data result in Agumon while y data results in Piyomon? There is a system that governs it, and it also is what shapes their Digivices and the outfits that they manifest into the Digital World wearing.

Izzy misses the forest for the trees and gives the oversimplified explanation that the Digital World just reads your mind and changes your clothes accordingly. It's not incorrect, but wildly incomplete.

Izzy says that they needed the D-3s to get a power boost. Koushiro never says that. It can be inferred by Koushiro saying that the D-3s were made to 対抗 taikou, to rival or compete with Ken's. And the D-3s do have properties the Digivices don't, such as being able to open the Digital Gate.

But a linear Super Saiyan vs. Super Saiyan 2 relationship hasn't been established between them; Only that Ken designed the new Digivices, and the others got new Digivices to rival his for what may be practical reasons but could just as easily be symbolic.

After all, it was the Digimentals that let the D-3 holders fight when the Digivice holders couldn't, not the D-3s being strong enough to just power through Ken's evolution suppression. There's no indication that Aquilamon is in some way vastly stronger than Togemon or something. So while he's not necessarily wrong on this one, I'm gonna label that inconclusive.

Dub Ken gets confused by the word 望んだ nozonda, which can be translated as "desired" or "wished for" or "expected to see". The dub goes with "wished for", and Ken wanders off-track trying to figure out what the hell Izzy's on about. He's pretty sure he never made a conscious wish to the Dark Ocean as if it were a genie from a lamp.

That's not Izzy's fault, though; He goes on to explain himself despite the fact that Ken was using his reverberating internal monologue voice and his lips weren't flapping. So Izzy just fucking reads Ken's mind in this scene and responds to his surface thoughts. Not a psychic premonition but cut from the same cloth.

Izzy criticizes Ken for his fashion choices, and is also pretty snarky about Davis's too. Because he's not only inadequate as a lore guy but also a jerk, as he established with his conversation opener.

Moving along, next topic: the mysterious forces that reached out to Ken.

Koushiro: The question is, who on Earth could possibly have sent you that email? Ken: I still don't know that either. Could it be related to that woman-shaped Digimon? Koushiro: Arachnemon, right? She's probably involved, yes. Not to mention, there seem to be features of the Dark Towers that we still don't understand. There is much still to learn. Ken: I'm sorry. My memory of all that is still hazy.... Koushiro: That's okay.

Not much to really talk about on that front. We don't know and at this time, we don't have the information we'd need to even begin to speculate.

The dub doesn't even fucking bother talking about it.

Izzy: You should read Simbault's "Theory of Ultimate Brainpower". You might be able to pick up a few pointers. Ken: Actually, I taught a class on it. But don't you think Tosaro's "Strengthening Your Mind" was more effective? Izzy: Uhhh, yeah. But of course, Korski's "My Brain, My Buddy" is the quintessential masterpiece when it comes to exploring the inner workings of the human mind. I'm sure you read it a dozen times. It's a best seller in the school's psychology department bookstore. Ken: I'm sorry, Izzy. I can't believe I've never heard of that one. I feel so ashamed of myself! Izzy: Oh, don't worry. I've got an extra copy you can borrow. After all, we high IQ types gotta stick together, right?

The dub completely disregards this entire line of discussion. Instead, Izzy and Ken just have a dick-measuring contest about how well-read they are. Ken is ultimately doomed to come up short because of the sad face Original Ken makes when he apologizes for his hazy memory.

Next topic: The Chosen Children.

Koushiro: In any case, we should have been the ones to find you before the sender did. We were careless. We didn't anticipate that there would be a Chosen Child so close to us. Ken: So close? Koushiro: We are not the only Chosen Children. There are a lot of them all around the world, though we still don't know all the details.

Koushiro flashes back on the strips of reality that appeared in the sky following VenomVamdemon's defeat.

Koushiro (V.O.): Most of them were activated by meeting the Digimon that manifested in the real world back in 1999.

We then see Mimi's friend Michael evolving his Betamon into Seadramon.

Koushiro (V.O.): Rather than being chosen, they're just children who have Partner Digimon.

Finally, we come back from flashback to find Ken looking over Minomon on the table.

Ken: Me too. In August 2000.... Agh, I can't remember that clearly either.

Ken's fairly sure he knows the month and year of his own Digimon encounter that activated him as a Chosen Child. But the details escape him because of the memory fog he has around all this stuff.

Note that the Diablomon incident happened in March 2000, so Ken's activation incident happened some time after that. Which makes the fact that he has a Crest kinda weird. Does everyone have a Crest and they just haven't gone and retrieved them? Is the Digital World fucking littered with hundreds and hundreds of unclaimed Crests? Is there a lost and found?

In any case, this gels with what we already established around Michael, when his existence got the team talking about their own activation encounters. If you become a Chosen Child by encountering a Digimon in the real world, then that time when the sky fucking split open and spilled Digimon into the world would logically have activated a lot of Chosen Children. And so would participating in the Diablomon fight, as Miyako can attest.

Koushiro also specifies that most of them are not going on an epic adventure of ultimate destiny like he and his team did. They're just. Hanging out with their V-Pet. Like what you're supposed to do when you have a Digimon. There is no expectation that Michael will be a key piece in any sort of battle for the fate of the world.

In the dub:

Izzy: Besides, of all the other DigiDestined I've met, you're one of the only ones as smart as me! Ken: Other DigiDestined!? What are you talking about!? Huh!? Izzy: Oh, I guess no one told you that we're not the only ones around. Actually, there are quite a few of us all over the world. I haven't met them all yet but I'm working on it. (Flashback to the sky splitting open) Izzy (V.O.): It seems that most of us have one thing in common... (Flashback to Michael evolving Seadramon) Izzy (V.O.): We had some kind of encounter with the Digimon when they invaded the real world a few years ago. And now we each have our own Digimon Partner. (End Flashback) Ken: I see... That means that I must have too. Everything from that time is still such a blur to me.

Izzy continues to ignore the email sender and instead segues this topic out of their contest of intellects. Consequently, he offers no regret for the veterans not being here for Ken like they've tried to be for other activated kids.

Though he does, at least, still mention that they're trying to reach out to the other kids.

Izzy uses "we" when talking about kids being activated by the cross-world Spiral Mountain event as if this was what activated his team too. As with the Michael episode, the dub seems pretty sure that the veteran team and all the other kids activated at the same time. They have been consistently wrong on this point.

The veterans were activated by the fight between Greymon and Parrotmon in Hikarigaoka/Heighton View Terrace, and the subsequent activation events were encounters with Digimon that they were participants in as Chosen Children/DigiDestined. "We" did not get activated by the Digimon invading the real world in 1999. "We" were involved participants in that. "Y'all" were activated by that.

And by Diablomon/Diaboromon.

And by whatever the hell happened in August 2000 that's being blocked from Ken's memory. Dub Ken mentions it but doesn't give a date and assumes it was the reality strips incident that got him.

With this depressing break in the conversation, Koushiro takes a moment to check his D-Terminal. There, he finally sees it.

Koushiro: Ah! Poromon, you've got an email from Miyako-kun. ...what's wrong? Do you feel sick?

Koushiro finally notices that Poromon's been sulking on the floor for this whole scene. We briefly saw him when we transitioned in from Miyako but he's been out of sight and out of mind since.

Poromon: Ugh...gugh.... Minomon: It must be because he's been stuck in this world separate from his Partner for days. I also get worn out from being here as Wormmon.

Koushiro picks up Poromon off the floor, considering Minomon's words.

Koushiro: I see. It's been three days since Miyako-kun left him in my care for her trip. So even though it's only been three days, just being apart from Miyako-kun is tiring him out. It's already hard enough for Digimon to even be here in our world. Ken: Then I'll take him to the Digital World. Motomiya-kun and the others should already be there, right? Koushiro: That's right. Could you please do that?

Koushiro hands Poromon off to Ken.

Koushiro: Also, while you're there, please be alert for any distortions in the world. Ken: Understood.

This is an interesting exchange. Minomon implies that for Digimon to sustain themselves in the real world, they have to sort of feed on their Partner's energy.

The relationship between Partner and Digimon has been well-established at this point. The children have a holy light inside of them which can be concentrated and drawn out via the Digivices and Crests.

It's never been said outright but this light is probably the manifestation of their 気 ki, their own spiritual energy that governs their emotions and feelings and senses. When they get emotional, either terrified or fired up or some other strong feeling, their 気 ki erupts and pours through the Digivice into their Partner Digimon, causing evolution.

Minomon suggests that in order to exist in the physical world, Digimon have to remain in close contact with their Partner. Poromon's fatigue is being caused by... essentially being starved of Miyako's 気 ki. This has never come up before because even though the kids leave their Digimon in the computer clubroom, they bring them home on weekends. So the Digimon have never been apart from their Partners for a full day, let alone three.

This also implies an explanation for why Patamon and Tailmon don't regress the way V-mon, Hawkmon, and Armadimon do. A Partner Digimon's strength and a Chosen Child's strength is the same. Their Partners' 気 ki is stronger than Daisuke's, Miyako's, and Iori's is. Because this isn't Hikari and Takeru's first rodeo.

Hell, Hikari once powered up WarGreymon with her own 気 ki and he isn't even her Partner. Hikari is nuts like that.

...though it does seem to create a plot hole with Vamdemon's invading army. Even if you assume the rules are different for non-Partner Digimon, there is the problem of Tailmon. This was not how the rules worked in the first series. But the veil between realities was being shredded to bits in the first series so it might just have been easier to exist in the physical world when they were literally bleeding into each other.

In the dub:

Izzy: Oh! Poromon, there's an email here for you from Yolei on her trip. ...hey, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? Poromon: ...nrrrrr... Minomon: Oh, he's just really tired because he's been here in the real world for a couple of days without Yolei. I know sometimes when Ken's not here, even my naps make me exhausted. (Izzy picks up Poromon) Izzy: Yolei asked me to watch him while she was on her school trip and it's been three days since she left. I've noticed that, as each day passes, he seems to get more and more tired and he's not very hungry. You know it's really gotta be bad when he'd rather sleep than eat a bag of chocolate gummi chews. Ken: Well, then I'll just have to take him to the Digital World so that he can regain his strength. Davis and the others have already gone on ahead, haven't they? Izzy: Yeah, you're right! That's a good idea, Ken. Here you go. (Izzy gives Poromon to Ken) Izzy: Things are kind of crazy there now so be careful of any warps. Promise me you won't talk to any strange Digimon. Ken: (appreciatively) I'll be fine.

Izzy claims to have noticed Poromon's condition steadily worsening over time but he also gets confused and asks Poromon why he seems ill all of a sudden. Which is it, Izzy? I think he just lied. He's trying to take what Minomon said as his own observation.

Other than that, I have no qualms with this part.

Before he can get going, Ken has a question.

Ken: In any case, why did you want me to tell you all of this, Izumi-san? Koushiro: Because I wanted to understand.

Koushiro flashes back on the shortcut tunnel in Etemon's desert that they took shelter in, which connected an unremarkable stretch of sand to Nanomon's pyramid. The conversation where he told everyone that they were digitized avatars of themselves, and Taichi got the wrong impression that they were consequently invulnerable.

He remembers demonstrating the properties of the Digital World to the other Chosen Children by conjuring a map in thin air using his laptop, then converting it into a globe.

Koushiro (V.O.): The first time we went to the Digital World, I formed a hypothesis about what that world actually is. But I was even younger than you back then and I didn't have much information to work with, so I couldn't form a complete understanding. (End Flashback) Koushiro: I want to know the full truth of the Digital World. That would also help me better understand our own world.

This speech gives us a complete picture of where Koushiro's at and why he's so invested in our Digital World activities these days. And is also a blank check for any retcons to the Digital World lore that contradict things Koushiro said last series. So, y'know, two birds with one stone.

In the dub, Ken has a different question in mind. I bet you can guess what it is.

Ken: Hey, Izzy? Do you think I can ever make up for all the trouble I've caused? Izzy: Oh, look, Ken. We all make mistakes. (Flashback) Izzy (V.O.): When we first went to the Digital World, I came up with a bunch of theories. Not all of them were exactly right but I was only a kid then. I eventually realized that you have to have all the facts before hypothesizing. We need to learn everything we can about the Digital World. (End Flashback) Izzy: I know that somewhere down the road, we'll be called on again to help the Digital World. Let's just make sure that, this time, we're both totally prepared.

The dub takes its first commercial break here.

Yeah, getting the lore wrong is definitely the same as enslaving and murdering people to raise a fascistic empire. This time it's Izzy's turn to trivialize the Emperor's actions by comparing it to how bad he is at delivering Koushiro's infodumps. Which. Like. At least he's self-aware about it, even if only because the original topic twisted his arm.

He also takes Koushiro's motives about being curious and wanting to learn and moves that over into the "Atonement for My Knowledge Crimes" category. Then he scrawls heroic valor into the "Motivation" column in its place.

Anyway, enough about these two nerds. Back to Miyako! In Miyako! Who... is also a nerd.

Teacher: Alright, class, I want you all back here in two hours. Class: Okay!

Once the kids are given permission to split up, Miyako and her friends visit a local shop.

Miyako: When you're in Kyoto, you should buy this first!

Miyako enters a shop and grabs... Uh....

To be perfectly honest, I'm coming up blank on that one. I'm not sure what she bought. Is that a cosmetic? Confectionary? Calligraphy stuff? The writers clearly expect you to just get it so it's probably common knowledge circa late-2000 Japan but I am rolling a 2 on my Knowledge check.

But if you're ever in Kyoto, make sure to buy one!

Miyako: Next is nama yatsuhashi, right? And oil blotting paper!

Suddenly, Miyako sees a swirling distortion in the air. It forms into the image of BlackWarGreymon frozen in place, seemingly on the attack or being knocked away or something.

Yatsuhashi is a confectionary from Kyoto. It's basically sugar, cinnamon, and rice flour baked into a rectangular cracker shape, but it also comes in nama yatsuhashi form. This is an unbaked triangle of yatsuhashi dough molded around a bean paste center.

This is the "eating cookie dough" of yatsuhashi and, to my understanding, it's very popular.

In the dub:

Teacher: Alright, listen up. I want you all to meet back here in two hours. Students: Okay! (Yolei and friends go to the first shop) Yolei: I told my whole family I would bring them back souvenirs. (Yolei finds the small item) Yolei: There. Friend: That was fast. Yolei: Okay, now we can see the sights! ...huh? (Yolei sees the distortion) Yolei: Tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing!

The dub sidesteps the "Okay but what is that?" question by just calling it a souvenir. They also send Yolei sightseeing to avoid talking about the other Kyoto specialties she's interested in.

Miyako doesn't say anything when she sees the distortion appear. Yolei gets a throwaway line.

The sudden appearance of this phantom BlackWarGreymon serves as our transition to the actual BWG.

BlackWarGreymon: GAIA FORCE!!!

While Arachnemon and Mummymon look on, BWG fires on what appears to be another featureless rock embedded in the ground, but is likely a Holy Stone.

BlackWarGreymon: I have to destroy it! As soon as it's destroyed, I'll be free of this pain. Arachnemon: Heh. Whatever you say, just keep at it! Destroy it completely! Mummymon: Even left to his own devices, he's still doing it. BlackWarGreymon: GAIA FORCE!!!

BWG fires again and this shot finishes the work. The Holy Stone explodes into pieces which then disintegrate into pixel dust.

In the dub:

BlackWarGreymon: TERRA DESTROYER!!! (BWG shoots the rock) BlackWarGreymon: I'll demolish them all! And once I do, my suffering will finally come to an end! TERRA DESTROYER!!! Arukenimon: Yeah, whatever. Stop the talking and keep destroying! I've got a deadline to meet; I haven't got all day! Mummymon: I'm so proud of that boy sometimes, it just makes me want to cry. BlackWarGreymon: TERRA DESTROYER!!! (BWG obliterates the Destiny Stone)

What deadline? This is basically a side quest from... Uh... Whatever they were doing with the Dark Towers.

The end goal seems to ultimately be the destruction of the Digital World, though. This is just a different means to accomplish that. So maybe it's not fair to call it a side quest. Alternative story branch would be more accurate.

In any case, Arukenimon suggests they're in a race against time to get the Digital World destroyed that Arachnemon never mentioned.

Moments after the Holy Stone is destroyed, Daisuke shows up in the back of Raidramon. Hikari, Takeru, and Iori come in behind him, riding Nefertimon and Pegasmon. Iori's on Pegasmon with Takeru.

Daisuke: Shit! We were too late!

Around the spot where the Holy Stone was, reality begins to waver and distort.

Takeru: Wh-What the--!? Hikari: A distortion!? Iori: Is he out-of-balance? Before, whenever BlackWarGreymon would move, the world around him would appear warped. Destroying these stones is most certainly causing that distortion to intensify. Takeru: Ah! BlackWarGreymon is....

As if on cue, the distortion intensifies. BlackWarGreymon suddenly lights up in overlapping red, blue, and green impressions of himself that momentarily separate, then recombine. Then he fizzles like TV static and is eaten away out of reality.

Arachnemon: What...?

Good question. That was definitely not supposed to happen.

In the dub, Davis does not curse but he does have a PG-friendly expletive to share.

Davis: Rats! We got here too late! (Reality wavers around the destroyed Destiny Stone) T.K.: What's that!? Kari: It's warping! Cody: The area is starting to become unbalanced! I saw a warp when he destroyed the other one too! But it was smaller then. It seems like every time BlackWarGreymon destroys one of those Stones, the warp just gets bigger and bigger! T.K.: Hey! Look what's happening to him now! (BWG fizzles out of reality) Arukenimon: What...?

The dub seems confused on what Iori meant. There wasn't a "smaller warp" around the other destroyed Holy/Destiny Stone. It produced a colossal tornado that we had to flee from. This is arguably a smaller distortion.

Iori is talking about the trail of distorted reality that BWG leaves in his wake when he travels, even before the first Holy/Destiny Stone was destroyed. Like Apocalymon, BWG seems to be breaking reality just by existing in it. And the effect is getting worse with each Stone he destroys.

Back in Kyoto, a ray of purple light explodes from a well.

Miyako races towards the sound, then runs into BlackWarGreymon emerging from an alleyway into the street.

Miyako: I knew it! BlackWarGreymon!

As BlackWarGreymon stomps through the streets, he's followed by amorphous blobs with red eyes. Miyako looks around and quickly realizes that nobody seems to be reacting to them.

Miyako: Why!? Is nobody even noticing this!?

Sure ennough, they aren't. As if moving automatically, BWG and the amorphous blobs march straight down the street, undetected by all the people around them.

There is some precedent for this, back in 1999 when the two worlds were leaking into each other. Vamdemon's army and Tailmon's mercenaries were physically present in the human world after crossing through a Gate, but the invading Digimon that fizzled in and out of existence weren't. They seemed to behave mindlessly and could only be seen by children.

In the dub:

Yolei: I was right! It's BlackWarGreymon! (BWG and the amorphous blobs stomp through the streets) Yolei: Why is everybody standing around like nothing's happening!? What's wrong with you people!?

Pretty much the same.

Continuing through the city, BlackWarGreymon leads the amorphous figures over a bridge. Miyako frantically chases after them.

Miyako: WAIT!!! WAIT, DIGIMON!!!

The figure in the back stops suddenly and turns towards her.

Miyako: (out of breath) ...wait....

The shroud around the Digimon peels away, revealing a golden ape with a massive bone club on his back. The color around him fills in and he rears up to his full height.

Hanumon is an Adult-stage Vaccine-attribute Beastman Digimon. He's the last Adult evolution for the Nightmare Soldier V-Pet to debut. The other Vaccine next to WereGarurumon, opposite Data types Meramon and Wizarmon and the Viruses Devimon and Bakemon.

If your first thought is that his name sure seems to imply a reference to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman, you're correct. That's what he's referencing.

Narrator: Hanumon! Adult level. A legendary Beastman Digimon with golden fur. His special attack is Dohatsuten!

怒髪天 Dohatsuten is another rare attack name to not be in English. It means to explode with uncontrollable rage. The kanji 怒 Do signifies anger. 髪 Hatsu means hair. And 天 Ten means Heaven. So the imagery this word conjures is your hair standing on end while you scream blood fury at the heavens.

Is Hanumon a Super Saiyan? I guess only time will tell. What's more important is that he is now cognizant.

Hanumon: Where am I!?

Dazed and confused by his unfamiliar surroundings, Hanumon leaps away before Miyako can say anything.

Miyako: I need to tell the others now!

She does just that, sending out an email and dictating it as she does.

Miyako: EMERGENCY!!! DIGIMON HAVE APPEARED IN KYOTO!!! QUICK!!! SOMEONE DO SOMETHIIIIIING!!!

Sure does suck that not only is her Partner not with her but Ken just took him all the way into the Digital World.

The dub refers to Hanumon simply as Apemon.

Yolei: WAIT!!! STOP YOU, UH, DIGIMON!!! (Figure in the back stops) Yolei: (out of breath gasping) (Digimon reveals himself) Apemon: (rundown) I am Apemon! I swing into action and use my Mega Bone Stick attack to demolish my enemies! (Apemon looks around, then jumps away) Yolei: I've got to let the others know what's going on! Yolei: (Email) Emergency! Digimon are now in Kyoto! Hurry! Having a wonderful time. Yolei.

Pretty sure that last part is supposed to be a joke but it fell flat for me.

Apemon only speaks in his diegetic rundown, so we don't get to hear his bewildered confusion upon suddenly waking up here. Consequently, American audiences are deprived of the startling realization that, oh shit, that is an actual Digimon and not an artificial monstrosity.

Not that the line between those things has ever been clear in the dub.

Miyako sends out her message but, unfortunately, her team is presently indisposed.

Across two sides of a ravine, the Chosen Children stare down Arachnemon and Mummymon.

Arachnemon: Are you sure about this? You don't have the numbers. Daisuke: We won't lose to you! Let's go, V-mon!

V-mon and Armadimon evolve to their Adult forms XV-mon and Ankylomon while Tailmon and Patamon opt for their Armor forms Nefertimon and Pegasmon as usual.

No, no, she's right. We should probably back down. We're only missing two right now and one's not technically part of the team anyway. But with Miyako and Ken both gone, we have zero Jogresses that we can perform.

Which means right now, we probably shouldn't be tangling with two Perfects. Come to think of it, I can't believe we actually came here to fight BlackWarGreymon short-staffed. We are making terrible choices today. Even if we weren't too late when we got here, there was never going to be a positive outcome to that altercation. We were gonna watch him destroy the Stone vertically or horizontally; Those were our options.

Daisuke woke up this morning and decided that it's been too long since the last time someone bashed his head in with a rock. So he set out to rectify that.

In the dub, Arukenimon has less of a hill to stand on.

Arukenimon: When will you children ever learn? You can't possibly beat me! Davis: Ha! We'll see about that! Let's go, Veemon!

Arachnemon saliently points out that they're down a couple people while Arukenimon conveniently forgets all the L's she's taken.

In Kyoto, a film crew catches a glimpse of an imperceptible Digimon.

And then a perceptible one!

On camera, the two actors for the film stare lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Emiko": Hiroaki-san.... "Hiroaki": Emiko-san....

Discontent with being the third wheel, BlackWarGreymon-san tromps by behind them. His presence causes the camera's contrast to go haywire, then turns the picture into a photo negative.

"Hiroaki": I-- Cameraman: Nyagggh, hang on a second! "Hiroaki": What's wrong, Shuu?

Shuu looks, but there's no sign of the creature he saw on camera.

Shuu: H-Huh...? Something was there just now....

Before he even has a moment to write it off as a trick of the light or something, Hanumon leaps from a nearby rooftop and lands right on the camera, smashing it to pieces.

"Emiko": AHHHHHH!!! WHAT IS THAT!?!?

Suddenly, Miyako appears from around the corner.

Miyako: I made it! ....but what do I do now!?

She'd better think of something fast. Hanumon brandishes his bone club at Shuu. This is about to get ugly.

In the dub:

Actress: It's just a legend. Actor: I'm not so sure. (BWG sends by and the camera fritzes out) Cameraman: Huh!? Wait a minute, what was that!? Actor: What do you mean!? It was a rehearsal! Cameraman: That's not what I mean! I just saw... something.... (Apemon goes apeshit) Actress: AHHHHHH!!! GET MY AGENT!!! (Yolei rounds the corner) Yolei: Good, there he is! Of course... Now what am I supposed to do? (Apemon brandishes bone club at Cameraman) Cameraman: Uhhhhhh, good dog...?

The characters are not given names here, but it's nice to see Cameraman keeping up the cartoon tradition of assuming obvious monsters are dogs. Unless they are wearing trench coats or hoodies. Then they are people. Agumon and Tentomon can attest to this.

Do they normally bring a camera to a reserved public space to film a rehearsal? That doesn't sound right but I cannot say with certainty that it's wrong.

Before Hanumon can attack, another beam of light suddenly appears over the tree line.

As Show Me Your Brave Heart suddenly kicks up, Stingmon emerges from a nearby canal carrying Ken and Poromon. Stingmon sets Ken down on a bridge, where he checks his D-3 for Miyako's blip.

Ken: She's close.

He points down the canal.

Ken: That way, Stingmon! Stingmon: Got it!

Stingmon shoots down the canal, gunning it for Miyako. Hanumon senses him just before he erups from the treeline. Hanumon leaps and meets Stingmon in the air briefly before they separate onto rooftops across from each other.

Miyako: Stingmon!? Ken: Miyako-san! Miyako: Ken-kun!? How!?

Catching up, Ken hands Poromon off to Miyako.

Poromon: Miyako-san! Ken: I'll explain later.

The obvious answer is that someone did get Miyako's email. How Ken managed to open a Digital Gate into the bottom of a canal is beyond me, though.

In the dub:

Ken: There it is! Alright, Stingmon, do your thing! Stingmon: Right! (Stingmon flies to Yolei and attacks Hanumon) Yolei: Stingmon! Ken: Yolei! Yolei: Ken!? I don't get it! (Ken hands Poromon off to Yolei) Poromon: Haha! Ken: I'll explain everything to you later.

One small note and that is pronoun confusion. Japanese sentences often don't bother with them. What Ken said when he checked the blips from his D-3 was "近い Chikai!" Literally just the word, "Nearby!"

The dub made a judgment call as to the object of that statement, but the context clue of him looking at another child's blip on his Digivice Radar implies that he means Miyako is nearby. She's what he's tracking, not Hanumon.

It's not entirely wrong; He still sends Stingmon on the attack, taking it on faith that Miyako is pursuing Hanumon. She practically said as much in her email. But the blip, specifically, is Miyako. He doesn't have a radar for enemy Digimon.

Ken: Stingmon! That's not a Dark Tower Digimon so you can't go too hard on him! Stingmon: I'll manage, Ken-chan.

Stingmon and Hanumon meet in the air once more. Hanumon takes the first swing and misses; Stingmon maneuvers around him and punches him in the back, knocking him to the ground. Stingmon then follows him down and picks him up in a full nelson to keep him from struggling any further.

There's our old friend 倒す taosu which means to defeat, vanquish, or bring to ruin. I've talked before about why you want to be careful translating it as "kill" because that's an easy translation to make, and there are contexts where it means that, to be sure. It means to meet someone in conflict and overcome them, and that can be lethal.

But there are key differences of intent between 倒す taosu and the killing verb 殺す korosu. 殺す Korosu is unambiguously deadly in its intent. It means to kill, to murder, to shove this knife into your fucking throat and make you bleed out on the metal. I'm not here to fight you; I'm here to put you in the fucking ground.

So I would consider "You can't kill him" to be a translation that is accurate but incomplete. A more literal but awkwardly phrased translation of this idea, I think, would be "You can't finish the fight." We don't want to kill Hanumon, but even setting that aside, we also don't want to brutalize him unnecessarily either.

He's telling Stingmon to softball it. We have to restrain Hanumon, but Hanumon is just lashing out because he's scared and confused and doesn't know where he is or why. So we don't want to go too hard on him either.

In the dub:

Ken: Stingmon! Remember, he's not a Control Spire Digimon so you can't destroy him! Stingmon: Don't worry, Ken!

The dub goes for the simple "Don't kill him", which the fansubs also went with. I'm the odd person out.

With Hanumon restrained, it's time to go.

Stingmon: Ken-chan, hurry up! Ken: Miyako-san, I'll leave the rest to you. Miyako: W-Wait, you're leaving the rest to me!? HANG ON!!!

Ken does not. He joins Stingmon and they return to the Digital World through the Gate in the canal, taking Hanumon with them. By the time Miyako reaches the canal, the Gate's already closed.

Poromon: What should we do now? Miyako: That reminds me, why are you even here? Poromon: Why? Well-- Shuu: Aha! OVER HERE, PROFESSOR!!!

Miyako looks up to see that the guy manning the camera earlier is now standing right across the bridge from her. He's soon joined by an older man.

Professor: You there! You're the kid that was talking about Digimon, right? Miyako: Uh... Yes! Professor: (intrigued) And what you're holding right now... That's a Digimon, isn't it? Miyako: Um... yes...?

Miyako is very confused right now and so are we! Though one of these guys does look kinda familiar. No time to dwell on that because we're going to commercial!

In the dub:

Stingmon: Ken, I've got him! Ken: Alright, Yolei. The rest is up to you now! Yolei: Wh-What are you talking about!? COME BACK!!! (Ken and Stingmon leave with Apemon)

Small sound effect note: As they enter the portal in the original, there's a sort of warpy energy effect to signify they're going through a portal. In the dub, the sound effect is a big splash of water. I guess because the portal is in the canal

Poromon: Okay, Yolei, I'm ready for action! What should we do first? Yolei: Hey, I thought I left you with Izzy. What are you doing here? Poromon: It's a long story. Cameraman: I found her! She's over here, Professor! (Cameraman and Professor approach) Professor: Excuse me, Miss. Are you the girl who called out "DIGIMON" before? Yolei: Uhh, maybe? Professor: I have one more question to ask. Yolei: What is it? Professor: That's a Digimon you're holding, isn't it? Yolei: ...oh boy.

The dub also takes its second commercial break here.

She did not call out "DIGIMON". The only time Shuu could have overheard her talking about Digimon was when she and Ken were chatting just before resuming Stingmon's fight with Hanumon/Apemon. Stingmon intercepted Hanumon from attacking Shuu; He was right there, just offscreen, for that whole conversation. But at no point did Yolei shout "DIGIMON" during it.

But I'll cut them some slack on that one because the specifics of what Shuu overheard, Shuu running to get his Professor, and Shuu still then being able to track Miyako/Yolei down are difficult to parse. This man jogs.

Coming back from commercial, we find Miyako now in a car. The Professor's in the back while Shuu's up front driving.

Professor: Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Takenouchi Haruhiko. I teach the study of folklore at a university in Tokyo, but I've been doing research here in Kyoto for the past year. And this is.... Shuu: Kido Shuu, second-year university student. I was actually studying medicine, but after listening to a general education lecture by the Professor, I transferred over to the humanities. My older brother is interning and my little brother is also studying to become a doctor. Miyako: (nervous) I... I'm a 6th-grade elementary student from Tokyo. My name is Inoue Miyako. I'm here on a field trip.... Shuu: I KNEW IT!!! I've heard all about you from my little brother! Miyako: Ehhh!? Haruhiko: Ahaha! I've heard your name from my daughter as well. Miyako: Um... by any chance... Um, are you talking about Kido Jou-san and Takenouchi Sora-san? Haruhiko: (English) BINGO!!!

Haruhiko throws Miyako's own Bingo right back at her, demonstrating exactly how much Sora's told him about her.

Absolutely wild that Miyako got in the car with them without even knowing their names. Early 00's Japan is a very different place from mid-2020's United States.

In the dub:

Yolei: Who are you guys? Professor: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Professor Takenouchi. I teach folklore at the university in Tokyo but I've been spending the last year doing research right here in the city of Kyoto. And this is.... Cameraman: My name's Jim, Joe's brother. I'm one of the Professor's students. I was pre-med and had to study everything from brain surgery to bedpans. And then I took one class from the Professor here. I changed my major to ghosts and goblins! My kid brother still wants to be a doctor, though. Yolei: How nice... I'm Yolei Inoue and I'm in eighth grade. I live in Tokyo too, but I'm not sure what I'm doing here. Jim: I knew it! My little brother told me all about you! Yolei: Huh...? Professor: Hehe, yep. And I've heard a lot of good things about you from my daughter as well. Yolei: And, uh... I guess that means that... you're referring to Joe Kido and Sora Takenouchi? Professor: BULLSEYE!!!

Shuu is the middle child, between Shin and Jou. Shin was the one that participated with Jou in Vamdemon's siege. He's the brother that gave Jou the heart-to-heart about following his heart about who he wants to be even if their dad doesn't approve.

The dub here composites Shin and Shuu into the singular character of Jim. Which is kinda fucked because Jim previously had Shin's aspiration to travel to somewhere remote where his medical knowledge and expertise could be put to real use.

But now Jim is Shuu so fuck those desperate and needy folks, I guess; He's a ghost-chaser now. Hunting down spookers is way more fulfilling than providing medical care to the disenfranchised.

Jim literally identifies himself as "Joe's brother" which would be a weird thing to say if he didn't mean "The Joe we have in common" but Yolei still doesn't clock him until the JP script says she can. Oddly, Jim also isn't sure of who Yolei is until later in the conversation so I guess he just walks around introducing himself as Joe's Brother to strangers.

According to Yolei, she's in eighth grade, which puts her two grades ahead of Miyako instead of just the one from the four-year timeskip. This is probably because a summer vacation has come and gone; Americans start a new school year after summer vacation, so she would have reasonably have moved up a grade from where she was at the start of the show while Miyako would not have.

Yolei was at the end of 7th grade when Miyako was at the start of 6th. That makes sense. In retrospect, kinda awkward that T.K. transferred schools in, like, the last month or two of the school year. But that happens.

The dub took Miyako's "BINGO" exclamations away from Yolei; She has no catch phrases or verbal tics for Haruhiko to reference. Consequently, his "BULLSEYE" exclamation comes straight out of nowhere and is a total nonsequitur.

In the Digital World, the fight with Arachnemon and Mummymon is going... Well, it's certainly going alright.

XV-mon: X LASER!!!

It's unclear what, if anything, XV-mon hit. But Mummymon emerges from the smoke with gun in hand.

Mummymon: Now it's my turn!

He shoots wildly into the air but it's hard to hit a mobile flying target with an uncontrolled plasma stream. Before long, backup arrives.

Stingmon: XV-mon! Ken: Motomiya! Daisuke: I've been waiting for you, Ichijouji! Jogress time! Ken: Yeah!

With one pair reconnected, Stingmon and XV-mon evolve into Paildramon.

In the dub:

ExVeemon: VEE LASER!!! (Mummymon emerges unscathed) Mummymon: And now it's my turn! (Mummymon shoots at ExVeemon; Backup arrives) Stingmon: ExVeemon! Ken: Davis! You alright? Davis: Where were you!? I've been waiting! Are you ready? Ken: Let's do it!

Dub Ken considerately asks how Davis is doing after... Is he soloing Mummymon right now? I guess the others might be busy with Arachnemon/Arukenimon.

Somewhere offscreen, they've probably got a completely livid 絡新婦 Jorougumo wrapped up in Sanctuary Bind while Ankylomon sits on her. It's taking all three of them to hold her down but at least Iori chose this form so she doesn't have to go into Digmon's Big Crack.

Anyways, that's sweet of him.

In any case, Paildramon's here to the ripping sound of Beat Hit and this fight just took a turn! So enough about that, let's get back to chatting with Sora's dad. We have never met this guy! This is so cool!

Haruhiko: I travel all over Japan for my research. Hell, sometimes I end up going abroad. So I can't always get home easily. It would seem that this caused my daughter to rebel against my wife. Then, three years ago, my daughter's behavior suddenly changed. When we talked about it, I learned it was all thanks to something called Digimon. Miyako: Thanks to Digimon? Haruhiko: How to put it....

While Haruhiko talks, we flash back on the final episode of the first series. Sora sitting in a tree with Piyomon, saying goodbye and offering her gratitude for everything Piyomon's done for her.

Haruhiko: When she was with the Digimon.... (Flashback) Haruhiko (V.O.): ...she had a lot of new experiences, and it caused her to grow up a lot. She learned to see things from a broader perspective. (End Flashback) Miyako: Uhhh... Haruhiko: I owe much to these Digimon. Poromon: (blushing) No, please.... Miyako: I don't really understand but I'm happy for you!

XD Right over her head. Haruhiko is explaining himself more to the audience than to Miyako, and Miyako puts a spotlight on that fact by going "Uh, whatever you say, bruh!" at the end of it. The energy of "Two thumbs up while awkwardly looking around for someone to rescue her from this conversation."

Haruhiko's assertion here is a little confusing. The conflict between Sora and Toshiko had nothing to do with him. It was about Sora's resentment of the expectation that she would give up soccer and take up 華道 kadou, and Toshiko failing to adequately convey to Sora that she was worried for Sora's safety, not for the future of the art.

But the impression I get is that Haruhiko was the family peacemaker. Nurturing Sora's interests, reassuring Toshiko, making sure they both feel that they're being heard. And that's hard to do from Taiwan.

That's how I read it. Otherwise, it's just a really awkward retcon to insert Haruhiko into a conflict he has no place in.

In the dub:

Professor: I've studied legends all over the world. The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle... You should see my frequent flier miles! Anyway, I don't spend much time at home. I guess that's what caused Sora to be so angry. Then, three years ago, she suddenly turned into a whole new person. She and her mother became best friends. I thought maybe she had a boyfriend or was going through one of those teenage things but she simply said that she owed it all to her friends, the Digimon. Yolei: Her friends, the Digimon? Professor: That's right. Her adventures with them forced her to grow up and... (Flashback) Professor (V.O.): ...change her outlook on everything, especially the stormy relationship with her mother. You should see them now, shopping every Saturday! My credit card's at the limit! (End Flashback) Yolei: Uhhh.... Professor: So, thanks to the Digimon, our family is a lot closer now. Even though I'm still never around. Poromon: (blushing) You're welcome! Yolei: That's a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing!

Yolei's more invested in the story than Miyako.

This is all solid, with the caveat that the awkward quasi-retcon is still an awkward quasi-retcon. Though I did wince at the Women Be Shoppin' joke. 90's middle-class comedy, my beloathed.

Shuu's turn to share.

Shuu: So that's a real Digimon? I never thought I'd get to see the real thing. Three years ago, I was away from Tokyo at training camp for a club.

Flashback to the reality strips appearing in the sky over the world.

Shuu (V.O.): I saw those images projected into the night sky. But I was too far away and had no idea my younger brother was there.

As the flashback shows, his older brother was kinda there too.

The dub, of course, changes this story to suit him being Jim.

Jim: I'm glad I'm getting to see a Digimon on a friendly basis. I've had a run-in with them before, you know. When everything happened three years ago, I was right in the middle of the battle! (Flashback) Jim (V.O.): Actually, my brother Joe was a little more involved. I was sort of helping out from the sidelines. It's not that I couldn't have helped them fight; It's just that I wanted to give the kid a chance to learn on his own!

Whatever you say, Jim.

The dub's banking on the images going by fast enough that you won't notice that Jim at the front of the group shot has a yellow shirt while Jim in the final shot has a white shirt.

With introductions and catching up out of the way, it's time to move on to business. Miyako has questions.

Miyako: Still, though... I wonder why Digimon would suddenly appear in Kyoto? Haruhiko: Ever since it first became our capitol, Kyoto has been a place with a deep connection to 狐狸妖怪 kori youkai. Miyako: 狐狸 Kori!? Haruhiko: It means 狐 kitsune and 狸 tanuki.

As he speaks, an animation appears onscreen showing how the words きつね kitsune and たぬき tanuki are replaced by the kanji 狐 and 狸, then join together into a single word 狐狸 pronounced こり kori.

狐 Kitsune and 狸 Tanuki are foxes and racoons, respectively. In folklore, they both have a reputation for being shapeshifting youkai tricksters and are often depicted as rivals to each other. For that reason, they get categorized together as 狐狸 kori.

Haruhiko: My current research is about trying to discern the basis for stories about these kinds of youkai.

Continuing on, we see what looks to be an ancient map of the territory surrounding Kyoto.

Haruhiko: When Kyoto first became the capitol, it was chosen based on the land's suitability for the 四神 Shishin. Have you heard about that? Miyako: A little....

That's fair. They're a Taoist concept and most people in modern Japan are primarily familiar with Buddhist, Shinto, and/or Christian mythology. The 四神 Shishin, literally "Four Gods", refers to a group of four deities said to govern the four cardinal directions and the four seasons.

They are not to be confused with the Four Heavenly Kings, which the Dark Masters were a representation of. And I say that as much to myself as anyone else because I totally misremembered this 02 plot point as another set of Four Heavenly Kings when I was talking about the Dark Masters last series.

The Four Symbols, as they're called, share some elements in common with the Four Heavenly Kings. There is as much overlap between them as there are differences. They're similar in concept, but the Symbols are Taoist while the Heavenly Kings are Buddhist.

They're cool, obscure hipster folklore for your anime if you don't want to go with the Mainstream Heavenly Kings like some kind of normie!

Haruhiko: To the north, Genbu of Mt. Funaoka. To the east, Seiryuu of the Kamo River. To the south, Suzaku of Lake Ogura. To the west, Byakko of San'in Road. In other words, it can be rationally interpreted that this location at the foot of a mountain had easy access to rivers and roads and lots of open area to develop to the south. Miyako: Whoa....

Miyako doesn't really say a word here, so much as a slow intake of breath acknowledging that she's following along and that her mind is kind of blown right now.

For context on what he means about developing the south, Lake Ogura largely doesn't exist anymore. It was made into farmland for rice paddies. Get fucked, Suzaku.

As Haruhiko moves onto his next topic, the map returns. This time, it shows various temples and shrines on it.

Haruhiko: Furthermore, to protect the Imperial Palace's 鬼門 Kimon as well as the capitol's judiciary, many vital Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples were constructed. They believed they had to do this to keep 魔物 mamono away. Miyako: 鬼門 Kimon... 魔物 Mamono.... Shuu: Professor.... Haruhiko: Agh, sorry! Sorry. It just comes out. Well, in any case, Kyoto has changed a lot. It's nothing like what it used to be.

You should be sorry. This is a lot to dump on a 12-year-old!

The 鬼門 Kimon or "Demon Gate" refers to entryway by which the 鬼 oni can invade your home. They come in the form of infectious diseases or fires or freak accidents; Various things that can destroy your property and kill your family.

And it's believed that the way they enter, the 鬼門 Kimon, is through the northeast direction. That's why those two shrines are just up there guarding the northeast. Northeast is a cursed direction that evil comes from, and you must take great care to never give the northeast access to your home.

The imperial palace, in fact, doesn't even have a northeast corner. They cut a little divot out of it to keep the 鬼 oni out.

魔物 Mamono, meanwhile, is an umbrella term meaning "wicked things". It uses the devil kanji 魔 Ma meaning evil, demonic, wicked. You can even see 鬼 Oni at the bottom as one of the kanji's component pieces. Though it also means magic in any general context. See: the entire genre of 魔法少女 Mahou Shoujo/Magical Girls.

Then it combines it with 物 Mono which is... things. Stuff. General term for miscellany.

The wanted to keep out supernatural stuff of any kind.

So. That was a lot of fucking complicated Japanese mythology. Good luck with this one, dub.

Yolei: I still don't get it. Of all the cities they could have picked, why did the Digimon start showing up here in Kyoto? Professor: Ever since Kyoto became the capitol, residents here feel the city has developed a very strong connection with animal spirits. Yolei: What!? Professor: That's right. Different animals like raccoons and foxes. One reason I'm here in Kyoto is to determine if these stories are based on facts. Another reason is there's an outlet mall where I get my socks for half price! Yolei: I... see.... Professor: Kyoto was chosen to be the capitol partly because the four gods were in harmony surrounding the city. Have you heard that story? Yolei: I'm not sure. Professor: It's quite interesting! You see, the mountains to the north are for Genbu, the Turtle. The river to the east is for Seiryuu, the Dragon. The lake to the south is for Suzaku, the Phoenix. And the road to the west is for Byakko, the Tiger. So the city was protected by the mountains, had the convenience of a river and roads nearby, and was open to the west. A perfect scenario! Yolei: Cool! Professor: There's also the Spirit Gate and the fact that there were many temples built in all four directions. They believed that, without those temples, it would be too easy for the magical creatures to get in. Yolei: Spirits? Creatures? Jim: Professor! Professor: Hm? Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. Sometimes I get a little wrapped up in my own stories. The city has changed a lot since those days.

Honestly? Solid B. I have some notes but overall, way better than I anticipated.

Dub Professor gets the direction of the open space wrong; It's the southern lake, not the western roads.

I like that he gives (Accurate!) descriptions of which animal each of the Four Symbols represents. That is a level of detail I do not expect from the dub.

But he does break down when he tries to make sense of 鬼門 kimon. He offhandedly mentions the "Spirit Gate" while offering zero context as to what the fuck that's supposed to mean to a Western audience that didn't grow up learning about 鬼門 kimon.

If you watched the dub, you probably came away from this thinking there's just like a giant doorway constructed in the middle of Kyoto that spirits come through or something. XD Which, y'know, isn't necessarily wrong; 鳥居 Torii are a thing.

Also, without the context of 鬼門 kimon being the cursed direction of northeast, it's a little confusing when he says temples were built in the four cardinal directions but then never says anything about those two up in the northeast corner. What are those? Why are those there? Is that the Spirit Gate on the front of that one shrine?

So it's not perfect but it actually does a reasonably good job of presenting history and mythology to an audience that's probably sitting there going "Wait, aren't Genbu and Suzaku those guys from Yu Yu Hakusho?" and tuning the rest out anyway while they try to figure how these things cross over.

Moving along from his folkloric history lesson, Haruhiko gets to the point.

Haruhiko: In any case, whether 魔界 Makai or 異界 Ikai, the place where this world comes closest to any other sort of world is Kyoto.

In Shinto, 魔界 Makai or the Evil World is the world where the 鬼 Oni dwell.

Note that this is not the Japanese equivalent of Hell. To my best understanding, Shinto tradition states that the dead go to the Spirit World 霊界 Reikai and the Dark World 冥界 Meikai which more closely map to the Christian conception of Heaven and Hell but not completely, while other traditions such as Buddhism have their own life/death structures. The demon world 魔界 Makai is a whole separate place.

Japanese mythology is a cultural mishmash of Shinto, Buddhism, and miscellaneous other influences like Taoism, Confucianism, or Christianity so specific elements can be difficult to parse at times.

異界 Ikai means "Different World", and is generally used to refer to the afterlife. Similar to the usage of あの世 Anoyo or "That world". But in this context, Haruhiko might just mean "other worlds". Whether Demon World or Other World, they overlap most cleanly with ours in Kyoto.

Miyako: 異界 Ikai... 魔界 Makai.... Haruhiko: The Digimon you saw and the distortions in the Digital World may have a stronger influence on Kyoto than Tokyo. Miyako: (chuckling) You make it sound like Digimon are somehow related to 妖怪 youkai! Haruhiko: (serious) Are they not? Miyako: Huh? Haruhiko: If they're capable of existing here, then they can't just be a bundle of data. They say that the items that people use, after a period of 100 years, become a 妖怪 youkai called 付喪神 tsukumogami. They may originally have formed from data within a computer, but they now have a life force of their own. Is that not similar to 付喪神 tsukumogami? Miyako: ...

Miyako has no response to that. She and Poromon simply stare at each other in mutual bewilderment.

And so do I because this was a lot. You broke my brain, Sora's dad! I hope you're proud of yourself! This is why you weren't allowed into the first show! You're here for five minutes and I already want to cry and punch things!

In the dub:

Professor: What I'm trying to say is that Kyoto is close to the spirit world. In other words, any world other than our own. Yolei: Like the Digital World? Professor: I have a theory that those Digimon you saw running around found it easier to travel through the warp to the Digital World to Kyoto rather than trying to go to Tokyo. Yolei: (chuckling) Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that Digimon are some sort of magical creatures? Professor: (serious) Well, aren't they? Yolei: Huh? Professor: It's not like they're just a collection of data. I believe Digimon are actually legends that people have spoken of for hundreds of years. And, with time, have gained a level of consciousness and become a reality. I think that Digimon may have started as data in some old computer but have since come alive. Just like those old legends. Do you agree with my theory? Yolei: Uhhh... Huh?

Professor has a hard time explaining 付喪神 tsukumonogami and ends up implying that Digimon themselves have been crossing over to the human world for centuries, despite also clearly stating that they started as data from a computer. I don't think ancient Kyoto had computers, Doc. You want to go back and try that again?

He's on the right track but he's fumbling over his words really hard.

He also says that "the spirit world" is a euphemism for any world besides our own. Which. Uh. No. It is not. That's just wrong. He's definitely tripping over the possible interpretations for his own usage of 異界 Ikai here.

But again, I'm going to cut the dub some slack because this section was really fucking hard to translate and explain. I kinda hate Sora's dad now for this thick-as-fuck mythology dump he just threw in Miyako's lap, and I am sure I'm missing pieces from my explanation.

But enough of all of that because Miyako suddenly notices the wandering half-real Digimon on the side of the highway.

Rolling down her window, she tries to get their attention.

Miyako: HANG ON!!! WAIT JUST A SECOND!!!

Unfortunately, she succeeds. As with Hanumon before, the one in the rear takes notice of her. It turns and uncloaks, morphing into a Digimon representation of a samurai warrior who leaps atop a walkway over the highway.

Shuu slams on the brakes and the car screeches to a stop.

Shuu: Whoa! What is that!?

Great question! Mushamon is an Adult-stage Virus-attribute Demon Digimon. He's classified as a 魔人 Majin-type, combining 魔 Ma with 人 Hito, which means people, persons, individual living entities. Mushamon is a magical/demonic individual.

Mushamon is the second-to-last Digimon who can trace their origins to the Wonderswan V-Pet. The last, Asuramon, we will not be seeing in this series. His name comes from the Japanese word 武者 Musha, which means "Warrior". Kind of weird that he's classified as a demon, huh? We'll get to that.

Their name gets Romanized as "Musyamon" as a literal translation of the Katakana ムシャモン or "Mu-shi-ya-mo-n", which is pronounced "Moo-shah-mon".

Some sounds in Hiragana and Katakana don't have a full set of five vowels for them. In these cases, lower-case y-vowel letters are used as modifiers. There is no letter for the sound "sha". The only sh- letter is し or シ. That's shi in Hiragana and Katakana respectively. So a lower-case ャ ya can be applied to シ shi to create the sound sha. Together, シャ Sha are functionally acting as a single letter.

A common translation convention is to carry the 'y' over, but I find this unnecessarily confusing. In "Musyamon", the 'y' isn't even silent; It's standing in for an invisible 'h'. If you don't already know, you're not going to assume that you're meant to read the letters 'sya' as 'sha'.

Narrator: Mushamon! Armored 武者 musha Digimon! His form is that of an 落ち武者 ochimusha. He uses his enchanted sword 白鳥丸 Shiratori-maru to deliver his special attack 切り捨て御免 Kirisute Gomen.

Alright, let's get the easy one out of the way. 白鳥丸 Shiratori-maru means "White-feathered Bird" or just "Swan". The 丸 -maru at the end is a common suffix that people affix to signify that the name belongs to an item.

His special attack, 切り捨て御免 Kirisute Gomen, references an old Japanese right that samurai held that permitted them to cut down peasantry with their swords for being disrespectful. Mushamon's special attack is executing the lower-class for not properly acknowledging him as their better. Starting to get the picture of why he's a demon? Well, we haven't even gotten to the clincher yet.

An 落ち武者 ochimusha is... The fansub describes him as "fallen warrior" which is a literal translation that doesn't really capture it well. Sounds like the spirit of a warrior who died in battle and has come back from Hell to kick some more ass, right?

No. An 落ち武者 ochimusha is a warrior who has fallen from grace by fleeing from battle. When the tide turned against his army, he broke ranks and fled, taking all his expensive taxpayer-funded gear with him. These deserters were named 落ち武者 ochimusha and the general public were incentivized to hunt them down, either to reclaim their equipment or sell their heads to the opposing army.

So the design behind this guy is a coward who fled the battlefield but still claims to hold the right to murder civilians for making rude comments about it. That is Mushamon.

In the dub, Yolei rolls down the window to yell at Jim instead of the Digimon.

Yolei: HEY, STOP THE CAR!!! THERE THEY ARE!!! Shadow: Huh? (Musyamon emerges from the shadow and leaps onto the walkway) Jim: Ah! What's that!?

The dub goes to our third commercial break without answering that question. When we come back, Poromon explains.

Poromon: (rundown) That's Musyamon, a warrior Digimon who can take different shapes! I've seen him use his Shogun Sword attack to make mincemeat out of his enemies.

A lot of notes for such a short bit of dialogue. Technically, the window that gets rolled down is Jim's, not Miyako's. She moves her arm to imply that she reached forward to roll it down, which is kinda rude. In the dub, there's no clear reason why she would do that, but maybe Jim just rolled down his own window because he needed air.

Either way, since she's not yelling at the Digimon, they just. Like. Overhear her. Because either she or Jim rolled the window down for no reason.

The dub gives Musyamon a fabric tearing sound effect when he emerges from the darkness shroud, which makes me think that they think it's a literal cloak.

They pronounce his name "Moo-see-yah-mon" which is exactly the kind of confusion I was talking about when you translate the 'y' modifier that way. That's not their fault; It's the official Romanization that was provided onscreen during the animation for the rundown.

They also say Musyamon "can take different shapes". He does not; This is a mistranslation of him being "in the shape of" an 落ち武者 ochimusha. Because all Digimon are not literally 'thing' but masses of data compiled into the form of 'thing'. So don't hold your breath for some wicked combat shapeshifting to come.

We're about to have a fight on our hands. Fortunately, this time, Miyako is armed for one.

Poromon: Miyako-san! Miyako: Poromon!

Those are the only words they exchange before Poromon evolves into Hawkmon.

Miyako: Get him, Hawkmon!

As Hawkmon flies into battle, Haruhiko gets out of the car to see this for himself.

Haruhiko: Oooh! So this is Digimon evolution! Hawkmon: FEATHER SLASH!!!

Mushamon easily deflects Hawkmon's feather, with the same energy as any trained samurai slapping away a child's attempt.

By this point, Shuu has joined Haruhiko outside the car, watching the battle with jaw slacked. Miyako is the last to get out, holding up her D-3.

Miyako: HAWKMON!!! ARMOR EVOLVE!!! Hawkmon: Right! Miyako: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

She could go for Aquilamon but Miyako has a form in mind that's much more appropriate for cutting down an 落ち武者 ochimusha.

In the dub:

Poromon: Should I? Yolei: Go for it! (Hawkmon evolves and flies into battle) Yolei: You can do it, Hawkmon! Professor: Do you think Hawkmon will let me interview him? Hawkmon: FEATHER STRIKE!!! (Deflected) Yolei: HAWKMON!!! ARMOR DIGIVOLVE!!! Hawkmon: Glad to! Yolei: DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!

Professor's question isn't as contextually relevant to our immediate situation as the remark Haruhiko makes.

Alright, time to literally take the Kid Gloves off. It's go-time with Mushamon.

Like I said, who better to hunt an 落ち武者 ochimusha than a 忍 shinobi?

As soon as he's finished evolving, Shurimon goes on the offensive.

Shurimon: 紅葉おろし MOMIJI OROSHI!!!

Mushamon raises his sword to block the attack, but the momentum carries him backwards off the walkway.

Shuu: Amazing! To actually see an evolution with my own eyes...! Haruhiko: K-Kido-kun! After them! Quickly! Shuu: R-Right!

The humans get back in the car to follow the fighting. Moving away at a quick pace, Mushamon and Shurimon race across rooftops, finding opportunities to lock blades here and there.

Miyako: Professor, is there a laptop here? Haruhiko: Huh? Yeah....

Finding a chance to get above Shurimon, Mushamon prepares to cut down this upstart peasant.

Mushamon: KIRISUTE GOMEN!!! Shurimon: KUSANAGI!!!

But Shurimon's attack is swifter. As giant shuriken collides with katana, it buys Shurimon a moment to ascend. Then, once he's gained enough height, he slams down into the Kusanagi, using momentum and gravity to crash Mushamon into the lake below.

Miyako comes running with Haruhiko and Shuu. Shuu has the laptop with him, and he opens it for her.

Miyako: DIGITAL GATE, OPEN!!! (Gate opens) Miyako: SHURIMON, THE GATE'S OPEN!!!

Emerging from the lake, Shurimon hurls Mushamon into the Digital Gate, returning this deserter to where he belongs.

Miyako: Close it! (Shuu closes it) Shuu: ...it disappeared...? Haruhiko: No, it didn't disappear. It returned to the Digital World.

Finally, with the fighting over, Shurimon regresses all the way back down to Poromon.

In the dub:

Shurimon: DOUBLE STARS!!! (Shurimon blocks) Jim: Professor, do you suggest I start taking notes about what I'm seeing? Professor: Never mind the notes! Drive! The! Car! Jim: Right! (Car chases the fighting Digimon) Yolei: Professor, do you happen to have a laptop computer? Professor: Uh... Yeah...? Musyamon: SHOGUN SWORD!!! Shurimon: DOUBLE STARS!!! (Shurimon takes down Musyamon) Yolei: DIGI-PORT OPEN!!! (Digi-Port opens) Yolei: SHURIMON, THE PORT IS OPEN!!! (Shurimon tosses Musyamon through) Yolei: Jim! Close it! (Jim closes it) Jim: He's vanished!? Professor: No, Jim. He didn't vanish. He's returned to the Digital World where he belongs.

A little awkward that Jim has to do all of Shuu's "WHOA DIGIMON STUFF" as if he's experiencing this for the first time even though he was supposedly also the guy in Odaiba during the VenomVamdemon battle.

But, to be fair, that is still only one encounter.

Triumphant, Poromon returns to Miyako's arms.

Miyako: Good work. Oh, wait! What about BlackWarGreymon and the others!?

As if in response to that question, BWG and his contingent go to static and disappear into thin air as mysteriously as they came.

Shuu: They're going back? Miyako: How did they even come to the real world in the first place? And why? Haruhiko: Though it may seem random to us, there must have been some great reason behind it.

That's cool and all but you just got here ten minutes ago and no one cares what you think. Miyako starts puzzling over this before Haruhiko even finishes speaking, loudly thinking over him.

Miyako: (thinking) We now have the ability to open the Gate and send them back, but this wasn't the case for Taichi-san and the others back then. Shuu: Miyako-chan! Miyako: Ah! Shuu: It's time to take you back. You need to make your check-in time, right?

Oh shit. Yeah, Teacher did only give us two hours. Miyako checks her D-3 and freaks out.

Miyako: EH!?!? AHHHHH, LOOK AT THE TIME!!!

What time is it? That's right. It's time to fucking go before Shuu and Haruhiko officially become kidnappers, that's what time. I don't know what Japan's laws are regarding two adult men making off with an unaccompanied minor not related to either of them during a field trip but I imagine it's probably not a great look.

In the dub:

Yolei: You did a good job. But we have to figure out a way to stop BlackWarGreymon! Poromon: Look, Yolei! Something's happening to them! (BWG's contingent fizzles) Jim: They're all returning to the Digital World. Yolei: Yeah, but I've got a question. Why did they come here to the real world? I don't get it. Professor: It may not make sense to us but there must have been a reason. Yolei: (thinking) That was really strange. I was able to open the Digi-Port and send Musyamon back to the Digital World, but Tai and the others weren't able to do it. Jim: Yolei! Yolei: Huh? Jim: We'd better hurry up and get you back to your class. After all, you don't want to miss the rest of your school trip, do you? (Yolei checks time) Yolei: Oh! I almost forgot about that!

It's weirdly convenient in both versions that after all that fighting and chasing we've done, BWG and the others just happen to show up right next to us so we can see them vanish. The dub tries to patch this convenience by at least having Poromon call everybody's attention over to them.

Yolei considerately lets Professor finish speaking before going on her own train of thought.

Yolei has the right idea for what she's puzzling over but gets the tone wrong. It's not a mystery why we can do it. That's a property the new D-3s have over the old Digivices. Miyako never draws a conclusion or even really outlines a specific question; She just finds it interesting that the Junior Team was prepared in advance for this scenario while the veterans had to make due without.

The dub version also sounds like it's suggesting that Tai and the others couldn't send Musyamon back. No one else has taken a crack at Musyamon. She's referring to Tai and the others having no other option but to kill all the Digimon invading Tokyo way back when, but that's not really clear with the dub dialogue.

Suddenly, as mysteriously as he came, BlackWarGreymon returns to the Digital World.

Arachnemon notices the distortion dropping him off and sees him walking into the distance. He pays her no heed, since he's not actually on their team.

Arachnemon: He's back.... Mummymon! Let's go! Mummymon: Got it!

Mummymon disentangles himself from the fight, returning to his human guise. He leaps down to join Arachnemon in the car and gun it, while Paildramon breaks free of his Snake Bandage.

Daisuke: You're running away!? Arachnemon: We don't have time for you kids! You hear me? Don't let this go to your head! We're on our way to destroy the five remaining Holy Points! Daisuke: What did she just say? Takeru: She said there are five Holy Points left. Iori: And if they destroy them all.... Hikari: ...then the balance of the Digital World will continue to collapse. Ken: (thinking) This is what Izumi-san was worried about. If the balance of the Digital World were completely destroyed, the result would be catastrophic.

Weirdly convenient that she just threw that out there. Also we have this new terminology, Holy Point, which I guess is the same thing as a Holy Stone.

In the dub:

Arukenimon: Huh? They have returned.... Mummymon, let's go! Mummymon: Right! (Arukenimon and Mummymon withdraw to the car) Davis: Going somewhere!? Arukenimon: I don't have time for small talk with small children! I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you. There are still five more Destiny Stones out there and, when I destroy them, there goes the Digital World! Davis: Is she serious!? T.K.: She won't stop until she finds all of the Destiny Stones! Cody: And if she destroys them all.... Kari: Then the balance of the Digital World will be destroyed as well. Ken: (thinking) Now I finally understand. This must be what Izzy was worried about. If the balance of the Digital World is destroyed, something terrible is going to happen.

Arukenimon says "they" have returned but the only person that she was missing was the singular BWG. It's not clear what the deal with those shrouded figures that turned into very confused and disoriented Digimon was, but they aren't part of her team or anything like that. I'm not sure what that was about and clearly neither are the dub writers.

The dub sticks with the Destiny Stone terminology instead of switching to Destiny Point or something.

The dub overlooks that the children didn't know there were five Holy Points out there, and just learned that from Arachnemon right now. They don't react at all to the number Arukenimon throws at them. Without that specific topic, they spend their lines just. Like. Being shocked that the cruel villain who wants to destroy the Digital World is cruelly trying to destroy the Digital World.

Back in Kyoto, Shuu and Haruhiko drop off Miyako just in time for her check-in.

Haruhiko: Well then, say hi to Sora for me when you get back to Tokyo. Shuu: Jou too. Miyako: Will do!

Once she's said her goodbyes, Miyako returns to her class.

Friend 1: You're late! Where have you been? Miyako: Sorry, sorry. Just around, really. Friend 2: Huh? What's that?

It's at this moment that Miyako suddenly realizes she's still holding Poromon. Panicking, she starts patting Poromon's head a little too hard.

Miyako: Uhh... Just a plushie! A plushie! Poromon: ...ow.... Friend 2: NO WAY!!! IT'S SO CUTE!!! LET ME SEE!!! Friend 1: Just a quick look!

Miyako's friends take Poromon from her and start a tug-of-war with the poor Digimon.

Miyako: (thinking) Stay strong, Poromon....

This is the same joke as when Taichi watched Agumon try to swallow that humongous fish. With nothing else she can say or do to solve this situation, Miyako silently urges "頑張れ Ganbare", the Japanese spirit of perseverance against hardship. We close on this comical acknowledgment of the great ordeal ahead of Poromon.

In the dub:

Professor: Nice meeting you, Yolei, and be sure to say hi to Sora for me when you get back to Tokyo. Jim: And to Joe too. Yolei: Sure! Nice meeting you! (Yolei returns to her class) Friend 1: Yolei! Where have you been? Yolei: I had to take care of a couple of small things. Friend 2: Hey look! What's that!

Instead of one "Ow" at the end, Dub Poromon makes little grunts of pain each time Yolei smacks him.

Yolei: Uhhh, just a souvenir! (pointedly) A very quiet souvenir! Friend 2: Aww! It's so cute! (Friends take Poromon) Friend 1: Heeeey! Friend 2: Where'd you get him? Come on! Yolei: (thinking) Urgh... Sorry about that, Poromon.... Narrator: What are the mysterious Destiny Stones and will Arukenimon be able to destroy them all? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!

We're gonna find out if she can destroy them all next episode? That's a pretty tall order, Narrator.

On that note, we had two questions to answer this episode. First question: Did the big tornado at the end of last episode destroy the Digital World completely? I feel like we can conclusively say no. It did not. QUESTION ANSWERED.

Second question: Will BlackWarGreymon ever find his heart? At no point in this episode did they ever even touch on that topic, so we're gonna have to call that one a broken promise.

Assessment: This might be the driest episode the show's had thus far. It is so plot-driven it hurts. We open the episode with plot exposition from Koushiro, then send Miyako off to meet Haruhiko and get more plot exposition from him. And then Arachnemon inexplicably tosses some extra plot information to the kids at the very end to help them keep up.

The battle taking place mostly offscreen in the Digital World is completely inconsequential. The Chosen Children and Arachnemon are basically just killing time until the plot returns. This is the most "Just here to cash my paycheck" the cast has ever been in the series thus far.

Ken, meanwhile, spends the whole episode possessed by the Spirit of the Writer's Hand. He facilitates exposition from Koushiro, then he shows up inexplicably in Kyoto to tutorial Miyako on how to fight Mushamon, and then he pops over to Daisuke's crew to make Paildramon happen and keep them from being slaughtered in their inconsequential exhibition bout.

We don't even find out how he knew Hanumon was in Kyoto, how he knew what Hanumon's deal was and how the mechanics of this conflict work, or how he even ripped open a time/space distortion into the canal without using an actual Digital Gate. There are so many questions about what the fuck just happened that Ken waves off with a "Tell ya later".

It's a Miyako-centric episode where Miyako barely gets to do anything or express anything interesting about her character. She gets rescued by Ken and then lectured by Haruhiko while only understanding like half of what he's saying. Then, at the very end, she gets to fight what amounts to a Random Encounter.

Between this and the previous episode, this has not been a great start for the Holy Stone/Point arc.

[ayukaze]

Now it feels like we’re celebrating the 25th Anniversary 😍

This new art for an upcoming collaboration with Karatez is just simply stunning. The theme is (very obviously) “idol” and I personally love the futuristic pop concept they’ve added to the outfits. Although exact date and merch details haven’t been shared yet, they shared a few layouts of the key art.

The outfits are also great this time around because of their little references to the partner Digimon’s Perfect evolutions. Listing them down one by one as always.

Taichi: The blue markings on his jacket plus robotic arm markings on his right sleeve are a nice shoutout to MetalGreymon.

Yamato: We see WereGarurumon’s pattern on his jacket and a few belts wrapped around his hands that captures the punk-grunge vibe of WereGarurumon well. It may be Yamato’s affinity to music, but he looks extremely in his element in this art, it’s not often we see him so raring to go in official merch art (he’s more of a soft smiles guy usually).

Sora: Her gloves and the red bandana on her arm coupled with the feather in her hair are clear shoutouts to Garudamon. It’s kinda funny to me that being the girl who’s crest is a heart symbol, she’s making a victory sign while Mimi and Hikari are both making different types of finger hearts 😆

Koushiro: Honestly they were really subtle with the reference for him and even twitter couldn’t exactly answer my doubts so I’m gonna have to see Koushiro stans step up and answer whether the reference in his outfit limited to the markings on his jacket resembling AtlurKabuterimon’s chest?

Mimi: I think she’s the one with the most easy to catch references, her skirt resembles Lilymon’s and her hair tie looks like Lilymon’s flower canon. I love that she’s making the big finger heart because it’s just so very Mimi. If Yamato suits the passionate side of being an idol, Mimi is definitely meant for the cutesy visual vibe that can make fans go crazy over just a wink and a smile.

Jou: He’s wearing three belt like bracelets around one wrist like Zudomon which makes his a minimal reference though not as subtle as Koushiro’s. I do feel that they could’ve done a bit more with his look, maybe add a horn to the side of his headset? I also can’t wait to see the full art for each kid individually cuz I do think him and Yamato are wearing similar bellbottom pants!

Takeru: The feather on his headset and the yellow suspended straps are a decent reference to HolyAngemon. Considering that they wanted to keep the outfits limited to one colour per kid, I think this is the best way they could slip in the reference, though I wouldn’t have minded a few rings.

Hikari: The feather on the headset, the corset-ish belt around her waist and her gloves are very nice references to Angewomon. Keeping Hikari’s innocence as a kid intact while referencing a Digimon that is undoubtedly considered one of the most sexiest mons in the franchise would have been really tough and I salute the illustrators for coming up with this design! I also like the OG Korean finger heart she’s making, such a cute look on her.

The cherry on top are each of the Digimon partners holding supportive cheering goods for their kids. Piyomon’s love for Sora goes hard with her big name banner. Meanwhile, Agumon and Palmon kept it simple with haoris, Tailmon and Patamon too decided to go the simple route with light sticks. Gabumon, Gomamon and Tentomon seem normal from afar with their hand fans but when you get a closer look on all the hearts around Koushiro’s name on Tentomon’s fan, you know the three spent time making those themselves.

All in all, a pretty amazing illustration to be able to get merch of!

But wait that’s not all, andGallery has also teased a future cafe collaboration with Digimon Adventure on their twitter, more info will be announced on 19th Feb but they did share a preview of what to expect.

[izzyizumi]

{D I G I M O N} Adventure: [2k20 Re-boot/Spin-off Series] ~ Ep. 36 + Koushiro{u} Izumi x Taichi Yagami {KouTai} & Tentomon, Sora, Takeru, Hikari, Agumon (as Support)

"Operation: Satellite Sniper" First aired on February 14th, 2021!

"You're seriously {amazing}/{awesome}, Koushiro!" - Taichi

"I have..." - Koushiro

"...Everyone."

"And you, AtlurKabuterimon-"

"That's WHY I HAVE TO DO IT!"

Gifs by @izzyizumi​ / @koushirouizumi / @hikari-m {Do Not Re-p o s t} {Do Not C o p y} {Do Not Remove Caption} {Do Not Re-produce My Work [*Including for @.I. Usages] Under Any Circumstances Without My Permission Whatsoever!}

Image usage rules + original commentary under the ‘read more’

Original Commentary: Happy Valentines to those who celebrate!! (I Don't, but I still giggle over how this ep aired on technically V a l e n t i n e s Day. I'm pretty sure Toei knows what they were Doing there...)

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[koushirouizumi]

{D I G I M O N} Adventure: [2020 Re-boot/Spin-off] ~ Episode 59 (Japanese Version) ~ 2020!Koushiro{u} Izumi + Koushiro & Tentomon {as Friendship} + Koushiro & Agumon {as Mutual Support} & I N F O-D U M P I N G

+ with Koushiro on Koushiro’s way to {S A V I N G} {+W h a m o n} & T A I C H I Y a g a m i...

“AND S P E A K I N G of the {W a l t z}...!!” - Koushiro, m u t t e r i n g s o f t l y, s u b c o n s c i o u  s l y r a i s i n g f o o t while M u s i n g

“Let’s {D A N C E} to {C e l e b r a t e}!!” Edit by @izzyizumi / koushirouizumi / hikari-m {Do Not Re-p o s t} {Do Not C o p y} {Do Not Remove Caption} {Do Not Re-produce My Work Under Any Circumstances Without My Permission Whatsoever!} [*Including for @.I. Usages] (A S K to Use!)

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[digimon-adventure-screentime]

I've found the analysis fascinating so far because my theory was that Toei hadn't fully decided who should be the lancer role between Yamato, Sora, and Koushiro, with Mimi, Jou, and Takeru being more supportive characters than them, and those first 3 would have relatively equal amounts of screentime for at least the first two arcs, trailed by the other two (and then by Takeru), and then Yamato shoots up for Myotismon and DM arcs, but it looks like so far, all the other kids, sans Takeru, have had relatively equal amounts of screentime so far across the first arc. I wonder if this stays true throughout the entire show or if, at some point, Yamato's will increase relative to the others

That's an interesting theory! I haven't read anything about the creative process, but considering the opening credits, it looks like there was some intent to have Sora be the "second" in line, since she appears always after Taichi in them. But then from the third episode they have Gabumon instead be the second one to achieve Adult evolution after Agumon. And yet I've been a little surprised by Yamato's overall screentime, I thought it would be much higher already.

I wonder if they had even settled on the "order" of the kids while writing the first arcs, aside from Taichi who was obviously set to be the leader from the start. Even as a kid that I was, watching the show for the first time, it struck me as noticeable that aside from Taichi, the kids didn't get their Crests in their usual order, so maybe that was a leftover from any indecision they may have had for who would be "second" in line.

That makes me also wonder how well I can predict Yamato's screentime in future episodes, since I was very off about it for the first arc. In a way it's giving me even more motivation to keep on to the end, cause I'm genuinely curious to find that out. And considering he doesn't appear for 4-5 episodes in the Dark Masters arc, I wonder if his overall screentime will cover for that "void" (and how much of that will be covered by his screentime in the Dark Cave scene, that one alone is about six minutes long, and he still has significant screentime for the rest of that episode).

In any case, it's been an amazingly interesting project to get into! I'm glad I at least have the time to do it on a nearly everyday basis XD

[shinkoxyagami]

Digimon Adventure 2020 episode 29

Escape the burning jungle🔥

This episode was fire.. I loved everything about it.. Here's my biggest edit tribute yet of an episode on this series..

The fights moments were incredible.. The way Taichi acted and even that deep down he is sad about what Hikari did and how she left him and Skullnightmon kidnapped her, I loved the way he expressedhis emotionsduring the episode especially at the near end.. Agumon encouraging Taichi to not give up.. And others support him.. How woodmon and those cute budmon and of course our others holy digimon Lopmon apeard... Taichi caring and holding him like that was so precious.. The sadness we got from seeing those poor digimons die.. Seeing the rule of this digital world and how life goes in it.. The crazy situation that like Koushiro said it's the calm before storm.. Mimi, Joe, Takeru, Yamato's actions during the episode.. And how lovely a s surprisingly Sora apeard.. it was so precious that those little digimons fought alongside Taichi to help him.. Even tho they were week it was a nice touch.. And the hype at the end that it's not over...

I'm surprised how some people say this episode was a waste of time.. It has a lot of great moments and feelings it.. It was incredible.

[whookami]

I feel like Digimon Adventure (2020) has wasted it’s potential. Sure, the story is new, creating new dynamics, but the characters... they are so meh. Okay, so Tai is pretty much the same, yay for him, but most of the other kids have been robbed of the traits that made them interesting, that made them feel like more than just 2D characters in a fictional world.

Sora doesn’t have her struggles with how she feels about love, her complex relationship with her mother’s overprotectiveness, coupled with her own sense of responsibility. Koushiro isn’t struggling with his sense of belonging (as much, there are tiny hints), his unresolved issues about being adopted and feeling like he doesn’t have a real home with the people he cares about. Mimi isn’t being dragged down and forced to see the horrors of war, she’s shown to be immediately bouncing back after terrible losses and conflicts, rather than having to find the inner strength to choose her own path and forge ahead on her own. Jou’s struggles with school do still exist, and his practical nature, but they don’t feel as solid as in the original, as much of an obstacle for him to overcome in accepting his place as a Digidestined. Takeru isn’t suffering from the need to prove himself, constantly feeling helpless and like he is constantly being babied, as from almost the moment he appears in the Digital World everyone knows he’s got the most powerful digimon, who also manages to unlock an armour evolution when he can’t immediately evolve back into Angemon. Hikari is...weirder in this. Does she have a personality at all besides blank curiosity and belief in Taichi? Maybe. I guess we’ll have to see. And Yamato, poor poor Yamato who has basically had the core of his character excised and then just... not replaced with anything else compelling. Yamato’s issues with his own worth and his responsibility for his brother, who he hardly gets to see due to his parents’ divorce, how he babies Takeru and treats him like he’s helpless, then coupled with Tai’s seeming competence as a leader and how he’s bonding with Takeru and treating him as more of an equal, sparking Yamato into a spiral of doubt and jealousy???? Now he’s just kinda stoic and strategic, and also blatantly supports Takeru being involved in their fight and taking risks, which okay, from the original would be great character development, but this version just jumps right into being okay with his tiny tiny brother being on the front lines in a war??

Also, not sure yet how this will pan out as the character has only just been (re)introduced, but Tailmon (or Gatomon, for the sake of nostalgia). She was the most interesting Digimon originally due to her being hatched and brought up separately, surrounded by the darkness and knowing that something inside herself was missing, but going along with what she’d been taught until Wizardmon finally helped set her on the right path.

Oh, also, Tai going crazy and this version’s take on the SkullGreymon idea was so weak. Tai wasn’t being reckless or careless or trying to use his power like a cudgel, forcing Agumon to evolve. It was in the heat of a very serious battle and their actions made sense, but were painted as being the ‘wrong’ actions because the plot needed them to seem that way?? Of course Agumon’s gonna go dinosaur crazy upon seeing Tai get eaten. It was weak.

All this good character stuff is gone, and what replaces it so far had been drab, boring, and always easily overcome. In the original series Yamato didn’t get over his issues until like, episode 53!! The characters really struggled with their issues, went through ups and downs, made mistakes, learned over time to fix them. I feel like these new takes are static, not growing or changing due to their situations, just bouncing from one problem to the next without anything really sticking to them. Nothing feels like it has any consequences and I don’t relate to what the kids are going through because it’s just a bunch of huge monster battles without any emotional context besides surviving.

Final thought: Also, how the actual fuck are the kids staying on their Digimon during all these attacks?? Pegasmon literally turns into a whirling vertical disc of death and Takeru is on his back the whole time and isn’t barfing afterwards like a kid who ate before riding the Gravitron???

[lightchildofthespring]

Everything

Pairing: Post-Kizuna Taishiro (aromantic Taichi)

Summary: Taichi calls Koushiro to his apartment. He has something important to say.

This is not a typical taishiro story, but I hope you like it.

Everything

Koushiro got to Taichi's apartment by 9 o'clock, like Taichi had asked. Agumon was the one who opened the door. He had been living with Taichi full-time ever since his rematerialization, just like Pyiomon was living with Sora and Gabumon with Yamato. Koushiro suspected that was due to the trauma of their separation, but never commented on it. He didn't want to remind his friends of their anguish, especially because he didn't think he could really understand what they had gone through. After all, Koushiro had never lost Tentomon.

“Taichi is waiting for you in his bedroom,” Agumon said, smiling largely. “I'm going to watch some TV while you two talk.”

“Do you know what he wants to talk to me about?” Koushiro asked. “Taichi-san was really mysterious on the phone... did something bad happen?”

“No, no! Nothing bad happened! He wants to tell you something good! Something very important!” Agumon told him. “But I'm not telling you anything more than that!”

“Alright, then...” Koushiro said, entering the apartment. After taking his shoes off, he headed to Taichi's bedroom, which was a lot tidier than usual. The sheets covering the bed were clean, his books were organized over the desk and the only things on the floor were two pillows and a short-legged table, on which there was a large plate of rice balls. Taichi was standing up close to the open window, looking at the starry sky as the cool night breeze messed with his hair.

“Hello, Taichi-san,” Koushiro greeted. Taichi turned to him and smiled, which made Koushiro's heart skip a bit.

Taichi was wearing black pants and a white long sleeved orange shirt with buttons; his hair was still a bit wet, indicating that he had taken a shower not long before. Koushiro also noticed that Taichi had put on cologne, which made him self-conscious for going to his friend's apartment straight from the office, still wearing the same dark blue pants, white shirt and tie he had put on that morning. I should've taken a shower and changed clothes... Koushiro thought. But Taichi had such a serious voice when he asked him to come to his place, how could Koushiro not head straight to his apartment? There could be an emergency!

Taichi silently sat on a pillow and waited for Koushiro to sit on the other one, across from him. After Koushiro sat, the other looked into his eyes for almost an entire minute without saying anything, bearing a nervous expression.

“Did something happen, Taichi-san?” Koushiro asked, worried.

Taichi took a deep breath before replying:

“Do you know how in the movies people who are in love act in an odd way?” Taichi questioned. “They get nervous around the person they like, they think about them all the time, they blush and get butterflies in the stomach among other things, you know?”

“Yes,” Koushiro said. That was how people who were romantically attracted to others usually were. Koushiro didn't need to take examples from movies to know what Taichi was talking about, though. For years, he had felt that way towards him. However, Taichi had no way of knowing about Koushiro's feelings, because the redhead had decided a long time ago not to burden his friend with his unrequited love. Taichi had already so many things going on in his life, he shouldn't have to worry about turning down unsolicited affection.

“I never felt that,” Taichi confessed in a pained voice. “I've never fallen in love... I've tried to go out with people since I entered college but never got past the first date with anyone... I don't think I've ever felt the thing everybody else feels... that euphoria... and I'm starting to think I'll never feel that... there's something wrong with me and I can't fix it...”

To see Taichi in such sorrow was breaking Koushiro's heart. There was no need for him to feel bad, ever!

“There's nothing wrong with not feeling romantic attraction, Taichi-san!” Koushiro stated. “There are many people like that in the world, they call themselves aromantic!”

“Aromantic?” Taichi asked, as if he found that word strange.

“A few years ago, when I was trying to figure out if I was bisexual or asexual, I visited several blogs about sexual and romantic attraction and made some aromantic friends,” Koushiro told him. “They're wonderful and loving people. There's nothing to be ashamed about being aromantic, Taichi-san! Even if you don't feel romantic love, I know you're full of love for your family and your friends! You've always cared so much about everybody, you've always tried so hard to do what was best for everybody... I don't know anyone with a bigger heart than yours! You don't need to be fixed! You're not wrong in any conceivable way!”

Koushiro stopped talking when he noticed that Taichi had begun to cry. What had he done wrong? Was he insensitive by accident? What could he do to make the other feel better?

“Thank you,” Taichi told him, wiping his tears with the back of his hands. “You've always been so kind and supportive... I don't know how you still put up with me...”

“I don't 'put up' with you, Taichi-san. I like you and I care a lot about you!” Koushiro affirmed. Right after saying that, he worried that he had let his true feelings for Taichi come to the surface, but Taichi's warm smile put Koushiro at ease.

“This is kind of embarrassing... I had called you over and prepared everything because I wanted to tell you something else... but then I felt so much guilt and ended up saying all that...” Taichi muttered.

“Guilt? Why would you feel guilty?” Koushiro asked.

He gazed at him, studying every aspect of Koushiro's face. Taichi seemed more relaxed than before, but still a little nervous.

“Koushiro, I...” he hesitated, “I never got nervous around you. It's actually the opposite... your presence calms me down... you center me... I don't have the faintest idea what butterflies in the stomach are supposed to feel like, but I'm pretty sure I never felt that... I don't think about you all the time, but when I think about you... when I talk to you... it makes me happy...” Taichi smiled. “Not euphoric, just... it's a calm happiness... I'm at peace when I'm with you... I don't get flustered when I'm with you nor do I fantasize about kissing you or holding your hand... I think you're good-looking, but I don't think you're the most handsome person in the world because... objectively speaking that would be Pedro Pascal...”

Koushiro couldn't avoid but giggle at that last part. But then, he thought about the reason why Taichi was telling him those things. There was only one logical explanation.

“Listen, Taichi-san...” Koushiro said. “I think I know what you're trying to tell me... you must've figured out my feelings for you, right? You don't have to worry about explaining yourself to me. I would never hold against you the fact that you don't like me that way. It's alright, really! We can still be friends!”

Taichi stared at him, perplexed.

“What are you talking about, Koushiro?” Taichi asked. “What do you mean I figured out your feelings... OH MY GOODNESS, DO YOU LIKE ME?” he shouted once he finally understood. “DO YOU LIKE ME ROMANTICALLY? ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH ME?”

Koushiro felt his heart sink.

“You didn't know...?” he asked in a weak voice. “But, Taichi-san, you... you were turning me down gently, weren't you? You had to... why would you say that if you didn't know?”

“Turning you down? Do you think I called you over, dressed nicely and got those rice balls because I wanted to turn you down?” Taichi asked.

“B-But then... what were you... what are you trying to say to me?” Koushiro inquired, confused.

“I'm trying to say that I love you!” Taichi stated. “I love you in a way I don't love anyone else! It's more special than what I feel for my other friends, but it's not like what's portrayed in movies! I love everything about you! Your kindness, your caring personality, how hard-working you are, how I can always be honest with you and how you understand me so easily! I love how excited you get whenever you learn new things and how patient you are when other people don't immediately understand what you're talking about! You are wonderful! Koushiro, you make me so happy! I'm so glad I got to meet you and be your friend! I love you with all my heart... I love you as much as I'm capable! During the time Agumon was gone, you were by my side all the time and I understood that I wanted you to be with me forever... but that's very selfish of me, isn't it?” Taichi frowned. “You deserve more than the love I can give you... you deserve someone who will be nervous around you and blush and be euphoric... someone whose heart beats faster when you're around...”

“Taichi-san, stop saying that!” Koushiro told him, startling Taichi. “Do you realize how nonsensical you're sounding right now? You keep talking about how I deserve better than what you can give me, but have you ever asked yourself what I wanted?”

Taichi kept his eyes on Koushiro, not daring to say anything. The other continued:

“I love you and you love me! Who cares if we don't feel the exact same kind of love for each other? I certainly don't mind that! I don't care if you don't want to kiss me or hold my hand, nor do I care if you don't get nervous around me or if you don't desire me in the same way other people might! I honestly don't care about those hypothetical people! I care about you! And I want to be with you!”

Taichi's eyes widened after hearing that. Nevertheless, there was still a glimpse of fear in them.

“What if my love isn't enough for you?”

Koushiro smiled and told him in an assured voice:

“Your love is everything for me!”

Taichi smiled back at him, which made Koushiro deeply happy.

Suddenly, Agumon showed up at the bedroom's door.

“Taichi, if you're not going to eat the rice balls, can I have them?” the digimon asked.

“Agumon, were you spying on us?” Taichi asked, sheepishly.

“Of course I was!” Agumon admitted. “You were really worried about confessing your feelings to Koushiro and I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly.”

“You say that, but it's not as if you tried to stop me from blurting all my insecurities to Koushiro earlier,” Taichi accused.

“I didn't stop you because it was a good thing that you opened your heart to him,” Agumon explained. “That way, you won't have to worry about Koushiro not fully accepting you.”

Taichi and Koushiro exchanged looks and smiled at each other. Agumon was right. Thanks to Taichi's honesty, the two young men could be sure of how profoundly they loved and were loved by each other and of how happy their relationship would be.

[tobiasdrake]

I'd say that Tri, Last Kizuna and 02 The Beggining are a tad of a weird approach to try and bank into nostalgia, but not letting go the concept of "no you have to say goodbye to the 'mons"... which doesn't work after 02's epilogue. And then Adventure 2020 happened, and forgot that it was supposed to be an assemble show.

I don't have a problem with nostalgia banking, but Last Evolution Kizuna wanted really badly to be Toy Story 3 and failed. That, I take a lot of issue with.

There's a lot of heated debate surrounding LEK. The idea that the kids' partnerships with their Digimon break because it's time to put away childish things and grow up is extremely contentious within the fandom, but it's also not universally agreed that the film is even saying that thanks to translation issues with the subs and also some very ambiguous imagery with the ending.

There are basically two different interpretations of what happens in LEK.

1 - Sora, Taichi, Yamato, Jou, Mimi, and Koushiro all lose their Digimon Partners because they enter adulthood - but not Takeru and Hikari because they still have a few years to go.

This is a natural occurrence and the result of growing up. They have no choice and no agency in the matter; The Universe takes their Partners away because they're too old to be playing with toys anymore, and they just need to fucking suck it up and deal.

2 - Sora, Taichi, and Yamato lose their Digimon Partners because they're too irresponsible with their adulthood. Mimi, Jou, and Koushiro do not because they're responsible adults and are balancing their adult lives and their love for their Partners well.

What happens to Sora, Taichi, and Yamato is a rare and unusual occurrence, but there is hope that they will one day find their Partners again once they've gotten their heads on straight and made their way as adults.

For obvious reasons, the film is very unpopular with fans who take the first interpretation and pretty well-liked with fans who take the second. Which one is actually the valid and intended reading? Well. It's complicated. The movie went through a tumultuous creative process, to the point that Adventure series director Kakado Hiroyuki walked out on production midway through over disagreements and inconsistencies to the original series.

Which is, y'know, always a promising sign for a new entry in a series.

Watching the film, for me, it honestly feels like both readings are intended. Which is to say, you can find evidence to support either/or. I don't think that's deliberate, I just think the film was sloppily made and shows signs of conflicting creative visions.

Proponents of the Good Movie interpretation can point to the villain of the film, whose central motivation is literally that having your Partner taken away because you grew up is some fucking bullshit. In its final act, the film reveals that her Partner did come back - Just in an unrecognizably different form, not as the Partner she knew.

So the natural conclusion then is that Agumon and Gabumon will reincarnate and may find their way back to Taichi and Yamato; They just won't be Agumon and Gabumon. Which still contradicts the 02 epilogue despite proponents of the Good Movie interpretation insisting that 02's epilogue is still canon to LEK.

Which itself has evidence to support it (Taichi and Yamato are on their way to becoming the people they are in the epilogue) and evidence to refute it (Agumon and Gabumon fucking died).

As the translation breakdown in the above link shows, there's also some phrasing issues that created confusion. Gennai in the official English version describes losing your Partnership as a typical occurrence while, in the original Japanese, he seems to describe this more like a rare thing that he doesn't fully understand.

It's explained that what's happening is the narrowing of potential. Children have infinite potential, which something something Digimon Partnerships. As you make choices with your life, you narrow your potential, and eventually it can no longer sustain a partnership - Unless you're able to become an adult with limitless potential anyway!

That seems like it's setting Taichi and Yamato up to figure out their shit and save their Partnerships at the last second. But they figure out their shit and still lose their Partners, which gets described in the end as a rite of passage.

The blog with the big translation breakdown I linked above makes a note of the difference between the official translation, "This is how we finally grew up," and a more accurate translation, "This is how we arrived at the entrance to adulthood." As they say, it shouldn't be translated with finality.

But that's splitting hairs, because either version is still saying that losing Agumon and Gabumon was Taichi and Yamato's rite of passage from childhood into adulthood. Whether they've become adults or taken their first steps into adulthood doesn't actually matter; it's still describing this loss as the gateway that brought them there, which is the point of contention.

They did what they were supposed to do, they were still punished for it, and then they close by describing it as if it were an inevitable consequence of growing up despite what Gennai said. Which may or may not be corroborated by what happened to Jou, Mimi, and Koushiro.

Proponents of the Good Movie interpretation will point to Jou, Mimi, and Koushiro as proof that not everyone loses their Partners. Proponents of the Bad Movie interpretation will point to those same characters as proof that everyone does. This is due to a fundamental disagreement in how you interpret the final scenes.

At no point does the film ever say, with words, that Jou, Mimi, and Koushiro lose their Partners. But it does conclude with these images:

The final shots of Taichi, Yamato, and Sora show them to be moving forward with their adult lives, with no Digimon. The younger kids Takeru and Hikari's slides contain Patamon and Tailmon. There are also slides for the 02 characters, which show their Digimon Partners still taking an active role in their lives too.

But Jou, Koushiro, and Mimi? No Partners in their slides.

Good Movie fans will say that the film never says explicitly that they lost their Partners, so this means nothing. Their partners are probably just offscreen somewhere.

Bad Movie fans will say that these slides are meant to show the older kids moving on with their lives post-Digimon and the younger kids still having their Digimon Partnerships. There's a clear contrast between Hikari and Takeru's slides versus Taichi, Yamato, and Sora's - and Jou, Koushiro, and Mimi are presented like Taichi, Yamato, and Sora here, not like Hikari and Takeru.

Good Movie fans have the counterpoint to be made that their Partners still exist in 02's epilogue. So, y'know, canon faithfulness says that everyone's Digimon will come back or was never lost. Checkmate, naysayers.

But also Last Evolution Kizuna basically ignores Tri and makes no attempt to address the questions it left hanging, and also the Adventure story director walked out of production over inconsistencies to the original so I don't think you can really use canon faithfulness as a talking point here.

Taichi and Yamato are still on their way to becoming an ambassador and an astronaut respectively, so the epilogue hasn't been thrown out entirely. But it clearly has been thrown out. Jou was supposed to become a doctor in the Digital World, Sora was supposed to become a fashion designer instead of inheriting her mom's ikebana mastery, and Mimi was supposed to become a chef instead of selling cosmetics.

Yeah, Taichi and Yamato are still on-track to a similar life path than what the epilogue gave them, but nobody else is. So I don't think the movie is actually as faithful to 02 as the Good Movie side thinks it is. And apparently neither does Kakado Hiroyuki.

For me, I do think they were trying to say it's time for the kids to put away childish things and grow up. I don't think they meant that to be insulting. But I do think it's kind of insulting.

I think they were trying to do what Toy Story 3 did; To tell a story about the rite of passage from childhood to adulthood and what that means for the things we loved and enjoyed as kids. But I don't think that story works when the putting away of childish things is something cosmically forced on the children rather than a choice they make with their own agency.

Toy Story 3 wouldn't have landed the way it did if the movie was about Andy's mom pinning him down by the arms while garbagemen come in and throw Buzz and Woody into a woodchipper. But that's kind of what Last Evolution Kizuna does to the Adventure kids.

Taichi and Yamato get to give a powerful emotional farewell to Agumon and Gabumon. But they don't want to, they are not making this choice for themselves, and no reason is ever provided for why they should have to. And even the best defenses of the film just make it out to be a weird, random cosmic blip that maybe they'll fix some day, who knows.

Even in the best-case scenario, the universe just decided to grievously hurt Yamato and Taichi for no reason even though they were already making strides to undo the thing they were allegedly being punished for. It's still mean-spirited and cruel even in the best possible interpretation.

So. Yeah. All things considered, I find myself falling on the side of "It's a bad movie and I don't accept it as part of my personal Digimon canon." I don't accept that the children need to all have their Digimon deleted once they enter into adulthood, and I equally don't accept that they don't need to have that happen but that Taichi and Yamato deserved to have their Digimon ripped away from them at the end. There is no version of this movie that I actually like.

[ayukaze]

Besties we got new Digimon Adventure merch art!!!

After sort of a dry spell in since April due to all the collabs actually getting their proper run in cafes/stores etc, there is finally some excitement for the 25th Anniversary celebrations again (tbh they should've announced this on the livestream smh smh) . The theme this time is "marine" and it's a nice follow up to the Digimon Tamers merch that was announced about a month ago.

The vibe of being part of a crew is coming off really well through the outfit design, but the key point is the pins of their crest and the type of hat that the kid is wearing. If you look closely, Koushiro, Takeru among the boys are not wearing the officer style hat but berets and their pins are missing as well, similarly for Hikari her beret hat is differently style than the other girls with the missing pin. Koushiro and Takeru are also not wearing ties like the other boys but the sailor knot, which leads me to believe that this is a reference to the their roles on the ship, implying that Koushiro, Hikari and Takeru still lack a designation.

When we look at the other kids, the difference in roles becomes much clearer.

While Taichi greets us with a perfect salute, Yamato takes the helm. A very interesting take where Taichi (as the Captain?) sets direction and Yamato ensures that they follow his desired path. Tbvh I could write a whole essay about why this specific depiction of their roles is so groundbreaking, but for now I'll just end on how whenever they're depicted as a team, the sense of equilibrium between the two of them is never lost.

PS: I also love Agumon's little lop sided hat, he is trying his best to support Taichi and that's just adorable.

Next we have Sora and Mimi and again the detailing in their positions to their actual roles in the show is very visible. Sora is on lookout duty, keeping watch against any unchartered occurrences, making sure that the crew can be alerted before disaster falls. Mimi on the other hand, is most likely the stewardess, and is keeping the morale up with her cheers and support! Love the little crests flags she is waving, and the groupings of the crest is definitely interesting 🫣 Jou with the map of their course is very apt as well, in the show we see him attempting to find his footing as the voice of reason between Taichi and Yamato arguing many times, so now he's here making sure that the two stick the job they have been given, ready to correct the course if any tensions rise.

Koushiro, Hikari and Takeru are for me the most interesting of the lot for the reasons pointed out earlier. While the other kids are portrayed as taking some sort of role on the ship, these three seem to be enjoying their times as cadets (in training?). Especially Takeru and Hikari, who are the youngest, are having fun playing around with their partners. Koushiro on the other hand, definitely wants to contribute in some way, and maybe the best way Taichi and Yamato could get him to stop tailing them was to put him on fishing duty lol.

All in all, this is a great piece of illustration, I'm glad we got some more new outfits! If someone has a more in depth understanding of how things work on a cruise ship or similar, please share your thoughts and let me know how you interpret the roles here!

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventure tri. ~ "Kokuhaku" ["Confession"]; tri. Movie #3 featuring Characters: Koushiro[u] Izumi + (Friendship) with Tentomon / Tentomon acting as Support + Adventure!Digimon (watching over) ~ Koushiro Breaking Down / Having a Meltdown

"Is it wrong to WANT TO KNOW Everything?" - Adventure!Koushiro;

Images all by @izzyizumi​ / @koushirouizumi​ {Do Not re-post} {Please Ask To Use} {Do Not remove caption}

Transcript + Image usage rules under the 'read more'!

"Is it wrong to WANT TO {KNOW} Everything?" - Adventure!Koushiro; Child of {KNOWLEDGE} Episode 24 (J.P.N Version), asking directly to Vademon (who's manipulating Koushiro) in genuine Confusion;

"IT'S NO GOOD... I DON'T {K N O W}" - Tri!Koushiro; "Kokuhaku" (J.P.N Version)

"...What's wrong, Koushiro?" - Agumon, Confused tone

"{Koushiro}'s a BIT scary. ..." - Palmon, Worried tone

"Koushiro-han HASN'T BEEN SLEEPING." - Tentomon, (hushed) Informing tone

"And it seems the news [this morning] {before scene} strained his nerves even MORE." - Tentomon, Adding

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

{Additional note: this post is mainly intended SPECIFIC CHARACTERs/POSITIVITY FOCUSED. please remember + RESPECT this when interacting} {Failure to acknowledge interacting rules WILL result in a block}

[ahiddenpath]

19, 20, 21, 30, 32

Hey there, thanks so much for the ask!  And happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!  I threw this below the cut because it’s long.

19.)  OTPs

My fave digimon ship is Daiken!  Next is Sorato.  Third tier is Jyoumi, then Takari.

I sort of ship Taishiro?  Like, I love love love Taishiro fanart and the concept, but I’ve never quuuuuite seen it written in a way that made sense to me.  I’m stupid picky about how Koushiro is written, though, unless the story is clearly comedic/silly.

I am open to canon x OC ships for any series, mostly because I think it’s unrealistic that a group of 12 people (or how ever many main characters there are) would all pair off together.  Like, it’s a big world, and most of these kids end up doing big things, which would expose them to lots of potential partners.  I realize this isn’t a very popular stance, though?  Obviously the OC has to be a fully-fleshed character who can bring something new to the table, though.

20.)  Favorite friendships/bonds between humans

Ahhh geez, here’s where I get a little unusual and say that I really don’t see much difference between romantic and platonic?  Like, I think platonic and romantic are equally important in a person’s life.  And “we kiss/are physically intimate” isn’t... a big deal to me.

So, all of the above from the OTPs, except add Yamato and Takeru.  I also in general love to see the female characters interact together and support one another, but you could put that under either category, too.

21.)  Favorite friendship/bond between digimon

You know, we don’t see this as much as the humans?  The digimon tend to interact most with their human.  I’d say Agumon and Gabumon are shown to be close- they have some really nice conversations in the Kizuna novel.  Also, Gomamon and Tentomon had some really nice heart-to-hearts/supporting each other in Tri?!?!?!  Like, that was unexpected, and deeply appreciated.

Also, I love the concept that Wormmon really wants to play with the other partner digimon right around after Ken rejected the Kaiser, but was having trouble coming to join the group.

Slightly off topic, but I’m also absolutely freaking living for Piyomon scolding Yamato?!  ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE A MOVE ON SORA?!  HOW DARE YOU!  YOU AREN’T HIGH LEVEL ENOUGH!!!  GO TRAIN AND COME BACK!

30.)  An unpopular opinion about the series

I dunno, I guess I seem to like the epilogue a lot more than most people do? 

32.)  A character/friendship that should’ve had more development?

All of the girls interacting together.  GIVE THEM A GIRL’S DAY.

I also would love to see more of Yamato with characters who aren’t Taichi, Takeru, or Sora.  He is truly, impressively introverted.

Oh!  Jyou!  Jyou and everyone, honestly!  He tends to bow out of social situations.  I have all these ideas about how he would relate to everyone when they get older, and I WANT MORE JYOU.

Also just, please just give Hikari more material, especially with people who are not Taichi or Takeru.  But first, just show me more of Hikari herself.  She deserves so much more content.

AND!  IORI!  GIVE ME IORI! 

[xpearlshippingx]

Day 1&2: Daughter / Son

Hello! My original intention was to post some drabbles or Oneshot for Epilogue Celebration but I still have school and exam and can't finish it on time ( Yes it still not canceled despite the numerous cases in my country, stay safe everyone !) so I decided to post some headcanons instead. 

Joe Son: 

-He picks up Gomamon's sense of humor since he was pretty attached to the Seal Digimon much to Joe's dismay. -He the first in the family that does not follow the family tradition of being a doctor from the beginning and Joe fully support his decision -He is similar to Joe, faint at the sight of blood... bad singing ... but one difference is that he doesn't put Salt & Pepper in his egg -He had a strong interest in computers and learn from Koushiro, a fact Koushiro is glad for since his daughter didn't have that much of an interest in technology. -He often the target of Takeru Son prank. It escalated into a prank war when he retaliated

Sora and Yamato Son:

-He good friend with Taichi son but like Yamato and Taichi, they argue often and Sora can’t believe that she had another pair of boys to handle. One is more than enough -Yamato often dresses him up in wolves design clothing when he was young and he likes to pretend to be Gabumon. Gabumon Costume for Halloween is a must too -He likes to cloud watch with Piyomon -He good at drawing and often doodle with Sora when she designing -He gets flustered by girl easily but is still pretty much surrounded by them, Yamato insist is cause he inherited his dad good look 

Daughter:

-Her first word is “Dada”, also happens to be a daddy girl. She knows how to manipulate Yamato and Sora had to keep telling him not to fall for her sweet girl act -Mimi like to dress her up( since she had no daughter of her own) and she can’t escape from it -She has a crush on Taichi Son and Yamato hate it when Taichi keeps referring her as his future Daughter-In-law. Taichi and the rest actually had a bet if they would get together -She loves sport and music and often plays her newly thought out tune for Gabumon -She loves riding on Birdramon and often pestered Sora about it when her own partner can’t evolves yet. 

Taichi Son:

-He a natural at soccer! But Takeru introduces him to basketball and he enjoyed it too! Every day, Taichi waited with bated breath to see which sport he will join -He taught Agumon to play basketball but gave up when the sharp claw tear through at least a dozen of it -He popular with girls too but no one approaches him as many assume he and Sorato daughter are together. He often wonders why he still single, what did he do wrong? -Sora often told him that he lucky he didn’t inherit Taichi IQ and is smarter than his father -He the only one who loves Mimi strange creation and actually ask for more

Hikari Son:

-He probably the most polite and well manner of the bunch due to Hikari being a teacher -He soft-spoken and naïve, often took advantage of, lucky he had others to look out for him. The baby of the group -He and Tailmon like to take naps together -Joe and Koushiro gift him a camera for his birthday one year and he never goes anywhere without it. All the others Instagram post are taken by him                        - He one of the youngest but when it comes to academic, he really smart and like to geek out with Koushiro daughter 

Mimi Son:

-He never inherits Mimi taste bud and could never figure out the beauty of fried rice with whip cream & strawberry -He not close to the other children at first as he grows up in America but moved to Japan when he older -He can be very open, blunt and cool. Because of this, He had a hard time fitting into Japan more reserve and tradition culture (eg: he hug the rest when he first meets them ) -He knows what plant is safe to eat and what is not safe because of Palmon and had a small cactus in his bedroom -He has a habit of pretending not to know Japanese when he feels it better for the situation. Another habit is going into full English when frustrated or when he insults others. 

Koushiro Daughter:

-She learns how to pick up the important point from Koushiro rumbling from a young age -She a young genius like Koushiro and good in technology but never had an interest in computers. Her main interest is science -She clashes the most with Mimi son at first and find him rude but later become his closest friend -She learns Kansai Dialect from Tentomon -She takes pride in beating the other boys in video game 

Takeru Son:

-He learns about his dad crush on Hikari when they were still kids and always tease Takeru about it                                                                       -He received a hat from Hikari as a joke and he always wore it out since then -He learns guitar from Yamato. His first owned guitar is gifted by Yamato -He and Patamon are the Prank Duo -He was forced to learn soccer by Taichi who insist it only fair and actually enjoy it, he and Taichi son are debating which team to join together

[o-w-quinlan]

Digimon Adventure 2020, episode 8 reaction (and over-analysis)

This week, a full-episode action scene, some introductions and character dynamics. If this is how an average episode will be, I’m fine with it.

Was Yamato this cool last time around? Back in OG Adventure, he always seemed more “perceived as cool” than actually cool. He was too much of an anxious mess to qualify. Maybe it’s because Takeru isn’t around this time, or because he already has a solid relationship with Gabumon, but 2020 Yamato is a lot more confident. Besides, he’s capable of holding onto a gigantic wolf doing several cartwheels without feeling the slightest bit dizzy. Cool. Taichi and Sora agree, and so should you.

This wasn’t Yamato’s introduction but it certainly felt like it played the same role for his character as the previous two did for Mimi and Jou: establish it and immediately get some minor character development rolling. His arc was a fair bit more standard than the other two but they got it out of the way fast enough that I enjoyed it instead of finding it annoying like I normally would. It helps that literally everyone saw through it and was willing to work with it. One of the things I like about Koushiro’s arc in the original series was how it, for the most part, completely refused to go for the most melodramatic option, and that seems to be the case for Yamato at least in this new series. Even that brief “friendship” sequence is a lot more restrained that it could have been.

Anyway, we got Yamato. He’s cool, very cool. He cares a lot, but refuses to show it. He tries to distance himself as much as possible from the others but fails, and he’s glad to have failed by the end. He’s dumbfounded to have received help. Good start for his character arc.

Gabumon didn’t have much to him (unlike Gomamon or Tentomon, even Palmon considering she has the butler routine), but we did get more confirmation that he and Agumon know each other from somewhere. He’s also the one who explains the situation to Taichi’s group, so perhaps he’s Yamato’s voice whenever the boy doesn’t feel comfortable speaking. We’ll see.

I guess I should also talk about the fight, since that was the main focus of the episode. It achieved the best thing it could have: it made sure everyone had a role and a time to shine. Yamato was the obvious star, up to and including throwing his cloak at the Solarmon to stop their attacks, but Taichi and Sora weren’t much behind, gaining points with how comfortable they were in a supporting position. Gomamon and to a lesser degree Palmon had some good non-battle contributions, which makes them feel like more complete characters than Piyomon and Agumon. The final “friendship boost” against Gorimon was well done.

Anyway, other observations:

We’ve settled on roles for the main cast (minus Yamato): Taichi leads at every point, Sora seconds him and is pretty observant herself, Mimi does “girly” stuff in the background that is played as completely charming rather than annoying, and Jou has the normal reactions people would have, but over-the-top. As far as the digimon go, Agumon and Piyomon do whatever their partners do, but Palmon is always trying to help Mimi or Jou and Gomamon flipflops between being worried about Jou and playfully teasing him.

Taichi was, as ever in this series, pretty much the perfect leader for the group, taking lead whenever needed, knowing when to defer to Yamato’s experience, making sure Jou didn’t feel ashamed of his surrender attempt, perfectly okay with playing a supporting role. He thrives in combat situation, even his fear when faced with Gorimon being forgotted quickly. He’s, as admitted by Tomioka, clearly inspired by V-Tamer Taichi (not in particular skills but in how competent and confident he is), which does make me worry that, much like in V-Tamer, he won’t have much of a character arc here. In the meantime, he‘s pretty good, but let’s see where it’ll lead.

It might just be me overthinking it, but Sora seemed noticeably more worried than the others when the situation in Tokyo was mentioned. I have a feeling she’s not going to deal with the eventual pressure well.

Not much Koushiro, other than him making more exposition and trying to not make Jou feel inadequate (and failing).

The humor with Jou wasn’t to my liking, but it does help that it all comes from reactions and decisions that, while certainly over-the-top, are rooted in understandable insecurities and fears. So, bad humor, good characterization.

Mimi's precious as ever, and she and Jou are established as the “normal” ones of the group. Well, not everyone can be an ultimate badass, or Koushiro.

Gabumon’s attack wasn’t capable of overpowering the Tankmon’s missiles, but it was capable of overheating them and causing them to explode. This repeats itself with the Gorimon, making him the first digimon to have been killed since the first 3 episodes.

That howl was awful. Sorry, no if or buts about it.

Before I forget: Mimi and Yamato talked. Not indirectly, they actually directly addressed each other. And just like that, Mimato is infinitely more plausible here than in OG Adventure.

Not that I think it’ll happen. If anything, Sora’s introduction to him was a bit too significant-seeming to me. Boy looked shook from it.

Next episode, Koushiro finally joins, Ogremon is back, and we get our first Perfect-level. What are the odds that MetalTyranomon is the same one who just got shoved out of a cliff?

[pyrokinesis]

So I lost the patience and watched Kizuna

! Major spoilers ahead !

Listen, I know I said I will wait until the Blu-Ray comes out, but I was impatient little bitch and I found a working Sample 3 link with English dub, so I said, fuck it! My brother joined me 20 minutes in, lol. Anyways, onto the movie.

I don't really know what to say, Digimon Last Evolution Kizuna was exactly what I expected from the movie of such name, a movie that promotes end of relationship between Digimons and their human partners.

I kinda didn't have my hope up, mostly because I rewatched Adventure & Adventure 02 last week and finally watched Tri, and the whole point of Digimon has always been, no matter what happens, Digimons and their humans will always stick and stay together, I think the quote goes "humans and Digimons forever" (?). I kinda was hyped up though, partly because of art style (it was much better than Tri, less dark and more symmetrical when it comes to faces and bodies, Tri was annoying at times with weird asymmetrical faces; also Yamato!!!! Yamato is so hot and pretty in Kizuna, wtf Toei leave this poor lesbian alone), partly because of Adventure 02 kids (my brother is so annoyed with me, but I'm a huge 02 fan, Wormmon is my baby and I can rewatch 02ep25 anytime, Stigmon's first appearance is fucking iconic).

Adventure 02 kids got much more screentime than I expected, especially Iori/Cody because he is sometimes really put aside. I love how they were staying in touch with Original Six/Eight through Yamato, and how Hikari and Takeru stayed part of their team (Tri lacked this so much, it was so weird to have Hikari and TK not knowing what happened to their friends when they were supposedly a new team/best friends). Also my baby Ken's hair (*le cries*), I miss his long hair. Both my brother and I expected Paildramon to appear near the end, but there were no DNA/Jogress evolutions besides Omegamon/Omnimon.

Yamato was so fucking hot it's unbelievable, he's become top Digi-destined to me, 2D character or not. He was so smart, so persistent, so consistent, so selfless, so cute, itty-bitty blind (those cute glasses that appeared on his face for a mili-moment during him being in uni classroom panel, all of my uwus gone), still has one of the best relationships with Gabumon (he plays harmonica for Gabumon, even after all these years, he keeps Gabumon by his side, and they both tried to find that bad-guy-turned-FBI-agent-guy sneakily, so so cute). Overall, Yamato is a emotionally much more main character than Taich is, probably because emotionally, Taichi was the main character of Tri.

Now onto our second main, Taichi. Honestly, technicall, both Yamato and Taichi are Kizuna's main guys, but emotionally, Yamato left much bigger impact. Taichi was the main character in the beginning, but as the story progressed, I could feel Yamato much better. Still, Taichi isn't left aside (like all other Original Eight kidz/people). He is a struggling university student who has no idea what to do with his life (my brother sorta compared him to me, LMAO). This is very consistent with Tri's Taichi, who is full of self dubts, abstract ideas of future, and melancholy when he thinks about his future self. Toei nicely showed it when they let us know Tai earns for his future by working part-time as a waiter (?) in an automat casino. He is kinda really down all the time when he starts realising he has to make huge choices about the future, even though he has no bloody idea or genuine thought what to do (also his porn stash, LMAO what was that Taichi, who even uses porn magazine after the age of 14).

Thinking back about it now, it's kinda underwhelming with how it actually, emotionally, focuses on the whole "Digimons have to leave their partners" philosophy. Like, it barely shows interactions between humans and Digimons (which Tri did at least, with I think all characters, so I would expect at least some focus on Yamato and Taichi). There were some interactions between Taichi and Agumon, and Yamato and Gabumon at the end, but it just felt uncomplete and unfullifying. Also whole concept is bullshit (did I mention it? Because if I didn't I will, because this whole thing really is). It all started with Tri, which felt like it was produced by random people who watched Adventure & 02 after fifteen years and decided to make their own spin on it, without actual respects for stories and characters Adventure & Adventure 02 were trying to make us feel and understand (though feelings of OOC-ness Tri had at the times were minimal in Kizuna, thank goodness for that).

Then, Kizuna continued it with the concept of "when Digi-destined grow up, their Digimon partners disappear because they are not on the same mental wavelengths anymore" which is the complete opposite of one of like three main Digimon philosophies, "Digimon and Digi-destined, together and forever"; like while I disliked 02 epilogue, it showed us that after all hardships, Digi-destined and their Digimons get their happy endings, together. Both my brother and I (we watched it together) groaned at the whole concept (along with predictive bullshit plot and plotholes).

While I understand the reason behind this (I read some spoilers on here afterwards, to broaden my post-Kizuna horizons), that humans/Digi-destined grow up, and Digimons kinda don't, it still makes me really dissatisfied. Tri showed us in flashes that, when given time spent with their and other humans, Digimons can grow and become mentally wise adults (cue to the cutest scene when Patamon closes his one eye because he understands the tension between Hikari and Takeru, as in, that they like each other and they might need some time "alone"), so Kizuna kinda fucked up all previous Adventure works by telling us everything is in vain, Digimons leave, their connection to humans they had will become meaningless and humans will have to move on. Bullshit plot(hole), but whatever.

The amount of screentime non-Taichi&Yamato characters can be underwhelming, especially if you don't read spoilers like I did. The movie starts with Takeru and Hikari as important as Yamato and Taichi, but as the movie progresses, they just fade in the background. Kinda happens to everyone else except Koushiro/Izzy, who kinda has a really leading role, considering how much screentime Taichi and Yamato have (I feel like wordcount apps will find Yamato&Taichi as my most used words in this rant review), and he is probably third most important role, until he undramatically disappears because of psycho main lady.

Now towards real ranting. I'll try to keep it short because I have no real emotions behind it and I feel some other rants might articulate it better. Anyways, the plot of the whole movie is so goddamn predictable. It starts so weirdly, with Taichi, Hikari and Takeru fighting Parrotmon (what the fuck was that even, btw???). Like, Parrotmon, again? It feels just very reused, and that feeling that doesn't leave even during the credits. Soundtrack—while nice, nostalgic, and very fitting—is also just reused Adventure 01 soundtrack, and it just brings kudos from my memory lane road nostalgia. Deja Vu is the feeling that sticks to your skin and bones, if you like me, watched Adventure 1-3 just before Kizuna, and understand how so many scenes are just reused wanna-be old seasons references.

From two older adults (I honestly thought there will be two goverment agents, again, and mentally groaned) sticking up into Digi-destineds' business like some omni-knows creature, same as agents from Tri, fucked up (female) main antagonist who pretends to be a good guy (lady?) for the sake of gathering intel and trust, who is a complete nutjob (full-time pyscho in Kizuna lady's case) because of the loss of her Digimon partner, to bullshit powered-up Digimon created from human coding (my brother pointed this one to me, and honestly, half of this movie is both Diaboromon movies rehashed/redone in 2020 shine), Omnimon fighting in some weird Digital World room powered-up creature (first Diaboromon movie straight up scene for scene), even that first scene with Parrotmon and this time completely unexplainable appearance of a Digimon in the real world, and Digi-destined having to fight it, and of course, bullshit new unexplained Digi-evolution with new (human???) mega forms of Agumon and Gabumon. All in all, it just feels very forced and all very already seen.

Now onto the less main, even less supporting characters. 02 teens are amazing, considering they have barely any lines and some little fighting moments. I love them, and I'm happy they got this, considering how they were blatantly forgotten in Tri, and how obviously nobody in the production of Tri even cared to hide that. Wormmon and Stigmon are my babies and I'm happy to see them have some screentime.

Original Six/Eight (excluding Taichi and Yamato) are kinda disappointing, though. I read some spoilers, so I knew Sora wouldn't appear much, but damn, even that was much compared to her actual screentime in Kizuna. She is almost as forgotten as 02 kids were in Tri. I get that she is shown to have moved on faster than other Original Eight kids, but still, they didn't even show her losing Piyomon (which did happen, and it was emotionally, overwhelming, in a fucked up sense when you realised Piyomon wasn't by her side). Jou, Mimi, Takeru, and Hikari were shown at the beginning of movie with so much potential screentime, but in the end they mostly were there for the dramatic cliffhangers (I didn't understand at the beginning what happened to Mimi and Jou, and I thought Hikari was murdered and that the FBI agent straight up shot Takeru), during that mini battle scene sometime in the Neverland, and of course, during the end credits. It was kinda really both overwhelming and underwhelming to see them during the credits when they could've had much more moments during the movie (I sorta had some hope because the movie is almost 2 hours long, and usually movies are like 20, 30 minutes long, but even during those one-episode-length movies there is more of main-supporting characters shown).

As mentioned, the ending is bullshit (my brother ended up crying and I had to put Adventure OST on to calm him down), Agumon and Gabumon dying is literally the most senseless thing ever since both Taichi and Yamato love their partners so much, and even among all the adulting and hassles in their lives, they try to make time for their Digimon partners (during their time in the restuarant, Yamato and Taichi literally talk how they don't have time for even their closest friends, hell Hikari even mentions Taichi should give their mother a visit, but Taichi still finds time for Agumon), so in the end both Taichi and Yamato were among the last people to lose their Digimons and I'm really disappointed in this concept, especially how they didn't show Gabumon and Agumon disappearing, Taichi and Yamato deserved explicit goodbyes.

Uh, I don't think I have anything much to add anymore. I read spoilers and some are pretty much novels from how much people put their thoughts in, this is just my ranting review, tbh. I dived into this hoping to get my heart mended from Tri (say what you want about Tri but it was too bad for six hour and half movies, especially general Adventure constistency-wise), but not with high expectations, having seen the trailer and having some spoilers read. All in all film wasn't too bad, but it wasn't too good, solid 6/10 rating from me, mostly for the animation and nostalgic soundtrack, but the whole plot was shit as fuck and the philoshophy behind it.

(Random, but I noticed straight people/shippers liked the movie better than gay people/shippers, is there any correlations between that)

ALL IN ALL, Digimon: Last Evolution Kizuna wasn't the best nor the worst Digimon movie/work, but it probably isn't something I will rewatch or recommend anytime soon (also wtf were those humanoid mega forms, like W T F).