#digimon stage play

[fizzingwizard]

Kido Jou villain path unlocked

Hands-down my favorite moment in the play. Taichi’s face in the bottom pic says it all.

Are you OK Joe? ARE you??

[seventeenlovesthree]

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

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

[cypreus-and-willow]

Chibi Commissions Open

Detailed chibi samples

(w background)

(some old chibi that I did)

Simple chibi samples

(group/multiple)

Mecha and Monster

[xnananko]

Love Story.

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

____________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[koumi-blog]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for reading!

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

[applescabs]

Oughhgh i hav. Packag. At home. Waiting for me. So cold. and alon.....

[meanderingwistera]

Loser

Masterlist

Summary - On the first night of your band’s new tour everyone is excited for what the new tour will bring. After an incident on opening night you and Suguru get pulled into Satoru’s orbit but how will the three of you handle this new relationship?

And the scandal just around the corner.

Pairing - Guitarist!Suguru Geto x Singer!Reader x Fanboy! Satoru Gojo

Content - Fluff, humour, SMUT, oral (m & f receiving), exhibitionism, fem implied reader, secret relationship, Geto and reader call Gojo pretty boy because they don’t know his name yet lol

Word count - 3.3k

A/N. - Walk into random rooms at your own risk

Art credits - (Geto) @-to_Ofu, (Gojo) @-su2kuna on X

Divider credit- @enchanthings

Satoru is not a very sociable person. 

He much prefers the safety of his house. In there he can let the masks drop and be himself without any prying eyes. Sure, he can play the smooth business man like a pro but he isn’t like that in reality. 

And reality is often disappointing. 

Satoru’s drive to climb high in the company he works for and his ability to flirt his way into deals has gotten him very far.

But as soon as he is in his house he drops the act that is his outside life. He switches his contacts for more comfortable glasses and lets his unruly white hair do its own thing. Satoru is a nerd to his very bones; Digimon, anime and music are all very important to his lifestyle.

Music is a big cornerstone of Satoru’s life, he needs it to do almost anything. Most of the time his music taste shifts and is composed of all songs with good beats or lyrics. He never really had one band he followed.

That was until he came across your band. 

It had been a clear autumn day when one of his friends had shared an earbud with him and one of your songs came on. Your voice was clear and loud in his ears. He had been almost mesmerised by the riffs on the guitar that accompanied it. 

Satoru has all of the albums that your band has ever released. Even a few additions that were rare. They were his babies, he even has a few signed. He had bought your new album and the tickets for the tour the day it was announced. 

When Megumi’s band had been announced as your opener he was ecstatic. He had practically yelled that his son was famous from the rooftops. Satoru told everyone about it and how he was going to support his son. He is ecstatic to have the opportunity to not only watch you perform in person and also meet you.

He fusses over his appearance for hours in the mirror to make himself not as recognizable as usual. It works for the most part and he will also be in the crowd so he lets it be for now.

It’s insanely crowded as he enters the venue. People push and shove to get a better spot. He feels a bit thrown around as he walks, like a ragdoll being tossed back and forth. But he gets a good spot in the crowd to wait for Megumi’s band to make their debut.

He has his camera ready to film his son and to send a video to Tsumiki who couldn’t make it because of work. She had been so upset that she couldn’t make it and Satoru had promised to film the entire thing. He doesn’t plan on letting her down.

Satoru cheers the loudest when the band begins to play. Yuji’s voice and energy gets the crowd clapping and cheering. He was always the best one with the crowd, his sunny demeanour has always drawn people in.

Megumi looks slightly less grumpy than usual. His frown upturned more than normal as he plays his guitar with practiced ease. He looks a bit miffed when he finds Satoru in the crowd with his phone recording but he can’t say anything about it now.

Nobara matches Yuji’s energy well and sings backup vocals. She jumps around the stage almost as much as Yuji does. Junpei looks nervous behind the drums as if they hadn’t practiced it a million times but halfway through their set he gains his confidence.

It was fun to see them evolving from the teens who practiced in Satoru’s basement.

“Thank you Tokyo!” Yuji yells into the crowd with his trademark grin as they end their set. The crowd cheers back in return to his words. 

After they exit the stage there is a period of about twenty minutes until the lights dim and the main band enters the stage. Satoru feels his heart beat out of his chest as you walk up to the mic and begin your set.

He can never go back to just listening to the recorded version of your songs after this.

The first show of a tour is always the best.

Everything is new; new songs, new choreography and the screaming fans. It’s electrifying to experience, all those people and all that noise. Like a drug that you want injected into your veins.

When Yuki, Nanami, You and Suguru had first started the band that is now selling out stadiums you would never have guessed how popular it would get. It started in the basement of Suguru’s parents house when all four of you were only teenagers. Now you hear every person in this sold out stadium sing the lyrics to your songs. 

“Come on! You guys can sing louder than that!” You exclaim with a wide grin and hold out your microphone to the crowd.

The best thing about being a singer is interacting with the crowd. You know how to make the crowd laugh, go wild and enjoy their experience. It’s arguably the best job ever.

You have long left your previous stage fright behind in the early days of your guys’ fame. For the longest time you could not handle the crowds but now you can’t get enough of them.

“Do you think we could reward the crowd for being so kind to us Yuki?” You cozy up to your bassist, an arm around her shoulders and point the microphone at her.

Yuki laughs brightly, “I think we could make that happen! What about you Suguru?”

The man in question gives you a smirk and a wink before obliging the two of you. His guitar playing the opening to one of your older songs. You cheer with the crowd and get them jumping again.

As you sing your eyes roll over the crowd. For a moment your eyes catch on a tall white haired man. He is watching you move around the stage like you have him in a trance. All too happy to give him something to look at you send a wink his way before moving on.

When that song is over your set is over. 

You guys say goodbye to the crowd and go backstage.

“Who wants to go drinking after the meet and greet?” Yuki asks with a grin.

You hum in contemplation as she takes off her base to put it in its case. She stretches her arms above her head lazily. 

“I will have to decline-” Kento replies quickly.

“Come on!” Yuki pouts at him, “Have fun for once in your life!”

“You should let loose Kento.” Suguru says with a grin.

Hopping up onto one of the gear cases you swing your feet lightly as they pack their stuff up.

“I have to agree! Remember that night in Vegas-” You are cut off by a sharp glare from him and hold up your hands in surrender. “Fine! I was just saying that you could have a bit more fun Kento.”

“Besides you Yuki will be by herself.” Suguru says and you giggle as he stands behind the case you are sitting on to put his arms around your waist.

Kento rolls his eyes at the both of you. Yuki just chuckles and continues to pester Kento to go out drinking.

“My tongue ring should be healed now.” He practically purrs in your ear.

Your relationship with Suguru has never been official in the public light. 

You have been in a relationship since you were twenty. Even before that there was a magnetism to him that drew you in. Kento, Yuki and both your inner circles knew but outside that it was private. 

Suguru preferred a more private relationship and you didn’t want to deal with the constant questions about your relationship that would come with it being out in the open. And it being a secret made it all the more fun.

You clench your thighs as you remember what he could do with tongue before the piercing and think of all the thing he can do now. He is doing this on purpose to make you all hot and bothered before the meet and greet. This is to get back at you for this morning but this is purely sadistic.

“You're so mean!” You whine as he chuckles and lets go of your waist.

“Come on let’s go.” Suguru nods his head toward the door that Kento and Yuki have already begun to walk out of.

You huff and get off the case to join them. 

The lines are long for the event and you can’t even see to the end of the line. You shake so many hands and take at least a hundred pictures. It is surprising that you don’t feel too worn out after it.

There are only a few people left in the line. A group of four teenagers and a man behind them. The teenagers walk up and you recognize them instantly.

“You guys are the openers right!” You ask excitedly as the approach.

Yuki looks interested and leans in closer to have a better look at the group. 

“You remember us?!” A girl with a brown bob exclaims and points to herself. 

You throw your head back with a laugh.

“Of course! We try to know every one of our openers and their music.” Yuki says and holds out a hand to her. 

She squeals and takes it. You smile fondly at them then turn to the other kids. The one closest to you has spiked black hair and a frown on his face. He is talking with Suguru about something, a light in his bored eyes.

The lead singer, you think his name is Yuji, walks up to you and you hold out a hand.

“Yuji right?” You ask and watch his face light up.

“Yes! I am a huge fan of your work!” He exclaims with a wide grin.

“I’m a fan of yours,” You shake his hand with a smile, “that crowd work is good.”

He blushes a bit at your complement, “Oh that’s nothing!”

What a humble kid. You will have to keep contact with them even after the tour because they are on a good track to be on the same level with your band. 

“Crowd work is important, don’t discount yourself like that. And your vocals are amazing too.” You continue.

After that you talk with the girl, Nobara, the boy, Megumi and their drummer, Junpei. All four of them are sweet and you can’t help but feel that the next generation will be in good hands with them around.

The last guy is the man you winked at in the crowd. He is cute up close, his walk is a bit awkward considering his height. He is tall, about as tall as Suguru if not taller. His glasses fall down his nose to reveal the bluest eyes you have ever seen.

Looking him up and down you grin and hold out your hand.

“Hi~” You greet him sweetly and watch as his cheeks grow red. 

“Hello,” He shakes your hand, “nice to meet you.”

“Do you want something signed,” You lean forward to get closer to his personal space and to push your chest against him, “or a photo.”

The poor man looks down at your chest then back up to your eyes with an expression close to fear in his blue eyes.

“Both!” He practically squeaks out and you want to continue to tease him, how far can you push until you break him?

“I can do that, Suguru!” You call out to Suguru who has been staring at him too.

He saunters over to you with a smirk on his face, “I heard you wanted a photo?”

The man nods sheepishly and you want to coo at his expression. He is so shy and you can’t help but want to play with him. Suguru raises an eyebrow but he seems to catch on to your game and smirks

“Come on then pretty boy.” Suguru says and the three of you take a photo.

The man’s cheeks are red the entire rest of your interaction. He hurries off soon after and you pout at his skittishness. You would have loved to taste him but guess not.

Realizing that there is no one in the line you grin and pull Suguru behind you by his collar. He doesn’t fight you on it, just follows behind you with a smug expression. Suguru has long since told you about his possessive streak when it comes to you.

So you two started to fuck after every show, it was your little tradition. 

You must have fucked in every venue in Japan by now. The idea of getting caught with him turns you on like nothing else. It wasn’t really big news to the rest of your inner circles who have known about your relationship for years now but someone else catching you is hot.

Now Suguru has teased you enough, he can put his money where his mouth is. And you are going to put his mouth to very good use.

Satoru almost had a heart attack seeing you in person. 

His exit had been so swift because you and Suguru Geto almost made his brain shut down. His brain keeps repeating ‘pretty boy’ like a mantra.

He walks down the halls of the venue looking for Megumi. Satoru wanted to say goodbye to him before he went back home and he doesn’t want the night to end yet.

A faint noise from one of the rooms catches his ear. He can’t really hear it but it sounds like a laugh or a sigh. Maybe Megumi was with the rest of his band in this room. He knocks on the door once, twice, then decides to just open the door.

What he sees in that room is straight out of a wet dream. You are leaned back on one of the plush black couches, your head thrown back. His eyes trace the column of your neck as a low moan is drawn out by Geto who is in between your thighs.

“Like that- good boy.” You say and run your hands through his thick black hair.

That goes straight to his dick. He wants you to praise him that way. Satoru doesn’t want to push Geto out of the way, no, he wants to join him in between your legs. His mouth waters at the sight of your exposed pussy. 

Your eyes slide over to him. 

He expects you to get angry or embarrassed because he caught the two of you. But you don’t do that, instead a smirk forms on your red lips as you look at him. One hand gestures for him to come closer while the other pulls Geto closer to your cunt.

“We have company Sugu-” You say to him in a teasing tone, “hmm- pretty boy walked in on us.”

Geto pulls back to stare at his face then his eyes look down at the obvious tent in his pants, a smirk on his lips. “Shut the door pretty boy, unless you want others to see us.”

Satoru feels like he may not make it out of this room alive.

One thing you learn about the guy who walked in on you is that he is so sensitive. A small touch from you or Suguru has his dick twitching in his pants. It is so cute.

“You are doing so good, baby.” You coo at him as you continue sucking on his neck.

“Too- much!” He whines and bucks his hips into Suguru’s hand.

A little giggle escapes your lips as tears prick his pretty blue eyes. He looks so ruined like this and you are very into that. His glasses are esque and his cheeks are a shade of red you have never seen before.

“Just wait until he gets his mouth on your dick, he has a talented tongue.” You whisper in his ear.

As if on cue Suguru licks up the length of his cock before taking it into his mouth. His lips stretch around it and you can’t deny how hot that is. 

You both had talked about inviting others into both your bed and relationship. Suguru had said that he wouldn’t mind it but nothing had ever come of it. Until pretty boy came along. You can already see all the fun you could have with him.

His moans get even louder and you can’t have anyone finding you in here, not that it wouldn’t be hot but you don’t want him to get tangled up in your fame unless he wants to.

“Here,” You tap two fingers on his bottom lip, “suck on these so we keep the noise down.”

He gives a shaky nod before he begins to suck on your fingers. His lips look so pretty wrapped around your fingers. He must like it because his hips buck into Suguru’s mouth.

“We should take him with us on tour,” You muse out loud with a grin, “he would be so good for us.”

Suguru releases his dick with a slick pop, “He is being good so far, besides walking in on us.”

“Fuck-” He curses around your fingers but it trails off in a high whine as Suguru continues sucking.

Your free hand trails under his hoodie to play with his chest. His breath hitches as you pinch one of his nipples between your fingers. You roll it and he squeezes his eyes shut, his whines growing more desperate.

He must be close.

“You can cum pretty boy-” You coax him softly.

He snaps his hips up and cums. You take your fingers out of his mouth to hear his soft moans as he cums hard. Suguru keeps going through his orgasm and you watch his eyes well with tears as he is overstimulated.

You wonder if you could ride him to tears-

A loud ringing interrupts your thoughts. 

Your phone buzzes on the table next to you. Groaning you reach over to grab it to see Kento’s contact on it. With a pout you answer the phone.

“What’s up Kento?” You ask in the nicest tone you have right now.

There is loud music and yelling voices in the background of the phone call before he begins to speak.

“Yuki is drunk and I need you two to come help me with her.” He explains and you hear Yuki’s laughter in the background.

Suguru, who has long since swallowed, stands up and looks at you with an interested expression. You huff and roll your eyes. He gets the message that you two probably won’t be staying much longer.

“Can’t you handle her? She can’t be that drunk this early.” You grouse.

“Imma’ call my ex!” You hear Yuki slur in the background and stand up.

Damn it.

“We will be there soon, take her phone. I don’t want to deal with her getting back with her ex for the millionth time this year.” You tell him and hang up.

Pretty boy is just coming down from his high as you wipe the tears from his eyes and readjust his glasses. He looks between the two of you with a confused expression.

“Will you be okay to get home?” Suguru asks him gently.

“Yeah- I should be fine.” He says still a little out of it.

“Here-” You grab his phone and put your number in it, “If you want to continue this text this number and I will text you the address and room number of where we are staying, we fly out the day after tomorrow.”

He looks at you in disbelief, like he never thought that you would offer him more. You laugh at his expression and press a kiss to his red cheek.

“Hopefully we will see you tomorrow pretty boy!” Suguru says over his shoulder as you two exit the room, careful to shut it behind you to give him privacy.

You really hope he shows up because you haven’t gotten to ride him yet.

Tags <3 - @linny-bloggs

[citruscactus-art]

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

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

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x21 - Goodbye, Ken-chan / The Crest of Kindness

Previously on Digimon Adventure: We set the Kaiser's base on fire to distract him while we blew it up. Unfortunately, we tragically underestimated the power and efficiency of the Kaiser's emergency fire suppressant systems. However, just when all hope seemed lost, Daisuke jumped in a hole and came back with DVD copies of Digimon Adventure: Hurricane Touchdown, in stores now.

Daisuke: DIGIMENTAL UP!!! V-mon: V-MON, ARMOR SHINKAAAAAA Magnamon: RADIANT MIRACLE, MAGNAMON!!! Daisuke: H-He evolved....

The golden evolution so nice, we played it twice. We open on Magnamon's evolution once more, as well as the accompanying footage of everyone being shocked.

But we skip Wormmon, Takeru, and the Kaiser reacting and move right along.

Daisuke: M... Magnamon...?

Magnamon is an Armor-stage Free-attribute Paladin Digimon. Not a lot to really say here. He first appeared in the various 02-associated media; In the cards added to incorporate 02 Digimon, the 02 D-3 V-Pet, the 02 movie a month ago, etc. His name comes from the Latin word "magna" which means large or grand.

Narrator: Magnamon! An Armor Digimon that evolved from V-mon using the Digimental of Miracles. He releases light from his armor using his special attack Extreme Jihad.

You fucking heard him. In this, the year 2000, Magnamon is going to fight the climactic final battle at the peak of the Digimon Kaiser arc using his signature attack エクストリームジハード Ekusutoriimu Jihaado.

In the upper chamber, Magnamon's overflowing light fills Poromon and Upamon with energy, restoring their stamina the way the Digimental of Miracles did for Chibimon.

Poromon: M-My strength.... Upamon: My strength is returning-dagyaa!

Rejuvenated, Poromon and Upamon evolve into their Child forms once more.

In the dub:

Davis: GOLDEN ARMOR ENERGIZE!!! V-mon: VEEMON GOLDEN ARMOR DIGIVOLVE TO.... Magnamon: MAGNAMON!!! Davis: Wow, that was intense!

Still no title for Magnamon. I bet they just don't want to say the word "miracle".

In the previous episode, this line from Davis was "Ah! Dude, that's amazing!" The spirit is the same but as usual he's saying different things in the two versions of the same moment.

Davis: You're about the coolest thing I've ever seen! Where'd you get those rad shoulderpads? I could use them as boogie boards! Magnamon: (rundown) I am Magnamon, a Golden Armor Digimon that attacks with my Magna Blaster. And I look so good doing it too. Poromon: My strength is back! Upamon: Yeah, me too!

Definitely just didn't want to say the word "miracle". They threw out the phrases "Radiant Miracle", "Digimental of Miracles", and unsurprisingly "Extreme Jihad" from this scene.

Watching from above, the Chosen Children try to make sense of this.

Miyako: What is that!? I've never seen a Digimon like that before! Iori: Is it a new Armor Evolution? Takeru: No, it can't be. There aren't any Crests left to inherit. Hikari: It could be some kind of special evolution that's unique from the others.

But they aren't the only ones who've noticed this. Outside, Chimeramon suddenly stops and looks back at the fortress. Doing a 180, the creature flies back to the structure and crashes through a wall. The probably-Devimon voice laughs as they breach the fortress once more.

Voice: Hahahahahaha!

The veterans here are laying it on thick that Magnamon isn't as simple as "Oh cool, we're getting another round of new evolutions."

In the dub:

Yolei: I wonder if Hawkmon can Golden Armor Digivolve? Cody: I don't get it. Where did he come from? T.K.: It came from that Golden Digi-Egg! Davis must have unleashed its power! Kari: This is fantastic! Can somebody turn off his headlights?

The Probably-Devimon voice's twisted laughter does not play when Kimeramon crashes through the wall.

They're all off-script. Where Hikari answers the question of how we're meant to interpret Magnamon, T.K. answers the question of what Magnamon is literally: A new Armor Digimon from the new Digi-Egg, duh. That's how Digi-Eggs work.

I also have a minor nitpick with T.K.'s line and that is having characters speculate things that they factually know. Either he watched Davis do that or he wouldn't know about the Golden Digi-Egg at all.

Anyways, it's CHIMERAMON TIME-- Wait, no. Scratch that. Chimeramon's dynamic entry was in the wrong room or something 'cause it'll take them a moment to get here. That's embarrassing. Hope nobody saw that.

This time, the Kaiser is recovered and ready to offer his opinion on Magnamon.

Kaiser: How many times are you people going to interfere!? Daisuke: Digimon Kaiser! It's time to settle this!

Suddenly, far below, a heavy impact breaches part of the central column's outer wall.

Hikari: It's the power of Darkness! Takeru: They're back!

Magnamon stops gleaming wildly, pulling his radiance back inward. Looking down at the impact spot, he watches Chimeramon crash through the wall and into the central column far below.

Kaiser: (pleasantly surprised) Chimeramon!

From the depths of the column, Chimeramon charges through the air, soaring straight up at their quarry.

Magnamon: DAISUKE!!!

Acting fast, Magnamon tackles Daisuke and carries him to safety moments before Chimeramon bursts through the walkway where he'd been standing.

(Had to tackle the wall twice to get through this time, and it wasn't even the right elevation. Dynamic entries are hard. No one appreciates the work that goes into them.)

In the dub:

Emperor: Hey, Digi-Fools! Do you honestly think your new Digimon can beat me? He couldn't even be my flashlight! Davis: Oh, yeah!? Well, sticks and stones can break my bones but when Magnamon gets a hold of you, he'll kick your-- Emperor: But! You didn't let me finish. He would make a good night light.

Ken's talking a lot of shit for a guy with no Digimon to fight Magnamon with. Davis really has to stretch for that butt/but word-replacement gag, but does capture the right vibe: He's powered up and ready to break Ken's face.

(Heavy impact below) Kari: (gasp) What was that!? T.K.: It can't be good! (Kimeramon crashes through) Emperor: (pleasantly surprised) Kimeramon!

Dub veterans are slower on the uptake here. In the original, Hikari seems to actually sense Probably-Devimon's presence more than she's reacting to the impact. Chimeramon's return brings the Dark power haunting Ken back into the fortress. Because they are the same.

When Kimeramon breaks through the wall and rushes upwards, the dub takes its first commercial break. On return, they quickly cut together short clips of Kimeramon crashing through and flying upwards again to re-establish the action.

Davis: WATCH OUT!!! Magnamon: Huh? Davis: Whooooa! (Magnamon tackles Davis off the bridge)

Here, it's Davis who warns Magnamon about the impending attack rather than the other way around... and then Davis awkwardly gawks at Kimeramon until Magnamon saves his dumb ass. Even though. He's the one who said "watch out" to begin with. Uh.

Once the danger's passed, Daisuke and Magnamon pick themselves off the ground. Magnamon's eyes still locked on Chimeramon, now above them.

Magnamon: Daisuke, leave this part to me. Daisuke: Ah, gotcha!

Daisuke clenches his fist.

Daisuke: All of this... IT ENDS TODAY!!!

Roaring with intent, Daisuke charges for the doorway leading back into the rest of the structure.

Takeru: We're going too!

The rest of the team run off to join in. Finally, Wormmon also departs the central column. Spitting a strand of silk and wrapping it around a pipe above, Wormmon swings up to the room that the Kaiser's watching from.

Wormmon: Hey, it's dangerous here. Hurry, we need to run! Kaiser: Quiet! My Chimeramon has returned to me. Wormmon: But they aren't listening to you anymore. Kaiser: SHUT UP!!!

The Kaiser whips Wormmon in the face, smacking him aside. Then he resumes watching the action with a smile on his face.

Kaiser: (enchanted) Chimeramon....

Hey, you remember when Takeru made him eat that fucking whip? Good times.

In the dub:

Magnamon: Davis, I'll take care of this. Davis: Go get him, Magnamon! Show him he's no match for you. (Davis clenches his fist) Davis: But just in case he is, I'll get the others! T.K.: We've gotta get out of here, guys!

Doesn't go nearly as hard as "This ends today".

In the original, Daisuke is running off to go punch the Kaiser out of Ichijouji Ken and the others are going to help him shitstomp on that slimy weasel's face. The dub changes it to Davis fleeing to get reinforcements while the others want to retreat, which is a total flipflop.

When he spits his silk, Wormmon calls it as an attack in the dub.

Wormmon: SILK THREAD!!! (Wormmon swings up to the Emperor) Wormmon: I don't mean to drop in like this but Kimeramon is tearing the place apart. Emperor: Nonsense! He's simply following my orders to attack! Wormmon: But Kimeramon's not following anyone's orders but his own. Can't you see that?

The Kaiser whipping Wormmon is cut from the dub. They go straight to the Emperor's enchanted, smiling face.

Emperor: My greatest creation won't let me down.

Despite the cut, the point that the Digimon Emperor is utterly deluded and refuses to admit he's lost control is still well-made.

As Magnamon meets Chimeramon, the battle is joined.

Magnamon feints towards Chimeramon, suddenly swerving to the right once he's in range to attack. Chimeramon falls for it, throwing a punch with their right Devimon arm and whiffing the air. While Chimeramon's disoriented, Magnamon turns in the air, kicks off the wall, and comes in for his real attack.

Magnamon: MAGNUM PUNCH!!!

A fierce right hook to Chimeramon's left temple sends the creature crashing down into the wall below.

Inside, Takeru's crew ascends the spiral stairs that ring the central column. Daisuke comes running up from behind.

Daisuke: GUYS!!! Takeru: Daisuke-kun!

The team stops so he can catch up. But then Chimeramon hits the wall and their right Devimon elbow breaks through. It crashes through the wall right behind Daisuke, knocking him off his feet.

Daisuke: DYAUGH!!!

Outside, Magnamon continues the assault.

Magnamon: MAGNUM KICK!!!

They land a right flying kick that's as much a stomp as a kick straight into Chimeramon's face. After that, they forego named attacks and just start throwing punches, slugging Chimeramon's face as if it were a punching bag.

From the stairway, everyone stares in confusion at Devimon's elbow for a moment, which twitches with every hit Chimeramon takes on the other side of the wall. Tailmon finally brings them to their senses.

Tailmon: We don't have much time left. The fortress is starting to fall. Armadimon: If we don't hurry, the Kaiser will get away-dagyaa! Daisuke: Right! Let's go!

With that, the team gets back on the move.

For clarity, since the fansub translated Tailmon's line as "The fortress is collapsing" so I guess this might be confusing: She means it's starting to fall in the sense that it is beginning a rapid descent. We are inside an airborne structure that no longer possesses a power source. It's about to start moving inexorably towards the ground, and we probably don't want to be inside when they meet.

In the dub:

Magnamon: MAGNA PUNCH!!! (Punch; Cut to Hallway) Davis: GUYS, WAIT!!! T.K.: (alarmed) RUN, DAVIS!!! (Kimeramon's elbow crashes through the wall) Magnamon: MAGNA KICK!!!

This sequence is apparently way too violent for the dub. They use white flashes to obscure the impacts for both Magna Punch and Magna Kick. Once he starts boxing, they keep one shot of just Magnamon throwing punches towards the camera but cut all footage of him flying around pummeling Kimeramon's face.

Gatomon: We don't have that much time! We have to ditch this place before it takes a nosedive! Armadillomon: Sure would be nice to capture the Digimon Emperor while we're here. Davis: Right! Let's go get him!

So, a few things. T.K. seems to have a psychic premonition and realize, based on nothing, that the elbow's about to come crashing through. He yells at Davis to run even though he isn't aware of anything Davis needs to run from.

Armadillomon finally comes up with the idea of taking the fight to Ken, which was already what they were trying to do in the original.

An interesting note about Magnum Punch and Kick: They're kind of the same word as Magnamon's name. This is because the a/u distinction between Magna and Magnum doesn't exist when the words are transliterated into Japanese Katakana.

マグナモン Magunamon

マグナムパンチ Magunamu Panchi

"Magnum" in Katakana is literally just "Magna" with a ム mu at the end. The word "Magnum" is already derived from the root word "Magna" but here they are basically the same. In fact, it might be more accurate to translate Magnamon as Magnumon! The Magnum attacks imply that they were going for that.

Finally, Chimeramon's had enough and gets their second wind.

Chimeramon lets out a shot of Heat Viper. Magnamon takes a glancing hit to his right shoulder and the beam continues, striking the wall right next to the opening the Kaiser is standing in.

Kaiser: Where do you think you're aiming, Chimeramon!? Chimeramon: Ahahahahahaha!

That wicked laugh returns, now unmistakably coming from Chimeramon. The Kaiser's eyes go wide. He slowly backs up as Chimeramon turns towards him, belting out that hideous cackle.

Chimeramon: AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Suddenly, Magnamon comes in from the left with another flying kick, though he doesn't call this one. A left Devimon hook counters his approach, knocking him out of the air and sending him tumbling into the abyss below.

In the dub, Kimeramon calls his shot.

Kimeramon: HEAT VIPER!!! Emperor: AUGH!!! Watch where you're aiming! Remember who your Master is, Kimeramon! Kimeramon: Ahahahahahaha! (Emperor backs away, terrified) Kimeramon: AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Magnamon: MAGNA KICK!!! (Kimeramon knocks Magnamon away)

The dub censors Kimeramon's punch two separate ways. First, the point of impact for the punch is obscured with a white flash. Then, as Magnamon's falling, Magnamon hitting the wall and bouncing off is concealed behind a discretion cut to the Emperor looking scared.

Punch, white flash, Magnamon is sent hurtling downward, cut to the Emperor, cut back to Magnamon still falling, then cut to the Emperor for real this time.

This really is the No Violence Allowed episode, apparently. They can't even show Magnamon getting bounced off a wall.

Wormmon crawls up to the Kaiser's leg, grabbing onto his leg.

Wormmon: You understand now, don't you, Ken-chan? Kaiser: Let go!

The Kaiser weakly shakes his leg to try and get Wormmon off.

Wormmon: We made a terrible mistake! Kaiser: A mistake? That's ridiculous! I don't make mistakes! Everything I do is perfect! Wormmon: This time is different, Ken-chan! Kaiser: BE QUIET!!!

This time, much more forcefully, the Kaiser kicks Wormmon up into the air and then whips him across the hall. Standing over his battered Partner and looking absolutely deranged, the Kaiser exclaims:

Kaiser: This is a game and, in the end, I'll be the one who wins it! Daisuke: Are you still saying that!?

Slowly, Wormmon opens his eyes to see that the rest of the team have arrived to confront the Kaiser.

In the dub:

Wormmon: I beg you to listen to me. He's out of control! Emperor: Get off me! You're sliming up my pants! Wormmon: Please, Master, let's leave. He'll destroy you! Emperor: But I'm his... creator! I nurtured him from the beginning with evil! These kids today have no respect! Wormmon: You're right, Master. Let's talk about it outside where it's much safer. Emperor: I'M NOT LEAVING!!!

Some more censoring here. The Kaiser whipping Wormmon and the shot of a crumpled and battered Wormmon on the ground are both cut. They replay the shot of Wormmon clinging to the Emperor's leg and talking to him after the Emperor screams, then go straight to the deranged looking Emperor shot.

Wormmon: I understand. You tried to make Kimeramon yours but I'm your true friend. Emperor: Listen, you little nightcrawler! If I had a friend, it certainly wouldn't be you! Davis: KEN!!!

We lose a lot of character details for Ken here. His admission of "I don't make mistakes; Everything I do is perfect" is a pretty telling remark that informs on a lot of his behavior in this final sub-arc. We know Ken has always been a flawless prodigy. Everything he does just comes naturally to him, and he's grown up in an environment of endless praise for his effortless accomplishments.

Ken is resistant to personal growth and change because he can't really fathom the idea that he, Ichijouji Ken, would have made an error. We saw that resistance as recently as last episode, when he had a revelation about the Digimon's true nature that he promptly pushed out-of-mind and went back to what he was doing.

Ken's environment and his natural talent have made him pigheaded and stubborn. It's just easier for him to believe everyone around him is stupid and wrong than to accept that something he thought or did was incorrect. Because, for much of his life, that has been exactly the case. So even now, faced with evidence of his error in judgment, his ego cannot accept that the Boy Genius Ichijouji Ken made a mistake.

The dub drops that in favor of generational whining about The Youths.

As a consolation, we do get a reminder of a significant emotional beat, that Ken created Chimeramon/Kimeramon specifically to replace Wormmon as his Partner Digimon. This is also an important character point.

...and lose the reminder of Ken's other significant error in judgment: He thinks the Digital World is a video game and all the Digimon are just NPCs. He's farming Digimon like Minecraft Villagers. Ken hasn't brought this up very much since the first episode, but it's pretty important for understanding his character.

Realizing the others are upon him, the Digimon Kaiser turns to face Daisuke's team.

Kaiser: The Chimeramon I created will never lose to the likes of you. Daisuke: Now isn't the time to ramble about winning or losing some game! Miyako: What does making a Digimon even mean!? You really think it's okay to do something like that!? Iori: How can you be so proud of scraping off data from other Digimon to create "your" Digimon!? It's stupid! Digimon aren't toys!

Takeru gestures to the Partner Digimon they have with them.

Takeru: Take a good look at these Digimon! They're living, breathing creatures! They're alive! They're valuable, irreplaceable partners to us! Ken: (stunned) Ah!

That cuts deep. The Kaiser gasps in shock at Takeru's words. Then Hikari steps forward.

Hikari: You're supposed to be a Chosen Child yourself, but you don't even understand that much?

She points to the battered Wormmon on the ground.

Hikari: That Digimon is your Partner, isn't he?

Wormmon slowly picks himself up off the ground.

Wormmon: Ken-chan...? Kaiser: The Digimon that suits me most... is CHIMERAMON!!!

But still, the Kaiser refuses to listen. Clinging even now to his mistakes. The Kaiser is perfect. He cannot be wrong.

In the dub:

Emperor: Well, if it isn't the DigiDestined! I see that you've finally come to your senses and are ready to surrender to me and Kimeramon. Davis: Fat chance, Ken! I think some of your hairspray must have leaked through into your brain again! Yolei: And another thing! Who said it was okay for you to go out and create a Digimon anyway!? Cody: Yeah, do you think you're Dr. Frankenstein or something!? Creating creatures just for your own cruel pleasure!? Kimeramon is not the monster, Ken; You are! (T.K. gestures at the Partner Digimon) T.K.: Look at them! Are they trying to hurt you!?

Uh, kind of, yes. Weird question for the guy who beat the shit out of Ken yesterday to ask. This isn't the angle, chief.

T.K.: They're not your toys for some kind of a sick game! They're alive! They're not just data in a computer; They're living creatures like you and I! Ken: (stunned) Huh? Kari: You're DigiDestined too, just like us. You have a responsibility to both worlds. Like Wormmon! He's your friend and not someone you should kick around. Wormmon: ...Master...? Emperor: There's only one Digimon that's suitable enough for me. AND THAT'S KIMERAMON!!!

Cody makes a pretty clever comparison to Frankenstein that falls apart under close inspection. Kimeramon very much is the greater monster. A pretty significant thing that is happening right now is that Ken has awakened a true nightmare and has revealed himself a dumb kid drunk on his own hype and grasping for a semblance of control.

It's like if Frankenstein made a Faustian pact to create his Monster, which is now a vessel of Mephistopheles.

Here, they drop the "Digimon are our valuable Partners" point which got touched on in the preceding scene between the Emperor and Wormmon. Odd choice given that it's the basis of the Kaiser/Emperor's final outburst.

Instead, they just say Digimon are friends. Wormmon is the Emperor's friend, Kari accuses. Which. Uh. No. Demonstrably, he is not. Dub Wormmon has only ever been the Emperor's personal 'monservant and whipping boy. Without that specific connection of Chosen Child and Partner Digimon, she sounds delusional. The Emperor clearly has no feelings of any sort of bond towards Wormmon and never, ever has.

In the central chamber, the fight continues.

Chimeramon uses Heat Viper to blast the remaining three walkways off of what used to be the generator, then another ship to break the column supporting it. The generator platform falls into Magnamon, erupting into flames and carrying him to the bottom of the structure where it explodes. The blast rips through the very bottom of the fortress.

This sequence passes without dialogue in the dub, as in the original.

Kaiser: This is the end for this fortress. If you want to die then keep wasting time here!

With that, he leaves Wormmon behind and runs for his life.

Daisuke: Wait, Digimon Kaiser! ICHIJOUJI KEN!!!

But the Kaiser keeps running. Wormmon weakly hops up the stairs after him. Still loyal to his Partner even now.

As another explosion rocks the stairwell, the Chosen Children have a withdrawal of their own to make.

Hawkmon: Miyako-san! We must flee as well. Miyako: Yeah, but... aren't you tired? Hawkmon: We're okay. Please let us handle this. Tailmon: Do you guys feel up to it? Patamon: Yeah! Armadimon: Dagyaa! Hikari: In that case, then please.... Group: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

That stamina rejuvenation from the Digimental of Miracles wasn't for nothing, y'know!

In the dub:

Emperor: Don't feel too proud that you destroyed my home base because you are going down with it! (Emperor flees) Davis: Wait, Ken! We want to help you! KEN, LISTEN TO ME!!!

Do we? We haven't said anything about helping him. Where did that come from?

Hawkmon: Pardon me, but it is getting a little hot down here! Yolei: Right! But do you guys have enough energy to Digivolve? Hawkmon: Yes, now let's leave before I'm a fried chicken! Gatomon: The heat is on, guys! Ready? Patamon: Mhm! Armadillomon: Yeah! Kari: Okay, let's do it. Group: DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!

Hawkmon delivers that "Yes" like it's the most obvious thing in the world, which I appreciate. Miyako/Yolei has not been following the plot today.

Once the team's Armored up, Digmon fires his Gold Rush at the wall.

Digmon: GOLD RUSH!!!

His drills explode on impact, but only crater the wall a bit. It's not enough to breach.

Elsewhere, Magnamon does breach the wall, smashing through to the desert outside. Chimeramon follows after him. Turning in the air, Magnamon lets off another attack.

Magnamon: PLASMA SHOT!!!

It's a set of eight homing missiles fired from the panels on his armor. They turn in the air and lock onto Chimeramon, hitting them dead center and exploding.

Digmon: GOLD RUSH!!!

This time, Digmon's drills break through the wall, opening a gap large enough for Digmon, Pegasmon, Nefertimon, and Horusmon to escape with their Partners.

Daisuke rides shotgun on the back of Pegasmon, but as they depart, he looks back at the fortress.

Daisuke: Ichijouji Ken....

In the distance, a lone Devidramon takes flight from the top of the fortress moments before it crashes into the sand.

The dub plays the insert song Run Around over this escape sequence, where the original's playing the usual Break Up. They add some lines to the escape.

Digmon: GOLD RUSH!!! (Failure; Magnamon and Kimeramon break out) Magnamon: MAGNA BLAST!!! (Direct hit on Kimeramon) Digmon: GOLD RUSH!!! (This time they break through) Digmon: (escapes) Come on, everyone! Follow me! Pegasusmon: (escapes) I'll follow him! Nefertimon: (escapes) I'll follow you! Halsemon: (escapes) I'll follow you! Digmon: Now that's what I call following orders! (Davis looks back at the base) Davis: Geeze, that was a close one!

The follow-follow banter is cute. Though it bugs me that Davis's line was changed away from Ken after exclaiming "We want to help you!" a moment ago.

Magnamon's attack is called Magna Blast, but it is not a blast. It is missiles. In the original, it's Plasma Shot, which is also incorrect. It is missiles. Nobody knows what missiles are.

Following the fall of the Kaiser's fortress, the desert is silent. It lays buried in the sand.

The silence lasts about three seconds before a sharp reminder that there is a high-power deathmatch happening nearby.

Magnamon: EXTREME JIHAD!!!

Beams of light erupt forth from every metal surface on Magnamon. The light scorches Chimeramon, who roars in pain with visible smoke trails rising from their body.

But despite Magnamon's immense power, Chimeramon is still standing when the light fades. They let out a defiant, beastly roar.

Magnamon: This is bad... I don't have any power left....

Magnamon slumps in the air, struggling to even remain afloat.

In the dub, as the dust settles, Magnamon references the crashing of the Hindenberg.

Magnamon: Oh, the humanity! (Fighting resumes) Magnamon: MAGNA BLAST!!! (No effect) Magnamon: It's no use! He's too strong! I'm running out of power!

Magnamon calls Extreme Jihad as Magna Blast too. It makes a lot more sense in this context, as it is both blast and magna.

With Magnamon's batteries drained, Chimeramon easily capitalizes.

Before Magnamon knows what hit him, Chimeramon closes distance and snatches him up in their SkullGreymon hand.

Magnamon: Shit!

From the desert below, perched atop his Devidramon, the Kaiser watches with enraptured fervor.

Kaiser: Good job! Now crush him, Chimeramon! Wormmon: You can do this, Magnamon! Kaiser: What!?

Unsurprisingly, the Kaiser punishes that remark with a whiplash to the back of the head.

The dub takes its second commercial break after Kimeramon grabs Magnamon. We pick right back up where we left off on return.

Emperor: That's it! Let him have it, Kimeramon! Wormmon: You can do it, Magnamon! Emperor: SILENCE!!!

This time, the dub actually lets the Emperor whip Wormmon. Though, of course, they obscure the moment of impact with a white flash. There's still a whipcrack sound so it's unmistakable what just happened.

Wormmon quivers in place, a thin red line clearly visible along his back in closeup.

Wormmon: Ken-chan, you still don't understand, do you? The old Ken-chan wasn't like this.

With tears in his eyes, Wormmon turns around to look at Ken.

Wormmon: The Ken-chan that I first traveled the Digital World with wasn't like this! We laughed together. We cried together. Me and the ordinary, kindhearted Ken-chan!

Up above, Chimeramon squeezes Magnamon harder. He cries out in pain.

Magnamon: HUAAAAGH!!!

While, down below, Wormmon's speech continues.

Wormmon: Then, the next time we met, you told me to call you Digimon Kaiser. I couldn't do it... Because no matter how you present yourself, you're still Ken-chan. That's why, no matter how many awful things you did as the Digimon Kaiser, I always believed you'd go back to being Ken-chan one day. Believing that is how I was able to follow you!

Wormmon glows with white energy as he speaks. So there's no uncertainty, Break Up begins to play as he glows. This is the holy light of a Chosen Child. It's Ken-chan's light, long suppressed by the Digimon Kaiser.

To be real for a moment, Ken's lucky that Wormmon has the patience of a saint. Otherwise Wormmon would have Dark Evolved and bitten him in half a long time ago. But instead, Wormmon chose to cling to Ken's kindness even when Ken himself had long abandoned it.

In the dub:

Wormmon: I hope you're finally proud of yourself. You've officially become worse than the monsters you've created. (Wormmon turns around to look at Ken) Wormmon: What ever happened to that sweet kid I met a long time ago who had a dream to take over the Digital World? Okay, sure, it was a sick and twisted dream but still, we had a lot of laughs together. What happened to the boy I was proud to call Master? Of course, you make me call you that.... (Kimeramon squeezes Magnamon harder) Magnamon: Take it easy! I'm not a melon! Wormmon: You've changed, Ken. But it's not too late for you. For some reason you started capturing Digimon and you turned them into your slaves instead of into your friends! I didn't agree but I stuck by your side because I was your Digimon. And then you started being cruel to me, the one who knows the true you. The others may know and fear you as the Digimon Emperor, but never forget that I know the real you.

The real him... with the sick and twisted dream to take over the Digital World while making you call him Master? The dub completely butchers this speech. Wormmon claims that Ken was always a piece of shit, just not this bad.

"You made the captured Digimon your slaves instead of your friends!" is such a weird line.

The dub is torn between their characterization of Ken as a Saturday Morning Cartoon villain born from pure evilness to shoot moon lasers at orphanages and rob jewelry stores, and the earnest heartfelt speech that Wormmon's supposed to be delivering here. They've gone too hard on the bit and are now being forced to have a moment of serious drama between what are effectively Snively Whiplash and Muttley.

And it hits so weird.

Up above, Magnamon begins to glow with Ken's light as well.

Magnamon: Huh? Th-This is.... Wormmon: I will always believe in you, Ken-chan. In the real Ken-chan, not the Digimon Kaiser. The real Ken-chan....

Wormmon shines even brighter. Glowing with energy, he roars:

Wormmon: ...IS THE KIND KEN-CHAN!!!

Then he tackles the Kaiser in the gut, knocking him off of the Devidramon. Ken lands on his shoulder in the sands below while Wormmon makes off with his enslaved Devidramon. Together, Wormmon and Devidramon take to the air and make for Chimeramon.

In the dub:

Magnamon: Huh? What's happening? Wormmon: I'll always think of you for your kindness, Ken, no matter what happens. One day, I hope you'll realize that the real Ken isn't the Digimon Emperor but the Ken that's my friend. (Wormmon shines brighter) Wormmon: And only a real friend would do this! (Wormmon tackles Ken off of Devidramon)

That stuff about Ken having a sick and twisted dream muddies the stuff Wormmon's saying about "I know the true you" and "I'll think of you for your kindness". But I do think that, ultimately, the general idea that Wormmon once knew a very different version of Ken at least somewhat gets across.

In the air, Wormmon joins the fight.

Wormmon: RAAAAAAUGH!!!

Letting out a battle roar, Wormmon flies Devidramon straight into Chimeramon's arm. The impact causes them to lose their grip on Magnamon.

Magnamon: Wormmon, you.... Wormmon: Save Ken-chan.

With what little time he has, Wormmon says what matters most. Then Chimeramon swats Devidramon away with their Kuwagamon arm, hitting the creature so hard that they leave Wormmon behind in the air. Chimeramon follows with a SkullGreymon punch, bashing Wormmon back towards the ground.

As he plummets, Wormmon's tears fill the air and he calls out.

Wormmon: Please, Magnamon... Save Ken-chan....

Wormmon glows, sending a beam of light into Magnamon. Transferring all of Ken's light into him now.

Magnamon: Wormmon's power is flowing through me....

In the dub:

(Devidramon tackles Kimeramon's arm and frees Magnamon) Magnamon: Wormmon! What are you doing!? Wormmon: Magnamon, it's up to you now! (Kimeramon swats Devidramon and punches Wormmon) Magnamon: Wormmon! Wormmon: Please, Magnamon, save Ken for me! Here's what little energy I have left! Use it! (Wormmon sends Magnamon his light) Magnamon: Wormmon's power has re-energized me!

Solid. Neither version explicitly explains what the sudden illumination around Wormmon is about. You just kinda have to get it if you're familiar with all that Holy Light stuff from the first series.

Which, if you watched the dub version of the first series, you might not be.

Overflowing with energy, Magnamon cuts loose once more.

It goes very, very well.

Magnamon: EXTREME JIHAD!!!

This time, the blast obliterates Chimeramon. Overtaken by its power, they disintegrate into pixel dust.

Down below, the Chosen Children all cheer for Magnamon's victory.

Children: YEAH!!!

Except for Daisuke, who's already running to where his Partner will drop.

In the dub:

Magnamon: MAGNA... EXPLOSION!!! (Magnamon kills Kimeramon) DigiDestined: YEAH!!!

Extreme Jihad is now Magna Explosion despite the same attack being called Magna Blast a moment ago.

In the wake of Kimeramon's death, we see two very different reactions from the Kaiser and Daisuke.

The Kaiser drops to his knees, disbelieving what just happened and still not really reckoning with everything that's been said to him.

Kaiser: My Chimeramon... lost...?

And on the other foot, Daisuke sprints through the sands until he finds an exhausted Chibimon unconscious in the sands.

Daisuke: Are you okay!?

He turns over Chibimon, who opens his eyes and laughs weakly.

Chibimon: Eheheh...

Filled with relief, Daisuke embraces his Partner. Showering him with all the affection that Ken has for so long denied to Wormmon.

Daisuke: Chibimon!

Then Daisuke notices the other thing that came down with Chibimon after his evolution broke. Not the Digimental of Miracles, but the true form of the power Magnamon's been wielding. The power that lifted Ken's fortress and brought an end to Chimeramon.

It's something Daisuke doesn't have the experience to recognize on sight. But we, the audience, do.

It's a pink Crest half-buried in the sand. Daisuke picks it up and lets out a curious gasp.

Daisuke: Huh?

Here, on this meaningful juxtaposition between Daisuke and Ken, we finally take our commercial break.

In the dub:

Emperor: (stunned) I can't believe they defeated me. How could this happen? (Davis runs to DemiVeemon) Davis: Are you okay!? (DemiVeemon opens his eyes) DemiVeemon: Hey.... (Big hug) Davis: You were awesome! (Davis suddenly notices Crest) Davis: Wait a second. Did someone lose their keys? (Davis picks it up) Davis: Ohhh....

Davis seems to recognize the Crest when he gets a better look at it. It's not super clear whether Daisuke knows what that is. He got the recap in Wizarmon's episode so he might. But either way, Davis definitely does.

Following the commercial break, we find the Digimon Kaiser breaking down in the sands.

Ken: I... I lost.... Why!? Everything was supposed to be perfect! This... This is the worst! It's the worst Bad Ending of all!

"Bad Ending" is in English.

Ken: If this is how it has to be... Then I'll just start over! All of it! I'll reset the Digital World and-- Takeru: Reset the Digital World?

Yeah, they were all standing there watching him do this. Takeru delivers that line like he's trying to make sense of some weirdass gibberish he just heard.

Ken: Yeah, I'll... I'll just go home, erase all the data on my computer, and then start over again from the beginning. Daisuke: You... What are you talking about? Miyako: Are you serious? You think erasing some data from your computer will reset the Digital World? Takeru: That's absurd! What do you think the Digital World is!? Ken: What? Iori: This isn't some game. You can't just reset the Digital World. Ken: (shocked) What did you say!?

And there it is. The truth Ken didn't want to hear. That multiple people have tried to tell him anyways but this time he isn't in a position of power from which he can just mock them and storm off.

It's hard to get through to someone when they still have the option to just go "LOL Whatever, fight me bruh." But now that Ken feels vulnerable, he's in a position to finally hear other people talk.

In the dub:

Ken: I lost... I'm a failure... This isn't what was supposed to happen! I was flawless! My plans were supposed to work out perfectly! How'd it happen!? You must have cheated somehow! That's the only possible explanation! I only have one choice left and that's just to cheat myself! I'll start over! I'll just have to reset the Digital World! T.K.: Reset the Digital World? What are you talking about, Ken? Ken: It's simple. I'll just go home and delete all the Digital World data off my computer and create a new program. That way I can start a new Digital World that doesn't cheat! Davis: Dude, you can't be serious. Yolei: The Digital World is a completely real place, Ken. It's not just something that's programmed into your computer! T.K.: We tried to tell you that before! But you thought we were trying to play some kind of a trick on you! Ken: Huh? Cody: This isn't some kind of a video game. Ken, Digimon are real and it's about time you realized what you've been doing! Ken: What!?

This is pretty good. It hits the important points: Up to this point, Ken has been convinced he's playing a video game and now the others are confronting him with the truth.

I love that Ken accuses them of cheating because he can't handle that he lost in PVP. That's such a toxic gamer move. That line aged really well.

Looking at the other children holding their Partner Digimon, Ken remembers the revelation he ignored yesterday.

He briefly flashes back on them sitting with their Digimon at the soccer game with Daisuke, outside of the Digital World.

Ken: That time at the soccer field... Were you Digimon there? Chibimon: We're not just data on a computer. Daisuke: Digimon are alive, just like us. Ken: Digimon are... living beings? Then... everything I've done....

Ken flashes back now on the cruelty and barbarism he's inflicted over the series. Evil Rings capturing the Gazimon and Unimon of the first episode. Whipping Elecmon. Forcing Gizamon to construct his Dark Tower in the frozen north and whipping them when they falter.

Returning from the flashback, Ken holds his head in his hands, suffering a complete meltdown.

Ken: Then I... what... What have I done!? Takeru: The Digital World isn't a dream or a fantasy world. Hikari: It's a separate reality that's just as real as ours.

At long last, he finally understands.

In the dub, Ken talks over the flashbacks.

Kari: You've been hurting innocent creatures, Ken! (Flashback to soccer game) Ken (V.O.): You Digimon were all at the soccer game in the real world. I remember now. (End Flashback) Ken: You are real. Not just computer data. I can't believe that I never figured that out! DemiVeemon: You know, for an evil genius, you really are a slow learner, Ken. Davis: And you've constantly been abusing Digimon ever since you claimed to be the Digimon Emperor! Ken: I had no idea. What have I done!? (Flashback to Ken's crimes) Ken (V.O.): I thought my Dark Rings were a stroke of genius. I never realized I was causing pain! I made them work for me tirelessly without ever giving them a break and I was cruel to them beyond imagination! (End flashback) Ken: NYAAAGH I'M A MONSTER!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'VE DONE!!! T.K.: It's hard to argue with you there, Ken. You've done some pretty horrible stuff. Kari: The important thing is you've realized what you've done and it's not too late to make a fresh start.

In the original, Ken brings up his laundry list of offenses of his own volition. Once he understands the truth about Digimon, he's forced to reflect on how he's treated them.

In the dub, Davis brings it up to rub Ken's nose in what a dick he's been.

By contrast, Kari in the dub suddenly brings up atonement and redemption while Ken's still in the middle of his meltdown. She's over this scene and just wants to skip ahead to the part where Ken joins the team.

Suddenly, Ken lets out an anguished scream.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, he pulls off his gloves and throws them on the ground. Then he unclasps his cloak and drops it into the sand, followed by ripping the visor off his head and tossing it. Each article he drops disintegrates into pixels once it's off of him.

Ken gets up, screaming and wandering until he collapses into the sand once more. Finally, the Digimon Kaiser jumpsuit itself pixelates disintegrates off of him. The Digimon Kaiser is no more.

In the dub, Ken kicks off his screaming with a line.

Ken: WHAT HAVE I DOOOOOONE!?!?

Also, the dub has Ken more crying than screaming. He's ugly crying, bawling out his regret at the top of his lungs, where original Ken is just screaming raw emotion. Which, after that "boys shouldn't cry" stuff from the first series dub, is refreshing to see.

While Ken's busy deleting his profile, the team turns their attention to someone else.

Hikari: Wormmon....

Hikari's voice grabs Ken's attention. He looks up from the ground.

Ken: ...Wormmon...?

After taking that hit from Chimeramon, Wormmon isn't in good shape. He's on his side in the sand and he isn't moving. The Chosen Children gather around him, with Hikari and Tailmon checking on him.

Tailmon: He's still breathing.

Weakly, Wormmon opens his eyes and addresses Ken.

Wormmon: You've gone back to the original Ken-chan.... Ken: Original? Wormmon: That suits you better. Daisuke: The original Ken?

Even here, at the end of his rope, Wormmon is thinking only of Ken. He made the difference and achieved what he wanted most.

In the dub:

Kari: (gasp) Wormmon! Ken: Wormmon? (Everyone gathers around Wormmon) Gatomon: He's still breathing. (Ken gets up and approaches) Wormmon: You returned to your old self. I knew you could do it, Ken. Ken: I'm sorry. It's too late for me. Wormmon: It's never too late to be sorry. Davis: Wormmon's absolutely right, Ken!

Again, the original is talking about Ken being restored to the boy he was before all this Digimon Kaiser stuff. Daisuke's confused by what Wormmon says because none of them have ever known a Ken who wasn't the Digimon Kaiser.

This Ken, the version of himself he's reclaimed, is someone only known to Wormmon. And also to Ryo Akiyama from the Wonderswan tie-in video games.

Dub Wormmon brings that up too, but then they switch topics so they can also use this space to talk about atonement.

Suddenly, at the mention of the old Ken, the Crest in Daisuke's hand glows pink.

The Crest levitates into the air and flies over to Ken, hovering in front of him. Daisuke briefly flashes back on the pink symbol that appeared on the artifact before it became the Digimental of Miracles.

Daisuke: In the generator room, I heard a voice coming from that Crest. It said it wanted to be returned to its true owner. Ken: Its true owner...?

Ken holds out his hands and the Crest settles into them. That pink symbol from the generator artifact is clearly visible on it.

Wormmon: That's Ken-chan's... (pained) Crest of Kindness.... Ken: This is my Crest of Kindness? Tailmon: Kindness will release a golden radiance. This must be what Wizarmon was talking about. Wormmon: Because... Ken-chan is full of kindness....

I love the symbolism in this. Ken's Crest of Kindness, the symbol of his greatest virtue as a Chosen Child, was the power source for his fortress. Not even understanding what it was, the Digimon Kaiser kept his very own Crest locked away in chains like the Digimon he enslaved.

In the first series, a key point was that the Chosen Children themselves must grow and evolve with their Digimon. By locking away and enslaving his Crest, the Kaiser stifled his own ability to change and grow. He suppressed his own evolution with the Dark Digivice, just as he suppressed everyone else's.

In a way, Ichijouji Ken was himself a slave to the Digimon Kaiser.

In the dub:

T.K.: Where'd you get that thing, Davis? Davis: I found it in the sand. Why? T.K.: I'm not sure, but it looks like one of the Crests we used to have in the old days. (Flashback to the artifact) Kari: You're right, T.K. And it has the Crest of Kindness on it! (End flashback) Ken: But why is it coming to me? (The Crest settles into Ken's hands) Wormmon: Because it belongs to you, Ken.... (pained) ...it's the Crest of Kindness.... Ken: There must be some mistake. I've been anything but kind. Gatomon: That's what Wizardmon meant when he told us that kindness will release the golden radiance! Ken must be the key to unlocking the power! Wormmon: I told you that, deep inside, you were kind....

I love T.K. chiming in to go "Holy shit, is that a Crest?" Good use of the veterans' history.

But then Kari somehow specifically recognizes the Crest of Kindness despite this being a brand new Crest never mentioned before. Um.

It's funny because it's consistent with the first series where the dub kids would just go "Oh that's the Crest of Courage" without anyone ever telling them that. They're all just... exceptionally fluent in virtue cryptography.

To my surprise, Gatomon brings up Wizardmon. For once, they don't snip out the reference to the previous episodes.

"Ken must be the key to unlocking the power" is a bit of an awkward line, though. She says that in the present tense as if there is something we must do with Ken and his Crest now. But the prophecy is already fulfilled. Kindness already released the golden radiance. It's done now.

They might have been hedging their bets in case the Digimental of Miracles sticks around. Like, could you imagine if Daisuke and V-mon had a special super-powered evolution they could pull out in dire circumstances, but only with assistance from Ken and Wormmon? That'd be pretty cool.

Pretty sure nothing like that is coming down the pipe, though.

Walking to Wormmon, Ken drops to his knees and pulls the long-suffering Digimon into his arms.

Ken: Wormmon... were you always this light...? Wormmon: ...Goodbye... Ken...-chan....

With those final words, Wormmon closes his eyes and disintegrates into pixel dust. Ken stares at the empty space where his Partner used to be.

Ken: ...Wormmon...? Takeru: He's dead. Ken: ...dead...?

Suddenly, a memory strikes at Ken's mind. In a white void, the image of Wormmon falling away from him transforms into the screech of tires on the road, the heavy sound of an impact, and a boy falling to the ground.

Ken: He's dead!?

In his memory, a much younger Ichijouji Ken stands over the body of an older boy laid out in the road. The only sound is an ambulance's sirens as it approaches in the distance.

Young Ken: Osamu-chan? Osamu-chan! OSAMU-CHAAAAAAN!!!

Ken's screams ring out as the ambulance takes Ichijouji Osamu away. We already know his fate. Until this point, Ken has been presented as the only child of the Ichijouji family.

As the flashback ends, Ken weeps into the sand.

Ken: It wasn't supposed to be like this! I didn't come here just to relive that feeling all over again!

Honestly, this revelation makes what Ken's putting his parents through that much harsher. Knowing that they've already suffered one tragedy like this....

In the dub:

Ken: Wormmon... I'm sorry... Don't go. You're my best friend! Wormmon: You're my best friend too. Goodbye, Ken. (Wormmon dies) Ken: Wormmon, no! T.K.: He's gone, Ken. Ken: He can't be! (Mind's eye Wormmon turns into Osamu) Ken: Not again.... (Flashback) Ken (V.O.): Wormmon's gone. Just like my brother. I was helpless to save him and now I can't save Wormmon either! (End Flashback) Ken: Why do I keep losing people!? I came to the Digital World to get away from all those feelings but I just can't escape!

The dub isn't willing to use the word "dead" of course, but they pull no punches with this nonetheless. Wormmon's death happens onscreen and uncensored, and the characters are pretty explicit about the fact that he's dead.

They don't even have anyone chime in to ruin the moment with "But Digimon don't die for realsies so it's fine actually" like they started doing in the first series. Both Wormmon's death and the comparison to Ken's dead brother are presented raw, visceral, and uncut.

As the team silently watches Ken cry, no one really sure what to say, Daisuke suddenly remembers something.

Daisuke flashes back on the interview Ken's parents were giving right before he left. The one playing in the living room when he and Jun were arguing about the camping trip.

Daisuke: You should go home.

At the sound of Daisuke's voice, Ken slowly stands up. He's unsteady on his feet, but he rises nonetheless. The rest of the team watch him uncertainly.

Daisuke: There are worried people waiting for you!

Ken says nothing more. He just stumbles away through the desert, wandering vaguely in the direction of his destroyed fortress. Daisuke calls after him once more.

Daisuke: GO HOME!!!

But still no answer comes. The team can only watch him recede into the distance.

The animation on their faces here does a fantastic job of really conveying the complicated emotions happening. Like. We came here to kick the shit out of this guy, and instead we just watched one of the worst moments of his life unfold while he both trauma-dumped and underwent shocking revelations.

A lot happened just now and I don't think anyone here knows what to do with it. Are we still enemies? We're certainly not friends. Do we sympathize? Do we care?

What are we supposed to feel about Ichijouji Ken right now? There can be no clear answer while the wounds are so fresh.

In the dub, Ken's father in the flashback speaks.

Father: Ken, we miss you.

As usual for the dub, this is a revisionary flashback. He did not say that in the scene Davis is remembering.

Davis: There's still people who love you. (Ken stands up) Ken: I gotta go. Davis: Don't walk away from your problems! Let us help you, Ken! (Ken keeps walking) Davis: YOU'RE DIGI-DESTINED!!! JOIN US!!! Cody: I wonder where he's going? I hope he'll be okay.

The dub takes its third commercial break here.

Again, the dub is in a hurry to speedrun Ken's arc here. They've had the kids reaching out with an olive branch to Ken since the episode began. Here, Davis tries to skip over all the complex feelings and jump straight to team recruitment.

Cody even gets an extra line to express concern for Ken's wellbeing. They give it to him because he's on the far right of the group, so the slow tracking shot of the team leaves him offscreen for long enough to say it. But that's gonna be really funny in a couple episodes when Iori quite reasonably hates Ken's fucking guts.

I'm not even sure what Davis is trying to recruit Ken for. As of this moment, mission is accomplished. We have no greater objective beyond making Ken eat shit, and we've done that. We're done here, right? Don't look at the episode count.

Anyway, that was a hell of a thing. Time for some tension relief.

Jun: YOOHOO!!! YAMATO-KUUUUUUN!!!

I have no idea where Jun slept last night but, at long last, she's made it to Yamanakako. The boys are visibly thrilled to see her, yeah. That's definitely a reaction of pleasant surprise.

Yamato: Ugh... She actually followed me all the way here? Jun: That was so mean! You left me behind, Yamato-kun! Yamato: Ah, uh, that was... How do I put it...? Jun: Eh? Where are Daisuke and the others? Taichi: FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

He doesn't say the words but you can see it on his face.

Yamato: Hey, Taichi! Where are Daisuke and the others at? Taichi: D-D-Daisuke and the others...? Uh... Koushiro! Where are Daisuke and the others? Koushiro: Eh!? Uhhhhhhh... I'll... I'll go look for them!

Koushiro flees this conversation straight into the woods. He was never seen again. Jun watches him go with a curious expression.

Jun: ...hrm?

I swear, the mood whiplash from Wormmon's death to Jun shenanigans is fucking intense.

The dub at least has the commercial break to chill the transition. This was a pretty good place for it, giving some time to wind out from that intense drama before Jun suddenly happens all over the screen.

Jun: Hey Matt! I made it! Matt: Nrrrg! Oh no, she followed us! She's like a boomerang that keeps coming back! Jun: It's funny but when you drove off with your tires screeching, you didn't realize you left me standing there. Matt: My bad! Sorry about that. I must have forgot. Jun: Oh. Where are Davis and the others? Matt: Uh, I think Tai knows. Hey, Tai, do you know where the others went? Tai: Let me think about that for a sec. Uh... Izzy, weren't you the last one to see them? Izzy: Daugh! Uhhhh Uh Uhh... Of course! Uh, I'll go find them right now! (Izzy runs off) Jun: ...hrm?

Original Jun recognizes that Yamato left her behind on purpose and berates him for it. Dub Jun somehow interprets it as an accident and I love that extra layer of self-delusion. 10/10 Expert Stalking.

As a kid, I used to ship Jun with Matt. I don't anymore because... yeesh. But back then I was young, didn't really understand how creepy this is, and just wanted Jun to be happy.

I have serious questions for the Motomiya parents over what the fuck their kids are learning about romance.

Taking his laptop with him, Koushiro makes off into the woods. Once he's far enough away, he stops running so he can think.

Koushiro: Oh, what do we do now!?

Suddenly, Koushiro hears a beep on his laptop. He looks at the screen just in time to see the Digital Gate appear.

Koushiro: Ah! The Gate is open!

That is all the forewarning he gets before reality explodes from his computer and dumps a pile of bodies on his face.

Back at the campsite, Jun sits with Taichi and Yamato. She's eating what looks to my American ass like mashed potatoes and gravy but I'm pretty sure it's actually supposed to be a flan.

Jun: Weren't you all together? Taichi: Oh, uh, y-yeah, we are....

Yamato turns around and points at the woods.

Yamato: Uh, they're probably just playing in the woods over there.

Taichi turns and points too.

Taichi: Yep yep! Right over there....

At that moment, Koushiro emerges from the woods where they're pointing with all of the junior team kids in tow.

Taichi: (surprised) Oh, l-look! Yamato: (bewildered) Like I said? Daisuke: What on earth are you doing here, Onee-chan!? Jun: HIIIIII!!!

Taichi and Yamato breathe a mutual sigh of relief at one hell of a bullet dodged against all odds. One final gift from the Digimental of Miracles?

In the dub:

Izzy: Oh boy. What am I supposed to do!? (Beep beep) Izzy: The Digi-Port is opening! (Dogpile on Izzy; Cut to campsite) Jun: Did you guys hear that noise? Tai: It could be a wild animal. (Matt turns and points) Matt: Yeah, the woods are a dangerous place. You'd better leave quick! (Tai turns and points) Tai: I'll tell Davis you stopped... by...? (Davis and the others emerge) Tai & Matt: ...huh...? Tai: Ehehe.... Matt: (bewildered) There they are? Davis: Hey, Jun, who invited you to come out here!? Jun: Matt did!

Again, they ramp up Jun's self-delusion with that final line. XD

They take out the gag where Taichi and Yamato are accidentally correct when lying that Daisuke and the others are in those woods over there. With the new dialogue, there's no clear reason why they both turn around and point at the forest behind them.

From here, we cut straight to loading up the van.

Jun: WAIT FOR MEEEEEE!!!

Jun runs screaming towards Hiroaki's van, which is already loaded down with children. Somehow, Hiroaki has absolutely no questions about the fact that, three days into this trip, his camping crew suddenly tripled in size while his back was turned. Does he know? Did they actually tell him the full details of the plan?

The junior team is visibly exhausted from their all-nighter. Takeru, Iori, and Miyako are resting in the back, and Takeru and Miyako are both clearly napping. Hikari's in the center row and looks tired as well.

Presumably, the passenger seat up front is for Yamato, which leaves Taichi, Daisuke, and Koushiro having to squeeze in with only two seats available between them.

Jun runs up to find Daisuke waiting by the open side door, presumably to stake out a seat next to Hikari. Taichi, Yamato, and Koushiro are busy loading up the trunk.

Jun: What's going on here!? I just got here and you're already going home!? Daisuke: Yeah, because we're all tired. You showed up uninvited, so quit whining about it.

With that, Daisuke steps into the van, drops into one of the middle row seats, and lets out a big yawn.

Daisuke: Agh, I'm so sleepy.... Jun: (whining) THAT'S NOT FAAAAAAIR!!!

Sorry, Jun, but Daisuke's right. You did show up uninvited on the third day of the camping trip.

A note on the translation for Jun's うそ Uso exclamation. The word literally means "A lie"; Jun is exclaiming not that Daisuke is lying but that she wants him to be.

But in practice, it's basically just a hollow exclamation of her dissatisfaction at the situation. Something that doesn't really mean what it means. She's upset by the outcome and needs something to yell to vent that feeling inside of her. Americans use baseless accusations of unfairness for the same purpose.

In the dub:

Jun: HEY GUYS!!! WAIT FOR ME!!! (Cut to the van being packed) Tai: Eugh, that was a close one. (Jun comes up to Davis on the side) Jun: Hey, would it be okay to get a ride home with you guys? I don't wanna take the bus all by myself. Davis: No way! Not in a million years! Take the bus! It's not my fault you came all the way out here! Jun: It's not fair!

The dub also went for the baseless accusation of unfairness, so we see eye to eye on that.

Davis's rejection comes off a bit harsher here. In the original, she's asking them to stay and camp longer since she doesn't want to go home right after getting here. In the dub... Davis fully intends to leave his sister stranded in the woods. Harsh.

But not super harsh; Both Davis and Jun clearly assert that there is a robust public transportation system available to her, so it's not like he's telling her to walk or hitchhike. And, in fact, Jun taking the bus is where the scene is going with this.

I suddenly find myself wondering how old Jun is supposed to be. She's Daisuke's older sister, but I'm not clear on how much older. I feel like that's important for really contextualizing Davis telling her to take herself home on the bus alone.

In any case, Hiroaki picks up on a problem I noted earlier.

Hiroaki: Oh, but we have a problem. Not everyone's going to fit. Jun: Huh? Didn't you guys say there was another car?

As a matter of fact, they did. Back when Yamato ditched Jun the first time, they explained Daisuke and the others' absence by saying Hiroaki's coworker brought them to the campsite in another car.

Yamato: Oh, uhh, yeah! But they went home yesterday! Hiroaki: Yamato, you'll take the bus home. Yamato: Ehh!? Are you serious!?

Hiroaki passes Yamato a 10,000 yen bill through the window. Approximately $100 in American money.

Hiroaki: Here, take it.

With Yamato out, Koushiro takes the remaining seat in the middle row while Taichi hops in up front.

Taichi: (teasing) Sucks to be you, Yamato! Koushiro: (teasing) Be careful out there! Yamato: W-Wait, hang on....

With friends like these....

Before Yamato can protest further, Jun cheerfully closes the van door, leaving him stranded outside the van with her.

Jun: Then I'll go home with Yamato-kun! Yamato: HRUAAAAAAAAGH!!!

All pretense gone, Yamato's eyes bulge from his head and he screams at the top of his lungs. But there's no saving him now. He's doomed. Jun links arms with Yamato and bids farewell to the van occupants.

Jun: I'll take good care of Yamato-kun.

Now that that's settled, Hiroaki starts driving.

Yamato: YOU HAVE TO LET ME IN TOO!!! Jun: Bye-bye!

But no dice. The van vanishes into the distance, leaving Yamato alone with his karmic retribution.

Jun: Ehehe! Yamato: I can't believe this....

Funny as it is, stranding Yamato with his stalker like this might seem really unfair. However, it does make a certain sense as a narrative punishment.

Yamato could have and should have told Jun, in no uncertain terms, that she is not invited. He should have made a clear and unambiguous rejection of her advances. Instead, he took the easy route. He led Jun on by pretending to have a present for her and then dumped her on the curb and bailed.

Jun already underwent a karmic punishment of her own for her delusional pursuit of Yamato. That was the detour with Mary and Kenny that wasted all the time she could have spent with Yamato at the campsite. Now the shoe's on the other foot and she is, in turn, serving as Yamato's karmic punishment for his earlier cowardice.

If Jun hadn't butted in on the camping trip or if Yamato just told her, "You're not invited and I don't want you here. Go away," then neither of them would have to go through these twin ordeals.

In the dub:

Hiroaki: Come on, kids. That's not nice. Someone take the bus with Jun. Jun: That's very nice of you, sir, and I already have the perfect volunteer in mind. Matt: And the absolute perfect volunteer is T.K.! Hiroaki: Matt, you take the bus home with Jun. Matt: Huh!? I'm broke! (Hiroaki gives Matt a 10,000 yen bill) Hiroaki: There's more than enough here. Tai: (teasing) Have fun, you two! Izzy: (teasing) Have her home before curfew! Matt: I-I'll trade for your seat?

In the animation here, Yamato is holding the bill and reaches out into the van. The dub cleverly presents this like he's offering the bill to someone as a bribe.

(Jun shuts the door) Jun: Ahaha! Don't be silly; You'll sit with me. Matt: AHHHHHHH!!!! (Jun links arms with Matt) Jun: Come on, hunk! We'd better go catch the bus. It's a long ride! Matt: Please! T.K.! You can have my college money! (Van drives away) Jun: Buh-bye! Matt: AHHHHHHH!!! Kari: Seeya in four hours! Hahaha! Jun: Hehehehehe.... Matt: Oh, I give up....

In the original, Hiroaki only tells Yamato to take the bus because the van's full up. I'd assume he's more comfortable trusting his son to make the trip than he is with dumping one of these other children that he's responsible for in the middle of the woods.

When Jun suddenly closes the door and Yamato has his eye-popping reaction, it's in response to both him and Jun suddenly realizing what else taking the bus means for him. There's an escalation to this gag. Yamato protests having to take the bus because that sucks, then is suddenly reminded that Jun will be there too, and then shrieks and starts protesting more frantically.

In the dub, Hiroaki sends Matt to escort Jun home on purpose. Which does parse and still makes sense that he'd entrust it to his son over someone else's kid that he's responsible for. However, it does mean that when Matt suddenly eye-pops and shrieks at the sight of Jun, it feels more random because it doesn't have that one-two punch to delineate.

On the drive home, the radio reports on recent events.

Radio: And now, onto the news. Boy genius Ichijouji Ken who went missing in May was located only moments ago. Having been missing for three months, details are scarce as to why he suddenly turned up in his own home. Taichi: For now, it seems the Digital World's crisis is finally over. Koushiro: Yeah, that's true. They really pulled it off.

We're having this conversation right next to Hiroaki so I guess he does know about the plan? Huh.

Also, police investigation into Ken's family would absolutely be starting immediately. Ken miraculously showing up at home, no worse for wear? Yeah, there would be suspicions that the Ichijouji family made up the whole "kidnapping" thing for publicity.

I remember an incident years back when a family lost their child in a hot air balloon that took off. It was all over the news cycles until it turned out their kid was safe and sound in the attic and they had made the whole thing all up. Right now, that is what people would be thinking the Ichijoujis did.

Taichi and Koushiro look back at the junior kids, all asleep in the car.

Narrator: Just like that, the conflict with the Digimon Kaiser was over. The new Chosen Children's first mission was complete. However....

Cut to the Ichijouji residence, where Ken's mom is crying in the living room in the arms of her husband.

Mother: Thank goodness... He's....

In his room, we find Ken asleep in his bed. Sleeping off the emotionally intense day he's just had.

Narrator: ...Ichijouji Ken still had work to do.

First mission may be complete, but we aren't finished yet.

In the dub:

Radio: And in local news, the missing boy genius Ken Ichijouji mysteriously returned home after being missing for the last several months. Events surrounding his puzzling disappearance and sudden reappearance are still unclear, but his family is thankful to have him home and safe. Good day! Tai: Well, looks like the Digital World will be a safer place from now on without Ken running the show. Izzy: Yeah, that sure must have been some battle these guys fought. (They look back at the junior team) Izzy: I think we older kids can take a lot of pride when we call these beginners the new DigiDestined. Tai: You're right, Izzy. The torch has been passed and they didn't get burned once. (Cut to Ken's mom crying at home) Mother: My little boy is back! (Cut to Ken sleeping in his room) Mother (V.O.): First, we lost his brother. Then we lost Ken! I'm just so glad he's back home! Narrator: How will Ken use the Crest of Kindness? Find out on the next episode of Digimon: Digital Monsters!

I think that's correct. The next episode should be a major character-focus episode for Ken, and I'm pretty sure the Crest of Kindness is going to be involved somehow.

Assessment: Hoo boy, what an emotional ride that was. Here we are, at the end of the Digimon Kaiser arc. The Kaiser has finally been vanquished in an epic and thrillingly cathartic def-- No, wait, he broke down emotionally and it was really awkward. Because he is a misbehaving child and not an epic villain of ultimate darkness.

I do have to say one thing. I noted earlier that the dub went too hard on the Saturday Morning villain thing, but the original kinda did too. Ken's revelation that Digimon are living creatures like people falls a little flat when earlier episodes characterized him as a judgmental misanthrope who despises and denigrates everyone in the human world and literally kicked a puppy at one point.

There are other extenuating circumstances in Ken's wickedness, mind. Next episode is going to be very complicated.

But if "OH MY GOD, Digimon are PEOPLE!?" was the direction you wanted to go with this character's Face-Turn, you probably shouldn't have written him as a vicious little shit with as little regard for people as he has for Digimon. That scene shouldn't be the first time Ken's behavior is ever shown to distinguish between people and Digimon.

It would also make Wormmon's faith in Ken ring truer if we were ever shown a side of him that wasn't this before. After twenty episodes with the guy, Ken having some redeemable qualities to him shouldn't feel like a plot twist.

So they both went too hard on making him a vicious monster who lives and breathes only cruelty. It's just that the one did it dramatically and the other did it comedically.

He's not completely one-dimensional, I should note; We've seen from earlier episodes that Ken is lonely and miserable, and he honestly seemed to enjoy his rivalry with Daisuke in the soccer episode. But we haven't really seen any evidence that he sees some sort of distinction between Digimon (who he can mistreat because they're game NPCs) and people/animals (who he respects and values the sanctity of their existence). If anything, we've seen evidence to the contrary.

So overall I like this twist. I do think this was the right direction to go in with Ken. I just think it should have been better set up.

That said, I do like how well this episode portrays the way a sense of power and domination impedes personal growth and progress. No matter how many people try to talk to Ken, nothing actually gets through as long as he can go "Blah blah blah, sic 'em, Chimeramon!"

It is so, so hard for diplomacy to prevail against someone who believes he has power over you. Ken doesn't listen until he has no other choice but to listen. Because as long as he's still in the seat of power, he doesn't have to listen. His status and authority insulates him from having to care about what other people think. It's only when he's pulled down from his throne that his sense of empathy reasserts itself, and he no longer has the luxury of ignoring their words.

[remember-digimon]

Prodigious!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[kurorosanime]

"The Sound of the Wind"

Twenty Five Years of Hunter x Hunter (1999)

Twenty-five years.

Twenty-five years. A quarter of a century. It’s a surreal amount of time to think about, yet here I am reminiscing on my favourite anime of all time finally reaching that milestone.

Yes, the original Hunter x Hunter TV anime is finally twenty-five… and a bit. Yeah, I missed that target by a couple months, but it was all for the sake of this blog. Hunter x Hunter (1999) is the first anime that made me truly think about anime as its own thing. I was a fan of Dragon Ball Z, played the games, saw Digimon, basic stuff, but this was the first anime I went out of my way to pirate and that I watched purely in Japanese. It introduced me to one of my favourite mangaka and was the melting pot of some of my most controversial anime and manga opinions, so I feel it is fair to give it the courtesy it deserves.

So, enter the Hunter x Hunter (1999) episode by episode analysis blog. I have always been disappointed by a lack of people treating this adaptation as just that- its own adaptation. It is always inevitably overshadowed, elements of it discarded as mistakes or inferior to some other, later adaptation, and the anime itself is often only seen as homework, just watch the first episode and move onto the supposed greatness that is the rebooted Hunter x Hunter (2011).

I don’t play to radically change that sentiment. I’m just one person. But, I’m one person who will hopefully get found by one or two other people who will see my sentiments and views and think “Hey… this one’s onto something here.” 

As a preface. This will not be a Hunter x Hunter (2011) hater blog. I’ve done enough of those on other channels in the past, and even I’m a bit sick of it. This will not be saying that Hunter x Hunter (1999) is the magically more faithful adaptation. It isn’t. It really, really isn’t, even in that first episode it features some really radical departures from what our author, Togashi Yoshihiro, had written. This will not be contriving Hunter x Hunter (1999) as better than the manga, or 2011, or even 1998, or even the various stage adaptations. 

Instead, I will be viewing 1999 as its own production, comparing it to the manga to highlight what it deems as significant. What deviations it makes and why those matter, how this effects the interpretation of the characters, and really, what it was all about. I’m not a ‘sakugabro’ but I also hope to briefly, whenever my insight is valued or warranted, go through those ideas as well since the animation of this original adaptation is something typically praised in the modern age.

I will also try my best to cover things typically not covered. The English community for Hunter x Hunter (1999) is barely existent as it is, so much is not known about it. From the merch, to the musicals, to the games, and of course, to the supposedly real cut alternate ending that I have seen no sources corroborating but also no real disprovals of it, I will try to talk about all of this. 

I’m still in my early days with this concept, but so far I have blogposts for the first four episodes written. The most significant aspect of this blog will be its pacing, as that will be what gives me time to breathe and analyze- going through the episodes the way I do takes a lot out of me. I have spent sometimes four hours just examining the episodes and seeing what liberties are taken, how they are framed, even what music is used for a given scene, so I can only ever do one episode on a good day. But I hope the end product will be satisfactory.

For now, I will take it at my own pace before, in true celebratory fashion, switching to a weekly format once I’ve ‘caught up’. For example, if I were to catch up today, that would mean I would have written blogposts for the first twelve episodes, and thus my next post would not be until January 22nd, 2025 for the thirteenth episode, on the 25th Anniversary of said episode. So this will be a fairly long blog in the abstract.

As of now, I will not be discussing the OVAs or other adaptations, as they were done by completely different creative teams in a lot of respects. While the Yorkshin OVA carries over a large chunk of the DNA from the original TV anime, it is still lacking that guiding hand of Furuhashi Kazuhiro, the original work’s Director. Similarly, the Greed Island OVAs were mired in production troubles, and while it would be interesting to analyze them as a whole, they do not fit in here. 

Another topic that comes up is the original 1998 Pilot OVA, which was a Pierrot production and more a spin-off of Yu Yu Hakusho when you analyze the staff for it. I also have no real interest in it. Maybe I’ll have something to say for its 30th Anniversary in 2028? But until then, it’s a no-go. Same with the 2011 series and its two films as of now.

If you found this blogpost before I posted anything, thanks for being such a dedicated fan already. I should be uploading my first blogpost sometime tomorrow and from there I’ll try to maintain daily uploads until I reach that ‘caught up’ point mentioned earlier. 

If you want to follow along, I will be using the [EncoderAnon] release, which can be found at the usual places. If you don’t want to follow along… well, I guess you could just not do that. I don’t mind. 

Regardless, thank you for visiting my humble blog. I hope we can see each other off once we reach the 25th Anniversary of the final episode on March 31st, 2026.

[seventeenlovesthree]

Since it's my personal mission to make everybody watch the Digimon Adventure Tri Stage Play, I dug up one of my favourite interviews again. I owe the producer my life, because he simply managed to create the best piece of Digimon Adventure media since Adventure itself (in my opinion almost as amazing as Our War Game and that MEANS something). However, I saw a few people being confused about a few things, so I wanted to clarify:

"Wait, is the Stage Play just Tri's story but done on stage?"

Nope, it does take place during the Tri era (between the third and fourth movie to be exact), but it is an original (side) story that can be watched without having any knowledge of Tri or Tri's plot.

"Does the story take place in the real or in the Digital World?"

That would actually be a spoiler and since there is no easy answer to this, I'm gonna say you have to watch it for yourself.

"Are the characters like in the original or like in Tri?"

That's the fun part - of course there are glimpses and pieces of the Tri characterizations, but the producer really did his very best to adapt the characters faithfully and as respectfully from the original source material as much as he could and I think you can feel that:

"To be honest, the generational timing was a little off for me, so I had never seen Digimon before. After I received the request for the stage play, I watched all of it, including the original TV series and the movie series, but I didn’t expect that I’d be crying so many times. It was a story of human growth and Digimon evolution being deeply intertwined, and I watched as that growth and evolution was overlaid with so many other things. Maybe it was because I watched it as an adult, but I was able to see it from all sorts of perspectives in regards to “people growing”. (...) While I’ve worked with other people’s stories and made plays out of them several times, it was usually in the sense of taking the original work’s story and repurposing it for the stage format. But for this one, even though I’m borrowing the original series’s characters, the story is being written from scratch, and it’s my first time writing words for characters that were created by other people. It was a high level of difficulty, and I still feel it even now. Also, it made me wonder how the scriptwriters for the anime must have done this. They were also writing the same characters in the same world, while sharing that job with tons of other people. It’s amazing that they were able to do that. But, naturally, it wasn’t just full of difficult and painful things, but once the story properly got going, I got to hear the lines I was writing in the voices of the characters from the original series, and getting to savor those kinds of moments was very fun. Someone like me, who works in the theatre field, gets to take over the job of writing the lines of characters made by others. And then I have Toei check over it, and we get even closer to the mark. So in other words, we bring these characters to life by sharing them between everyone. And especially in the case of Digimon, it was an interesting experience in that there wasn’t just one writer or director, but rather that everyone had their own version of Taichi and Yamato, and the dialogue was born from between all of that.

"Anything else I need to know?"

If you are able to see past some cringe, don't mind nostalgia baiting and are okay with a few... Questionable scenes in regards to the main antagonist (which you will definitely know if you've watched the original Adventure series), you will enjoy this.

Also, personally, I'd say this is the order of plot relevance of each human character, so if your favourite characters are in the top half of the list (and even if they're not), you are likely to have fun:

Taichi

Jyou

Koushirou

Yamato

Mimi

Hikari

Sora

Takeru

[grim-echoes]

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

[bethanythebogwitch]

Giving the Phantom Thieves Digimon Partners

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[digi-lov]

Digimon & Tamagotchi

Bandai V-Pet Crossovers Part 1 (Part 2)

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

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

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

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

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

One such thing is Tamagotchimoji and Digimoji/DigiCode!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ayukaze]

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

He shared a few photos from the opening in Shanghai.

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

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

Source: HappyKids Company on Weibo

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

Character profiles shared by Shonen Jump's Weibo Account.

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

Play captures shared by Bandai Namco's Weibo account.

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

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

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

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