#past world koushiro and tentomon

[koushirouizumi]

( For those who never quite caught it Yet...

The "Dark Chosen" {+'Mons!!} appear{ed} in "DAZE"! )

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x48 - Bombing Mission! Mugendramon / My Sister's Keeper

Previously on Digimon Adventure: The combined efforts of Zudomon, SaberLeomon, and MetalEtemon finally succeeded in taking down MetalEtemon, at the cost of Leomon's life. Meanwhile, the rest of the children gathered around Pinocchimon and stomped on him until he broke.

Onward to the next Dark Master!

We open in the shot that the previous episode snatched to end on in the dub: Taichi's crew traversing a long highway in a vast desert. As they walk, Hikari begins to cough. Her steps become shaky and unsteady. Before long, she trips over her own foot and falls face-down into the pavement.

The other kids keep walking for a couple seconds, unaware that she's no longer with them. Once they realize, however, Taichi rushes to her side.

Taichi: HIKARI!!!

The dub adds some dialogue as we join them.

Tai: This road has to be going somewhere, right...? Kari: (cough cough) Tentomon: Don't count on it! Nothing is certain in the Digi-World! Kari: (cough cough, cough cough) Gatomon: Do you have a furball, Kari? Kari: No, silly... I'm okay.... Sora: One thing is certain; Only a cactus could love this place. (Kari falls) Group: ... Tai: (suddenly notices) KARI!!!

This conversation is basically nothing fluff, but I can see merit in it. In the original, the group seems too exhausted to notice when Hikari drops at first. They're all just trudging through silently.

The dub seems to be angling for them being too lost in conversation to notice - besides Gatomon, who they have monitoring Kari's condition. Though if Gatomon was paying attention to her, you'd think she would have said something when Kari dropped.

I do think they should have had one more line of dialogue here, during and after Kari dropping. To cement the "lost in conversation" vibe, have someone saying something while she falls, and then have Tai suddenly interrupt them with his "KARI" yell.

Nonetheless, I see what they're going for. It's a different interpretation but it works.

The children carry Hikari to a bus stop and set her down on the bench.

Unhelpfully, the bus stop's marker shows destinations as "Somewhere" and "Anywhere". In English.

Sora: I guess her cold must be acting up again. Her legs must be exhausted. Tailmon: Hikari... Are you okay...? Hikari: (opens eyes and nods, smiling weakly) Taichi: Why did you let this go on for so long? Why are you burdening yourself? Hikari: Because... We have to hurry and save-- (cough cough) Taichi: (worried) ...Hikari....

Hikari's condition has been worsening, but she's kept it to herself to avoid inconveniencing the rest of the group. Or, at least, she's attempted to do so.

The dub previously unwrote Kari being sick as her reason for not making it to summer camp. So here, she's recently come down with something. No relation to past events.

Sora: She has to stay out of the sun. And we've got to find a way to get her fever down soon! Gatomon: Don't worry. I won't leave you. Kari: (opens eyes and nods, smiling weakly) Yeah.... Tai: How come you didn't say something before now, Kari!? If we'd known sooner, we could have rested until you felt better. Kari: ...you mad? I didn't want to slow everyone down. (cough cough cough) Tai: (worried) Oh, I'm not mad.

Kari's a bit more verbose than her Japanese counterpart.

Taichi momentarily flashes back on something from their history. He briefly remembers a playground when they were little, watching emergency responders load Hikari into an ambulance.

Taichi: Now that I think about it, it may have been better if we didn't bring Hikari with us after all. Koushiro: Eh!? We wouldn't be able to save the Digimon World or the Earth without Hikari. You realize she's a Chosen Child, right? Taichi: But she's only in second grade... And she's recovering from a cold.... Taichi: (thinking) Takeru's in second grade too.... Koushiro: What's wrong, Taichi-san? Taichi: I-It's nothing. It's just... She tends to try and quietly endure things even when she doesn't have to. Koushiro: Taichi-san....

The curse of being a younger sibling. Hikari's afraid of being burdensome and overcompensates.

In the dub:

Tai: I wasn't paying attention. We probably shouldn't have even brought her along. Izzy: Huh!? What are you talking about!? We had to bring her! We need her if we want to save the Digi-World! She's one of the DigiDestined; Have you forgotten that!? Tai: Not at all! But her being sick... We should have left her someplace safe. We should have split up so someone could take care of her while the others looked. Izzy: SPLIT UP!?!? Tai, this isn't like you! Tai: I'm just a little... worried about her. It's all a part of what I do to be a good leader, Izzy. Izzy: Uh, yeah, but....

They depersonalized this bit hard. They stay in script through Izzy's first line, at which point Tai concedes the point that she has to be physically present in the Digi-World but then wildly suggests stashing Kari somewhere on this side of the boundary.

This replaces Taichi nervously fretting over how young Hikari is. And, by extension, suddenly realizing how young Takeru is too.

Tai wraps up by removing himself entirely from the role of Kari's brother and instead assuring Izzy that this is about his leadership duties.

Suddenly, Tentomon intrudes on the conversation.

Tentomon: KOUSHIRO-HAAAAAAAN!!! I FOUND SOMETHING!!!

Kabuterimon brings the children to what he's discovered. They approach a great landmass across a body of water. A landmass that looks suspiciously like New York City.

Kabuterimon: Look! Over there! Kids: (collective gasp) Takeru: It's America! ...huh?

As they fly, the architecture of the city below suddenly shifts to a new region.

Koushiro: This is Italy. And that's the Arc de Triomphe! That's in France. Sora: It's too quiet. There's something strange about this. Piyomon: No Digimon either.

Taichi rides with Hikari in front of him, keeping a firm grip on her shoulders. She suddenly weakens and goes slack, prompting him to start yelling with urgency.

Taichi: HEY!!! Please! We need to stop and rest somewhere! Koushiro: Uhh... Yeah, sure.

Taichi's request pulls everyone reluctantly away from the mystery they've found themselves in, and they begin looking around for somewhere to land.

In the dub:

Tentomon: FOUND IT!!! Izzy: Huh? Tentomon: We're saved! (Kabuterimon takes the kids to the mishmash city) Kabuterimon: Look! Right up ahead! You wanted civilization? Well, it doesn't get more civilized than this! Kids: (collective gasp) T.K.: IS THAT AMERICA!?!?

The dub slips it's first commercial break, leaving us with the intrigue of having found New York City. Upon return, we briefly replay the shot of Kabuterimon approaching NYC as a reminder of where we left off.

T.K.: Do you think they have a bathroom? Kids: Huh!? Sora: That's New York City.... (They pass into Italy) Sora: ...but that isn't! Izzy: That's Rome. We studied it in geography. And up there? That's the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. They're all smushed together. Tai: It's like that theme park in Florida! Sora: Except that this place is deserted. Look, there's not a sign of life anywhere! Kari: (groan, goes slack) Tai: HEY!!! IZZY!!! Kari's getting worse; Let's find someplace to land! Izzy: Oh! Yeah, right. (looks around) Uhhh....

Taichi is silent through this exchange until he suddenly speaks up about Hikari because he has bigger things on his mind than weird mashup cities. Tai's happy to pitch in and compare the place to... You know, I'm actually not sure which theme park he means. The two I know (Disney World and Universal Studios) are based around movies, not world geography.

Is there a world geography theme park in Florida?

(No, T.K., the entire city of New York does not have a bathroom. Why didn't you go during the commercial?)

Overall, this is pretty faithful to the original, albeit lighter in tone. But we expect that from the dub.

Kabuterimon lands on the lawn of a house, and the children invite themselves in.

Was the door unlocked or were we deprived a funny scene of the Chosen Children pulling a B&E? Taichi totally seems like the type to smash a window next to the door and just turn the inside handle, especially under these circumstances. Possibly in the middle of a debate about whether or not it's okay to break in.

I mean, Jou isn't here to stop us. When the senpai's away, the kouhais will... commit crimes.

In any case, the children proceed to ransack the house looking for medicine. We find Taichi, Koushiro, and Takeru turning the kitchen upside-down when suddenly Agumon runs in.

Agumon: HEY!!! TAICHI!!! Is this it?

Taichi takes the bottle from Agumon's hand and inspects it.

Taichi: YES!!! THIS IS IT!!! Koushiro: You found the cold medicine?

Taichi opens the package, only for his hopes to immediately be dashed when it's empty.

Defeated, he returns to the bedroom where they've laid up Hikari. Sora, Piyomon, and Tailmon are watching over her. Sora looks up hopefully at him as he enters, but he shakes his head.

Sora: I see.... Taichi: We're going out to search. How is Hikari doing? Sora: The same as before. However, she isn't sweating as much. Taichi: That's good to hear. Well, take care of her for me. Sora: Mhm. Take care of yourself out there, Taichi.

As Taichi turns to go, he finds Takeru and Koushiro in the doorway.

Takeru: Taichi-san! I'll search for the cold medicine with you. Taichi: No, I want you to stay here, Takeru. We have no way of knowing when the next attack from the Dark Masters will happen. Takeru: Got it! We'll be sure to protect everyone! Patamon: You can count on us! Taichi: You're the man of the house while we're gone.

The dub credits Sora with finding the house.

Sora: This looks like a nice, quiet spot. (Kabuterimon lands and the search begins) Izzy: These cupboards are empty! There's not even a speck of food! Agumon: HEY!!! This what you're looking for? Tai: (takes the packages) Alright! Way to go! Izzy: What is it, Agumon!? Did you find some Aspirin!? Tai: Yeah, this ought to do the trick! (Tai opens the package and finds it empty) Tai: It's empty! Izzy: Just like everything else! This place is weird!

Izzy, the cupboards are visibly not empty. Additionally, you're not supposed to be scavenging for food right now. We're trying to find Kari some meds!

I guess Sora looking at Tai and Tai sadly shaking his head was too subtle for the dub team because they give Tai something else to respond to.

Gatomon: Tai, humans aren't supposed to be this color, are they? Tai: (shakes head sadly) Sora: Well? Tai: I'm afraid to leave in case something happens, but she needs medicine. Sora: She's stable, I think. All we can do for now is hope her fever breaks soon. Tai: It will! At least I know I'm leaving her in good hands, with you. Sora: Don't worry. Just be careful. T.K.: Listen, Tai! I wanna come with you! I won't get in the way, honest! Tai: No way; You're my last line of defense! What if the Dark Masters come, huh? I need you here to look after the others. T.K.: You can count on me! Don't worry; I'm on the job! Patamon: Yeah! Leave it to us! Tai: I knew I could count on you guys!

Apart from that context shift on the headshake, this is pretty faithful. Tai really plays up the whole "It's actually a super important duty for you to NOT come with me!" thing, which sells it well.

Taichi, Koushiro, and their Partner Digimon make their way into the city.

Agumon: Medicine, medicine... Where is the medicine!?

Taichi stops when he notices Koushiro's fallen behind. Koushiro seems to be looking around for something.

Taichi: (urgently)What are you doing, Koushiro? Koushiro: (points) THERE!!!

Koushiro points out a phone booth. Taichi's team makes their way over, and Koushiro breaks out his laptop, using Tentomon's back as a table.

Koushiro: Searching blindly would be a waste of time, don't you think?

Koushiro plugs his computer into the ethernet jack on the pay phone. (Yes, that is actually a thing some pay phones had back in the day when pay phones existed.) From there, he pulls up a map.

Koushiro: Yes! I have a map of the city! Taichi: (excited) S-So where is the cold medicine? Koushiro: The nearest hospital or drug store is....

A set of yellow blinking lights appear on the map near the central red dot.

Koushiro: There! Taichi: (points to one) Great. We'll try that one!

Taichi bolts out of the phone booth, nearly bowling over Agumon in the process, and sprints down the sidewalk.

There's a continuity error here in the animation. The door to the booth is visibly open in interior shots of the group. (Why bother closing it?) But here we see Taichi throw the door open as he exits - with Agumon teleporting outside of the booth so that he can be startled by the sudden action.

Agumon: T-Taichi!? Koushiro: P-Please wait for me!

Rude, but his sister is unwell.

In the dub, Agumon has his mind on other things than the cold medicine. Namely, reading the script and unsubtly dropping foreshadowing.

Agumon: This place is deserted but I still get the feeling we're being followed. Isn't that strange? (Tai notices that Izzy isn't keeping up and stops) Tai: (urgently) IZZY!!! What do you think you're doing!? Izzy: (points) AHA!!! (Izzy takes Tai to the phone booth) Izzy: This is the Digital Age, Tai. There are a lot simpler ways of finding things now. Tentomon: Good. I was beginning to get a cramp in my wing. (Izzy pulls up a map) Izzy: I knew it! There's an online map of the city! Tai: Izzy, you're a genius! Nice going! Izzy: Okay, now I'll search for hospitals and pharmacies.... (Yellow lights appear) Izzy: Jackpot! Take your pick. Tai: (points) This one's the closest. Let's go! (Tai bolts out of the booth) Izzy: HEY!!! WAIT FOR ME!!! I GOTTA UNPLUG MYSELF!!!

Agumon's foreshadowing is also incorrect. They are not physically being watched. ...well, maybe by Piedmon but he's not what this is setting up.

Koushiro unplugs from the phone booth and follows Taichi. As he does, we see they're being monitored. A pair of gear-shaped Digimon have their own map up on a screen, and can see the red and yellow blips from Koushiro's computer - up until the moment he disconnects.

I don't think the gears ever get an Analyzer rundown, so I'm just gonna cover them real quick. These are Hagurumon, the Child-stage Viruses of the Metal Empire line. They're what evolves into Mekanorimon and Guardromon from Homeostasis's flashback, among other things.

The name comes from the word 歯車 haguruma, which means "toothy wheel" or, in other words, a gear.

Hagurumon 1: The line has disconnected!

Hagurumon turns around, reporting to Mugendramon behind them - who finally speaks for the first time.

Hagurumon 1: Mugendramon-sama! The children were looking up the locations of nearby hospitals and drug stores. Mugendramon: Hospitals. Drug stores. Display their locations. Hagurumon 1: Sir!

The Hagurumon pull up their own yellow blips for the referenced locations.

Hagurumon 1: There are twelve in the area. Mugendramon: We'll target them all. Metal Empire Army! Move out! Hagurumon 2: Metal Empire Army! Move out! Hagurumon 1: Metal Empire Army! Move out!

Mugendramon is not playing around. Knowing the Chosen Children will be in one of twelve places is all he needs.

In the dub, the reporting Hagurumon is super obnoxious.

Hagurumon 2: They have logged off. Hagurumon 1: Yes! My lord, Machinedramon, sir! They've accessed maps and things for hospitals and pharmacies. Hi-yoooo! Machinedramon: And you're waiting for what!? Show me those locations. Hagurumon 1: Right away, sir! (Yellow blips appear) Hagurumon 1: There are, uh, one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight-nine-ten-eleven-TWELVE of them! Machinedramon: Let me put this in words you can understand. Send units to all twelve locations and blow them up! Hagurumon 1: Oh, I get it now! Blow them up! Yes, sir! Hagurumon 2: Consider it already done, my lord!

They're going for the "serious cartoon supervillain constantly frustrated by his useless buffoon minions" but they don't have any buffoonery to work with here that they can frustrate Machinedramon with. So they have to make the Hagurumon's personality super annoying to compensate.

They hit the important plot beats but I'm gonna call this one a miss in the attempted comedy. They can't all be winners.

From here, the Metal Empire transforms and rolls out.

This is where the Mekanorimon from the assault on Homeostasis's base came from. An unassuming wall in one of the mashed up cities opens, revealing a hidden entrance to the base. Mekanorimon troops enter into the city on foot.

Beneath the Arc de Triomphe, a secret panel in the ground lowers into a ramp. Tank-shaped Digimon roll up and onto the streets.

A large, round Roman plaza in the Italy section opens up to reveal a secret launchpad. Two huge, serpentine Digimon, one red and one blue, spread their wings and take to the skies.

The Metal Empire is on the move.

In the dub, Machinedramon talks over this.

Machinedramon: The little fools have swallowed the bait! Now it is time to spring the trap.

...what bait? Did you remote-infect Kari with a cold on purpose somehow? Dub villains really do just say things.

The dub Mekanorimon hum a marching cadence to themselves as they emerge. Additionally, the winged Digimon have lines when they take flight.

Red: Finally! Blue: It was getting stuffy!

Meanwhile, Taichi and Koushiro reach their destination. Koushiro raids the hospital's supplies while Taichi goes into another flashback, this time remembering a hospital when he was younger. His mother, out of breath and sweating hard from running, comes to a stop in front of him.

Yuuko: Where is Hikari!? TAICHI!!!

In the present, Taichi shakes, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists.

Koushiro: (calling out suddenly) I found it! This turned out to be the right place!

Taichi and Koushiro adjourn to the supply cabinets, to sort through medications and try to figure out which bottle they need.

Taichi: Which one is the cold medicine!? Koushiro: If only Jou-san were here. His father's a doctor. Taichi: He's never around when we need him! Koushiro: (notices something) That'll work!

Koushiro notices a phone. He unplugs the phone from its jack and plugs in his laptop's ethernet cable, going online.

The dub gives Agumon a line to kick us off. He remains confused by the emptiness of the city.

Agumon: No wonder this hospital's so clean! There's no sick people! Hello! Hello? (Flashback) Yuuko: TAI!!! (runs up) DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?!? (End flashback) Tai: (shakes, gritting teeth and clenching fists) Agumon: ...Tai? Izzy: HEY, OVER HERE!!! I FOUND THE PHARMACY!!! (Cut to pharmacy) Tai: There's a lot of medicine, alright. But how do we know what to use for Kari's fever? Izzy: Strange as it sounds, I wish Joe were here. He might know what these are; His father's a doctor. Tai: That's a doctor's kid for ya; There's never one around when you need him! Izzy: Huh!? Hold on! I can patch into the hospital's computer! (Izzy unplugs the phone and plugs in his laptop) Tentomon: Izzy shoots! He scores! Izzy: (typing) Fever reduction. Children.

Yuuko is super accusatory in this flashback. The original Yuuko just asks him where Hikari's been taken to; English Yuuko is more interested in throwing blame around and maximizing how bad Tai feels.

This is not the plot difference that it may seem like; It's actually a pacing shift. The original is holding off on revealing Taichi's complicity in Hikari's hospitalization; Right now, it just wants you to know that Taichi has pre-existing trauma over Hikari's health. Meanwhile the dub comes right out and frontloads it.

The Jou exchange is mostly unchanged, but Izzy makes a point to qualify his statement as a rare deviation from norm. Can't have you thinking anyone likes Joe or anything.

Izzy also describes plugging into the wall jack as "patching into the hospital's computer" despite no computer besides his own being present.

Unbeknownst to them, when Koushiro accesses the city's network, he reveals his location to Mugendramon once again.

Hagurumon1: Someone's accessing the network at Target Area 1. Mugendramon: Hmm.... Narrow our targets to area 1. Prepare to attack!

At Mugendramon's command, Metal Empire forces peel off from their original trajectories and converge on the hospital. They take offensive positions around it, ready to begin the siege.

In the dub:

Hagurumon 1: Sir! There they are, sir! Haha! Hagurumon 2: The network is being accessed from inside Target 4, Master, Sir. Machinedramon: It would then be a good idea to have all forces converge on that target and prepare to attack! Hagurumon 2: Uhhhhh brilliant idea, my lord, sir!

The dub Mekanorimon continue humming their wordless marchine cadence as their forces converge. The sky serpents again have dialogue.

Blue: After you, Megadramon. Red: Oh no, after you!

Inside the hospital, unaware of the impending attack, Taichi and Koushiro compare medications to data Koushiro's pulled up in order to discern which bottle to use.

Taichi: (holding out a bottle) This one? Koushiro: Eh? ...yes! I'm sure of it! Taichi: Great! We should hurr-- Mugendramon: (command room) FIRE!!!

The tanks fire off their opening volley into the hospital. Inside, the boys can feel the building shake and the power cuts out.

(Not that Mugendramon cares but this is a war crime, by the way.)

Agumon: (scared) W-What the...?

Taichi and Koushiro hurry back to the front lobby. Through the sliding doors, they see a row of Mekanorimon foot soldiers waiting for them outside. These Mekanorimon receive the rare luxury of a second rundown.

Mekanorimon is still one of the two Adult-stage Virus-types of the Metal Empire evolution line.

Taichi: T-The enemy! Narrator: Mekanorimon. An Adult-stage Machine type Digimon. Their special attack. Twinkle Beam, is fired from their Linear Lens.

No mention of them being pilotable as a vehicle. This rundown provides less information than the last time they were up here.

Now that they have eyes on target, the Mekanorimon start shooting. Firing off their Twinkle Beams into the hospital lobby. Their shots disintegrate anything they hit, wiping out the front doors and the lobby furniture.

Though momentarily startled, Taichi's crew manage to flee deeper into the hospital.

In the dub:

Tai: Hey, Izzy: You're sure that's the right stuff? Izzy: It's as safe as children's Aspirin! Tai: Good job! Then let's get back! Machinedramon: (command room) FIRE!!! (Assault begins) Agumon: Hey, let's beat it!

When Tai's crew makes it to the front lobby, the Mekanorimon are still singing their wordless cadence. Tai immediately quips about their predicament.

Tai: Lucky we're in a hospital, 'cause it looks like we might need one! Mekanorimon: (singing cadence) Tai: What are they? Agumon: (rundown) Mekanorimon. Evil robots with one job: Blasting Digimon. I suggest we get out of here, and fast! Mekanorimon: Target in range.

Tai doesn't remember that he already saw these Digimon during Homeostasis's vision quest. But we can cut him some slack for that; The narrator forgot too.

Agumon's diegetic rundown is way better than the repeated original. Doing it diegetically allows Agumon to fill it with situational context. That often comes at the expense of the info that's supposed to be delivered, but since this one's a repeat anyway, it's all good.

As Taichi's crew flees into the hospital, they find their path cut off; One of the tanks from outside comes straight through a wall into the hallway, pinning them in.

Tankmon is an Adult-stage Data-type Cyborg Digimon. Also of the Metal Empire line, of course. There's not much to say here. They're a tank. They want to shoot Taichi in the face.

Team: (collective gasp) Agumon: There's another one! Narrator: Tankmon. Using their heavy power and the heavy weapons all over their body, they blast their enemies to pieces. Their special move Hyper Cannon is fired from the barrel on their head.

Something about having a tank cannon pointed directly at their faces makes the group want to stand there and discuss. Fortunately, Tankmon is willing to stand by and let them chat.

Tentomon: HOW DID THEY EVEN KNOW WE WERE HERE!?!? Koushiro: Could they have spotted us when we came in? Taichi: Shit! And we just found the medicine, too!

As if that weren't bad enough, one of the Mekanorimon enters the hospital and rounds the corner, cutting off the children's retreat. Taichi's crew is pincered in the hallway.

(Maybe that's what Tankmon was waiting for. Didn't want to open fire until their retreat was cut off.

The pair fire together, Twinkle Beam and Hyper Cannon. Thinking quickly, Taichi breaks down the door next to him with his shoulder, guiding everyone into a doctor's office.

Taichi: THIS WAY!!!

Taichi's crew escapes the hall just before the two shots collide, detonating in a blast that tosses both Mekanorimon and Tankmon. Taichi's group manage to pile out a window and take cover under the windowsill, while the explosion rips through the windows above them.

Once, the initial blast wave has passed, Taichi gets to his feet and leads the team away.

Taichi: Let's go!

In the dub:

Agumon: They brought along a friend! Agumon: (rundown) Tankmon. An armor-plated bully with a sneeze like a cannon! If you think the other guys are bad, these creeps have more firepower than a volcano! Tentomon: I thought we'd lost them! How did they find us so quickly!? Izzy: One of them must have been following us and saw us come in here. Tai: Think! Kari needs us to get back, pronto! Mekanorimon: (rounding corner) Target in range. (Mekanorimon and Tankmon fire together_ Tai: (bashing down door) LOOK OUT!!! (The kids pile out of the window) Tai: DUCK!!! (They take cover. The explosion passes, then they get up.) Tai: Come on!

Agumon's rundown is a little hyperbolic but covers the key point very well: Tankmon has so much gun. So, so very much gun.

The dub adds "I thought we lost them" to Tentomon's line, which doesn't make a lick of sense. This is our first encounter with the Metal Empire. They have never been chasing us before this moment.

Unless he means "I thought we lost the Mekanorimon out front when we ran deeper into the hall." That would parse, but then Izzy's follow-up line is weird. Yeah, they did see us round a corner.

Between this and Agumon's "I think someone's watching us," the dub seems to be having a hard time with Mugendramon's tracking of the Children.

With Taichi's crew out of the hospital, the Metal Empire fans out to search the city.

Taichi's crew take shelter in the upper floor of an office building. Taichi and Agumon watch a Tankmon pass on the street below. Meanwhile, Koushiro works feverishly at his laptop.

Taichi: How many of them are there!? Agumon: That's it! I'm gonna go deal with them-- Koushiro: Please hold off a moment! We don't have an accurate understanding of the enemy's military assets. It's too dangerous! Taichi: (angry) Then what are we supposed to do, Koushiro!? Koushiro: I'm studying the enemy's positions in order to discern the safest route to take us back. After all, our main priority is to return with the medicine. Taichi: (softens, embarrassed) O-Oh... yeah, you're right.

Taichi always wants to do everything the hard way. ...though they might be better off if they did.

In the dub, the Tankmon are now also singing the marching cadence.

Tai: I'm really getting sick of that sound! When are they gonna call it quits and go home!? Agumon: We don't have time for this! I'm gonna go down there and take care of them! Izzy: No, wait! Those rolling arsenals are just waiting for us! We show ourselves and they'll go ballistic! Tai: (angry)So we just hide here all day!? Is that it!? Izzy: Those machines are the only things moving out there, so a map of the city's traffic flow will show us where they are! Then it's just a question of plotting the best course to avoid them! Tai: Yeah. Just might work. Izzy: Of course it'll work!

A map of the city's traffic flow? Bit of a workaround.

Koushiro's just tapping into the network (unknowingly Mugendramon's network) and looking at the blips showing the locations of his forces. Which is a normal thing for his network to show him.

Izzy's argument against attacking is a lot weaker here, too. Koushiro rightfully points out that we have no idea how many are out there or how strong they are. Attacking blindly is an extremely risky proposition.

Izzy just says "They're gonna shoot at you if you try." Uh. Yeah. That's how violence works. Thanks, Izzy.

Before long, Koushiro's able to pull up the city map again, with white blips showing the locations of each individual enemy unit.

Koushiro: Yes! I have the enemy's positions! Taichi: Really!?

At the same time, a large yellow blip appears on Mugendramon's screen. The Hagurumon zoom in on it, then report.

Hagurumon 1: Mugendramon-sama! An access has occurred in Sector B-12! Mugendramon: Change targets. Sector B-12!

Back in the office building, Koushiro finds that all routes are now unsafe because the white blips have stopped moving in scattershot ways. Instead, they are all converging towards his location.

Koushiro: (jaw open, horrified) .... Taichi: What's wrong, Koushiro? Koushiro: The enemy... They're surrounding the building. Taichi: What!?

Suddenly, Koushiro lets out a startled gasp. His eyes widening with revelation, he looks down at the ethernet cable connected to his laptop.

Koushiro: (thinking) It can't be... They're using my network access to track us!

Today, Koushiro learned an important lesson about what malicious actors are capable of doing with an unsecured IP address. THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY NORD VPN, PROTECT YOUR DATA ONLINE--

In the dub, he continues gloating about "accessing the traffic flow".

Izzy: You see? There! I've pinpointed every one of them! Tai: Good job, Izzy! (Cut to Machinedramon's lair) Hagurumon 2: Excuse me, Your Metalness. They are accessing the network again but the access point has relocated to Sector B-17. Machinedramon: Then relay those coordinates to all forces and attack!

As the Tankmon change course, we see they are continuing to sing the cadence. Though the Mekanorimon are now not singing it. Guess they got bored.

Izzy: (watching the white dots converge on their location) Inconceivable! Huh.... Tai: Incon-what!? What now!? Izzy: The machines! Every one of them rotated in sync and now they're heading our way! Tai: Wha--!? Izzy: (startled gasp) Izzy: (thinking) Of course! They're zeroing in on my computer connection!

Pretty solid, no notes. They even have the not-annoying Hagurumon make the report to avoid disrupting the rising tension. I like the added detail that "every machine rotated in sync". You can picture that in your head and get a good, visceral feel for what's causing Izzy to freak out.

I don't know how he knows that when all he has are blipping dots. He might just be painting a word picture for Tai. But it's a good word picture.

Koushiro doesn't have time to follow this train of thought, however.

Agumon: TAICHI!!!

Agumon's warning comes just in time. The kids look up at the red sky serpent making a beeline for their window. They get up and run just before the creature crashes into the office.

Due to its colossal size, the creature struggles to enter the relatively cramped confines of the office building. Agumon capitalizes on this disadvantage, evolving to Greymon and nailing the struggling creature in the eye with a Mega Flame. Then, as the creature recoils in pain, Greymon takes off deeper into the building - With Taichi and Koushiro riding on his back. We go to commercial from here.

In the dub:

Agumon: INCOMING!!!

The dub slips their commercial break here, as the sky serpent hurtles towards the building. Probably reasoning (correctly) that this is a more suspenseful cliffhanger to leave off on.

No dialogue is added to the brief altercation.

Returning from commercial, we find ourselves at Piemon's observatory.

His telescope displays Mugendramon's command center on the screen, while he waxes poetic about his Dark Master colleague.

Piemon: This is boring to watch. There is no escape. Truly, a Digimon who exists solely for destruction; That is Mugendramon. I suppose he will be the one to bring the Chosen Children to their doom. It's too bad I won't get to play.

Piemon raises his cocktail glass to the screen, on which the fleeing children on Greymon's back are now displayed.

Piemon: (in Spanish) Adios!

The dub adds a lot of extra dialogue to Piedmon, to fill the quiet moments of this scene.

Piedmon: Ahh, the plot sickens. Ahh, me... I had such high hopes that these little ones would put on a more entertaining show! But this? Really, it's too tiresome! Can we just get this over with and get onto something a little less TEDIOUS!? There's no escape from Machinedramon! He's designed for total annihilation; It's only a matter of time now before he catches them. And then the game is over. Ah, it's not fair that that overgrown can opener gets all the fun when I was so looking forward to playing with them myself. (Piedmon raises his cocktail glass to the screen) Piedmon: Farewell, little ones!

Piedmon's actor is chewing every last possible bit of scenery that he can, and it's fun. Mixed into with this rant are all the things Piemon brought up too, so nothing gets left out.

Down below, Greymon smashes his way out through a window of the office building. Freed from the tight confines, he quickly Super-Evolves.

MetalGreymon lands on top of the front line of Tankmon, crushing them underfoot. He charges down the street, weaving through enemy fire, then vanishes around a corner.

Brief cut to the command center, as Hagurumon reports.

Hagurumon 1: We've lost the target! Those jerks escaped again! Mugendramon: (displeased growl)

The Hagurumon are getting frustrated. They broke out the yatsura.

In the dub, it is once more the non-annoying Hagurumon who delivers the news.

Hagurumon 2: Oh, I've got a teeny bit of bad news. They've escaped again, my lord, sir. Machinedramon: And yet you're still here....

Weird line to add. They're the Command Center Digimon, and also they're too juvenile to be useful in a fight. They will not be joining the battle, nor should they.

Taichi and Koushiro find a new hidey-hole in an empty church.

Koushiro: That was careless of me. The enemy was using the signal from my computer connection to track us.

Taichi lunges for Koushiro, violently grabbing him by the collar.

Taichi: Your carelessness is unforgivable! While we're stuck here, Hikari is... Hikari is....

Agumon and Tentomon attempt to pry the boys apart.

Tentomon: H-H-Hey, Taichi-han.... Agumon: What's wrong with you!? This isn't like you, Taichi!

Agumon's words get through. Taichi suddenly lets go of Koushiro, covering his face with his hand and apologizing.

Taichi: ...I'm sorry. Koushiro: Did something happen, Taichi-san? Taichi: She almost died once because of me.

The group lets out a collective gasp at Taichi's confession.

In the dub:

Izzy: It's all my fault! I was giving away our location every time I logged on with my computer! How could I have not thought of that before!? Tai: (grapple) Good question! Now we're stuck here! Meanwhile, Kari's getting sicker and sicker BECAUSE OF YOU!!! (Agumon and Tentomon try to separate them) Agumon: Stop it, Tai! What's come over you! Tai: (gasp) (Tai lets go and shrinks away) Tai: I'm sorry, Izzy. Izzy: Hey, Tai, this isn't your normal behavior. Tai: It's Kari. She almost died once before because of me. Team: (Collective gasp)

Taichi is so freaked out he can't bear to say what Hikari is, while Tai snowballs his fury, burning hotter with each word out of his mouth. Both good interpretations. I liked both versions of this scene.

Also, props to the dub for being willing to use the D word here. This scene wouldn't have half as much impact if he just said she "got hurt" or something.

Taichi goes on, explaining what's been bothering him all episode with a flashback.

Taichi: I was in second grade at the time. Hikari was in kindergarten. On that day, she stayed home because she had a cold.

Taichi flashes back on himself at that age, returning home to find Hikari watching TV.

Taichi: I'm home! Taichi (V.O.): But when I got back, she was sitting up and watching TV. I thought she'd gotten better, so I took her outside to play.

Taichi takes Hikari to the playground and readies a soccer ball.

Taichi: Here I go! Catch!

Taichi kicks the ball to Hikari. She bends down, stopping it with her hands. Then she tries to kick it herself, but her foot goes sideways and she seems to stumble back.

Taichi doesn't notice at first; His eyes are on the ball, watching it pass a few feet away from him. He jogs over to pick it up.

Taichi: Come on! You have to do it right--Whuh!?

When he turns back around, Hikari is facedown on the playground concrete.

In the dub, Tai refrains from giving his own age.

Tai: It happened when she was four or five; Just a little kid. She stayed home from kindergarten one day because she was sick. I mean, I knew she was sick but all I could think about on the way home was playing soccer. (Flashback) Tai: Hey, I'm home! Tai (V.O.): I wanted to go out and play, but I didn't want to leave her by herself so I took her outside with me. She seemed okay. Really, she did! (Cut to the park) Tai: Now watch me! (kicks the ball to Kari) Just like that! (Kari attempts to kick the ball but misses) Tai: (collects the ball) No, that's not right! (Tai turns back around and gasps) Tai: Kari!? KARIIIIIIIII!!!

The dub tweaks Tai's intentions here. Taichi made a well-meaning mistake out of ignorance. (Not unlike Koushiro's mistake, I should note. That's an interesting parallel.) He saw Hikari sitting up and watching TV, so he assumed that meant she was better.

Implicitly, Hikari could have said otherwise and did not. That connects back to Taichi's outburst at the start of the episode about her keeping her suffering to herself and refusing to burden others when actually she direly needs help.

Hikari is a people-pleaser. Taichi thought she was well, and she let him think that because she didn't want to trouble him with the fact that she could barely walk.

The dub rewrites the story to be about Tai being personally selfish. It's not that he didn't notice; It's that he didn't want to notice. He was too wrapped up in soccer to care about Kari's wellbeing.

The way he suddenly gets defensive about "She seemed okay; Really, she did!" implies that even now, he can't fully accept that he made such a selfish choice. But also that he knows it's true deep down. Unprompted by others, that is a defensive statement made in argument with himself.

The flashback continues with a slap in the face.

Yuuko: (trembling and weeping) I TOLD YOU THAT HIKARI WAS SICK!!!

Yuuko breaks down crying from there, still holding out her hand as if to indicate her palm is sore. Taichi slowly grabs the side of his face, crying as well. Susumu rests a hand on Yuuko's shoulder.

Brief shot of the door to Hikari's room, with a sign that reads "No Visitors". Then we find Taichi waiting at the apartment, as Susumu and Yuuko bring Hikari home.

Taichi (V.O.): Hikari's cold was aggravated so much that it left her on the edge of death for three days. When she was finally brought home, the first thing she said to me was: Hikari: Onii-chan.... I'm sorry I couldn't do it right...

Hikari's words cause Past Taichi to start breaking down in tears again. Because of course they do. Holy shit. T_T

Unsurprisingly, the dub cuts the shot of Yuuko slapping Taichi in the face. From their body language, however, it's impossible to not notice that the slap took place.

Yuuko: WHAT COULD YOU HAVE BEEN THINKING!?!? YOU KNEW SHE WAS SICK!!! Tai (V.O.): She ended up with pneumonia or something. She almost didn't make it. But what really kills me is what she said when they brought her home from the hospital. The first words out of her mouth.... Kari: ...Tai... I'm sorry I can't kick the ball very good... You'll probably never want to play with me again....

The dub specifies that it was probably pneumonia that nearly ended Kari's young life. They also add an extra gut-punch to her words to Tai.

The original doesn't clarify her illness, but does viscerally mention that she spent three days in 生死の境 seishi no sakai, meaning "on the border between life and death". The dub offers no timeframe and merely states that she "almost didn't make it".

Returning to the present, Taichi finishes his story.

Taichi: That's the kind of person she is. She's always thinking about people other than herself, and she won't tell anyone that she's struggling or in pain even if it kills her! Honestly, she probably didn't even want to come to this stupid world to begin with! But when the fate of the world is so dire, Hikari couldn't refuse! Koushiro: Taichi-san.... Taichi: That's why I'm supposed to look after and protect her! But I....

Taichi breaks down from there, crying and gripping the bottle of medicine. The others give him the time he needs.

In the dub:

Tai: That's her. That's Kari. She never thinks... about herself.... It doesn't matter if she feels bad or if she's bummed out about other stuff, she's always worried about the other kids! She wouldn't be sick, she'd be just fine if she never came to this stupid place! But she came because she knew that we needed her help; She never thought about what she wanted! She never does! Izzy: Because she cares. Tai: She's a kid! I'm her big brother! I'm supposed to look after her and protect her and think about what's best for her! That's what I'm supposed to do! Agumon: Oh, Tai....

Tai makes the bold claim that Kari only got sick because the Digital World infected her. Given that the original plot point is a resurgence of the illness that made her miss camp, that's a hell of a plot shift.

But, again, this is the result of past changes compounding into future plot points. The dub unwrote her illness before so now it has to claim this is some new Digi-virus she picked up when she got here.

(To be honest, I wonder if Hikari has an immunodeficiency disorder.)

By the way, it is not lost on me that they went into a Christian church to discuss the sacrificial selflessness of Hikari "Light of the Eight Gods" Yagami.

Once Taichi's gotten it all out and is ready to move on, the boys begin making plans.

Koushiro: Since it would be impossible to break through their lines head-on, let's use the enemy's strategy to our advantage. Tentomon: What do you mean, Koushiro-han? Koushiro: This software will prevent them from identifying our access point.

No, for real, this is the best twenty-minute commercial for a VPN service I've ever watched. XD This episode aged well.

Koushiro plugs in his ethernet cable and the game begins.

Koushiro: Using this, we should be able to deceive the enemy.

In the dub:

Izzy: Okay, it would be ridiculous to try to break through them but maybe we can use their own surveillance techniques against them. Tentomon: YOU'RE NOT GOING ONLINE AGAIN, ARE YOU!?!? Izzy: Yes, but this time, I know what I'm doing. I've got a program that will throw them off our trail! (Izzy plugs in the ethernet cable) Izzy: I'm going to mask our access point. It's a little trick a computer programmer taught me once.

I love Tentomon's outburst here.

Koushiro offers no indication of where he acquired the software he's using or whether he made it himself. He even might be actively coding it as they speak. Izzy states that it's a trick he learned from a computer programmer.

Koushiro's trick seems to work. We cut to Mugendramon's command center.

Hagurumon 1: Caught an access--GYECK!?!? This is--!

Dozens of yellow blips appear on the map, indicating several simultaneous accesses from all over the city.

Hagurumon 1: What should we do now, Mugendramon-sama? Mugendramon: (contemplative growl)

Back in the church office, a set of white blips including two massive ones appear on Koushiro's map, as before.

Tentomon: What are those? Koushiro: They indicate the enemy's positions. Taichi: They aren't moving. Koushiro: They can't. Because they don't know where we are. The plan worked!

With the enemy now paralyzed with confusion, Taichi and Koushiro exit the church to make their way back to the house Hikari's resting in.

Taichi: (thinking) Just wait a little longer, Hikari. I'm bringing your meds right now!

In the dub, it's the annoying Hagurumon who reports this time.

Hagurumon 1: There they are again--HUUUUH!?!? Um, boss! Uh, there are now DOZENS of access points ALLLLLLL over the map! Hagurumon 2: Does this mean what I think it does, my lord, sir? Machinedramon: That you have the brains of a tin can!? (Meanwhile, at the church) Tentomon: What are those!? Izzy: Those are the enemy Digimon. Tai: They're not moving. Izzy: That's because the program worked and they don't have a clue where to look for us. PROOOODIGIOUS! Tai: Well? What are we waiting for? Let's get going! (Tai and Izzy flee the church) Machinedramon (V.O.): I'm bored with this game of cat and mouse!

Izzy shouts his "prodigious" catchphrase like a triumphant battle cry here. XD

Unfortunately, things won't be so simple for Taichi and Koushiro. Mugendramon's jaws suddenly clamp down on the shot as if he were devouring Taichi, transitioning us back to the command center.

Mugendramon: Initiate Plan Z immediately! Hagurumon 2: B-But that plan-- Mugendramon: Our utmost priority is to defeat the Chosen Children. Prepare to execute at once! Both Hagurumon: Y-YES, SIR!!! Hagurumon 2: Plan Z: Preparing to Execute! Hagurumon 1: Plan Z: Preparing to Execute! Mugendramon: Plan Z... EXECUTE!!!

The two sky serpents peel off and fly up high above the city. Taichi and Koushiro watch them rise higher into the air. A brief shot of the house shows Takeru at the window, watching what's about to occur as well.

The dub has a playful name for Plan Z.

Machinedramon: Initiate Plan Elimin-8. Hagurumon 2: Uhhh, Elimin-8? How about Elimin-9? Machinedramon: Are you actually questioning me!? Initiate Plan Elimin-8 now! Both Hagurumon: NO, SIR!!! YES, SIR!!! Hagurumon 2: Attention: Initiate Plan Elimin-8! Hagurumon 1: Attention: Initiate Plan Elimin-8! Machinedramon: I'm glad you agree. Fire at will.

There's also some extra dialogue as the serpents rise into the air.

Red: Can I blow something up? Blue: I don't know. Can you? (Cut to Tai and Izzy watching below) Tai: Now we're in for it!

The context that what they're about to do is so brutal that Mugendramon's own forces are reluctant to go through with it is present in both versions, but comes through stronger in the original due to its darker tone.

The Hagurumon, who have been fine with everything up to this point, have moral reservations about Plan Z - Which Mugendramon ruthlessly cuts down.

It doesn't take long to find out why. The red serpent raises their cannons towards the city below and calls out Genocide Attack.

Taichi and Koushiro watch from below with Agumon and Tentomon.

Taichi: What are they doing? Tentomon: They're firing all over the place. Koushiro: (gasp) T-They can't be--!

From here, we get the Analyzers for both of them. The red serpent, Megadramon, is a Perfect-stage Virus-type Cyborg Digimon. Originally an evolution for Monochromon and Leomon in the original Digital Monster lines, Megadramon was brought back for Metal Empire as the evolved form of Guardromon and Mekanorimon.

Gigadramon is a blue recolor of Megadramon created to add more enemy types to the Digimon World video game. They are, as well, a Perfect-stage Virus-type Cyborg Digimon.

Narrator: Megadramon. Proudly one of the most powerful of all Perfect-stage Dragon-type Digimon. Their Genocide Attack, organic missiles fired from both arms, burn everything to the ground. Narrator: Gigadramon. A Cyborg-type Dark Dragon Digimon whose speed and destructive power surpass even Megadramon! Their special attack is Genocide Gear.

Down below, Koushiro opens his laptop and despairs.

Koushiro: It seems that my strategy has backfired. Agumon: What do you mean? Koushiro: The enemy has stopped searching for us entirely. Instead, they're going to level the city with us inside of it. Taichi & Digimon: EHHH!?!? Taichi: T-That can't be...!

That's... certainly one way to deal with an enemy whose whereabouts are unknown. This is another one of those episodes that's harder to watch as an adult. In a literal sense, the city appears to be vacant from what we can tell. But the coding - carpet-bombing a population center to exterminate guerilla insurgents hidden within - is unmistakable.

And remarkably relevant to Current Day 2024.

The dub, unsurprisingly, renames Megadramon's attack to "Dark Side Blaster".

Tai: Man, what a waste of ammo! They're way off! Tentomon: I don't think they're shooting at us! Izzy: Huh!? No, it can't be! Tentomon: (rundown) That's Megadramon, a fully Digivolved flying fiend with devastating destructive powers! Those missiles of his can level a city block in the blink of an eye! Tentomon: (rundown) The other one's Gigadramon! If anything, he's more powerful than his buddy! Believe me, if these guys were shooting at us, we wouldn't still be here talking about it! Izzy: Looks like my plan may have backfired on us.... Agumon: How do you figure that? Izzy: It appears they've decided searching for us is too much trouble, so instead they're just going to level the whole city and everybody in it! Tai & Digimon: (collective gasp) Tai: You've gotta be kidding!

I love Tai's smarmy "LOL These clowns" reaction when he first sees what they're doing. Nice moment of ironic confidence about to be undercut by the reveal.

Less fond of the fact that we are now, in episode 48, still using the phrase "fully Digivolved" to describe Perfect-stage Digimon. Show, you know better now. Why are you still doing this?

Back in the command center, the Hagurumon's screen now displays the damage.

Hagurumon 2: Bombing of Sectors A-1 and A-2 is complete! Hagurumon 1: Megadramon and Gigadramon have commenced bombing of Sector A-3. The Chosen Children have not yet been found. Mugendramon: (quiet growl)

An ominous shimmer comes over Mugendramon's cannons while he considers.

In the dub:

Hagurumon 1: That's it for Sectors A and B! What a mess! Hagurumon 2: Megadramon and Gigadramon have begun operations in Sectors C and D! Children sneaky, nyeh! Machinedramon: Soon there will be no place left to hide, and this game will abruptly END!

"Children sneaky, nyeh!" is a surprising comment coming from the not-annoying one.

No longer worried about enemy troops but instead having something very much more pressing in mind, Taichi and Koushiro double-time it through the city streets.

Suddenly, a colossal shadow passes over them.

Koushiro: Ah! It's Megadramon! Tentomon: The others are over that way! Taichi: Shit! HIKARI!!!

Taichi picks up the pace, screaming at the top of his lungs.

By the time they reach the house, it's still standing.

Koushiro: Thank goodness! They're still safe! Taichi: HIKARI!!!

Taichi sprints towards the house as fast as his legs can carry him. But a missile from Genocide Attack does the same. Right as Taichi approaches, the house explodes, hurling him backwards with the blast wave.

Izzy: It can't be.... Taichi: (sitting up) No... Hikari... HIKARIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

In the dub:

Tentomon: Uh-oh! Megadramon! He's heading right for where the others are hiding! Tai: No! Tentomon: I hope they see him coming! Tai: KARI!!! (They make it to the house) Izzy: Safe and sound. Everything's okay. Tai: We're back, Kari! (Tai runs to the house, but it explodes) Izzy: The building's gone! Tai: No! No way! It can't be! KARIIIIIIIII!!!

Suddenly, a loud sound comes roaring in their direction.

Koushiro: ANOTHER MISSILE!!!

Before Taichi and Koushiro can react, a beam of light slaps the missile off-course. The shot knocks it back up into the air, detonating it harmlessly.

Turning around, they see Angemon floating above the hedges.

Group: ANGEMON!!!

From there, Takeru, Piyomon, and Tailmon all poke their heads through the hedges. Sora stands behind it, carrying Hikari in piggyback.

(Awww, he did his job! Great work, Takeru. This was the literal exact reason Taichi gave for not bringing him along.)

Takeru: Taichi-san, are you okay? Taichi: Takeru!? HIKARI!!!

We made it through with no fatalities. Yet.

In the dub:

Izzy: HERE COMES ONE MORE!!!

The dub seizes the impending missile strike as a great opportunity for their third commercial break cliffhanger. They are correct. Solid suspense.

When we come back, they replay Izzy's reaction in case anyone forgot where we were.

Izzy: OH NO, LOOK OUT!!! (Angemon destroys the missile) Agumon: Angemon! Izzy: But that means..... (The others reveal themselves) T.K.: Hey, what's up; You look tired! Tai: T.K.! Agumon: Biyomon! Tentomon: And the others! Tai: Kari! You're okay!

Biyomon gets special mention but Gatomon's reduced to "and the rest". No respect.

Taichi and Koushiro join the others on the other side of the hedge.

Koushiro: You're all safe! Sora: We went for cover as soon as the bombing started. Takeru: Taichi-san! I managed to protect everyone! Taichi: Great job, Takeru!

Before they can say any more, the ground beside them crumbles as a laser weapon rips through from below. Then Mugendramon emerges, crashing up through the street. He towers over the Chosen Children. Y'all, I was not prepared for the size disparity here. This is VenomVamdemon all over again.

Koushiro: MUGENDRAMON!!! Taichi: RUN FOR IT!!! Mugendramon: This is over, Chosen Children.

In the dub:

Tai: Kari! You're okay! Izzy: Actually, you look better than okay! Sora: When we saw them bombing buildings, we thought we'd better get out. T.K.: And I led the way! I took care of 'em, like you said! Tai: I never doubted you! (Suddenly, Machinedramon) Agumon: MACHINEDRAMON!!! Machinedramon: You can't rely on scrap metal if you want the job done right! Tai: Take cover, everybody!

The Chosen Children flee inside the building next to them. It will not keep them safe.

Mugendramon fires his signature Mugen Cannon. As a reminder, mugen means "Infinite". So the move is basically "Infinity Cannon".

In one (twin) shot, Mugen Cannon collapses the entire building. As it comes crashing down, we see the children falling into an endless black void in two distinct groups. Sora, Takeru, and Hikari in one group, Taichi and Koushiro in the other.

Hikari: ONII-CHAAAAAAAN!!! Taichi: HIKARIIIIIIIIII!!! Narrator: Unable to stand before Mugendramon, the children fell into the abyss where darkness rules.

Well, that's fucking fun, isn't it!? I'm pretty sure they just landed in the sewers but "The abyss where darkness rules" is a fucking awesome way of describing it.

In the dub, Machinedramon remains wordier than Mugendramon.

Machinedramon: That's right! Scurry away! Ask any ratcatcher; The chase is part of the fun! GIGA CANNON!!! (Giga Cannon destroys the building, and it begins to collapse) Machinedramon: Nothing like a little wholesale destruction to end a hard day's work. Goodbye, DigiDestined! (Children plunge into abyss) Kari: HELP ME TAIIIIIIII!!! Tai: KARIIIIIIIII!!! Narrator: Has Machinedramon succeeded in destroying the DigiDestined? Don't miss the next Digimon: Digital Monsters.

Assessment: Machinedramon has a Stock American Villain persona, contrasting Mugendramon being a 'mon of few words. Mugendramon is mission-focused and only speaks to give orders to his troops, in as minimal words as possible.

You could easily mistake him for one of those bestial mons incapable of speech. In fact, in his first appearance at the start of the Dark Master arc, I legit thought that was going to be the case because he never spoke a word back there.

But no. There is a tactical military intelligence there. He simply can't be bothered by socializing or banter. He has strategies to consider.

A significant departure from Pinocchimon, to be sure.

But the main appeal of this episode is, of course, learning more about Taichi and Hikari's relationship. The dub made a few changes to it, but still milked the drama for all it's worth.

We know Taichi is not very bright and that he's very impulsive. His mistake here feels entirely consistent with his and Hikari's established characters, and that makes its catastrophic outcome so effective.

The same is true of Koushiro, who similarly makes a well-meaning mistake (two of them, even) out of a desire to help and to put his impressive talents to use. None of them, Taichi, Hikari, and Koushiro, really did wrong; They're just. Children. With a lot still to learn, but whose actions can have dire consequences if they aren't careful with the choices they make.

Both in the military campaign of the present and Taichi and Hikari's flashback, they just... didn't know better. And it almost cost them dearly.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 Best Partner Series - Part 1

More image songs! This time for Adventure 02, but I'm starting out with the older kids. I had a lot of fun listening to all of these. They really went all out this time. 12 CDs with 3 songs each (solo human, solo digimon & partner duet)!? Madness!

Taichi & Agumon

New Sun - Taichi (listen here - subbed)

Taichi singing to Daisuke (or maybe the whole new squad) about how they're taking over the original kids' legacy. The lyrics make him sound very wise.

Took me a second to adjust and picture Taichi singing this because his VA kinda sounds like a granny lol

This had very "Mufasa talking to Simba" vibes. The chorus was catchy and empowering.

Agumon Ondo - Agumon (listen here - subbed)

Agumon singing about how he needs/wants to eat a bunch to grow big and strong. Also, apparently he dances to help digestion lol.

Agumon talking to random kids during the song and then having them sing along was adorable. Also made me feel old.

Team - Taichi & Agumon duet (listen here + translation here)

A very generic song about how Agumon and Taichi make a great team, but it's always charming to hear digimon/partner duets.

Yamato & Gabumon

The Key to Granting Wishes - Yamato (listen here - subbed)

A cheesy shounen song about following your heart and friendship and what not. Comparing it to Yamato's image song from the first season, you can see he's grown past his emo, lone wolf phase.

Wasn't crazy about the song itself, but the music was great, especially the guitar solo. Had a nice bombastic intro too.

It's Alright - Gabumon (listen here & translation here)

Gabumon singing about his bond with Yamato. They both hide behind facades (Yamato's coolness, Gabumon's fur) and are misunderstood. I feel like this was a lot stronger as a character song than Yamato's solo song.

Gabumon's one of the quieter digimon so hearing him sing is a treat!

Our Melody - Yamato & Gabumon duet (listen here & translation here)

A touching (and CHEESY) ballad between Yamato and Gabumon about all the good times they've had together. It had strong drunken karaoke vibes haha.

Although cheesy, the lyrics did warm my heart a bit :') I think digimon/partner bonds get to me more than human/human bonds.

Koushiro & Tentomon

Open Mind - Koushiro (listen here - subbed)

Meh, not a fan of this one. I felt like the lyrics were clunky and didn't flow well with the song's melody.

The song is about Koushiro learning new things about himself and his emotions through his journey in the digital world. Even though I didn't like it, I'm happy to hear Koushiro's voice again :')

Dengeki Rhapsody - Tentomon (listen here - subbed)

Tentomon 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ I love him so much. This song was really cute and plucky. Basically just Tentomon singing about being a good partner and appreciating Koushiro.

The only thing that bugged me (hehe) about this one is that it implied that Tentomon is always obsessing over food but like...I don't remember that ever happening?

The Scenery of the World! - Koushiro & Tentomon duet (listen here - subbed)

Another banger! Mostly just because I love these two and relate to Koushiro's passion so much. He's singing about how excited he is to absorb all of the world's knowledge and to see the whole world with Tentomon. Koushiro would make a good librarian haha. I too have strong urges to learn everything ever (currently reading every page of Wikipedia).

Tentomon's part of the song is kind of exasperated but in a loving way. He sings about how Koushiro is always staying up late glued to his computer, but that he'll still always stick by his side and pep him up when he gets tired. So wholesome <3

Joe & Gomamon

Towards the Wind - Joe (listen here - subbed)

A lot of these solo songs have the same, general theme about growing as a person. I wonder if the vibe will be different for the younger 02 kids?

I liked the mellow vibe of this song. A nice, easy listen. Joe definitely has the most mature vibes of the gang, despite being dweeby.

Invincible Flutter Kick - Gomamon (listen here - subbed)

Gomamon singing about how helpless Joe is and how he'll always be them to protect him and lighten his load. So cute :3

News to me that Gomamon has an "invincible flutter kick" lol. I mean, I can picture it, but usually he just summoned fish.

Crawl the Sky - Joe & Gomaon duet (listen here - subbed)

Joe and Gomamon singing about their unlikely friendship. They balance each other out. I kind of wish the chorus wasn't the usual, cheesy "we can do anything if we're together!" lines. The first part of the song was a little stronger when they were comparing each other's characters.

These songs are making me wish I had a little buddy to explore the world with :'(

Mimi & Palmon

Super☆Girl - Mimi (Listen here - subbed)

Mimi singing about her personal growth. It was a pretty generic, motivational song about being brave to be yourself and not fear mistakes.

I do really enjoy how unabashedly girly Mimi is and her songs always reflect that.

A Little Pinkie's Fantasy - Palmon (Listen here - subbed)

This one was just weird. The lyrics were super awkward. I think they're alluding to a pinky promise when Palmon talks about a "pinkie's fantasy," but the metaphor doesn't really work. Also the line about glittering lips also seems like a non-sequitur.

I've never been a huge Palmon fan, so I think that's mostly why this one was no good for me. (She's also a little tone deaf lol).

Happy Smile - Mimi & Palmon (Listen here - subbed)

It's nice to hear a song where Mimi and Palmon are talking about their friendship cuz Mimi could honestly be kinda nasty to Palmon in the anime lol.

Some of the lyrics in this were a little clunky (they basically said stuff like "fun things are fun!" "Smiling is nice!" "Pretty things are good!") but I liked the sentiments about distance not weakening their bond. That resonates with me as an adult who doesn't have many opportunities to see my friends in person.

Sora & Piyomon

Shiny Days - Sora (Listen here - subbed)

Uhhh I think mostly this one was just poorly translated because it was literally like a word salad. Like, read the lyrics here (or in the video subs) and you'll see they straight up make no sense --> https://www.animelyrics.com/anime/digi02/shinydays.htm

Sora is my least favorite Adventure character so it checks out that here song kinda sucks lol (sorry).

Wait this song has the same title as the Yuru Camp opening!

My Music Score - Piyomon (Listen here - subbed)

A nice straightforward song about Piyomon's love for Sora. I like how they incorporated her name into the song with all the "pipipi" and "piyo piyo." Very cute.

If We Fly Together - Sora & Piyomon (Listen here - subbed)

I feel like there was some nice harmonizing on this one. I hope the VAs had fun haha

The lyrics in this one were sweet. I especially liked this line about "telling each other secrets we hide from the stars." That really illustrates Sora and Piyomon's close bond.

[finishwhatyoustarted-event]

Chapter Champions

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, there are just too many words to complete in two months. I want to celebrate everyone who posted chapters to ongoing works during this event! You didn’t get to check off that “completed” tic box, but you DID finish a big chunk of work!! Congratulations!

If you made chapter progress and you don’t see your work listed here, send me a message! It may have slipped through the cracks

~~

Infinite Possibilities by ahiddenpath

Chapters 7 and 8 completed as part of this event. 

Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02 - Rated T - Chosen Children | DigiDestined & Digimon Partners, Izumi Koushirou | Izzy Izumi & Tentomon, Tailmon | Gatomon & Yagami Hikari | Kari Kamiya, Chosen friendship, Izumi Koushirou | Izzy Izumi/Original Character(s) - Canon Related, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, Canonical Character Death, world building - “As more people meet their digimon partners, the challenges of digimon and humans coexisting on earth cannot be ignored. College student Anami Eimi begins her career in digimon research, hoping to help digimon and humans understand one another. When she discovers caged digimon in her new lab, she contacts the Japanese Chosen, setting off a chain of events that force the Chosen and their digimon to reevaluate the dynamics of their partnership.  This fic is set pre and post Kizuna, and is a mostly canon compliant expansion. It's a three phase story, the first starring OC Anami Eimi, then Izumi Koushiro, then Yagami Hikari. It explores the realities, challenges, and politics of digimon living on earth, and the nature of the Chosen/digimon partnership.  Can the Chosen and their digimon find the infinite possibilities that will sustain their partnerships into adulthood?  There are mentions of couples in this fic, but it's action/world expansion/plot driven, not a romance.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54920815/chapters/139217416

Lifeless Stars by overmore

Chapter 18 completed as part of this event.

NSFW, content warnings: Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Past Sexual Assault, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Incest - 第五人格 | Identity V (Video Game) - Rated M - Luca Balsa | Prisoner/Alva Lorenz | Hermit, Luca Balsa | Prisoner & Alva Lorenz | Hermit, Luca Balsa | Prisoner & Tracy Reznik | Mechanic, Norton Campbell | Prospector/Luchino | Evil Reptilian, Aesop Carl | Embalmer/Joseph Desaulnier | Photographer, Ann | Disciple/Galatea | Sculptor - Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Teacher-Student Relationship, Slow Burn, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Cults, Supernatural Elements - “After Luca's father if finally out of his life, Luca felt somewhat free and safe for the first time in his life. He finally got to go to university, he can finally have friends other than Tracy, he didn't need to worry that something bad was going to happen to him when he gets home.  Because his father was finally dead.  But after his first day at university when he finds out that the man he thought his father killed was actually alive and was going to teach him more than just one course that he had, his world once again spirals around, but not in the same way as before.  Alva Lorenz did not seem to like him much, and neither did Luca. But what can he do about it?  Definitely not get himself into situations where he's forced to interact with the said man and find out more about him and himself in the process.  And definitely not start to realize they have more in common than his father ruining both of their lives.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45466510/chapters/114397213

the beat of a long-dead heart by HopeStoryteller

Chapter 8 completed as part of this event.

NSFW, content warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death - Bloodborne (Video Game) - Rated M - Iosefka/Maria, Maria & Plain Doll, Gehrman & Maria - During Canon, Fix-It of Sorts, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Major Character Undeath, Dubious Science, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Canonical Character Death, Canon-Typical Behavior, Angst with a Happy Ending - “In the aftermath of what happened to Gascoigne, Maria has some revelations regarding the Doll. With the beginnings of a plan in mind, it's time to return to the clinic, though Maria isn't prepared for what she'll find there. But then again, who would be?”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/57249334/chapters/145622155

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventure: The Past World ( fic excerpt )

Fic: The Past World { Excerpt } ( for a future part ) Word Count: 248 ( this bit ) Type: Fanfic (ficlet) Fandom: Digimon Adventures/[ “ 02 ″ ??? ] Pairing: Taishiro ( Implied ) Rating: PG(13 for blood maybe ?) Characters: - Koushiro Izumi (main) - Taichi Yagami (in between) - Tentomon ( in passing / implied ) - A Certain “Villain” ( but are they ... really ..... ) - it’s definitely not one of the ones you’re maybe thinking of - the answer will become clear in the further small details - Daisuke Motomiya ( passing reference at start, no lines here yet ) - possibly a particular OC ( passing reference at start, no lines yet either ) - “ ?o?? ” ( WHY is the name blanked out I wonder ) - ... you can probably easily figure out their name ( ‘ WHY BLANKED OUT ‘ ) - this is a fun ficverse Verse(s):  OC Verse, Repeat verse [my fic verse] Spinoff (??), Semi-Canon compliant directly post-02 spinoff, pre epilogue ? [ read as : they’re still high school ? aged here / or early college idek ] Warnings: - light ? violence mentions ( it’s a battle, so ... ) - injury w/blood mention ( not overly severe / excessive but ) - DRAMA - WHAT’S HAPPENING - relevant to this and some notes here which relate to that other link - a longer semi-spoilerish summary of REPEATverse can be found/read here - you don’t have to read the other chapters to read this portion ! - You do not need to read “REPEAT?_” in order to read this, but there might be some . … similarities… in style… Original/full fic on AO3: here (*please note this current preview hasn’t been added there yet) Summary: KOUSHIRO

whips his head to

stare

FIRMLY ,

                  "   Your partner    DIDN'T      ABANDON      YOU     !!!   "

"    THE ENTIRE TIME   ...   !!    "

"   Watching over you   ...    !!    "

                                   "    WANTING TO TELL YOU   ...      !! "

Daisuke (with V-mon), the only other ones there ( ? ? ? ? ) , had also taken cover --

[   --   P R O T E C T I N G  ]

( ? o ? ? )

*

[      "      H I K A R  ---      "      ]

*

Taichi-san ( with Agumon )

had been

-- blown backwards

too ,

Koushiro stares, in a slight --

-- S H O C K

*

[   Taichi-san's   ]

[   covered in --   ]

[   i n j u r ?? --   ]

[        N O T  M O V I N G      ]

*

They're the ONLY ONES  ( ? ? ? ? )  there .

*

Koushiro feels his

eyes

begin to

(  ...  W A T E R   )

*

whips his head to

stare

FIRMLY

*

( .... somehow )

(    manages to stay calm    )

*

... as he

slowly pulls himself up

APPROACHES

the

HUMONGOUS

                                   FULLY B L A C K - COVERED                                          [   I N S E C T O I D   ]

DIGIMON

that looked EXACTLY

like

(   the supposed   )

(   '   evolution   '   )

(   of   )

(   H I S   )

* [      a  C L A W     ]

[      touches at his leg      ]

*

[    he knows    ]

*

THE BLACK INSECT

Koushiro can tell

it's

still

*

(           W A I L I N G          )

*

                    "   Your partner    DIDN'T ABANDON YOU     !!!   "

*

Koushiro knows .

He KNOWS

(    H e k n o w --    )

*

"    He was    H E R E   ,    "

"    THE ENTIRE TIME   ...   !!    "

*

"   Watching over you   ...    !!    "

"    WANTING TO TELL YOU   ...      !! "

*

"    YOUR PARTNER   ,    "

"    ALWAYS WANTED TO   --  !!!!!!    "

*

The black Digimon

seems to

[ w a t c h ]

*

Koushiro

w a l k s

f o r w a r d

*

further further to the very middle of the room * right underneath the humongous -- * ... kneels down * ... reaches out a h a n d to t o u c h * [ ... ] ... gently , * ( " KOUSHIRO, " ) ( Taichi's whispering, )   ---------

                                   [ TO BE CONTINUED , MAYBE ]

[genork-the-fandork]

Late

Late

Word Count: 591

Prompt: “Confession,” Day 2 of Koumi Week 2021

Featured Characters: Koushiro “Izzy” Izumi

A/N: Okay, so has anyone else seen Cardcaptor Sakura? Does anyone remember when Sakura when to the airport to say goodbye to Syaoran after they had kinda been all blushy and confessed that they loved each other? So... this is kinda inspired by that and that’s all I’m gonna say <3

@koumiweek​ 

He was running late. He was almost out of time.

His cell phone went off in his pocket. He ignored it. Tai had been calling him nonstop, asking him where he was to say goodbye to Mimi. In Izzy's defense, he'd been tossing and turning, deliberating the pros and cons of seeing her off to New York. The way his heart ached every time he thought of her moving was enough to convince him to go. But of course he'd woken up late after falling asleep so early in the morning, and of course traffic had to be hellish as soon as he got even close to the airport. If he'd had Tentomon with him, he could fly there, but he didn't, so he couldn't.

It was like an out-of-body experience. Every moment seemed to last a year as the taxi pulled up to the airport, as he ran inside, sprinted past security, to the gate, passing by his friends who were watching Mimi's head bounce toward the air bridge leading to the plane that would take her thousands of miles away. He barely registered the shocked look on Tai's face, his phone held up to his ear, nor did he notice the line of people who all grumbled as he pushed past them.

"Mimi!"

She turned around, her brilliant brown eyes lighting up at the sight of him. "Izzy! I didn't think you were gonna make it."

Now that he was here, time started flowing normally, and Izzy realized that he didn't have any air in his lungs. He doubled over, practically wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. Even in the Digital World, he hadn't run that fast. Mimi patiently waited for him to say something, stepping out of line so that the other passengers could board the plane. Izzy's cheeks flushed as he heard the adults around him whispering something about "that girl's boyfriend?" and "how cute, it's like that anime!"

Straightening up once oxygen returned to his lungs, Izzy looked up at Mimi, who was still slightly taller than him. "I'm sorry I'm late. But I couldn't not say goodbye to you."

Her smile was brilliant. "Thank you, Izzy. I'm going to miss you a lot." With that, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her gentleness making him melt a bit as he weakly held her shirt in his hands. He really didn't want her to leave. He had to tell her.

"Um," he swallowed. "There's something else."

Now, her smile was quizzical. "What is it?"

A part of him thought he was going to chicken out. It made calculations, it came up with several outcomes to this choice, but it failed to stop his mouth from pushing the words out regardless: "I love you."

Perfect eyebrows leaped up her forehead, her eyes shining with something he couldn't identify to save his life. But she didn't make a face. She didn't even say anything. Instead, her smile softened, and she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before turning and leaving to board her plane.

Izzy was left standing there, staring, until the door to the air bridge closed and the plane had long since taken off. He barely registered Tai's hand on his shoulder, guiding him out of the airport, nor did he notice the ping of an email coming through on his cell phone.

Hours later, he would open his email to find a message that would make his heart burst inside his chest.

I love you, too. See you soon. <3

[swiftly-sweetheart]

I just finished watching episode 59 of the Digimon reboot, and must say that I really enjoyed this episode. 

The characterization of Koushiro was well done. I loved his relationship with Tentomon and I may or may not have teared up a tiny bit when Koushiro was on the ferge of tears. 

I know I’m probably overeacting but I always overeact so that’s normal for me. 

They also did a really good explaining the Crest of Knowledge and what crest Koushiro holds. And for whatever reason, it felt pretty refreashing when you hear HerculesKabuterimon yell “Gigi Blaster”. 

Although the evolution sequence did kind of suck. A first I liked it but when his body was changing but then he popped out of nowhere. 

My only problem with this episode was how THEY DIDN’T TALK ABOUT KOUSHIRO’S PAST. I expected at least a small hint, hell I actually thought he would get one when Koushiro started talking about the past, but then they didn’t. And there is about 6(?) episodes left, so there is a good chance we weren’t gonna get one anymore. I just wanted them to at least hint that he is adopted. 

Even though it isn’t August 1st in Canada yet (although it will be very soon) it is in Japan and other parts around the world so Happy Odaiba Day!

Now here are some pretty badass screenshots of HerculesKabuterimon:

[izumiyagami14]

nightmares

enlightenmonth //[day 17-20]dreams/nightmares Summary: After having another nightmare of the past, Koushiro needs to talk to someone to… this is kind of a sequel to my past/future prompt earlier this month. Bear with me, I haven’t been able to write as much as would like due to lesson planning!

Koushiro woke up with a jump, his heartbeat accelerated and breathing drastically increased. Grabbing his chest, his dark eyes darted around the room for any signs of distress, but he could not find anything, only Tentomon sleeping peacefully next to his feet. He sighed in relief. It was just a nightmare, he concluded. The third one this week…

A bright glowing screen in front of him was a hint that he wasn’t in his bed, but in fact still in his chair and still working. He huffed and rubbed his tired eyes. He desperately needed a change of scenery. He needed to clear his mind. A voice rang in his head.

Let’s talk about it. What goes on through your mind?

He knew where he could go. But would she be awake? Without waking up his partner, he grabbed his shoes and keys before heading out of his apartment.

The sky was still dark outside, so he continued to walk. About halfway to his desired destination, he looked down at his phone to see the time. It was 2:34 am. Unlocking his phone, he continued to walk and scrolled through his contacts. He eventually found her name, but his thumb hovered over it. Maybe she’s asleep. I don’t want to wake her. Maybe she has to plan lessons in the morning. Maybe she changed her mind. I don’t want to burden her….

“Koushiro?” A voice in front of his path caused him to jump. It was the name on his phone his thumb would not dare press.

“Hikari?”

She chuckled. “Where are you going?”

“I was… I was going to ask you the same thing.” He sighed in relief.

She smiled and said, “I was actually walking over to see you. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately.”

His heart skipped a beat. “You were? Why?”

“I just wanted to check up on you. See how you were doing. Maybe talk about anything new.”

She always knew when something was up. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. We can do that,” he agreed as he shoved his phone in his pocket. Once she reached his side, the two headed back to his apartment.

A comfortable silence sat between them as they walked down the path back to the Izumi residence. Koushiro noticed that she was wearing his jacket from the last time they talked as he failed to return the following day to retrieve it, but he didn’t want to mention it to her. His mind went into overdrive to think of things to say whenever she would ask a question. He wanted to tell her about everything that has been going on, but didn’t want to burden her with his struggles. “How’s your new job? You told me your first week went well. Is it still good?” Koushiro asked, hoping to move the attention to something else.

“Oh, I absolutely love it! The kids are so sweet and kind! It’s like a dream,” she paused before she continued. “Let’s talk about you. Are you sure you’re liking your job? You seemed unenthusiastic the last time we talked in person.”

He waved his hands in front of him, as visions of the last time they saw each other on the Yagami residence roof played in his head. “Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I? It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I could remember.”

“I don’t know. You look stressed,” Hikari said, narrowing her eyes.

“Well,” he replied, looking up to the night sky. “To be honest with you, I am a little stressed. There are so many things to do... And I am only one person. I just have to get everything done in time. There’s all this… pressure.”

“You know you don’t have to do everything by yourself, right?” she said, moving her eyes upward, too.

Koushiro moved his gaze from the stars to the girl next to him. The starlight from the late summer sky lightly brushed her face. “Yeah, I know.”

“What’s wrong? What’s really bothering you, Koushiro?”

She always knew when something was up.

He shrugged, hands in his pockets. “I don’t know what’s wrong, okay? I’m just… really tired.”

She looked back at him, concerned. “You look tired.”

“It’s because I am tired,” he whispered.

Hikari stopped walking, causing him to stop, turn around and face her, “Talk to me, Koushiro. What’s bothering you?”

He sighed and averted his eyes to his feet. “You remember a couple years ago with the reboot?”

“Yeah?”

He held his breath, scared of what to say next. “I’ve… I’ve been having these dreams… About something like that happening again. And I never want something like that to happen again because I don’t know what I would do if it did. So I’ve been trying and trying and trying to find something, anything that might stop something like that from happening again…”

Hikari slowly walked up to Koushiro and wrapped her arms around him. She felt him shudder at her touch, knowing that it was from his inner struggle and not from her. Even after breaking his walls down in front of her, he himself did not want to break entirely.

“Breathe, Koushiro. It’s okay. The world won't fall if you're not holding it up. You can’t do everything by yourself. Everyone is here for you. Me, Tentomon, Tailmon, Taichi. Everyone.”

Koushiro stayed silent as he moved his arms to return the hug. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, scared to show any emotion from this confession. “You always know what to say, Hikari.”

She chuckled. “You know, I’d do anything for you… you guys.”

He didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep or the comfort he felt being in her embrace, but he didn’t stop himself “Of course, I know. I’ve known you since… forever. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

A pause set it as she thought about what to say next. “How long has it been since your last good night of sleep?” She whispered.

He grumbled at the question. “I’m not sure. Three? Four? Maybe five?” He mumbled against her skin.

She giggled at his vague answer. “Five what? Days? Weeks?”

A pause. “Yes,” he simply responded.

Her laughing stopped and she pulled away from the embrace. “Okay, buddy. We need to get you home.”

His head shot up and met her eyes. “No, you don’t have to do that! It’s a school night for you. You have kids to take care of and lessons to plan!”

“Koushiro, it’s Saturday.”

“What?” His brain could not compute.

“What day do you think it is?” She started to ask.

His eyes widened. “Saturday, of course.”

“Yeah, we seriously need to get you home.” She responded, well knowing he was hiding the truth and that he most likely wasn’t joking about having a lack of sleep for weeks.

As they continued to walk down the path back and up to the Izumi residence, Koushiro fumbled to get his keys out of his pocket to unlock the door. Hikari started to remove the oversized jacket she was wearing. “Oh, I forgot to return this to you.”

After unlocking the door, he turned to face her. “It’s okay. You can have it. It looks nice on you, anyway.” He admitted before he had time to realize. The door swung open and he turned on the hallway lights, illuminating the hallway and kitchen of the apartment. “Do you need anything? Do you want any tea?” Koushiro quietly asked, careful not to wake Tentomon in the other room.

“Don’t worry about me! I can make my own tea. You need sleep. Let’s get you to bed,” she replied, lightly pushing him toward his room.

“But how are you going to get home? Who’s going to walk you home?” He argued.

“Don’t worry about me,” she said as he slowly opened the bedroom door.

He looked around his room. It was the same as the way he left it. Without any hesitation, he plopped himself down on his bed, shoes still on his feet. As he laid down on his back, his eyes immediately felt droopy. He was about to drift off to sleep when he felt another weight join him.

“What are you doing?” He tried to protest, but couldn’t open his tired eyes.

“It's a long night when you do it on your own. Is it okay if I stay to make sure you get some sleep? No more nightmares, just sweet dreams?”

His heart fluttered at the scent of cherry blossoms filling his nose and he smiled with closed eyes. “Yes, of course.”

[lightchildofthespring]

Everything

Pairing: Post-Kizuna Taishiro (aromantic Taichi)

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

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

Everything

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taichi took a deep breath before replying:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taichi stared at him, perplexed.

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

Koushiro felt his heart sink.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Koushiro smiled and told him in an assured voice:

“Your love is everything for me!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sakuranoumi]

Fandom: Digimon Adventure (takes place after 02)

Characters: Mimi, Koushiro

Word Count: 767

Prompt: Beach

“Nothing beats the beach like in the Digital World,” Mimi exclaims, feeling the wind blow through her hair she has tied up in a ponytail.

“The sand feels so good between my vines,” Palmon agrees, making little rivulets in her wake.

“I'm pretty sure every time we ended up at a beach in the Digital World we almost died,” Koushiro points out, as Tentomon flies next to his head.

“That's in the past,” Mimi explains, throwing her hands out as she spins in a slow circle, “Nothing's trying to kill us here anymore.”

“Yet,” Koushiro corrects, always the realist.

Mimi shoots Tentomon a look.

“Come, come, Koushiro-han,” Tentomont cajoles as he tries to pull Koushiro by his hair, “Enjoy the beach and if anything bad happens me and Palmon will save the day.”

“That's right,” Palmon says, pretending to flex her veins, “No digimon stands a chance against Togamon and Kabuterimon.”

“Fine fine,” Koushiro relents taking off his shoes before Tentomon pushes him shoes and all into the ocean. It doesn't really matter because these aren't his real clothes. Your appearance in the Digital World is only what you imagine. His actual clothes are nice and safe.

Mimi gives him her biggest smile having already imagined a cute swimming suit for herself.

“I'm not swimming though. I'm only going to wade in the water,” Koushiro states stepping ankle deep in the water to start.

“That's fine,” Mimi states, pulling him slightly deeper until the water is up to his calves.

“Why'd you want to go to the beach anyway?” Koushiro asks, and he has to admit the gentle waves breaking against his legs aren't that bad.

“It's not the same in New York, and even in Odaiba we still had to cross the country to get to a good beach. With the Digital World it's easier. One click and we're there and we don't even have to share,” Mimi states lacing her fingers with his and she stands closer.

“No shark attacks to worry about,” Koushiro admits.

As he says that something nibbles on his toes. It's a playful bite and Koushiro has a feeling who knows exactly who's responsible.

“Gomamaon,” he calls, and the white seal type digimon pokes his head up with the most innocent grin.

“It's rude to go to the beach and not invite me,” Gomamon explains, cheekily shooting some water at Koushiro. He misses his face, and Koushiro knows that's only on purpose. If Gomamon had wanted to Koushiro would have had a face full of water.

“It's a date, Gomamon,” Palmon tries to stage whisper, but she has no discretion and her voice carries easily.

“Oh do you think Jyou will bring a girl here sometime and I can met her too?” Gomamon turns pleading eyes onto Koushiro.

“Wh-wh-why would I know,” Koushiro stammers his face turning red at Palmon so easily announcing it to the world

“Awww you're flustered. It's cute,” Mimi teases gently poking at his cheek.

“See only bad things happen at the beach,” Koushiro stammers.

“You sure?” Mimi asks a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Koushiro has the distinct feeling her should run for the shore while he still can.

He doesn't though. He's stopped by soft lips planting a quick kiss on his check. His face is completely red now and his brain is short circuiting.

He blinks his eyes rapidly taking in three sets of digimon all pretending to hide their eyes but he can see them peaking through claws and vines.

“Okay,” Koushiro finally gets out, “I suppose the beach isn't all that bad, but next time can we please go to the park. In the real world?”

Mimi lets out a laugh, “I'd never thought I'd get you away from a computer or anything digital.”

Her face softens as she continues, “but a park would be lovely. I'm dying to show you Central Park.”

“Yeah Central Park!” Palmon cheers.

“No,” Koushiro says quickly.

Palmon and Tentomon pout, “We didn't peek.”

“Afterwards,” Mimi winks at them, “Afterwards I'll take you all through it. My two cutest stuffed animals for company.”

She's met with cheers. Somehow it feels like they are parents and the digimon are their rowdy kids. He wouldn't trade them for the world, but sometimes he doesn't always want an audience as he holds Mimi's hand. Especially when they invite themselves along like Gomamon. Sometimes the digimon are worse then their friends when it comes to spying.

[koushirouizumi]

Digimon Adventure (Series) x La Belle et la Bête 2 {Parody} ~ A.M.V. Preview {Unfinished} / [In-Progress] / Work-in-Progress: ~ “L’Histoires” [“Stories”] + Duo/Ship/O.T.P: Koushiro{u} Izumi x Taichi Yagami {KouTai}/{Taishiro} + Friendships/(Platonic) Supporting: Koushiro & Tentomon line; Koushiro & Izumis; Koushiro & Chosen (briefly)

Digimon Adventure & related Series © Toei Animation La Belle et la Bête / Beauty and the Beast 2 (C) Disney

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Digimon. This is FAN-MADE. No $$$ is being made off this fan-work!

Notes:

This A.M.V. is currently UN-FINISHED. As of now, only the end section is completed. Hopefully you find some enjoyment so far though! This 1st part / intro / opening has taken about 45~ min already.

There are small Koushiro-spoilers from: Digimon Adventure 2020 Ep 14, 59; Tri: Kokuhaku (Kou+Tai moment)

{French Ver.}:

Histoires de héros, qui volent plus haut que les oiseaux, et vous donnent pour toujours l'espoir, d'emporter {la victoire}. Je sais qu'un jour viendra, où il gagnera son combat, dans un monde où il règnera, sa vie changera.

Stories of {HEROES}, who fly higher than [Icarus?] / the birds, and give you hope forever, to win… I {KNOW} that a day will come when (they) {WILL WIN} (their) fight, in A WORLD where (THEY) will reign, (THEIR) LIFE will {CHANGE}...

Summary:

Koushiro Izumi is NOT a “background chara” (that can be easily dismissed or ‘left out’ of the ensemble cast), I don’t know who needs to hear that...!! (And regardless of Koushiro’s own role usages / screen-time; it’s STILL Important.) Koushiro will ALWAYS be important as representation of non-normative families no matter what Toei may choose to SHOW (or BELIEVE...)

{I might finish this for this month, but we’ll see.} (This song genuinely means a lot to me anyhow; I am making it out of genuine appreciation for this {+canon} chara; and as this is just a pre-view, I hope it can be respected.)

The song is in French but I provided the machine translated lines above. (I’ve seen the song sub’d properly before in past too; it was pretty much along these lines, so hopefully you can follow!)

[Note: Tags/replies that are Positive/respectful are OK!]

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x03 - The Blue Wolf! Garurumon! / Garurumon

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Prank phone calls sure do hit different when the emergency line operator is the one doing them.

Good news is, we have like a day's worth of food. Bad news is, we're still in this awful place File Island and don't know how to go home. Or even where we can physically be that won't piss off territorial wildlife. Man, when I signed up for an Isekai, I was promised elf waifus and unearned combat supremacy; I want to speak with this place's manager!

We open on Taichi standing on the edge of a cliff, staring into emo distance. He's trying to make sense of the rules of this death world. Why did only Agumon evolve? Why did he lose his evolution and revert to Agumon again?

Agumon has no answers for him. As noted last episode, the Partner Digimon don't understand how this works either. We're all figuring this shit out together.

Dub Tai makes the wild-ass claim that they've already searched the whole island, which is a bald-faced lie given that exploring File Island will take up much of this arc. Then he just brags about how Greymon is super badass, rather than contemplating how evolution works.

Tai does also ask Agumon why he can't remain as Greymon, but he's more macho about it and kind of mean. "I like you better as Greymon," he says with actual words from his mouth. Agumon apologetically explains that "Even superheroes need a rest."

No time to keep thinking about this, nature has discovered us once again. Monochromon, an Adult-stage Digimon, smashes through some nearby rocks. Tentomon assures us that Monochromon are docile. The narrator agrees, but adds that they have a foul temper.

As a second Monochromon emerges from the other side of the group, the kids quickly decide to skedaddle out of the way. The Monochromon aren't here for us, we're just in the crossfire. Nature can be like that sometimes.

Tentomon speculates that this is a territorial dispute. Makes sense, and also not our problem so we book. Fleeing from this violence, Takeru trips and falls, but Yamato stops to help him, giving the brothers a nice moment.

Once we've run as far as we can from the territory duel, Mimi gets tired. She offhandedly complains that all this walking is going to thicken her calves, prompting Agumon to chime in that thick calves are good 'cause you can kick dirt with them. Palmon argues that leafy feat are better. Mimi is unswayed by both of these arguments.

Dub Mimi adds a bit about shopping malls; "I don't walk this much unless I'm at a mall, and as you can see, we're nowhere near one!" However, the thrust of her complaint remains that she's tired and sore from all this walking. Agumon inexplicably suggests she'd feel better if she took off her shoes and walked in bare feet. Palmon doubles down, saying she loves the feel of dirt between her toes. Mimi is not impressed.

Meanwhile, Koushiro and Sora discuss the strangely colored sunset of File Island. Even the sky in this place is weird. In any case, the sunset brings a more pressing concern: It's going to get dark soon. We're about to spend our first night on File Island.

Tentomon notices the smell of water in the air, so he takes to the sky to scout out and discovers a lake nearby. A freshwater drinking source is a huge discovery in a survival situation, so we should head that way!

It takes very little time to reach a survival consensus. Everyone is tired and hungry. We'll make camp at the lake and figure things out in the morning.

Well, consensus except for Dub Matt. Yamato likes the idea of stopping to rest for reasons that are clearly visible onscreen with him and require no elaboration. Matt, however, decides to be contrarian and barks that "We should keep walking and stop all the complaining!" Harsh, Matt.

Lake's full of telephone poles and shit but honestly we are past caring that File Island is weird. As we approach the lake, the group takes a moment to agree that this is a great spot to camp out for the night.

Mimi's nervous, though. She asks Taichi to clarify that camping means they have to sleep outdoors, which he confirms.

However, a new option suddenly presents itself courtesy of File Island being so weird. As if directly responding to their presence, a trolley sitting on a little island connected to the mainland by a manmade stone bridge suddenly turns on and calls their attention to it.

As they race for the trolley, Dub Tai inexplicably calls out, "Mimi, wait up!" as he leaps through the doors, despite being the first kid to set foot on it.

Having thoroughly failed their Don't Get In A Stranger's Car check, they take a moment investigating the trolley. Taichi and Koushiro confirm that nobody's here. Taichi's extremely bothered by this whole thing. Jou agrees, wondering aloud if the trolley's going to start moving by itself, but Taichi waves him off; There aren't any tracks for the trolley to go down.

Dub Tai agrees with Joe, but thinks it might actually be good if the trolley suddenly kidnaps them all. It might take them home. Dub Tai somehow manages to be worse at Stranger Danger than any of the Japanese crew. To be fair, he's not alone; Dub Mimi said that too.

Well, it's decided. We'll sleep in the trolley tonight. Just like that, the group sets to work on foraging for food and supplies. Last episode, the Digimon said they're good at foraging; Now they get to show off their skills, gathering various fruits and berries. Mimi tries to help, but Palmon stops her from accidentally picking poisonous mushrooms.

Jou and Sora gather firewood while Koushiro and Takeru catch fish to cook. Taichi and Yamato prepare the fire and just like that, we're camping.

When he sees Takeru struggling with figuring out how to eat a whole fish like this, Yamato offers to de-bone it for him. Taichi interrupts and tells Takeru to just start at the head and bite; Takeru accepts that advice and gives it a try.

In the dub, T.K. complains that his mom wouldn't like this. He's only supposed to eat fish sticks, and he's not supposed to eat with his fingers. Matt assures T.K. that he won't tattle, and Tai chimes in to tell him he's "hanging with the big boys now" which seems to settle his nerves.

From there, Taichi approaches Sora, who's filling up a bamboo shaft with water from the lake. He's noticed that Takeru refers to Yamato as "Onii-chan" and he's curious about it. Sora's as lost as he is about it.

Dub Tai already gets that Matt and T.K. are brothers, and instead complains that Matt "doesn't treat T.K. like a brother, only like he's a bother." Rude. Sora agrees, but suggests he's still learning how to be a big brother.

Jou returns from having a short walk around, stargazing. He's been trying to use the night sky to figure out where the hell File Island is, but the sky is wrong. Not just wrong for Japan; It's just wrong. Neither the North Star nor the Southern Cross can be found. So we are neither in the Northern Hemisphere nor the Southern. What does that leave?

Sora quickly corroborates, observing that she can't find any familiar constellations either.

Dub Joe is less thorough than Jou. He doesn't look for the Southern Cross, instead settling on the idea that we must be in the Southern Hemisphere if he can't find the North Star. Mystery solved.

Before long, it's officially time for bed. Time to spend our first night on File Island. Koushiro wants to establish a night watch rotation, which Taichi and Jou quickly agree to.

Taichi suggests that the girls shouldn't have to keep watch. Upon hearing this, Yamato jumps to his feet to demand that Takeru be excluded too. Takeru volunteers to take a turn anyway, but Yamato tells him no; Takeru should just sleep.

The dub cuts Tai's line about wanting Sora and Mimi excluded from the rotation, which leaves Matt issuing demands on T.K.'s behalf out of nowhere. This still works for the scene's intent.

Mimi points out that they have no bedding to sleep with. Getting an idea, Taichi goes straight for Gabumon, trying to steal his pelt away from him. He's only playing around, and he lets go as soon as Gabumon freaks out and runs.

Dub Tai somehow makes this about Mimi, playing her up like a predator in the night who's going to come for Gabumon in the night and cut off his tail.

Yamato angrily shoves Taichi away from Gabumon and the two nearly come to blows before the others tell them to quit it. Jou interrupts, calling the group's attention together so they can set up the shifts. With Sora, Mimi, and Takeru all excluded, the rotation he comes up with is:

Taichi

Yamato

Koushiro

Jou

Sora and Mimi remain excluded from the list even in the dub, so I guess Joe's the sexist one in this version. :P

As the kids prepare for bed in the trolley, they proceed to make unbelievably poor use of all that seating area. Everyone has to sleep in a sitting position but like there is so much space y'all.

Mimi's upset because she's used to sleeping in a bed. Dub Mimi instead is mad that she has to share sleeping space with other people. Rude.

Going to bed, we're made privy to each of their last thoughts as they drift off. Sora hopes they aren't attacked in the night. Mimi wants to take a bath. Koushiro expects it will be a long day for the group tomorrow. Jou wants this all to have been a dream.

In the dub, T.K. bids everyone good night with, "Don't let the Monochromon bite," giving Sora a specific monster anxiety to worry about. Mimi's feet are still sore. Izzy speculates that the aliens he's still on about put the trolley here to help them. Joe worries about getting "monster cooties", actual quote.

Yamato's staked out his own bench to rest on. He orders Gabumon to go keep Takeru warm. Gabumon teases him about loving his brother and Yamato storms off in a fit of embarrassment.

As the group drifts off to sleep, things start to go to shit almost immediately. The other shoe finally begins to drop during Taichi's shift, as he steps on a strange red leaf on his way to wash his face. Nothing comes of it, however. Not yet.

While Taichi's washing his face to stay awake during his shift, Yamato exits the trolley to get away from everyone. He apologizes to Taichi for their earlier fight, and confides that Takeru's closer to Taichi than to him because of his overprotective behavior; Calling back to the earlier incident with the cooked fish.

Dub Matt, meanwhile, continues being a total jerk. He still apologizes but, rather than opening up about his feelings, Matt aggressively blames "having to watch T.K." for his behavior. Nice, bro.

Taichi asks Yamato to explain the nature of their relationship for him. Yamato explains that they're brothers from a broken home; Their parents divorced and the brothers were split between them, which is why they have different last names.

The dub hasn't been playing coy about this the way the original did, so Tai instead has to ask, "Do you two even live in the same house!?" out of nowhere to provoke Matt's explanation. Matt answers that they're half-brothers so that's why they see each other so rarely.

Having had his fill of emotional honesty, Yamato splits with Taichi and goes to play his harmonica by the lake shore. He's shortly joined by Gabumon, doing a startlingly poor job of being Takeru's blanket.

That's when it happens.

Okay, fucko, I can handle being stepped on but that is a bridge too far. Local wildlife mad now.

I blame Taichi for this. 100%. That fin wasn't exactly hard to spot.

This is the Adult-stage Seadramon, the first of a particular kind of Digimon. The "dramon" lineage is a pun on the word "dragon". Any time you meet a -dramon, that's a dragon Digimon. Seadramon is, of course, the Sea Dragon Digimon.

Seadramon honestly wants nothing to do with this. His first reaction to his rude awakening is to try and peace out. Unfortunately, his tail is embedded in the island, so he ends up dragging it around with him.

Tentomon explains that Seadramon is normally pretty docile. He only attacks if he feels threatened. As long as we haven't threatened him, we should be fine. As Tentomon says this, he hops directly onto Seadramon's tail like an idiot.

Really playing up how much this impending fight is absolutely, 100% our fault. We screwed up. Seadramon is trying to defend himself against us.

This context doesn't make it into the dub. Instead, Tentomon assures the others that they'll be fine as long as Seadramon doesn't realize they're here; However, by stepping on Seadramon's tail like that, he reveals their presence to the dangerous predator.

Wrenching his tail free of the island, Seadramon retaliates by submerging himself and pushing the island further out into the lake until it collides with those telephone poles we saw earlier and can't budge any further.

Seeing Takeru in trouble, Yamato doesn't even hesitate to throw himself in the water and swim halfway across the dragon-occupied lake to reach his brother. Gabumon hesitates for a moment, not wanting to get his fur wet, but pursues Yamato anyway.

As Seadraman renews his assault on the island, the Child-stage Digimon try to fend him off, but their attacks are useless against an Adult-stage Digimon as usual. Taichi tries to get Agumon to evolve, but he can't; Agumon doesn't know why. As previously established, the Digimon don't understand this whole thing any better than the kids do.

Dub Agumon is lost too, but at least offers speculation. He thinks his body might still be tired from his fight with Shellmon. Valid theory.

Takeru falls in the water trying to get to Yamato, but Gomamon gives him a ride. Trusting Gomamon to take care of Takeru, Yamato and Gabumon throw themselves into the Seadramon fight.

Gabumon's signature move is Petit Fire. Like Baby Flame, this conveys the idea that it's a junior attack fitting of a Child-stage Digimon. The dub calls it Blue Blaster. Like the other Child attacks, Petit Fire is useless against Seadramon, who flicks Gabumon away with little difficulty.

Wrapping his tail around Yamato, Seadramon goes in for the kill.

The dub uses careful language to avoid explicitly saying that Seadramon is going to kill Matt, but nonetheless conveys the same idea. Tentomon calls Seadramon a "bubble brain" but explains that "once he finds his prey, he won't let go".

Takeru, Patamon, and Gabumon briefly discuss what they can do. Takeru wants Patamon to help, but Patamon is powerless so he turns to Gabumon. Gabumon's hesitation strikes again; He wants to help Yamato but he isn't strong enough to intervene.

However, as he watches Seadramon choke the life out of Yamato, Gabumon thinks about his harmonica music and how much he wants to hear it again. He dwells on that music and how badly he wants to hear Yamato play, then lets out a bloodcurdling scream and begins his Adult-stage evolution.

None of this emotional conflict makes it into the dub. English Gabumon agrees to go save Matt immediately, calling out that he's on his way and assertively saying, "What's a little stinky fur compared to a friend like him?"

Either way, Gabumon SHINKAAAAAA!!!

Gabumon's Adult-stage is Garurumon, another onomatopoeia name. He's named for the sound of a wolf growling. "Garururururu...."

While Garurumon and Seadramon fight, Tentomon explains that Garurumon's fur is as strong as the legendary metal mythril. The kids don't know what that is, so Koushiro asks for clarification. This puts Tentomon on the spot, who has to admit that he doesn't know what mythril is either. Taichi wonders aloud if they should really be trusting Tentomon's word when he's explaining the Digimon lore.

Dub Tentomon only equates Garurumon's fur to steel, and adds that he's a "growling torpedo". Izzy understands what that means and declares Garurumon to be invincible, forcing Tentomon to backpedal and say it's only local heresay, nothing concrete. Tai then accuses him of "exaggerating with another one of your wild fish tales again". Uh, another?

For once, we get some focus on the antagonist's special moves too. Seadramon is a wild animal so he doesn't talk, but Tentomon explains this to be his signature move Ice Arrow. Fitting for a sea dragon, he has frost breath.

Garurumon matches it with his Fox Fire. The dub calls this Howling Blaster.

Y'all, he just wanted to sleep.

Gomamon's Marching Fishes bring us back to land, but the sun comes up and nobody's rested. Exhausted, conversation turns to Gabumon's evolution.

Sora suggests that Gabumon was able to evolve this time because it was Yamato in danger. Taichi remembers Agumon evolving to protect him and corroborates that theory. The kids are beginning to develop an understanding of how evolution functions.

Once that's settled, the kids find spaces in the grass to snooze; Everyone's too tired to even care anymore where they rest their heads.

We close this episode on Yamato playing Takeru and Gabumon to sleep.

...I guess technically it is his turn to take watch.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure (Manga) - Vol. 1

This is the manga (or manhua) adaptation of the original Digimon Adventure anime. I got my copy from the library and you can borrow it for free on Archive.org!

Manga adaptations of anime are typically cheap money grabs that just copy-paste from the anime, removing some of the soul of the original along the way. As such, I'm not expecting much from this.

Notes:

Ch. 1

-You can almost always tell when a manga isn't drawn by a Japanese artist, it's just a certain vibe (I know this is technically a manhua). That being said, the art is competent enough. Yuen Wong seems to struggle most when it comes to faces. A lot of the faces look really janky and off model for both the digimon and the digi-destined. The only other thing that's kind of off is that the text boxes are very heavily lined and take up a lot more space than I'm used to.

-When Sora is drawn in chibi-mode she has the straps of her hat up like a rabbit. At first the silhouette was so unfamiliar that I had no idea who it was lol.

-So they covered two episodes in one chapter (up until the Shellmon battle). Let's see if the pace stays that way...

Ch. 2

-This definitely has a similar vibe to most manga adapted from anime that I've read. I wonder if it will diverge from the original material at any point, too soon to judge.

-Tai says to Agumon "I'll do anything but a teeth buffing" and I have nooo idea what that means? (Is he saying "don't eat me?") Also in chapter one Izzy said "baby blue, how emasculating!" when talking about the digivice. I don't think Koushiro would ever say that tbh. I feel like spotting these weird dialogue choices is going to be the most entertaining part about reading this.

Ch. 3

-I guess we're now going at a pace of one episode per chapter, which is fine. Somehow the content still seems a little condensed with a lot of the emotional beats cut out. I feel like the setting changes every two seconds which is giving me whiplash.

-Some weird quirks: the digi-destined call their digimon by their rookie names, even when they're in champion form. Also, the artist really really likes drawing smiley faces as stand-ins for the actual characters. That's like a step below chibification lol

-I think manga like this is perfect for if you wanted to watch Digimon Adventure 02, but you didn't want to catch up on a 50+ episode anime. It's a lot faster to read than to watch. (Although probably not as satisfying overall).

Ch. 4

-More cheesy dialogue. Izzy says "don't mess with an elite hacker" to Tai lol. Koushiro is way more likeable in the original Japanese because localizations loved to make nerds insufferable in the 90s.

-It's funny, I've never thought of Tentomon as robot-like, but in this chapter he said his parts were "short circuiting" and I was like "oh yeahhh...I guess he does have metallic features"

-Did we really need that close-up crotch shot of Andromon?

-You would think that the plot point of there being editable code laying around in random areas of the digital world would have come up again, but I can't remember another time it was really used to the kids' advantage.

Ch. 5

-This panel made me laugh:

(something about this phrasing and the expressionless chibis is so funny).

-And then Izzy never manually triggered a digivolution again...for some reason? (I feel like this was definitely explained in the anime, but I can't remember what they said).

-They didn't censor the poop this time! As usual, you can get away with more in print than you can on the screen B)

-They confirm that you can repel Numemon with sunlight...and then immediately the kids get attacked by more Numemon in broad daylight. Quickest continuity error ever!

-Another chuckle worthy moment:

Ch. 6

-Okay, but this one had me die laughing. Just a really good dad joke:

-Going from Adventure 02 back to the early Adventure days the stakes really do feel lower. No existential conundrums or human/humanoid villains to contend with. Just rampaging digis that can be easily cured.

Ch. 7

-Maybe it's just a translation thing, but sometimes the digimon act like there's one of each digimon species. Like Gomamon says "Unimon's a nice guy!" as if there's one Unimon in the world. Pretty confusing for kids. I wish mon series would just use names (they do sometimes, but it's not the status quo).

Yep, that was pretty generic. I wish they had thrown some more personality in there to make this a unique experience. I would have loved to read some final thoughts from the mangaka or to have gotten an omake of some sort. Ohhh welll...

[lonely-paracosmos]

His Izzy

characters: Tentomon, Koushiro “Izzy” Izumi

warnings: mental breakdowns, discussion of suicide and self worth, homophobia, ableism

summary:  Tentomon is concerned about Izzy when he comes home upset after school. He attempts to comfort him the only way he can.

I hate myself. What is self worth? why does it even matter, why would I feel self worth? These are thoughts Tentomon does not have. Especially at the moment, he slept on the edge of a comfy bed with a soft yellow blanket and two fluffy pillows. his head laid tucked in between his two front claws his body in a curled up position like a dog in deep slumber. the room was dark and blurry; the only faint light was what came peering through the small slits of the blinds.

No thoughts, no interruptions, no sorrow, no destruction. Everything was steady and still. Tentomon let out soft snores and mumbles of the tranquil dreams that will once be forgotten when he wakes up.

A yellow antenna twitches at the slightest sound. Hearing small footsteps and fumbles. the giant ladybird tilted his head up as the door opened slowly and squeaked. It felt like years for the door to be opened all the way at such a slow pace. Tentomon is like a puppy when he arrives. his clawed foot and his lower arms helped the bug get stability and he pushed himself in his hunched stand up position.

Pure black eyes gave him a quick glance, Koushiro. His Izzy. Koushiro's black eyes had no gleam or shine to them. Looking at his eyes were like looking at two small voids. They were soulless and dim. Tentomon remembered when Izzy came home crying to his mother because his peers got enraged by the fact they could not see their reflection through his eyes, so he was called a demon. It did not help that the boy had bright red hair a color often associated with satan. Tentomon shook his head at the awful memory.

Koushiro did not turn the lights on. He simply locked the door and fell onto the bed staring at the ceiling. Tentomon's green eyes looked at him full of worry before sitting next to him. "Hello Izzy, how was school?" He asked the redhead who quickly replied with a long and exasperated sigh. the insect felt uneasy, did something happen?

"Tentomon," the teen finally spoke. He inhaled and sharply exhaled before continuing. "Am I Ugly?" Koushiro turned his head giving Tentomon eye contact. oh. He knew his partner always suffered with self esteem issues, Izzy never felt he was good enough, he thought he was worthless, but never paid attention to his looks even when he had been poked fun at in the past for it. Suddenly things feel like they might fall apart. That is something he must avoid.

Izzy with his pure black eyes, short bright red hair, pale skin, and the fact he was frail and short always made him stand out. Never in a good way though. Tentomon remembered overhearing people call the redhead such horrible names and saying such horrible things to him that he was a fairy, sped, ugly, anorexic, the list goes on. Koushiro stood out in a bad way, but never to Tentomon. His eyes were full of wonder, his hair was always kept clean, he had the warmest of smiles and yet people had the audacity to call his partner ugly. his partner.

"No, why would you think that?" The bug answered. wondering what people had said this time to his Izzy. "You don't have to sugarcoat it Tento, I know that I am." Koushiro said in a low tone. This made the ladybug's heart hurt. He can't just have people walk all over him. "I do not think so Izzy. I am telling the truth, you are very handsome." The beetle said in a more stern voice than before. The teen looked away from Tentomon getting up so he wasn't lying down anymore, but was still sitting comfortably on the bed. Koushiro was staring at the wall, his eyes starting swelling with tears.

"I am the crest of knowledge," Izzy started. "I learn new things everyday, I am smart, I am helpful." he chokes on his tears before continuing. "Everyday I find more and more reasons to take my life. No one wants me. I am just an error in the code. I am a virus, viruses aren't meant to exist. I should just kill myself before I infect this world anymore!" Tentomon could feel his heart stop. He never expected those words to come out of his partners mouth, and yet here he is having a breakdown on the bed next to him.

Koushiro wasn't thinking logically, he has gotten to the point where he cannot think logically anymore, Tentomon knows this. Unable to gather up the right words the red beetle got his feet and slowly crept on the redhead's lap. He faced him, his big green eyes stared at Koushiro's black eyes which were now red and his cheeks were stained from crying. He hugged Izzy who immediately hugged Tentomon tightly and started to wail. "I'm sorry I'm sorry.." he cries. "I never asked to be born," he says.

"I am glad you were born, Izzy." Tentomon rubbed his head on Izzy's stained cheek. "I love you Izzy." Koushiro responded by hugging the bug tighter and mumbling an "I love you too" through his tears. Tentomon was never the type to talk a big storm. He knows that Koushiro needs quiet comfort. He knows That he cannot fix what has been broken though Tentomon wishes he could. He will try and bandage him up and help him heal. He will be there always and forever for Koushiro, for his Izzy.

[uniarycode]

Takari Week, Day 3- Digital World Visit

The discovery of an old memorial sets Takeru and Hikari on a not-so-happy trip down memory lane.  Set about a month after the end of 02.  Written as part of @takariweek​

It had been sent in good faith.

Ken couldn’t possibly have known, no one would have told him.  And Daisuke would never have sent it to her, if he’d been smart enough to collect the dots.

“Beware, poop monsters may be nearby” attached was a picture displaying a crude statue of sorts, rocks piled together to create the vague facsimile of ‘digital sludge’.

Or at least, that’s what she had been going for, when she was eight.

Ken wouldn’t have known that.

Daisuke wouldn’t have either, not explicitly.  She had only said she’d made a shrine to the Numemon, there was no need to explain what it looked like.

It should have been reformatted anyway.

Iori had chimed in with some wisdom about how most Digimon didn’t want a fight, and that any conflict at all should be avoided.

Miyako was muttering about meeting with Mimi later, and not wanting to go smelling like poop.

There was no more reason for them to know than Daisuke.

And if she was being fair, the lingering odor of digital sludge was not something anyone wanted to deal with for the rest of the day.

The point of it was to smell, to identify an aggressor to other Digimon, and if nothing else it would annoy an attacking Digimon. There was a host of Digimon that relied on the sludge as a defense, as they were too weak to scare off even lower level attackers.

No, not weak, she scolded herself.  They were never weak.  They were simply not suited to combat.

A ping notified her of a message from Takeru: “Do you need to talk?”

She typed a single world in response “Yes”

***

It was risky to go anywhere in the digital world without your jogress partner.  Most Digimon would not stake their lives on a fight, and the appearance of a perfect level would be able to scare off even more powerful attackers.  There was no evidence that Tailmon or Angemon could evolve if needed, and less that Aqualimon or Ankylomon could.

Both she and Takeru tended to be a bit conservative in these matters, so when they requested to pair up, it was taken seriously.

Iori had been understanding, but Miyako looked a little hurt.  It wasn’t that the older girl was insufficient or inept, it was just easier to talk about this with someone who already knew.

Someone who had been there.

Pegasmon and Nefertimon flew in silence after the tradeoff.  Even with just the two of them and their partners, Hikari was unsure what to say. Nefertimon suggested they head to the memorial, and the group had quietly departed.

It was odd:  a grassy meadow, between two trees, with a river flowing a few feet away.  It was nothing like the wasteland she’d first constructed the memorial in.  A less attached observer may even claim it was the statue that tarnished the otherwise picturesque landscape.

Hikari would be too kind to correct them.

“It shouldn’t be here.” She said.

“I know.” Takeru answered calmly.

“Why wasn’t it reformatted?” she asked, the question directed as much at the wind as at her companions.

“I don’t know.” Takeru responded.

She waited for a few minutes, still trying to get her emotions in check.  “Do you think they were able to be reborn?” she asked.

“I do.”

“Why?  If this wasn’t reformatted properly, then why would anything else?  How do you know they are okay?” she accused.

“I don’t.” he responded “But Whamon, Leomon, and Piccolomon were.  There’s no reason they wouldn’t have been either.”

She felt a small comfort at that.  Admittedly she’d never met Leomon the first time, and had only a brief encounter with Piccolomon.  Still they had by all accounts died, and then come back.

“The digital world is not like your world.” Tailmon said, “Forests, lakes, even mountains can be destroyed in a particularly fierce fight, and they are rebuilt within months.  Perhaps this monument is part of the code now.”

“So it will be here forever?” she asked wistfully.

“Maybe.” Tailmon responded.

There was a break, as she collected her thoughts.

“Do you think, do you think they regret it?” Hikari asked. “That they hate me?”

“No.” Takeru said, wrapping his arms around her. “It was their choice, and it was Mungendramon who did it.  If anything, I think they’d thank you.”

“Thank me?  For getting them killed?”

“For freeing them.”  Takeru clarified. “For giving them the ability to fight back.”

She felt tears begin to pool in her eyes. “I still dream about it sometimes, all those Numemon rushing in and then vanishing in a flash.” She closed her eyes, letting darkness console her.

“Sometimes the dream ends there, sometimes, it goes further. Agumon doesn’t evolve.  I just watch as he takes you out one by one.  First Taichi and Agumon, then Sora and Biyomon, then Koushiro and Tentomon, and finally you.  All of you.  Until I’m the only one left.”

A soft squeeze reassured her of Takeru’s presence, as Tailmon began to brush against her leg. “It’s fine.” Takeru said, “I’m here, we’re here.  And he isn’t.”

“I know.  He can’t hurt us anymore.  None of them can.  But that doesn’t stop the dreams.” She cracked a sad smile. “Pretty lame, huh.”

“No!” Patamon cried out. “Not lame!  It’s cool.  Like a battle scar.”

The flying hamster’s enthusiastic denial forced her to open her eyes, show her not only his serious face, but Takeru’s face, which was wracked with torment.

“You too?” she asked incredulously.  It shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise, given what they’d all went through.  And yet, Takeru had always seemed so calm to her, so brave.  Especially three years ago.

“Some nights.” He admitted quietly.  “Not Mungendramon normally, but others.”

“Who?” she asked. She regretted the word as soon as it left her tongue.  It somehow seemed too intimate to ask.

If Takeru shared her opinion, he didn’t show it. “Devimon mostly.”  Hikari nodded in understanding, she hadn’t heard the full story herself, but had overheard enough rushed conversations to piece it together. “But others too,” he continued, “playing hide and go seek in Pinochimon’s mansion.  Endlessly running away in Piemon’s castle.”

“And also,” he paused, studying her face. “When Vamdemon took over the city.”

She let out an involuntary shutter at the name, and Tailmon’s hair began to stand on end.

“I thought so.” Takeru said sadly, pulling her close once more.

It took a few minutes for her to rally enough nerve to speak, but takeru merely held her patently.

“It’s been getting worse.  Ever since, you know.” She couldn’t say it, but it should have been obvious. “He just doesn’t seem to die.  No matter what we do, no matter what prophecies we fulfil.  He just keeps coming back, stronger than before.”

“Third time’s the charm.” Takeru offered a paltry attempt at cheering her up.

“I’m being serious.” She scolded “We barely beat him last time, and Tailmon, Patamon, all of them, they split into all their evolutions, and then every chosen in the world came together.  If he were to come back stronger, how could we top that?”

“I don’t know, but we would.” Takeru replied.

“You’re just saying that.” She pouted.

“I’m not.  It’s based on history.  We’ve fought foe after foe, each more powerful than the last.  And in the end, we always win.  And if Vamdemon or Devimon, or any of them come back, we’ll beat them again no matter what.”

She held him tighter, as if she could absorb his optimism though osmosis alone.  

They stood like that for a few minutes, finding comfort in each other’s arms, not caring what might happen if one of the others found them and misinterpreted the situation.

“We should say a prayer.” Takeru said suddenly, breaking them out of the moment. “Right now.  We’ll pray for the Numemon.  Since we’re already here, it’s the least we can do.”

“I thought you said you thought they were alive.” She asked meekly.

“I do.  You can offer prayers for the living too, Hikari.  Most of my prayers are sent to those around me.” Takeru said, turning her around. “We can pray that they are happy and healthy, wherever they are now.”

She knelt in front of the memorial alongside Takeru, as he began his prayer.  Somehow it seemed so much smaller than it had three and a half years ago, when she’d first made it.

And yet, that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

When she had first constructed the monument, it was in a wasteland tarnished with darkness.  Made on a world warped and mutilated by the Dark masters, and then reduced to one quarter of its size as the Dark masters died out.  A monument to some outcast Digimon, who had met their end valiantly, but seemingly vainly, against a far more powerful oppressor.

But now it sat in this green meadow, framed by a pair of trees, with the calming sound of a nearby river flowing past.  The oppressor was long gone. And those memorialized remained, living lives full of joy and happiness.

A testament to the peace they had all worked for.

Takeru finished his prayer and turned to her. His face turned first to confusion, before it began to light up.

“What?” she asked, looking away from his gaze.

“You’re smiling.” He said simply, it’s infectious.

She almost didn’t believe it, even walked over to the river to see a grin reflected on her face.  And not a sad smile, or a somber grin, but a warm, gentle smile.

She turned back to Takeru, “Better?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She said nodding. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.”  He said, as he began to collect their stuff.

“Do you think we could mark this place down somehow?” she asked. “I think I might want to return sometime.”

“I’m sure we could.  I’ll ask Koushiro.”

She smiled, not looking away from the monument as Tailmon and Patamon became Nefertimon and Pegasmon and flew off.

From that day on, she had one less nightmare to worry about.

[noctilucentstorm]

Digimon Adventure: Review

Episode 5: The Holy Digimon

I was genuinely expecting to be a little disappointed with this episode, but it did mostly manage to avoid the pitfalls I was expecting.  The upped tempo of the series compared to the original somewhat worked in its favour with the lore only taking up the first half, leaving Koushiro and Tentomon to shine in the second.  

Spoilers below:

I’m not quite sure where Seraphimon’s statue is in relation to these three, but it isn’t shown again, so I’m going to assume it’s opposite Valdurmon.  We can also see Ophanimon on the left and Kerpymon on the right, so either there is another temple with statues of the other holy digimon or they’ve been destroyed (I’m going for the latter).  Also, count how many times this shot get used in the episode (it’s a lot).

I really like the digitised shapes in Whamon.  There have been a lot of little extras in the animation to remind us how different the Digital World is from our own and I’m here for it.  Probably one of my favourite things about the art.  Also, although it may get annoying eventually, I’m glad they’re showing the main digimon’s names more than once.  It’s a large cast, and learning unfamiliar names may put some people off, so I appreciate the extra effort.

We’re introduced to the seven holy digimon: Valdurmon, Cherubimon, Seraphimon, Ophanimon, SlashAngemon, ClavisAngemon, and Rasielmon.  It’s also clear that not only have the digimon lost their memories of the past, but Agumon can’t even remember becoming Omegamon when fighting with Taichi. It’s an interesting mystery and again hints that Omegamon was a one-off for this early in the series.  Although expected, it’s also a bit of a relief, since it means that the narrative won’t need to keep separating Taichi and Yamato just to keep Omegamon away.

I admit I had to re-watch Koushiro’s explanation a few times, but it seems that the power stations’ severs are corrupted and therefore have cut power to certain locations.  However, they can’t just reboot the stations because the power won’t turn off.  I mentioned it in an earlier review, but again it seems the showrunners have taken a real phenomenon (the effects of an extreme solar event) and adapted it to fit the narrative. The fact that the Internet is unaffected will likely play a role later in the series.

Interestingly, we’re introduced to Ogremon, but the children still don’t know about him.  I’m guessing he’ll make his appearance in the next episode, but it’s a nice, simple way of dialling up the tension.  

One thing I liked in the original series, was how the digimon explained the different behaviours of different species.  Of course, mostly it was them reassuring the Chosen that ‘x’ digimon wouldn’t attack them just before it did, but it was a good way of telling the viewers how the different species of digimon live.  Piyomon’s observation of Dokugumon’s behaviour is a great example of this being taken forward into the new series and I’m all here for it.

I know Tentomon couldn’t carry Koushiro in the old series, but I’m wondering how much this is possible just because gravity doesn’t seem to apply in the Network.  I love the way Tentomon zips around and it seems the animation quality has improved again.  Which makes me more sad for the last episode, but I guess it can’t be helped.  Koushiro is a sweetie and gets Tentomon to create an opportunity for Whamon to escape.  I wonder if that means they’ll see Whamon again, or whether I’m reading a little too much into this scene.

The Soundbirdmon are an cool addition and seem to have taken the place of the black gears.  Kinda cool that it was designed by a fan.

The evolution is really inconsistent.  I’m not sure how I feel about only Agumon having an official evolution sequence.  I’m glad that they’re not showing all of them because that would take up a lot of time, but because of that I felt the Agumon evolution dragged on too long.  I’d be interested to know what others think about it.

Seems Koushiro and Kabuterimon are making their way to the Digital World.  Kinda curious how they’re going to stop the blackout though, since the holy digimon basically confirmed the Network is what affects the human world.

And just when we think the episode is finished, look who it is!  Guess we’ll be properly introduced to Mimi before Jou after all.

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this episode more than I thought I would.  It was kinda nice seeing Koushiro and Tentomon fighting alone as we didn’t see it much in the original series.  The characters’ reactions still all feel a bit same-y for me and I didn’t think I learnt anything really new about their personalities (except a possible hint that Kourshiro is awkward showing affection?).  I’m willing to be patient for that though, so I wouldn’t necessarily call it a criticism.