#up until leomon

[aparticularbandit]

The character development that Impmon goes through over the series is just. Ugh.

[drawfee-quot3s]

move over jacob drawfee lemon, here comes jacob drawfee leomon

- karina

[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.

[master-muffinn]

Digimon

When they find a human child. (The kid is 4-5 years gender/neutral reader)

It was forever ago that I watched digimon and the different versions. I had to look up some of the digimons personalities. This is basically taken from different shows, mostly generation 1. The digimons that I like and are easy to place the right text to. 

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Is the big and mature digimon who will help the kid find their home. They know the moment they see you that you don’t belong to this world and made it their mission to help you find a way back. They are used to dealing with younger digimons so a human child is no big deal. They pick you up and ask you a lot of questions about your parents, how you came here, where you are coming from etc. The longer it takes the more worried they get, because digiworld is not a safe place for a little human child. Don’t worry though, they will take care of you until you find your way back home. They will teach you how to survive in this world. What you can eat and not, how you can defend yourself and what to do in different situations. They probably will start calling you their kid at some point and will feel proud and happy that you see them as a parental figure.

^ LEOMON, ANGEMON, ANGEWOMON, Frigimon, Renamon, Gabumon, Lilymon, Piximon, Lilamon, Biyomon, wormmon, Andromon? ^

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“Ew why are the brat following me?! Go somewhere else!!”. Doesn't like the kid at all and tries to get rid of it. Not by killing it or hurting it of course! They are not that cruel! But by running/flying away or tricking the kid to go somewhere or putting the kid in a box or hanging them up on a nail on a wall. Really, they try many different ways and become satisfied when they ‘think’ they have succeeded until the kid is sticking to their side and they sigh and get irritated. However when they finally succeed in getting rid of you they stay there and wait..and waiting..and waiting a little extra just to make sure you aren’t coming, just for them to miss you and getting worried. “Hey Brat! Where did you go?! Come back!” They end up taking a liking to you instead but they are pretty awkward about it. “Hey! Don’t go there! That’s dangerous!”. Yes, you somehow became their annoying little brat but they do have a soft spot for you, however they are not good at parenting though! 

^ BEELZEMON, Ogremon, ETEMON, Impmon, Ranamon ^

---

Say goodbye to your parents! You are theirs now! All you really did was call them “pretty” or “cool” with excitement in your eyes and they instantly fell for you and adopted you. They take you up in their arms? Paws? Claws? and take you home and fix a room fitting for you. They might spoil you to make sure you want to stay and have you ‘forget’ about your real parents. They will spend a lot of time with their kid, teach them things they know and totally show off while doing it too!

If anyone questions it they get upset, “What do you mean they’re not my kid?! Of course they are! Yeah they’re human, so what?! All babies don't come out of an egg”. Their parent instincts kick in whenever you aren’t around them or they don’t know where you are. “Where’s my baby!!” 😨 

^ LILITHMON, ELECMON ^ 

---

Awkward... They aren’t used to being around kids at all and lacking knowledge about them. Like what are they supposed to do? They don’t have the heart to just leave the kid, what if they die? They go around and ask other digimons if they know anything about humans or where they are coming from, so they can take you home. What do humans even eat? What do they feed them with?? What if the human gets ill?” 

They do find the little human cute and they don’t mind the hugs and affection you are giving them, however- they believe that they aren’t good enough to take care of you so they search for someone else who could do a better job. Of course they have gotten attached to you and will have difficulties saying goodbye when they find the right person and place. Might or might not cry when they hug you farewell, maybe you’ll meet in the future when you are older, maybe you can be together then…

^ BAALMON,  Wizardmon, Orgemon, Andromon, Gazimon?  ^

---

They found you by accident. At first they watch you from afar for a while. Finding you very interesting and adorable. They already know at first glance you are a human from another world and the chances for you to come home is pretty low. 

They approach you slowly so as not to scare you and ask you questions about you and your home. The longer they talk to you the more comfortable they become and they actually enjoy themself. They end up offering you food at their place. And somehow along the way you end up in their care and now they are much more happy and have something precious to protect who needs them.

Knowing you are safe and waiting for them to come home and knowing you will be happy to see them will get them through even the toughest days.

^ DEVIMON, BEELZEMON (xros wars), gatomon ^

---

“Oooh!! A new friend!! Let’s play together!”. These digimon is basically a child themself and doesn't think so much about the difference. Ask you what kind of digimon you are. Actually, they don't really care what you are! A friend is still a friend no matter what! Will ask you a lot of questions. They might get you in trouble but they will of course protect and defend you if something bad happens even if themself aren’t that strong. 

At the end of the day you will fall asleep together under a big tree. You got yourselves a lifelong friend (hopefully) and will take care of one another. <3 

^ GUILMON, CULUMON, MarineAngemon, Lunamon, Patamon ^ 

---

Wow you are very unlucky if you meet these digimon. You probably become their dinner or even worse, they see you as a toy to play with (and not so nicely). Will totally chase you and throw hurtful stuff at you while laughing. And when the fun is over and they get bored, they will probably kill you, unless your screams are heard and the digimon from the first text/part will come and save you!

^ Kuwagamon, Myotismon, Diaboromon, Bakemon, Scumon-(probably won't kill you tho) ^ 

---

Thank you for reading and if you like it, reblogs are very appreciated! <3

Made by @master-muffinn

[nukitan]

Okay so as much as I dislike conflating Pokémon and Digimon, (they’re two shows that just so happen to be in the same genre and I think the comparisons should stop there. The bad faith ones anyway), how great the new Pokémon anime is has made me think about something.

Basically, I feel like Horizons has a lot of elements that I would love to see in a modern season of Digimon and I think the Digimon anime could take a page from their playbook. Which is funny since up until now I’ve always said the reverse.

Full rant bellow the cut to spare your time lines if you don’t want to read my rambles.

I split them into section going into Digimon first and then Pokémon if you want to skip around and don’t care about the other franchise. BUT, I will say that the point of this essay is that Pokémon Horizons is good, the first three seasons of Digimon are good and if you like one you should watch the other.

Anyway.

First I’m going to go into my history with Digimon and what I liked about the classic seasons and what I don’t like so much about the newer ones.

Basically, I love Digimon. Been hyper fixating on it off and on for twenty+ years. I’ve seen every season, subbed and dubbed multiple times, I’ve played a good chunk of the games, I play the TCG, ect.

Something that drew me to the Digimon anime over AniPoke, was the characters and the plot. In the early seasons Digimon tackled lots of difficult issues like divorce, adoption, death, loss, depression, among other things. But still kept a light hearted, feel good air. The characters felt deep and multi-faceted (At least in the sub), and I dare say are better written than some characters from some adult oriented anime out there. And they had cute monsters that evolved into bigger monsters and fought baddie monsters, what wasn’t there to love? The first three or so seasons did a fantastic job juggling characters, plot, cool creature fights, and cute and funny moments between the members of the cast. It never really felt like a commercial compared to contemporaries. It felt like the writers were creating something with soul, it was a story first and ad second. It felt like it had love.

Adventure, 02, and Tamers are my favorites. Bellow are some characters and their arcs I really enjoyed from those seasons, skip if don’t want spoilers.

I love Taichi’s arc of being reckless, and being one track minded to the point where he put all his friends in harms way and Yamato tries to act like this calm and cool lancer type but he’s actually the group heart and sensitive the way they bounce off each other and have conflicts throughout the series is just fantastic.

Ken in 02 and his whole arc of getting over the death of his brother and accepting the consequences of his actions as the Digimon Kaiser. And the way he slowly warms up to the group is so cute. I legit cried when I watched some of his episodes post kaiser as an adult.

Tamers as a whole is an extensional horror trip. Juri’s whole thing with her depression after the death of Leomon, how it related back to her trauma after losing her mom when she was younger, and the way the D-Reaper took advantage of that- I honestly don’t know how this was slipped into a kids show from the early 2000s.

A lot of these shows that started in the 90s and early 2000s were pledged with the “Glorified 20-25 minute toy ad” problem, and Digimon didn’t really seem to have that issue to me. It felt like the creators were putting the story and characters first, and an ad second or third.

The early seasons of Digimon felt like a celebration of childhood and was something that could be enjoyable to kids of all ages and adults alike. I don’t at all get that feeling that I’m watching a baby show when I watch early Digimon. It presents things in simple terms that kids could understand without talking down to its audience. It’s great.

And then the later seasons happened and Digimon forgot what made it great and lost its soul…

Xros wars was where the ball really seemed to drop in my opinion. Sure it still had the epic Kaiju fights but… that’s about it. Gone were the intense character moments and interesting plots. All we had was the special little marry sue of a boy Taiki who could do nothing wrong besides not “TURNING HIS BACK ON SOMEONE uwu”. And there was no overcoming adversity like in the earlier seasons, Taiki would just epically throw his Xros loader into the air and scream away his problems with a “DIGi-XROS!” (Sorry Taiki fans I can’t conceal my venom for this man)

And the monsters were just disappointing too. Like they were clunky and just looked like… toys.

It felt like Digimon had lost what made it tick and started to more closely resemble what I didn’t like about AniPoke, a toy commercial with a sanitized feel.

This continued for the next couple of seasons, only really picking up again in Appmon, but while Appmon is good and had it’s moments (I love the story with Yujin. He and Haru are totally roommates, cousins even), it still doesn’t compare to the heart the first three to five seasons had, imo.

Tri felt like a soulless nostalgia cash grab. Last Kizuna was good, it gave me hope for the anime again just to crush it all away with The Beginning.

I won’t get started on Adventure 2020 or we’ll be here all day. Needless to say it spat in the face of the show it was paying homage to.

Ghost Game got my hopes up, but then the last episode just took a dump on the rest of the show. It was fun, Kiyoshiro and Jellymon specifically were the stars of the show and GulusGammamon was interesting… until he wasn’t. It was fun, had a lot of potential with its horror feel, and was the closest to classic Digimon the modern seasons had been in awhile… at first anyway. It really shat the bed. And my problem with it don’t really relate to it being episodic in nature or anything, that can be done well. The characters just didn’t feel consistent (Especially Ruli) and it didn’t deliver on any of the plot intrigue it tried to stir up.

BUT! Ghost Game at least had… a little bit of heart. It felt like the creators knew their Digimon lore and did a fantastic job incorporating it into the monster of the week. I could really feel the love there.

Also on a side note, I am not just the Digimon equivalent to Gen-Oner, hating on things that are new and fetishizing the old. In fact, before I rewatched all of the seasons around 2020, I didn’t really care for the Adventure or Tamers. But my opinions did a total flip watching everything as an adult.

So, for a quick collection of thoughts before we move on to Pokémon:

What I like in a Digimon season:

1. Good characters with arcs that tackle bigger issues in a way kids can still understand and relate to without feel like they’re being talked down to.

2. Cute moments between members of the cast and their creatures.

3. Fights that feel like they mean something and aren’t just there for cool flashy effects.

4. A feeling of love and care for the franchise that goes beyond just trying to sell me toys and games.

Things I don’t like:

-OP mcs that solve every problem with the gimmick of the given seasons

-Flat, inconsistent characters that don’t feel like they have any agency or reason for doing what they’re doing besides that fact that they do indeed have Digimon.

-Pointless fights that are just there for no other reason than just to show a cool fight

-“BUY ALL OUR GAMES AND TOYS AT YOUR LOCAL HOBBY SHOP”

Okay now Pokémon.

Just like with Digimon here’s a little background with my history with the Pokémon anime

I’ve watched the original Pokémon anime up to Diamond and Pearl as a kid and I watched some of SM and most of Journey’s as an adult, but I’ve never really been big on anipoke.

Like at best it just felt like a cute show I could turn my brain off for and just vibe.

At worst it felt like a hyper sanitized toy/game commercial (Not blaming it, that was the anime’s main purpose after all).

Out of curiosity, I watched the new series. As much as I liked Ash, I really felt like he overstayed his welcome and they should have gotten rid of him and moved on ages ago since it felt like by DP there was nothing interesting to do with the character. The Pokémon world is huge and intresting, there was so much they could have done but Ash kind of felt like he bogged it down and stunted the anime’s growth past a point.

So yeah,I got excited when they finally pulled the plug and focused on a new set of characters so I gave Horizons a watch.

And I love it! It’s got heart, characters with development, a little bit of plot, and it’s cute? Like I was dumbfounded by the fact that a Pokemon anime, that I previously wrote off as just being a glorified ad, could be so good???

And then after thinking about what I liked so much about it, that’s when the topic of this essay hit me: Horizons feels like it has everything I long for in a modern Digimon anime, almost as if they took a page out of classic Digimon’s book. Like I always heard throughout the years that “Digimon had the better anime Pokemon has the better games” But Horizons really turned that on its head.

Let’s revisit my criteria for what I liked about the classic Digimon seasons from the section above to show what I mean. (Light Spoilers for Horizons ahead, though I wont go into specifics)

1. Good characters with arcs that tackle bigger issues in a way kids can still understand and relate to without feel like they’re being talked down to.

Yep. Horizons has that. Like the early seasons of Digimon, Horizons doesn’t just use it’s human characters as a vehicle to show you all the monsters you could catch if you bought the next game from your local shop for the low low price of 60 USD, nope. There feels like theres care there.

While they aren’t fully developed yet, Liko and Dot especially show huge character growth in the first 50 episodes. They focus on their flaws and how the characters overcome them.

Liko is very indecisive at first. She’s socially awkward, she feels like shes just going with the flow, afraid to take that first step to find out what she really wants out of life. Then, she finally does, she makes the decision to follow Friede and the Rising Volttacklers to find her new horizons. It’s great. And she still has lots of growing she can do later both as a trainer and as a character. She’s fantastic for a lead.

I also like how they use Sprigatito’s evolution as stand in for Liko’s growth so far in the series. Early Digimon did that too with the Crests in Adventure and the Bio Merging in Tamers and I always really like monster partners evolving to reflect their human so much, it’s such a good narrative device!

Dot slowly being brought out of her shell by Liko and the others is just- chefs kiss. She goes from being a reclusive shut in to slowly taking interest in the things Liko and co are doing and develops meaningful relationships with them. Her care for her friends and want to be there for them makes her take the first step and is now traveling around Paldea with them! And they went about this in a very well paced way where she still isn’t just magically over all her awkwardness and shut in tendencies yet. She too still has so much room for interesting development later down the road.

The adult characters are interesting too, even though they haven’t really done much yet. They really perfected that found family group of misfits trope that I’m usually pretty sick of. I love them.

And Amethio and the other villains also feel like they’re more than just your cackling evil for evil sake type characters and I’m super excited to see what they do with them!

And as far as the tackling bigger issues point: Though its just conjecture and I might be over thinking things (Though others in the fandom have pointed this out too) there’s definitely the groundwork for it here.

Liko’s family is very hands off and distant. Liko goes away to boarding school at the start of the series, her parents work, and her grandma is a vagabond traveling the world and doesn’t often stay in one place for long.

Liko lacks solid connections and foundation in her life due to her family being so closed off emotionally, which would explains her going with the flow and being unsure of what she really wants to do. She’s lost with no guidance. And it’s not like her family doesn’t love each other, no. They just don’t want to express their feelings for fear of it bogging each other down. They want Liko to be free to do what her heart tells her, but they’re so worried about talking things out that they don’t realize how that freedom has hurt Liko and made her into an anxious mess. (They even kind of hint at this in the second opening)

But yeah, like others have said, I’m not sure if this is on purpose or if they were trying to write Liko’s family to be full of strong women and just kind of accidentally fell into making them all feel too independent and distant from one another. And it would be really cool for the show to go into Liko’s home life more… but I’m not sure it would be on brand for Pokemon to talk about something so heavy. But fingers crossed!

2. Cute moments between members of the cast and their creatures.

Yep! Horizons has got plenty of it. Right now all of the main cast has two Pokemon each and they’re really taking the time to show off each Pokemon and give them a lot of wholesome moments together and with their trainers.

The human character interactions are great too! I really like the blossoming friendship between Liko and Dot (They could be roommates guys!) and the growing rivalry between Friede and Amethio! It’s great!

3. Fights that feel like they mean something and aren’t just there for cool flashy effects.

The fights in Horizons are so cool and well choreographed, but they aren’t just there to look pretty, not at all!

A lot of the fights that take place in the first two arcs are learning experiences for Liko, Roy, and Dot. They learn new strategies, their Pokemon learn new moves, and in the arc that’s airing at the time of writing, they’re learning how to terrestialize too. The fights don’t seem to happen without purpose and always seem like they either teach the characters a lesson about proper ways to be a trainer and even sometimes help them grow as characters too.

And theres even a healthy amount of losses and wins under the character’s belts and they drive home the lesson of “You learn more from a defeat”. I like how heavily they relied on the more experienced Friede at the beginning and they got frustrated from their losses and used it as fuel to want to learn to stand on their own two feet.

The fights are great and don’t just feel like a kid mashing two toys together like some series with battle elements can.

4. A feeling of love and care for the franchise that goes beyond just trying to sell me toys and games.

This is a little harder to explain and is more like a feel than anything. But I can definitely feel an air of care in Horizons that I don’t really see from shows that feel like twenty-three minute ads. The characters and story don’t just feel like they’re trying to sell me something.

While they’re definitely leaning heavy on the Paldea setting right now, it doesn’t feel like a straight adaption of the games. They don’t really do the “creature of the day” or “character of the day” type episodes like I remember seeing in past iterations of Anipoke. Horizons doesn’t have those moments that I feel like the character is looking right at me and saying “Buy Buy Buy”

And, at least so far, there seems to be a love for Pokemon with the way the reference Pokédex entries like with Hatenna being sensitive to strong emotions or what not.

Like I said, this is really more of a personal criteria and some people can be more sensitive to this kind of thing than others. The closest thing I can compare it to is like when you’re eating a meal a loved one made for you versus something you got at a diner or fast food restaurant. You don’t know how to put your finger on it but you can just taste the love… it’s like that with Horizons to me.

So yeah!

If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening to me rant! I’ll try to wrap it up here.

Basically I just really like Horizons. It gives me that same feel as when I was rewatching the classic Digimon seasons a view years ago… And like the way Horizons fixed all of the problems I had with Anipoke as a kid and as an adult is awesome, it really feels like Pokemon Company is making an effort to listen to criticism and better the series… I just really hope the Digimon anime can do the same.

Oh and all of this is just my opinion, if I said something that you don’t agree with about Digimon or Pokémon, I meant no offense and I’m happy to hear your opinions too!

I just want to close this by saying…

Fans of early Digimon, go watch Pokemon Horizons! You wont regret it!

Fans of Horizons go watch (the sub) of the first three or so seasons of Digimon! If you like Horizons and didn’t really click with Ash era Anipoke I think you’ll really have a good time, it’s so good!

I think both series could use more love, so go out there and give them both a watch!

Okay I’ll shut up now, thanks for reading!

[hawkinsthe3rd]

This is a Digimon Fanfiction I had based off a dream where Giancarlo Esposito was the villain. Please enjoy.

“Uh, hey, boss? I have some troubling newzzzz” the boss lowers his head, peering over his rimless glasses and gesturing for the digimon to continue, “One of the Digidestined has escaped her Hexalink…”

“Oh, Fanbeemon, I thought you said it was troubling news!” Giancarlo stood up from his desk and shuffled some papers with a wave of his hand.

“Is… izzzzn’t it?” The rotund little bee waddled forward and peered up at his partner’s gentle face, “the guardzz are mobilized and incentivized with some Honey to bring her back…”

“That’s all well and good, but you see…” the boss knelt down and rubbed the head of his fuzzy friend, “I’m not concerned with any breakouts. I already know which pod failed, and she’s been in here so long I doubt she’ll be any kind of threat to our operations. After all, she’s not a Digidestined anymore. Now she’s just a scared adult in an unfamiliar world. Nothing to worry about.” The boss stands and adjusts the lapels of his striped suit, “Could you ask Chiefbeemon to investigate what went wrong with her pod? While an escapee isn’t a big deal, I’m more concerned with why. Why now? Why her? My system is flawless, Fanbeemon. It must remain so.”

“Yes, sir. Right away sir. Pleazze remember you wanted to quash that rebellion at 1700 today, sir.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. Run along now.” Giancarlo returned to his chair, sitting and letting the smile fade from his face as he turned to the array of screens behind him. Sixty screens of status information, tuned to show the recurring nightmares each former Digidestined faced as the Hexalink siphoned off their power to fuel the Hive. Failure would not be permitted.

——————————————————————

As the rebel forces created the hill, they were shocked to see that their opposition consisted of just a single pair. One human, one Digimon. Their leader, Leomon, stepped forward and spoke with a gravel in his voice that would make roads jealous,

“I appreciate you making this easy for us. Today is the end of your reign, King Bee. For too long you have-“ The stoic digimon is cut off by the sound of gentle laughter,

“Please, that nickname is very silly. Just call me Giancarlo.”

“Very well. Giancarlo, you have kept us under the boot of oppression for too long. Today we shall take you down and bring your Hive crashing to the ground.” From the scabbard at his waist, Leomon drew a sword in reverse grip.

“Admirable conviction, mister Leomon. But there’s one thing you’ve forgotten to take into consideration. I’m not meeting you out here as a form of surrender. No, I’m here to show you that there’s a reason I’m on top. The gulf between you and I is so vast, you cannot even fathom it. I’ve stopped the cycle of Digidestined. There are no heroes coming to save this world. The only one who can do this…is me.”

With a flick of his wrist, Giancarlo produces a black and yellow digivice. With the press of a button, the screen came to life with the text, announced by a disembodied voice.

WARP DIGIVOLUTION.

At his side, Fanbeemon began to glow, rising up in the air as his stubby legs grew, lengthening into armored greaves. His arms extended and grasped a spear and shield forming from the glow around him as his chest and wings matched his new size. Finally, his head became encased in light, revealing an intimidating helmet.

The armored figure stood in Fanbeemon’s place, towering over Giancarlo and the rebel army. In one hand, a spear handle black, giving way to a yellow crossguard with red spikes, a blade of pure light extending from the center. In the other, a small buckler of black metal glowed and projected a pattern of hexagons before it.

“Vespamon, reporting for duty. What are your orders, sir?”

“Annihilate these fools, Vespamon. You have until 1730.”

[genericnam]

I haven't made a character study in ages, so I think I'm gonna do that and more, by discussing every single villain from my favorite piece of Anime/TV show in general: Digimon Adventure (01)

This is going to be pretty long, so look under the cut.

Digimon Adventure is a flawed show with relatively choppy, repetitive animation, too short fight scenes, and a generally poor soundtrack inn the Dub (looking at you, Hey Digimon!), but I adore it for the characters and story. Digimon tells a tale of trauma, hope, the effects of loss and grief on children, and what it means to be brave, and the villains that push the plot forward and reflect all of this are some of my favorite villains and characters of all time. So I'm going to break them down now, in mostly chronological order (I'll be using Dub names and info since that what I grew up on and have always used, sorry if that offends you for some reason)

Villain number 1: Ogremon

Ogremon appears pretty early in the first arc as a recurring enemy and baddy. He serves as the rival and foil to the character of Leomon. Leomon gets hyped up by the main characters as the strongest active good guy on File Island, and if Ogremon is his equal, that makes Ogremon automatically intimidating.

However, Ogremon is dumb. He's easy to trick, and not too strategic, but he is full of willpower and fighting spirit, allowing him to tail the Digidestined across the entire island pretty ceaselessly. But that isn't for no reason, as Ogremon begins to work for someone pretty quick into his introduction... Devimon.

What makes Devimon intimidating is his sheer presence, the respect he demands. The entire arc up until his introduction, every foe they battled (other than Ogremon), had been animalistic, or a good person at heart. Devimon himself is pure evil, he has no redeeming qualities, no light in his soul or kindness in his heart.

Devimon uses his Black Gears and Hand of Evil to brainwash and torture countless digimon across File Island, and his gears are so spread through the island that he can control the very land itself.

Unlike Ogremon, who is gullible and somewhat cowardly, Devimon is a cunning monster. Devimon tricks and manipulates the Digitdestined, brainwashes Leomon twice, and easily beats all of their Digimon when they finally fight him.

The only reason Devimon lost is because of the way Angemon fights. As revealed in 02, the Hand of Fate's power increases the more evil your opponent is, and Devimon is just so pure evil that it was a oneshot.

While Ogremon was there as a brute force enemy, Devimon is the first of many insurmountable terrors that really shows the Digidestined how small they really are in the grand scheme of things...

Moving on to one of my favorite characters of all time, and the second arc villain: Etemon!

Etemon is goofy, that much is never hidden. He's a monkey that does an Elvis impression and rides around in a trailer performing music for his bumbling minions, but Etemon serves as a lesson that not every dangerous foe is so obviously dangerous. Etemon has a monopoly of the Desert of Server thanks to his Dark Network.

The Digital World uses a lot of crossovers from the real internet, and the Dark Network seems to be an embodiment of THE Dark Web. And Etemon controls it. The Dark Network allows Etemon to see just about anywhere and to take away the power that the Digidestined rely upon to survive: their digivolution.

Etemon is seemingly average on his own, but his true power comes in his coordination. Etemon's army is spread out, but it is powerful, and he can arrive just about anywhere with great speed thanks to how he sees everything there is to see. Piximon's hidden forest is the only place Etemon doesn't really have eyes.

Etemon serves as the mirror foil to Tai. While Tai is the Digidestined of Courage, Etemon represents hubris and arrogance. This leads Etemon to push a lot of Tai's character arc into place.

Now, once the Digidestined infiltrate Etemon's pyramid and get tricked by Datamon, Etemon shows up, and all seems lost. Datamon was the only digimon who was even close to Etemon's level, and he goes down pretty quick, but it's what Datamon does that really gives Etemon all of his best clout. Datamon fills the Dark Network with viruses that will make it destroy and consume everything they touch, before dropping himself and Etemon into it.

This seems to beat him, but NO. Etemon is too AMAZING to go out like a chump (or at least, that's what he thinks). Etemon bends the Dark Network to his will and instead fuses with it, becoming Etemon Chaos Mode

When Etemon is finally defeated, his sheer power rips a whole in reality that sends Tai and Agumon back to Earth, leading to the whole reason DemiDevimon is able to sew chaos amongst the others. But at least Etemon's gone for good, right?

Anyways, Etemon looks and acts goofy, but that's because he's strong enough that he has nothing to fear in the slightest!

Next up is DemiDevimon!

DemiDevimon isn't strong, or intimidating in the slightest. In fact, he's rather bumbling, but what DemiDevimon is good at is making other people better. Out of all the characters in the Digidestined, DemiDevimon is a major player in the arcs of Sora, T.K., Izzy, and to a lesser extent, Mimi and Matt. DemiDevimon doesn't have a whole lot going for himself, but he excells at making others look good, such as his boss...

Say hello to Myotismon...

Myotismon is THE strongest Digimon in the world at the time of his introdction. Other characters eventually become stronger, but before Megas get involved, no one was better than Myotismon. He was part of the exclusive club of characters who got TWO signature moves, which include his Crimson Lightning and Grizzly Wing.

Myotismon is unique from other villains in just how well put together his plan and army is. Devimon had Ogremon and mind control, and Etemon has a good group of lackeys, Myotismon has a veritable army with enough firepower to conquer the entire city and kidnap 99.9% of its inhabitants within days.

What makes him even more fearsome is his personal feats. Myotismon is the character who really steps up the tone, killing several of his own minions on screen when they begin to turn on him or fail. But perhaps his greatest feat is that he got Gatomon to work for him.

Gatomon is a Digidestined Digimon, and the embodiement of LIGHT itself. Throughout the series, Light has regularly been shown to be the second strongest of all the elements, only behind Hope. Myotismon was powerful enough, EVIL enough that he sucessfully tortured the embodiement of all Light into being his right hand woman.

And when every member of the Digidestined team up to beat him, Myotismon reveals that he's done all of this in a weaker host, and he reveals his TRUE form: Venommyotismon.

Venommyotismon is a Kaiju, and the first Mega level digimon in the series. He can very reasonably be argued to be the 3rd or 4th strongest Digimon in the entire show, depending on how you think he'd do against characters like MagnaAngemon and Piedmon. To beat him, the Digidestined had to activate the prophecy in order to unlock their own Megas, and it took a 2 on 1 for Venommyotismon to finally go down. This undead vampire king really just was That Guy.

And yet, he's not the strongest villain in the series...

Moving on, we have the Dark Masters!

The Dark Masters consist of four Digimon:

MetalSeadramon

Puppetmon

Machinedramon

and their leader, Piedmon.

The Dark Masters took over the entire digital world while the Digidestined were off fighting Myotismon, and they tore reality to pieces, reshaping the entire world into Spiral Mountain, a giant mountain of four zones, each ruled by one Dark Master, with their castle sitting on the peak.

The Dark Masters are the first digimon to use the power of teamwork in battle, and it really shows. They mop the floor with the Digidestined, and if not for Piximon's sacrifice, that would have been the end of the series. The Dark Masters arc is brutal, and with every member the heroes beat, it costs the lives of more and more of their friends. Sukamon, ShogunGekomon, Chuumon, Piximon, Whamon, the Numemon, they and many others were all victims of the Dark Masters.

The digidestined are only capable of beating individual members one at a time. MetalSeadramon gets beat, then Puppetmon, and then Machinedramon, until only Piedmon remains.

And yet, Piedmon still wins. He defeats every single Digimon the heroes have, including their Megas. And he turns them into keychains that he wears on his belt.

What finally puts down Piedmon is the power of the strongest crest unlocking its true potential. Hope. The embodiement of Hope itself, MagnaAngemon appears, and sends Piedmon through the Gate of Destiny, a portal to oblivion itself. NOTHING goes through that gate and survives. That is the only way that he could be defeated.

And yet, he is still not the strongest...

But we'll get to the final villain later, first... IT'S ETEMON'S COMEBACK TOUR, BABY!

Oh, you thought he was gone!? NO! During the mini-arc where the Digidestined are battling Puppetmon, it is revealed that within the afterlife, Etemon has been putting himself back together molecule by molecule. Etemon is so willful, and so confidant, that he reversed his own death.

Etemon fuses with his Dark Network fully, becoming MetalEtemon, a being capable of rivaling Puppetmon in power. MetalEtemon doesn't stay alive for too long, but in his short few episodes, he kills SaberLeomon with relative ease and sends Ogremon into his entire character arc. Etemon decided that dying twice still wasn't good enough, and he cheated death for the sole petty purpose of traumatizing his enemies more.

But now, let's get to the final boss...

This is Apocalymon. Apocalymon is the anit-thesis to EVERYTHING the digidestined are. While the heroes represent Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Reliability, Sincerity, Light and Hope; Apocalymon is Fear, Paranoia, Hate, Misinformation, Betrayal, Lies, Darkness and Apathy incarnate. He is made of the souls of every Digimon who died in the process of Digivolution, which means he is made of everything that the Digidestined relied upon to win.

Apocalymon created the big bads of every single arc on his own. Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon, the Dark Masters, they are all his creations. He is the ultimate darkness, so hateful and full of so much pure misery that he can do nothing except wish for the end of all life.

And he wins. Not in the Piedmon way where he beats almost everyone, no. Apocalymon KILLS every one of the digidestined and their digimon. He rends them apart, splits their molecules and data into nothing.

The only reason he didn't win right then and there is because of MetalEtemon. MetalEtemon's creation was foreshadowing, a sign that with enough willpower, you can cheat death. And that's just what the Digidestined do. With the power of friendship, they put themselves back together and reform their bodies, starting the fight against Apocalymon anew.

But they still don't beat him.

They can only fight Apocalymon to a draw, and he will not let that stand. Apocalymon unleashes his true ultimate ability: his self destruct sequence. Apocalymon possesses enough power that when he self destructs, the explosion will destroy TWO DIMENSIONS in the process, both Earth and the Digital World. If not for the Digivices containing the explosion, he would have gotten the last laugh.

Digimon Adventure is unique in that, out of every Digimon in the series, the VILLAIN is the strongest. Even MagnaAngemon in second place is nowhere even close to Apocalymon's level.

Apocalymon is the death of hope, the end of light, he is everything that has suffered brought to life, and he could only be defeated when he allowed himself to die.

Every villain represented something. Ogremon was the first showing of a threat that cannot be reasoned with. Devimon is the first brush with the harsh reality of the real world. Etemon shows that overconfidence will kill you. DemiDevimon shows that even people who seem like no threat can still sew the seeds of your downfall. Myotismon is the all too real chance that no matter what you do, some people will always seem to be stronger. The Dark Masters are a corruption of what can be achieved by working together. And Apocalymon? Apocalymon is the END. No matter how strong you are or how hard you work, there are foes who you cannot beat, and that you can only hope to cause their downfall. Apocalymon is the hopelessness that has condemed billions of souls, the misery and rage that will kill billions more. Apocalymon is nothing but the embodiement of everything that has ever caused sorrow... And that is something that cannot be beaten.

[otakween]

Digimon Tamers - Episode 23

Shit's going down! This was like the reverse hype of that episode in Adventure where Taichi ends up back in the real world. Very excited to see the Tamers version of the digital world. This episode had a pretty high "oh snap" quotient. Even though we haven't seen all of the devas yet I guess we're kinda headed into the next arc? We'll see.

The police called Takato's parents "Matsuda Bakery-san" during the evacuation scene which I found very cute lol

Everyone's pretty damn casual about a giant boar destroying their city. Just another day in Tokyo I suppose.

I did not realize until this episode that digivices in the Tamers world are called "arcs" apparently? Not as catchy, but more epic/adult sounding I guess. Based on my knowledge of what an "arc" is I don't really see the connection.

Taomon has an attack that involves the (Sanskrit?) character for "Om." I really didn't expect so much Hinduism to show up in this show!

What the heck was up with that giant fiery egg MegaloGrowmon was stuck under for a good chunk of the episode? I guess it came out of the boar digimon but...that's a pretty strange attack for a boar. Maybe it's another Hindu reference going over my head lol

Culumon was so pitiful in this episode, shaking and cowering, poor baby :-(

The enemy digimon calls humans a "threat to their world." But...how are they a threat? We've only seen humans attacking digimon in the real world not the digital one. Maybe the motives will be explained later cuz I'm just scratching my head.

Weird kid was the monkey deva all along! I knew he was probably going to be a digimon but my mind didn't go to deva tbh. They gave him a pretty "Journey to the West" vibe.

I hope that one HYPNOS lady get workers comp after that fall lol. Her poor back...

Suddenly everyone just starts screamin'. Kinda felt like Takato was gonna do one of those Maori haka dances.

I sorta wish Guilmon's voice would get deeper as he evolves because his high pitched voice sounds really strange coming out of MegaloGrowmon...

Nightmare fuel moment:

Juri earns her "arc" and uses it to save Leomon. It's only a matter of time before the other two kids get theirs I'm guessing. (Are they coming to the digital world too?)

Small background detail but I liked it when Taomon did her ninja hand jive thingy and disappeared in a puff of smoke. You can tell they had fun animating her.

Kinda a strange ending. Takato's like "let's go to the digital world!" there's an awkward pause and then it just shows the whole gang running off into the sunset (even characters that weren't there a second ago). It felt so out of place that I thought it was a new ending theme!

[emeraldtart]

TWST X Digimon

So, in mobile Digimon games (Linkz, ReArise), you can trade special currency for Digieggs or use special tickets for certain gachas. I'd like to imagine that Yuu get some digital tickets for special gacha pulls. This one is special, though.

Because the Digimon pulled is based off one's personality, essentially became their Partner Digimon. Although, since Yuu already has Impmon as their partner they don't really want to use it.

That doesn't stop the others from using it. Either out of curiosity or by accident.

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts

• He was in Ramshackle since Yuu want some help for their homework. He then saw their phone laying on the floor. When he goes to pick it up he accidentally pushed the button.

• And that was how he come face to face with an anthropomorphic rabbit.

• Symbare Angoramon is a polite one. He follows rules, but is not afraid or break it when necessary.

• One such occasion is when he verbally berates Ms Rosehearts (from across the phone) for her treatment towards Riddle.

• Riddle appreciates it but also, "Symba. Symbare- Oh Great Sevens put that knife down-"

Ace Trappola

• Thought it was a game on Yuu's phone. Pressed it without a second thought.

• Lo and behold he now has a White Pawn Chessmon that will fight for his new 'king'.

• He's small but has a lot of fight in him. He tries his best in everything but always thinks that it's not enough.

• Gets a confidence boost thanks to Ace.

•Sees Deuce as his friend... Until he, too, summoned a Digimon.

Deuce Spade

• Happened literally a day after Ace summoned White.

• Nobody knows if it's some sort of cosmic joke made by the Great Seven or the Digital Gods, but Deuce now has Black Pawn Chessmon as his partner.

• Black is like Deuce. Quiet and reserved but is fiercely loyal.

• Black and White does not get along, being enemies on both board and out of board. Whatever that means.

• Thankfully, Trey got an idea and said to the two pawns that their 'kings' are friend. And you won't attack a friend of their king, right?

• They now get along with each other and sometimes spar. Even though it looks like they're just clumsily swinging their weapons at eachother.

Trey Clover

• Trey doesn't even know what happened. He picks up the Prefect's phone and now he's ended up with... A sentient shortcake?

• Shortmon doesn't know where they are. All they know is that this young man in front of them is their partner.

• Unsurprisingly, Shortmon is great help in the kitchen. Due to their cute appearance, they are pretty popular, even though they don't realize it.

• Trey feel hesitant to eat a shortcake now because... Does it counts as cannibalism for Shortmon?

• It doesn't, thankfully.

Cater Diamonds

• Puts his hand on the phone while he's sitting on Ramshackle's bed.

• He now has a hungry Armadimon following him around.

• Cater and Armadimon clicks the moment they sees eachother. Cater liking Armadimon due to his sheer roundness and photogenic appearance, and Armadimon because of Cater's excited energy.

• Armadimon enjoys rolling around with the hedgehogs, much to Riddle's amusement.

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar

• Also on accident. He was looking for a place to sleep, sees Ramshackle empty and laid on the bed without a second thought.

• When he wakes up, he came face to face with a Saber Leomon.

• Freaks out, realize that the giant lion means no harm, then continue to fall back asleep.

• It took Yuu a while to get Saber Leomon out from the dorm.

Ruggie Bucchi

• Was curious about the gacha and thought that it was the one for the food.

• Congrats, he is now the proud Tamer of a Fangmon.

• Saying that Fangmon is sneaky is an understatement. He is a downright menace. Ruggie turns his head to yell at Leona and when he turns back Fangmon already nabbed about five to seven wallets from other students.

• He helps Ruggie with his chores sometimes.

Jack Howl

• His fingers accidentally tapped on the screen when he was putting the phone on a safer place.

• Wolfmon/Lobomon is a loyal Digimon with his heart on the path of justice.

• Getting along was hard since they're both lone wolves. But obviously, they kinda get along somehow.

• Wolfmon likes a good run, and Jack starts with that. Being a Digimon, Wolfmon is one of the few that can keep up with Jack's stamina.

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto

• He accidentally puts his finger on the phone, unaware of what was on screen.

• Now he's in the middle of bargaining with a Phelesmon for his soul.

• Thankfully they get into an agreement. Azul let's Phelesmon eats whatever he wants in Mostro Lounge, free of charge. In exchange, Phelesmon helps Azul with his contracts and keeping Mostro Lounge tidy.

• Phelesmon also introduces the rest of the Digimons to human disguises.

Jade Leech

• Was also going to give Yuu's phone back but ended up summoning a Digimon.

• Ends up with Captain Hookmon.

• They're both gentlemen and polite, but Captain is obviously againsts threat.

• When he's the one threatening people however, Jade have to reel him back.

• He was going to shoot someone with his revolver leg.

Floyd Leech

• Was curious about Shrimpy's phone.

• Ends up summoning an Octmon, and by extent, Fujitsumons.

• Floyd simply adores Octmon. He's fun to squeeze, and reminds him of Azul.

• Unfortunately, Floyd's partner doesn't get along with Jade's. Octmon keeps stealing Captain's hat, and it always ends up with the two having a verbal fight.

• Phelesmon is in task of keeping the two separated. Because whenever their fights went out of hand it turns into a sword AND gun fight.

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim

• Was going to give Yuu their phone because they had left it behind in Scarabia after a study and party night.

• Doesn't realize what his fingers are touching and ends up with a Löwemon.

• Löwemon is rather reserved and shy. He hid in the shadows until either Kalim or Jamil calls him out.

• He enjoys teaching Kalim in his studies however, and his methods are very effective.

Jamil Viper

• The Prefect left their phone in the kitchen? Boom. He ends up with a Duskmon.

• Duskmon is a very rebellious Digimon. He doesn't listen to orders from anyone. Except, maybe Löwemon sometimes.

• Jamil is frustrated because his Unique Magic, doesn't work on Duskmon.

• Snake Whisper requires Jamil to look into the target's eyes, however the eyes on Duskmon's eyes are real. It bugs Jamil out when he learns about that.

• Although, Jamil sometimes find thatnthe vegetables are neatly chopped and the food all seasoned to perfection.

• Within the shadows, Jamil swore can hear a huff of pride.

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit

• The potato left their phone laying on the couch. Seriously, that child really need to learn to care for their own personal items.

• He ends up with Splashmon.

• The two gets along instantly, as they are both individuals in pursuit of beauty.

• Although, Vil is somewhat bothered by Splashmon's clothes. So, one day when he tries to unzip Splashmon without his consent, the Digimon unexpectedly lashes out. He would have killed or brutally harm him if Vil didn't get down in time.

• They apologized later on, and Vil learns that Splashmon hates his true form. Vil doesn't know how but he became an emotional support human.

• Splashmon is a menace that transforms into other people for fun. His favorite is transforming into Leona and going to class.

Rook Hunt

• Curious about the Digimon summoning and ends up tapping the phone when Yuu left it behind.

• Fitting for a hunter, Rook ends up with Dobermon.

• Dobermon enjoys hunting his prey, so now Savanaclaw has to board up every window they have.

• Splashmon doesn't like dogs, and Dobermon is scared of Splashmon for unknown reasons so they both steered away from each other's way.

Epel Felmier

• Is curious to see what he'll get, so with Yuu's permission he summoned a Digimon.

• Was a bit upset he ends up with Meicoomon. Colour him surprised when he heard how deep Meicoomon's voice is.

• Was shocked to learn that this small cat is actually an Adult level.

• This Maine coon Digimon is obsessed with Epel's family's apple juice. Epel is smiling proudly at his new friend's taste.

• Splashmon occasionally grooms Meicoomon. Although, he does get in some weird looks when he's doing it in his human form.

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud

• The Prefect came to him to find some spare parts for their computer. Ends up taking their phone by accident.

• Because he now has an Aegiochusmon in his room. And just his luck it was the Dark variant.

• Aegiochusmon doesn't seem to mind Idia. Even though he looks creepy he's actually a pretty sweet guy. If you look past the three scythes and the grinning half mask.

• When that is settled, Idia introduces Aegiochusmon to games. He can't really hold a controller properly so they settled on board games.

• Azul and Phelesmon are both frustrated. How in the deep sea and the pits of hell did this guy managed to roll a perfect number everytime!? It's always a high number, and he never get into jail (if said board game have a jail system).

• Aegiochusmon is worried about his little brother that he left behind, though.

Ortho Shroud

• Was curious about Digimons in general. So he uses Yuu's phone to search for Digimons, with their permission, of course.

• He came across the special gacha where the Digimons are summoned from. Just when he was scrolling through the list of Digimons that can be summoned through it, he misclicked and ends up summoning a Digimon.

• You can imagine Aegiochusmon's joy when he is reunited with Aegiomon.

• The little satyr Digimon is full of joy, he even offers to teach Ortho how to play his pan flute and make one himself. Although, he sometimes put people to sleep when he plays it.

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia

• Was going to give the phone back to Yuu but ends up summoning a Digimon.

• Vamdemon reminds him of Lilia a lot.

• Vamdemon meanwhile, is curious about Malleus. That is clearly no human being. But he didn't mind. Malleus is still his partner.

• Malleus is happy that he has a new friend. Vamdemon always brings Malleus to any Dorm Leader meetings after finding out he was never invited.

• History and gargoyles nerds. Vamdemon is tempted to sign under a false name just to join Malleus' Gargoyles Appreciation Club.

• The bat familiars are spoiled rotten by Lilia.

Lilia Vanrouge

• Is curious about Yuu's phone that has the ability to summon Digimon.

• Which is how he ends up with Matadrmon.

• Vamdemon and Matadrmon seems to know each other, which is quite surprising.

• Lilia's partner also took on the mantel of being the chef to the rest of Diasomnia's dorm.

• He is a blessing from god because now nobody has to suffer the hellish abomination that Lilia calls food.

• Although, Silver does finds some black bottles filled with something red and smells metallic inside the fridge.

• Both Vamdemon and Matadrmon grabs those bottles and said that he doesn't need to know.

• Silver can and will live the rest of his life not knowing what's in that. And most importantly where they get the contents inside from.

Silver

• Accidentally sat on Yuu's phone, and when he stand up in surprise he saw a pink creature that looks like a combination of a sheep and a pillow.

• Pillomon doesn't do much. He just sleeps wherever and whenever.

• Silver gets strange dreams whenever he sleeps now.

Sebek Zigvolt

• Was borrowing the Prefect's phone to call Lilia because Malleus is gone. Again.

• It's on Yuu this time though because they forgot to close the page that has the gacha.

• Now Sebek has a Runnermon as a partner.

• He's bold, he's brave, and most importantly, he is fast.

• Sebek doesn't know what to do with Runnermon, honestly. So he just treats it like how Yuu treats Grim. A friend and occasionally a dog that can talk.

• Runnermon loves belly rubs, and the little static of electricity kinda relaxes Sebek too.

[sylvanedadeer]

If I remember correctly, you have mentioned that you are a big fan of literary tropes. Can you tell us what are some of your favorite tropes, least favorite tropes and what tropes you'd like to see more?

This one might be fairly long:

Anyone who knows me fairly well knows I'm literate largely because of comics. It's what my dad had around, so naturally, I'm a bit superhero/fantasy/fiction brained, but my dad is also a latin teacher, so I've been reading Homer, Livy, Herodotus, and Plato for probably longer than I should be. So, genre-wise, I tend to stick to writing/consuming fiction, usually fairly grounded in reality, with superhero stuff tending towards the top of the list.

Some of my favourite literary tropes are "The Self-Chosen One", "The Power of Friendship," and "The Sacrificial Lion".

"Self-Chosen Ones" are kinda self-explanatory, but have some chunky nuance to them. The archetypical "self-chosen one" is Sir Gawain, who chooses to take a challenge that would've otherwise fallen to his king, which ends up roping him... into a bisexual throuple? His isn't as chunky as like, Luz Noceda, who chose to take responsibility for her mistakes and for the people she empowered, or Moana, who rejects her destiny on the basis of destiny and chooses herself to prove TO herself that she can.

Marco, from Adastra, is an interesting instance of this, because the specifics of his "being chosen" were structured in such a way that he super WASN'T necessary. With Luz and Moana, there was... a remarkable lack of people hanging around to solve the plot, so by the Rules Of Stories, they kinda had to take things upon themselves, because otherwise... there's no story. Of course, Marco also had to go forward because PLOT, but 1. Not without grappling with the decision 2. At the detriment to his own health (his near-decapitation) and 3. They clearly outline why he made the choice he did, and also kinda... leave it tenuous on purpose. Very good way of using the trope for a tragedy.

"The Power of Friendship" is less of a trope and more just a reflection of the truth, that humans work well on their own, but will always work better, be happier, and thrive best with other people around them, helping and supporting them. The more direct invocations of this, like in MLP or Yugioh are kinda one of those guilty pleasures, even though I'd argue against the guilty part.

But less overt instances of it, like in Castlevania, when Alucard goes Fucking Nuts because Trevor and Sypha leave. The Avatar Gang and their whole "do you ever wonder if friendships can transcend lifetimes?". There are several instances of "you hurt my friend, time to die" in Invincible that honestly do a lot to keep me going despite the horrific nature of some of the fight scenes.

The most notable one that really got me was the "Loner realizes he has friends and allies" arc in TOTK, because I've clocked. About as many hours on BOTW as I have breathing, and it really does FEEL LONELY AND EMPTY, and that never FELT that way until TOTK came along and my nephew (Tulin) gave me the whole "We're stronger together" bit. I cried.

"Sacrificial Lions" are a little less obvious as to what they are, but the general gist is "a character who exists in the narrative as a heroic bastion of hope, who will be killed or die to further the narrative". Rose Quartz, Pyrrha Nikos, and most versions of Leomon I know about fit this category, as well as, like. Jesus lol.

I've... always liked heroic sacrifices it seems like the best way to really end a heroic character's life, and while I've reexamined that SPECIFIC point, I'm still a lover of the idea. Altruism is a very worthy thing, but I also like how these characters can haunt the narrative, almost always, to the point of making the cast Really Change. Rose is, of course, the inciting incident to an entire show, as her death lines up all of the pins that Steven has to kick over now.

Idk, I'm a fan. I also love it when narrative foils kiss.

[star-vessel1237]

Digimon Partners for the TWST Cast | Pt. Savanaclaw

( Summary: Basically how they met and more. )

(Warning: This is a LONG post.)

Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle, Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, Diasomnia

(A/N: Sorry if any of these characters seem out of character.)

(Löwemon)

Pronouns: He/Him

They met a few days after Chapter 2

What happened was that Baal!Yuu and Grim were helping the Savanaclaw students clean up the Magift arena from Leona’s overblot

Suddenly a Duskmon appeared and suddenly attacked in blind fury

In the end, it took the combined efforts of Baal!Yuu and the Savnaclaw trio in order to subdue Duskmon

When he was defeated, Duskmon reverted back to Lowemon and was taken into the dorm to help recover

When he came to and heard what happened, he immediately apologized for his actions and explained what happened

Before he came to Twisted Wonderland, Löwemon got into an argument with his brother about whether it was okay for digimon to keep going to the real world as more reports of digimon troubling humans and disappearances kept piling up

Löwemon got so furious at his brother, Lobomon, that he left to calm down in the human world

But something went wrong and he found himself in a dark decrepit world he could barely see through

After which he was infected by a virus that played on his inner rage and jealousy, warping him into Duskmon and unleashing him on Twisted Wonderland

Baal!Yuu theorized this could've been residue of Leona's blot, but they have no further evidence

Löwemon, for a time, decided to stay at Ramshackle before moving to Savanaclaw

Why? He wanted to mostly help Ruggie as he felt bad for him doing most of the work

It was also to get Leona to stop wasting his potential, reminding Löwemon a bit of how he was in the past and still is presently

All in all, Leona's personality did clash with the more diligent and responsible Löwemon, but they ended up forming an odd partnership based on shared experiences

Plus, they do have some qualities shared between them (They’re both terrible at looking after kids)

Evolution Line

Liollmon > Löwemon > Kaiser Leomon > Raihimon

(Fangmon)

Pronouns: They/Them

Ruggie met Fangmon two weeks before the event of Chapter 2

At first, Ruggie thought that it was just some stray cat, and took pity by leaving some of his lunch

But he quickly caught on that something, or someone, was tricking him

So he set some bait in the botanical garden and when he saw Fangmon he used “Laugh With Me” to trap them in their place

Ruggie was kinda impressed, if not a little ticked, that they managed to trick him for this long

Fangmon had been stuck in Twisted Wonderland for a week and wanted more food than just scraps, but couldn’t due to the number of students watching

When Ruggie gave them some of his lunch the first time, that wasn’t Fangmon tricking them, they thought they could just kept up the act until they got home

Ruggie didn’t know exactly what to do here, on one hand the wolf digimon was tricking him for nearly a week, but on the other hand he kinda relates to the digimon

So, Ruggie made a deal with Fangmon that if they helped Ruggie with anything he needs then he can split his food with him 50/50

After which, Fangmon followed around Ruggie whenever he needed help or just because they could

They’re pretty independent, often only coming to Ruggie for food or to help him out with anything he needs

Fangmon also likes bringing any spare change they “found” to Ruggie, never telling where they got from though

Ruggie is a little suspicious on where his digimon “finds” the money, but they’re good company and a greater partner in crime

Evolution Line

Gazimon > Fangmon > Weregarurumon (Black) > Metal Garurumon (Black)

(Strabimon)

Pronouns: He/Him

Jack met Strabimon a few days after Löwemon moved into the dorm (Also during Riddle’s Labwear vignette)

Jack was staying late for track and field and just as he was going back to the dorm he smelled something off

Following the scent, Jack found an badly injured Strabimon

Thinking on instinct, Jack took the digimon and rushed to the infirmary to try and help him

When Strabimon came to he was weary of Jack, but he let his guard down after he saw other digimon in the infirmary

Strabimon felt a bit comfortable around Jack, but preferred being around other digimon so he stayed in Ramshackle for the first few days

Strabimon had lived a mostly secluded life and never interacted with humans before, therefore was nervous around them

Before he arrived in Twisted Wonderland, he got into a fight with some territorial digimon and passed out in a cave 

The two wolves got along slower than the other first years with their digimon, but they eventually were able to bound and form a partnership

Strabimon tends to stay close to those he trusts, mostly Jack or other digimon, but will wander off on his own if it’s to help someone he cares for

He also likes cacti, like Jack, but it comes from more of a sense of curiosity as he never seen plants like them before

He often helps Jack with his cacti if he gets too busy

Evolution Line

Strabimon > Garumon > Beowolfmon > Magna Garurumon

That’s all for now, hope you enjoyed!

[himbosuplex]

idk if anyone is interested in hearing about my digimon AU boys but

but if anything this serves to sort of hammer down some details about them since I'm going through the process of drawing all their main designs.

I originally came up with them when I was playing through the Cyber Sleuth games many years ago, and kind of connecting in my head different ideas from different medias approaches to Digimon and the Digital World.

The general premise is that in the Digital World, there is an entire subcommunity of Digimon that are - for all intents and purposes - professional fighters. They compete in different ranks of the Digital Colosseum, but unlike other tournaments, this is entirely organized by Digimon, for Digimon, with no humans involved. No human trains a competitor, there are no tamers, no Digidestined, it is part of the greater society of Digimon that just exist on their own without human intervention.

The focus is on four specific members of a faction (Taiji-gun/ 太極軍) that is managed and run by Dido, a Lilithmon. Most of the fighters in the faction are essentially rescues as opposed to scouted - some were abandoned, rescued from black market sellers, or other generally abusive situations. Eventually the plot branches out from the initial "tournament arc" to involve excursion into the human world as well as a looming threat that is corrupting Digimon's code.

The main stable

Cygnus

(Zurumon - Pagumon -PicoDevimon - Devimon - LucentVamdemon* ) *OC Alternate Form of Vamdemon from being converted to a "benign virus" during evolution.

Cygnus was hatched as a DigiEgg by a Tamer who was disappointed to have a Virus. He was tolerated as a baby, but upon evolving to Pagumon, his Tamer actively disliked him. His mischief, while generally less malicious than wild Pagumon, caused enough issues that shortly after evolving to PicoDevimon he was abandoned by his Tamer and their link severed. Dido found him while the athletes she managed were out on a wilderness training trip and she took him in before he could become cold-hearted and dangerous. He has trust issues and struggles to work with new team-mates and has a rather aggressive rivalry with Clione. He initially evolved to Devimon while in a "Friendly Fire" match against Clione, netting him the win but injuring Clione badly. His resulting guilt softened his attitude towards his teammate and their rivalry became much friendlier. He's missing a horn that was snapped off by a Devidramon. He and Clione are rarely apart from each other.

Clione

(Poyomon - Tokomon - Patamon - Angemon - HolyAngemon)

Unlike Cygnus, Clione has never had a Tamer - he was being sold in the black market Digimon trade to Tamers who wanted Digimon for illicit uses such as illegal hacking, "bait" monsters for Digimon training, or code disassembly. He was weak and shy early on and went unsold for so long he was marked for deletion, avoiding it narrowly when he was finally rescued. It took him quite awhile to break out of his shell, and not until the addition of a wild child PicoDevimon to the faction did he start developing a competitive drive. Clione has never felt as negative towards Cygnus as Cygnus did towards him early on, beyond annoyance at the other Digimon's aggressive need to compete with him. Even after being injured by Cygnus accidentally in a junior tournament, he still regards him with affection and finally evolves to Angemon when intervening to protect him from an attacking Devidramon. Unlike his peers, he doesn't stay in his Perfect or higher forms because it tires him out due to, as an Angemon, having a dramatically stronger natural power than most Digimon.

Regulus

(Punimon - Tsunomon - Elecmon - Leomon - BlackLeomon* - BanchoLeomon) *Regulus briefly is forced into an evolution to MadLeomon by corrupted data, going berserk for a time until he's neutralized into a variant of his original form.

Regulus, along with team-mate Bootes, was originally a bait monster for training up Digimon for the Digimon equivalent of dogfighting. Tamers and Hackers participating would often buy black market Digimon to use as living punching bags for their competing Digimon. Regulus was rescued when he was an Elecmon and due to his experiences has always been very stoic and humorless. He's the odd man out in the group of four due to his inability to build relationships, and it's not until he realizes how strongly Bootes feels about him that he starts to open up. His secret weakness is back scratches, which will get him to purr - something that he finds very embarrassing.

Bootes

(Pitchmon - Pukamon - Betamon - Ogremon - Etemon - MetalEtemon)

Bootes was a bait monster in the same fighting ring as Regulus and was rescued along with him. Habitually terrified as a baby, he began to develop a loud, obnoxious personality once he was rescued. He deeply admires and respects Regulus, who he views as both the perfect athlete and perfect opponent and wishes to be like him. When he makes a sudden change from aquatic Digimon to an Ogremon, Dido surmises it's due to his desire to be like and fight Regulus, and unintentionally embodies the natural rivalry that Ogremons and Leomons have towards each other. Even as an Ogremon (and later Etemon), Bootes loves water and swimming. Despite being a Virus type, he's incredibly friendly and loves his teammates, though none as much as he loves Regulus.

Perhaps once I'm done with the design documents of these guys I'll post more about other Digimon in their orbit.

[kichimiangra]

You know what makes me mad? Proximamon. He's a super special Digimon who doesn't exist, and his existence is only a theoretical possibility born from super calculations.

The three Digimon you need to make him are Arcturusmon, Siriusmon, and their buddy from the library, Ryudamon. The super calculator who would have come up with the possibility was Quantomon, and we never even got a single mention! Not even some ominous foreshadowing where Gulus gloated about obtaining ultimate power, or someone foretold of endings and beginnings (Proximamon's entire shtick is that it repeatedly destroys and then recreates the world, which are its actual two attacks that it is constantly using. I think it does this until it creates an idealized world that it wants and unfuses back to its component Digimon)

Not even a mention. I am so disappointed.

I have to agree! Proximamon is one of the things that have me holding out that the world of Ghost Game isn't over and that we are going to get a movie or a short second season that finishes up because there is too much leftover loose ends left untied up. Like, lesser ones are things like

-"What has Hokuto been doing in the digital world this whole time???"

-"How did he click up with assistant Terriermon?" (Until confirmed otherwise I'm going to pretend Terrier Assistant hatched from Bokomon's egg when he died and BlackTailmon Uver. took it.)

-"Espimon wanting to evolve is all well and good but was there any more important reason to go on a possible one-way trip to find Hiro just to Evolve?" Like... was it to be "Strong" to survive the chaos and infection Gulus left in the digital world? But then he goes to a mostly "Safe" Dimmension where that might not matter so....?

-"Can Fukatsu and Mei be reunited please?"

But then there's the IMPORTANT info like

-"Wait.... did you say ENDBRINGER????!!!!!" Like I know the GG writing team wanted to make something a little different (Example: No dead Leomon this series) but to go through all of that and almost end it on a joke that for the most part the thing motivating the "Big Bad" to do the big bad stuff is an almost NOT THREAT for the humans currently alive. Like it'll be a threat to FUTURE humans but like... 84 generations away from now.... That feels kinda like when a creator sets up a twist villain and the audience guesses correctly so they switch it to someone else entirely that had no set up or foreshadowing.... IE.... Bad writing....

-"Why no fight Gulus all the way to MEGA????" You HAVE a mega for him we never get to see in anime. You have a Mega AND a MEGA+ that we have ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR and we never get him. Ryudamon could have been ANY kind of digimon but they chose one of the parts to make Proximamon.

-"Why not just kill off Gulus? Or not just let him be the big bad." I mean I don't WANT him killed off but killing him off and not bringing up some endbringer and just having Gulus be this Regulus Star Black Hole that wants to eat/destroy everything would at least tie off that loose end. Sure it is WAY more satisfying and on brand for Hiro and Gamma to love him into submission given that this series is basically "Lilo and Stitch the Series" but digimon! But the loose ends man....

The whole ending had this theme of "Creating a new world for both Digimon and Humans alike" and Proximamon is the man with the plan to be able to do it! And once again we have ALL THE PARTS and Quantumon! And why would you not want to try and sell cool villain merch?

Ghost game felt a lot like the first series of Magic Knight Rayearth; a whole series setting up to a second series that wraps things up and is the story they actually WANT to tell. But who knows...

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x12 - Adventure! Patamon and I / DigiBaby Boom

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Jou conquered the Lord of Halloween by doing homework at him while Sora questioned the life choices that brought them both to this point.

Six kids are now on their way back to Infinity Mountain. That leaves only one, all on his own with no one but his Partner to help him.

We open on Takeru's bed crashing into the ocean near one of the island shards. While Patamon rescues Takeru from the crash, we cut over to Devimon.

Last episode I brought up that the dub seems to think these episodes are happening sequentially rather than simultaneously. Here we see why, as the original offers a scene that makes absolutely no sense in context: Devimon tearing into Ogremon and Leomon for their failures.

(With Ogremon, it could be assumed that this is after he rowed himself back to Infinity Mountain from the crate. But it was unquestionably Day 6 in broad daylight when Leomon attacked Mimi and Koushiro. There's no way for Devimon to now be yelling at Leomon over it on the night of Day 5.

It was the original anime that screwed up the timescale, so the dub is absolved of that. They learned it from watching you, senpai.)

Leomon and Ogremon apologize for their failures - in advance, in Leomon's case. Devimon picks up Ogremon by his throat. Ogremon pleads for forgiveness, and then Devimon drops him.

(I like how he targets Ogremon alone. He's like, "Leomon's a zombie; I only expect so much from him. You actually work here.")

In the original, just before he drops Ogremon, we get this exchange.

Ogremon: W-What are you doing sir!? Devimon: I don't want to hear your excuses! Ogremon: Forgive me, Devimon-sama! Please forgive me! Devimon: ... (cruel grin, then drops Ogremon) Ogremon: (pained) ...thank you.

The dub punches it up with an oldie but a goodie.

Ogremon: No, wait! I can explain! Devimon: Spare me your pathetic excuses! Ogremon: Yes, master! Please! Please, just put me down! Devimon: ... (cruel grin, then drops Ogremon) Ogremon: (pained) Thank you, master....

Classic. I would have gone with "let me go" but "put me down" still works.

Back on the island shard, Patamon carries Takeru safely to shore. Takeru gets dressed, but then starts to cry as he realizes the severity of his situation.

Patamon: What's wrong, Takeru!? Takeru: W-We got separated from Onii-chan and the others! (bawling)

The dub needs to fit in a commercial break here, so they play the footage of Takeru starting to cry twice - Once before and once after the commercials. For the before version, he delivers a parting quip.

T.K.: Look at all that water! Somebody must have let the bathtub overflow! I just hope it didn't wash out our way of finding the others!

He's facing away from the camera so they can disguise him breaking down. You can still see his head shaking from the sobs if you know what you're looking for, but it's easy to overlook.

Then, upon return from the commercial, the footage repeats but T.K. starts crying in earnest.

T.K.: D-D-Don't worry about me, Patamon! I'm not scared of being separated from the others! And being lost and being homesick and... (bawling)

While Takeru's crying, Patamon looks up the waterfall and thinks about what Piyomon would do if she were here. He plays through her Birdramon evolution stock footage, but with Patamon's actor reciting "Piyomon SHINKAAAAAA!!! Birdramon!" followed by an imaginary shot of Birdramon flying up and above the waterfall.

Sadly, the dub does not follow suit. They use the standard audio clip of Biyomon's Digivolution.

It's at this point that Patamon begins crying as hard as Takeru is. Hard enough to surprise Takeru and shake him out of it.

Patamon: But why... Why can't I evolve? (bawling) Takeru: ...what's wrong, Patamon? Patamon: Why!? Why!? I want to evolve and fly high in the sky too! Takeru: Evolve? What kind of Digimon do you evolve into, anyway? Patamon: What kind? I won't know until I evolve into it. Do you know, Takeru?

The dub matches this dialogue almost verbatim, adding in some quips.

Patamon: I want to fly high in the sky too but somehow I can't seem to Digivolve! (bawling) T.K.: ...hey.... Patamon: I wanna fly too! I wanna Digivolve! T.K.: To what? Patamon: Huh? T.K.: I mean what will you Digivolve into? Didn't they tell you at Digimon School or something? Patamon: Oh. Well, I won't actually know until I do Digivolve and find out what I am. T.K.: Wow! So it's a mystery!

I like the addition of "Digimon School". XD That feels like something a kid Takeru's age would say.

From there, Takeru provides rundowns of his own ideas for what Patamon's evolution might be.

This is TabunKonnamon, an Adult-stage Imaginary-type Digimon. His name, though spelled phonetically in katakana like most Digimon names, is a homophone for "Tabun Konna", meaning "Perhaps something like this". Takeru fills in for the Narrator to give us his rundown.

Takeru: TabunKonnamon. Its special attack is Buubuu Attack! Buu!

"Buubuu" being the Japanese term for oinking.

The dub calls it Porkymon.

T.K.: Porkymon! With super-strong oink attack and the power to... um... oink!

Patamon is not impressed. That's okay. Takeru has other ideas.

This is KittoKonnamon, an Adult-stage Imaginary-type Digimon. Its name is a homophone for "Kitto konna", meaning "Certainly something like this". Takeru's pretty sure he's got this figured out now.

Takeru: KittoKonnamon. Its special attack is Hippopota VACUUUUUUM!!!

As he explains this, KittoKonnamon demonstrates its Hippopota Vacuum by snorting the entire intro blurb up into its nostrils. What a powerful attack!

T.K.: Hogmon! Super hog smell and the power to snort up enemies in a single sniff like this!

T.K. doesn't give its attack a name, but he does add that it has a super hog smell. That's a powerful defensive ability that shouldn't be forgotten.

Patamon's even less impressed by this one.

Patamon: NO WAY! Takeru: Then-- Patamon: Forget it! Stop thinking about it! It doesn't matter. I just won't evolve ever!

Takeru rolled a nat 1 on that diplomacy check.

Over in the dub, they pay off the different naming theme they used for these two forms, picking up on the noticeable similarity between them.

Patamon: I am not a pig, T.K.! T.K.: It's okay to be a pig. Patamon: I'm sure it is, especially for pigs, but that's not me!

Nobody tell Patamon but I'm pretty sure he's a guinea pig. T.K. was right. Justice for T.K.

Alone on this shard of File Island, Takeru and Patamon come across a train crossing, which forces them to stop and wait.

For a solid fifteen seconds, the only sounds are the ringing of the crossing's bell and the wind rustling through the grass. No train ever goes by, and eventually the crossing stops ringing and raises its gates.

(A chilling metaphor for the menacing isolation these boys are experiencing. A vast, empty crossroads stretches out before them.)

In a somber moment, devoid of music or sound beyond their tiny voices, the boys quietly discuss where to go from here.

Takeru: Where should we go? Patamon: Anywhere. I'll follow you wherever you choose, Takeru. Takeru: Then... This way. Patamon: Okay.

Bit of a tonal whiplash there right after the whole ProbablyThismon bit. "Hahaha, we like to have fun here. Anyways, doom." But again, that fits the scenario of a child this young being stranded like this. Takeru is 8.

Over in the dub, they add the sound of a train rumbling through to this scene and use those fifteen seconds to let T.K. talk over it.

T.K.: Hey! I hear a train coming! I bet you we can jump on and ride the caboose all the way back to summer camp!

They also play sad music to break up the silence. Then, as the train (that is somehow making train noises) fails to materialize, the boys discuss.

Patamon: I think I felt something! T.K.: Um, maybe it's an invisible train. Patamon: Did a train go by? T.K.: If it did, it's the most silent-est, most invisible-est train ever! Now come on, let's go. Patamon: Go where? T.K.: Not sure. But I guess we'll know when we get there.

I wouldn't call it that silent, T.K. We clearly heard both its horn blowing and the sound of it rustling on the tracks.

This scene is a major victim of that common trend in anime localization of its day: Localizers were reluctant to let a quiet scene sit for fear that the kids watching will get bored and change the channel. Nonetheless, though the original is far superior, I do appreciate that they still try to capture the somber tone of the scene's intent at the end there.

Then they find the happiest place on File Island.

Takeru: It's so pretty. Patamon: Yeah. Let's go look inside! Takeru: Okay!

Seizing on a perfect opportunity to insert some gags, the dub spices this exchange up.

T.K.: WOW! Let's find a snack bar and get some cotton candy! Places like this always have cotton candy. Patamon: They make candy from cotton!? T.K.: Ooh, I bet there's popcorn and snow cones and soft pretzels and ice cream and candy! Patamon: Oh boy! Let's go see! T.K.: Last one there is a rotten egg!

At a certain point this devolves into just listing American cultural stuff 'cause we're American now, but I love Patamon's confused response to cotton candy. That's exactly the kind of culture shock gag that even the original's been peppering throughout the File Island arc. It fits in perfectly with bits like "Is a snowball fight edible?"

It takes no time at all for them to discover that the ground is bouncy and soft, good for both playtime and naptime. They bounce and they play and then they stop and rest, enjoying the calmness and joy of this place.

Exploring further, they come across a whole field of baby cradles. Inside are Baby-stage Digimon. Takeru immediately starts poking infants.

Of note: These aren't Baby-stage like Koromon or Mochimon or Tanemon. Baby-stage, oddly, comes in two stages? Baby I and Baby II. Those were Baby II, while this Botamon here is Baby I. It will need to evolve once before it can become a Koromon, or possibly something else because Digimon have branching evolution paths.

Speaking of eggs, the boys explore further and discover a field of Digitama. It's a conjunction of the English "Digital" and a phonetic homophone for the first two syllables of "tamago", which means "egg". Tamago often gets shortened to "tama".

The dub calls it a Digi-Egg, which is an accurate literal translation. Speaking of accurate translations:

Takeru: Digitama? Patamon: A Digimon egg. Takeru: Oh, so Digimon are born from eggs? Like chickens? Patamon: Yep, that's right. Takeru: Even Devimon? Patamon: Yeah...

This exchange comes through completely faithfully in the dub, with the only change being T.K. mentioning, "I like the pretty paint," referring to the Digi-Egg's color scheme.

Patamon finds an envelope on the ground with a note inside, which simply reads "Rub me".

Hilariously, in the Unimon episode, Jou left a note for the others before climbing Infinity Mountain telling them to wait for him. The note's written in the sand in Japanese lettering, of course, but the localizers edited it to be English instead.

With the "Rub me" note, they didn't even bother. The note in its original katakana is displayed in the dub, but Patamon explains that it's "written in Digi-code". Oh boy, the Americans are pretending that real languages are fantasy things they made up again!

(Maybe that's a little harsh but Disney scarred me by subtitling Xhosa words as "speaking Wakandan" and now I'm sensitive about it.)

Takeru decides the note must be referring to the Digitama themselves, and so rubs the one in his hands.

Sure enough, rubbing it makes it hatch into a newborn Poyomon, the Baby I stage of Patamon. They need a crib for Poyomon, so Patamon prepares to go look. Suddenly, the unbroken parts of the Digitama transform into the crib, solving that problem.

Patamon: Oh, so that's how it works. Takeru: You didn't know about this? But you're a Digimon. Patamon: I don't remember being a baby. Do you, Takeru?

Takeru stops to think about that question, and we flash back on his earliest memory.

We see a much younger Takeru playing with blocks, punctuated only by the sound of Yamato's harmonica. Suddenly, he accidentally falls and knocks over the little houses and stuff he's built.

The harmonica cuts out, with Yamato realizing what's happened a moment before Takeru starts to cry. Yamato makes his way over, picking up and embracing his brother with a smile. He says something, but we don't hear his words; We only see the love on his face.

As with the train scene, the dub talks over this with dialogue to avoid letting a quiet moment stand.

T.K.: Well, these pretty shapes and colors do remind me of something from a long time ago. It was real sunny; I was playing with blocks but I fell over or something! And I remember I was crying. But there was someone there with me. Someone... I don't know exactly who. Maybe my brother Matt! Anyway, somebody picked me up and I stopped crying. Matt: Attaboy!

...attaboy? Of all the possible things he could have been saying there, you picked attaboy? Okay.

T.K.'s dialogue drowns out Matt's harmonica, and music keeps playing even after Matt stops. As a result, the effect of Yamato's music swiftly cutting to silence is lost.

Back in the present, Takeru admits that Patamon's right; He doesn't remember infancy either. With that settled, the boys race off to go rub some more Digitama.

Meanwhile, we're introduced attack-first to a new Digimon: Elecmon, using his Sparkling Thunder to catch fish from a stream.

Elecmon is a Child-stage Data-type Mammal Digimon.

(The subs I'm watching misidentify him as Adult-stage, incidentally.

It says "Adult" up there in the English translation. However, the kanji onscreen in his data block clearly spell out 成長期 which is Child-stage, as opposed to 成熟期 which is Adult-stage. Everyone makes mistakes; Can't always trust the subs.)

Narrator: Elecmon. A very inquisitive mammal Digimon who enjoys pulling pranks. He threatens his enemies by spreading his tail like a peacock.

Over in the dub, they call his attack Super Thunderstrike. He's forced to handle his own diegetic rundown, for lack of other characters nearby to do it.

Elecmon: I am Elecmon, caretaker of baby Digimon. Don't cross wires with me!

Elecmon zaps the stream with his Sparkling Thunder, frying countless fish. Then he picks out a spot and lets the water carry his catch right to him, plucking them out as they come. Pleased with himself, he announces that this will be plenty to feed all those little baby mouths.

Back at the nursery, Takeru and Patamon are running themselves ragged trying to take care of these babies. Many of the babies have started crying and they can't figure out why. Patamon's doing everything he can to cheer them up, while Takeru notices that one of them defecated.

Meanwhile, caretaker Elecmon is on his way back to the nursery with a net full of fish when he happens to hear the babies crying. Leaving his catch behind, he races to the nursery to find two things: A bunch of crying babies and two newcomers he's never seen before.

Naturally, he makes some assumptions.

Before Takeru and Patamon even know what's happening, Elecmon races in and lets off a Sparkling Thunder.

Patamon shoves Takeru out of the way of the bolt, then furiously whirls on Elecmon.

Patamon: WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? THAT'S DANGEROUS!!! Elecmon: Of course it is! I was aiming at you! Patamon: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!? Elecmon: Because you were kawaigaru (adoring) my babies! Takeru: Well, we did kawaigaru them, but what's wrong with that? Elecmon: Tsk tsk tsk. Your ignorance is troublesome. Listen, the word "kawaigaru" not only means to "be affectionate to" someone, but it can also mean to "abuse" them as well! Patamon: But those both mean completely different things! That's weird! Besides, we weren't abusing them; Just looking after them. Elecmon: Well, nobody asked you to look after the babies in the first place! Patamon: You tell us off but what are you to these babies anyway!? Elecmon: What am I? I'm their guardian, their housekeeper, their food provider-- Wait, who cares about that, you brat! Patamon: YOU'RE A BRAT TOO!!! Elecmon: Oh, NOW I'M MAD!!!

Poor Takeru. This is his first encounter with words that ironically mean the opposite of their definition when used in common parlance. I guess you could say he's literally been taken to school!

The subtitle up there tries to make this work with "coddle", but there simply is no English equivalent for the precise linguistic usages of kawaigaru driving this exchange.

Elecmon is accusing Patamon and Takeru of being the reason the babies were crying. That's the point here. He thinks they were doing something to hurt the babies.

Obviously, the dub didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of accurately translating the kawaigaru discourse. So they had to go their own way with it.

T.K.: Hey, watch where you're aiming that thing! You could hurt somebody! Elecmon: Of course I could have. That's what I was trying to do! Patamon: But why would you want to do anything to hurt us? Elecmon: Because I saw you playing with my babies, you interlopers! T.K.: Sure, we played with them. But what's that got to do with you? Elecmon: Ah ah ah ah. You barbarians. Always making the same mistake! I'm not some ordinary Digimon who just happened to come along and catch you. This is the Primary Village Hatchling Ground and Nursery. A very special place where all Digimon start their lives! And I am a very special Digimon entrusted with caring for each and every one of them! Patamon: Well, you don't have to play Mr. Bigshot and fry us! Elecmon: I was only trying to protect my babies. Now, I think this conversation has lasted long enough. I am in charge and you two are trespassing. You must leave! Patamon: Now, now. Don't get all puffy! Elecmon: DON'T CALL ME PUFFY!!!

To fill the space where the impossible-to-adapt kawaigaru discussion would go, Elecmon instead monologues about the importance of the nursery, which the dub names Primary Village.

A consequence of taking this long walk around the untranslatable discourse is that Dub Elecmon, despite being less aggressive in tone, is more unreasonable in accusation. The original altercation was a misunderstanding because he thought the boys were harassing the babies; Here, he thinks they were playing. He's being territorial by attacking.

However, he will start acting territorial shortly, so that's a valid way to play him here.

Patamon and Elecmon lunge for each other, both giving as good as they get. Elecmon reveals that he can electrocute anything that touches him, but then only does it the once so Patamon can keep fighting back.

While they brawl, Takeru screams at them to stop, getting increasingly agitated. We keep cutting back to his Digivice; The meter steadily filling up.

He doesn't know what that means but we do. Something about this angry fistfight is pushing Patamon towards the brink of evolution.

In the dub, T.K. does notice this. He remarks "This is very bad! He's Digivolving!" He also observes, "They're fighting worse than Matt and me, and they aren't even brothers...."

Finally, Takeru lets out one last, furious scream at them to stop. Everything seems to freeze just for the moment. And the meter on his Digivice slowly drains.

Takeru reads them both the riot act for the way they're behaving. They're scaring the babies.

This gets to them both, and they separate. Patamon picks up a nearby Poyomon to console them.

Patamon: Sorry for scaring you. Elecmon: Hey, don't start acting familiar with my babies, you brat! Patamon: Hey, did you guys know that the ones who think they're grown-ups are actually the biggest brats of all. Isn't that dumb? Elecmon: What!? If you've got a problem, say it to my face! You're the type to put on a nice face but then talk about people behind their backs, aren't you!? Patamon: Takeru, let me at him! I want to settle things with this guy! Elecmon: So do I! Bring it!

Even after separating, Patamon and Elecmon are chomping at the bit to resume fighting each other. Over what, at this point, is basically nothing anymore. A bad first impression has their blood boiling.

If they must fight, then Takeru insists on doing it the right way.

A tug-of-war hilariously styled as if it were a sumo match. Right down to the sounds of the hyoshigi clacking for those iconic high-pitched tones, and with Takeru playing the role of yobidashi and introducing the wrestlers by song.

(Fun fact, there is presently a popular yobidashi named Takeru. It's not a reference, though; He hadn't even been born yet when this aired.)

Takeru: ~From the East / Elec of the Vast Sea / Elec of the Vast Sea! / From the West / Pata of the Large Mountain / Pata of the Large Mountain!

Naturally, the dub plays this like a pro wrestling announcer.

T.K.: AND NOW!!! In that corner: The defending champion ELECMON!!! AND NOW!!! Over in the other corner: The challenger and most excellent Digimon, PATAMON!!!

Nice cultural transition.

In a moment of supreme humiliation, Patamon wins.

Not only outmuscling Elecmon but flinging him across the nursery. Pata of the Mountain wins!

Conceding defeat, Elecmon formally accepts Patamon and welcomes him to the nursery. He also gives us its Japanese name: Hajimari no Machi, which means "Village of Beginnings".

Explaining his behavior, Elecmon says:

Elecmon: I'm sorry about all that. Weird things have been happening around here. On top of that, the island breaking apart... It made me paranoid of outsiders. Well! Guess this all goes to show I'm still too much of a brat! Takeru: Fighting between friends is okay because you'll make up soon. ...but when adults fight.... Elecmon: You're stronger than you look! Patamon: Than I look? I don't like being judged by the size of my appearance. Elecmon: Heh, my bad. But it's like they say... Uh, how's it go? 'Sansho wa kotsubu de (Sansho pepper is tiny) but it's sharp on the tongue.' Or something like that. Patamon: 'Sanshikisumire (Pansies) are sharp on the tongue'? Have you eaten pansies before!? Elecmon: ...huh? Did I screw that up?

Takeru suddenly went into PTSD flashbacks about his parents' divorce and we're over here doing more wordplay. Welcome to kindergarten.

Over in the dub, we have:

Elecmon: I'm really sorry, Patamon. There's no good excuse for the mean way I acted when I first saw you, but I've been so upset about things around here. Ever since the island broke apart, I've been expected a fight. I guess I just took it out on you. I apologize. T.K.: At least kids make up pretty fast. My parents are still mad at me for the time I painted our kitty cat. Elecmon: You know, you're a lot stronger than you look, kid! I'm impressed! Patamon: You know, they say you can't tell a cover by the size of its book or something like that. Elecmon: Sure. Well, forget about the sayings; You're great at tug-of-war! Hey, take a look around. Some day all of this will be yours, Patamon my boy. You'll raise up some fine young Digimon here, just like your old man-- Patamon: Elecmon, I am not here to raise babies! Elecmon: You're not? Oh, I mean, of course you're not! I was just... Well, I guess I was just daydreaming!

Props for at least trying to do a linguistic joke here. It's a lot shorter, though, so they have to add in this Lion King bit for the runtime.

Biggest change is, of course, T.K.'s line. Instead of a somber reference to his parents' divorce, it's replaced with a laugh line about his parents being mad at him. I don't remember if parental divorce was on the list of Cartoon No-Nos but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. They did earlier change Matt and T.K. being brothers split by divorce to being half-brothers, so this change feels consistent with that.

With that settled, Takeru has a question for Elecmon: How do we get to Infinity Mountain?

Elecmon: You want to climb that mountain!? I really suggest you don't! Devimon is over there! Takeru: I know! I have to go ask him where my brother and the others are. Elecmon: He's not just gonna tell you. After all, he's an evil Digimon. If you really want to know, you'll have no choice but to defeat him. Takeru: I don't want to fight! Elecmon: Even if you don't.... Patamon: Maybe there's another way. Some way we can settle things without fighting. Elecmon: If there was-- Takeru: Think back to what you felt a moment ago. We were all laughing together, remember? I think something will happen when our hearts come together.

Elecmon takes inspiration from this talk, settling on a new plan of action.

Elecmon: I'll be away a bit in Gear Savannah! You passed through the Pyocomon Village there, right? I'm going to tell them what happened here! Maybe if we can bring our hearts together, the island will join back together again in one piece! Patamon: Then the island will be back to normal! Elecmon: It's just a feeling, but it's what I want to believe.

As Day 6 comes to a close, we return to Devimon, watching through a magic observation gear as six of seven children make their way back towards Infinity Mountain. Dub T.K. fills this space with narration.

T.K.: Maybe [Elecmon] can help us. And maybe I'll get back together with my brother. I just know Matt's out there somewhere. I can almost see him! But I've got this yucky feeling that a lot's going to happen between now and then!

That yucky feeling is called "having read the script for the next episode during the localization process". :P

Backed into a corner, Devimon plots to kill Takeru and Patamon.

Devimon: I didn't expect it to go this way. I was unable to put a stop to them before they evolved, but no matter. I only need to kill the one Digimon who has yet to evolve. As long as I kill one Chosen Child, my victory is ensured. Leomon! Leomon: Sir! Devimon: I leave this to you. Leomon: Understood. Ogremon: Whaddya-- I mean, what shall I do? Devimon: Nothing, for now. But the final battle isn't far off; It wouldn't hurt to stack the odds in our favor. Ogremon: Yes, sir! I'll strangle the life out of them this time!

As we move away from Devimon, the narrator takes over.

Narrator: As the time drew near, the destiny of File Island-- No, of the entire Digimon World was put at stake as justice and evil, light and dark, surged towards each other. Yes, it wouldn't be long before the fight between these two sides would commence.

As he says this, several white feathers suddenly float up onscreen and rushes towards the camera. Completely with an audible shing to make sure you notice them.

(Spoilers, geeze.)

Over in the dub, Devimon is chewing the scenery per usual.

Devimon: All but one of their Digimon have Digivolved. I must destroy this last one before it is too late. Urgh, I cannot believe it has come to this. Still, as long as even one of those cursed children is lost, I am pleased. Leomon! Leomon: Master. Devimon: I leave this to you. Leomon: As you wish, my lord. Ogremon: What shall I do, Master? What task do you have for me? Devimon: Nothing for the moment, my loyal servant. But soon a battle will rage and you must be prepared! Ogremon: I understand, my lord! This time, I will not fail you! Devimon: Heheheheh.... No, this time there will be no failure! This time I SHALL BE VICTORIOUS!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

It hits pretty much every point from the original beat-for-beat. I wouldn't bother bringing it up except for one thing: Devimon's last line extends beyond the end of his scene and into the narrator's, replacing the narration.

This means there's nothing to call out the foreshadowing of the white feathers. They come and go with little fanfare, though they do still have this sort of mystical wooshing sound applied as they pass by. It's not nearly as noticeable as the shing though.

Back in the Village of Beginnings, a Botamon in Takeru's lap suddenly evolves into Koromon. While everyone celebrates the new Koromon, Patamon revisits his anxieties from earlier in the episode, but now from the opposite perspective.

Patamon: I'm also going to evolve one day. I don't mind, but... Will I be able to stay friends with Takeru after I evolve? Takeru: Hm? What's wrong? Patamon: Oh! Nothing.... Takeru: Do you want to evolve too? Patamon: No! Not at all! I'm fine staying like this. I'll stay in this form forever, right by your side, Takeru. Takeru: Yeah! It's a promise. We'll be friends forever!

Dub Patamon has a much harder time putting his thoughts into words.

Patamon: Remember, I'm your Digimon, T.K. and some day I'll Digivolve too! T.K.: Huh? Why? Is that bad? Patamon: No! But.... T.K.: You wanna Digivolve? Is that what you're saying? Patamon: I'm just saying it might happen, but I don't really want it to. I wanna stay like this forever, always by your side! T.K.: Mmhmm! That's so awesome. We can be best friends forever and ever.

First he's like "Don't forget I'm gonna Digivolve!" and then suddenly it's "I don't wanna Digivolve!" Getting your wires crossed here, Patamon.

Also, "That's so awesome," is a way shittier response than "It's a promise!" If I told someone I liked being their friend and they replied, "Uh-huh, that's awesome," I'd feel super rejected.

We close on another white feather whisking by, assuring us that everything's gonna be alright.

It's all gonna be just fine.

Assessment: As the youngest youngest of this group, Takeru is defined by his innocence and his optimistic heart. This is his first spotlight episode since, as noted, he didn't get an evolution episode in the first set. Watching him navigate this situation with Elecmon makes for a solid contrast against what Yamato's been saying: That Takeru is incapable of doing things on his own.

He's young and naive, but he isn't helpless. We see that here, as he's forced to act independently for the first time in the series.

The dub of this one is a little rough in spots, especially when filling in dialogue for quiet scenes that drew their effectiveness from the reserved and careful use of audio. As with the previous episode, there's also places where the dub was screwed from the get-go, such as the two scenes that directly involve Japanese linguistics, but they did a decent job going their own way on those.

Overall, I'd call this dub an improvement over the previous episode, to be sure. Despite some jank in places, they did their best to stay on-script as much as possible and match the tone of the original, while also adding onto it in certain areas.

[astralcat]

GS&SM infodump time!

Little Ace, Sabo and Luffy loved making comics. When they were 10 years old, Ace and Sabo collaborated on a comic called "Super Drago" (Ace writing, Sabo illustrating), about a superhero dragon and his sidekick Little Jackalope (who was based on Luffy at the time). Meanwhile Luffy, inspired by their comics and the Captain Underpants books (it was 2009), made his own comics about Super Gassy Man, who had superpowered flatulence for seemingly no reason.

And then, when Sabo was 13, he started his own comic called "A Whole New World", which was a Digimon/Neopets/The Amazing World of Gumball crossover comic about a Shoyru and Gabumon transferring to Elmore Junior High and accidentally bringing threats from their universes over. It lasted until Sabo was 16, and has some pretty insane lore. *deep breath*

- Gumball gets (painfully) permanently fused with Gabumon to become "Gumbumon"

- Gumball is in a relationship with Gatomon and gets her pregnant. She gives birth in the epilogue

- Darwin was actually a girl and the Wattersons raised him as a boy, and he's actually cool with being referred to as a guy. He also falls in love with Gomamon

- Elmore gets nuked by Xandra halfway through the story, so all the TAWOG characters travel to the Digital World and live there for the rest of the story

- Penny dies after Gumbumon's first attempt at Digivolving into Garurumon goes horrifically wrong and he turns into a mindless beast

- Mirage (the Shoyru that originally transferred to Elmore Junior High with Gabumon, setting the plot into motion) ends up teaching magic to a whole bunch of characters

- Agumon kills Tina after Digivolving into SkullGreymon out of pure rage at something else and after he devolves is so distraught that he took an innocent life that he decides to lock himself in a crate and eat the key so that he dies a slow and painful death

- The grand finale of the series was a giant multiversal war against "Dark Universe" versions of the characters that led to Darwin dying and Gomamon deciding to be together in death with him, Anais being sold into slavery and multiple characters (including Ocho, Tobias, Piyomon, Terriermon, Lopmon and Teri) being offered as a sacrifice to God to cease the Dark Universe and its inhabitants' existence

- During the epilogue, Gumbumon has so much PTSD from the events of the final war that he can't even be happy about the birth of his own children

- Leomon survives this all

[sshoujo-ais]

ok so rest assured beelko will have her own tag by the end of the post but dae's digimon posting has finally inspired me to try and make a story for my ship with her so here we go! i'd love to write it as a long form fanfic but i never will so this summary will have to do

since there's not really a beelstarmon as a character in anything i just kinda invented my wholly original thing set in the digimon canon tho? so this is like half selfship half story lmao

it starts off as kinda like a combination of homestuck and power rangers; basically in some corner of the digital world (like a server? idk how the digital world works exactly) the Three Musketeers (beelstarmon, magnakidmon and gundramon) are running things & this mysterious zordon-like benefactor wants to put a stop to it and decides to Recruit Teenagers With Attitude (disclaimer not actually teenagers). the way the zordon character recruits these not-teenagers is by planting a "video game" in the real world that this specific online friend group (that my s/i is a part of) is excited to play together, but what they don't anticipate is that it isekais them into the digital world

they all meet their partners (i get elecmon! because leomon bias lmao) and then meet up with the zordon character who assigns wizardmon to guide them in their Quest™ to defeat the musketeers & to help them get good at digimoning etc. the musketeers confront us bc like who da hell are we trying to come to their turf, this town ain't big enough for the whatever number there is of us. and we level up against the goons they send at us until we're ready to face off against them properly

somewhere along the way beelko would befriend our group (since she's like really friendly towards anybody) & ends up defecting from the musketeers to our side eventually. for gay reasons. she then helps us defeat the other two (probably teaming up with me & elecmon->leomon against magnakidmon while the rest of my friend group takes out gundramon tbh?) and formally joins the squad

at this point the zordon character would basically go "sike i was actually evil the entire time, the musketeers were just chilling here but now that you helped me get rid of them i can take over! muahaha" (idk if he's like a malevolent AI or just fucking myotismon again or whatever. doesnt matter) & then our group + beelko and wizardmon needs to defeat the evil zordon and restore balance to this corner of the digital world. some fucking how idk i havent worked out all the details

by the end the balance is restored and our group is free to go back to the real world but bc beelko and i have been making lesbian eyes at each other lesbianically throughout the whole adventure she installs herself into my phone so we can communicate with each other & i can come visit her in the digital world whenever i want while she tries to bring her 2 companions back from getting put in the recycle bin by the evil zordon ai. basically she becomes one of the gay ppl that live in my phone lmao (except i can go in my phone and give her kisses)