#corrupted taichi

[firedragon1321]

Corrupted DigiDestined AU

Aka- Another Digimon AU That's Me Just Spinning Gears and Playing With an Old Post

(This is not reboot continuity- I just needed a pretty picture.)

I've seen this concept done in three ways-

Outright turn the kids stereotypically evil. This works in the short term, but it's not good for character anaylsis/DigiDestined rotation. The "quick and dirty" option, basically.

Invert the Crests. So the Crest of Courage becomes the Crest of Fear. I found only one cool Tim Burton-esque art set that did this well. I can't find it now. But generally, I've never been satisfied with these. Especially because they have to work around the "Crest of Darkness" every goddamn time...

Work with the kids' weaknesses. So the Crest of Courage becomes the Crest of Recklessness. This is probably my favorite option.

I want to go more in-depth on the last one, and that's why we've gathered here today. Only instead of just working with the canon weaknesses...what if I tweaked the kids's pasts so their "worst event" never happened? What kind of people would they become?

Also alternate Digimon partners because wheeeee I like them.

(TW for mentions of abuse, manipulation, and hinted major character/child death.)

Tai- The Crest of Arrogance

Impmon-> Punkmon-> Loudmon-> HeavyMetaldramon

This was an easy one because he's my blorbo. The event I chose to erase was also an easy pick. What if Tai never brought Kari out to play soccer that day? I rotated this for a bit and concluded that the athletics aspect of his character would take over, making him a sort of asshole jock type.

Tai still possesses a natural charisma, leadership ability, and recklessness. But his rule is delivered with an iron fist. It doesn't matter if he's on the soccer pitch or in the Digital World. His rule is simply law. His leadership potential and cruelty are magnified to the point that even adults don't want to get on his bad side.

Tai's self-centered and not afraid to bash your face in if you disagree with him. Your name doesn't have to be "Matt" either. He thinks of himself as a great hero, and anyone who disagrees with him must be another antagonist there to ruin his day. But in reality, he's barely keeping the group together with glue made of terror.

Impmon may be a cliche choice, but I chose him for his Punkmon evolution line. They're still reptilian, while also being loud, belligerent, and always looking for a fight. I also just like HeavyMetaldramon in general. He's got a dumb name I can't help but love, plus he looks like another favorite who will come into play later.

Matt- The Crest of Manipulation

Gazimon-> Sangloupmon-> Astamon-> GranDracmon

Matt's "special event" was obvious, too. His parents never got divorced in this AU (an event that will come into play with TK too, naturally). Since this event controls a lot more of Matt's character than Tai's event, I had to think a minute for him. I decided to fuck with his sense of empathy and dub characterization. Because Matt can be as emotionally mature and sensitive as Sora, even if he can't always make that obvious.

So what if he used that trait for evil?

On the surface, Matt's the cool rebel of the group. His suave surface nature makes him easy to approach. One might even call him a friend, even if they know nothing about him. However, he knows how to play with feelings. Like any good instrument, you keep plucking strings until you get the result you and. And that's exactly how Matt views people. Before you can blink, he's got what he wanted and dumped you on the side of the road.

Astamon and GranDracmon are both smooth-talking demon Digimon. Astamon attracts a lot of followers, while GranDracmon can talk any angel Digimon into "falling down". I figured they'd be a perfect fit (though I was admittedly thinking of the Astamon from Young Hunters). Gazimon and Sangloupmon kept the canine theme without being Gabumon recolors.

(Fun fact- I've used this line before for an OC, but that character was (in the end) benign.)

Sora- The Crest of Ambition

Dracumon-> BlackGatomon-> Bastemon-> Lilithmon

It would have been easy to make Sora the emotional manipulator. Too easy. And it wouldn't have anything to do with her issue- namely, her controlling mother. But what if her mother was a little more lax? No- MORE lax than that. What if she supported her daughter no matter what- even if those ambitions skewed too extreme?

Woe be to anyone who gets in this Sora's way. It doesn't matter what she has her eye on. She'll get it, and she'll gladly step on you if you get in the way. She's never heard "no" before, and has no time or desire to hear it from you.

Her Crest of Love has become a type of Lust, but not in the sexual sense. It's desire. Passion. It's never-ending want. The cup is never full for Sora. There's still more drink to be had. There will never be enough.

I worked my way backwards from Lilithmon, choosing Digimon with mind control abilities and ambitious personalities. This means we get a recolor of Gatomon- despite my efforts to avoid recolors of the canon crew- but oh well.

Joe- The Crest of Sloth

Phascomon-> Porcupamon-> Mephismon-> Belphemon

Joe's "problem" in Adventure is also heavy expectations, much like Sora. Taking them away could result in an overly ambitious character. But for Joe, I went the opposite direction. What if he was a person with no ambitions at all?

Paralyzed by his own fears and no goal in life, Joe is more follower than leader. He carries out orders without a thought to his own life or safety, because he believes his life to be meaningless. With certain people in this corrupted crew, however, that means he's carrying out plenty of evil deeds. He's not necessarily evil himself, however- just without direction.

I worked my way back from a Demon Lord again- this time Belphemon. He's naturally the Demon Lord of Sloth (for those who don't live in the Digital World inside their minds). I chose Mephismon just to connect the Champion to the Mega, and also because he's a demonic Digimon.

And that's about it for Joe. I wish I could do more, but it's hard to add personality to a character with no goals.

Mimi- The Crest of Selfishness

Aruraumon-> Zassomon-> Blossomon-> Rafflesimon

Otamamon->ShogunGekomon (warp)

Mimi doesn't have family issues like the rest of the cast. The problem is she's spoiled. So instead of erasing her backstory, I decided to erase her character development. Certain events like Sora convincing her to leave the Gekomon don't happen in this timeline. They can't, after all, with how different everyone else is.

This results in a Mimi who only acts in her own self interest. Maybe not at first. Maybe she thinks the others are pure evil. But that changes. Thanks to the attention lavished upon her by the Otamamon and Gekomon, she's essentially Princess Mimi full time. Woe be to the poor idiot who gets under her high heels!

I decided to go with recolors for this line just because it made more sense to corrupt Palmon than to invent a new partner. Perhaps Mimi was originally a "pure" force introduced to keep the others in line. But her own flaws were waiting to consume her...

Also- similar to how Leomon was able to digivolve thanks to Tai's Digivice, one of the Otamamon gained the same power from Mimi's. That's why she has two Digimon. And you can bet others like Chuumon/Sukamon, the Numemon, and more follow the army of Princess Mimi.

Izzy- The Crest of Intellect

Hagurumon-> Mekanorimon-> Vademon-> EBEmon

I know what you're thinking- I'm a lazy-ass and replaced "Knowledge" with a synonym. And you're right! But with the event I removed being Izzy's knowledge of his adoption, his intelligence didn't go away. Instead of retreating, he expanded outwards. Think Ken when he was roleplaying the Digimon Emperor, but with no Wormmon to hold him back.

Izzy is smarter than you and he knows it. Similar to Matt, he's outplayed you before you can even say hello. He doesn't have Matt's charm, but he doesn't need it. You're too stupid to counteract him, anyway. He can hack your systems before you've realized a single thing amiss. Maybe he'll even let you believe things are fine for a day or two...

Like Sora and Mimi, he hasn't encountered any problems. A snag in Izzy's plans is always temporary. But hit him in his unstable emotional core, and you may have a chance of saving your laptop. But the resulting revenge is bound to be devastating....

I was going to do a full machine Digimon line, but then veered into Vademon. The big brain design caught my attention. Also, since regular Izzy had troubles with a Vademon, having his dark half master this Digimon has interesting implications for my brain.

TK- The Crest of Terror

DemiDevimon-> Devidramon->DexDoruGreymon-> Megidramon

Remember how I cut the divorce from canon? This means TK grew up with Matt, who- in this timeline- is an emotional abuser. And of course, his favorite target is his doting little brother, who will do anything he says.

Like Joe, TK's not evil. He just lives in a constant state of fear. He'll apologize as his Digimon tears you into bite-sized pieces- all while proclaiming his love for his brother. Whether Matt tells him to act as a distraction or kill, it doesn't matter. He'll do it, knowing he'll get no reward.

But TK wants a reward. Matt's his whole world. It's always been that way. Unfortunately he sees no other existence. Without Matt, he simply doesn't exist.

Megidramon is one of my favorite Digimon, so I had to squeeze him in somehow. I like to think TK's partner is a manifestation of his true feelings. Though he loves his brother, he's also disgusted by him. If given the slightest bit of leash, he'd turn the monster loose on Matt- and regret it for the rest of his life.

(And yes- a DemiDevimon did mess with TK in canon...convincing him his brother didn't love him...it's only a matter of time...)

Kari- The Crest of Despair

Salamon-> Meicoomon->Meicrackmon Vicious Mode-> Mastemon

Despair is kind of similar to Darkness, and I've seen it used on a few of these sorts of things. But it's not like "the opposite of Light is Darkness" because it's an actual character trait. And it's a direction Kari could go without her brother's love to support her.

Kari's in a similar boat as TK. She's lived her whole life with a bastard of a brother. But she also has a host of illnesses. Just once, she'd love her brother to visit her in the hospital. But he never came. Soccer was a useful excuse, or else his parents were too scared to command him.

Now, they're trapped in the Digital World together, and it's no secret that Kari's the chain around Tai's ankle. He certainly hasn't kept that information from her, finally losing his patience when she falls ill in Machinedramon's territory. She always held on to hope that he was a good big brother deep down. Now proven wrong, she's in a vegetative state of despair.

Like with Mimi, I just corrupted Gatomon instead of making a new character. But I started from her Rookie stage of Salamon. We're gonna pretend tri. never happened for this. As for Mastemon? Gatomon DID reach her Angewomon stage, and that data still exists within her. But it mixed with the dark despair created by her partner. Instead of falling entirely, she became a deadly being that exists between light and darkness.

Odds and Ends

This ramble does imply that evil Digimon like Myotismon were still killed. This was not out of charity. They simply got in the way and were disposed of.

The Digital World still chose the kids during the Greymon/Parrotmon fight, when they were young and innocent, having no idea what would happen in the future. Mimi was the OG damage control, with a pure and sincere nature that might be able to purify the others.

When Mimi failed, Kari's shining light had to take over. It worked for a little while- mostly for TK and Joe, who are not malicious.

When Tai polished off Kari's light, TK finally snapped. His Megidramon responded to his anger, attempting to destroy Tai. This Digimon ran into a blockade in the form of HeavyMetaldramon. Not sure which of the two would win this fight, but it would be cool at least. The loser probably wouldn't make it out alive, though...

As previously mentioned, tri didn't happen. 02 still could, with Davis/Cody/Yolei/non-evil Ken being the third attempt to keep these damn kids in line. Maybe they receive help from TK, Joe, and what's left of Kari. But that's an AU within an AU and I'm already tired.

Mimi never returned to the Real World when the castle has all she wants. She mostly operates from there, keeping in touch with the others via Digimon like Soundbirdmon.

That's about it. You can play around with this if you want. Just shoot me a credit/link so I can see what you did. I made this while half-awake at 10 PM so it's just a lot of bullshit, anyway.

[seventeenlovesthree]

See, it's not like I don't have a million other drafts to work on, but since I was so happy about finally getting my boys, I also had to think... If there was a SnowAgumon figurine... Would it be the Miraculous Tentobug AU equivalent of Taichi/Agu Noir turning into Chat Blanc SkullGreymon...?

[koushirouizumi]

{GG Ep 67} vs. my KouTai series (this spin-off one-shot part from 2k18)

imgs by @izzyizumi / @koushirouizumi

{DO NOT re-post} {DO NOT remove caption} (Please ASK to Use)

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x43 - A Dangerous Game! Pinocchimon / Playing Games

Previously on Digimon Adventure: After an arduous battle, WarGreymon finally defeated MetalSeadramon. Whamon only scored an Assist despite doing a ridiculous amount of work to make that happen, which really goes to show how unfairly competitive PVP games incentivize toxic play over support and teamwork.

Due to the staggering of episode breaks, the original picks up fresh where we left off while the dub keeps on going 'cause we're two minutes into the new one. The children watch the ocean ribbon around Spiral Mountain withdraw back into the world below.

Takeru: Spiral Mountain's ocean is returning to normal! Hikari: Why? Gomamon: It must be because we defeated its ruler MetalSeadramon! Koushiro: So the dark powers controlling it disappeared! Taichi: Our win cleaned out some of the darkness in this world! Jou: Let's keep this pace up and defeat the rest of the Dark Masters! Tailmon: And then peace will return to Earth! Taichi: YES!!! LET'S GO!!! Jou, Tailmon, & Piyomon: YEAH!!!

MetalSeadramon ate shit and now we're 1/4 of the way to purifying the two worlds. The kids share a moment of excitement and jubilation.

...I mean, Yamato seems to be much more interested in whatever Mimi's doing than in this conversation but you can barely notice them; I'm sure it's not important.

The reversion of MetalSeadramon's domain is a fascinating plot point because it speaks to how corrupt and artificial Spiral Mountain truly is. They didn't just change the landscape, like building an artificial island out of dirt in a bay; The powers of darkness are actively forcing reality to be like this, against its nature. The Digital World is straining to return to its natural state, and will do so as soon as the obstruction is removed.

Like two north ends of a magnet being forced to touch each other by a Dark Master holding them together.

In the dub:

T.K.: Spiral Mountain's ocean is almost completely gone! Kari: But why? Gomamon: Maybe because we kicked its Dark Master's butt! Izzy: Quite interesting, but does this affect us? Tai: Absolutely! It changes everything; If we're going to get any surfing in, we'd better hurry! Joe: Those wimpy Dark Masters are no threat to Super Joe! Gatomon: That's the digi-tude I like to hear from you humans! Tai: ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!!! Joe, Gatomon, & Biyomon: YEAH!!!

The dub follows the script up through Gomamon's line, then decides that's all the exposition we really need to understand what the rules are and what our plan needs to be from here.

To be fair, they're not wrong. The original dialogue is a bit dry and over-explains things. "We defeated the Dark Master so his domain was purified," doesn't actually need three lines to comprehend.

Though it's amazing how erroneously unimpressed Izzy is. "Okay but does this really affect us?" asks the dub's pseudo-intellectual version of the character who routinely uses big words to explain the lore incorrectly, about a cornerstone victory in our mission.

Rallied up and ready to go fight the other Dark Masters, the kids--

Mimi: Wait!

Taichi: What are you doing? Yamato: Can't you tell? They're making graves. Taichi: Huh? Graves? Mimi: (points to far right grave) That's Whamon's grave. (Next to it) That one's Piccolomon's. (far left) That one's Chuumon's. (lays hands on the one she's building) And this one is for Wizarmon. Sora: (solemnly) All of them were destroyed while trying to help us. Tailmon: They all died. You could say they were sacrifices to our cause. Taichi: Then we need to ganbaru for their sakes too!

Taichi tries to use ganbaru, the Japanese cultural value of perseverance through great hardship via hard work and diligence, to revive the gung-ho atmosphere he'd had going a moment ago. But his eagerness to rally the troops causes Mimi's boiling emotions to escalate.

Taichi: We must completely and utterly destroy our enemy! Mimi: I won't. Taichi: (surprised) What did you say? Mimi: I WON'T DO THIS ANYMORE!!! WHY DO WE HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING!?!? Taichi: What are you talking about!? We have to avenge their deaths! Mimi: STOP IT!!!

Mimi has never wanted to be part of this. She's never been comfortable with the lengths they've had to go to for survival, and she's never liked all the violence. From the beginning of them being "chosen", all she's ever wanted was to go home.

Now, in the middle of grieving for their dead, Taichi starts talking about how we need to kick in the door and go shoot up our enemies, damn the consequences, and Mimi breaks completely.

The dub can't exactly disguise what Mimi's doing. It's pretty obvious what she's making. There's no talking around that.

Mimi: Wait! We're not through here yet. Tai: Mimi? What are you doing? Matt: In case you haven't noticed, some of our friends are gone. Tai: Oh. ...sorry. Mimi: (points to far right grave) That one is to remember Wizardmon. (Next to it) The one next to it is for Piximon. (far left) That one's Chuumon. (lays hands on the one she's building) And this one here is for Whamon. Sora: Mimi, they're not dead. It's more like they've been downloaded to a different computer. Gatomon: That's right. We're digital. Our information just gets reconfigured.

They can, however, deny that the character deaths are in any way meaningful and browbeat Mimi for overreacting. Thanks, I hate it.

Interesting choice to swap Whamon and WIzardmon's graves, though. They probably wanted Whamon's to be the one closest to Mimi, that she rests her hands on and later cries over, given how fresh that wound is. I agree with that change.

Tai: What better reason do we need to get the Dark Masters? Payback for making our friends leave! Mimi: I'm not going! Tai: Huh!? What did you say!? Mimi: I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!! EVERY TIME WE FIGHT, WE WIND UP LOSING ANOTHER FRIEND!!! Tai: This is war, Mimi, and sometimes people we like get hurt, so DEAL WITH IT!!! Mimi: STOP IT, TAI!!!

:-O

Gonna be honest, based on how previous episodes have handled Taichi's flaws, I fully expected them to dial back Tai's unhelpful aggressiveness here. Nope! He legit tells Mimi "People die in war; Fucking deal with it!" Holy shit. Holy shit.

While Mimi's breaking down, Yamato cuts in on her behalf.

Yamato: TAICHI!!! Try to consider other people's feelings for a change! Taichi: Huh? What do you mean? Yamato: What you said is right, I'll give you that. Taichi: ... (confused) Yamato: But just because it's right, that doesn't mean we can all shove our feelings down and just do it! Taichi: (small gasp) ... Takeru: Onii-chan! Yamato: We all know that we need to keep moving forward! (Voice breaks, getting emotional) But there are times when you have to stop and remember what we've lost, aren't there?

We cut to a wide shot of the group, with Mimi both visibly and audibly crying for the entire rest of this conversation.

Mimi: (crying) Taichi: If we're always stopping to do that then we won't have time to save the world! Yamato: WE KNOW THAT!!! But... Sora: Hey, can we stop this? Everybody's upset. Palmon: (hugs Mimi) Don't cry, Mimi. Jou: We're too exposed out here. Let's move somewhere safer.

Sora steps in to be the peacemaker as usual, and bottle back up the boiling tensions that have been growing between Taichi and Yamato for months. Then Jou steps up to be the senpai and get everyone moving out of the open, and all of this hostility and intense emotion is pushed aside.

For now.

In the dub:

Matt: Enough! Why don't you stop and think about other people's feelings for a change! Tai: Huh!? What are you talking about!? Matt: We all know you're right, Tai, but just give us a little space! Tai: Huh? Matt: We miss our friends who fought alongside of us! Not everyone has ice running through their veins like you do! Tai: Wha--? T.K.: Calm down! Matt: You're so busy looking forward that you never take time to look back! We've lost some good friends here, Tai, and it's nice to remember them once in a while! Tai: If we always stop to do that, we'll never have enough time to save the world! Matt: You still don't get it! I know you hear me, but you're not listening! Mimi: (starts crying) Sora: STOP IT!!! You're making everyone upset! You two are supposed to be friends! Palmon: Don't cry, Mimi! Joe: We're sitting ducks out here. Let's find someplace a little less out in the open.

A while back, I talked about how Japanese aggressive language tends to attack someone's actions or words while English prefers to attack the person directly. We see a good example of that here.

Yamato: "Your words are correct but are spoken without consideration for others' feelings!" Matt: "You have ice in your veins!"

These are the same sentiment but expressed differently. Yamato attacks the thoughtless words that Taichi's been speaking while Matt attacks Tai personally.

In any case, I do think Yamato's in the right here. Taichi is correct in the big picture that defeating the remaining Dark Masters must be the goal. However, the kids are not mindless soldier drones; They're real people, children even, with real feelings that they need time to process. They have to be able to stop for a moment to breathe, and to mourn their fallen.

Also, Taichi made my kid cry so off the cliff he goes. Koushiro can relate.

The dub's take on this argument is... complicated. On the one hand, they made a point that nobody died and Mimi's overreacting, which weakens Matt's position. But the subtext is nonetheless clear, and Tai yelled at Mimi to suck it up and deal with wartime casualties so his thoughtlessness is still on full display.

The kids make their way into what is clearly Vamdemon's woods, or was once upon a time before Spiral Mountain.

They walk in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Taichi: (thinking) Could I have been wrong? Yamato: (thinking) Do we really have no choice but to keep moving like this? Without ever stopping to rest? Takeru: (thinking) Onii-chan, why are you acting like this? Koushiro: (thinking) If this keeps up, our loyalty to each other will break down. I have to do something. Jou: (thinking) I need to find a place where we can stop and take a break. Sora: (thinking) Everybody's tired. Hikari: Onii-chan? Taichi: ...

Even when Hikari speaks up, calling out to Taichi, he walks on in silence and ignores her. This team is at its breaking point.

Mimi doesn't share any thoughts, but group shots show her walking with a hand over her eye. We can't hear her anymore, but she still seems to be crying.

In the dub:

Tai: (thinking) I'm not as cold as Matt thinks, am I? Matt: (thinking) Maybe I was a little too rough on Tai, but he's gotta respect our feelings! T.K.: (thinking) I've never seen Matt so upset before. Izzy: (thinking) This is terrible. We should be concentrating on fighting our enemies, not each other. Joe: (thinking) I just know they're all thinking about me! That's why no one's talking! Sora: (thinking) Everyone's so tired and cranky. Hikari: You okay? Tai: ....

Matt softens up a bit in the dub, though he still doubles down on his position like Yamato does all the same.

Jou, meanwhile, has another senpai moment turn into a laugh line about what a tool Joe is. Joe, what possible reason could you have for thinking that any of this is about you? You had one line in the argument and it was "We should get moving."

Suddenly, Hikari notices something. She stops walking, looking around the twisted woods around them.

Hikari: ... (Hikari hangs back) Tailmon: What's wrong, Hikari? Hikari: Did you hear something just now? Tailmon: Like what? Hikari: You didn't hear something like a voice? Tailmon: Like a voice? No, I didn't. Hikari: Oh.... Tailmon: We should catch up before we lose sight of the others! Hikari: Okay!

We're given no audio cues of any kind to indicate what Hikari heard. There is a sound, but it's a sharp SUSPENSE tone that plays when something startling or unexpected occurs.

We hear nothing in the dub either, though she has a bigger reaction to it. They replace the suspense tone with Kari herself making startled mouth noises.

Kari: Whuh!? (Kari hangs back) Gatomon: Why'd you stop, Kari? Kari: Did you hear a noise just now? Gatomon: What kind of noise? Kari: You mean you didn't hear someone speaking just a second ago? Gatomon: You mean a voice? No, I didn't hear anything at all. Kari: Weird. Gatomon: Come on, let's get back to the others. There's safety in numbers. Kari: (affirmative) Hm.

All in all, a pretty faithful translation.

Hikari hurries to catch up but, unbeknownst to the group, they're being monitored.

Taichi: (angry) Where did you go!? Hikari: I thought I heard something, but it was just my imagination. Taichi: It's dangerous, so don't wander off on your own! Hikari: Mm, okay.

While Taichi's scolding Hikari, we pan out to see that they're being monitored on a security screen.

Pinocchimon: They need to hurry up and get here! I'm getting tired of waiting for them.... Kiwimon: Well, they are human children. Pinocchimon: Ugh, honestly, they're so slow!

Pinocchimon presses a button on a remote in his hand, causing a conveyor belt beneath the children's feet to activate. It rushes them on ahead, startling everyone.

Taichi: Huh? What the...? Hikari: The scenery's rushing past us. Kids: EHHHHH!?!? Jou: WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?!? Koushiro: The ground we're standing on is moving forward! Pinochimon: (in his room) There! I'm such a good host!

Nothing suspicious or dangerous about this whatsoever!

...maybe we could have stood to take our rest back at the graves.

In the dub:

Tai: (angry) Where were you two!? Kari: I thought I heard something but it was just my imagination. Tai: It's dangerous out here, so stay with the group. Kari: Okay, I'm sorry. (Pan out through security monitor into Puppetmon's place) Puppetmon: If these kids take any longer to get here, I will develop wood rot! Kiwimon: Have patience; Rome wasn't built in a day. Puppetmon: Yeah, but I was, and I'm tired of waiting! (Remote beep; Ground starts moving for the kids) Tai: Huh!? What's this!? Kari: Why are the trees running so fast!? Kids: AHHHHHHHHH!!! Joe: WHAT IS GOING ONE!?!? Izzy: THINGS AREN'T MOVING FASTER; WE ARE!!! THE GROUND WE'RE STANDING ON IS ACCELERATING!!! Puppetmon: This is more fun than the time I was fumigated for termites!

The dub's having a lot of fun making wood jokes with Puppetmon. Though the second one doesn't really make sense in context; Puppetmon was not built in a day. He's a Mega Digimon; It took a long time and a lot of hard work to become a Puppetmon.

Kiwimon's original voice performance is young and boyish, similar to Pinocchimon's. Dub Kiwimon is a stuffy old English butler, like Puppetmon's very own Alfred.

Now that the Chosen Children are on their way at turbo speed, it's time to figure out what sort of games Pinocchimon's going to play with them.

Pinocchimon: When those kids get here, what should we play with? Let's see....

Pinocchimon digs through his toy box before pulling out a revolver.

Pinocchimon: Aha! Check this out! A .44 Magnum. It's really destructive! (holds up a bullet) And this is a dumdum bullet! (loads it) When you shoot someone with this, you can see right through their stomach!

Demonstrating zero muzzle discipline whatsoever, Pinocchimon levels the gun straight at Kiwimon with his finger on the trigger.

"Dumdum bullet" is a way of saying it's an expanding bullet; One that's designed to expand on impact and create a much larger wound than a normal bullet would. Hollow points are a well-known type of dumdum bullet.

In the dub:

Puppetmon: (digging through toy box) Now, where did I put those dolls? I haven't seen some of these toys since I was a sapling!

That's it. That's all you're getting. He makes another wood joke and then we cut the fuck out of there before he finds what he's looking for. You can feel the censors screaming "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!"

I have no doubts that this episode made at least a couple people on the dub team cry.

Incidentally, as a Wind Guardian, Puppetmon's "In-Training" form would have been a Yokomon. So he was, indeed, a sapling at one point. That joke checks out.

Meanwhile, the children try jumping off the track they're on to avoid whatever's waiting up ahead.

Taichi: Jump off to the side!

They jump off into the grass to their side, but then that grass starts moving instead of the conveyor. There's no getting out of this.

Koushiro: NOW THIS ONE'S MOVING!!! Sora: Hey, where do you think this is taking us? Yamato: Where else? The enemy must be waiting up ahead! Takeru: Oh no! Jou: We can't just let ourselves fall into the enemy's hands! Taichi: You're right....

Meanwhile, Pinocchimon's still digging through his toy chest. He takes out a long-range grabbing toy.

Pinocchimon: They still aren't here yet!?

Pinocchimon extends the toy, grabbing Kiwimon's head. Kiwimon pays it no mind.

Kiwimon: Pinocchimon-sama, there's no sign of the children anywhere. Pinocchimon: WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!?

Pinocchimon yanks Kiwimon offscreen, with comical crashing sound effect, then rushes over to see the monitor himself. Sure enough, the children are gone.

Pinocchimon: HUH!?!? W-WHY!?!?

Panicking Pinocchimon pulls out his remote and flips frantically through surveillance feeds, but can't find the children on any of them. We don't see for ourselves but, from audio, it seems that at some point he starts swapping through actual Japanese television channels rather than his security feeds.

Cutting back to the Children, we see they're actually still where we left them, right next to the edge where the currently moving grass chunk connects to the conveyor walkway. But they've climbed the trees and gotten out of sight.

Sora: I wonder if one of the Dark Masters is here. Koushiro: That seems likely. Jou: We were walking straight towards the enemy this whole time! Taichi: But we have to face them at some point anyway. It's the same result either way! Yamato: (angry) We all know that! You didn't have to say it, you know! Takeru: Onii-chan! Don't start fighting! Yamato: (softens) Takeru....

We may have had a momentary ceasefire, but things still aren't settled between Taichi and Yamato.

In the dub:

Tai: We've gotta jump off! (The kids jump, only for that chunk to start moving) Izzy: Now this part's moving! Sora: Obviously, someone's trying to get us somewhere and in a big hurry. Matt: I bet you're right. Why do I get the feeling that someone's not too friendly? T.K.: Oh no! Joe: This is the first time I've ever been carsick without a car! Tai: I've got a plan!

Joe's participation in this conversation is reduced to him whining about his poor constitution again, and the dub credits Tai for single-handedly coming up with the tree-climb escape.

Puppetmon: This one's always good for a few laughs. (Puppetmon long-range grabs Kiwimon) Kiwimon: Master!? Yes, that's very entertaining, Lord Puppetmon, but there's no sign of the children. (Puppetmon yanks Kiwimon offscreen and replaces him) Puppetmon: WHAT!?!? They were here a second ago! Where are they!? (beep) Not here... (beep) Not here! I need a new cable company!

Despite "I need a new cable company" being a perfect setup for the TV channel gag, it doesn't happen in this version. All we hear is the beeps from his remote while he flicks through the feeds.

Sora: I have a hunch that one of the Dark Masters is behind all this. Izzy: I bet you're right. Joe: We have to do something! I say we either keep going or we build a nest! Tai: Well, I say we have to fight whoever it is sooner or later, so let's get to it! Matt: Oh, come on! Again with the fighting? Why don't you just go to a neutral corner or something! T.K.: Come on, Matt; Please stop fighting. Matt: You keep out of this!

Yamato's problem is that Taichi's vocal eagerness to fight is insensitive to everybody else's feelings. He doesn't disagree that we do have to fight them but he doesn't like the blunt way Taichi expresses it; He doesn't like that Taichi seems almost excited to be walking into a trap, seeing it not as any kind of danger but as an opportunity to throw hands with the next Dark Master.

Taichi's position right now is basically Guardians 3 Star-Lord. "It's not a trap if you know the trapper's trying to trap you; Then it's a face off!"

Matt in this scene seems to be disagreeing with even fighting the Dark Masters at all? That's a sentiment Mimi expressed when she was breaking down, but that's not Yamato's position. Also, he snaps at T.K. to shut up, which is a pretty significant dialogue change to make him look even worse than his altered argument does.

Yamato backs off at Takeru's behest, but Taichi keeps pushing.

Taichi: If we stay in hiding, we'll end up getting slaughtered. We should go straight to where the enemy is! Yamato: Hold on a second! Takeru: Onii-chan!

Suddenly, Taichi flickers out of existence, as if teleported.

Yamato: Taichi disappeared! Hikari: Onii-chan! Koromon: TAICHI!!! Jou: Where did he go!? (vanishing sound effect; pan over to the others) Sora: Mimi-chan disappeared too! Palmon: Mimi, where are you!? (Sora and Koushiro disappear) Piyomon: Sora!? Tentomon: Ah, Koushiro-han is gone too! (Jou and Hikari vanish) Gomamon: Jou!? Tailmon: Hikari! Takeru: Everyone disappeared!

Suddenly and without warning, Takeru and Yamato are the only ones left in the tree. Well, them and all of the Digimon.

In the dub:

Tai: Alright, Matt, let's try it your way. We'll stay up here and wait for the enemy to get us! Matt: That's not what I meant! T.K.: Stop it, Matt! (Tai vanishes) Matt: Where'd Tai go!? He disappeared! Kari: Did he fall!? Koromon: Oh no! Joe: He vanished into thin air! (vanishing sound effect; pan over to the others) Sora: Look! Now Mimi's gone! Palmon: Mimi, come back! (Sora and Izzy disappear) Piyomon: Sora!? Tentomon: Maybe their screensavers are on sleep! (Joe and Kari vanish) Gomamon: Joe! Tailmon: Kari! T.K.: Everybody's disappeared but us!

Not sure what Tentomon's joke here is supposed to mean, but otherwise pretty faithful.

The kids re-emerge in pairs throughout the forest, in the order they disappeared.

Taichi and Mimi appear together.

Taichi: What the--!? Mimi: EHHH!?!?

Sora and Koushiro appear together, with Koushiro standing on a log.

Sora: W-What just happened? Koushiro: The enemy must be behind this.

Jou and Hikari appear together, with Jou appearing in a pool of mud which splashes all over him. Because fate is unkind to our poor put-upon senpai.

Jou: WAAAUGH!!! It's cold.... Hikari: ...Tailmon?

While Yamato and Takeru remain in the tree, untransported.

Yamato: They're gone! Takeru: Why? How did this happen? Yamato: I don't know. The enemy must have done something to them.

In the dub:

(Tai and Mimi appear) Tai: Ah! What's going on!? Mimi: OH!?!? (Sora and Izzy appear) Sora: Huh!? How'd we get over here!? Izzy: We've been transported! (Joe and Kari appear) Joe: WAAAUGH!!! I hate mud. Kari: GATOMON!!! (Matt and T.K. remain) Matt: I think it's over! T.K.: But now we're separated from everyone else! Matt: Don't worry; We'll be alright without the others. Especially Tai!

Two separate characters speculating that the Dark Masters are doing this have their lines changed. This hits Matt the hardest, as his replacement line is incredibly spiteful.

Unsure of what's going on, Yamato turns his attention to what matters most to him.

Yamato: Takeru. Takeru: What? Yamato: I'll do whatever it takes to protect you, so stay close to me. Takeru: Onii-chan, we only made it this far by working as a team. So why do you keep giving me special treatment? Yamato: ...Takeru...? Takeru: (hurt) I've been fighting right there beside the rest of you this whole time! Haven't I? Am I just a burden to you? Onii-chan, are you saying you'll protect me because you see me as unreliable? Yamato: Takeru, that's not what I meant... I... What I wanted to say was.... Takeru: What? Yamato: (thinking) I... I....

This has been a long-time coming, since all the way back on File Island. It has its roots all the way back in the Seadramon episode, when Yamato wanted to remove the bones from Takeru's fish but Taichi taught Takeru to do it himself. Takeru feels infantilized by Yamato's treatment, and is finally confronting Yamato about it.

In the dub, this comes on the heels of Matt saying they're better off on their own and to screw the others, so the vibe is different.

Matt: T.K.? T.K.: Yeah? Matt: Just stick close to me and I'll protect you no matter what happens! T.K.: Listen, Matt. The only reason we got this far is because we worked as a team. Each one of us has played a part along the way in keeping us together, including Tai! Matt: But I...! T.K.: (angry) And I don't need you to protect me all the time, neither! If you haven't noticed, I've grown up a lot! I've fought alongside you guys since the beginning and I've always held my own! Matt: T.K., that's not what I meant. What I... What I wanted to say was.... T.K.: What? Matt: (thinking) I'm pushing everyone away!

This is meant to be a close, personal moment about the long-running wedge that's been growing between the brothers. The dub makes it about Matt failing to appreciate the contributions of Tai and the rest of their group, including T.K.'s.

It still makes time for T.K. to bring up Matt's behavior, but that's not the focus of the scene. And T.K. furiously yells at Matt about it, rather than the more sensitive and wounded tone he takes during the original confrontation.

Cut to Pinocchimon in his room. He's laid out a crudely drawn forest map, using dolls of the kids for the teleportation trick. Those are the dolls he was looking for in the dub, before they cut the parts with the gun.

Pinocchimon: (singing) One, two, and three have disappeared~! Pinocchimon: Hey, Kiwimon! This is taking too long. I should just kill them all. Kiwimon: Then you won't have anyone left to play with. Pinocchimon: I guess you're right.

Taking aim with his slingshot, Pinocchimon shoots Jou's doll in the stomach, knocking it over. The real Jou grabs his stomach and screams in agony, falling into the mud from the force of Pinocchimon's shot.

Hikari: JOU-SAN!!! Pinocchimon: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Watching through the monitor, Pinocchimon cracks up laughing at Jou's agony.

Hikari: Jou-san, are you okay? Jou: My stomach suddenly.... Hikari: Does your stomach hurt? Jou: I've been shot in the stomach! Hikari: EHHH!?!?

The dub changes up Puppetmon's sing-song to something that will better rhyme in English.

Puppetmon: (singing) One, two, three, you're still in the tree~! Puppetmon: ...y'know, Kiwimon, this isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I should just destroy them all. Kiwimon: Then you won't have anyone left to play with. Puppetmon: Good point! (Puppetmon shoots Joe, who falls down screaming) Kari: JOE!!! Puppetmon: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Kari: Joe, are you alright!? Joe: My stomach...! Kari: What's wrong? Does it hurt? Joe: No! I'm just doing this 'cause it's fun! Kari: JOE!!!

Even with a slingshot, they seem reluctant to let Joe state he's been shot. Joe sarcastically quips instead. Solid sarcastic quip, though. Perfectly suits the tone.

Pinocchimon has some more ideas to play around with the children.

Pinocchimon: I think I'll try this next... Take this... And this... And do this!

Pinocchimon swaps Taichi and Jou's dolls, causing them to teleport into each other's places.

Hikari: (Taichi appears) Onii-chan! Mimi: (Jou appears) What's going on!? Pinocchimon: Then I do this.... (Pinocchimon swaps Hikari for Sora) Taichi: Hikari! Again!? Koushiro: (sees Hikari appear) Hikari-san! Hikari: Koushiro-san! Where am I? Pinocchimon: And when I do this....

Pinocchimon turns Taichi's doll upside-down and bops his head on the ground. The same happens to Taichi.

Sora: T-Taichi!? Taichi: AUGH!!!

He swaps Yamato in the tree for Koushiro, then swaps Takeru for Mimi.

Koushiro: Mimi-san!

Then he picks up Takeru's doll and tickles him in the belly.

Pinocchimon: TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE!!! Takeru: (laughing hysterically and flailing in midair) (Takeru's set back down on the ground) Jou: Are you okay, Takeru-ku--WAUGH!!! (Jou vanishes, replaced by Yamato) Takeru: Onii-chan! Yamato: Takeru! (hug)

In the dub:

Puppetmon: I've got a new game I want to play! Come here! You too! (Puppetmon swaps Tai and Joe) Kari: (Tai appears; sarcastic) Oh, brother. Mimi: (Joe appears) AHH!!! STOP MOVING!!! Puppetmon: This is like playing chess with the DigiDestined! Tai: Kari! Kari: HELP!!! (vanishes, replaced by Sora) Izzy: (Kari appears) Fascinating! Kari: Maybe for you! Where are we? Puppetmon: We've reached the turning point! (turns Tai upside-down and bops him) Sora: Impossible! Tai: Ugh! (Matt and T.K. exchanged for Izzy and Mimi) Izzy: (Mimi appears) Welcome back! Puppetmon: (tickles T.K.) Coochie-coochie-coo! T.K.: (laughing hysterically and flailing in midair) (T.K.'s set back down on the ground) Joe: I don't know what's so funny but this is no laughing ma-- (Joe vanishes, replaced by Matt) T.K.: Matt, you're back! Matt: T.K.! (hug)

Most of this scene is the kids flailing and yelling each other's names so it'd be hard to get wrong. The dub has some good bits in it. I like Izzy's "Fascinating...." when he sees Kari pop up, and having Joe cut off mid-complaint was also pretty fun.

While the children are being teleported around left and right, the Digimon remain up in the tree.

Piyomon: Where did everybody go? Tailmon: We're no help up here. Let's go search for them! Patamon: Got it! I'll go find Takeru! Mimi: (quietly) ...I'm going to wait here.... Koromon: Koushiro! You stay here with Mimi! Koushiro: Understood. Please find everyone else. Digimon: ON IT!!!

The Digimon leap down from the tree, heading into the forest to find their Partners.

Meanwhile, in Pinocchimon's room, he's making choices. On the surveillance monitor, he's zoomed in on Takeru.

Pinocchimon: I think I'll play with this one first. He looks fun to pick on! Kiwimon: Shall I retrieve him? Pinocchimon: Nah. I'll go get him myself.

Pinocchimon slides down the fireman's pole in his room to the ground floor, then sprints out the front door, eager to acquire his new toy.

In the dub:

Biyomon: You know, I'm getting tired of doing nothing. Gatomon: I won't be some cat stuck in a tree! Let's go look for them. Patamon: Good idea. I'll start by looking for T.K.! Mimi: Oh, this is awful! Koromon: You said it! How could it get any worse? (Cracking sound) Izzy: I'll tell you how! The branches are starting to crack! Digimon: AHHHHH!!! (leap down from the tree) Patamon: They should learn to fly.

A small change: Tailmon takes charge of the Digimon in this scene, demonstrating her maturity and headstrong confidence. The dub lets Biyomon be the one to broach the topic of taking action, though Gatomon's still the one who cements it into a plan.

The more glaring change is Mimi and Koushiro. Mimi refuses to leave the tree, finally delivering the first significant line she's had since she broke down crying at the graves of Whamon and the others. It's a reminder that she is, at this point, utterly traumatized into inaction.

Which the Digimon accept without question, charging Koushiro to watch over her while they go into the fray.

The dub swaps that out for a more generic "This is awful", offering no reason why Mimi and Izzy would remain in the tree - especially after adding in that the branches are all about to break? Weird-ass choice.

Puppetmon: I think I found a new toy to play with. He looks very easy to scare. Kiwimon: You want me to get him for you? Puppetmon: No! I'll get this one myself!

That part's pretty faithful.

We go to a commercial break from here and come back to Yamato checking on Takeru.

Yamato: Takeru, are you okay? Takeru: Uh, I think so, but I suddenly felt something tickling me and I couldn't stop laughing. Maybe something's wrong with me. Yamato: Are you sure you're not hurt? Takeru: Hey, stop worrying about me so much! I can take care of myself now! Yamato: Takeru.... Pinocchimon: (singing in the distance) Let's play~!

Yamato stands up quickly. He and Takeru frantically scan the woods around them.

Takeru: Who's that? Pinocchimon: (slightly closer) Let's play~! Yamato: Takeru, be careful! Pinocchimon: (very close) Let's play~! Takeru: (thinking) The voice is getting closer....

Suddenly, Pinocchimon claps his hands over Takeru's eyes from behind. Takeru reacts quickly, grabbing the hands and shoving them away, then sprinting forward and whipping around as soon as he's free from Pinocchimon's grasp.

Pinocchimon backflips away from Takeru, landing a short distance away and raising his hands.

Pinocchimon: Let's play! Takeru: You're....

Before Takeru can finish that thought, Yamato steps between them.

Yamato: Just try and lay a finger on Takeru again! I'll make you regret it!

In the dub:

Matt: T.K., are you alright? T.K.: I guess so! But I felt like something was tickling me and I couldn't stop laughing! I wonder if there's something wrong with me? Matt: Are you sure you're not hurt? T.K.: Hey! Stop being so worried about me! I told you before that I know how to take care of myself! Matt: (startled) Okay! Puppetmon: (singing in the distance) Hey T.K.! (slightly closer) Whaddya sa~ay! Matt: T.K., stay close. Puppetmon: (Very close) Time to pla~ay? T.K.: (thinking) Sounds like the voice is getting closer! (Puppetmon puts his hands over T.K.'s eyes; T.K. forces him off) Puppetmon: TIME TO PLAY!!! T.K.: It's you! Matt: (steps between) Keep your hands off my brother, Puppetmon, or I'll chop you into firewood!

I like Puppetmon's sing-song here. Good creepy rhyming scheme. Pinocchimon's steady repetition of the same singsong notes getting closer and closer also works for creepiness factor. They both handled that well.

Matt's "chop you into firewood" crack is my favorite of the wood jokes thus far.

Despite Yamato's attempt to intervene, Pinocchimon isn't interested in him. He continues to address Takeru directly.

Pinocchimon: So your name is Takeru. Hey, join me in a game of war. Takeru: A game? Like... just pretend? Pinocchimon: That's right. Here, I'll let you use this.

Pinocchimon holds up an uzi, then tosses it over to Takeru. Takeru catches it with both hands.

Takeru: I-It's heavy....

He drops the gun causing it to misfire and let off a few rounds. Takeru screams, flailing to stay out of its firing line until it stops.

Takeru: TH-THIS IS A REAL GUN!!! I'D DIE IF I PLAYED WITH THIS THING!!! Pinocchimon: OF COURSE!!! Dying for real is what makes the game fun! But don't worry, I won't let you die that easily. It'd be pretty boring if you died right away.

Natsuko has educated her son well about the dangers of being reckless around firearms.

Fucking viruses, y'all.

In the dub, Puppetmon talks to Matt instead of ignoring him and addressing T.K. directly.

Puppetmon: Aww, come on. All I wanted to do was play a little game of War with T.K.! T.K.: Oh? Play? You mean, like, pretend?

Then they cut the entire bit with the uzi and skip to Pinocchimon's response to Takeru's outrage.

Puppetmon: BUT OF COURSE!!! At least, in the beginning, it will be make-believe anyway! But then it's BYE-BYE!!! And it will be time to destroy you for real. If I got rid of you now, I'd have no fun!

So, obviously, the key difference between versions here is that Takeru did not accidentally misfire a machine gun.

As a small characterization note, Puppetmon doesn't quite grasp the idea that playing and killing are the same; He draws a clear line between the two.

Obviously, Yamato has some concerns about all of this.

Yamato: Takeru! Don't listen to him! Pinocchimon: YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!!!

Pinocchimon throws a red ball at Yamato, which explodes into ribbons to bind him.

Yamato: This...! Takeru: ONII-CHAN!!!

He tries to remain on his feet, but topples over after a second and falls forward into the dirt.

Takeru: ONII-CHAAAAN!!! Pinocchimon: Now, let's get going! Takeru: NO!!! Pinocchimon: You refuse? Hmm... It won't be any fun if you won't come, so... (points at Yamato) Maybe I'll just kill him instead. Takeru: Ah! Pinocchimon: Well...? Takeru: You can't! Pinocchimon: Then you're coming? Yamato: TAKERU!!! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!!! Pinocchimon: Shut up!!!

Pinocchimon summons some extra ribbons to bind Yamato's mouth, so he can no longer participate in this conversation he wasn't invited to.

Pinocchimon: So, what do you say?

Takeru kneels down and picks up the discarded uzi from the ground.

Takeru: I'll go. I just have to come with you, right? Pinocchimon: That's what I wanted to hear!

Pinocchimon leads the way, while Yamato strains against his bonds and tries to talk through the muffling ribbons.

In the dub:

Matt: T.K., he's just trying to scare you! Don't listen to him! Puppetmon: DON'T LIE TO HIM OR YOUR NOSE WILL GROW!!! (Puppetmon ties Matt up in ribbons) Matt: I CAN'T MOVE NOW!!! T.K.: Are you okay!? (Matt falls down) T.K.: MATT!!! Puppetmon: Now, shall we get going? T.K.: Forget it! Puppetmon: You don't want to? Hmm... Well, if you don't come with me, it's no fun! (points at Matt) Maybe instead I'll destroooooy... your brother! Whaddya say? T.K.: Okay, I'll come! Puppetmon: That's a good boy! Matt: T.K., it's a trap! Run away now while you still can! Puppetmon: Shut up! (Puppetmon gags Matt) Puppetmon: So, is it a deal?

Unsurprisingly, they cut the shot of Takeru picking up the uzi and have Puppetmon keep speaking.

Puppetmon: We'll have lots of fun! Hehehehehe.... (walks off)

"Don't lie or your nose will grow" is a solid reference to Puppetmon's inspiration. I like that line.

Though the original "Stay out of this!" bit speaks to the core of this scene; Emphasizing that this is strictly between Takeru and Pinocchimon, and that Yamato's participation is unwelcome. This plays to the conflict between Yamato and Takeru.

Super weird delivery on "I'll destroy your brother," as sometimes happens when English lines have to shore up to lip flaps that were originally delivering Japanese dialogue.

Matt yelling "It's a trap" is hilarious. OH REALLY? Evil Pinocchio saying "Come play a game with me and I'll kill you when it's done" is a trap? You think so? I dunno. I like the cut of his jib.

Matt is yelling the blindingly obvious, but that works for me because it conveys his lack of trust in T.K. Pinocchimon's standing there with a neon sign that says "COME ENJOY MY TRAP" and Matt doesn't think T.K. can tell that the trap is, in fact, a trap.

Takeru follows Pinocchimon to his mansion, and playtime begins.

In a clear reference to the James Bond franchise, we look down the barrel of Pinocchimon's revolver while he sweeps it around the room, passing Takeru first but then going back for him. Takeru sets the uzi down helplessly on the ground when he realizes he's been made.

Pinocchimon: There you are! BANG!!!

Takeru flinches as if he'd been shot.

Pinocchimon: Hurry up and run; This is getting boring. Takeru: O-Okay!

Leaving the uzi behind, Takeru runs off deeper into the house.

Most of this does not make it into the dub. We hear Puppetmon's voice overlaid against an exterior shot of his house.

Puppetmon: Now you hide and I'll seek and destroy!

Followed by T.K. running for his life down the hallway. They also cut a shot from later of T.K. running up the stairs back in the foyer, with some direct editing done to paint over the revolver in Puppetmon's hand.

Puppetmon: That's good! Keep running! You make the game interesting!

Sprinting down the hall of Pinocchimon's mansion, Takeru looks for a place to hide.

Inside the room down the hall, Mushroomon and Blossomon can hear Takeru's footsteps.

Blossomon: Someone's coming. Mushroomon: Wonder who it is? Blossomon: Must be Pinocchimon-sama's new toy.

Takeru throws open the door and hides inside the room with them. Seeing the two Digimon inside, he doesn't really know what to say.

Takeru: U-Um....

He ignores them and then races around behind a shelf before peeking out.

Takeru: H-Hey, don't tell anyone I'm hiding here, okay?

Before the pair can even say anything, the door opens again. Pinocchimon enters the room.

Pinocchimon: Hey, did Takeru come in here? Blossomon: Takeru? Oh, if you mean that human boy, he's hiding behind the shelves. Pinocchimon: Really? Great!

Pinocchimon runs around to the shelves, then levels his gun at the gap, but Takeru is nowhere to be found.

Pinocchimon: Hands up! ...huh? He's not here? Mushroomon: WHAT!? THAT CAN'T BE!!! WE JUST SAW HIM!!!

Mushroomon and Blossomon run forward to see for themselves. Behind them, in the background, Takeru can be seen creeping around the wall to take cover behind the door.

Pinocchimon: LIARS!!!

Pinocchimon furiously lets out two shots, executing them both. Mushroomon and Blossomon disintegrate into pixels.

(Blossomon was a Perfect so, y'know, holy shit. Hollow-point ammunition is no joke.)

Pinocchimon: They make me so mad! (Takeru suddenly sprints out the door) Pinocchimon: Ah! There you are!

Then we get the shot the dub already used, of Takeru running up the stairs from the foyer.

Pinocchimon: (pursuing) Heading upstairs?

Takeru demonstrating how capable he is in this scene. Not only evading Pinocchimon in this closed room, but even outwitting two henchmon that would have spoiled his escape.

In the dub:

Blossomon: Hey, someone's coming! Mushroomon: Who could it be? Blossomon: Sounds to me like Lord Puppetmon has found a new play toy! (T.K. enters the room) T.K.: Oh, hi there! ...bye! (T.K. hides behind the shelf) T.K.: By the way, I'm hiding back here so don't say anything, 'kay? Mushroomon: No problem. (Puppetmon enters with his gun painted over) Puppetmon: Hey, you guys; You didn't happen to see a little kid run back here, did ya? He's got a green hat and a backpack. Blossomon: No, we didn't see anything like that, boss. Mushroomon: All we saw was a kid wearing a backpack and a green hat. He's hiding over there. Puppetmon: LOSERS!!!

They cut up the footage on Mushroomon and Blossomon's lines, so they can show as little of Puppetmon holding gun-shaped air as possible. They splice in close-ups of Mushroomon and Blossomon's faces for their lines.

Then, on "LOSERS", a super close-up of Puppetmon running through the hall edited to only show him from shoulders up replaces the actual footage of him jogging across the room and trying to ambush Takeru.

We rejoin the real footage at the shot of the empty space behind the shelves, since Pinocchimon's facing away for that and the gun is out-of-frame.

Puppetmon: Come out, come out wherever you are! Especially if you're behind the door. (Takeru runs out the door) Puppetmon: Aha!

Once he finds the space behind the shelf empty, the rest of this scene is cut. Blossomon and Mushroomon simply cease existing between shots and we go straight to Takeru running out the door.

Out in the woods, Patamon discovers Pinocchimon's mansion.

Patamon: What's a building doing out here? Maybe Takeru is in there!

Patamon goes in to investigate.

Inside the house, Takeru slips into Pinocchimon's playroom, looking for a place to hide. He unknowingly steps on Pinocchimon's remote, turning on the moving walkways and bringing all the children outside to a centralized location; Even the tree Mimi and Koushiro are in.

Jou: What's going on here!?

The Digimon cheerfully run up, joining the group.

Digimon/Piyomon: (miscellaneous vocalizing of cheers) / Sora! Gabumon: (alarmed) Yamato!

Gabumon slashes open Yamato's bindings with his claws.

Yamato: Takeru! Pinocchimon got Takeru! Taichi: What!? Hikari: That's terrible! Sora: We have to save him! Taichi: Where did Pinocchimon take Takeru? Yamato: (voice breaks, grabs his head despondently) I don't know.... Taichi: PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, YAMATO!!! Koushiro: I'm sure the moving walkway we were on before must lead to Pinocchimon. Jou: Yeah, that's right! Koromon: LET'S GO LOOK FOR THAT WALKWAY!!! Taichi: Yes! Let's go, everyone!

Back at the graves was not the time for Taichi. But now is the time for Taichi. Bold and immediate action is demanded of this situation.

In the dub:

Patamon: Hey, look! A house in the middle of the forest! I wonder if anyone inside has seen T.K.? (T.K. accidentally brings everyone together outside) Joe: What's going on around here!? Digimon: (run up) YAY!!! Gabumon: (alarmed) Matt! (Gabumon cuts Matt loose) Matt: T.K.! T.K. was taken prisoner by Puppetmon! Tai: Puppetmon!? Kari: Oh no! Sora: We have to help him! Tai: Where'd that creepy little toothpick take T.K.!? Matt: (voice breaks, grabs his head despondently) I don't know...! Tai: GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF, MATT!!! Izzy: It shouldn't be that difficult to find them. I'm sure that first road we were on leads directly to Puppetmon. Joe: Then we'll all be trapped! Koromon: It's worth it to save T.K.! Tai: I agree! Let's go get 'em!

Joe's last line is changed to make him look cowardly and reluctant, when he was agreeing with this plan in the original.

"Creepy little toothpick". They are not letting up with the wood jokes but, again, that's a good one. Nicely personalized insult for Evil Pinocchio.

I like it when writers come up with inhuman insults for inhuman characters.

With a plan made, Taichi and Koromon rally the team. But before they can set out, they're interrupted by a new contestant.

Taichi: What the--? Kiwimon: Pinocchimon-sama is enjoying his playtime. Please do not interfere.

Kiwimon is an Adult-stage Data-type Ancient Bird Digimon from the Wind Guardians lineup, evolved from a Floramon that's been well-cared for but poorly trained.

I. Um. I need us all to try and be very mature (snerk) about their special attack name. Okay? Can we be grown-ups about this? (haha)

Narrator: Kiwimon. An ancient Digimon who was once believed to be extinct. Despite being a bird-type Digimon, their wings have degenerated so they cannot fly. Their special attack is Little Pecker. Kiwimon: LITTLE PECKER!!!

Look, when they were giving the move its fancy exotic English Words name, they probably didn't know. It makes sense in context. But holy shit, that is not making it across the pond intact. XD

Little Pecker is one of those attacks that spawn mini-me's, like Dokugumon's itty-bitty mini-Dokugumon drones. Kiwimon spits a gatling gun of chibi Kiwimon bullets.

In the dub:

Tai: Who are you!? Kiwimon: No one may interfere with Master Puppetmon's playtime. You're all staying right here. Tentomon: (rundown) OH NO, IT'S KIWIMON!!! An ancient Digimon that was said to be extinct! Although he's a bird-type Digimon, his wings have degenerated so he can't fly! Kiwimon: PUMMEL PECK!!!

Between Bullet Hammer/Puppet Pummel and Little Pecker/Pummel Peck, "pummel" is becoming the go-to word for sweeping uncomfortable attack names under the rug.

Tentomon does a fantastic job with the diegetic rundown. Covers everything.

Koromon evolves to Agumon and the Digimon take turns firing off their attacks; Each shot destroying one of Kiwimon's Little Peckers. Meanwhile, Patamon enters Pinocchimon's estate through the window, entering his playroom.

Patamon: What's this? (picks up Pinocchimon's remote) What are these dolls for?

Patamon prods Jou's doll, causing it to fall over. Then he hears a loud yelp from the monitor displaying the Chosen Children.

Jou: WAUGH-OW!!! Gomamon: What's wrong, Jou? Jou: Someone pushed me out of nowhere! Hikari: (gasp) Are you okay, Jou-san!? Patamon: This is... Then this would be....

Patamon starts pushing buttons on Pinocchimon's remote, watching the walkways move on the screen.

Patamon: Ah! I have to tell Takeru about this!

In the dub, Patamon says nothing when he picks up the remote; His lip flaps simply move in silence. Then he moves on to the dolls.

Patamon: I wonder what these dolls are for? (Patamon pokes Joe) Patamon: This one looks like Joe.

Joe's offscreen reaction when Patamon pokes the doll is weirdly reserved and quiet.

Joe: Agh. Oof. Gomamon: Joe, what happened!? Joe: Why does this stuff always happen to me? Gomamon: What!? Kari: Weird. I didn't see anyone push you. Patamon: Joe's on TV!? Let's see what else is one. (pokes buttons) (The walkways start moving in response to Patamon) Patamon: Ohhh! Hm... Now that's what I call a remote control!

An invisible force suddenly shoves Joe to the ground and his in-the-moment kneejerk reaction is "Yeah, I guess this might as well happen." Poor Joe. What have we done to this boy's self-confidence?

Elsewhere in the mansion, Hide and Go Shoot is not going well for Takeru.

Takeru runs for a staircase to take him downstairs, but Pinocchimon cuts him off, coming up those same stairs.

Pinocchimon: Found you!

Pinocchimon starts shooting, each bullet striking the floor by Takeru's feet and forcing him to jump until finally he loses his balance and falls on his butt.

Pinocchimon: Hehe! I think I'll start with your legs. Revolver: Click. Pinocchimon: ...h-huh? Revolver: Click. Click. Pinocchimon: I'm out of bullets. Got to put in some new ones.

Calling a timeout on Takeru's impending torturous execution, Pinocchimon rifles through his pockets. Then, one by one, he slowly pulls each bullet out individually and loads it into the revolver's chamber.

Pinocchimon's glacially slow reloading buys Takeru an opportunity to think things through and try to figure out a game plan.

Takeru: (thinking) At this rate, he's going to kill me. I have to do something. Something....

The dub edits the gun out of Puppetmon's hand as he comes up the stairs, but they missed a frame. For one single frame you can see the gun flicker in and out of existence. It's super subtle and flashes by quick, though, so it can easily be mistaken for one of Puppetmon's miscellaneous doodads moving around as he's running.

Pretty much all of this scene is cut after he reaches the top. They splice in footage from the next scene, where Puppetmon and Takeru are standing and talking with his gun safely hanging by his side off-camera.

The only part they keep is Pinocchimon rifling through his pocket for bullets, which gets recontextualized.

Puppetmon: There you are! I found you! The game's over! T.K.: Ohhh. Puppetmon: (rifling) I'm gonna destroy you in a minute, but first I have to scratch my legs! T.K.: Hmm. Puppetmon: I guess that's what I get for having a leg made of poison oak! T.K.: (thinking) I can outsmart him!

They stand there and chat, and then T.K. realizes, "Oh, he's dumb. Neat." Moving along.

Thinking about everything he's learned about Pinocchimon, Takeru executes his master plan before Pinocchimon can finish reloading.

Takeru: (whining) Awww... This isn't any fun at all.

Pinocchimon stops reloading, letting out a surprised and self-conscious gasp. Rook takes bishop.

Pinocchimon: What was that!? Takeru: I'm sick of doing the same thing over and over. I wasn't expecting you to be such a boring person. Pinocchimon: No one's ever said that to me before! Takeru: Really? That's probably because you don't have any friends, huh?

Direct hit. Pinocchimon flinches as if struck, then sheepishly looks off to the side.

Pinocchimon: ...I-I have friends.... Takeru: Then why haven't I met any of them? Pinocchimon: ...I'll introduce you at some point-- Takeru: (jogs over to Pinocchimon) Not "at some point". Do it now! Pinocchimon: Now... isn't a good time.... Takeru: Ehh? (leans in) Sounds like you don't have any real friends at all! Pinocchimon: I do too! I'll go get one right now, so wait here!

Desperate to prove himself, Pinocchimon completely forgets that he was about to execute Takeru and sprints downstairs to find a friend he can show off.

As soon as he's gone, Patamon flies up with the remote in hand.

Patamon: Takeru! Takeru: Patamon!

Someone's not going to have to look far to find a friend.

The dub picks up from T.K. casually deciding he can outsmart Puppetmon. They have to do a lot of painting over in this scene to erase the gun from wide shots as well as the bullet holes in the floor. Though they also try to minimize how many shots they use that require that.

T.K.: How boring! I'm not having any fun at all! Puppetmon: Whaaaat!? I'm the life of the party! I put the fun in fungus! T.K.: Ha! You just play the same game over and over again! Boring! Puppetmon: (flinches, sheepish) ...I'm not boring.... T.K.: Well, if that's true, how come you don't have any real friends?

They play that shot of a skeptical bean-mouthed Takeru pressing the advantage twice, so they can use the second one to replace a wide shot of him crossing the hall and closing distance with Puppetmon.

So he bean-mouths a second time, then offscreen teleports to lean in close to Puppetmon.

Puppetmon: I-I've got friends.... Takeru: (leans in) Yeah? Then how come I haven't met these so-called friends of yours? Puppetmon: Alright! Then I'll get them and introduce you right now! (Puppetmon runs off; Patamon approaches) Patamon: T.K.! T.K.: Patamon!

Honestly, the game has been pretty boring in the dub. Because the majority of what they're actually doing had to be cut, Puppetmon and T.K. run around the house playing an ordinary game of hide and go seek.

And since they're still needing to cut footage to hurry us along past the gun as fast as possible, Puppetmon caves to less pressure than it took to get Pinocchimon to fuck off too. Takeru had to work harder to walk Pinocchimon into that emotional mousetrap than T.K. did.

SuckerPinocchimon goes downstairs to a storage closet, picking out parts. He selects a football.

Pinocchimon: This will work....

Unbeknownst to him, Patamon and Takeru are in his playroom going to work.

Takeru rips up the map Pinocchimon was using for his teleport shenanigans. Then he takes a hammer and smashes Pinocchimon's remote to pieces.

Meanwhile, out in the woods, the children are still dealing with Kiwimon. With their numeric advantage, they easily shoot Kiwimon's Little Peckers out of the air.

Yamato: Hey! Where's Takeru? Kiwimon: Hnhnhnhnnn.... Yamato: ANSWER ME!!! Taichi: Yamato! Let's just focus on destroying them. Yamato: (angry) Like you understand how I feel! Taichi: If we don't destroy them, we won't be able to go rescue Takeru! Yamato: No! We should find out where Takeru is before we destroy them! GABUMON!!! Gabumon: Got it. Gabumon, WARP-SHINKAAAAAA!!!

Gabumon says the words, but nothing occurs. Yamato's Digivice and Crest are still and silent.

Yamato: (lightly shaking, shocked) ...It won't glow.... Gabumon: What's wrong, Yamato? I can't evolve. Kiwimon: LITTLE PECKER!!!

YOU and your inappropriately named attack stay out of this! We are having a moment here!

They're both kinda right here. Kiwimon can't tell us anything when they're pixel dust. We do need to go through Kiwimon to get to where we think Takeru is but we're only assuming we know where Pinocchimon took him.

Taichi wants to blow through Kiwimon and go straight for where we think Pinocchimon's lair is, while Yamato wants to stop and interrogate Kiwimon which takes time we might not have. Both of these positions have their pros and cons.

But Yamato is also so emotionally compromised by Takeru being in peril that he tried to burn an Ultimate evolution against an Adult-stage Digimon. That's overkill of the highest order. He is not thinking straight.

He straight up says to Taichi's face that Taichi can't understand what he's going through. We just had an entire arc about Taichi's little sister being hunted for assassination, so that's an unfair accusation to make.

Yamato is doing what he correctly accused Taichi of before. Neither Taichi nor Yamato is wrong, but they are both being unfair and refusing to take other people's feelings into account.

In the dub:

Puppetmon: I like to make friends! (T.K. destroys Puppetmon's stuff and we cut to the woods) Matt: Hey! Where are you keeping T.K.!? Kiwimon: Ohohohohohohohoho.... Matt: ANSWER ME!!! Tai: I know how you feel, Matt, but first we have to destroy Kiwimon! Matt: How can you understand how I feel!? Tai: I understand that if we don't beat him first, we won't be able to find T.K.! Matt: NO!!! FIRST, WE'LL FIND T.K., THEN WE'LL FIGHT YOUR WAR!!! Gabumon: Right, Matt! Gabumon, Warp-Digivolve to.... Huh? (Digivice and Crest make weird out-of-service beeping noises) Matt: (lightly shaking, shocked) It won't glow! Gabumon: What's going on here, Matt!? How come I can't Digivolve? Kiwimon: PUMMEL PECK!!!

"First we'll find T.K., then we'll fight your war" goes hard and I love it. They're still treating Matt's position as if he's against fighting the Dark Masters at all, but as a single verbal slap in the face, it still works as an assessment of Taichi's attitude towards fighting.

I don't like that they have the Digivice start beeping like haywire. Beeping like haywire is what it does when it's working; The point here is that it's not doing anything. The silence of the original is far more effective at conveying the idea that the Digivice won't activate.

Back at the mansion, Pinocchimon finishes construction on his new bestie.

Pinocchimon: All done! No matter how you look at this thing, it's a friend!

Takeru finishes destroying everything in the playroom and sprints downstairs from the top floor, as Pinocchimon comes up the opposite staircase.

Pinocchimon: I brought my friend! Look! Nobody: ... Pinocchimon: (kinda hurt) ...huh?

Takeru doesn't stop running. With Patamon flying beside him, He sprints out the front door and races off into the woods, leaving this wretched mansion behind. He doesn't notice Floramon and Delumon as he passes.

Floramon: It's Pinocchimon-sama's new toy.... Delumon: We shouldn't get involved in this. Floramon: Let's pretend we didn't see him. Delumon: Good idea.

The pair turn around and go back to... being hedges, I guess?

(Probably a good idea not to get involved. Look what happened to Blossomon and Mushroomon.)

In the dub:

Puppetmon: There! Done! I said I like to make friends, and I made one! (T.K. leaves the top floor right as Puppetmon arrives) Puppetmon: I brought my friend! Look! Huh? Nobody: ... Puppetmon: (kinda hurt) T.K....? (T.K. escapes out the front door) Floramon: It's Lord Puppetmon's new toy! Deramon: Where's he goin'? We're going to play charades. Floramon: Maybe he doesn't know how to play. Deramon: Yeah, that's it.

The dub does the "make friends" pun again. In case you didn't catch it the first time, I guess.

Floramon and Deramon don't seem as passively afraid of Puppetmon as their Japanese counterparts.

Puppetmon, however, still has that edge of bewildered sadness in his voice when he realizes he's been played. Good job there.

Back in the woods, while the kids are still discussing what to do with Kiwimon, Kiwimon's Little Peckers go for Sora.

Terrible mistake. Kiwimon was harmless enough that we could tolerate standing around and talking about this. But as soon as they go for Sora, Birdramon evolves and shuts that shit right down.

Blocking the Little Peckers with her wing, Birdramon counters with a Meteor Wing that vaporizes Kiwimon. Kiwimon lets out a high-pitched death cry, then they're gone.

Sora: Thank you, Birdramon! Piyomon: (evolves back) Sora! Sora: Piyomon!

In the dub, Kiwimon lets out this posh upper-class noble giggle when he's killed. His chortle then takes on an echoing ghostly quality and fades as the smoke clears to reveal he's gone. An odd choice for a death cry.

(Might be trying to imply that he ran off in the smoke or something? I don't know. It's weird.)

Sora: Birdramon! Thanks a lot! Biyomon: (evolves back) You're welcome. Sora: Biyomon!

Unfortunately, one person is not very happy with Sora's win.

Yamato: Takeru... What about Takeru!? (Yamato gets up in Sora's face) Yamato: You destroyed them!? NOW WE CAN'T FIND OUT WHERE TAKERU IS!!!

Taichi runs over, grabbing Yamato's arm and pulling him back from Sora.

Taichi: Hey! Watch it, Yamato! Takeru: (distant) HEY!!! Sora: (gasp) Takeru-kun!

The whole group turns to see Takeru running across the grass to rejoin them.

Takeru: HEY GUYS!!! Yamato: (relieved) Takeru!

I've made enough "Sora will remember this" cracks about Taichi being shitty to her and Yamato being more mature that I'd be remiss not to point out what a dick Yamato's being right now. Understandably so, he's having an emotional breakdown about Takeru, but still.

In the dub:

Matt: Biyomon, what did you do!? (Matt gets up in Sora's face) Matt: Look what your Digimon did! Without Kiwimon, we'll never find T.K.! (Tai grabs Matt's arm and pulls him back) Tai: Calm down, Matt! T.K.: (distant) HEY!!! Sora: It's T.K.! (T.K. approaches) T.K.: Hey everybody! Hi! I'm back! Matt: (relieved) T.K.!!!

The team meets Takeru, eager to hear what happened.

Takeru: I was able to protect myself all on my own this time! Hikari: That's incredible! Taichi: That's awesome, Takeru! Congrats! Yamato: (face falls) Mimi: We were so worried about you! Jou: You sure have grown up, without any of us realizing.

Though initially relieved, Yamato's face darkens the more they praise Takeru. Jou's line is his breaking point. He turns and walks away from the group.

Takeru: Hehehehe, stop it! You're embarrasing me! Gabumon: Yamato! (follows) Jou: (turns) Oh?

Gabumon follows Yamato. Jou notices them go, but doesn't say anything.

In the dub:

T.K.: See, everybody! I told you I could do it! I can take care of myself just fine! Kari: You're the man! Tai: Nice going, T.K.! Great job, buddy! Matt: (face falls) Mimi: We were worried about you! Joe: Boy, for a little kid, that was a pretty big escape. (Matt turns and leaves) T.K.: Ahahaha, stop it, guys! You're embarrassing me! Gabumon: What's wrong, Matt? (follows) Joe: (turns) Huh?

Mostly faithful but I have issues with Joe's line. Jou's remark that Takeru grew up without anyone noticing is a significant point for Yamato and Takeru's arc.

Again, this goes all the way back to Yamato wanting to debone Takeru's fish for him and Taichi teaching Takeru to do it himself. Being chased down by a mad puppet with a revolver is a pretty extreme situation for it, but the point nonetheless is that Takeru doesn't need to rely on Yamato to do everything for him.

The fantasy elements are fantasy elements but the point is that Takeru is getting older and becoming more self-sufficient. He's not dependent on Yamato anymore. Yamato isn't ready to confront a reality where his little brother doesn't need him to debone his fish.

The new line for Joe congratulates T.K. for the win, but still keeps him firmly within the boundaries of "little kid". Joe calls this out as an exceptional outlier and not a product of T.K.'s growth and maturity, which is a problem when that's the thing Matt's supposed to be upset about.

Oblivious to Yamato's departure, Takeru continues.

Takeru: I smashed up the weird gadgets that were making the ground move too! Jou: Really? That's amazing! Takeru: Everything's going to be okay. Pinocchimon was manipulating us with these dolls.

He sets down his backpack, showing off the dolls he looted while he was wrecking the playroom.

The kids all pick up their dolls out of the bag, checking them out.

Taichi: (cheerful) This is supposed to be me? I don't look anything like it! Sora: Mimi-chan's looks pretty cute. Mimi: Liar! I am not this ugly! ...but I'll keep it as a souvenir anyway. Sora: Ha! (The girls giggle cheerfully) Piyomon & Palmon: (grabby hands) Show me! Show me! Takeru: Hey, where's Onii-chan? Jou: I just saw Yamato head off over... There.... Huh?

Jou points in the direction Yamato went, but there's only dark and twisted woods over there. No sign of Yamato or Gabumon.

That's not a question that will be answered this episode. For our final scene, we cut back to Pinocchimon briefly, looking around his destroyed playroom. He sadly picks up the smashed remote and stares at it for a few seconds.

Pinocchimon: So he doesn't like playing with me, huh? Alright. I get it.

We leave off there, with that ambiguous yet ominous sentiment.

In the dub:

T.K.: I also smashed the remote control that was making the ground move underneath us! Joe: That's terrific, T.K.! Izzy: Prodigious! T.K.: Everything's gonna be alright now! Puppetmon was using these dolls to control us! That's why all those weird things were happening! (T.K. sets down his backpack and everyone grabs their doll) Tai: (cheerful) Is this me!? I don't look anything like this! Ha! Sora: Wow, Mimi, your doll is really pretty! Mimi: What? No way! I would never wear rags like this! ...oh! I could take her to the mall for some new clothes! (The girls giggle cheerfully) Biyomon & Palmon: (grabby hands) Alright! You go!

In one last bit of slicing and dicing footage, the dub moves Pinocchimon's lament here, interrupting the kids.

Puppetmon: So he didn't want to play with me, huh? T.K.... You'll pay for this....

While the original leaves what Pinocchimon's feeling ambiguous and ominous, Puppetmon directly swears revenge.

Then we cut back to the woods to finish up the other scene.

T.K.: Anybody see where Matt went? Joe: He's right over there. T.K.: Huh? (Joe points to the dark and twisted woods) Kids: HUH!?!? Joe: I don't get it! He and Gabumon were there a second ago! They vanished! Here we go again! Narrator: Will Puppetmon take revenge on T.K.? Is he behind Matt's disappearance? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

They moved the scenes so they could imply that Puppetmon kidnapped Matt for that spicy cliffhanger. Find out the answer to these questions... RIGHT NOW.

Uh. No. That's not anywhere close to what happened here. Pinocchimon is distraught in his playroom and has no time or emotional space to go gallivanting around the woods right now.

...

DUN DUNNNNNN.

Assessment: Holy shit, can you imagine what it must have been like to be working on the dub and have this episode cross your desk? Guns! Actual guns! Guns everywhere! Children playing with guns! Evil Pinocchio kills Digimon with guns!

Pokemon had an episode where Suddenly Guns too but that was a one-off episodic adventure where Ash goes to Safari Zone and gets to see a Dratini. He did catch a herd of Tauros there that goes without explanation in the American version, but nonetheless, it's not super important. They were able to deal with the guns there by carving the episode out of the lineup and simply never broadcasting it.

But you can't do that here because Digimon is a serialized adventure. This episode is kind of fucking important, like most episodes are, and can't simply be deleted from the lineup. So we. Just. Have to deal with the guns. Somehow.

We were tooling along with a cartoon adventure about fighting monsters and then suddenly there were guns and Little Peckers all over the place.

This is the episode that made the censors cry, and it shows in the absolute butchery they had to make of it in order to get it onto television.

(But they also managed to screw up important characterization scenes too while they were at it.)

[maoxyi]

Mayhaps make parts of the 8000 years au into a fic? And also the our war game au with virus corrupted taichi one as well? Maybe??? Thinkin about it even though I’ve written some stuff for it hehe

[digitalgate02]

Y’know, one of the things this fandom seemed to be divided into two parts is about Frontier and Takuya’s “Dark Evolution” in the story. Some pointed it was “Vritramon rampaging phase” in the story, and some would consider “Takuya reverting into Flamon” as the dark evolution of this series.

First, what are the characteristics of Dark Evolution, according to the older three series + Savers? Mixing strong negative emotions and forcing your digimon to evolve. All cases of Dark Evolution before and after Frontier were like this. (I know, the OG Taichi was mostly by being a reckless idiot, but i like to think the novel version explained something a little more about this event)

Character has strong negative feelings and then forces their or someone else’s digimon to dark evolve into a mindless beast. – That’s how things worked in Adv’99, 02, Tamers and Savers.

(you may notice that instead of Daisuke dark evolving his partner, it’s Ken who forces a dark evolution on Taichi’s partner. Which implies yeah anyone could do that. Funny enough, Ken also fits the criteria established in those series: He is a self-absorbed and arrogant kid, so those emotions are mixed in the mix and this is why he evolves Agumon into SkullGreymon first. He only manages to get MetalGreymon virus after he cheats with his Evil/Dark Spiral. Meanwhile Daisuke lacks malice, lacks negative feelings. So he’s just a dumbass in ep 22 getting into trouble in the process.)

However, Ghost Game brought a new view of this concept by introducing GulusGammamon. As you can see, Gulus is a dark evolution (somehow) and it differs from every mindless-beast-on-rampage case we watched until now. But before going into GG take on it, I’d like to talk about the peculiar case in Adventure’s reboot series (aka Psi, or Adv:2020) first:

So, one of the things we saw in the episode from the reboot is that Taichi was getting consumed by the dark miasma around the place. We never had something like this before as well – this series was trying to “corrupt” Taichi too. The last time we saw a “tamer” corruption was on a Drama CD which was more a very weird and for fun story (this was done before the Drama CDs for digimon started to get serious stories) than something to take seriously. Anyway, the reboot was trying to corrupt Taichi first. Second is… Taichi dies for a moment which triggers Agumon’s dark evolution based on Agumon’s strong feelings (and the dark miasma, probably). This is going to be reused in Ghost Game, actually.

Now, back to Ghost Game!! Fun facts for you: Gulus is the only Gamma-form to not have a ring on his wrist/paw. Also, Gulus does not need Hiro to evolve either! But it was triggered by Gammamon’s strong feelings at first – when Bokomon died in front of him. Other cases were probably for survival in a life-or-death scenario for him or any of the trio. Gulus’ has another speech pattern from the other Gammamon forms, and the most important detail is he’s totally sentient. Gulus is more like another personality to Gammamon than being a feral beast in rampage.

But what can Ghost Game help us to decide which “dark evolution” scenario counts for Takuya/Frontier?

First of all, if we ignore Takuya for a moment, Frontier already has a “dark evolution” character – Kimura Kouichi. Duskmon and Velgmon are evil forms, and they’re purified into Loweemon and KaiserLeomon later. And heck, Kouichi himself is the “Warrior of Darkness” c’mon guys!!

BUT, Kouichi’s role is most suitable for the “redeemed villain” category. So yeah, which of Takuya’s cases suit the dark evolution criteria?

I’d like to reveal that, maybe, Frontier was ahead of its time. Because now that we got Ghost Game to break the norm and show us a new approach from this concept, it can help us here to notice Flamon was sort of a dark evolution for Takuya.

Frontier already makes clear that the Beast spirit forms cannot be controlled that easily, and I’ll shamelessly plug Shiha’s meta about everyone’s cases here in case we start the discussion about Izumi again.

So if we consider Vritramon the “dark evolution case”, you could say most of the kids in Frontier had it too. Which is odd, right?

But, if you consider Flamon an unusual dark evolution case, one like Gulus is now, it makes some sense. Dark evolution in the Digimon franchise is sort of “punishment” for not raising your digimon correctly – It’s a challenge, and you have to beat this obstacle to gain the new power/form to proceed. Dark evolution does not always mean “evil form” as well, just, as Gennai puts it in the end of Adventure, “a form not suitable for certain occasions” – So this concludes my thesis that Frontier started the unusual dark evolution forms instead.

Thank y’all for reading~

[pr0misedv0id]

Those Who Roam

HELL

Devils linger and abide in Hell. Each Devil is assigned both a sin as well as a curse thay coincides with their most deepest inecurities and otherwise uncomplementary traits as a reminder of why they are here. This is torture after all. All Devils are only trusted to guard Hell and, in some special cases, to torture those who are new or in Purgatory (although this is a rare opportunity).

The Devils are listed as follows…

Banri Settsu - Pride A rather irritating and competitive member of Hell that tends to pick fights with literally anything for no good reason. His curse is his lack of ability to understand or comprehend emotions: picked specifically due to his lack of difficulty in every other aspect of life. He has emotions and feelings.. but he will never fully be able to interpret the feeling of grief or love.  Itaru Chigasaki - Sloth A rather relaxed and laid back Devil who tends to not be bothered with… well anything! Or at least thats how he seems. His curse forbids him from ever truly expressing how hes feeling. His emotions are dulled down and even the slight feeling of something like excitement or rage could introduce stabbing pains in his heart. Masumi Usui  Masumi has no particular sin or curse as he is the equivalent of an “anti-cupid”. His job is to break the relationships that simply weren’t meant to be. He lacks a lot of knowledge of love. It’s a hard job to break hearts. He’s used to it. Kazunari Miyoshi - Envy Although some may interpret him to be laid back, others would interpet him as full on. his lack of filter can be … challenging to deal with. However his curse tends to shut him after he reaches a large strength of emotions no matter how much he wishes to express them. This doesn’t really stop him in his pursuit of what he truly wants though.  Banri Settsu - Pride A rather irritating and competitive member of Hell that tends to pick fights with literally anything for no good reason. His curse is his lack of ability to understand or comprehend emotions: picked specifically due to his lack of difficulty in every other aspect of life. He has emotions and feelings.. but he will never fully be able to interpret the feeling of grief or love.  Itaru Chigasaki - Sloth A rather relaxed and laid back Devil who tends to not be bothered with… well anything! Or at least that’s how he seems. His curse forbids him from ever truly expressing how hes feeling. He never lies… simply his emotions are fulled down and even the slight feeling of something like excitement or rage could introduce stabbing pains in his heart. He was once betrayed by a lover… someone close to him. Masumi Usui  Masumi has no particular sin or curse as he is the equivalent of an “anti-cupid”. His job is to break the relationships that simply weren’t meant to be. He lacks a lot of knowledge of love. It’s a hard job to break hearts. He’s used to it. Kazunari Miyoshi - Envy Although some may interpret him to be laid back, others would interpet him as full on. his lack of filter can be … challenging to deal with. However his curse tends to shut him after he reaches a large strength of emotions no matter how much he wishes to express them. Kumon Hyodo - Envy Kumon has no curse for the sole reason of him being a corrupted Angel due to … unforseen circumstances. His one brother watched as his wings were forcefully cut off from his shoulder blades and the halo was taken from his head. He feels the occassional headache from the loss of the halo, but the worst pain is the permanent scars on his shoulders that sting and burn. He has no memory of his brother or anything prior to his corruption. Yuki Rurikawa - Wrath A much younger addition to the roster that tends to be fiesty, as all of his emotions are constantly amplified and he is unable to control them. This causes immense pain to him, but luckily thanks to certain Hell Squad, he’s able to tough it out. It’s humiliating but no one minds. Taichi Nanao Taichi lacks a curse or sin for he was too a lost spirit that a Judge decided to pity. Unfortunately, Taichi did not have it as easy as Azami, since he - instead of finding peace in Heaven - was accidentally lead down a much more sinister path. His corruption was the first. His corruption leaves stains of guilt for all those involved. Yet he seems rather at home as a Devil. Chikage Utsuki As a Head Devil he has no sin, yet he has a curse. His curse is to constantly lie and decieve - something that was both annoying and hurtful to those he cared for.

[bethanythebogwitch]

So I have some thoughts about Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning. There will be spoilers.

Overall I enjoyed myself, though it wasn't nearly as good as Last Evolution Kizuna. And that's kind of my first gripe about the movie. The new Adventure universe entries all feel disconnected from each other. 02 was very obviously a sequel to Adventure, as was Tri, but you don't need to watch Tri to understand Kizuna and you don't need to watch Tri or Kizuna to understand The Beginning. I would like more consistency and following up on plot points. The whole central plot of Kizuna, that Digimon partnerships are temporary and will eventually end, was not present in this movie at all. This movie also brings up several concepts without following through on them. It also felt rushed compared to Kizuna. I think expanding the run time to 2 hours instead of the 1.5 hrs we got would have benefitted the movie greatly by fleshing out the characters of Lui and Ukkamon, giving their story more of a resolution, and addressing the unanswered questions. Specifically I want to know who the great being Ukkamon gets his powers from is and what's up with that very disturbing giant form it took. The movie also didn't really give a lot of the 02 cast much to do. This is very much the Lui and Ukkamon movie, guest-starring the 02 cast. I think what I want out of a 02 follow up is resolution on some of the hanging plot threads (the dark ocean in particular) and more character development to see how the kids we see in 02 will become the adults we see in the epilogue. And evolutions for SIlphymon and Shakkoumon.

I am definitely enjoying the continuation of the Adventure universe, but I am annoyed by the fact that each new entry ends with sequel hooks and dangling plot threads that the next entry does not address. Things we still don't know include (from Tri) who evil Gennai was and what his goals are, what happened to the original chosen children besides Daigo and Maki, and what are all the resurrected villains from the reboot doing, and (from Kizuna) how the partners that vanished will come back in time for the 02 epilogue. I think these are all great points that can be followed up on for good stories. Have a confrontation with evil Gennai, tell a story about Taichi/Tai and Yamato/Matt bringing back Agumon and Gabumon. I'm also not sure how Ukkamon trying to give everyone in the world a Digimon partner to make them happy squares with Kizuna saying that all Digimon partnerships will eventually end. That's another great opportunity to tell a story connecting the two. Maybe Ukkamon isn't as powerful as he thinks and can't make permanent bonds, maybe Ukkamon is too short-sighted to see the consequences of his actions, maybe someone else (evil Gennai or the dark ocean perhaps) is manipulating Ukkamon for their own goals. Maybe you could tie Tri and 02 together ore by letting the reboot from Tri bring back characters like BlackWarGreymon and Oikawa.

Ukkamon's power to grant wishes is another thing I think deserves more attention. The most obvious answer I think is that Ukkamon's power comes from the world of dreams seen in the end of 02. However the very dark (though seemingly innocent) way he grants Lui's wishes and the very Lovecraftian transformation he goes through gives me dark ocean vibes. My personal theory is that Ukkamon is an innocent creature related to the world of dreams that is being corrupted by the dark ocean or that he is some halfway point between the two worlds (they are implied to be counterparts, the world of dreams representing good dreams and the dark ocean representing nightmares). Again, this is very good potential for storytelling. I guess what I'm saying is: fanfic writers, start your engines.

I saw some people saying that this movie retconned Tri and the 02 epilogue. I did not get that impression at all. I think the only thing that would have to change about Tri is that the adventures of Daigo, Maki and co would have to take places closer to the original series than what was shone in that series. The epilogue is still perfectly viable as a conclusion to what we see in the movie. We even see the characters beginning to work toward the careers they have in the epilogue and a tease to the start of the Miyako/Yolei x Ken relationship. I'm in favor of this. I can definitely see why a lot of people want Tri and the epilogue decanonized, but I think that 9 times out of 10 it's better to take something that didn't work and build new, better stories on it than to just retcon it away.

Stuff I like about this movie. The action is visually impressive and the animation in general is excellent. I like Miyako/Yolei getting more to do since she was definitely the most underutilized in 02 (though Iori/Cody got the shaft this time around). I like the movie showing more of how the characters got to where they were in the epilogue. I like the cameos from the international chosen children and shots showing the beginning of a new generation of chosen. The emotional core of the story, though a bit rushed, was strong. The ending showing that even without digivices, the bond between human and Digimon is strong enough to stay was heartwarming and a very nice aversion to this franchise always trying to cram in a tragic ending to its stories. And that one scene (if you saw the movie you know which one I'm talking about) was scarier then anything we got in the entirety of Ghost Game and Survive. Overall, it was a good movie, I just wish it could have done just a bit more.

[electracution]

Okay, so I watched "all of us strangers" in the cinema yesterday. I'm not sure if this post will reach anybody and if this will be interesting to you, since this is a Tolkien blog, but I need to get it off my chest.

This film is an adaptation of Stranger by Taichi Yamada, which I haven't read, so I'm not judging it as an adaptation, but as a standalone work. There are different things you should pay attention to while you know the original story, so if you have read it and have something to share, comment please.

Also, yes, I'm aware it came out a while back, but it had its release in my country literally last week, so it's new to me.

There are no spoilers here, if you haven't seen it yet and are planning to.

This is a movie you have to experience yourself. I always Google the plot before watching a movie, but something prompted me to not do it this time and it was so worth it.

This movie is a masterpiece, simply put. And I don't throw this term lightly. From the pictures, to the perfectly chosen music for each scene (really, one song in the middle made me freeze, such a smart choice!), to the incredible performance of every actor on screen and the subtle and patient dialog... The haunting scene at the club, genuinely made my skin crawl. It's an incredible, though depressing, experience.

Now, a little information to make you want to go see it for yourself. It's queer (contains two short explicit scenes). It deals with subjects of loneliness and isolation (there are literally only four characters in the whole story and that really drives the point across) that comes from being different. It deals with substance abuse and other heavy subjects, like death and grief. And homophobia. Both in the past, as the characters speak about the AIDS crisis, and in the present.

(There is also a supernatural element, as a little treat. For those who enjoyed The Magnus Archives I can describe it as the lonely meets the corruption meets the end and the spiral. Yes, it's a lot. But if you know you know.)

I sobbed through the entire thing. So have tissues ready. Or maybe I'm just sensitive, who knows. As a lesbian who's never been in a relationship, I related to Adam... The fear of never finding love is to many queer people, unfortunately, unavoidable. And if you do, you think you have to cling to it with all you have and never let go. Even if it ruins you.

As I've stated before, this is a heavy film, so if you think any of the aforementioned topics could trigger you, don't watch it. If you don't think it will bother you, go for it. For the beautiful shots and music at least.

I'm planning on watching it again next week, so if my opinion changes I'll update this post and let you know. Art changes with us and sometimes time away from it can change your opinion.

Anyway, if anyone did watch the movie and wants to chat, or if you want to ask for more specific CW or TW write a comment :)

[nami-moittli]

My headcanons behind all the dub names for digimon:

Adventure:

Taichi —> Tai. Very simple, making the name shorter

Yamato —> Matt. Took a try or two to get to this nickname, but also a pretty simple nickname

Koushiro Izumi —> Izzy. At first he was called “Kou” but then one day someone called him “Izzy” instead, because it was ‘more fun to say’ and it stuck

Takeru—> T.K.. When he was like, in kindergarten or first grade, there was another kid named Takeru, so T.K. Ended up being called that

Hikari—> Kari. Once again, a very simple nickname

02:

Daisuke —> Davis. Noticed that all of his friends have nicknames, and wanted one too. Davis was the first thing he thought of

Miyako —> Yolei. Probably was just hanging out one day and decided that she wanted to give herself a weird nickname, Yolei was the one that made it out

Iori—> Cody. Yolei’s the only one who really calls him this, furthering the idea that they were just hanging out one day, and gave each other nicknames

Extra: Wallace—>Willis. Someone mispronounced his name, and now no one knows which is right

Tamers:

Jianliang—>Henry. He got tired of everyone mispronouncing his name, that he just started saying, “Call me Henry”

Ruki—>Rika. A mispronunciation of her actual name. She hates it, but it won’t leave her alone.

Shaochung—>Susie. One day Henry told her that people have a hard time saying their names, so she should pick out a nickname.

Hirokazu—>Kazu. Once again, a very easy nickname.

(Think that’s all?)

Frontier:

Takuya—>Taky. Very easy nickname.

Izumi—>Zoe. A nickname she got from her friends in Italy. She liked it so she kept it when she got back to Japan. Sometimes shortened further to Z.

Junpei—>J.P.. he wanted to act cooler, so along with the magic and chocolate, he started to introduce himself as J.P. Zoe called him out on this when they first met on the Trailmon.

Tomoki—>Tommy. Again, very easy. Like how Thomas becomes Tommy.

Data Squad/Savers:

Masaru—>Marcus. I’m not even sure. His name just got corrupted one day and it stuck. He sometimes doesn’t even respond to his actual name now

Thoma—>Thomas. Thomas is his name, though sometimes people take off the ‘s’

Ikuto—>Keenan. Ikuto is his birth name, though when he got to the digital world, no one knew that, so they just called him “Keenanmon” Keenan eventually dropped the “mon” though

Chika—>Kristy. A corruption of her name that came about one day.

(I think that’s all?)

Xros wars/Fusion/Young Hunters:

Taiki—>Mikey. Jeremy wanted to see how many people he could get to believe Taiki’s name was Mikey, so one time when he was helping out a club, he yelled, “Go Mikey!” It confused the heck out of Taiki, but now people don’t know which is right. Tagiru just calls him “T.M.” At this point

Zenjiro—>Jeremy. First it was shortened to Jiro, then Jiro became Jeremy. Probably through a mispronunciation mixed with how the name Thomas became Tommy

Akari—>Angie. Jeremy is also behind this one. Probably the same reason he calls Taiki Mikey.

Kiriha—>Christopher. Christopher’s just his middle name.

Yuu—>Ewan. Tagiru gave him this one. Though, he’s not sure how the “an” part of that nickname came to be.

And, I think that’s it. Cause Hunters and Appmon weren’t dubbed, 2020 is just a reboot, and I’m not sure if/when Ghost Game is getting dubbed, so I can’t say.

[shihalyfie]

I have no idea why but something made me go back into my dummy attachment to all series protag crossover things and... Well, i've been thinking about this since the purple Tagiru card and the birth of the jokes based on it about Tagiru having his own corruption arc in Digica.

Who would be the most dangerous to the less of concern enemy out of the 9 protags (double Taichi, Daisuke, Takato, Takuya, Masaru, Taiki & Tagiru, Haru, Hiro) if they had a corruption arc? 👀

Context: Tagiru's Tamer Card is purple, which is unusual because purple is usually associated with dark or undead Digimon. It's probably because Tagiru's meant to be played with the Arresterdramon line (with Arresterdramon being purple, the card game has gone across the usual color associations just to match the relevant Digimon's color, and he does have some "spirit"-type attacks), but it's funny to consider that most of the Digimon protagonist cards so far have been red, and Daisuke being blue is pretty easy to understand why, and then Tagiru got pinned with the color that all the evil Digimon usually get. So of course, the amusing question that follows is how effective Tagiru would be as an (attempted) evil overlord!

Least dangerous: Masaru, actually! Not because he's incapable, but because of the above list, Masaru is the only one who comes off to me as being actively turned off by things like world domination or power for the sake of power. For better or for worse, he's the kind of person who's very self-focused and has goals related to his own definition of self-improvement, and even on the evil side he would still probably be bound by so-called "honor before reason". So if left to his own devices, the worst thing I could see him coming up with would be some underground fighting ring or something else that "causes trouble" but is hardly world-threatening, and even if he ends up being hired help he'd be like a one-off assassin rather than a core part of the threat.

After that in order: Daisuke, mostly because in many ways he doesn't really have a spine (I'm saying this affectionately) or enough conscious malice to get anything done by himself -- even when he's on the good side he's incredibly reliant on his friends to make any real progress. He's a pragmatic enough person that I think he could be surprisingly effective as someone else's right-hand man or minion, but I don't expect him to be a very good evil overlord by himself.

Hiro, who's outright stated in the series to be a doormat who just goes along with everything, and is only considered to be more dangerous than Daisuke on this list because he's a pretty capable guy who can keep himself together in situations Daisuke can't.

Tagiru, who certainly has the drive to do things but is one-track mind enough to be easily predictable. Which is fine in a lot of cases, but being an evil overlord not so much.

Takuya, because while like Tagiru he has a sort of one-track mind with things, he has a sort of "innocence"/"earnestness" Tagiru doesn't that I could easily see being corrupted into the kind of malice that enjoys tormenting people for the sheer fun of it. I think that's the part that's really scary about this, that if you flipped just a few switches in the wrong direction Takuya could be like those kinds of bullies who made Tomoki's life miserable.

Takato, who's often deferential, but, well, the scene where he completely lost himself to wrath is one of the most famous ones in the franchise for a reason. Of course, in that case his own good nature won out, but if a corruption arc is in play...

Reboot!Taichi, I feel could go pretty much any way.

Haru, who's thoughtful and intelligent, and only isn't put beyond the following two because he doesn't have a lot of experience with actual leadership, and his talent of keeping people together is outright dependent on his kindness.

Taiki, who has the charisma to lead a whole army and whatnot, and is very good at planning things out to achieve his goal. Power grabbing is what his entire series is about! The one thing that I think might hold him back to any significant degree is that his Good Samaritan nature of "I can't leave anyone behind" is portrayed as something that's so integral to his being that it's basically compulsive to some degree, whereas...

Most dangerous: Taichi. Of course. Well, we haven't seen him directly lead an army like Taiki did, but even when he was in an existential crisis about his career he still decided to go into poli-econ, and we know he eventually does go into hardcore politics. He's charismatic and great at bringing people together for a goal, and while he does have a self-sacrificial aspect, it's heavily tied to him having guilt over troubling or hurting others, and if that weren't in play...

[apiratefellinlovewithastar]

me whenever I see corrupted Taichi and Metalgreymon 🖤🖤🖤

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

Unfortunately I didn't make it before the end of Pride Month, but - while there are a lot of potentially queer ships in the subtext of the Digimon universe that fit the tone, there aren't as many of them that came this close to technically being confirmed as having a valid (canon) baseline as this one.

To ask if canon provides input on Daisuke and Ken - or Daiken, Kensuke, Daisuken, however you want to call them -, is, once again, like asking if water is wet; they're the most elaborated relationship in the entirety of Digimon Adventure 02, the majority of Ken's development is tied to his bond to Daisuke... If you want to read more about why I value their relationship so much, I definitely recommend this post here, because they're just... Endlessly fascinating to me.

The good-hearted goofball with self-esteem issues that lead him to play a role to impress others initially - meets a corrupted genius and literally slaps the darkness out of his system. They turn from fated rivals to fated partners, facing the powers of darkness together and eventually, they become better people in the process thanks to one another. Daisuke's entire priority system changes upon wanting to give Ken a chance, he not only becomes more honest and less defensive, but also lets his personal sense of courage and friendship shine through; Ken, who's initially reluctant to take the hand Daisuke is offering him due to all the guilt he feels, slowly but steadily becomes the kind and gentle soul that was always within him, because there is someone by his side who has his back. Always.

It's a beautiful story of two complementing souls, whose bond enables the first real Jogress evolution, despite the fact - or even because - they couldn't be any more different. It's a story of repentance, forgiveness, learning to befriend others despite your own trauma and differences - and the story of a romantic subtext that almost hits you in the face if you're not careful enough. There is a reason why the screenshot above exists - the most recent movie literally acknowledged that, even after all these years, the bond between Daiken has not vanished and has, instead, gained a somewhat (actively) flirtatious nuance. While it used to be Ken who blushed due to Daisuke's (oftentimes oblivious) bluntness, the same Ken is now forward enough to openly praise Daisuke in ways that make it impossible to overlook the potential implications here - well, for anybody who isn't Daisuke himself at least...

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

Given the circumstances that we're, unfortunately, not talking about a canonically confirmed ship, we just gotta pretend that there will be a day when Ken's attempts of asking Daisuke out will be answered in two potential ways: 1.) "Huh? YOU WERE FLIRTING WITH ME THE ENTIRE TIME????" or 2.) "Huh? I thought we were together this entire time anyway???" Because both of these would be somewhat plausible "Daisuk-esque" reactions in my opinion.

I thoroughly believe that these two would work out romantically in fantastic ways - even though it'd take a lot of work, but which relationship that intends to last doesn't? They both chose careers that require enormous amounts of time and energy - and very irregular working hours. Granted, the latter applies to the majority of the Chosen Children, but an aspiring chef of his own Ramen cart may only be able to see an aspiring police officer if the latter's break time allows him to grab a meal at a Ramen facility that is coincidentally very close by... Gate hopping may have made that a lot easier, but at this point, we don't even know if that is still a thing anymore.

I still maintain that, as much as they'd be married to their jobs, they both still have quite a romantic side to themselves once the curse is broken - so they would make time, just like they did throughout all these years. While their interests in general might also be quite different, they would always find a way to bond over their mutual love for sports, football in particular. Ken needs someone who pulls him out of his head - and Daisuke needs someone who grounds him, which, as The Beginning suggested, is (basically) exactly their dynamic. They always enjoy group gatherings with their friend groups, food tastings are always a reason for Daisuke to invite everybody over - especially to lure Ken away from work. And let's be real, I can also see them go on cheesy dates - that mostly consist of them doing sporting activities (any kind of ball sport, rollerskating, hiking) where Daisuke can (pretend to) be competitive and Ken knowingly plays along with the teasing, just so they have an excuse to be close. Because they'd be cheesy like that, oh Lord, they'd be so cheesy in the most wanna-be-bro way possible.

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

In a universe in which Miyaken doesn't become canon, there is literally no reason for Daiken not to be endgame - unless the writers actually had some guts and turned them into an official OT3 in The Beginning. Of course I can always enjoys them as just platonic life partners, bros 4 life, you don't even have to give it a label, as long as they remain as close as they are. Because they simply belong together, one way or another.

[asksprite]

Out of partial inspiration and partial boredom, I made a whole flowchart for my Lopmon's Digivolution paths.

Yes, it's super complicated, but in the context of her evolutions being based on Empathy, It makes much more sense. (Think of Tai/Taichi + Greymon from Adventure 01, or Takato + WarGrowlmon from Tamers.)

To clarify the "Mega Blessing", think of Azulongmon giving Paildramon the ability to Digivolve to Imperialdramon.

Prairiemon and the Mega Blessing would both only exist in an Adventure 02 setting. Neither Cherubimon evolutions would exist in Adventure 01, just as Prairiemon would not exist in the Tamers setting.

The idea here is that because of Lopmon's link to Empathy, her evolution branches are heavily affected by her Digidestined/Tamer's emotions. Each branch from Champion/Adult to Ultimate/Perfect has the opportunity to go down their current branch, or become corrupted/purified (based on if they start down the Positive branch or the Negative branch) when evolving into the next stage. Both branches exist in all three season settings, but the two Megas/Ultimates only exist in Adventure 02 and Tamers (Cherubimon Evil only exists in Tamers, and Antylamon Virus needs to be purified before becoming Cherubimon Good in Adventure 02.) Warp Digivolution from Lopmon will always yield Cherubimon Good, once unlocked.

The only form not included here is the X-Antibody form, since that is a part of mostly side media content, and as far as I know of, doesn't apply to main series Digimon, let alone partner Digimon.

Yes, I know I used the DigiEgg/DigiMental of Kindness for this, but given she's my Lopmon, I merely used the Kindness variation since it isn't too far off of Empathy.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x13 - Angemon Awakens! / The Legend of the DigiDestined

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Takeru learned how Digimon Babies are made and then arranged a sumo match over it.

Now, six out of seven Chosen Children are on their way back to Infinity Mountain while Devimon plots to assassinate Takeru, the one child left behind.

We open right where we left off: The corrupted Leomon has arrived at the Village of Beginnings. Uttering his mantra of "Defeat the children," he draws his sword and descends upon the nursery, eager to drench it in human blood.

The babies down below, playing with Takeru, are the first to notice him. They all stare up the cliff and quiver in terror, giving Takeru and Patamon the cue to look up and see him too.

To defend Takeru, Patamon lets off his Air Shot. Leomon blocks the attack, but it forces him to take a knee for a moment to defend himself, delaying his advance. Patamon takes that as an opportunity for Plan B: Run like hell.

Takeru and Patamon take cover in the nearby jungle.

Patamon: Leomon is normally a good Digimon. If we can just get rid of the Black Gear inside of him....

Unfortunately, we don't get to pursue that train of thought as Ogremon reveals exactly what Devimon meant by "stacking the odds".

He's snatched up one of the baby Poyomon as a bargaining chip.

Ogremon: Can you hear me, kid!? You're hiding somewhere like a scaredy-cat, aren't ya? Come out and show yourself! If you don't, this one here's gonna get it!

Over in the dub, he says:

Ogremon: Hello! You've got company! You're a nice little kid, aren't ya? Get your hide out here so I can get a good look at ya! 'Cause if you don't, your little friend here's gonna squeak his last squeak.

"Squeak his last squeak" is fantastic phrasing. I love it. Perfectly captures the threat he's making while accommodating it to the context of the scene. A+ dub team.

Patamon takes a moment to consider the awful situation in front of them.

Patamon: If I drive out the Black Gear inside Leomon, he'll fight Ogremon for us. But... If I fail... Would I be able to protect Takeru by myself?

Hard tactical considerations taking place here.

Over in the dub, he's... he's whining? Whining seems like the word for it.

Patamon: Poor Leomon. I know he wouldn't attack us if that stupid Black Gear didn't have him under an evil spell! He'd come over to our side. If we could only figure out a way to help him. I gotta protect T.K. from Ogremon! But he's so big and I'm not....

Dub Patamon is venting about how bad this situation sucks.

Whoops, time's up. Guess we're dying here. Leomon raises his sword to stab down into Takeru, then lets out a battle cry of "FOX FIRE!!!"

Wait, no, that wasn't him. A rush of blue flames erupts from the woods and forces him into evasive maneuvers, announcing the cavalry's arrival.

Leomon's forced to back off from Takeru to evade the first shot of Fox Fire. As Yamato splits from Garurumon to go check on Takeru, Leomon blocks a second burst with his sword, expertly splitting the flames around himself.

As the two emerge from the woods, wrestling with one another before separating, their brawl is revealed to Ogremon. He's so shocked, he doesn't even notice Taichi plundering his hostage.

(The audacity of this child. XD Ogremon could snap his spine in half with his bare hands! This is what Crest of Courage means.)

Once he realizes he's been had, Ogremon whirls on Taichi. But it's too late. Taichi's got the Poyomon now, and Greymon's ready to engage Ogremon. Greymon lets off a Mega Flame to kick the fight off proper, but Ogremon dodges.

To his credit, Ogremon's no pushover. After dodging Mega Flame, he closes distance and lands a crushing blow with his club to the top of Greymon's skull. As he lands, Greymon tries to counter with a tail whip; It's honestly unclear if the blow connects or if Ogremon backs off fast enough to dodge.

Seeing as this ambush has turned into a battle, Devimon sends seven Black Gears out from Infinity Mountain to hedge his bets.

Over at Leomon's fight, he dodges a lunge from Garurumon, slashing him along the flank. Garurumon turns and lunges again, this time hitting his mark.

Ogremon scores another solid hit with his Haouken, straight to Greymon's face. Greymon recovers and lets out another Mega Flame, which Ogremon deftly evades.

(Honestly, Greymon and Garurumon are getting worked over in this fight. You can feel the difference between Ogremon and Leomon - two seasoned Adult-stage warriors who've tested their skills against one another in battle countless times - and the two Partner Digimon who only hit Adult-stage for the first time this week. It was one thing when we could mob them 6v2, but these two are incredibly formidable 1v1.)

In an interesting choice, the dub cuts the footage of Ogremon bashing Greymon in the skull as well as cutting Ogremon's Haouken. We only see him either dodging or being hit by the tail whip, and then him narrowly evading another Mega Flame. None of the hits he lands make it in. So while Leomon and Ogremon seem to be carrying their fights in the original, the dub makes it seem like Greymon has Ogremon on the ropes.

But it offers no similar puffing up to Garurumon for his fight. The shot of Leomon avoiding Garurumon's lunge and then slashing his flank is preserved, so Dub Garurumon seems to be having a harder fight than Greymon is.

Suddenly, Devimon's backup arrives. The Black Gears pour into Leomon, causing him to grow dramatically in size and power. Yamato yells at Garurumon to get out of there, but it's too late; It only takes a single ultra-powered Juuouken to put Garurumon down for the count.

"GARURUMON!!!" Yamato screams in horror. Meanwhile, in the dub, Matt unhelpfully calls out, "Are you okay?" Peachy, Matt. Thanks for asking.

Turning to back up Ogremon, Leomon lets off another Juuouken, one-shotting Greymon. The shot hurls him backwards into the Village of Beginnings.

With the kids' defenders out of the way, Devimon speaks telepathically to Leomon, giving him a simple command: "Defeat the Chosen Children. Start with the smallest."

At this point, we're getting pretty dark so the dub dials it back. Dub Devimon only tells Leomon to "bring me the DigiDestined" rather than to vanquish them all. Gotta treat this like Devimon's trying to take prisoners so nobody pays attention to him visibly trying to stab them.

Reciting his new order, Leomon turns on Takeru. Patamon lets off Air Shot after Air Shot after Air Shot, but Leomon wades through his attacks as if they weren't even there. He snatches Patamon out of the air and--

--then more cavalry arrives. Togemon calls her attack, letting out a "Chiku Chiku Bang-Bang!" but she doesn't do the move. Instead opting to let air-dropping a giant cactus on Leomon's back be the full move and belly-flopping him into submission.

Technically, that counts as a Needle Spray; It's just a different delivery mechanism.

Takeru snatches up Patamon from the ground.

Takeru: Patamon! Are you okay!? Patamon: Takeru... I have to protect you.... (eyelids droop, body limpens) Takeru: Patamon! Hang in there, Patamon!

No dice, Takeru. Despite his encouragement, Patamon passes out right then and there in his arms.

Again, we're getting pretty dark for the dub so they recontextualize this scene to avoid having Patamon lose consciousness from battle damage.

T.K.: Patamon! You gotta take it easy, buddy. Patamon: I'm sorry. T.K.: What for? Patamon: I was just trying to protect you. (eyelids droop) T.K.: And you were doing great! Don't feel bad, little guy!

Hang in there, little buddy. Those Air Shots you've been firing have been great for moral support!

Kabuterimon delivers Koushiro and Mimi to the fight, dropping them off with Taichi. They have game-changing intel to deliver.

Koushiro: Use the powers of the holy device, the Digivice! Taichi: The holy device? Mimi: These things! Koushiro: These devices have the power to eliminate the darkness! Taichi: Come to think of it....

Taichi suddenly remembers when his Digivice purified Leomon before, back at Infinity Mountain. He understands now.

The dub, of course, talks around the "holy device" terminology.

Izzy: We have the consummate solution to all of our problems. Tai: That's cool, but what are you talking about? Mimi: Check 'em out! Izzy: They call them Digivices. They have the capability to completely obliterate the Black Gear. Tai: Then let's give 'em a try! We have no other choice right now; We have to take a chance and stop him!

Naturally, Tai's last line talks over the Leomon flashback.

Meanwhile, Leomon is back on his feet and advancing on Takeru. Yamato stands between them, shielding Takeru with his own body. Suddenly, Taichi calls out, approaching with a confident swagger.

Taichi: Leomon! You're after us, right? Come and get me. Yamato: Taichi? What are you doing!? Leomon: Defeat the Chosen Children!

Leomon turns, his attention drawn to Taichi. Just as planned.

Seeing what's happening, Yamato gets the idea and joins in. Together, Yamato and Taichi use their Digivices to purge the Black Gears from inside Leomon.

Ogremon watches in shock as the tide turns against them. Then Koushiro pulls his attention, just before Kabuterimon slams him with Mega Blaster. The shot hits him dead-on.

The dub blunts the impact of both of these moments. Watching Tai purify Leomon, Matt simply says, "Y'know, these things pack quite a punch," as if he already knew how this worked. Meanwhile, we have Ogremon's line.

Ogremon: N-Not good! Those little brats!

This gets replaced with:

Ogremon: How'd they do that? Rotten kids.

Delivered with all the emotion of finding a frisbee on your roof.

Once Leomon's been purified, Ogremon concedes defeat and retreats.

Ogremon: You're joking. I can't fight all of them at once!

Ironically, the dub rewrites this to make Ogremon tougher.

Ogremon: Ha! Those little fools are kidding themselves. They don't know who they're dealing with! They're gonna find out sooner than they think.

Oh, I think they have a pretty good idea. Devimon by this point has been well-established.

With Leomon now purified, he can at last explain the plot to five of the seven children lost on File Island. Jou and Sora can go screw themselves, I guess.

Leomon: A rumor started long ago. It said the world will be consumed by evil and Chosen Children from another world will arrive to save it. Now, File Island is being overrun by a great darkness. That's when you appeared. Taichi: So that's why you call us the Chosen Children. Yamato: But you have no proof. Leomon: The Chosen Children are said to have the power to enable Digimon to evolve, just like you all. Koushiro: If that's true, then perhaps if we destroy the darkness, we won't be needed in this world. Mimi: What do you mean, Koushiro-kun? Koushiro: In other words, we may be able to return to our world. Mimi: Really!? Yamato: But, to do that....

Over in the dub, the ancient rumor has more specificity to it.

Leomon: According to ancient legend, our world will be taken over by a strange dark force that will change good Digimons into bad ones. Our ancestors have predicted that a group of children called the DigiDestined will appear from another world. When they arrive, they will come to possess superpowers that will eventually save our world from destruction. I believe their prediction has come true. File Island has been seized by an evil power. We're in danger of destruction, and now you've appeared. Tai: Whoa, that's amazing! But tell me: How can you be sure we're the kids you're talking about? Matt: Yeah! Do you have some proof that we're the same ones? Leomon: It's been foretold that the DigiDestined have the ability to make Digimons Digivolve. You've done that, and it's all the proof I need. Izzy: I, for one, hope that it's true. My theory is that we'll be released after we save the island. Once our purpose is served, there's no other reason for us to remain. Mimi: And I'll finally be able to change these clothes! Izzy: That's right! If Leomon's information is correct, we'll be heading straight for home. Mimi: I can't wait! Matt: How can we make it happen? We're not even sure who's causing it. What if it's a force that's too big for us to handle?

XD Don't agree too hard that Mimi's clothes are nasty, Izzy.

The original prophecy is vague as to the precise nature of the dark power and its effects on the world. We're just assuming, from our limited perspective on File Island, that Devimon is the dark power being described.

The dub version is clearly talking about the effect the Black Gears have on Digimon. Nonetheless, they throw in Yamato's line to hint that Devimon may be a symptom rather than the cause all the same, so it's a bit more awkward but we're not wholly committing to Devimon being the problem.

For the first time, the kids have marching orders.

Leomon: You must defeat Devimon, who is the source of that evil power. Taichi: Let's do it, guys. We have to defeat him or we won't survive here. Koushiro: You're right. Plus, we have the power of the holy devices! Mimi: I'll do my best! It's scary, but I want to go home! Palmon: We'll do what we can to help you, Mimi! Tentomon: Our stamina's recovered. Agumon: I'm ready to fight any time you are! Gabumon: Let's go to Infinity Mountain, Yamato! Yamato: Agreed. We have no other choice. Leomon: I will help you as well. Taichi: YES!!! It's decided!

Taichi is gung-ho about wasting this motherfucker.

Over in the dub, we have:

Leomon: You see, Devimon is the main cause of all this evil. To save the island, you're going to have to defeat him. Tai: Let's go for it! Everyone: (unintelligible grunts of dissent) Tai: Come on, everyone! Why not? If we don't defeat him, it'll never be over! Izzy: Fine with me! Besides, it's impossible for us to lose with the Digivices Mimi: First thing on my list when I get home is to do some killer shopping! Palmon: For that to happen, we have to get you back home. Tentomon: If we all work together, we're sure to win. Agumon: I'm ready any time you are, buddy! Gabumon: How about it, Matt? Are we up to the challenge, my friend? Matt: It's gonna be tough. When you get down to it, we have no other choice. Leomon: Alright then, troops! Let's get down to it! Tai: Far out! It's a done deal!

There are two main differences between these versions. The first is that the dub has everyone grunt in dissatisfaction when Tai initially wants to go fight Devimon.

The other is Mimi's line, which is changed from her joining in the Let's Do This fanfare to a Valley Girl bit about what she plans to do afterward. Which still signifies her agreement. And at least nobody makes fun of her or yells at her for it.

Leomon rows the kids back to Infinity Mountain in a boat. From there, they all begin their climb.

The dub gives Leomon some extra dialogue as they're rowing.

Leomon: Devimon is very powerful. He's brought nothing but trouble to File Island. We must be careful.

At the top, Devimon prepares to defend himself against the children's counterattack.

Devimon: It appears I'll have to fight them myself now. Before he appears.... Ogremon: Please give me another chance! Devimon: Yes, I'll let you fight... As a part of me. Death Claw!

Devimon snatches Ogremon up by the throat, choking him. Then he disintegrates Ogremon into a set of eight Black Gears.

(That's how he makes Black Gears!? Horrifying.)

The dub completely alters the tone of this scene.

Devimon: Perfect! That traitor Leomon is leading them directly into my trap. He's been very valuable to me! Ogremon: I guess so, but I'm loyal and better looking-- Devimon: Listen to me! You will pay them one final visit. Ready?

They edit out the footage of Devimon grabbing Ogremon by his throat, though they keep the part where he disintegrates into Black Gears. The body horror is fine, but no choking allowed!

In the original, this is presented as Devimon's last-ditch Hail Mary. His back is against the wall and violent retribution is coming straight at his doorstep, so he conjures all the power he can muster for one final throwdown.

The dub plays this like he's still in control of the situation and meant for this to happen.

As the Gears levitate and surround him, Devimon exclaims in a booming voice:

Devimon: COME TO ME, POWERS OF DARKNESS!!! I WILL MAKE FILE ISLAND INTO YOUR TOMB, CHOSEN CHILDREN!!!

The gears implant themselves in Devimon. From outside the island, we see even more Black Gears flying in from all around, as if he's summoning Black Gears from across the shards for this battle.

Similar to before, Dub Devimon's super confident that he's got this.

Devimon: AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Hear this, DigiDestined: My power is infinite! Your hopes and dreams are useless! I am the supreme master of this island! If you dare to defy me, I will unleash the powers of the universe and conquer you! You can't escape!

Not sure what "powers of the universe" he's referring to but it's certainly intimidating, to be sure.

As the Black Gears concentrate at File Island, we see Sora and Jou on their approach. They notice the Gears massing too.

Sora: What's that? Birdramon: The powers of evil are gathering. Jou: What? Ikkakumon: The fight must be starting. Sora: Let's hurry! Jou: Yeah!

Sora's giving the commands now, I see. Now that he's prayed Bakemon to death, we don't need to pretend to respect Jou's leadership anymore.

I kid. But over in the dub, the disrespect for Joe is real.

Sora: Oh no, what's that? Birdramon: Big trouble's brewing. We'd better get ready for action. Joe: Black Gear! Ikkakumon: This is going to be the big one, Joe. It's time to show your true self. Sora: You feeling okay, Joe? Joe: Just a little seasick.

I love this exchange for reasons that probably aren't intended. Joe unhelpfully calls out "Black Gear!" as if we all can't see the countless Gears flying to Infinity Mountain from every which way. Which then prompts both Ikkakumon and Sora to be like, "...y'okay there, champ?" XD

It's so inadvertently condescending. Surely not the intent of the dub, but it made me laugh.

As the kids climb higher, Devimon suddenly reveals the nature of his Hail Mary. This is what he's been doing with the Black Gears. He grows to colossal size, towering over the mountain.

Mimi: What is that!? Koushiro: Is that Devimon!? Palmon: Why is he so big!? Koushiro: Could this be an illusion like the one he made earlier? Leomon: No. (The kids turn to Leomon) Leomon: He's grown larger using the powers of evil.

Holy shit, who knew the Black Gears could do that!? Well, everyone, if you've been paying attention. Sizeshifting is a well-established ability of the Black Gears now being pushed to the extreme.

The reaction in the dub's a bit more... confused.

Mimi: What in the world is that!? Tai: It must be Devimon! Palmon: I didn't expect him to be such a big guy. Izzy: Bad guys always seem to think bigger is better. Leomon: 'Fraid not! (The kids turn to Leomon while gasping in surprise) Leomon: The power that Devimon possesses is immense, so be careful!

...I have no idea what he was contradicting here when he said "'Fraid not!" The kids react like that was a game-changing revelation. But. Like. What is he saying?

Is he saying bad guys don't thing bigger is better? Because Devimon demonstrably does.

Is he saying bigger isn't better? Because he follows that up with a warning about how dangerous Devimon is. "Ha, he's ACTUALLY a wuss. Anyways, he's supremely dangerous and you should try not to die." Doesn't really make sense that way either.

Flying down from the mountain, Devimon lands in the woods at its base. Before they can evolve their Digimon, he turns and showers the kids in an ongoing stream of dark energy pouring out of his right hand.

Leomon raises his sword to attack, but Devimon has two hands. There's enough dark energy stream to go around.

Devimon: Brainless. You are all destined to be destroyed here.

Dub Devimon takes this as an opportunity to brag.

Devimon: You are fools! Don't expect me to play silly games with you; I'm far too wise for that!

Okay, but hear me out: What if we challenged you to a children's card game? No? Okay.

Fortunately, the artillery arrives, with Devimon suddenly taking six Harpoon Vulcans to the face.

"Oh wow, somehow I completely forgot about that." ~Devimon, probably.

While Devimon's reeling from the missiles, Birdramon keeps up the assault, pummeling him with Meteor Wing from above. Sora races up the mountain, screaming at the rest of the team to evolve while they have the chance.

They take her up on that without hesitation. As each Digimon evolves, their kid cheers them on.

Taichi: Go, Greymon! Yamato: We're counting on you, Garurumon! Koushiro: Please, Kabuterimon! Mimi: You can do this, Togemon!

The dub kids gradually get more and more distracted as the moment goes on. XD

Tai: Yeah! Go, Greymon! Matt: Let's turn this guy into pudding! Izzy: My biology teacher would love this! Mimi: I do like the way our colors match!

Tai's the only one who read the script. Matt improvs and does a solid job of it. Izzy gets distracted by science. And then Mimi takes Izzy's screw-up as permission to stop trying too. XD

As soon as the team's evolved, this turns into precisely the 6v1 that Devimon was so worried about earlier. However, in his giant form, Devimon's able to defend himself. The team pummels him with Mega Flame, Fox Fire, Chiku Chiku Bang Bang, and Mega Blaster. Devimon fights back, slamming Garurumon into Greymon, knocking Togemon off the ledge, and swatting Kabuterimon from the sky.

He yells at them that their attacks are useless, but he sounds hurt and frustrated as he does. When he shows his back to swing at Kabuterimon, seasoned veteran Leomon seizes the opportunity to strike where he's most vulnerable.

It does not go well. This is what Devimon was referring to when he said Ogremon would fight as "part of [him]".

(He's like the Venom symbiote now. Viruses are fucking weird.)

Ogremon: (emerges) Not so fast, Leomon! Leomon: What. Ogremon: (club) You thought his back would be a weak point? Well, I won't let you near him!

The tiny "Nani?" that emerges from poor confused Leomon is comical.

Ogremon re-enters Devimon's back, then emerges from the back of his shin to follow up on Leomon.

Ogremon: I've become one with Devimon-sama! There's no way I can lose to you now! HAOUKEN!!!

Ogremon blasts Leomon with a far more powerful Haouken, which emerges as a black beam made of darkness energy instead of the purple ki blast it usually is. The shot hits Leomon dead in, rocketing him into the forest behind him.

The dub cuts the first exchange, with Ogremon bashing Leomon. Ogremon emerges from Leomon's back and then we're down on the ground for Ogremon's second line. Also, despite Leomon trying to make this a sneak attack, Dub Leomon announces his presence.

Leomon: RAAAARGH You're mine now! Ogremon: (emerges) YAAAARGH!!! Leomon: YOU!!! Ogremon: You got no chance against the likes of us, kitty-cat!

Then the beam of Ogremon's darkness-infused Haouken strikes Leomon, but without Ogremon calling the attack.

Up above, Devimon's caught Birdramon out of the sky. He throws her onto the cliffside, landing directly on top of Greymon and knocking them both down the cliff.

(This is the second time in this fight Devimon's used another Digimon to club Greymon specifically. If Taichi were a more toxic player, chat would be full of obscenities about "ok tm8" and "git gud or uninstall" right now.)

Devimon next turns his ire on Ikkakumon, picking him up from the spot near the woods he's been firing from. Kabuterimon chooses that moment to recover and return to the air, so Devimon serves Ikkakumon straight into him.

Having bought himself a moment to breathe, Devimon turns on Takeru and Patamon down on the ground.

Devimon: The smallest Chosen Child. As long as you are gone, I have nothing else to fear. Death Claw!

It hasn't been established yet why Devimon's so afraid of Takeru. The dub pegs it as part of the legend.

Devimon: Now to get rid of you. Then I'll have nothing to fear. They say the smallest will destroy me but I'm not going to let that happen. Don't move; Make it easy on both of us.

Devimon extends his Death Claw towards Takeru and Patamon on the ground, but just then his breathing moment ends. Yamato and Garurumon arrive to save Takeru, with Garurumon lunging and biting onto Devimon's arm. This quickly escalates into a full-blown dogpile.

(I love how we have one Digimon on each of his limbs, one on his face disorienting him, and then Togemon's like "My body is a knife; It doesn't really matter where I stab, shit's gonna hurt regardless.")

Devimon releases a radial pulse of dark energy, sending both the Digimon and kids hurtling back, badly injured. Just like that, this fight has reached its conclusion, as neither Children nor Partners have strength left to even pick themselves off the ground.

Taichi: ...Greymon.... Greymon: ...S... Sorry, Taichi.... Togemon: I wanted to send you back to your world, but.... Kabuterimon: My power.... Ikkakumon: Fuck! Taichi: Guys.... Yamato: Ta... Takeru!

Yes, Ikkakumon curses. The word used is kuso, which is the general-purpose Japanese angry swear word. You're allowed to say kuso in kids' cartoons.

Meanwhile, in the dub, obviously Ikkakumon does not shout "Fuck!"

Greymon: Whoa, that guy knows how to take it out of ya! Togemon: I can't move. Even my needles feel numb. Kabuterimon: Now is probably not a good time to take a nap. Ikkakumon: Mrrrrrrrgghhhhhh.... Tai: This is bad.... T.K.: MATT!!! Devimon: You will be mine. Matt: Hey! Get ready to run!

Not only does ikkakumon not shout "Fuck!" but I guess they washed his mouth out with soap 'cause he can only groan wordlessly.

Also, back from Episode 1 by popular demand, it's "Get ready to run" in a situation where there's clearly no escape avenue available. Meanwhile, Devimon is once again talking like he intends to take prisoners.

As death closes in on Takeru, Patamon lets off Air Shot after Air Shot in desperation but his attacks are useless.

Patamon: It's no use. There's no way my attacks can work! (crying) Why am I the only one? WHY CAN'T I EVOLVE!?!? Takeru: PATAMON!!! Patamon: TAKERU!!!

Patamon throws himself in front of Takeru just as Devimon's hand closes around them both.

Yamato: TAKERU!!!

The dub plays this almost completely straight, with the exception of changing Yamato's line.

Matt: Hang on, pal!

"Hang on" to what, Matt? He's being crushed to death. XD Trying to find things these characters can say that won't sound like one of them is about to die hideously. This is a very dark episode.

Fortunately, the light has arrived.

Mimi: What? Koushiro: That's... Sora: The light of evolution!!!

Patamon SHINKAAAAAA!!!

At long last, Patamon's evolution is revealed: Angemon, an Adult-stage Vaccine-type Digimon and the very thing Devimon was so afraid of.

Jou: Patamon evolved! Sora: Angemon...? Yamato: Takeru's... Digimon...? Mimi: He looks like an angel.... Takeru: Patamon evolved! Devimon: You! I was so close! Angemon: I will annihilate your powers of evil. COME TO ME, OH HOLY POWERS!!!

Meanwhile, the dub's still trying to keep this light despite nearly all the characters being wasted on the ground and unable to stand.

Joe: Hey, Patamon finally Digivolved! Sora: That's super cool! Matt: Not bad! That little guy really had it in him! Mimi: Nice hair! Good color. T.K.: I wanna take him home with me! Devimon: What's this? Another foolish attempt? Angemon: The forces of good are more powerful. Even you can't stop us! I'll destroy you and bring peace to the island!

The kids have conferred and decided that Angemon's a solid 8.5 out of 10.

I jest, but I fully understand why they're doing this. This episode is so dark. Way too dark for the FOX Kids censors.

The big difference here is Devimon's reaction. Again, in the original, this was a last-ditch Hail Mary play. Devimon's last remaining hope of victory was to snuff out Takeru and Patamon before this could happen. Here, Devimon sees the writing on the wall. He knows it's over.

But Dub Devimon meant for Leomon to bring the kids here as part of a fiendish trap. So he remains arrogant and boisterous, unaware that the tables are about to turn one final time.

Reacting to Angemon's summons, those holy powers do indeed come to him. Every holy device on the field reacts, sending a ray of sacred energy up into him. He channels the energy used to evolve the kids' Digimon, taking so much from each and every Digivice that the Partner Digimon all revert to Child-stage.

Devimon: W-What are you doing!? Stop that! If you do that, you won't get off so easily either! Angemon: There is no other way. Even if this destroys my body-- Takeru: ANGEMON!!! Angemon: Devimon, your evil powers have grown far too much. You must be erased from this world.

Because of the dialogue change, it's not quite as clear in the dub that this is something Angemon is doing to the kids' Digivices intentionally. It seems to happen out of nowhere. As a kid, I was always confused about what's happening here.

Devimon: That light is so bright; What are you doing to me!? Stop it! I'm not going to allow you to take my power away; You'll have to fight me! Angemon: I'm afraid I have no other choice! If I can help others, my fate is unimportant! T.K.: ANGEMON!!! Angemon: Your powers have gotten far out of control and must be extinguished! I am ready to fight for peace!

Of course, as confusion goes, it doesn't help that the dub makes it seem like Angemon's doing some sort of energy drain to try and weaken Devimon.

Ogremon desperately emerges from Devimon's chest to defend him and clonks straight into Angemon's holy... um....

Okay. This makes it all the way into the dub unedited, too.

I was not prepared for that. Laughing for probably three minutes straight. Goddammit, Digimon.

Struck by Angemon's holy staff, Ogremon withdraws all the way through Devimon's chest, vanishing and leaving a gaping hole where he'd been. The staff shrivels away after use, disintegrating and sending all of the stored holy power into Angemon's right fist.

Devimon: Oh no.... Takeru: ANGEMON!!! Angemon: I'm sorry, Takeru. Devimon: I'll crush you to death! Angemon: HEAVEN'S KNUCKLE!!!

With no other options to fall back on, Devimon tries to simply close his hands around Angemon in one last desperation move. But Angemon counters, releasing every ounce of sacred energy he's channeled from the Digivices all at once.

Meanwhile, traumatized dub writers frantically scribble out Angemon's pre-self-destruct apology and replace it with heroic assurance.

Devimon: Now you've done it! T.K.: Be careful! Devimon: Ahahahahaha!!! Angemon: I'll get him. Relax. Devimon: Come here, pretty boy! Angemon: I'll stop you!

So that's a 9.5 out of 10 from Devimon.

Heaven's Knuckle rips through Devimon. The eruption grows, engulfing the entirety of Infinity Mountain.

As the energy engulfs Devimon, he and Angemon both slowly disintegrate.

Devimon: Stupid! That was stupid of you, Angemon! What was the point of exhausting your energy here? The powers of darkness aren't confined to File Island alone. Across the sea, there are Digimon who have far greater powers of evil than I do! This is the end for all of you! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Devimon fades into nothing) Takeru: Angemon! Angemon: Takeru. I'm sure we'll meet again, so long as you wish for it. (Angemon, too, fades into nothing) Takeru: ANGEMON!!!

Would somebody get this poor child some therapy?

Devimon dies with a smile on his face, assured that this will prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Chosen Children. Only time will tell if he's right.

The dub exchange is mostly the same, with one key exception.

Devimon: You have used up all your power! That wasn't very smart, Angemon. Now you are no use to anyone! You can't get away from the dark forces; Evil is everywhere, so don't savor your victory. There are other Digimon that are just as powerful as I am; Some of them are even stronger! I wonder what you'll do when you run into them? You haven't won at all! What a waste of time! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Devimon fades into nothing) T.K.: Angemon! Angemon: T.K. I'll come back again... If you want me to. (Angemon, too, fades into nothing) T.K.: ANGEMON!!!

The key difference is the world on the other side of the ocean, which the show has mentioned a few times by now. Dub Devimon eschews telling the kids of greater powers beyond the ocean, opting instead for a more general "Evil is everywhere".

(If I'm understanding Devimon's plans right: Devimon used File Island as a cover to manufacture Black Gears, converting the whole island into transport vehicles to disseminate those Gears globally in the process. As the weakest in his faction, this was Devimon's plan to even the playing field.

We've seen the Black Gears work fine on Digimon even up to Perfect-stage; No clue about Ultimate-stage, but being able to control stronger Digimon is a great way for a weaker Digimon to claim supremacy.)

As Angemon dies, a few of his feathers drift down to the ground. Glowing with energy, they mold into the shape of a Digitama.

Tentomon: It's a Digitama. Takeru: Is it Angemon's? Gabumon: Angemon is starting over again from an egg. Palmon: That's right! As long as he evolves properly, you'll meet him again! Takeru: (embraces the Digitama) I'll take good care of you.

I like that Palmon specifies, "as long as he evolves properly". As previously noted, Digimon have branching evolution paths. How they evolve is determined by their circumstances. That's going to be a plot point in a few episodes' time.

Alright, dub; How do you approach the topic of reincarnation?

Tentomon: What do you know, it's a Digi-Egg. T.K.: Do you think it could be Angemon? Gabumon: I know it is. He's just resting for a while to regain his strength. Palmon: But don't worry! You'll see him again when he Digivolves. T.K.: I will make sure to take really good care of him! (embraces the Digi-Egg) You saved my life, Angemon.

Credit where it's due. They softball the topic with "resting for a while" but the intent of the scene remains clearly implied. Angemon died and has been reborn inside this egg.

Looking out over the sea, the kids notice that the island shards are all returning to their proper place on File Island.

Meanwhile, Ogremon wakes up down in the forest with one question on his mind.

Ogremon: Where's Devimon? Did they defeat him? Leomon: (standing right next to him) They did. Do you want to fight some more? Ogremon: N-NO MORE!!!

Ogremon runs screaming into the woods, bringing an end to the last piece of this conflict.

Dub Ogremon, on the other hand, is getting ambitious.

Ogremon: With Devimon out of the way, I can take over now. Leomon: (standing right next to him) Hello, you forgetting about me? Ogremon: LEOMON!? GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! Why can't the bad guys ever win?

That first line of his is awfully big talk for a guy who can't throw a punch without it being censored out of continuity.

Meanwhile, up at the top of the cliff, the kids discuss where to go from here.

Yamato: He said that there are more powerful Digimon across the ocean, didn't he? Jou: I thought we'd be able to go back to our world. Mimi: Do we have to keep fighting? I don't want to! Taichi: But we have to. No matter who the enemy is.

The dub kids have the same conversation, but a bit snippier.

Matt: What's with those other evil Digimon across the sea!? Joe: Yeah, I thought we were going home! Mimi: I don't want to have to fight again! Ohh, I think I broke a nail.... Tai: Well, according to Leomon's legend, we gotta do it! Remember: He said we're the DigiDestined!

Justice for Mimi's nail. Probably happened when Devimon hit them all with that radial burst.

Before the kids can discuss any further, a set of rocks suddenly falls away to reveal this strange holographic emitter. It powers on, displaying the image of what appears to be an old human man who greets them all as the Chosen Children.

But his is a story for another episode.

Assessment: For what is essentially the season finale for the File Island arc, this episode had a lot of disparate plot points to bring together. It's hit-or-miss on that.

Takeru's desire to find a better way to deal with Devimon doesn't bear any fruit - Though the idea of "uniting our hearts" certainly does. More pressingly, I have no idea how both Taichi & Yamato and Mimi & Koushiro knew which island shard to come find Takeru on. They were riding shards of their own and heading back to Infinity Mountain. How and why did they hop off their shards and go to the Village of Beginnings instead?

Also, Taichi and Yamato were bringing Yukidarumon and Mojamon to the fight too. I guess those two fucked off and went home. Between that and the previous episode's temporal continuity error with Leomon, the File Island arc falls apart in some ways here at the end.

Still, it pays off the Digivice plotline well. The fight with Leomon and Ogremon is fantastic, serving to set up the fight with Devimon. It fills in as a reminder, both for the sizeshifting properties of the Black Gears previously seen with Meramon and Mojamon and for the holy power of the Digivice. These two mechanics end up driving the final battle.

As for the dub... they did what they could. This episode is so dark. They had no hope of matching that intensity while keeping it censor-friendly.

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

Takaaki is scared to marry Taichi because he's just worried Taichi will leave him later because of maybe how unhappy he is. He doesn't have much money. His family sucks. His life sucks. He doesn't want Taichi to have struggles in his life as well. But Taichi is persistent on marrying Takaaki. He doesn't mind having struggles, being hated by the world for being married to the son of a corrupt politician. He didn't care, he was just happy to be with Takaaki.

They had their issues some days, what's a relationship without them? But Taichi was more than positive to marry Takaaki. He didn't mind the debt. He didn't mind anything. He just wanted Takaaki. He loved him and he was more than happy to continue on loving him for the rest of their lives. Bonded together in matrimony.

He calms Takaaki's nervousness with this. Holding his beloved's face in his hands, smiling. Takaaki can't just help but lean into the touch. He still worries over these things. And it's not like he doesn't want to marry Taichi, of course he does! But life doesn't like people like him. There's always something going downhill for him whenever he's at his happiest. But he trusts Taichi. He let's himself breathe out a breath of relief.

He wants to marry Taichi Fujisaki. And Taichi wants the same with Takaaki Ishimaru. In sickness and in health, through poverty and wealth.