#Digimon Adventure Anode/Cathode Tamer

[digimontamerrichie-tcg]

Ken and Ryo's adventures are only hinted at in Digimon Adventure 02, while Digimon Tamers mostly ignores them due to the director glancing at the character notes and immediately not giving a shit.

Ryo acted as the bridge between Digimon Adventure and Digimon Tamers, making him a unique character. Future "reboots" of the Digimon anime would be cleanly severed from their predecessors. Despite Ryo's unique status, fans had to rally for him to be included in the 25th Anniversary celebrations.

It was in a battle against Millenniummon that Ken became infected with the Dark Spore that would lead to his transformation into The Digimon Emperor. He would go on to create Kimeramon, and discover he was merely a pawn for MaloMyotismon and his lackies Arukenimon & Mummymon.

Ryo would fight against Millenniummon multiple times in various forms, such as ZeedMillenniummon and MoonMillenniumon. He partnered up both with Tai's Agumon and Davis' Veemon, and also a Veedramon. When his partner Monodramon fused with Millenniumon to keep it from returning yet again, Monodramon became the wild and dangerous Cyberdramon who we see Ryo having to keep on a short leash in Digimon Tamers. Ryo and Cyberdramon eventually become close enough that they can Bio-Merge into Justimon.

[digi-lov]

— A Getting Into Digimon Master Post

▙▚ TOYS - ANIME - GAMES - COMICS & MANGA - NOVELS - CARDS ▞▟

I've been getting asked a couple times how to get into Digimon, so I figured I collect some posts and info in a master post!

Digimon is a multi media franchise, so there really is no one way to get into Digimon. But I hope this post can help people getting an idea what to look for.

Digimon Card Sleeve Artwork by Tonamikanji

Shout ot to wikimon.net for a ton of the information, and to Digimon Basic - an amazing resource for Digimon material!

▙▚ DIGIMON WEB

As I mentioned, Digimon is a multi media franchise, and there is some content of just general Digimon lore on Digimon Web. There some fun facts to read up upon! There's also the official Digimon Reference Book / Encyclopedia online.

• Digimon Encyclopedia • Appmon Encyclopedia • Agumon Expert Research Profiles • Digimon Journal

▙▚ TOYS

So Digimon, or Digital Monsters, originally started as a virtual pet toy. I made a Post about this origin and relation to the Tamagotchi frachise before. ▞▟ Check it out here >>

Besides that, Digimon released many many "Digivice" toys tying into the animes, but also figurines and much more. I don't have nearly enough expertise to cover them in more details, but there is a LOT! You can check out the LCD Toy history on the official website, and even that doesn't cover all of it!

▙▚ ANIME

The first and second season of the anime, and the surrounding movies, share a continuity, but aside from that all seasons are self contained and you can watch whichever you want.

Notably, Adventure recently got newly released blu rays with japanese audio and english subtitles! ▞▟ You can get them at the Crunchyroll shop >>

I know some people like the english dub, but personally, I honestly don't like it at all... I do really like the german dub, but I really recommend watching the Japanese version. It's my favorite and is considered canon.

Adventure: Digimon Adventure (Movie) (1999) •Digimon Adventure (Season 1) (1999-2000) Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (Movie) (2000) •Digimon Adventure 02 (Season 2) (2000-2001) Digimon Adventure 02: Hurricane Touchdown!! Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (Movie) (2000) (Digimon the Movie is a super cut of all previous movies done by the dub team) Digimon Adventure 02: Diaboromon Strikes Back (Movie) (2001) •Digimon Adventure tri. (6 Movies or 24 Episodes) (2015-2018) Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Movie) (2020) Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (Movie) (2023) [Digimon Adventure: (Reboot) (2020)] Tamers: • Digimon Tamers (Season 3) (2001-2002) Digimon Tamers: The Adventures’ Battle (Movie) (2001) Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express (Movie) (2002) Frontier: • Digimon Frontier (Season 4) (2002-2003) Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (Movie) (2002) Savers/Data Squad: • Digimon Savers / Data Squad (Season 5) (2006-2007) Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (Movie) (2006) Xros Wars/Fusion: • Digimon Xros Wars / Fusion (2010-2012) Appmon: • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017) Ghost Game: • Digimon Ghost Game (2021-2023)

▙▚ GAMES

Like the anime, Digimon games are almost all completely self contained. Essentially the only exception is a couple WonderSwan games centered around Ryo Akiyama. They're also almost all widely different! No Digimon game is truly like another! In the list below I put well known games in bold, and more obscure games, or the ones never released in the West in small. I also left out all "dead" mobile games.

· Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers (1998) (Sega Saturn) [JP only] • Digimon World (1999) (PS1) · Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan (1999) (WonderSwan) [JP only] · Digimon World: Digital Card Battle (1999) (PS1) [JP only] · Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer & Cathode Tamer (1999/2000) (WonderSwan) (EN release "Veedramon Version") · Digimon Adventure 02: Digital Partner (2000) (WonderSwan) [JP only] · Pocket Digimon World (2000) (PS1) [JP only] > Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc (2000) (PS1) [JP only] > Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc (2001) (PS1) [JP only] • Digimon World 2 (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan) [JP only] · Digimon Adventure 02: D1 Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] ·Digimon World: Digital Card Arena (2000) (PS1) ·Digimon Tamers: Pocket Culumon (2001) (PS1) [JP only] ·Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley (2001) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] ·Digimon Park (2001) (PS1) [JP only] • Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit (2001) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) > Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit Ver. 1.5 (2002) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] > Digimon Frontier: Battle Spirit / Battle Spirit 2 (2002) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) ·Digimon Typing (2001) (PC) [JP only] • Digimon Tamers: Battle Evolution / Rumble Arena (2001) (PS1) ·Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer (2001) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] • Digimon World 3 / 2003 (2002) (PS1) ·Digital Monsters: D-Project (2002) (WonderSwan Color) [JP only] ·Digimon Racing (2004) (GBA) • Digimon Battle Chronicle / Rumble Arena 2 (2004) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon World X / World 4 (2005) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon Story / Digimon World DS (2006) (DS) ·Digimon Savers: Another Mission / Digimon World Data Squad (2006) (PS2) • Digimon Story: Sunburst & Moonlight / Digimon World Dawn & Dusk (2007) (DS) ·Digimon Championship / Digimon World Championship (2008) (DS) ·Digimon Masters (2009) (PC) [Korea only] · Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (2010) (DS) [JP only; EN Fan Translation exists] · Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue & Red (2011) (DS) [JP only] • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (PSP) > Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode (2013) (3DS) [JP only; EN Fan translation exists] · Digimon Adventure (2013) (PSP) [JP only; EN Fan translation exists] • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker’s Memory (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon World -next 0rder- (2016) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) · Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016) (3DS) [JP only] · Digimon New Century (2021) (Smart Phone) [CH only] • Digimon Survive (2022) (PS4, Switch, PC, XBO)

There's also a couple Fan Games I've been enjoying, that I want to shout out here:

• Digital Partner by Aludeku • Digital Tamers 2 by dragonrod342 • Digital Monster NET DRIVER by kuhamaven / Alice Studios

▙▚ COMICS & MANGA

Digimon has several comic or manga adaptations, some longer but many short promotional works for new releases.

Although there's way more older Manga, I will start with a list of modern Comics/Manga, as we have received a variety recently!

The big one right now is Digimon Liberator! I've been loving it personally. It's a full color web comic, so it has not normal page layout and instead is just scrolling. When it first released I made a post with my Spoiler Free Opinion on the Prologue and Chapter one! ▞▟ Check it out here >> Read Digimon Liberator on the Official Website, GlobalComix or Webtoon!

But Liberator is actually not the only comic currently running!! Thanks to the Digimon Comic project we have FIVE more ongoing series to check out on the official Digimon Web site!

• Digimon Rikollection by Okutsuwa Waga • Digimon Paradox by Minato Ayumu • Digimon Knuckles by Soda Ichigo • Story of the Royal Knights by Yabuno Tenya • Digimon Seekers ~Witch of the Crossroads~ by Kariki Hajime

If you read any of the comics above, show your support by answering the survey on the website!

• C'mon Digimon: The capering monster BUN (1997) (Author: Izawa Hiroshi | Illus: Yabuno Tenya | Publ: Shueisha - Akamaru Jump) • Digimon Adventure V-Tamer (1998-2003) (Author: Izawa Hiroshi | Illus: Yabuno Tenya | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Chronicle (2003) (Author: Shisheni Okorarana | Illus: Moriyama Soh | Publ: Bandai) • Digimon Next (2005-2008) (Author: Okano Takeshi | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Xros Wars (2010-2012) (Author: Nakashima Yuu | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (Author: Fujino Kouhei | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon World Re:Digitize Encode (2013) (Author: Fujino Kouhei | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (Author: Fukuda Ikumi | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017) (Author: Akamine Naoki | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters: Appmon Academy!! (2016-2017) (Author: Hirose Katsuki | Publ: Shueisha - Saikyo Jump) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory (2017) (Author: Akamine Naoki | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump) • Digimon Chronicle X (2018-2020) (Author: Moriyama Soh | Publ: Shueisha - V-Jump / Digimon Web) • Digimon Dreamers (2021-2024) (Author: Yabuno Tenya | Publ: Shueisha - Saikyo Jump / Digimon Web)

▙▚ NOVELS

There two big web Novels of note for the Digimon franchise. Firs one is Digimon Seekers, which ran from 2023-2024 and consistes of 4 Chapters plus an Epilogue. You can read it on the official Website, but many fans noted the english translation being not great at certain points, so some dedicated fans edited the translation to fix the issues.

The second is Digimon Liberator, which is not simply a novel version of the web comic, but instead tells the story from the perspective of a different protagonist! From what I can tell, the translation for this one is better, although they sometimes mess up the card effects, so make sure to read the actual cards, which are included as pictures.

• Digimon Seekers: Official - Fan Edited Translation • Digimon Liberator: Official Website

▙▚ CARDS

Finally, what this blog is all about really, the Card Game. There have been many Digimon Card Games over the years, but I'm really only familiar with the current one. If you want to try learning it, there is a tutorial app in the Play Store, and a Rules video on the official YouTube channel that covers the essentials. There are also Fan made simulators to play online, with dedicated fan bases that you will surely find people to play with or show you the ropes!

If you just like the look of some of the cards, I encourage you to check the pricing on cards you got your eyes on. If the card isn't insanely diffcult to get and important for meta decks, you have fairly good chances to get some gorgeous cards for reasonable prices! I also collect Pokémon Cards, and let me tell you, the production quality of the Digimon Cards is leagues above.

[caterpie]

Digimon Adventure: Anode/Cathode Tamer (2001)

[alpaca-clouds]

The Canonicity of the Digimon Wonderswan Games

I am right now a bit back into my old Digimon hyperfixation I am afraid. So let me nerd out a bit more about it, or in this case rant about another thing.

See, I am in a bit of a weird position in regards of this fandom. I am from Germany, where we got the dub names and stuff, but the Japanese cut of the anime. But also, I switched to watching the sub already by the time Digimon Tamers was starting to air in Japan, and had fairly easy access to most of the Japanese media for the franchise through the magic of the internet.

As such I grew up with the Japanese stuff for Digimon in the most part. Including the Wonderswan games, that are kinda legendary in the west. And man, let me tell you: I love those games. They are not really good games, I would argue. Like the game mechanics are just not very polished, and like in a lot of Japanese games at the time you needed to grind quite a lot. But I loved the story and the way it was portrayed. And I adore the game version of Ryou. He is my cute baby boy, who needs a serious hug.

However... Something that I have already been annoyed with was the fact that a lot of western fandom has always seen these games as canon. And I kinda get why - at least in regards to Adventure/02 - given that Ryou gets referenced in the canon a lot. It is canon that Ryou exists in this universe, as well as Millenniumon. And it is canon that Ken and Ryou travelled through the digital world. However... The game as it is, is in fact not canon and never was meant to be. This is because games very much contradict several aspects of the primary canon (the show). Let us go through those things, okay?

Anode/Cathode Tamer

This game takes place on New Years Eve 1999, so about 4 (or really 5) months after Digimon Adventure. Millenniumon, a Digimon that has been formed when the data of the defeated Machinedramon fused with a Chimeramon, messed up the digital world and brought back the villains the Chosen Children had already defeated. Being brought back, they kidnap the Chosen children. Agumon turns to a human child - Ryou Akiyama - as he needs a human to evolve. So, Ryou on his own has to fight through the villains of Digimon Adventure to free the chosen children. He is not a Chosen Child himself, though, being made to borrow Taichi's Digivice.

Now, this game is clearly not canon - the villains being brought back is never mentioned again, and it is explicitly said that spring 2000 was the first time that the Chosen Children returned back to the Digital World after their original adventure.

Other than that... I kinda love how vile the villains are in this game. I really adore it. But yeah, definitely not canon.

Tag Tamers

Tag Tamers starts during the events of the second movie. Diaboromon is defeated and just as this happens, Ryou and Ken get contacted by V-mon and Piccolomon. Millenniumon is back, and it is up to Ryou to defeat it. This time he has to partner up with V-mon, who is already destined to be Daisuke's partner. So Ryou and Ken go visit the digital world together - only to find out, that it was all a trap set up by Millenniumon to lure Ryou back.

This game at once is the one most directly referenced in the Show (with Ken's flashback to getting infected with the Dark Spore) and also the more most directly contradicted by the show. Because while the game takes place in March 2000, the series explicitly names the time of Ken and hence Ryou travelling to the digital world as August 2000, exactly a year post-Adventure. More interestingly we do not see any partner with Ryou in the flashback either, and it is pretty clear that if V-mon ever met Ken or Ryou before, he does most certainly not remember.

It should also be noted that in this game Ken and Ryou both get D-3 Digivices, while in the primary canon Ken obviously received a normal Digivice at this point, that only later turned into the D-3 at the Dark Ocean.

D-1 Tamers

D-1 Tamers takes place not too long after Tag Tamers. While watching over Ken, who is sick from the Dark Spore, Ryou finds an online quiz about Digimon and upon answering it gets once more summoned to the Digital World. Here, he is made to participate in the D-1 Tournament against other Children and their Digimon partners, including both characters from the anime and some original characters. However, soon enough it turns out, that the tournament was just something created by the Holy Beasts to train Ryou up to once more fight against Millenniumon.

Basically, the same from before applies. The kids in this game all have D-3 Digivices, that did not yet exist in this universe. Nowhere in canon is it ever mentioned that Taichi and Co. have travelled back to the Digital World at this point - and mind you, the entire thing with the Holy Beasts also does not make a whole lot of sense considering the canon of the show (with the Holy Beasts just being brought back).

As someone who tends to latch onto minor characters very easily, I loved the original characters in this game, even though they have very few lines.

Mind you, if you have been in Digimon fandom spaces for a longer time, you might have come across the picture underneath before and thought to yourself: "Oh, this looks official." However... It is actually Fanart. To be exact this picture seems to originate with a fan-book on the games called Digimon Crusader. (I have been trying to get my hands on that one before. But I have only seen it two times up for auction and never could get manage to set up a proxy in time - as the sellers were never shipping to Europe.)

This is the book by the way:

Brave Tamer

Lastly there is Brave Tamer, a game that is rather hard to describe, because it involves a ton of time travel. Hurray, because this plot was not already convoluted enough. lol

Basically, it starts with Ryou at the very beginning of the Digital World, meeting Monodramon and then timehopping a whole lot to help both the Chosen Children and Tamers (who also show up here, because the game released by the time Tamers was out), and also get some closure. Please note, at this point in time the digital world has fucked up Ryou's mental health for good. lol

The game ends with Monodramon forcing a fusion between himself and Millenniumon, defeating the villain like this and leaving Ryou out of time with a single Digitama.

The plot of this game, due to the time travel, is a whole mess. I adore the game for the worldbuilding it does for the Adventure digital world, even though this, too, is doubtful in terms of canonicity. There is no real harm to take this as canon for the Adventure-world, though obviously the show itself contradicts this in terms of canon for the Tamers-world.

The crossover stuff between Tamers and Adventure verse is also very confusing to say the least. But yeah, given that none of the interactions here ever get referenced anywhere: This is also very certainly not canon. (Also, for some reason Ryou aged 2 years between D-1 Tamers and Brave Tamer, even though Brave Tamer starts up very shortly after D-1 Tamers ends.)

So, what is canon?

All of this might leave you wondering: What is canon for Ryou? Well, it is kinda hard to say. What we can assume is something like this:

In the universe of Digimon Adventure there is or was a boy named Akiyama Ryou. We do not know a whole lot about him, but based on his design he was probably 10 or 11 years old in August of 2000. When Ken first got called into the Digital World, he met Ryou there, and the two of them defeated Millenniumon, getting Ken infected with the Dark Spore. We do not know what happened to Ryou after this, but it seems unlikely that he and Ken stayed in contact, given Ken never brings him up. It is not impossible that he has died, though this is never confirmed, or contradicted by the canon.

In the universe of Digimon Tamers, there also exists a boy named Akiyama Ryou. Other than the boy from the games, he is not from Tokyo, but from a fishing village near Kitakyushu. We do not know whether he has a mother, but he has a father, as well as an uncle who lives in Tokyo. Whenever Ryou participated in the Digimon tournaments, he stayed with his uncle, apparently. In December 2000, Ryou meets Cyberdramon in Tokyo, and realized that Cyberdramon cannot stay in the real world because it is too aggressive. So he decides to travel to the Digital World together with it. Now, technically you can argue whether Cyberdramon is the Digimon resulting from the fusion of Monodramon and Millenniumon, but Ryou is very much a different character with a different backstory.

(And mind you: No, that US Comic that marries the Digimon Tamers story with some of the game story, is very much not canon, like all US-only material.)

[reliablejoukido]

Different Anon here. Yeah, on the Japanese Wonderswan there were a pair of games called Digimon Adventure Anode and Digimon Adventure Cathode. The sequel, Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers details Ken's first adventure into the digital world, working alongside Ryo to defeat Milleiummon. That's where he's infected with the dark spore. There's some game play, I think of all of them, on Youtube. Even fan translations. I've never watched or played these games, though.

Ohhh okay. These games sound really fascinating. Thanks to everyone who's been telling me about these.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers - First Impressions

Woohoo! I'm so excited to get back to the Wonderswan games. I actually didn't know Anode/Cathode Tamer had sequels, but it does. For some reason I assumed "tag tamers" was going to be a fighting game lol. Also, it's a bit funny to go from color to black and white, but I guess this game came out before the Veedramon version of Anode/Cathode Tamer, so it makes sense. Initial thoughts after one hour of gameplay below.

Notes:

-Damn, why does this game get no love?? There's like one single walkthrough and every time I google "Tag Tamers," the 3rd game comes up instead. Pretty random, but oh well.

-Excited to go back to pixel graphics and old timey gaming music. Nostalgic to my childhood when I played the OG Pokemon games. Also happy to be playing a simpler, shorter game after Digital Card Battle threatened to go on and on for 100+ hours. (Some games are just too damn long!)

-Already see that they've added some quality of life features (digimon daycare) and new stuff to make things more interesting (jogress, armor). I'm glad it's still pretty simplistic though.

-They changed the battle system from that tactical style where you move your digimon around to just basic turn-based combat. I feel like this is kinda a downgrade, but also easier to turn my brain off to, so I guess it's fine...

-Sad that I have to put up with random encounters now. I don't feel like they add much to the game. If I wanted to grind I could just replay dungeons.

-Love all of the continuity nods! The game starts out during the events of Our War Game and then moves onto Ken's backstory. He meets Ryo and Wormmon, as shown in the anime. I wonder if the whole Digimon Emperor stuff will come up...? (Probably not).

-I was very excited to play as Ken for the first time since he's my fave from 02. Also good to see his early relationship with Wormmon, so cute!

-The "mirror site" concept is interesting. I like how it plays into the "digital world" theme in a clever way. I guess "tag tamers" refers to the fact that I'll be switching back and forth from Ken to Ryo. Is Gennai in both worlds though? That part's foggy at the moment...

-Felt pretty weird defeating Diaboromon with Veemon lol. Don't really get why they started the game like that.

-It's cool to see that you can buy the higher powered items from the start of the game. That really makes it feel like a continuation of Anode/Cathode Tamer.

-Millenniumon's design is hella ugly. I like his name tho lol. Very Y2K

[o-w-quinlan]

Game Journal: Anode/Cathode Tamer - Entry #06

And with these words, we proceed to the end of the journey, the battle against Millenniummon.

After stepping onto the portal, we arrive at a golden lair floating in the middle of a void, surrounded by lights and strange looking crystals. Once again we are confronted by PicoDevimon, who panics and runs away to his master. For this final battle, I stick to the team I used for the Piemon fight, Tailmon-Patamon-Musyamon.

We go through six random battles, each consisting of 2 Adult-levels and a Child-level, except for the last one, which has 3 Adult-levels. All 6 fights happen in different terrains, be them grasslands, deserts or snowlands, with varying areas of water and mountains. During these, my Musyamon learns the “Angewomon” Variable Move, becoming my second healer, and oh boy was it necessary.

I also learn to fear some new Variable Moves from my enemies, which don’t directly affect my team’s stats so much as make them hungry or in need of relief, indirectly weakeaning them for as long as I don’t take care of them. I run out of food soon enough, having to go through the dungeon with a hungry team.

After the six battles are done, I once again fight the previous bosses, this time accompanied by their most notable servants (except Piemon, who has a Meramon for some reason). They don’t speak this time, for some reason. They showcase new Variable Moves, which the post-game tells me I can get by repeating these exact same configurations. Also, I finally get rid of PicoDevimon. Can’t forget that.

Upon defeat, Mugendramon appears, also silent. He has the most health points out of any enemy digimon in the game, but thankfully his lack of flying means I can easily corner him and beat him 3-on-1.

Mugendramon finds his defeat more amusing than anything, and morphs into Millenniummon. It turns out he’s completely immune to Variable Moves or attacks from digimon other than the Chosen’s, so I can’t fight him long distance and my Musyamon is now only useful for support. He also packs quite a punch.

Millenniummon has access to the “Apocalymon” Variable Move, which affects all my digimon simultaneously, and may or may not imply certain things about his in-universe power level. Still, once again his lack of flight means I can corner him, and after abusing the healing moves from my Musyamon, I’m capable of defeating the fused chimera.

Millenniummon’s defeat means we can now rescue Taichi, who is overjoyed to see his partner. The feeling is mutual. Taichi thanks Ryo for saving him, but Ryo denies it, saying Agumon and the rest of the digimon deserve the thanks. Ryo asks whether this means he can now go back home, which Taichi confirms. Ryo gets emotional upon realizing this means separating from Agumon, but not only that, he remembers Agumon was never actually his partner, but Taichi’s. Still, he asks Agumon not to worry about him.

The entire team gathers to thank Ryo and promise him they’ll meet again. For some reason, Tentomon tells him not to cry because “real men don’t cry”. I don’t remember Tentomon thinking like that in the anime.

Taichi promises they’re friends forever, and as long as Ryo remembers these battles, they’ll meet again. Or, you know, you could exchange e-mail adresses. That works too.

Agumon and Ryo share a tearful goodbye. Ryo looks devastated. Agumon is also clearly sad, but nowhere near that extent, and does his best to comfort the boy.

Finally, the team goes back to File Island, where the resident digimon thank Ryo for all he has done for the Digital World. Gennai doesn’t show up because he’s grumpy I guess.

It’s very unclear how exactly Ryo gets back home, but he does, and apparently no time has passed in the human world. His mother wonders how the computer continued working with no power, but brushes it off as just something strange. Ryo’s father soon arrives, from work I guess, and wonders aloud at how much more grown Ryo looks.

The boy himself is distracted, hoping that he’ll meet the digimon again, and so the story ends.

See you next time for my final thoughts on the game, its story and characters!

BONUS:

For the post-game, this strange structure in the village I mentioned in an earlier entry is finally accessible. It’s about 5 or 6 battles to unlock new digimon for the competitive scene. Given this is a 21 year old game in a failed gaming console that never reached the West, I’m assuming I’ll never use those.

[acevaliant]

the only good/non forced choice to a digimon representant in smash bros is if they are like pokemon trainer and have one of those guys as their tamers

Because let's be serious here...digimon never begin as a game franchise, as well, agumon wasn't a game character, it's more like a toy franchise with those v-pets. it's like if they want to put the lego batman on smash just because lego HAS games and he is in lego dimensions. however, we have a planty of digimon game chars that could do a tribute to the games and have agumon as partner.well maybe not the cybersleuth ones since they don't have agumon as their cannon partner, but they have some non forced chance to get in, since terry and sans made it

[fernikart57]

More Variables from Digimon Adventure: Anode & Cathode Tamer.

I hope you enjoy these!

[shihalyfie]

Have you ever thought about making a timeline for the Adventure Saga? Like, say in what order the events of the Animes, Movies, Games, CD Dramas, Live Plays occur in the Adventure universe.

Sure, I can try! I don't think I could go as far as listing a timeline of the individual events because of how much of a mess that tends to become (and, honestly, how much personal interpretation is required), but I can try and give a rough outline listing the works involved.

Note that with the exception of the Adventure novels and the stage readings like the ones at DigiFes, Toei and Bandai have never, ever, ever, ever, ever made a statement that you’re supposed to remove anything from canon. If anyone tells you “this thing can’t be canon because (insert some minor plot or lore contradiction here),” that’s something they arbitrarily came up with, that’s never been the official stance. This is especially because Tag Tamers, which is important for 02′s background, has very glaring contradictions with 02 itself, and of course tri., a six-part movie series that has a major timeline or lore contradiction nearly once every five minutes, still fall under the official stance that they’re supposed to be canon. Even with the Adventure novels, which by nature depict mutually exclusive events with the original series for formatting reasons, you’re intended to take most of its background lore and transplant it back into the original series, and the main reason the stage readings aren't considered strict canon is specifically because they're one-off shows that weren't preserved on accessible media, so it's unfair to expect anyone to have to take it into account (and the reason we know this is the official stance isn’t even from an Adventure thing, but from a certain writer getting upset about this from a Tamers thing). So in other words, I’ll be taking pretty much everything I can think of into account. If you have trouble making it make sense, I’ll leave that to you to figure out on your own.

Anyway, let’s go under the cut!

(1995) First Digimon Adventure movie

(Unspecified time) Event depicted in flashback in Adventure episode 45 (creating the Crests)

(Unspecified time) First track of Adventure 15th anniversary drama CD

(August 1999) Digimon Adventure (TV series), alternatively novel or PSP versions, all with some mutually exclusive aspects

(Between August 1999 and January 2000) Adventure mini dramas parts 1 and 2

(November 1999) Two-and-a-Half Year Break, Taichi’s track

(December 1999) Anode/Cathode Tamer

(January 2000)  Adventure mini drama part 3

(March 2000) Our War Game!

(May 2000) Two-and-a-Half Year Break, Jou’s track

(August 2000? Might be March 2000?) Tag Tamers and D-1 Tamers

(October 2000) Two-and-a-Half Year Break, Sora’s track

(Unspecified time, likely 2000-2001, must be before April 2001) Event depicted in flashback in 02 episode 27 (unsealing the Holy Beasts)

(April 2001) Two-and-a-Half Year Break, Koushirou’s track

(Summer 2001) Second track of Adventure 15th anniversary drama CD

(September 2001) Two-and-a-Half Year Break, Mimi’s track

(March 2002) Two-and-a-Half Year Break, Yamato’s track

(April 2002-summer 2002) First half of Digimon Adventure 02 (TV series)

(Summer 2002) Hurricane Touchdown

(Summer 2002-December 2002) Second half of Digimon Adventure 02 (TV series)

(Winter of an unspecified year, possibly winter 2002-2003) Letter

(February 2003) Armor Evolution to the Unknown

(March 2003) Diablomon Strikes Back

(Spring 2003, Miyako’s track has to be April or later) Spring 2003

(Summer 2003) The Door to Summer

(June 2005-summer 2005) Digimon Adventure tri., parts 1-3

(Summer 2005) Digimon Adventure tri. “Super Evolution Stage” stage play

(Summer 2005-December 2005) Digimon Adventure tri., parts 4-6

(Unspecified time, likely around 2010) Memorial shorts #3-5

(Summer 2010) Where Should We Go?

(July 2010) Memorial short #1 (“To Sora”)

(July 2010) Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna (movie or novels in Dash X and Shueisha Mirai flavors, the latter has some mutually exclusive elements); memorial short #2 (”Hole in the Heart”)

(2012) Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning

(2028) 02 epilogue

[reversemoon255]

Figure-rise Standard Machinedramon/Mugendramon (Amplified)

Mugendramon has a very long history in Digimon, and is probably one of the most used non-Partner Digimon in the series. Most people would recognize it as a Dark Master from Adventure, but it was also Analogman’s partner and final boss of Digimon World. It frequently recurs throughout the games as a boss, most notable in Anode and Cathode where it and Chimeramon become Millenniummon, and again with the protagonist’s (Ryo from Tamers) Digimon to become Cyberdramon. Back to the anime, Millenniummon makes a cameo appearance in Adventure 02, then evolved into the same Cyberdramon from Tamers, and a Millenniummon is the primary antagonist of Adventure:Re. Mugendramon also appears in Adventure:Re as the Dark Evolution of MetalGreymon, and has its own episode in Xros Wars. Of all the villains they could have chosen, this was probably the best.

The Good: So WarGreymon has its shield gimmick, MetalGarurumon has its swords, and Imperialdramon has its transformation. You know what Mugendramon’s gimmick is? Being Big.

Mugendramon is enormous, standing taller than the few Master Grades I have, as well as the other Amplifieds. He’s also far and away the best in this line. Looking back from WarGreymon, it’s ridiculous how much better it is even compared to Imperialdramon. Almost all of its joints are ratchets, and their range is insane. There are additional extensions in the shoulders that allow for a ton of forward and backward movement, the cannons can be pulled out to reveal ball joints for a ton more options, its waist has additional mechanisms, and the neck and tail use wire, rather than joints. It is a beautiful piece of engineering.

And under that big set of cannons is a ton of surface detail, plus there’s a bunch of extra detail on hidden parts of the cannons as well. More than the other Amplifieds, Mugendramon feels like it is encouraged for customization and for its parts to be used on other kits, which is cool.

The Bad: The connections to the shoulders and a few other pegged-in joints can come loose while you’re posing it. Easy fix but be aware. Its balance is ok if you have the feet fully placed on the ground, but if you try posing it on its toes it tends to topple if you’re not tripodding it with an arm. The wires probably won’t last forever. And the translucent red bits in the cannons tend to fall out. It’s mostly minor, fixable things, which is a credit to how well it was built.

Also, when assembling the cannons, make sure you turn the ball joint piece the way shown in the directions, as the wire holder will not fully slot in if you don’t. That had me confused until I got it right on the second one.

The Details: Like the other Digimon I’ve done, I did the panel lining and detailing in metallic red. I also did a number of larger black details as well as some sparse panel lining, such as on the tail. The most notable would be the cannons, as I attempted a lot of forced shading with them. The few instances I did on other parts of the body, such as the right claw or chest, could be considered unnecessary, but I’m very proud of how those cannons look.

The black inside their interior accentuates the shadows exactly how I was hoping it would, and the barrels give the red detailing inside almost a glow. It came together in a way I’m really happy with, and if I can find the right color I’m considering replacing the wires on them with real ones. There was also a happy accident where, when doing the interior of the barrels, I over-painted a bit, and while I cleaned up the rim the bit that remained around the edges looked cool, like they had been burned from firing the cannons, so I kept that.

While I did not use any of the surface detail stickers, there are several that are supposed to go on the interior of the translucent red pieces that I did and recommend using. Pieces like the eyes and biceps have them open to the cavernous interior of those parts, meaning you’d be staring through them at the shadows inside. The stickers give them a somewhat reflective pop that looks much better. Alternatively you could paint the undersides with a bright or reflective paint as well.

Overall, Digimon fan, model kit fan, it doesn’t matter, this gets an extremely high recommendation from me. It is one of the best model kits I’ve built in recent memory, and a joy to pose. With Gallant/Dukemon coming out next, it has me hoping that the improvements within this line continue to grow.

[digimontamerrichie-tcg]

EX3-027 | Agumon

Rookie | Vaccine | Reptile

Common | Yellow

Digimon Games | Anode Tamer | Cathode Tamer

Nice to see a reference to Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer and Cathode Tamer with Agumon appearing on Ryo's laptop.

I hope to see a reference to Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers in a future Veemon card.

[digi-lov]

how do u even start getting into Digimon?? there so much stuff, i dont even know where to begin. like, there is like a hundred shows??? do i start with the first one that came out??

Idk man it just happened??

No, but seriously, don't worry about it! There aren't even that many shows if you ask me. I'll put a list below the cut! I'll list all movies too, so it'll look like more than it really is. Also the dates are the japanese air dates.

Obviously starting with the first season, Digimon Adventure is an easy pick, it also has the most sequels and movies.

But aside from the Adventure related media, all other Digimon Seasons are completely self-contained, and you can just go and watch any! They also all explore "Digimon" and the Digital World in different ways. I personally loved them all.

For the anime I also highly recommend watching the Japanese original. I'm sorry for anyone who grew up with it, but I can barely stand watching the English Dub at all. If you know German though, the German Dub is really good. I still prefer the Japanese original, but the German Dub is at least a translation and not a fan fiction.

The same basically goes for the games. You can just pick any of them up! Also, all Digimon games kind of do their own thing in terms of gameplay and mechanics. There's similarities too, but usually each have their own vibe. A lot of the DS titles do work very similar though!

Anime:

Adventure: Digimon Adventure (Movie) (1999) • Digimon Adventure (Season 1) (1999-2000) Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (Movie) (2000) • Digimon Adventure 02 (Season 2) (2000-2001) Digimon Adventure 02: Hurricane Touchdown!! Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (Movie) (2000) Digimon Adventure 02: Diaboromon Strikes Back (Movie) (2001) • Digimon Adventure tri. (6 Movies or 24 Episodes) (2015-2018) Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Movie) (2020) Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (Movie) (2023) [Digimon Adventure: (Reboot) (2020)]

Tamers: • Digimon Tamers (Season 3) (2001-2002) Digimon Tamers: The Adventures' Battle (Movie) (2001) Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express (Movie) (2002)

Frontier: • Digimon Frontier (Season 4) (2002-2003) Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (Movie) (2002)

Savers/Data Squad: • Digimon Savers / Data Squad (Season 5) (2006-2007) Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (Movie) (2006)

Xros Wars/Fusion: • Digimon Xros Wars / Fusion (2010-2012)

Appmon: • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017)

Ghost Game: • Digimon Ghost Game (2021-2023)

Games: Generally known Games in bold, more obscure or never released in the West in small I also left out most Phone and Smart Phone games since they're shut down

· Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers (1998) (Sega Saturn) • Digimon World (1999) (PS1) · Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan (1999) (WonderSwan) · Digimon World: Digital Card Battle (1999) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer & Cathode Tamer (1999/2000) (WonderSwan) · Digimon Adventure 02: Digital Partner (2000) (WonderSwan) · Pocket Digimon World (2000) (PS1) > Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc (2000) (PS1) > Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc (2001) (PS1) • Digimon World 2 (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan) · Digimon Adventure 02: D1 Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan Color) · Digimon World: Digital Card Arena (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley (2001) (WonderSwan Color) • Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit (2001) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) > Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit Ver. 1.5 (2002) (WonderSwan Color) > Digimon Frontier: Battle Spirit / Battle Spirit 2 (2002) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) • Digimon Tamers: Battle Evolution / Rumble Arena (2001) (PS1) · Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer (2001) (WonderSwan Color) • Digimon World 3 / 2003 (2002) (PS1) · Digimon Racing (2004) (GBA) • Digimon Battle Chronicle / Rumble Arena 2 (2004) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon World X / World 4 (2005) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon Story / Digimon World DS (2006) (DS) · Digimon Savers: Another Mission / Digimon World Data Squad (2006) (PS2) • Digimon Story: Sunburst & Moonlight / Digimon World Dawn & Dusk (2007) (DS) · Digimon Championship / Digimon World Championship (2008) (DS) · Digimon Masters (2009) (PC) [Korea only] · Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (2010) (DS) [Japan only; Fan Translation exists] · Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue & Red (2011) (DS) • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (PSP) > Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode (2013) (3DS) [Japan only; Fan translation exists] · Digimon Adventure (2013) (PSP) [Japan only; Fan translation exists] • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon World -next 0rder- (2016) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) · Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016) (3DS) · Digimon New Century (2021) (Smart Phone) [China only] • Digimon Survive (2022) (PS4, Switch, PC, XBO)

[voidfcllen]

I present to you a list of CANONOLIGICAL things that the Digimon Sovereigns, Gennai, and ENIAC have done to Ryo that built nothing but RESENTMENT in him for the Chosen Child system, and the gods of the Digital World as a whole.

Digimon Adventure: Anode/Cathode Tamer

Is forced to fight Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon and Piedmon IN SUCCESSION who Millenniummon had resurrected when he created the time slip that allowed him to capture the original DigiDestined.

He AT LEAST had the help of Agumon, Digimon allies he’d befriended, and allies of the DigiDestined, but Ryo had initially naively accepted the call for help not realizing the consequences until after he had been injured by a Shellmon.

Ryo INITIALLY did not have a Digivice or a Digimon Partner that he knew of.

Millenniummon was his destined partner and NO ONE stepped forward to tell him.

Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers

Several MONTHS later calls Ryo back to the Digital World AGAIN.

This time he teams up with VEEMON, and Gennai tells them to fight what is supposedly a Diaboromon clone.

I’m pretty sure Gennai KNEW it was a trap set by Millenniummon to lure Ryo back into the Digital World and sent him in there anyway.

After destroying Millenniummon’s body, Millenniummon said “He can never die and as Ryo's power is eternal, so is his. He then disappeared.”

Digimon Adventure 02: D-1 Tamers

By then Ryo understands that he’s ONLY called to deal with specifically MILLENNIUMMON, and is skeptical when he’s told that Azulongmon has chosen to hold a tournament, where the winner would become his partner because the other 3 Sovereigns had ‘turned evil’.

The original DigiDestined are tricked into taking part, but PRESUMABLY their memories are erased after, due to NO RECOLLECTION of Ryo after he leaves their timeline within their canon anime.

There was a stage of the tournament that required Ryo to SACRIFICE A DIGIMON ALLY and he did so. This haunts him, and will CONTINUE to haunt him.

The Tournament out to be a LIE, and this was a means by the Digimon Sovereigns of training Ryo to defeat Moon-Millenniummon.

Ryo is SELECTIVELY MUTE for the rest of this adventure from the deception.

Upon reaching Millenniummon, he invites Ryo to travel with him through time and space. Ryo ACCEPTS.

Millenniummon’s base explodes, and Ryo is PRESUMED DEAD in the Adventure Universe.

Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer

Ryo is transported into the past and separated from Millenniummon, awakening with AMNESIA, he is set up with MONODROMON as a partner by ENIAC, the benevolent ruler of the Digital World who exists in multiple timelines at once.

ENIAC KNEW Millenniummon was Ryo’s destined partner, and STILL sent him on a final quest to kill Millenniummon anyway.

Throughout ALL OF THIS Ryo remains mute.

It’s at the end of this game that Ryo FINALLY learns that Millenniummon is his TRUE PARTNER. Monodromon and Millenniummon fight over who gets to be Ryo’s real partner, with Monodromon SACRIFICING himself to force a Jogress Evolution with Millenniummon, turning into the egg that would eventually become Cyberdramon.

ENIAC gives Ryo the CHOICE between returning to the ADVENTURE world, or staying in the TAMER’S world.

Ryo chooses to stay in the TAMER’S WORLD, traumatized and jaded by his experiences in his own world. Presumably, ENIAC arranges for Ryo’s parents to be sent there as well.

[notsobubbly]

so. epic gamers. you all may be wondering what on earth ryou and osamu are up to and what kind of universe they’re in that osamu has a partner.

well glad you asked, nobody at all, let us begin that trail of discussion right under this cut.

I’m assuming at this point that at least some of you have seen essie’s theory on how and why Osamu could’ve been a secondary partner to Milleniummon? Ya know, this one? [x]. If you haven’t, go read it! It’s good! If you haven’t and also you don’t want to, well first off, mean, but tl;dr: Milleniummon is a jogress which implies only one of his halves originally belonged to Ryou, and because Ken wasn’t intentionally made a chosen, that means the digivice that appeared in the Ichijouji household could’ve been Osamu’s. Connect the dots and you get a baseless but plausible headcanon that Osamu and Ryou were intended to own the two halves of Mille’s whole. 

So you might be thinking, Iggy, your Osamu doesn’t have a digimon, how is this reconciled with your main verse? The answer is that it doesn’t really affect it. In the default verse, Osamu dissects the digivice and the Gennai Order decides that’s bad, so he’s blacklisted from digimon work and barred from entry to the digital world. This doesn’t mean that he couldn’t have had an assigned partner before that point. Just that they’d never meet.

The divergent point in the timeline that allows this new, fun, wildly negligent of canon AU to occur is simply that he does in fact go to the digital world as the Gennai Order intended. Obviously there was some kind of danger around this time that they felt a need to try and summon a child in the first place, but whatever it was mustn’t have been very worrisome in the end, considering they made no further efforts. 

We’ve decided that this occurs within the same summer of 1999 wherein Adventure happens, but a bit earlier. Of course, in digital world time, this means years and years, and within the spaces that Osamu is absent, his partner grows to be the Mugendramon also seen in Adventure.

Mugendramon has already been a Dark Master in at least one iteration of self before this, seeing as the original chosen also fought him, so he’s got a pretty good idea of what he wants to do, and he sets up an evil base in the city shown during episode 48-49 of Adventure. Osamu doesn’t have the emotional energy to care about his partner’s crimes, what with his rigorous and spiritually taxing schedule forced onto him by his parents, and he mostly uses his digivice to take extended depression naps in the faster paced time of the digital world. 

Osamu and Mugen aren’t the mushiest of partners, but they have a symbiotic relationship nonetheless. Osamu is an infinite battery for evolving digimon, Mugen provides a safe space and an ear to talk or cry into if necessary.

At some point, he starts bringing Ken along to have more playtime with him, Ken finds a little Minomon floating around the base and gives his Niichan some puppydog eyes as he begs to keep it.

Also they steal Ryou’s partner’s egg and kidnap him to play in the base.

Moving on, Adventure happens, Mugen is reformatted and loses his status, and worse still, time is reset to match the real world’s, so Osamu’s newly adopted coping mechanism is ripped away from him, and his depression hits an all time low as he can no longer rest or play with Kenny or enjoy life to any extent.

Then the accident happens around October.

The Anode/Cathode game doesn’t happen, because Milleniummon doesn’t exist as a villain and nothing in that game can exist in separation from him.

Tag Tamers does, the next summer, the day after Bokura No War Game, because the villains here can exist independently of Mille. There are changes, though. Osamu and Ryou aren’t separated into split worlds like Ken and Ryou are in canon because that was a Mille thing. They also never get to keep any of their recruits from dungeon to dungeon. As there is no overarching threat that’s going to kill everything forever, the digital world��s motive to aide their quest extends as far as the locals not wanting their villages to be ransacked, and said villagers abandon the boys as soon as they’ve served their purpose in that location. Also Osamu has to be carried around like a baby, lol. Ken gets relegated to his position as sentient pokedex at this point, too.

Additionally, since time is never thrown back out of sync with the real world by the events of Anode/Cathode, this game happens over the span of Real Months, so both of the boys are now missing children as well as being very stressed out about the time they’re losing.

Unfortunately for them, the Gennai Order thinks having the timelord jogress around to solve all their problems for them is just a bit too convenient to throw away. So they don’t get to go home like they’d been promised they could.

Ryou gets his usual amnesia/mutism bundle so that he only remembers how to be a good boy who follows orders, but since Osamu isn’t really instinctively predisposed to obedience, and his motives to fight are namely through loyalty to Mugen, helping his partner’s world not die, and to finish the war as quickly as possible so he can go home to his brother, other methods are used.

If memories can be erased, they can be disoriented. Osamu develops a very skewed sense of time passing, so that every time he asks when he can go home, they can just say “in a few more battles” each time and arouse no suspicion or defiance. Ken is blocked from messaging his brother and replaced with a bot that mimics him and convinces Osamu that Ken is still seven and happy and patiently waiting for him, while his real brother is desperately fighting for a way to get his family back.

aaaaaand that’s about covers it??? anyways all aboard the pain train babey!!

[ajora]

Hello. I've been reading your translations of the Wonderswan games since I can't play them myself. I have a question about Brave Tamers and would like to know if you have some theory to explain it. When Ryo visits the Adventure world to help the original Chosen Children, they seem to be living in 1999. Yet they speak of the events of Anode/Cathode, Tag Tamers and D1 Tamers as things from the past. Why is this so? They shouldn't know anything about it at this point of time, right?

In-universe answer is that there’s time loop nonsense Millenniumon pulls again just by existing (cf: Anode Tamer). Plus, the more he attacks ENIAC, the spawning point of all of the Digimon universes, the more he completely warps time, space, and everything. Foreknowledge of future events is probably a side-effect of that–the kids are essentially reliving things in their past. Real world answer is that the game designers want to appeal to the players’ nostalgia.